Page 305 of The Ascended
"Your resistance is admirable," Moros said, his voice almost gentle. "But ultimately futile."
He fed again, and I screamed into the void as chunks of myself disappeared.
The void became my entire existence. Had there ever been anything else?
Sometimes I remembered running, though I couldn't recall what I was running from. Or to.
Remember her.
Who?
A girl with golden eyes and black hair. She'd reached for me as I was pulled away.
I couldn't remember her name anymore. Just the eyes—fierce, determined, filledwith grief.
Why did thinking about her make my chest ache?
"Almost done now," a voice whispered. Had it always been there?
Golden eyes. Reaching for me.
Who had golden eyes? Why was that important?
The memory slipped away like water through cupped hands.
Who am I?
The question echoed in the emptiness where my identity had once been. I searched desperately for something to anchor myself to. Nothing. There was nothing.
Who am I?
I asked the void, but it offered no answers.
Who...?
Golden eyes. Black hair. Reaching for me.
Darkness devoured everything.
"Come, child."
A voice pierced the shadows.
"How did you find yourself in here?"
I felt a presence moving, a figure materializing from the shadows themselves. Though I couldn't see her clearly, I sensed her.
"I am Queen Andrid Valtýr," she said, moving closer.
I braced myself for whatever new torment this entity would inflict.
"Darkness does not always equate to evil," she said, as if sensing my thoughts. "Just as light does not always represent good. I prefer to exist in the spaces between."
An odd calm washed over me as I felt her presence.
"I do not know what you seek," she said, her voice softening. "But I can give you purpose. A place within my realm. Service that will give meaning to your existence."
I felt myself slipping deeper.
