Taliesin didn’t close his eyes. He feared that the darkness would capture him if he did. He feared that if he closed his eyes he’d fall asleep and wake up to Nik’s dead body beside him. He feared that his imagination would fill the void with the image of the demon crawling towards him, blood and ichor running down its lips. So Taliesin didn’t close his eyes. He was aware of Nik’s presence next to him, his eye watching him cautiously and with worry. He didn’t know how to help Taliesin. Neither of them did. Neither of them dared to break the silence and admit their defeat. Not Nik, the Knight, the Protector. Not Tal, the Descendant, the Insane. If only you had listened to me. A voice inside of his head whispered. It was his own voice but Tal didn’t recognize it as such. He knew however who it belonged to. That twisted demonic version of himself in his nightmares. How was it speaking to him? Did he fall asleep despite all his efforts not to? He caught sight of Nik who returned his gaze and tilted his head towards him. It seemed real. His life can be spared. The voice almost laughed and sent a shiver down Taliesin’s spine.
“Are you cold?” He shook his head once and averted his gaze. Maybe he had to fall asleep. Maybe talking to the demonic thing inside of him could give him answers. It seemed to be a lot more than just a fragment of his mind, a cruel imagination to torture him. What had it said in his nightmares? “I’m so tired of being trapped inside you, kid.” Taliesin took a shaky breath and closed his eyes. He needed to try. Nik pressed his cold hand against Tal’s burning forehead and sighed. “Good,” he mumbled. “Rest up, Taliesin.” He missed the cool touch as soon as Nik drew his hand back but it didn’t take long after that for him to doze off. Taliesin expected the worst. Another nightmare, blood, gore, demons. He didn’t expect to look at his reflection in a broken mirror. “Hello?” His reflection scrunched his nose and mimicked his voice. “Hello?” It said and scoffed. “What’s wrong Tal?” “What are you? Am I possessed?” “Possessed?” Taliesin lifted his hand but the reflection stood still. It was really not him then. “Yes. Possessed. Like the.. Woman who attacked me today.” “This is my realm, Taliesin. Do you realise how close you are to your subconsciousness? You’re not dreaming.” “If you’re not a demon, what are you?”
The mirror shattered suddenly as the dark room rumbled. Taliesin had nothing to hold onto and when the ground gave way he fell with a scream. His demon was back and bigger than before. It caught the falling descendant in his hand and laughed loudly. “You’re the first to approach me.” “Who are you?! What do you want with me?!” The demon held him in his grip, squeezed his tiny body until Taliesin cried out in agony. “Who am I?” It hissed, repeating Tal’s questions back at him. “What do I want from you?” Then it let go and Tal dropped further into the black void. He couldn’t remember if he screamed as he fell and fell and fell until there was nothing left but darkness. No ground beneath him, no ceiling or sky above. Was he falling? Floating? Flying? He couldn’t tell. “Trapped in a void.” His voice echoed through the empty space. “That’s what it feels like to be trapped inside of you, inside of all the descendants for eternity.”
The void crashed down on him as if it had been a blanket all along. Taliesin struggled under its weight and he cried out one last time before his lungs pushed all the air out and left him speechless. The demon was there, it lifted the blanket ever so slightly and watched Taliesin cry with pity in its eyes. “You’re suffering.” It said, “Just like me.” Then it let go and the blanket dared to suffocate Taliesin again. He wanted to yell but had no voice. His body didn’t respond to the commands of his brain and he feared that he wasn’t even thinking of fighting back. He’d lost all hope. As his body lay still under the weight of the void Taliesin closed his eyes. This was it. He knew he’d lie there forever, crushed by darkness and suffocated by the empty. It was then that Taliesin understood. When he opened his eyes again he was on Nik’s sofa.
Taliesin moaned, then smiled as he found his own voice had come back to him. He rubbed his eyes and slowly moved into a sitting position. Nik was right there. He held out a glass of water in one hand and clutched a wet towel in another. “Did you have a nightmare?” He asked and urged Taliesin to drink. “Sort of,” Taliesin said and took a sip. The water felt more refreshing than anything he’s ever felt before in his life. “I think I know what they are now.” “The nightmares?” “Yeah. I think they’re… I think I am not the descendant.” Nik furrowed his brows and was about to disagree when Taliesin pressed his palm over his lips. He didn’t look up at him as he continued speaking. “I think the descendant is something else and it is trapped inside my body. You said yourself that the gods took their power and buried it in the first descendant, I think we can assume that’s more literal than we may have thought. It showed me how it felt. It’s suffocating inside of me and it wants to be freed.” Nik talked but only muffled sounds came out of his mouth. Taliesin gulped. “I think that’s why it teleported me to the Contrarius Order so many times. It was in control and it was searching for a way to be free. It wants the ritual to happen and I don’t know how to fight it.”
Tal was rambling on, unsure of what to say that would make Nik understand when the Knight pressed a kiss to the inside of Tal’s palm, making him withdraw his hand. “Thank you,” Nik said with a playful smirk. “For letting me speak, your highness.” Tal tried to ignore the blush that crept onto his cheek as he rubbed his hand against Nik’s shirt to get rid of the wet feeling he’d left. “We can fight it. Because if it wants the Order and the Order has a leader, we can end it once and for all. We can fix everything.” “You want it to lead us to them?!” Taliesin shook his head. “Nik, the Order can summon demons. They can kill us!” “And we can kill them.” He stared at Nik in shock. “There’s no need to be scared, Taliesin.” “I’m not scared, Nik. I’m terrified.” “No need for that either.” He said it in a joking manner but Taliesin wasn’t in the mood for it. Nik’s attitude quickly changed when he noticed Taliesin’s dread. “I can protect you. Do you trust me?” “The leader killed my parents. I won’t let him kill you.” “I’m pretty confident in my skills, I believe I can protect both of us from one madman.” “Nik this isn’t–” “Taliesin, I have killed demons since I was twelve. I can handle one bad guy.” Taliesin stared silently at the cup of water. He knew Nik meant well and he didn’t doubt his skills, he’d seen them first-hand. But there was a dark feeling brewing inside of him, a certain knowledge that Nik was wrong, that they wouldn’t be able to fight the leader of the Contrarius Order. His anxiety was telling him he’d lose Nik the way he lost his parents and he couldn’t handle the fear of seeing him die. “Tell me what’s on your mind.” “I’m just so scared, Nik. I like you so much and I don’t want to see you die, I can’t. I really can’t lose you.”
“I cannot lose you either, Taliesin.” Silence filled the space between them and Tal wondered if this was their last conversation ever. It felt as if something was shifting and making way for evil to come and tear them apart. Maybe the descendant was getting ready for one last teleportation that would end Tal’s life or Nik would realise that they didn’t work out as a team. “I don’t love you.” He suddenly said and without wanting to, Tal let out a laugh. “Thank you for telling me that right now, it’s totally what I need to hear at the moment.” Nik’s lips curled up into a smile and he leaned in to press a kiss against Tal’s cheek. “I don’t love you yet but I have feelings that I would like to explore with you together once you’re safe and the Order destroyed.” “I’m sorry? What?” Tal stared at his opposite and pressed his back into the sofa. Was he dreaming again? “What do you mean?” “I mean exactly what I just said. I don’t love you because I’ve just started seeing you a few days ago but I like you and I want to fall in love with you. I think I can.”
“What is that supposed to mean, Nik? Why are you telling me this?” “I’m telling you so you know we’ll get through this.” He brushed Tal’s hair out of his face. “Besides, we'll leave the Academy soon which means that there’s a ball to attend.” “A ball?” “Prom! We’re graduating. I assume you don’t have a date yet?” Tal blinked once and fought the urge to hit Nik. “A demon has tried to take me to the Contrarius Order where they want to kill me. The descendant inside of me is teleporting me away by its own will to free itself which also would kill me and you’re talking about going to Prom together?” “I thought it might cheer you up.” He wanted to cry with everything going on but Nik was in front of him with a careful smile trying hard to cheer Tal up that he just nodded. “I’d love to go to Prom with you, Nik. If I live to see it.” “You will.” Nik promised with certainty. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” They were both leaning in. Tal with confidence and Nik with curiosity. Just as their lips were about to meet Maxwell cleared his throat and knocked against the doorframe. “One Winston Hemlock is here to collect Taliesin.” The boy blushed as he drew away from Nik and slowly got up from the sofa. “I’ll be there.” Maxwell shifted his gaze from Nik to Tal then smiled and left the room. Nik bit down on his lip and played with the string from his eyepatch.
“So.. you're leaving now?” He asked and without further ado Tal pulled him in by his shirt and connected their lips in a careful kiss. He was aware of Nik’s surprised gasp and didn’t push him to kiss him back. They parted after a few seconds and shared a fond gaze. “We should do that more often.” Nik whispered then pressed a kiss to Tal’s hand. They grabbed his bag and walked towards the entrance hall where an impatient Mr. Hemlock waited for him. “Taliesin.” He called almost violently, grabbed his shoulder and forced him away from Nik. “We’re leaving.” “We should take Coach with us.” Maxwell opened his mouth to reply but Mr. Hemlock shook his head. “He came by and told me that something happened to you. He’s waiting at home for us.” Tal noticed the sweat on Mr. Hemlock’s forehead and realised how worried he must be. What did the Coach tell him? Hopefully nothing about the demon attack. “We’ll see each other at the Academy.” Nik said with a wink and Tal had to force himself to stay put and not kiss him again. “Yeah, see you.” He waved Maxwell goodbye then followed Mr. Hemlock to the car.
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