"We have no choice, Aidan.”
He reluctantly took Niall on his back. Silently, the Human let his body rest against the Archer. He was exhausted.

The Plan was, quite frankly, weak, but I didn’t know how else we would have gotten out. I just refused to stay there and watch Niall get killed. I knew it would come to this. I would not let that happen.

We only managed to leave the room before two Guards appeared:
“Meira, daughter of Elsyia, get back to the room”

“He needs fresh air” I gestured towards Niall. My words not making sense. Overdrive mode.

I heard Niall moaning.
“Please, whatever my mother told you, please, help us.”
A wall. Hopeless.

“Let us go.” The voice was deep, assured, with a hint of danger.

It wasn’t Aidan.

The Guards let us past, the room suddenly filled with tension. Outside, the Community gathered, impatient to see the High Priestess in action. Everything seemed to happen in slow-motion: The three of us getting out of the Council, Aidan stealing a horse (or, in his own words “borrowing, Meira, borrowing.”) no one going after us, and the night descending all over the OtherWorld.

I glanced at Niall. His eyes had changed from the warm chocolate tone I knew to a cold, piercing blue. He looked at me, very kindly, and I knew I couldn’t tell Aidan. He, just like Niall, was out of reach.

The Dark took over, then. A very simple spell; it freed us from everything we knew, and now I was all alone with It.

“Let’s spend the night here, Aidan.”

We had been walking for a while – hours maybe, and we were nowhere close to home.

“Niall won’t make it to the house. Not in that state.”

He was still asleep, against Aidan’s back.

“Aidan, you look awful. Come on, let’s have a break.”

We stopped in the middle of the same forest we travelled through just a few days before. Everything looked different. Eerie. Threatening. I was not used to such thick darkness, and it made the trees look like wild creatures, ready to jump at me.

“Help me light a fire.” Aidan was already on his feet, collecting branches. We made a very basic camp, using the horse’s drapes and Aidan’s Council cape as blankets. I carefully woke Niall to walk him near the fire, hoping the Dark was gone, that my friend was back, even for a few minutes.

His smile said otherwise.

We all sat in silence, Aidan soon drifting to sleep. I wondered how all of this affected him. My mother’s betrayal, our escape from the Council. The threat of the Dark suddenly becoming so close and so real. I worried about him, about his reactions. We weren’t always in agreement, but I trusted him with my life; he was my guide, the only one I’d ever had. And I only brought destruction. I’d lost my mother, earlier today, and I realised that maybe I was losing Aidan too. That feeling of loneliness crept back, just like it did at Niall’s.

He moved next to me, resting his head on my shoulder.

“Hello, fellow fairy.”

It was subtle. The voice had notes of Niall’s. The eyes had the shape of him. The smile had almost the same warmth. But everything about him was colder, sharper.

“It’s a nice night, don’t you think, Meira?”

I said nothing. He continued.

“Look at the stars. Full of energy. It’s stunning. I missed that.”

Being next to him was like drowning and regaining consciousness over and over. My vision was blurred, and my heart raced for an exit. “Why are you doing this to us?”

He took a deep breath.

“I just need to live, I guess?” then, “you know, your mother had a good shot at defeating me. I honestly thought she would succeed, at some point. Then, she retreated. She let me go. Very sentimental of her. I am very grateful for the opportunity.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”
He looked at me, with the same intensity Niall did back on Earth. It took me by surprise, the way he impersonating him almost to perfection. Taking his body and soul away, making itself at home.

“It’s very hard to get your attention. All these years making people scream and getting under their souls…I’m glad it worked out. And that boy is very, very promising. I could do great things in this body.”

“What do you want from me.” It took everything in me not to cry.
His head was still resting on my shoulder. It looked like we were having a friendly conversation. But nothing was nice about that chat.
“Power. I want to keep living, Meira. You can’t fight me, just like you can’t fight these thoughts in your mind.” He smiled again. “Your world and I go way back. Before Archers, before Sorceresses, before pretty fairies full of magic.” He gestured at the nothing around us “We were connected. And then people decided that I was bad and that my energy was killing them. So I had to seek power elsewhere. It’s a sad state of affairs, what happened next.”

He was referring to the Long Night.
“Your mum, he continued, was the best of them. She was fierce. She was loving. I was living in a similar body that time, a Guard from the OtherWorld. Your mum knew, but she was young, and her feelings were all over. She wore them proudly. She couldn’t fight me. And you know, I think I loved her too, for a little bit.”

I gasped in horror, my body jolting. I quickly moved away from him. Aidan was still sleeping.

“I never had the chance to see you when you were a child, of course. But I was curious. Guiding you with dreams was the easiest way to connect. Although I should have known you would have wanted to help the people in need. Like Mother, like daughter.”

Tears started to flow, at long last. The Dark was messing with my head. There was no other explanation. Ii couldn’t breathe. And those eyes were still looking at me, waiting to say it.

“You’re a liar.” I whispered. It was all I could come up with.

“Ask your mother about the necklace. Ask her why she didn’t kill me. While you’re at it, ask your beloved Archer why he never finished the job.
And ask yourself why you’re the only one in the history of our world to have a connection with the most powerful threat for your community.” He shrugged. He wasn’t angry. Just stating facts.

And suddenly: “Meira. I’m so glad we could finally talk. I’m very proud of the young woman you have become, you know. Very proud. We could do great things together. You have a gift. Think about it. Will, you, for me?”

And with that, he was gone. Niall’s body falling at my feet, convulsing and screaming. Aidan waking up and rushing to him.

The fire dying.

Me, watching, out of my body, disconnected from reality.

Meira, seventeen, daughter of the Dark.

*************

Meira, help me.

HELP ME!

I snapped back to reality, with Aidan yelling Niall to stand still. He was having a kind of seizure, and his body was shaped in weird angles. I  hold him, cradling him like I did back in London. After what it seemed like an eternity and some, Niall started to relax in my arms.
He tried to speak, calling my name. And I knew this time it was him, truly him.

“What the frakk just happened?”
Aidan was trying to revive the fire.
“I think the Dark released its grip on Niall.  He’s safe for now.” I really hoped I sounded calm and collected.

“How do you feel, Niall?” I was still holding him in my arms.

“Like I just woke up from the most confusing nightmare,” he said, holding on to me; his familiar warmth was calming at last.

“I bet. Do you know what happened and where you are?”

He looked at me then at Aidan. “You have a real supervillain to defeat, that would be a great movie. ”

I laughed. In spite of everything, Niall was still here, alive and himself again.

“In a nutshell, yes, you’re correct.”
“I don’t want to spoil the moment," Aidan interrupted, "but what now? Where has the Dark gone if it’s not consuming the Human anymore?”

“It wants Power, I said. It's desperate for it.” I didn’t want to tell Aidan about what It said to me. Not just yet.

“Do you think it’s back to the Council?” Aidan was pacing, trying to think of the next move.

Niall spoke first: “I think The Dark wants as much energy as it can gather. I could feel it. It was like being trapped in a closet and watching someone else through the keyhole. The Dark wants to grow, it wants to control this world. I could feel heartbreak and resentment, too", he continued, frowning. “Like it wants to make someone or something theirs. Does that mean anything to you both?”

I did know what it meant. Aidan caught my eyes.

“Back to the Council then. The whole community must be gathered there. Easy targets.”

A smile from Aidan was a rare but comforting sight. I would have to confront him soon, but first I had to keep our world safe. 

We all slept a bit more before we decided to go back, the three of us; Niall would hide while I’d talk to The Council. I was hoping to avoid Mother. I couldn’t bring myself to think about my discussion with the Dark, let alone to discuss my true origins with her.

Niall was walking next to me, while Aidan rode the Council horse. He felt and looked better than ever. He slept again after the Dark left him, a sleep with no nightmares, he said. “But I can still see you when I close my eyes.”

I noticed my hands were still glowing, despite the Dark not being around and Niall’s soul not being in pain. I tried to focus on our (lack of) plan.

“So, this is your world…How is it, usually?” Niall asked after a while.
“Brighter. Luxurious. Best strawberries you’ll ever taste.” I said, thinking of the ones we picked up in London. Ours were juicer and tasted like honey.
“We have quite a few gatherings, to celebrate our Nature.”
“Your world is beautiful. I would love to draw it one day”.
“I’ll make it happen.” I replied, holding his hand.

A promise to him as much as it was to myself.

“They’re around!” Aidan was ahead of us and could see the community from the outskirts of town. Big fires, lights everywhere to try and brighten the everlasting night.

My hands glowed brighter, almost burning me. Something was up.

“Niall, take Aidan’s cape, we’ll hide you in the tavern.”

Aidan agreed “Most of the people there won’t pay attention to you, just hide in a corner, you should be fine.”

Then, lowering his voice “I can see shadows, Meira.”

I took his sword, noticing he had his bow and arrow all along, and we started marching through town. Most of them, fairies, elders, were gathered around fires and didn’t pay attention to us. Considering they almost killed us a few hours ago, this was suspicious.

“Looks like they’re all parked there.” Aidan remarked.

Niall pointed at them first: “These people look way too grim to be from your world, right?” he joked.

Aidan and I stopped in our tracks. Around fires, among our people, creatures from ashes and coal stood still, their presence threatening enough to anyone who’d make a sudden, harsh move.

“They’re not people, Niall. They’re Ghouls.”

And they were not supposed to like fire.