“WHAT!?”
Twilight shot out of bed and switched on the bedside lamp.
“What do you MEAN he’s inside your head!?” She yelled.
“What do you think I mean Twilight? He’s inside my fucking head, it wasn’t just a nightmare, he chased me outside into a forest and then tried to kill me!” I growled.
“The Frozen Forest?”
“No… It was somewhere different…”
Twilight put her head on one side, confused, her eyes still wide with fear. Before I could explain, Applejack burst into the room.
“What in tarnation is going on!?” She shouted.
“It’s Nah’Lek! He’s-”
“Not here, it was just a night terror.” I interrupted.
Opening her mouth to speak, I put an arm around Twilight and gave her a quick hug. I then faced Applejack and gave her a solemn look.
“Sorry it woke you up, she’s really struggling with the post-traumatic stress, hence why I’ve been keeping her company at night.” I told a half-lie.
Twilight trusted I knew what I was doing, and kept quiet, going along with it. Applejack came forward and gave her a tight cuddle.
“Oh Twi, I’m sorry. It’ll get better, I promise sugar cube…” She told her.
After giving Twilight some comfort, Applejack gave me a cuddle and then left the room. She closed the door and I heard the other ponies whispering, they all must have heard Twilight shouting and were concerned. Hearing AJ dismiss the worries and announce it was just a bad dream, doors were closed and Twilight glared at me.
“Why did you do that? We should have told her!” He hissed.
“And terrify everyone? Do we really need everyone in a state of high alert while you’re recovering from the Fel’s corruption? We’ll sort this problem out ourselves, without causing mass panic.” I replied.
“How in Equestria are we going to get rid of… Of… HIM!?”
“Keep your voice down.”
Twilight gritted her teeth and began pacing in circles.
“The Fel is gone… How is he still here?” She muttered to herself.
{If I may, I have a theory.} Conscio put forward.
“Sure, go ahead.” I replied.
“What?” Twilight asked, putting her head on one side.
I rolled my eyes, Twilight being unable to hear Conscio was rather frustrating. Taking the collars from her satchel, I passed one to Twilight and put my one on. After the scare earlier, she was very hesitant, but allowed me to put the collar around her neck. I didn’t touch the power button, as I assumed that would knock us out and send us back into the Frozen Forest.
{Testing, testing, can you smell me?}
“Yes, I hear you.” Twilight replied, smirking.
Conscio cleared his figurative throat, before explaining his theory to us.
{I think this is only a fraction of the real Nah’Lek, he was able to infiltrate Twilight’s brain via the Fel, but from there, can thrive inside the mind with or without it. Personally, I think this is just a shade of Nah’Lek, whom is being controlled by the real one through telepathy. Without the Fel to corrupt Twilight, I assume he’s given up on tormenting her, and now wants to go for Callum instead.}
I hummed, it was certainly a decent theory. Twilight seemed to agree it was the most likely cause.
“But how did he get inside your head? You’ve never been in contact with the Fel.” She quizzed.
“I have, once, while I was undercover in Paulo’s gang, my veins were glowing green with the Fel, but it was quickly flushed from my system. My depression tricks the Fel into thinking I’m already corrupted, so I’m technically immune to it.” I explained.
With this new information, Twilight backed Conscio’s theory even more.
“Maybe he’s right? Maybe it’s a fragment of Nah’Lek, and there’s more than one of them, one was inside my head, and now another is inside yours.” She hypothesised.
{Or perhaps there is just one, and he entered your brain through the collars?} Connie added.
“Yeah, that might have been the cause of the paralysis.” I hummed.
Twilight nodded in agreement, if anyone had a clue what was going on, it was Conscio. Even though I didn’t trust his identity, I knew he was on our side, which was the only important thing at this point.
“So, what’s our course of action?” Twilight asked.
“Well, when morning comes, I’m going to stick to my plan and take Rainbow Dash to find the orb shard, it shouldn’t take any more than a couple of days according to the parrot.” I told her.
“Surely we should deal with this first? We should nip this in the bud before it worsens.” She suggested.
I sat onto the bed and hummed with uncertainty, before sticking to my game plan.
“If I change the plan, Rainbow Dash will make sure I’ll never hear the end of it. I want to help her get a better understanding of the Fel, while also getting another orb shard in the bag. Making sure the group gets back together properly is essential for this mission to succeed.”
Twilight sat next to me, and took my hands in her hooves, clearly worried for me.
“You realise Nah’Lek won’t stop torturing you until we sort this out?” She mumbled.
“I will be fine.” I replied.
She opened her mouth to speak, and I repeated myself.
“I will, be fine. I promise.”
I gave the unicorn a hug, and we got back into bed; being the early hours of the morning, I could still squeeze in a few more hours of rest; if Nah’Lek would be so kind to permit it. Holding Twilight’s hoof for company, I closed my eyes, and was slowly able to drift off.
“For fuck sake.” I muttered as I opened my eyes.
The room was grey and warped, and I knew what was coming. I took a few breaths, preparing myself for pain, and remained motionless in bed, waiting for something to happen. Almost an hour later, the bedroom door began its intense knocking.
“Piss off.” I ordered.
Silence, it appeared my order had been obeyed. I then heard a scuttling noise by the open window, and looked over to see a pair of black claws emerging from behind the curtains.
“I’ll take The Dark Lord Sauron, for five-hundred bucks please, Scott.” I moaned dryly.
The claws froze, before receding back outside and out of sight.
{Huh, it appears you have the ability to annoy Nah’Lek into leaving you alone.} Conscio remarked.
I exhaled through my nose with amusement, and then realised my bed was vibrating slightly. I then felt a prickling sensation all over me, and glanced down to find black widow spiders crawling all over me. Gulping, I remained still, knowing any sudden movements could cause them to bite me.
“Not so amusing now, is it?” Nah’Lek’s voice rippled through the room.
Slowly rolling my head back to the window, I spotted him in the corner of the room. Besides his glowing eyes, he was just a black blob, encased in smoke.
“I was wondering when you’d show up.” I said, yawning.
As I yawned, one of the black widows crawled into my mouth, knowing this was a dream was helpful to remain calm, but it was still utterly horrifying. I chewed up the spider and spat it onto the floor.
“Sorry, was that one of your children?” I asked innocently.
Nah’Lek floated over until he was towering over me, the black smoke wafted around in small wisps. I could just make out the shape of his arachnid form. It took every ounce of my self-control to keep calm, and I continued to toy with him.
“So are you here for the turndown service or what?”
The spiders burst into dust and Nah’Lek planted a large dagger into my right thigh, it went all the way through my leg and pierced the mattress. I threw my head back and gritted my teeth.
“F-f-FUCK!” I gasped loudly.
Grabbing me by the throat, Nah’Lek leaned in until his smoky face was a mere inch from mine.
“Tell me where you are hiding, and I’ll make your death quick.” He hissed.
“You seem to be in a hurry to find us.” I grunted.
He twisted the dagger and I let out a low, blood-curdling growl of pain, my eyes watered up and I had to blink repeatedly to see properly. I then began to chuckle, causing Nah’Lek’s eyes to darken slightly, going from amethyst to a deep purple.
“And what, do you find so amusing?”
“This.” I replied.
{BYE SPINDLES!} Conscio shouted.
With a flash of white, I was able to escape the nightmare. I opened my eyes and found myself back in the normal bedroom, with Twilight sleeping soundly beside me.
“Thanks…” I whispered, before taking a moment to gather myself.
The sun was just rising, and being winter, I assumed it was around half past seven. While I hadn’t rested that well, I certainly had enough energy to get through the day. I got out of bed and put on my militia trousers, reminding me that I needed some new clothes at some point. I headed downstairs and lit the gas stove, before boiling the kettle and making myself some coffee.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
Coffee almost went all over the floor as I jumped out of my damn skin.
“Jesus Christ Applejack!” I gasped.
I whipped around and frowned at the farm pony, who was smirking at me.
“Not funny, I could have spilt this all over myself.” I grunted.
“By the looks of your chest, you’re used to burns.” She teased.
“Ouch, someone’s a little cold this morning.” I retorted.
She sighed and came over to me, she put a foreleg around my waist and gave me a quick hug.
“Sorry sugar cube, you’re not the only one who got a bad night’s sleep.”
I tilted my head, both confused and shocked that she knew.
“Like I said, you’re a terrible liar.” She repeated.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not deaf Callum, I heard what was being said last night; that monster’s in your head now.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Same reason you didn't, we don’t need everypony panicking.”
I hummed, and then took a sip of my coffee.
“So, why aren’t you panicking?” I asked.
“Because I’ve seen enough monsters to last me a lifetime, I used to work with the Everfree Rangers with Big Mac when we needed some extra cash.” She explained.
“The Everfree Rangers? What’s that?” I asked.
“Monster hunters.” She answered.
My eyes widened and my face lit up with a ridiculously large grin.
“Tell me more.” I implored.
Applejack chuckled at my enthusiasm, and went on to explain it to me.
“They’re an organisation funded by Princess Celestia to maintain the Everfree Forest. It might be a little different than your cartoon shows; it’s millions of acres in each direction, possibly as big as your country, England. This means there are a lot of monsters to deal with, of all shapes and sizes, and every so often, they leave the forest and attack towns and villages. If that happens, the Rangers are called out and they either drive the monster back into the woodland, or exterminate them. Me and Big Mac were often called to help out when monsters came near Ponyville.”
I took another big sip from my coffee, and then gave a small whistle.
“That sounds incredible.”
“Yeah, but it’s very dangerous. We stopped after Big Mac nearly lost his life, a manticore almost cut him in two, he had bandages around his waist for almost a month.” She replied.
{I bet that’s from season one, episode four, Applebuck Season.} I thought to myself.
“Well, the Everfree Rangers seem like a bloody exhilarating line of work.” I said.
“Yeah, you’d be good at it, you’ve sure got what it takes for the job.” She agreed.
She took a moment to look at me, and then closed her eyes and sighed, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. I finished my coffee and then gave her a cuddle.
“I know I’m not allowed to come back to Equestria with you, but we’ve still got a lot of time together, we’re not even halfway into this quest yet.” I reminded her.
I gave her a small scratch behind the ear, and she looked up to me and smiled.
“You’re right.”
“I know.” I teased, winking.
She rolled her eyes and then drank her apple juice, I headed outside and took a stroll through the woods, listening to the morning sounds, from the birdsong to the wind. The cold air felt rather soothing on my scarred chest, and woke me up fully, preparing me for the day.
I’d been out for about half an hour, when I came indoors to find Rarity and Rainbow Dash were now up and having breakfast. Upon seeing me, Dashie got up and came up to me.
“I’m ready when you are!” She announced.
“Good morning to you too.” I replied, smirking.
She chuckled and gave me a hug, it was nice to see her so happy again. We broke the hug and she took a moment to look at me, properly noticing how heavily scarred I was.
“You look like hammered shit.”
“I hear that’s the way you like ‘em.” I retorted.
She instantly burst into a nervous giggle, and then playfully punched me in the stomach, I tensed my stomach before the impact and my belly became a rock-solid wall. My muscles had defined well over the mission, resulting in a body akin to Captain America’s.
“Your muscles can take a hit, but they won’t take the cold.” Rarity remarked.
“Did you happen to save the clothes I looted from Chernobyl?” I asked.
“Oh gosh! That reminds me!” She exclaimed.
Rarity dashed off, and then returned with my old bag, they’d kept it since Twilight sent me to Portugal. Upon opening the bag, I found not only the clothing I’d taken in Ukraine, but also my old trainers from home, and my black leather jacket. I used the jacket years ago, as a prop costume during my early YouTube days, I had an old account called “nipercrab”, where I made some terribly made videos called “Like a Boss”. I portrayed the character called the Boss, who was basically the ultimate badass. The series flopped after four episodes and I stopped making videos, until I later made a channel called “Old Man Dusters”, where I made short films and comedy sketches.
“Thanks Rare, I seriously needed a change of outfit.” I said warmly.
I put on the long-sleeved tee, the padded sleeves added a tight-fitting comfort. I then added the jacket, which suited the dark militia chinos well, it would certainly keep me warm while out with Dashie. After having some breakfast and packing one of Rarity’s deployable tents, we headed out, with Blu on my shoulder.
We’d been walking for an hour, when I looked to Rainbow Dash with a puzzled frown.
“I expected you to be flying most of the way.”
“Yeah, Fluttershy got me thinking yesterday, I don’t want to strain them, so I’m taking things slow for now, I’ll probably fly most of the way back.” She replied.
“Huh, that’s actually rather mature of you.” I hummed.
She responded by whipping me with her tail, and I playfully bumped into her.
“I’m not that immature.” She said defiantly.
“Oohh yes you are.”
“Am not!”
Blu, who was fluttering about a metre above us, came down and landed on Rainbow Dash’s head, playfully jumping up and down to irritate her.
“You are! You are!”
“That’s it!” Dashie growled.
She jumped up and shook her head, causing Blu to fall down and then fly into the sky. She gave chase, leaving me to chuckle as she zoomed after the squawking bird.
“Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!”
I laughed loudly as they playfully raced across the skies, the chase went on for almost half an hour before Dashie quit and landed next to me.
“So much for resting your wings.” I teased.
“The parrot asked for it!” She panted back, slightly out of breath.
I ruffled her mane and we continued through the woods and down the mountain, we trudged onward and talked a lot, mostly about Equestria, but also quite a bit of playful banter. Eventually we came onto the subject of the mission, and all we’d been through, and I saw the opportunity to bring up Twilight.
“So, you’re pretty mad with Twilight, ey?”
“Ugh, I knew this would come up.” She groaned.
“Hey, come on, we’re having a good time.” I criticised.
“Then don’t ruin it by bringing that bitch up!”
“She’s changed Dashie.”
Rainbow Dash stopped in her tracks, and I turned to face her.
“Don’t give me that shit, she wasn’t all corrupted when she decided to treat you like trash, that was her decision to bully you, not Nah’Lek’s, not Celestia’s, hers! I watched my best friend turn into a monster, and then torment someone I care about, and I had to sit there and watch it happen! That’s not something I can forgive, she’s a cunt, and that’s the end of it!” She ranted.
I sighed with frustration, but refused to get angry with her.
“Rainbow, Twil-”
“Twilight, nothing! I hate the bitch, and there’s nothing you can say to change that!”
I knelt down to be on her level, and tilted my head slightly.
“What’s this really about Dashie?” I asked.
I got onto my knees and took one of her hooves, and she looked down at the ground, scraping at the dirt with her other hoof. After a moment of silence, she exhaled heavily.
“I tried so badly to stay loyal to Twilight, and to the Princess. Loyalty is my element, and I got so torn up over it, because I hated what she was becoming. When I had that panic attack after Brazil, you took care of me, and didn’t tell anyone how bad my anxiety is. Since then, you’ve become my best friend, and I really, really, care about you. Like, a LOT…”
She looked at me for a second, and then back down again. I appreciated Rainbow Dash wasn’t one for elaborating on her emotions, and this was hard for her to talk about.
“Watching you get bullied and punished for no reason felt so horrible. It just made me so angry, watching you stand there and take it; you’re not a punching bag, you’re an awesome guy! I feel so confident and bubbly around you. Twilight just made me so mad, there were so many times I wanted to get in her face about it, but I didn’t want to make things worse. I already hated her before what happened with Bunnie, but when she admitted to leaving her in the building to die, I felt this burning rage inside me. She took away someone you loved, someone that made you really happy, and all I want is for you to be happy.
She just makes me so, so…”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she lunged forward and held me tightly.
“I just hate her Callum! I fucking hate her!”
She needed to let it out, and I held her as she began to cry, all while cursing Twilight with every swearword she had in her vocabulary. Rainbow had been bottling all her emotions for months, and this was the result. While it would remain difficult to change her mind about Twilight, this emotional outburst was a step in the right direction; I needed to drain the bottled emotions out of her like puss in a wound.
She’d been angrily crying and ranting for a while, before she eventually settled down.
“Feel better?” I asked quietly.
Wiping her eyes and sniffing, she looked up at me and nodded. I patted her on the shoulder and stood up, and then asked Blu to point us in the right direction. He flew off and we both followed him, and Dashie quickly bounced back to her happy state after flying around for a bit.
We took one break for lunch, where we had the leftover mushroom pie from last night; it wasn’t that bad cold, and we happily tucked into it until there wasn’t any of it left. After letting the food go down, we walked onward for hours until the sun began to set.
“Can’t see well! Can’t see well!” Blu cawed.
“That’s fine, we’ll set up camp here, and continue tomorrow.” I said.
Taking the bag from my back, I removed the tent, which was currently the size of a suitcase. I tossed it onto the ground and it instantly sprung open into a cosy tent, big enough to fit two people with ease. We both still felt a little hungry, and snacked on some bread, we had a whole loaf to last us, so we had a couple of slices each. Rainbow Dash had peanut butter on hers, and I had some strawberry jam. After eating, we both hopped into the tent, and lay side by side. Blu remained outside, and went to sleep up a nearby tree.
“Hey, you feeling alright?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah, why?” I replied.
“Well, I just wasn’t sure if y-”
“Rarity did the same thing yesterday.” I sighed.
“What do you mean?”
“Look, just because I’m depressed, doesn’t mean I need constant checking up on. If I need your help, I’ll tell you, okay? Don’t give me any special treatment for it.” I told her.
“Alright, sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologise, just don’t pussyfoot around me. I’m fine, I promise.”
Dashie rolled into me, and I put my arm underneath her. We both got comfortable, and then went off to sleep quickly, wanting to rest as much as possible for tomorrow’s trek.
{You’re taking the piss now.} Conscio groaned.
I sat up in the tent, and as expected, it was grey and warped, confirming this was another one of Nah’Lek’s nightmares. The sleeping bag appeared to be made of human skin, and it tried to cling to my body as I rolled out of it. After successfully peeling it from me, I unzipped the tent and walked outside. I found myself in a clearing, the trees around me were so tall they touched the sky. Almost all of them had the same blackened creepers girdling their trunks, choking the life out of them. I knelt down and combed my fingers through the dying grass, it was cool and smooth to the touch.
“I’ve seen many brainscapes, but this one is quite peculiar.” Nah’Lek muttered.
I turned around and saw the demi-god a few metres away from me, still shrouded in smoke.
“Do I get a head start? Or are you going to kill me as soon as I start running?” I asked.
He didn’t reply, and then strode towards me. He stopped in the middle of the clearing and took his staff from his back; holding it above his head, the top of the weapon began to glow green. I dived out of the way as he brought it down over me, and he drove it a few inches into the ground. I watched with horror as pure Fel shot through the staff and into the dirt, it spread like a fire, turning the grass a sickly green; it then spread to the trees, where something utterly extraordinary happened.
Rather than corrupting the trees, the black vines that ensnared them began to draw in all the Fel, absorbing it like a sponge. They coiled tighter around the trees, causing them to moan deeply, the entire clearing shook as trees resonated this intense groaning. Nah’Lek removed his staff from the earth, and watched with interest as the Fel was sucked from the very ground, the grass went back to its pale-yellow colour. The creepers shone green for a moment, before breaking down the Fel, and they returned to normal, loosening their grip on the trees.
It was my depression… The vines represented my depression…
“Now that is fascinating…” Nah’Lek said to himself.
He walked over to a tree and lay a claw upon one of the creepers, the vine tightened its grip around the tree trunk upon his touch; while it seemed to choke the tree, it was also appearing to defend it. He placed his staff against the bark in between the vines, and infused a dose of Fel into it. The creeper tightened and once again, soaked up all the Fel from the wood.
“You are immune…” Nah’Lek murmured.
“You’re in control of the deadliest magic in the universe, and you can’t harm me with it. Not quite what you expected, ey?” I mocked.
His shadowy form turned to face me, before dispersing into tiny wisps, and then disappearing entirely. Gulping, I began to look in all directions, trying to pinpoint where he had gone.
“Really Nah’Lek? You’re hiding from me? I thought you were the element of fear itself, all I see right now is cowardice, hardly a demi-god, are you?” I taunted.
“So much arrogance…” His voice echoed.
“You should meet my brother.” I scoffed.
Without any warning, a great force smacked into my side and knocked me to the ground, I skidded across the dirt and rolled back up to my feet. Before I could get any bearings, Nah’Lek swung his staff into my shoulder, completely shattering the bone. I dropped to the ground and cried out loudly, before looking up to Nah’Lek and began to chuckle through the pain.
“In what conceivable way does this amuse you?” He asked.
“You honestly have no clue; how powerless you are.” I laughed through my tears.
“Powerless?”
Nah’Lek’s eyes changed colour again, this time turning a bloody crimson. Enraged, he dropped his staff and firmly clamped his claws around my thigh and tightened his grip until flesh was torn, and bone was crushed. He then yanked me upwards and ripped off my leg completely. I let out a deafening scream of agony and he hurled me across the clearing, I hit the dirt and I howled as the pain pulsated through the bleeding stump. His eyes returned to their normal colour, clearly pleased with my suffering.
“Am I so powerless now?” He sneered.
I rolled onto my back and began to laugh. Through the intense pain, came a madness in my mentality; the more he hurt me, the funnier it became. Nah’Lek flew at me and grabbed my throat and once again lifted me into the air.
“You’ve… Really got a thing… For choking people… Do you have erotic asphyxiation?” I wheezed.
He let go of me and I was able to stay standing on one leg, I started hopping in order to maintain my balance, causing blood to spray all over the floor from the remains of my right thigh.
“Play games all you like, but you will break.” Nah’Lek spoke.
“Ever hear of the one-legged man in the ass-kicking contest?” I asked in reply.
“You are so relentlessly annoying.” He droned.
“Thanks.” I replied merrily.
With a small push, Nah’Lek knocked me onto the ground, where I sat looking up at him, my one leg outstretched, now soaked in blood.
“Tell me, boy. Why have you come here?” Nah’Lek questioned.
“My mother used to call me boy.” I hummed.
One of his claws emerged from the smoke and gripped my foot, and then pierced my ankle. I screamed at the top of my lungs as he severed my Achilles tendon, it snapped loudly before curving backwards and emerging from my calf. Arching my back, I flailed my head side to side and screamed for at least ten seconds before the pain was manageable, and I began to cackle maniacally. The shock and adrenaline gave me just enough to push through this. Nah’Lek stood directly over me and revealed his face, mildly fascinated by my crazed laughter.
“You’re resistant, granted. But even the strongest heroes can be broken.” He told me.
I gritted my teeth, and looked at him with a face of defiance.
“Oh, I’m no hero Nah’Lek; I feel pain, and I’m in agony right now. But let me tell you this, you’re not getting a word out of me, I’m not telling you SHIT! You can torture me as much as you like, you can do your worst, but pain and killing is part of my job.” I snarled.
“And of mine, boy.”
I glowered at him, my body shaking uncontrollably from the shock. He clearly knew I was afraid, and there was no point in hiding it either, he wasn’t a fool, but nor was I; even if I did tell him what he wanted to hear, the torture would continue. I looked down to find I was now literally soaking in my own blood, I suspected I wouldn’t bleed out in the dreamland, and would only die when Nah’Lek permitted it, or perhaps Conscio, but he had gone mysteriously quiet.
Nah’Lek placed a single claw on my thigh. I looked down at the claw, and then back up at Nah’Lek. I knew whatever he did next was going to be painful, so I decided to anger him further at least. No matter what he did, I wanted the last laugh.
“I’ve got a little itch, down there, just on my knee. Would you mind?”
Tilting his head slightly in acknowledgement, the claw moved downwards to the top of my knee, and then pierced the skin, I shook violently and hollered as it went underneath my patella.
“RRUUAAAGGHH! NO! NO! TO THE RIGHT! HAH... TO THE RIGHT!” I roared.
Sliding the claw further inward, Nah’Lek yanked upwards and the entire kneecap tore out.
“AAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!! YES! YES! YOU GOT IT!” I cried.
I was both sobbing and roaring with laughter at the same time, I was losing my sanity under this torture, but I couldn’t break, if I did, all of Equestria would be at stake. I took deep breaths to manage the pain, this was a little more than I could take, this nightmare needed to end.
“Alright, Connie, now would be a good time!” I shouted out.
{I’m trying!} He thought back.
Nah’Lek picked up his staff, and placed it against the side of my head.
“Oh, I don’t think so, not this time.”
A burning pain shot through my head, like the worst migraine in the history of migraines, the pain was worse than everything Nah’Lek had just done to me put together. I convulsed with agony and shut my eyes, thrashing around as I felt the dark magic burn its way into me. Conscio, too, screamed out, clearly in just as much pain as I was. When I briefly opened my eyes, I was met with something entirely shocking, a ghostly body was being sucked out of me, as though my body were parting with my spirit; I kept my eyes open and watched while battling the intense pain emitting through my head. The body wasn’t human, as I spotted a pair of hooves kicking wildly from the astral form, leaving trails of pale blue smoke. Everything flashed white, and when my vision came back to me, everything was blurry, I could only make out the shapes of Nah’Lek’s black form, and someone else’s body, lying on their side.
“You may rest for the remainder of the night.” Nah’Lek said to me, pushing me over.
I watched his black form approach the other body, whom was trying to stand up. He cried out with pain as Nah’Lek grabbed the top of his head and lifted him up, his fangs chattered loudly with desire.
“But you, Stardust… You and I have some catching up to do…”