Page 9 of Ecliptic

Somehow, I could still see and hear even though my senses were distorted without a body to anchor them. I should have been terrified, but it was oddly freeing. And for a moment, I considered giving in. I had already lost.

Or could I harness this new form? Use it to my advantage?

If Erovos intended to turn me into a gateway of Light, then I would be just that. I would decide who and how they passed. No one else.

Step through,I coaxed the Dark Spirit’s mind, shocking even myself with the sound of my voice.

Erovos hesitated, astonished that I could speak to him. My caressing of his mind had defied his expectations.

What are you waiting for? Isn’t this what you wanted?

Erovos remained where he stood, his billowing cloak of darkness brushing against his bare ankles.

Why wasn’t he moving?

I couldn’t lose this chance and let him slip away, not when I was slipping myself. I could barely remember why I was here, only that I desperately needed to contain this Dark Spirit before his blight spread through the cosmos.

More power awaits you, I lied, not letting my voice reveal how frightened I was, terrified that he might change his mind.

“You are under my command. And you will take me where I wish to go,” he said, dipping his hand into my pool of Light.

My new form wanted to recoil, but I quickly latched onto his hand.I will take you where a hungry being such as yourself deserves to go.

Erovos tried to pull away, but my Light held firm. He yanked again, his expression twisting in fury as he realized I wasn’t letting go. “Release me,” he demanded, and when I ignored him, he thrashed like a wild animal, desperately fighting to break free.

You thought I was weak and easily manipulated. But you have unleashed me,I said, surging with unshackled power.

However strong I felt, Erovos was an Elder Spirit with formidable power, and I was losing my grip in our battle of wills.

You shall travel where I see fit for you to go,I said, struggling to hold on to Erovos’ thrashing body, gnawing for release. I couldn’t keep him like this forever. I would have to send him somewhere.

I shifted my attention, searching for a familiar prison, even though it already harbored a guilty man. Or what was left of him.

I frantically searched for the lightning-shaped crevice that had once opened just for me, revealing the astrally torn spirit of Maddock Mosa. His fractured mind had called to me after the connection we’d forged in the hospital where I’d tried and failed to save him. The echo of pain guided me to the place where all our destinies would intertwine.

I needed to hurry before I lost my hold on Erovos, which was weakening by the second.

At last, I found the crevice—dark and jagged, just as Iremembered it. And now, it would be the eternal resting place for both Erovos and Maddock.

But before I could transport Erovos, he wrenched free, and my heart plummeted like a cliff falling into the sea. The failures of my life stacked before me like a crumbling wall, waiting to bury me under the weight of my guilt. Maybe Erovos was right, and I was a mistake.

I failed not only Luneth but Earth as well, and any other planet Erovos deemed worthy enough to drain. Because the Dark Spirit would not give up; he would find another way to travel to distant worlds, returning here to use me once I’d forgotten who I was.

Suddenly, a bronze warrior burst from the shadows, barreling into Erovos with the force of a charging beast. Demil lunged out of nowhere, his momentum unstoppable as he locked the world eater in a tight embrace.

I could only watch as they both fell through my tunnel of light.

How had Demil returned so quickly? Had he slain Graem? The giant was colossal, but Demil was a fierce warrior. Had it come to deathly blows, or had Demil escaped, returning for one last shot at redemption?

“Unhand me!” Erovos shrieked as they plunged together into the crevice. The once handsome man who’d lain next to me in the ICU would be there to greet them. Though his physical body was comatose in a hospital bed, his astral body was stranded in the cave I now banished the Dark Spirit to.

But I didn’t have the time or luxury to feel regret over Maddock and Demil. They had chosen their fates.

I extended my Light in a swirling vortex, pushing the traitor and world eater deeper into the crevice.

Erovos fought and gnashed, but Demil’s arms squeezed tighter, never letting go of the Dark Spirit. The warrior’s yelloweyes quickly traced over my glimmering essence, so out of place in this nightmarish cave. “Get out!” he screamed, his silver circlets stark against Erovos’ black robes.

I pulled away, reeling in my current of Light as Demil held the Dark Spirit back, buying me precious time to escape. But I couldn’t just leave. I needed to seal the rock shut.

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