16. Watcher #2
Yes, it will be, Fiona. And, Charlie, I cannot wait for us to have a dance or two. I see that you have the best parties, Seeyr chuckled.
Charlie smiled broadly. Don’t you worry! I will have one for you!
That I shall look forward to, Seeyr answered.
And then, with great reluctance, Fiona and Charlie started up the stairs. But Eyros found himself remaining below.
In Seeyr’s mind.
You didn’t realize you connected to me, she said with a soft chuckle.
You’re mad, you know? Eyros asked or, more like, stated.
Sometimes I wish I were. Sometimes I wish I could fall into insanity and stay there for a time, she admitted. It would be easier not to be completely rational and have to do seemingly irrational things.
She crossed to the back of the cell and sat down on the single bed with a thin mattress and even thinner blanket. Immortals and Vampires did not feel the cold or the heat of things really. But they experienced comfort and discomfort. This cage was extremely uncomfortable.
Are you certain that this is all worth it? That all our sacrifices will be worth it? He asked.
She fussed with the ragged edge of the blanket, picking at it. But at his words, she went very still. That depends.
Depends?
On you, Eyros, she responded softly. It always has.
What are you–
We met. You, me and Kaly. I cannot remember all we discussed. I cannot remember… Nor can you. You took your own memories away after you did all that was necessary, she murmured. Kaly’s memories, too–
I met with Kaly? If I did then I would have ripped their head off–
You did not. You collaborated. Rather well actually.
You work so synergistically together. It’s surprising in some ways.
Not in others, she interrupted. But everything you and they did together, everything you planned so very hard for, everything everyone has suffered and will suffer will be for nothing if you don’t act.
Eyros did not like being in Seeyr’s mind. When he spoke to her, it was like being the eye of a storm. Her thoughts–the futures, pasts, presents–all whirled around in her mind. And if he stepped but a fraction away from that eye, he was swept away and madness truly did beckon him.
What do you want from me? Eyros snarled.
Tell me if dear Wyvern and Mirryr are facing only two guards upstairs, she requested.
You don’t know what happens upstairs? He mocked.
Please, Eyros. I am a little tired, she murmured.
He let his mind flow upwards and, at first, he did see the two guards, but then he swept further outwards, not trusting this.
There had been a blaring alarm. He was not so stupid as to think that nothing happened because of it.
And that was when he saw it. There was a flood of minds just outside the Spire itself.
Solace was thick with Vampires and… Kaly slices. They were everywhere. Dozens of them.
It’s a trap, he found himself saying involuntarily and reeling his mind in as quickly as he could.
Had anyone sensed him? He was doing something incredibly stupid.
Not a trap. Just the reality of what happens when you sneak into Kaly's secret dungeon and set off the alarm, Seeyr said.
Well, Wyvern can teleport them–
I don’t think so. I am not in control of the Spire right now. Its defenses are on high alert, she pointed out. And Fiona won’t try that anyways until they get farther away from here. She rightly fears the black soul gem.
They’ll realize the danger and figure out a plan! He argued. Both of them are suitably suspicious and paranoid. They’re smart and capable and–
They are all of that, Eyros, but their powers are not as useful against a horde of enemies, she said patiently.
Mirryr can disguise them–
Would that work with you? She asked.
Well, I am not there–
But there are people here–Eyros Vampires here–a few Kaly slices in particular with that gift, who are quite good at it. And they are expecting something of the kind, she filled out further. So do you think that will trick them for long?
I don’t know! But it’s not my–my problem! Eyros snarled.
And yet, you have kept tabs on them despite saying you were done with them, she said as she serenely lay down on her thin mattress, exhausted beyond words or imagining.
I’m merely curious. I want to see how this all works out.
Curious enough to see them ripped apart and the future destroyed? She asked as she curled on her side.
Are you going to sleep, Seeyr? Are you telling me this and going to bed? His outrage was apparent.
I can do no more and my strength is… failing. I must conserve it for what is to come, she answered. If anything is. If you determine there will be anything.
You cannot–
There was a knock on his door. It pulled him out of her mind.
He, suddenly, was back in Destiny, staring out at the sea in the bedroom where Ashyr and Weryn had slept with Khos.
Or rather where Grayson and Ryder had been.
He could still sense their mental remnants here.
It was surprisingly pleasant. He liked feeling them near.
Other Immortals. Not insane Immortals. The warmth of friendship and family.
“Master?” It was Elgar’s voice.
“What is it, Elgar?” He snapped.
His beloved Childe flinched and he immediately regretted it. He pinched the top of his nose.
“I’m sorry, Elgar. I’m just… tired,” he answered lamely.
“Oh, Master, do you need an Acolyte? Perhaps you should lay down and I can massage you–”
“No, Elgar, that is unnecessary. I just need to be by myself for a time,” Eyros answered as he swept back into the room and tried to appear less ragged than he felt.