Spellscribed: Resurgence (23 page)

"No…" she whimpered. "Please…"

"What you've done since I was gone… it was despicable." Endrance lectured, squatting onto his heels so he could talk at her level. He felt his knees pop and crackle as he settled, mentally rolling his eyes and letting his combat boosting spells end. He was straining his body hard, considering he was still trying to recover from the effects of the Bastille. "Stealing these men away from their lives, their duty. Their families."

"What's wrong with what I did?" Selene countered, her hair hanging over her face, though her red eyes still gleamed out from behind violet locks. "You were dead. My human side gave me the reins. I looked out for us the best I could." She held her face with her hands, sobbing. "I just want to be loved."

Endrance knelt, touching the edge of the circle, channeling power into the spells worked into the rings of magic script holding her in place. "There's only one way you can leave this circle."

"Yes…" she murmured, nodding her head but not showing her face. "I have to break your will, or you break mine."

"A crude explanation, but yes." Endrance replied. "I'm going to try to make this as painless as possible."

Selene only nodded her head. Endrance closed his eyes and initiated the battle of wills that the circle was designed to support. The lines of magic hummed as they began.

The demonside couldn't help but fight him; it was in her nature after all. The demon had to fight the will of a summoner. It was as natural a reflex as it was a heart's to beat. Selene summoned up all of her willpower, her desire for freedom, and her need to stay in control, and threw it at Endrance the instant the contest began. She hoped to blast through any defenses he was setting up and win-

Her mind reeled as her will crashed against something far too solid to move. She redoubled her efforts, throwing her will against it again. It felt to her as if she was trying to shoulder charge a mountain, not push through the will of a mortal man.

Endrance had hesitated, wondering if she was going to try pushing against his will like the other demon had. She did, but he was surprised to feel that her will was hardly able to push against him. He let her try again, this time attempting to gauge the effect she had. Her pushes were ineffectual; so much so, that he wasn't sure she could break his will unless he mentally gave up, held her hand and opened every door for her.

Perhaps it was because she was only half-demon, or she was not trained and experienced in battles of wills like the succubus he had battled years ago. He decided to go ahead and hit as hard and as fast as he could, in order to save her any pain. He pushed his will against her. Hard.

Selene felt like the mountain she was trying to shove had just punched her. Her mental resolve shattered almost instantly, and she screamed out as pain spiked in her head for a brief moment. Endrance pushed his will upon her. However, it wasn't a pain she recognized as purely agonizing. Part of it felt good, almost purifying.

As Endrance took control, the spells worked into the circle connected her mind to his, in the way the circle he had used on the other demon had tried to do long before. Back then, his mind was too damaged, too scrambled to recognize the link on anything but a basic level. Now, he realized how much was made available to him.

The circle on the floor faded, its power spent, leaving ashen lines on the stone that easily smeared. Neither Endrance nor Selene moved from where they knelt. Selene couldn't move until ordered to, but Endrance was busy sorting through the information he had just attained. With this kind of link, it was as intimate and deep as the bond he had with Gullin.

Selene.
Endrance tested, sending his thoughts towards her. The Draugnoa perked up, reacting to the mental call.

"Did you…" she started to ask.

In your mind.
Endrance explained
. I have forged a proper bond. I think now, with understanding everything that Kalenden knew, I can see why demons can be useful.

Command me, and I will obey.
Selene replied, her mental voice hollow, defeated.

Endrance stood, taking a steadying breath.
The men you commanded, release any you still have control over, and send them home.

Done.

Now, Endrance commanded, bring back your other half.

I…
The demonside hesitated, trying to do something.
I cannot. She resists. Endrance, the human side of me refuses.

The mage thought for a moment, considering the options. An idea came to him, and he smiled both internally and physically. Then, he replied to Selene, it's time that I bring you and her to see an old friend that can talk some sense into her.

Endrance held the link in his mind while taking a seated position in the physical world. Cross-legged, he placed his hands on his knees. "Come," he said aloud. "Sit before me."

Selene sat in front of him, her legs to one side and resting part of her weight with one arm. "Done." she said.

Endrance nodded. "Do not resist this." he commanded, putting effort through the link as he ordered. She bowed her head.

Endrance retreated into the library of his mind. Except this time, he held onto the link, pulling on Selene's thoughts as he did so. He appeared in the front hall of his library, near to where Kaelob had been held. Behind him, the doors leading outside his mind opened. Streamers of bright shining light poured in, and through them, a woman entered.

Selene's self-image was not trained, or even educated, on what she was able to or incapable of doing. So her mental body was the most pure image of her that existed. Every strength, vulnerability, and nuance of her psyche was made manifest within his library.

The woman before him wore a silk gray dress, low cut and slit on the left side, with flat closed-toed black sandals on her feet. A black cord belt clung to her waist, the end of which looped through the back and hung like a tail. A similar black shawl adorned her shoulders, lace along the edges with shiny red beads that hung from evenly spaced points.

Her face was the same as Endrance remembered, beautiful, but etched with fear and exhaustion. Her curves appeared somewhat diminished, as if she had been similarly starved as Endrance had been. Her eyes were black and haunted. Her hair hung in limp corkscrews. Though still pretty, it looked like she had just returned from a long day.

"Where… am I?" Selene asked. Her voice seemed resonant, sounding as if there was a second copy of her voice just a split second behind the first. "What is this place?"

Endrance spread his arms. "Welcome to my mind." he said. "Pardon the clutter."

Selene looked around, noting the glass walled chambers. "Prisons?" she asked.

Endrance shook his head, turning and walking towards the library proper. "This way." he replied. "Those are for unapproved guests. You are, of course, completely welcome here."

Selene walked into the central hall of his mind and gasped, looking around the structure with wonder in her eyes. Her vision lingered on the stained glass windows, a few seconds longer on her own than the others.

"This is your mind?" she said. "Not the afterlife?"

Endrance shrugged. "Well, maybe for me, with all these books. Why? Does your idea of paradise include this much reading?"

Selene shook her head, the corner of her mouth just barely hinting at a smile. "No. But you're dead, and I couldn't… could not…"

Endrance put a hand on her shoulder. "It's no afterlife." Endrance said, shrugging. "But I did bring you here because you refused to come out and see me."

"See you?" she whispered.

"I'm alive. I was only trapped somewhere I couldn't contact you." Endrance said, sighing. "And all of what you did after I was gone is my fault. I neglected you. I left you wanting, and I wasn't there when you needed me most."

Selene shook her head. "No!" she protested. "I pushed you away! I was trying to make you want me again, and I screwed it all up!" she exclaimed.

Endrance's brows tightened. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

"When we were in Salthimere." Selene explained, her hands wiping on the sides of her dress, as if they were sweaty with anxiety. "You grew distant. I tried to get your attention the normal way, but it wasn't working. You were too devoted to studying your magic."

And then Selene spoke again, but the tone was different, as if the other side of her was taking charge. "And then I talked her into it." the demonside said. "I helped her arrange to have you walk in on her seducing another man. Your schedule was so easy to plan for, and those lesser men so easy to manipulate, that it worked perfectly the first time."

Endrance shook his head. "Why?" he asked, not understanding. "Why would you do that?"

The demonside Selene sighed. "I know only about lust and desire. I wanted to spark jealousy in your heart, make you protect her as yours. But you didn't react the way I thought you would."

"You thought I would… want you more?" Endrance spouted. He groaned, slapping his forehead. "And I can guess you didn't even sleep with the man."

"I did not." Selene said, the human side in control again. "Though he did try to meet back up with me after you chased him out."

"By then I wasn't talking to you." Endrance stated. "Why didn't you then?"

"I had failed, but I wasn't interested in him; only you." Selene replied. "After that, I was just glad you didn't drive me away whenever we were in the same room."

The other side of Selene took over. "She cried herself to sleep for weeks after that." she said. "And it was my first attempt to 'help' her. I kept as far in the back of her mind as I could, while I tried to understand why you reacted the way you did."

"And the tower?" Endrance asked.

"I was the only one in charge for months." the demonside replied. "I got a little drunk on control."

"What about the men there?" Endrance asked.

"Oh, them?" she replied. "I didn't sleep with any of them, if that's what you want to know. I just kept them perpetually lusting after me and fed off the energy that it generated."

Endrance took a deep breath and sighed. He was risking getting emotionally destabilized as it was. He gestured, and the area around the silver pool illuminated. "Let's continue this over there." he said. "I have someone I want you to talk to."

They sat, and Endrance stared at her a long while, taking in every detail of her mental form. He knew that she was not able to lie to him here, nor would she be able to do more than give earnest reactions. He had heard the truth, but he could do nothing to fix what had already been done. He sighed, mentally granting a sliver of volition to someone he hoped would help him sort out the situation.

Anna blinked into existence, sitting on a lounge near the two of them as if she had been seated to partake in the conversation all along.

"About time you gave me the freedom to act." Anna scolded Endrance with mock seriousness. "I'm sure I would have gone mad, if I had half a mind to."

"Anna?" Selene asked, shocked. "Are you sure I'm not dead?" she asked Endrance.

"Oh, you're not dead yet." Anna said menacingly. "Because I swear to whatever powers are out there, if my soul ever finds yours, I'm going to slap the stupid out of your curly head."

"Anna!" Endrance barked. "A bit rough?"

"She's being a complete fool, and then instead of trying to talk it out or heaven forbid, fight it out like a real barbarian, she just sat quietly and let you be disgusted with her!" Anna protested. "I have the right to smack the girl, at least a little bit."

"I'm sorry, Anna." Selene replied, shying away from her departed Draugnoa.

"You damn well better be!" Anna continued. "That wasn't what I taught you to do, was it?"

"No."

"That's right." Anna continued. "I told you, if you wanted Endrance's attention, you had to grab him by the collar and drag him away from his desk! He can't say no if you toss him into bed."

"Well, technically I-" Endrance started.

Anna cut him off. "Well, he better not say no if he knows what's good for him." she steamed. Endrance could swear he saw her wink at him.

"I'm sorry!" Selene replied. "I just forgot-"

"What?" Anna again interrupted. "Just forgot you were a barbarian? You got so tied up in your problems with that demon half that you couldn't even remember how to express yourself."

"Anna, please." Endrance protested. "I don't want her turning out like Bridget."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Okay." she said. She pointed at Selene. "Remember, punching is a perfectly acceptable way of expressing your displeasure. Just… don't do it as often as Bridget does."

Selene nodded, wide-eyed. "All right." she whispered. Anna nodded, satisfied.

"Well, I've said my part." Anna said. "You should go back to the real world and finish what we're trying to do."

Endrance nodded. "All right." he said. "Time to return to the waking world. Selene? I expect to see you when we come out of this."

Selene nodded. "I will be there." she said.

Endrance opened his eyes. Selene sat before him, her physical form returned to her human normal. She smiled weakly at him.