It was after sunset that the door swung open, allowing a shadow to step through. Throughout the abandoned mill, the rats froze, listened, and watched. When they realized it was Aiden, they didn’t bother to hide. He was a friend of theirs.
Leaning against the door, Aiden sighed. His bowed head was shrouded in a heavy hood, and his hands were both buried in his elbows. For a long quiet moment, he just focused on the sound of his breathing, attempting to still the chaos brimming in his mind. Trying to quiet the voice in his head that got worse every time he used his magic.
Reluctantly, Aiden lifted one hand and allowed the oversized sleeve to roll back, revealing his glowing fingertips. White cracks in his skin, like frozen lightning, reached all the way down to his palms. The glow illuminated his face, and matched the same white hot light burning in his eyes and cracks tearing across his forehead and cheeks. A bluish halo filled his hood, framing his head as if it were a haunting piece of art.
“Huh,” Aiden breathed as he turned his hand over.
Despite the jarring appearance of the cracks of light, they didn’t hurt. It felt more like there was energy coiled within his limbs, waiting to be released. Like being possessed of a powerful need to jump and run when there was no need.
The ruptured witchmark was… terrifying. It was as though he was beginning to transform into something. Not in the way an Yludih transforms into a human, but the way a mortal transforms into a god. Or a demon. Apotheosis. Or damnation. He wasn’t certain which.
“Well.” Aiden dug his hand back into the pit of his elbow. “Enough of that.”
Although the rats did not hide away, they did give the false human a cautiously wide berth as he walked across the warped wooden floor. His shadow manifested at his feet as he neared the window–well, not so much a window as a jagged hole in the rotted wall where moonlight crept into the room.
Aiden turned and stared down at the shadow, studying it. As if it were a tool to be used. After all, since his encounter with Tobias, now it was.
Drawn by curiosity, one of the rats ventured a little closer to Aiden than the rest. This one had a severed tail and a white hind leg. It wandered up and sat in the middle of Aiden’s shadow, then reared up and twitched his nose at him.
“Oh. You again.” Aiden dug his glowing fingers into a pocket, then tossed bread crumbs into his shadow. He always saved a little more for this particular rat. The waiting rodent gratefully nibbled them up. “Hello. I’m surprised you’re still alive.” He scratched his chest. “I’m surprised I’m still alive.”
Aiden lowered himself and sat against the broken wall. The rat was bold enough to climb onto his boot, and then up his knee. The false human dug a few more crumbs from his pocket, then offered up his palm. The rat stepped onto his hand with two tiny paws and ate happily.
“I never finished my story about Wanderer,” Aiden mused as the rat’s whiskers tickled his facsimile of skin. “I did promise I’d tell you more.”
Leaning against the door, Aiden sighed. His bowed head was shrouded in a heavy hood, and his hands were both buried in his elbows. For a long quiet moment, he just focused on the sound of his breathing, attempting to still the chaos brimming in his mind. Trying to quiet the voice in his head that got worse every time he used his magic.
Reluctantly, Aiden lifted one hand and allowed the oversized sleeve to roll back, revealing his glowing fingertips. White cracks in his skin, like frozen lightning, reached all the way down to his palms. The glow illuminated his face, and matched the same white hot light burning in his eyes and cracks tearing across his forehead and cheeks. A bluish halo filled his hood, framing his head as if it were a haunting piece of art.
“Huh,” Aiden breathed as he turned his hand over.
Despite the jarring appearance of the cracks of light, they didn’t hurt. It felt more like there was energy coiled within his limbs, waiting to be released. Like being possessed of a powerful need to jump and run when there was no need.
The ruptured witchmark was… terrifying. It was as though he was beginning to transform into something. Not in the way an Yludih transforms into a human, but the way a mortal transforms into a god. Or a demon. Apotheosis. Or damnation. He wasn’t certain which.
“Well.” Aiden dug his hand back into the pit of his elbow. “Enough of that.”
Although the rats did not hide away, they did give the false human a cautiously wide berth as he walked across the warped wooden floor. His shadow manifested at his feet as he neared the window–well, not so much a window as a jagged hole in the rotted wall where moonlight crept into the room.
Aiden turned and stared down at the shadow, studying it. As if it were a tool to be used. After all, since his encounter with Tobias, now it was.
Drawn by curiosity, one of the rats ventured a little closer to Aiden than the rest. This one had a severed tail and a white hind leg. It wandered up and sat in the middle of Aiden’s shadow, then reared up and twitched his nose at him.
“Oh. You again.” Aiden dug his glowing fingers into a pocket, then tossed bread crumbs into his shadow. He always saved a little more for this particular rat. The waiting rodent gratefully nibbled them up. “Hello. I’m surprised you’re still alive.” He scratched his chest. “I’m surprised I’m still alive.”
Aiden lowered himself and sat against the broken wall. The rat was bold enough to climb onto his boot, and then up his knee. The false human dug a few more crumbs from his pocket, then offered up his palm. The rat stepped onto his hand with two tiny paws and ate happily.
“I never finished my story about Wanderer,” Aiden mused as the rat’s whiskers tickled his facsimile of skin. “I did promise I’d tell you more.”