Elena's body sat there, still as stone, but full of life. Her fingers gripped the bed for support, and her chest heaved rhythmically with her breath.
Maren had never experienced such a thing before. She could feel everything the bird could. She could feel the bird's rapid, beating heart, the slow pull of the world around her, all of it translating through Elena with ease.
But what was more perplexing than viewing the world through the eyes of a hummingbird was the way Elena commanded the spirit's essence, as if she were piloting it.
Pepper zipped around the room, and then out the window. She flew fast around the house until she found the kitchen window, beside the spell room. The window was cracked open just enough to allow the residual magic fumes to spill out.
Its stench was overwhelming, but Elena was used to it.
"You want me to tear that parasite from your body, is that it?" Nemaine asked.
"Yes, Ma'am." The boy replied, his voice polite and smooth like silk.
Nemaine was quiet, leaning back in her chair, assessing him.
"And how, pray tell," she asked, narrowing her eyes, "did you come upon this shadow?"
The boy was silent for a moment, and then he answered. "I was a squire for a Knight of Darkwood and was ordered to receive the spirit into my body."
Nemaine narrowed her eyes, scanning him up and down. "You're a frail thing to be a Knights Squire."
"I haven't been in his service long, my lady," he answered quickly. "When it takes over my body, it can be quite neglectful of my nutritional needs."
"Hm," Nemaine hummed.
In the corner of the room, Massey fumbled about the kitchens, aware of Nemaine's keen eye.
"And you found this place by coincidence?" she asked, a lilt of suspicion in her tone.
"And the scent of magic," the boy finished.
Nemaine took a deep inhale and said. "There is some bit of magic in all things. What exactly gave us away?"
The boy hesitated, staring at Nemaine, then he looked down, pushing information around in his mind.
"It was like a flame," he said, his eyes fixed on a point on the floor. "Like a burning scent, and the tang of metal and something sweet and rotting. It was overwhelming. I smelled it even through the shadows' possession. It awakened me, and brought me here."
Nemaine stared at him.
Maren could feel what Elena felt in that moment.
Nemaine did not trust him.
Not even a little.
"The potions you wanted, Ma'am," Massey said, setting two cups down on the table.
A mysterious, dark liquid filled the cups, thick like tar.
"Do you have gold?" Nemaine asked from her chair.
"Y-yes," the boy said quickly, pulling a large bag of gold out from his satchel.
Elena's gut twisted with horror.
That was all Nemaine needed to know that he was lying.
And yet, she remained perfectly calm.
The boy slid the gold across the table with a dull thud. Nemaine's gaze lingered in it for a moment before she said, "alright child. Take both drinks. It will taste like ash and burn the tongue but it will sever the connection to the beast."
The boy reached for the drink. Elena watched Nemaine's gaze, not taking her eyes off the witch for even a moment.
It was steady.
Cold.
Cruel.
Maren's heart beat fast in her chest like a rabbits'.
The boy extended his arm, slowly — fear wavering in his eyes. Then, he stopped, his fingertips brushing the clay of the mug.
Elena's gaze switched between Nemaine and the boy, watching them. Suddenly, the boy's neck extended to the side sharply, all the tendons strained and flexed. She could only see half his face, but it was enough to see how eyes rolled back. And just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, his veins turned black.
Maren was horrified. The boy's once handsome face now twisted into a grotesque monstrosity.
"Do not take the potion, Prince of the Darkwood," he spoke, his once honey-like tone, now ragged and deep.
She knew this was clearly not him, but something within.
Something dark and malevolent, and so terrifying even Nemaine was at her feet now.
"The witch LIES," the beast cried out, contorting the boy's features into something more monstrous. "Release me, or you've doomed us! Release me NOW!"
"Echo!" Nemaine cried out, her eyes wild and filled with fear.
Suddenly, the serpent-beast was there, shielding Nemaine and Masselythe with her scaled body. She was massive, and iridescent. Echo positioned herself at the ready, her mouth spread wide and her fangs bared.
In that moment, the thing that possessed the boy took over entirely. His body convulsed, his back curving violently, when all of a sudden, shadow burst from his orifices, engulfing him completely.
In seconds, he was back on his feet — not as a man — but as a giant, mangled shadow, like a demon mimicking a wolf. Its features were wrong. Pieces of it looked tangible — its muzzle and face, and all four of its legs. Maren thought she could slightly make out the slight curve of its back, but when she blinked, it was lost to the shadow.
Echo moved without hesitation, striking him quickly, sinking her fangs into him, and then releasing him, just as fast.
She was quick, but not quick enough.
The beast sliced her across the face with its giant paw, and Echo recoiled. She cried out, her screams piercing and sharp.
The monster lunged at her at that moment, digging its fangs into her exposed jugular.
Echo whipped him with her tail, knocking him off with such a force that it took out a wall. She cried out again, but the sound was mangled, like he'd bit into her vocal cords.
"No!" Nemaine cried out, her eyes wide with terror.
Maren felt Elena's emotion then — its strength.
Elena had never seen Nemaine like that.
As far as she was concerned, fear did not exist within her.
But there it was, lit up inside her like it would in any other human being that walked their land.
Nemaine hesitated for a moment, her eyes wild with fire. She turned her attention back toward the shadow, and extended her arm. Then, a staff appeared within her grip — wooden, with a hanging charm of bone and black crystal. She pointed it at the beast, a snarl at her lip.
"You tricked me, Son of Death and Chaos," Nemaine growled, her eyes green, and alight, swirling with magic. "I had warned your father to leave me be. I had warned him not to prod a sleeping viper, but the King of Shadow does not take no for an answer. He sent his tainted sperm to collect what is not his."
The stone hanging at the end of the staff lit up, not black, but a deep, swampy green, like the color of fresh algae. From the stone, light twisted around the staff, climbing fast up its length and around her arm, flickering as fast as a hummingbird's wings, as if it were collecting every ounce of power it could contain.
"No!" the boy cried. "It is not true! My father did not send me!"
The walls of the house began to expand, though nothing changed on the outside. The kitchen warped, every light dimmed and every hanging basket suddenly transformed into a swinging thorned vine. Every bookshelf, counter and cabinet melted from existence, leaving the room a barren void of darkness and magic.
"Prepare to meet your brethren in The Other," Nemaine proclaimed, her eyes devoid of life. "Begone, Darkspirit."
Magic burst from the staff, light and sound engulfed the area in an explosive display of pure magic. But just as it burst from the peak of wood, Elena realized Pepper was right in its line of sight.
She could not gasp in the body of a bird, but Maren could feel it within her. She jerked Pepper's body out of the way, but there was no way of knowing if Pepper made it in time.
The light from the magic engulfed everything, and its deep, warped hum consumed her senses, and everything faded to black. She could feel its base reverberating in the ground, rooting deep within her core.
Maren thought she'd known true power when she experienced it within Elena's experience. But after being on the receiving end of that…she knew just how weak her own power truly was. How even Elena's power paled in comparison.
Nothing she had ever known compared to the Witch of Frogswallow.
Suddenly, Maren was back in Elena's body.
Elena's lungs expanded with a gasp, inhaling a disturbing mix of oxygen and the bird's spirit. It came into her, and for a brief second, Elena could feel everything it could. The rapid beating of its heart. The way the wind felt between its wings. And the world — so much larger than its tiny body.
And then, she came back into herself.
Elena blinked, her senses reigniting.
Then, the moment she realized where she was, her eyes widened. She shot out of her seat, Pepper's spirit settling back into her arm. Elena hoisted her body out her bedroom window. Her body flopped ungracefully on the dirt beneath her window.
The air around her crackled with magic — its scent, heavy.
She kicked off the ground, moist dirt plastered on her arms and clothes as she ran with all her might to the front of the house. She rounded the corner and couldn't believe the sight before her.
The clouds above were dark, and angry, their godly cries booming as they gathered, twisting above. Nemaine hovered in the air, her staff outstretched, collecting its mighty power once more.
Below, the boy cowered.
"Please!" He cried. "I knew not who you were! It's true — I am a Prince of the Darkwood, but I am not aligned with my family. My father — the King — he forced this on us!
Nemaine stared at him, hesitating.
The boy continued. "I'd heard tales of your greatness in the castle! Nemaine, the Mighty. I'd heard that you once helped him summon the Darkspirits to this world. I thought someone so powerful could surely kill the thing that's rooted inside me."
The clouds above her circled, twisting like vultures over prey. The light that gleamed from her great staff spread, clawing its way up the side of her neck, and across her chest.
Maren thought for a moment that she might see reason and help the boy.
That she would understand his desperation, his need.
Then, Nemaine lifted her chin, took a great inhale through flared nostrils and spoke.
"Only the light can consume the dark that resides within you, Prince of the Darkwood. And I am not a being of light."