The room that wasn’t quite a room was white, with fog all around. Indenuel walked forward, waiting to see her. Waiting to find her. He tried to keep his anger and hurt at bay for this long. He readied himself to talk to her. Frightened he might have messed this all up with his underlying hatred for the High Elders.
He saw her, just out of his reach. She wrung her hands as she paced, as beautiful as ever, as melancholy as ever. She was about ten years older, a testament to how early her life was cut short. She looked thirty, an age she should have reached in real life. Indenuel walked over to her, reached out to touch her arm, but his physical body moved right through it. He had to see for himself. Inessa stopped pacing and turned, giving him a worried look.
“Hello,” she said.
“Tell me who did this,” Indenuel said.
Inessa had tears in her eyes. Tears he couldn’t wipe away. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does.” His sharp tone startled her, but he kept going. “They arrested the mob and most of them are in the dungeon. Just go there and tell me who looks the most familiar, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Please don’t seek revenge. It will never make you happy,” Inessa said.
“The High Elders spread those horrible rumors. That stupid mob believed them. They dared believe them over me,” Indenuel said.
“Please stop,” she whispered. “Don’t do this.”
“I can, and I will. You’re here, that’s all I needed. Nothing else matters now.” He reached out, his fingers aimed right at her middle. The power spread over her until he closed his fingers tight. Inessa gasped, touching her middle, taking a few steps forward in shock. “Indenuel? What did you do?”
The dream world slipped away and Indenuel opened his eyes, sitting himself up in bed. Inessa was there in the air, just as she had been in the dream world, bound now to the power in his hand.
“Indenuel!” she shouted, struggling with the invisible bound around her middle. She looked around, seeing their bedroom, the mortal world. She was trapped here, just like his mother had almost a year ago. Inessa struggled again. “What did you do!”
“You will come with me through the streets,” Indenuel said, standing up and putting on some pants, tucking his night shirt into them. “We’ll find who did this to you.”
Her emerald eyes widened in terror. “Indenuel, no!” He sensed her trying to flit away and he threw his hand out, strengthening the bond to keep her in the mortal realm. She gasped, bending in half as she clutched the invisible bond. “I won’t! I refuse to help you!”
“It matters little,” Indenuel said. “Help me or not, you are bound to me for as long as I’m alive.”
“Please, Indenuel! This won’t change anything! Keeping me like this is not going to help you! You must let me go!”
The door opened and Tolomon stepped into the room, fully dressed. “Indenuel? What’s going on?”
“Tolomon! Indenuel has me bound! It will certainly mark him! You’ve got to stop him!”
Tolomon made no reaction, since he couldn’t see or hear her.
“Go back to bed, everything is fine,” Indenuel said.
“No!” Inessa started to sob. “Let me go, Indenuel! You cannot do this to your soul!”
Indenuel ignored her, trying to smile at Tolomon. “Good night, Tolomon.”
The man did not move. In fact, he narrowed his eyes, taking in Indenuel’s pants and night shirt. “Were you going somewhere?”
“Get High Elder Dalius!” Inessa shouted.
“I could help you resurrect her,” another voice said.
Inessa turned, her eyes wide as Garen materialized out of nowhere next to Indenuel, looking at Inessa’s spirit. She was panicking, trying to back away from Garen. “No, don’t do it, Indenuel. It’s impossible!”
“Not impossible,” Garen said, coming closer to her. “It’s just never been done before. But we could try together, if you’d like.”
“Stay away from him, devil!” Inessa shouted. “Tolomon! Get High Elder Dalius! Please!”
A dagger was at his throat before Indenuel realized Tolomon had taken it out. “You haven’t answered my question, and I feel dread. Why is that?” Indenuel tried to back away, but the dagger followed. “Why is that, Indenuel?” Tolomon asked again.
“You know what I desire,” Garen said next to him. “Sell your soul, and together we can work on bringing Inessa back. It is the only way you can get powerful enough to do this. And to defeat Tolomon.”
“NO!” Inessa screamed. She threw herself against the bond around her middle, and Indenuel threw his hand out again to keep her in place.
“Stop!” Indenuel said.
Tolomon grabbed his outstretched arm and pinned him against the wall, lifting his shirt, seeing the pale pink mark of the devil on his chest. “Pablo! Get the High Elders here now! He’s marked!” Tolomon shouted.
“Let me go!” Indenuel said, struggling in Tolomon’s grip. Inessa continued to pull, and he forced more power into the bond, the pale pinkness growing deeper. “Inessa, stop!”
Tolomon pinned his hand against the wall. “Let her go, Indenuel. Let her sleep with the good spirits.” His voice was strangely calm as Inessa sobbed.
“The devil is here!” Inessa shouted in Tolomon’s direction. “Please! You must stop Indenuel from selling his soul!”
It was pointless. Tolomon couldn’t hear her.
“Tell me it can work,” Indenuel said, trying not to clue Tolomon into what was happening. “Tell me you have a plan.”
“With a stronger sense of power, you can control Inessa in this state,” Garen said as calmly as ever, circling around Inessa’s spirit as she wept. “You can bind her back into her body. Reanimate her. Force her to live. Many have tried, none have been successful. None, however, have been as powerful as you.”
Inessa floated over to Tolomon, screaming in his ear. “Tolomon! Stop him! Don’t let him sell his soul!”
“He can’t hear you!” Indenuel snapped at her.
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Tolomon used some torn bed sheets to tie his hands behind his back. “She is not yours to force to this world. Release her, or High Elder Dalius will.” Tolomon wasn’t screaming, though his voice was still firm and urgent.
“Sell your soul to me right now, and you can overpower Tolomon. Give it to me, and not even Dalius can stop you. Give it now,” Garen said.
“I’m giving you nothing until you promise it will work,” Indenuel said.
Tolomon tore open Indenuel’s nightshirt and saw the mark, how it was swiftly moving to red. All at once, Indenuel’s face was flat against the floor, the air thrown out of him. He had a dagger pressed tight against his throat. “Don’t you dare sell your soul. You hear me? Inessa wouldn’t want you to do this.” His voice was quiet, but his face was right next to his ear. Inessa was sobbing, grabbing her cheeks.
Indenuel struggled under Tolomon’s grip. “Let me go!”
“Not until you let her go.”
“I can’t! I won’t!” Indenuel screamed.
“Yes, you can. I know it hurts, but this will only bring you both pain. She deserves to sleep.”
Garen closed his eyes, his head to the door. “The High Elders are beginning to gather right outside the house. Sell your soul, or you will never see Inessa again.”
“I’ll never see her again!” Indenuel repeated, screaming it at Tolomon. “Please! Don’t make me let her go!” He was sobbing. “Please, Tolomon. I just had her. My life with her was starting, and now she’s gone. I’m bound for Hell in the afterlife. If I can’t revive her, I will never be able to touch her again! I will never hug her! I can never hold her. For the rest of eternity.” His sobbing turned more violent. Inessa knelt beside him as best she could, her spirit partially through the floor. “I’ll never see you again.”
She placed her spirit hand on his cheek, and he felt nothing. He sobbed at the lack of touch.
“Reviving her is impossible,” Tolomon said. “The devil does not have the power to do it. He can never bring what you truly want. Only pain.”
“I’m sorry,” Indenuel said, tears in his eyes as he looked at Inessa. “I’m sorry I hit you. I’m sorry I yelled.”
“It’s forgiven. All of it,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I slapped you. Your eyes were turning black, and I was scared. Just as they are now. Please let me go. Do not sell your soul because of me. Do not make my heaven a lonely one.”
Indenuel was still crying. “I can never make it there. Not after what I’ve done. Heaven was always going to be lonely for you. This is who I am.”
Inessa had tears streaming down her cheeks. “You can still make it. Do not make me bound to you for the rest of your life. I’m already so exhausted. Please just let me sleep. I will come back in a year.”
Indenuel was crying again. A rainstorm began to beat against the window. “I can’t let you go. I miss you. I love you.”
“I need to sleep,” Inessa said. “You know deep down this is impossible.”
The door opened, and the four High Elders walked inside. Dalius threw his hand out and the devil hissed in the blinding white light before he disappeared.
“Get out of my house!” Indenuel growled. “Get out!”
Fadrique was near the back, lifting his hands to keep the rain from getting out of control. Dalius bowed to Inessa’s spirit. “The bond is a complicated one, but I will get it unraveled soon and have you resting.”
“Stay away from her!” Indenuel screamed.
Inessa floated up. “Please show him compassion.”
“Keep him pinned, Tolomon,” Navir said.
Tolomon nodded, sheathing his dagger. Indenuel tried again to struggle out of Tolomon’s grip. “Whose side are you on, Tolomon!”
“Yours. Even if you don’t realize it,” Tolomon said.
“You never should have brought them here. Get away!” he screamed at Dalius who was approaching. He hated that he was still on the floor, with Dalius towering above him. “Get away from her!”
“Indenuel, please,” Dalius said.
“NO! My wife was murdered because all of you accused her of vile crimes she never committed! Don’t you dare touch her!” Indenuel screamed.
“Maybe I can convince him to let me go,” Inessa said, folding her arms around her, hugging herself. “He… he doesn’t like any of you.”
“He is marked,” Dalius said. “We cannot trust him to make a good decision.”
Pain flared up, and Martin threw his hands out, blocking the corruption. “Do not touch her!”
“Don’t, Indenuel. This isn’t right,” Martin said.
Indenuel glared at him. “You were there. You let her die!”
“He tried, Indenuel. He honestly tried. There were too many people,” Inessa said as Dalius’ hands glowed white, moving them through an invisible bond.
“I don’t care!” he snapped at her. “He didn’t try hard enough! He never tries hard enough! You killed her! All of you did!”
“Indenuel, please,” Inessa said, tears in her eyes.
“I need his wrists,” Dalius said. “This bond is too strong. I need to get it at the source.”
“Please let him do it, Indenuel,” Tolomon said. He started to cut the bed sheets keeping Indenuel’s wrists behind his back.
“Tolomon, stop it!”
“Please let me sleep, Indenuel.”
Tolomon finished cutting the bonds and Dalius knelt down, grabbing Indenuel’s two wrists.
“NO!” Indenuel could feel his bond unraveling. “Inessa, no!” She flickered from his view before fading, tears in those perfect emerald eyes. “Damn you, Dalius! Damn you!”
With his hands unbound, he scrambled to his feet and pushed Dalius, ready to murder him. Tolomon grabbed him, pinning his hands behind him. “Indenuel, please,” Tolomon said, his voice heavy.
Indenuel was struggling in Tolomon’s grip, refusing to believe this. He knew it was pointless to struggle, but he did all the same. Dalius forced Indenuel’s torn nightshirt down before touching each mark, trying to pull the corruption out of him.
“I hate you,” Indenuel sneered. “I hate you!”
“This is only going to work if you let it,” Dalius said, opening his eyes and trying to pull.
“I will see you in Hell, Dalius!” He struggled against Tolomon’s grip. “I will put you there myself! Every single one of you!”
Martin walked forward, tears in his eyes. “Indenuel, please. I don’t want to put you in the dungeons.”
“She never should have gone to you! I knew you couldn’t be trusted! None of you! You had all the power in the world, and you used it to bully and humiliate a woman that dared stand up to you!”
“I know it hurts,” Martin started to say.
“Don’t pretend you know what it’s like!” Indenuel roared. “You gave her to me, then took her away! I hate you, Martin! I hate you!”
Tolomon strengthened his grip. “The mark is getting darker.”
Indenuel didn’t care. He pushed against the shields, blocking the corruption inside. He expected the High Elders to anger him, but somehow Tolomon stopping him, pinning his arms, keeping him from killing them hurt the most. Tolomon trusted the High Elders to be merciful, and as always, they came without compassion.
“They are not your friends,” Indenuel said to Tolomon. “They do not care about you at all. They would sooner use you to destroy the lives of innocent people. You cannot follow them.”
“I am keeping your soul from getting any darker. I know it’s hard to see that, but it’s true. I’m sorry, Indenuel, but I will not let you murder the High Elders.”
Indenuel closed his eyes, feeling the probes to keep his corruption in check. All at once he threw his powers against the probes, all four of them, as hard as he could. He sensed the High Elders reacting, all taking a step back as they struggled to contain the powers. Indenuel let out a scream of pain as they tried to block the corruption inside him. He felt somehow buried, suffocated, burned, and drowned all at once. He kept pushing, the very walls of the house trembling as he screamed. The windows cracked before bursting, yet he continued to push the limits. Tears streamed down his face as he opened his eyes, glaring at the High Elders as blood trickled from his nose. Each and every one of them deserved to die. It was his last thought before Tolomon punched him hard in the back of the head and everything went black.
***
Martin gasped for air as Indenuel tumbled to the ground. Tolomon worked quickly, trying rope around Indenuel’s arms in the way of a corrupted individual.
“Get him to the dungeon before he wakes up.” Navir sounded like he ran around the entire wall of the city. “Make sure he is secure.”
“The man just lost his wife, Navir,” Martin said.
“And he tried to murder us all,” Fadrique said. “He is a danger to society. He must be locked away.”
Martin said nothing, staring at the ground, trying to regain his breath. He braced himself against the wall, watching as Tolomon lifted Indenuel up on his shoulders and left, his eyes cast downward.
Here they were, back to the same scenario of Indenuel with a dangerously red mark on his chest, except for one huge difference. Inessa was gone. Indenuel’s marriage was what helped him heal the mark in the first place. Indenuel’s life was broken, haunted by nightmares and shattered trusts.
“Inessa was returned to rest with the good spirits?” Navir asked.
Dalius nodded, clearly too exhausted to speak.
“We tell no one about this, understand? Indenuel is recovering from the shock of his wife’s death here and does not wish to be disturbed. If the public finds out he’s in the dungeons, they will ask questions. Keeping this quiet is the only mercy I will allow. No one needs to know his chest is marked,” Navir said.
No one said a thing. Martin rubbed his forehead. “Let my son go talk to him.”
“Nathaniel? Why?” Navir asked.
“Right now, he is angry at Tolomon, and he certainly doesn’t want to see any of us. Nathaniel knows Indenuel. I trust him to do his best to ease the pain,” Martin said.
Navir waved a hand. “Very well. But no one else is to know about this. He’s got to stay there until the mark is gone.”