[THE DAY MY DREAM DIED]

8 - Contract

— 8 —

Contract

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Lise watches the fiends whiz past, a thousand nebulous shapes darting towards the pinpricks of light. Where the fiends sting the lights flicker, but aren't extinguished. 'These fiends... I've never seen their type before.'

'Nor had I; at least, not this specific type. They haven't killed anyone—they just keep them weak, don't allow them rest. But I don't think that will last.'

'My expertise is in handling a few strong fiends. Something of this scale is beyond me.' Lise admits, thinking back to her recent failures.

Elineal growls, 'You gave your word that you would assist me.'

'I did give my word.' Lise frowns, not understanding the sudden change in mood. 'Don't misconstrue me. As I said before, I intend to keep my word.' Not that I have much choice. 'I just don't know how effective I can be here.'

Elineal's demeanor is poised once more. 'Good. I will keep you under until this town is saved.'

Lise's eyes narrow. 'You're going to keep me unconscious.'

'Not unconscious, just under.' She clarifies.

'I see. And you accept the danger you will be putting me in by doing so?'

Elineal meets her cold stare. 'Of course I know the danger.'

'I didn't ask if you know the danger, I asked whether you accept that you are subjecting me to it.'

The woman hesitates, breaking eye contact. 'One day you might understand.'

I see... 'Show me what you want me to do.' Lise says after the silence has drawn taut, struggling to draw the indignation from her gaze. There is more to this. The feeling is enough to keep her ire contained, but only just.

'...This way.' Elineal says, subdued.

A sphere of glass appears around them and she begins to lead her through the swarm. The fiends bounce off the glass and zip away. Some of the larger ones crack the sphere as they impact, but the breaks mend with ease.

'They're very weak.' Lise observes.

'Yes, but they act more... cohesively than any other fiends I've come across. They're more dangerous than they seem.' The woman has a peculiar tone as she says this that Lise can't decipher.

As they meander through the village, more and more of the fiends seem to be aiming for them, reaching such a frenzy that Elineal struggles to exert her will. The sphere is in a constant state of cracking and sealing. They can hardly see, for the number of dark forms darting about them has become overwhelming. She realizes—distantly—that Elineal's construct is going to shatter.

She looks back at Lise, and explains, 'They somehow sense that we are all that stands in their way,' sounding dubious of the idea that they have any degree of awareness, even as they observe it.

The glass bursts apart. Fiends surround her. Pain. Excruciating pain. They bite and Lise can feel their poison coursing through her. It burns. She burns. She pushes the burning outward. Fire erupts. Fiends are blasted to sand in the blaze. Solidifying. A new sphere of scorched glass forms around them.

Elineal gasps, heaving. Only a few seconds. Lise trembles with the memory of terrible pain—darkness subsuming her. It's hard to say how much of it had been the fiends' poison and how much is simply NON recalled.

'How did you...?' The woman looks at her, incredulous.

Lise meets her stare, face blank. 'I just... reacted.' She doesn't understand the whole of it herself. Around them the swarm reforms, battering against the glass. It doesn't crack. I should have helped the moment I noticed she was struggling, she chides herself. 'I see why you called them more dangerous than they seem.'

'Indeed...' The woman appears lost, eyes gazing inward. She looks up, and her poise returns—though slower this time. 'Let's keep on. It's safer where we're headed.'

'Lead the way. I will maintain it from here.'

Elineal nods, and for a moment she appears older. Her true age? Lise shakes away the loose thought and focuses on the sphere.

It isn't too long before she halts again.

'Here?' Lise wonders, trying to see past the swarm.

'No...' Distracted, she shivers. 'I must wake soon. Just ahead, though.'

They press onward, and she is able to maintain the sphere without trouble.

'Here.' Elineal stops her. The sphere begins to stretch forward; she doesn't resist her manipulation. It opens up and a sharply-defined wooden door appears in the space. 'Go.'

Hesitating, Lise releases control of the sphere, like... Like passing delicate glass to someone prone to clumsiness...

She doesn't take any joy from the distantly amusing thought.

Hand on the doorknob; over her shoulder, she asks, 'What is my purpose here?'

'That's not a question someone else can answer for you.'

'Funny.'

'You didn't laugh.'

'Nor you.'

Elineal shrugs, and again, for only a blink, the skin beneath her eyes is borne down by the weight of her years. 'I fear even this wretched excuse for levity will be lost. It may be annoying, but when you're without it you will regret its absence.' Lise watches her and hears her, perhaps more precisely than the woman imagines. 'Your purpose is to keep them from harm... I will return.'

Lise inclines her head, and turns to the door. She feels the absence behind as she pushes forward...