Kai's eyes widened. He forced himself to huff a laugh, despite the doom that rolled through him. "You must be crazy. I came here to kill you, not save you. Besides, you don't seem to need saving."
Skade groaned in annoyance. "Me? No, the prophecy speaks of freeing my brothers and sisters trapped within Jehana. How exactly, I could not say. You possess more power than you know, of that much I have no doubt."
Kai considered. What was Jehana? The world of the Dark Ones? He had never heard of it.
"Adekin said that you had lured me here so that you could kill me," Kai said.
Skade snarled, darkness growing around him. "Ah, of course he did. That coward. He lied. Adekin lied, so that he might keep his green hills and dutiful minions. He would choose peace, and forsake those in Jehana."
"What about the wraith you sent after me?" Kai asked. "If I am to save your people, why would you try to kill me?"
The Dark One sighed. "I was simply keeping pests away from my army. My men tend to desert when their fellow soldiers die. It is tedious. I found your little party of scouts and realized that you were different. I threw the knife to test you—to see if you were Shadowborn. The Shadow of the prophecy would not fall to such an attack—your shadows repel light."
Kai scrunched his forehead. Skade talked as if he had been there—had personally thrown the knife of light. Did he control the wraiths, then? He grit his teeth. "You nearly killed my friend with your 'test.'"
Skade seemed to shrug, the darkness around his shoulders building for a moment, then dispersing. "And I am to blame? You possessed the power to stop my attack—you simply chose not to."
"I didn't—" Kai snapped, but stopped. He swallowed. Skade was right. He had failed Harper—had nearly let her die, for him. She had nearly died for him.
"Regardless," Skade continued, as if he were talking to an old friend, rather than a potential enemy. "You do seem to be him. The Chosen, that is."
Saif growled. "Again, what does that mean? To what prophecy do you refer"
"You are too young to know of it," Skade said. "And even if you are four thousand years old, the prophecy was told on Jehana, not your world. As for what it says...the prophecy promised that the gates of Jehana would be opened one day, which should be near impossible. Its doors have been closed for tens of thousands of years, shut by the Erog—creatures more powerful than the gods themselves—in a war that nearly decimated us Dark Ones, and turned our home into a pile of rubble."
Kai swallowed, steadying his breathing. Prophecy, gates, Jehana, Erog—what did it all mean? Just how large was the universe?
"According to the prophecy," Skade drawled, "the Chosen would be a human—the weakest of creatures. This special human would possess an unnatural power. The power of the Dark Ones. And most importantly, the Chosen would have a black heart to match his dark magic. Would be as evil as us on Jehana, as terrible as a devil."
Kai thought he might vomit. He backed up a step, unable to form words. He had been chosen...because of his black heart? No. It could not be. He had stopped, he had turned away from murder, he had—
He had killed hundreds. Had ruthlessly slaughtered men who failed to pay their dues, or looked at Kai's employers the wrong way, or fought with Saif. He had murdered them. So, so many.
Faces flashed past Kai's vision. A black haired male, eyes young and bright. A male who might have changed the world for the better, might have met a wonderful wife and had children and lived a long and happy life. Another face, this one older. Brown hair speckled with gray; a bushy mustache and pointed beard. Kind eyes. The next face looked to be little more than a boy, a mop of blond hair plastered against his sweat-covered forehead. Perhaps these men had done wrong—perhaps they had stolen, or even killed. But did that give Kai the right to kill them?
Most of the faces flashing past Kai had tears in their eyes, expressions pleading. Defenseless, helpless, hopeless. And he had killed them.
Whatever chains that had begun to fall from Kai in the past months reformed, shackling his arms, his legs, his neck, weighing him down—
He fell to his knees, tears clouding his vision. He was distantly aware of Saif's voice—urgent and worried. Distantly aware of the darkness that was Skade gazing at him from above, motionless. It didn't matter. He did not deserve the elf's worry, did not deserve his help, did not deserve anything. He had spent his life killing, and had been naive enough to believe that he could atone for his many, many wrongs. How ignorant was he to think that it would all go away—the pain, the regret, the guilt—the moment he decided to help the world?
No, it would not go away. The pain would not end, and he did not wish it to. Because the least he could do was suffer, feel a fraction of what all of them had—
"Kai?"
He froze. He knew that voice; that soft, kind voice. It was altered by fear, but he recognized it all the same. Recognized her.
He slowly looked up, finding it hard to believe that she was truly here. It had only been a few weeks, and yet it seemed as though years had passed. But no, she was here. Alive, breathing.
Kai sobbed, pushing himself to his feet as she stood there, tears in her eyes.
Harper.
She was alive. She was safe. She was—
Beautiful. Harper looked just as he had remembered; flawless olive skin, jett black hair that curled around her shoulders. And her eyes. Hazel and as bright and breathtaking as the rays of twilight that had begun to cascade into the room.
They simply looked at each other for a moment, and Kai steadied his breath, blinking the tears from his eyes. Why was he crying? From guilt, from pain—or from the shock of knowing that she was here? That she was unhurt, by the looks of her.
Harper wore a plain grass-green dress, feet clad in black boots. The Deceiver must have given her changes of clothes as well, then. For that matter, he must have also lent her access to a bath. Her slender arms were free of dirt and blood, fingers curled delicately at her sides. The calluses on the pads of her fingers had begun to fade away.
She shivered, and Kai realized with a start where they were. Harper stood a few feet away from Skade, feet placed precariously as she tried not to slip on the ice that covered the floor.
"I do wonder," Skade's voice was filled with curiosity, and a hit of amusement. "Why the Chosen would care so much for the life of a human. He is said to be ruthless—unwavering in his cruelty." The Dark One took a step closer to Harper, and Kai stiffened.
"You see," Skade continued, "Very few creatures are born evil. For that matter, very few creatures are born anything—smart, strong, kind, courageous. These attributes are learned and developed throughout life. Cruelty is the same. Humans learn cruelty from their surroundings, from their parents and associates and the evil and sorrow around them. Some learn from their magic—like the elves. Those with fire often grow to be courageous and respect the frailty of the world around them, while those with water tend to care for their world, to help those in need. Elves who control the wind are lighthearted and carefree, moving with the wind—as I am sure you know. Us Dark One's, however..." Skade's shadows seemed to expand, to grow. They formed a hand of darkness, which he used to gesture toward himself. "Our magic has only one purpose. Destruction and pain and death. Seizing the minds of others, inflicting irreparable damage. You will find that I am one of the most agreeable of my kind. Still, I cannot avert the will of the darkness that flows through my veins—cannot help but cause misery and pain. It is what makes me who I am."
Saif's skin was as white as parchment. "How do you know so much about my kind?" he asked, voice hardly more than a whisper.
Skade laughed softly, a choking sound that stuck in his throat. "I may not be of this world, elf, but I have been here for a long, long time."
Kai processed the Dark One's words yet again, exhaling slowly.
"What do you mean by it all?" he asked. "You may be evil, but that does not mean that I am."
Skade laughed again. "But it does. Our magic courses within you—it is a part of you. We are a part of you. And with us comes our love for pain and cruelty."
"What about Adekin?" Kai blurted.
Skade snarled, the shadows around him seeming to darken, if such a thing were even possible. "Adekin is...an exception. He fought against his magic, and won...somehow. Which is not to say that he does not enjoy bringing pain to others. He has simply found a way to live without causing misery. Perhaps it came naturally, after living within human lands for so long. Perhaps his mortal servants swayed him somehow. Whatever the reason, a mere human such as yourself should succumb to the evil within your veins easily." The Dark One frowned. "I only wonder how you have not done so already."
Kai considered his words as he stepped cautiously forward, toward Harper—and Skade. Was he innately evil? Did cruelty truly live within him? There was no doubt that he had done terrible things, but hadn't he had a choice? Yes. He had decided to kill them, not the magic that dwelled inside him. Or were they the same thing?
Perhaps he had been evil. Perhaps cruelty had flowed through his veins. He had caused pain. He had destroyed lives, ripping families apart. He had been evil, had been everything wrong with the world, until...until he had come to Ath. Until he had met Harper. What had she done to him?
He cast the thought aside as he moved across the room. Harper stretched a hand to him, eyes filling with hope. Whatever happened before this, or after—none of it mattered. They were together now.
Skade stood silently at Harper's side, emotions indiscernible beneath his cloak. Kai had to bring her back, had to protect her. They could worry about leaving this castle later. He reached his hand toward Harper's, giving a small, reassuring smile to match her own—
And met a wall. Kai took a step back, eyes widening. He tentatively pressed his fingers forward once again, hoping, hoping... It was no use. An invisible wall had been erected between Kai and Harper. Magic, no doubt. Harper pulled her fingers back toward herself, horror beginning to fill her eyes.
Kai snarled, tearing his gaze to Skade. "What is the meaning of this?" Perhaps he should have spoken less rashly, rather than create more problems for himself, but... no. He had come here to bring Harper home. He would not reason with the being who held her hostage, even if he should.
The Dark One laughed, bringing his own shadowy fingers toward Harper. He ran a hand down her bare arm. Kai grit his teeth in rage as she stiffened, goosebumps flaring across her skin. But she did not cry. Did not scream, as Skade lifted her chin, turning her gaze away from Kai and toward himself.
Kai gained a new sense of how monstrous the being before him truly was as he stood beside Harper. Skade was far larger than her, a single hand of shadow the size of her face. His body seemed to be made from a darkness forged from evil and ice, sending waves of cold, terrible hatred toward Kai. Even his clothes seemed abnormal—his cloak floated atop the unholy mass that was his body, seemingly held by Skade's will alone.
He could crush her head in an instant, Kai realized. Not that he needed to crush her. He had magic. Magic that Skade himself had said was designed to hurt and torment others. He could torture her, or possess her, or...or kill her.
"Why," Skade said, "should I let her go? I did not go to the trouble of stealing her just to see her taken back a moment later." The Dark One studied Kai for a moment. "Besides," he said. "At this rate, you are likely not the Chosen after all. Just a human—and a weak one, at that. Blessed with rare magic, perhaps, but weak nevertheless." Skade glanced at Harper, tsking softly. "It seems that I brought her all the way here for nothing... What a waste of time. I will relish killing her, at least. She may keep me full until morning."
Skade lifted an arm, pulling away the hood that had covered his face—if it could be called a face. Pale skin, similar to Adekin's, and blond hair. He might have been handsome, if not for the red marks that snaked their way along his face, through his eyebrows and past his eyes. Scars, from fire or magic or something. His nose had been broken from his face completely, leaving a stub with two holes. Eyes as dark as the night sky sat above his ruin of a nose. And his mouth... pale lips, bordering white teeth, some of which had been chipped and broken.
Saif gasped, eyes contorted in horror. "You...how..."
Kai turned, studying Skade more carefully.
There, nearly hidden by his long blond hair. Ears. Pointed ears.
Skade laughed, face twisting as he did.
Tears formed within Harper's eyes, but she did not move, did not run. She simply stood before him, expression crumpling in terror as she opened her mouth and screamed. The sound enveloped the room, sharp and filled with emotion—fear, pain, dread, helplessness.
Red clouds of anger filled Kai's vision, and he exploded.