He was deriving strength from his surroundings, far more than he had from his victims. They were like drops of water to a parched man's throat, while these lands were a bountiful lake.
The Whisperer lifted a hand to indicate their surroundings. "Look around you. What do you think this place is?"
Eva was reluctant to take her eyes off the Whisperer, knowing the moment she did so he would take advantage.
Still, temptation proved too great. Her gaze darted to take in the meadow, noting odd shimmers in several places. A few taking on vague shapes, letting Eva pick out the presence of horns. Wings.
Do not forget he is a liar, Orion said in a steady voice.
"It's a place of pure power," the Whisperer hissed. "Ask yourself—why did the Kyren not help you? They knew where my army was the entire time. Why did they not destroy them before they killed your precious Trateri?"
The Whisperer stalked closer as Eva edged back. She tried not to listen, beginning to see why he was called the Whisperer. It was hard to resist the logic behind his argument. Many of his questions were those Eva had tried not to ask herself.
"It's not their fight," Eva responded.
"Are you sure about that?"
Though his face was still covered in darkness, Eva got the impression of a smile.
"They are the ones who put me in that hole. Eternity spent locked away in darkness and despair. If not for them, would I have targeted the Trateri?"
Eva stopped, her gaze lifting to Orion's.
His words made a lot of sense. Everything started with the Kyren. If she hadn't gotten involved, would any of the others died?
The Whisperer circled Eva. "I was a Caller once. Like you. Only the Kyren didn't like how powerful I grew."
You tried to become a god. You had to be stopped before you corrupted everything.
The Whisperer sneered. "They cut me off from my source of power and locked me away because they couldn't kill me."
Eva stiffened as she finally made a connection. "This place."
"Indeed. This place. I bet the Kyren held you at a distance, telling you that you had to find this place to earn their respect."
Eva held silent as the Whisperer drew close.
"Do you know why? It's because this place changes you to be more like them."
A patch of darkness extended, caressing Eva's barrier as she flinched. It left behind a cold so deep and all-encompassing that her very soul quaked before it. Behind it, lay a greed for all the things it didn't have. Warmth and everything living.
It shook Eva from the spell the Whisperer was weaving. Made her see him for what he really was.
A leech.
If she allowed him to continue, he'd drain this place and the world beyond of everything that made it good.
Yes, the Kyren had played games with Trateri lives, but Eva trusted that there was a reason. And she was pretty sure she was looking at that reason.
Orion had said it when they first reached this place.
The Whisperer had to withdraw all the copies of himself in order to follow her here. He was vulnerable. Perhaps for the first time since the Kyren banned him from this place so long ago.
All of this had been a trap for the Whisperer. The Trateri and Eva were the bait.
Eva's grip around her hidden dagger threatened to loosen as the magnitude of things hit her. The Kyren were taking a monumental risk. If Eva failed to stop the Whisperer here, he would suck this place dry and spread, unchecked.
And here Eva had thought the Kyren considered her untalented. Instead, they'd placed all their expectations on her shoulders.
No pressure.
Only, she was outclassed and outmatched in every way. Even if the Whisperer had been an ordinary man, Eva would have been hard pressed to kill him.
He might not have been a warrior like Caden, but he was still stronger than Eva.
She should have known the Kyren would be the death of her.
A thread of amusement came to Eva from Orion. You are still thinking like a human. I never said you had to go through this trial alone, Caller.
The feel of the sphere ring coalesced in her hand. Eva squeezed it, a glimpse of Caden riding Sebastian flashing before her eyes. A plan grew.
It was risky. To succeed, she’d have to release her barrier. It would leave her vulnerable. Not just to death but to possession.
She could sense the Whisperer's desire. He wanted her body for his own. In her, he'd have everything he needed. Her power. A body that wouldn't break under his darkness.
Everything that was Eva would cease to be. He would be free to use her as he wished. She would be the new Neil. A puppet without a soul.
Eva closed her eyes, concentrating. It was this, or torture until he broke her enough to breech her barrier. Better to take a chance than go quietly.
Her barrier dropped and the Whisperer's darkness rushed toward her.
Eva reached, stretching for that presence just on the other side of the mist.
A spark flared to life. Another right beside it. Both reaching back for her.
Eva relaxed the iron grip she kept around her core. The part of herself she'd learned to fear when she was young. Strong and powerful, it carried the potential to lead her down the same dark paths the Whisperer had traveled.
Eva's power ripped free. Unfettered as it swept from her center in a great wave, arrowing for that spark like a homing pigeon that had finally found its destination.
That was the thing about paths. You didn't have to walk them to their conclusion. There were always opportunities to turn around and find a new way forward.
Yes, her abilities held the possibility of allowing her to become a monster like the one before her. But she didn't have to be a monster.
The Whisperer hadn't started out evil. He'd become that through countless choices.
Mist boiled out of the sky as Eva's lips curved, the Whisperer poised in front of her, ready to take her mind.
"Hello, lover. I missed you."
The Whisperer paused, his head whipping toward the mist as two figures plunged through it.
Sebastian's neck and forelegs were extended in a graceful dive, his wings propelling him forward. Caden clung to his back, sword drawn.
"That's not possible. How did you let them in here?" the Whisperer screamed.
Eva buried her dagger in his chest. Her grip slipped as it jolted, catching on bone. Pain sliced through her as she cut herself on the blade.
She steeled herself, putting her other hand on the hilt and trying to dig it even an inch deeper.
"You said it yourself. I'm the Caller. I can open the door or close it," Eva growled in his ear. "You should have stayed in your prison."
A piercing shriek made her ears ring as he reached for her. Eva swayed out of reach, abandoning her dagger.
Caden's sword swiped across the Whisperer's neck in the next second. Neil's head flew as the silhouette of the Whisperer wavered, his edges beginning to flake off.
Sebastian speared his horns through the Whisperer's chest before tossing his head and flinging the body to the side.
It flew, its limbs flopping as it hit the ground and rolled in much the same way its head had.
Caden and Sebastian circled what remained of the Whisperer, searching for any signs of life. Sebastian screamed and reared before dropping his front legs onto the corpse. He stomped before wheeling and kicking the body with his hooves.
That river of scarlet light and the stars it fed winked out, the darkness fading until only Neil's body remained.