Chapter 6 #2
His name was a firebrand against my tongue. Again, a streak of light fell from the tenebrous clouds, cascading downward into the chasm below. He turned to face me, unleashing another wave of agony as his verdant gaze fell upon me for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
“I’m dreaming,” I whispered, tears building in the corners of my eyes that blurred his beautiful face. I quickly blinked them away, abhorring anything that would distort the sight of him.
His lips curled into a soft smile. “As am I. Though I do little else these days.”
I reached for him, longing to experience the warmth of his skin, even if it were only a fabrication of my memory brought to life.
His hand rose to meet mine, fingers interlocking as he drew closer, tucking his chin and resting his cheek against my chest. I inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of him, my arms encircling him with a desperation that rivaled madness.
I cared not if I was dreaming, nor of the dangers spoken decades past. Tobias was in my grasp once more, and I wasn’t going to dispel the moment for anything in this world or the next.
“You’ve grown clingy,” Tobias said after a moment, the vibrations of his words against my chest the most glorious of sensations. “Perhaps I should be catatonic more often?”
A grin spread wide across my face. Even if this wasn’t the true Tobias, he retained the spark that drew me to him like a moth to flame. His voice was the sweetest of vices, and I wanted nothing more than to have it wash over me till I was numb with bliss.
“I knew this was a fool’s errand,” he continued, words coming even faster now. “Lenny told me as much. That it would only leave me wanting more. But I had to keep trying. Keep projecting myself till I could reach you here.”
The numbing warmth waned as my mind caught up with his words.
“Projecting yourself?” I repeated, pushing him to arm’s length. “Tobias, is that truly you?”
“It’s me,” he confirmed, a shy smile spreading across his lips. “I’m sorry to invade your mind like this, but it was the only way I could think to communicate while I was asleep—”
His next words were swallowed up as I kissed him, taking him by surprise.
He quickly melted into the gesture, his body folding against mine like a wave crashing against the shore.
My mind reeled with so many questions, but they could all wait.
The only thing that mattered right now was that this was Tobias.
The real Tobias. And I wasn’t going to squander whatever time we had.
“Bast,” he muttered against my lips, and I managed enough willpower to pull away from him. “I missed you, too. But I’m not sure how long I can hold onto this connection. I need to concentrate, and you’re making that very difficult.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into the crook of his neck, clinging to him still. And though I couldn’t fully grasp why, I kept saying it. Over and over again till my voice cracked and Tobias had to push me away with a firm but gentle hand.
“What for?” he asked me, his brows knitted with confusion.
“I couldn’t figure it out. How to wake you. It’s been months, and I’ve managed nothing. I’ve failed you.”
Tobias reached up, cupping his hands over my cheeks to steer my gaze to meet him.
“Oh, Bast. That wasn’t something I expected you to do.
That was never your burden to bear. But I can see how it weighs on you.
Listen to me now, before anything else is said, I need to make this clear. You have not failed me.”
A broken sound escaped my chest with an exhale.
“You have kept Lenny and me safe,” Tobias continued, his hands drifting down to rest on either side of my neck.
“And I can’t thank you enough for that. Especially for taking care of my sister.
I know that it must be difficult, after everything that she’s done, but she’s still a part of me. Now more than ever.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Later. Right now, there’s something that I need you to know. Something that could spell the end of everything.”
Another streak of light across the sky above, and the ground beneath us quaked with such force it threatened to topple us.
“I’m here,” I said, tightening my grip on him. “Tell me what it is.”
“The Second Awakening wasn’t what we thought it was, Bast. I tried to make it something good. Something that would bring us together.”
“You brought magic to mortals,” I told him.
“That was my part, yes. But that wasn’t the only manifestation of the Source’s power. We invited something in that day. Something that has been searching for a way into our world. They called from the void beyond the Ether, and I answered it."
“Another monster?” I asked. “A distortion, like Lynette?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s older than that.
Ancient forces, like the Source itself. I’ve only encountered one of those that slipped through.
A darkness that made my blood run cold. And when Lynette and I ripped a hole between our world and the Ether during the Second Awakening, it was able to cross over once more to walk the Expanse. ”
“How do you know this?” I asked.
“Because it told us so, Lynette and I. It called itself the Umbral when it entered our dreams, wearing the face of a man, and thanked us for setting them free. It had been them all along, Bast. Whispering to Lynette through the years, and pushing her towards the actions she took. It led her down the path to Distortion, and now it wants to keep us sleeping.”
“You mean it’s the reason you cannot wake?”
“No, not directly. The strain of the Second Awakening was the catalyst. That much I am sure of. The Umbral simply knows that we can do nothing while we slumber, and wants to keep us this way. It knows that we would stand in the way of its ultimate ambition.”
“Which is?”
“To snuff out the light,” Tobias said, his voice nearly swallowed by another falling star streaking past overhead.
My thoughts drifted back to the Sleeper’s fable and the story of the Great Light. Was it connected to this entity in some way?
“It took only a moment to wipe out the stars across the sky,” Tobias continued, his voice wavering slightly. “But now it seeks to extinguish the Source, and cast the Expanse back into the darkness from which it came.”
“It told you this?”
Tobias nodded. “It spoke to us as though we were old friends. I know not what its plans are outside of the Ether, but I know that we must not let them succeed.”
“Soon I’ll wake you,” I told him. “And we can face this threat together. I swear it.”
Tobias didn’t answer, his emerald eyes frozen in a thousand-yard stare that pierced straight through me. I seized him by the shoulders, shaking him quickly. He blinked, his gaze focusing on me once more.
“My hold is slipping,” he said, his words dripping in sorrow. “I can’t stay.”
I tightened my grip on him. “Please, just a little longer.”
“I wish I could,” he spoke quickly. “There’s so much more I want to say, but it will have to wait. Be careful, Bast. The Umbral is already in motion. I know not where its ambitions will steer it, only that it will work its way to the Source.”
“Don’t go,” I pleaded.
Tobias smiled at me once more. “I love you, Bast. Know that no matter what happens, this remains true.”
“I love you, Tobias. And I swear, I will wake you. Even if I have to rip you from your dreams myself.”
“I have no doubts,” he replied, the outline of his body growing fuzzy. “I will see you again. Hopefully soon. And I would selfishly ask that you pass that along to Cirian and Azrael, too.”
“Of course,” I agreed.
The image of Tobias flickered, my hands sinking into the space his flesh had occupied.
“Soon.”
The whisper of Tobias’s voice was swallowed by the moaning sound renewed from the chasm, the ground beneath my feet shaking violently from the force. Before I could react, the ledge gave way, and I toppled, head over heels, down into the inky blackness that awaited below.