Dominion

Chapter Twenty Nine: Doorway To Darkness, Part 1

Chapter Twenty Nine: Doorway To Darkness, Part 1

I broke the air as I fell, feeling it race past my entire body as I let my instincts guide my descent. I could die doing this, but I wasn't afraid. I had trained my eyes on my target, jumped at precisely the right moment, calculated every scenario in my head, and did what I knew how to do. What I was raised to do.

Something Paxer never would have done, yet he provided me with the tools I needed to do it. Regardless, I knew only one thing: The Immortal had saved my life. And every bone in my body was screaming at me to find out why. This was what I had to do.

Vera would just have to understand. I only hoped she was doing what she had to do.

My eyes remained locked on the cloud of black smoke that was my enemy, but they also took in the ongoing battle around me. The Coalition troops were still fighting. Brave and loyal to the end. But it was a massacre and it wouldn't last much longer. The Immortal didn't seem to be participating in the fight, though. Just watching. Was that what he had done to me? Watched me until I needed to saved? Even so, why? The answer terrified me, more than any question I had ever asked in the past. It was a cloud of black all its own, shrouded in mystery. But I had to be brave.

I had to know.

I could see him more clearly now, but what I saw was unnerving. There was no physical form behind the black smoke, at least not anything that could be seen. What if I fell right through him? I'd die. No. That wasn't an option. My instincts led me this far. I needed to trust them now.

If The Immortal saw me coming, he made no effort to stop me. He remained in place, daring me to do it, daring me to demand an answer to my question. I dared, positioning myself to land atop him.

Closer, still no noticeable physical form. Nothing to take hold of, nothing to stop me from continuing my fall. Nothing except faith. Was this what all the rebels fighting had? Was this what was driving them? If it was, maybe I understood them a little better in that moment. I had chosen to believe in my sister, but not the way they did. This belief, however, was closer. I was believing in myself. In my own capabilities. In what I could accomplish. Maybe that was what drove all of them, what they could accomplish here, today, by making a stand.

Either way, I was in for a collision with fate.

Black smoke engulfed me, wrapping itself around me. It felt like it was ripping into me, worming itself into my body. It was like the dog poison, except the smoke was fighting to get in whereas the poison seemed like it was fighting to get out. Either resulted in the same conclusion, one I was far too stubborn to allow.

I was completely enveloped, swallowed by the darkness. I could feel it both inside and around me, like it was a part of me. Or at least trying to be, begging me to fully let it in. It willed me to submit, but I would never.

Give in...

A deep, dark, foreboding voice. Like the smoke, it came from all around me, but also inside me. I could hear those words, clawing away at my thoughts. The Immortal. Somehow, he had infiltrated a realm I called my own. It was mine. No one else was allowed, yet there he was. No physical presence, but a presence none the same.

Let the darkness consume you...

His voice lingered on most words, his words spoken slowly. It was almost an echo, an afterthought in my mind. Perhaps directed more toward my subconscious.

Let it breach every corridor of your spirit. Let it wash away your pain, your loss, your suffering...

I wanted to scream. His words were like parasites, forcing my own thoughts and words away into places they weren't meant to be.