“I want to talk,” he said after enjoying a few moments of freedom.
There was nothing but the pure clean black of the void.
“How long do you think the city will let you keep this up?” William began walking in no particular direction. “What am I worried for, anyway?” he asked to the void around him. “They’ll just kill you in another day or two and there’s nothing I can do about it except wait around for it to happen.”
‘What do you mean ‘kill us?’ What are you talking about?’
William heard the voice before the form materialized out of the darkness. His other strode up to him looking particularly pissed off. His other looked bigger to him for some reason. He did not control his emotions well and a three-year-old could read the frustration written on his features.
“You mean to tell me you weren’t paying attention?” His other regarded him coldly. William walked around his other, reveling in the power exchange. “The City under the Mountain’s Elders almost had us killed the last time you took control. What makes you think that it would be any different this time around?”
‘Why do you think I’ve been trying to escape? We need to get out of here.’
William looked at the wild-eyed version of himself. His other was jumpy, he was fidgeting. He had never seen his other fidget before. He licked at his snout and his head was twitching as if he was trying to control his head from looking everywhere at once. “You know that’s not an option.”
‘No, you’re wrong! There is a way out I just need to keep trying.’
“The only way for us to live, is for you to let go of our body.”
This stopped his other cold. He gave William a sideways glance and studied his counterpart. Unexpectedly his other threw his head back and roared laughter. He laughed so hard his tail shook as if it were being blown around in a windstorm. William watched the over-the-top display of mirth silently.
‘Give up control? To you?! Why in the Lunar Mother’s name would I want to do something as stupid as that?’ He looked down at William who was now an inch or two shorter than he was. ‘You had control. And then you took us to that place.’
The memories of the Whyte Plain seemed to be projected into William’s mind and he was forced to relive every second of that hellish trip. What had taken place in who knows how many hours there, flashed by in seconds now. Seconds of time but the fear and pain lost no impact in the projection. Reliving those hours sent uncontrolled shivers down his body.
‘If it wasn’t for me, we would have died there.’ His other walked away from him then speaking more to the void than to him. ‘And now he wants me to give up control so he can find some other way to get us killed.’
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
William surged forward and grabbed his other by the shoulders. He yanked his other around to face him. “If you don’t, neither of us will have any choice in the matter and we will be killed by the Elders.”
‘Better to die the master of one’s own fate than to watch someone else dictate the course of your actions.’
“Then we die. I’ll meet you in hell.” He turned his back on his other.
‘I know what you’ll do, William. You’re just waiting for the chance to bury me as deep as you can.’ William almost protested but was stopped short. ‘Please! I can read it in your eyes. This was all a mistake you’re thinking. All you need is time, and you’ll make sure that I never bother you again. You think you can just get rid of me? That maybe if you close your eyes one day I won’t be here? If that was the case, you and I’d be dead already. I want to live, not watch helplessly as we die because of you!’
William turned around and faced his other who still looked twitchy and nervous. He seemed diminished somehow though, still very much the predator and dangerous, but diminished. “Neither one of us will live if you keep control of our body.”
His other raised himself up to his full height matching William inch for inch. ‘I will not stand by and die because of you or anyone!’
William looked into the desperate, blood shot, sleep deprived eyes of his other. “If you don’t let go now, then both of us will die.” William glanced around at the total blackness surrounding them. “Better to live and fight another day, than waste the empire in a losing battle. It’s up to you, life or death. Make your choice.”
His other stood contemplating himself. There was no time, there was only those eyes staring back at him, deep pools that reflected all that William was, and everything that he ever could be. His other held the stare, almost hypnotic in its intensity. The realization came slowly, too slowly when William realized that he was alone. The eyes that he had been staring into were not in front of him and he couldn’t be sure when that had happened, or how. He remained motionless in the void. After long moments of pure silence, he was sure that his other was not coming back anytime soon. He couldn’t stay down here forever his body needed the mind to live. He could only cross his fingers and hope that his other had made the right decision.
He rose up through the blackness. His eyes were still closed but soon opened revealing the same white light from the ceiling crystals. His eyes never seemed particularly sensitive to light after resurfacing from the void, but he wished that he could blink his eyes anyway. His eyes blinked.
He was so startled that he almost fell over. He closed his eyes and opened them. An involuntary smile spread across his tired face. He raised his arms. The chains and clasps were heavy. How had his other pulled on this for as long as he had? He closed his eyes once more. The feeling was so comforting he could go to sleep right then. If it wasn’t for the soft whisper that he could just barely hear inside his head he would have.
‘See you around.’
His ears buzzed with the cruel laughter that he had become so familiar with. The thought scared him just a little bit. What if his other had been able to get away from Ares? The devastation he would have caused to both innocents and to the City under the Mountain would have been catastrophic. Maybe it would be better if Derceto had her way, and they did decide to kill him. He began to think of himself as a dangerous animal again. He deserved to be in these chains. At least here he wouldn’t be able to hurt anybody or betray the shape shifters.