Page 304 of The Ascended
I ran.
My feet pounded as I fled blindly through the void. Direction was meaningless, distance an illusion. Yet I ran, heart hammering against my ribs, lungs burning with exertion.
But there was no escaping him.
"Where are you going, little godling?" His voice was everywhere. "There is nowhere to hide from me. Not here. Not ever."
I felt claws scraping against my mind. Digging.
Thais. Remember Thais.
I clutched the memory. My twin. My other half.
Thais. Indigo eyes turned golden. Midnight hair. Defiance personified.
I remembered our childhood—hiding her powers from the village, swimming in the cove at dawn, sharing secrets in our small room while Sulien snored in the next. The way she'd curl her fingers around mine when frightened but would never admit her fear. Her voice, raspy from shouting over crashing waves. The sound of her breathing as we slept back-to-back, twin heartbeats synchronizing.
And I remembered that final moment—her running toward me, desperation etched into every line of her face, newly golden eyes wide with horror, fingers outstretched, screaming my name as reality tore open between us.
Moros circled, patient as death itself. His presence brushed against my consciousness, tearing tiny fragments from the edges of the memory.
"You can't hold onto her forever," he whispered, voice crawling beneath my skin.
I ran again. The darkness seemed thicker here, pressing against my skin like tar. Time stretched, twisted. Had I been running for hours? Days?
When I finally collapsed, gasping for breath in a place without air, Moros was waiting.
"Let's try again, shall we?" His hunger was palpable, writhing in the shadows around me.
Thais. Remember Thais.
Her voice—what did she sound like?
Golden eyes. Black hair. My twin. The girl who ran after me, reaching across the tear in reality.
"What was her name again?" Moros taunted, voice dripping with false innocence.
"Thais," I snarled. "Her name is Thais Morvaren."
"For now."
I fled again, though I knew escape was impossible. Time became an abstract concept, meaningless in the endless void.
Moros found me again. Or perhaps he'd never left.
Remember her. Remember.
Golden eyes. Black hair. A girl. Someone important.
We'd grown up together in... where was it? A coastal village. I could almost smell the salt air, feel the sand between my toes.
What was her relation to me? A sister. No—a twin. My twin sister.
And her name...
Thais.
Yes, that was it. Thais.
