"It feels good to be back on the ground," Imiko said, already stripping off her winter jacket. The summer was a warm one, and the difference from up on Do'shan was shocking. Already my friend's spirits seemed somewhat lifted. Home has a way of doing that to us, and no matter where we went, Imiko still thought of Isha as home. I think we all did. Well, except for Ishtar, but then my tutor named home wherever she could find her next drink. "Can we stay away from flying cities for a while?"
"I second that notion," Hardt said. He was staring off towards the west.
"I don't know." Ishtar was grinning. "I like the feeling of movement beneath my feet. Of course, it could do with some more taverns. And maybe some of my people rather than those savage mockeries."
"The past shows us for what we are," Tamura said as though in agreement. "You cannot erase the things we have been, only hide from them."
Don't do it. Ssserakis spared no time for the banter of friends. The horror's attention was fixed on me and what I was about to do. We are free from the Djinn. Let him pass by up there, trapped and forgotten.
"No," I said again, heedless of the looks the others gave me. They were becoming far too used to seeing me talk to myself.
Your world does not need Aerolis. Do not give it back to him. Please, Eskara.
Ssserakis didn't understand. It couldn't. I wasn't just doing this for myself, to ease my conscience. I wasn't just doing it for Aerolis, or even for all the feral lives I would save. I was doing it for Silva. She had been trying to cooperate with the ferals. She had tried to save them… from me. If I let Do'shan float on, left Aerolis up there to rot, they would all die. This was my last tribute to the woman I loved. The best way I could think of. To save an entire city, regardless of the risk. It would have made her proud.
Again, my decisions brought me into conflict with my horror. Again, I overruled it. It was my body, my mind. I made the rules and Ssserakis was merely there for the ride. A passenger and nothing else. The decisions were mine to make. There are ways to punish someone without even realising that you are doing it.
"We have company," Hardt said. A band of ten, soldiers by the looks of them, wearing uniforms and carrying steel. They were from the Pit; I could smell it on them even from a dozen paces away. The smell of that place doesn't just get on you and your clothes, it gets inside of you. It might wear off after a while, but these were some sort of patrol, probably newly instated after our escape, and the smell of the Pit followed them around. They approached us cautiously, but with no weapons drawn. I'd say that was probably quite wise of them.
We made for an odd-looking group. Six of us and barely armed, only Horralain with Shatter and Ishtar with her swords. Of course, the rest of us didn't really need weapons. Tamura and Hardt were masters of unarmed combat and I had magic to back me up, not to mention a horror.
"You're trespassing on royal territory," said one of the soldiers, a tall man with a wire thin moustache that gave his appearance a sneer-like quality.
I wondered if they recognised me. If any of them would look at me and see the young girl I used to be. Perhaps a few of them dragged me in front of the Overseer, or maybe they were there the day I was stripped, dressed in prison rags, and thrown into the Pit. But no, of course they wouldn't recognise me. That girl was gone. I was a woman grown now with muscle on my bones, scars on my skin, and lightning in my eyes. Even my hair was a shade lighter than it had been, dark instead of black, and well-kept instead of the unruly mess it was before. They would not recognise me. I barely recognised myself. There was nothing left of the girl who had fought and lost at the Fall of Orran. They were more likely to recognise Hardt or Horralain. Big men usually leave a lasting impression, though it is often the smallest of us that one should truly be paying attention to.
"Are you ready?" I asked. Another question for my horror. All eyes turned to me.
Yes. There was bitterness in Ssserakis' reply. The horror was not a willing participant, but it would help me, and I needed that help. I needed Ssserakis to help keep Aerolis under control.
"What do you need us to do?" Hardt asked.
"Don't get in the way." I grinned at him, but there was little humour in it.
"What are you doing here?" The soldier with the moustache asked. "This area is under the direct control of the Terrelan Royal Command."
"What about them?" Hardt asked, thumbing toward the soldiers. I could see the real question in his eyes and his hesitation. He was asking if they needed dealing with and hoping against it. Hoping against any more violence.
I focused my flashing eyes on the soldiers and Ssserakis flared my shadow into a burning aura of black flame once more. It was an impressive sight, but it was only meant to impress. "Let them watch," I said loudly. "I like an audience."
The rope was rough in my hands as I started wrapping it around my left wrist and up to my elbow. I stepped away from the others, a few more paces towards the Forest of Ten, my attention focused on it. I trusted Hardt not to let any of the soldiers get too close while I was distracted.
Last chance to back out. This will probably kill you.
I snorted a laugh. "You're just scared I'll take you with me."
I finished wrapping the rope around my arm and tied it off, and in that moment Aerolis was there. Not beside me. Not apart from me. But inside me.
How to explain the presence of another creature inhabiting your body? Aerolis' presence was different to the others. Ssserakis existed with me; a second voice in my mind, a coldness wrapped around my heart. The horror's presence had been uncomfortable at first, even disturbing, but not anymore. I found my horror comforting and reassuring. I liked the company. When Vainfold had taken my body, it had not been to exist with me; the Djinn had pushed me out of myself, taking my place and filling it with fire. There are few things quite as unpleasant as having control of your own body usurped. Aerolis was unlike either of those experiences, though. I could feel the Djinn in my mind, aware and watching through my eyes, and I could feel his power in my chest and limbs and hands. So much fucking power. It was almost overwhelming. It was overwhelming. I think I would have been carried away on the rising tide of that power filling me, if not for Ssserakis. My horror acted as an anchor, keeping me grounded and stopping Aerolis from assuming control. Of course, Ssserakis couldn't do that without Aerolis knowing about it.
They argued. It is a strange thing having two creatures, both ancient beyond years, shout at each other inside you. It was noise without sound, anger without release. Two conflicting powers battering at each other with no hope of conclusion. And I stood in the centre of it, between them, holding both back. In some ways it was like putting myself between two children at odds in the height of a tantrum, only the children were larger than I, and arrogant beyond all reason. Children are rarely arrogant, that is more of an adult trait, they are usually naive, though the symptoms are often the same.
"ENOUGH!" I screamed the word so loudly that the ground cracked beneath my feet. It was not Vibromancy, though I have seen that magic shatter rock before. It was Aerolis' power channelled through me. Containing it was beyond my ability, beyond any terran ability. The Djinn simply possess too much power for a terran body. The Arcstorm, my Arcstorm, flared to life stronger than ever before, surrounding me in an aura of crackling energy. Lightning ripped from my skin to strike at the ground around me. Dirt and dust and small stones rose up into the air, floating nearby. When they got too close to another piece of floating debris, lightning arced between them and both would fall to the ground, only to rise again a few moments later. The air around me shimmered with a haze. I have never felt as strong as I did in that moment. I felt like I could crack the earth open, rip the sky asunder. I felt like I could have rained fire on the entire world!