Sylvie

“Randal…” Archaios Enas whispered into his mind as she’d done for centuries. “...Look at them, all cowering in fear of your greatness.  They beg and plead like they are afraid of dying…” Archaios Enas soothed her nightstalker further, “...But in reality..don’t you hear it?  Those pleas are ones of delight and reverence.  It’s your job to teach them the meaning of your wrath, before you settle and rule over them.  Show them what you can do..lovely Randal…one that wants so much more than just nightly blood.”

-So easy.  So much to feed upon. The source of my release.-

Archaios Enas sighed and relived the feeling of power coursing through her being, before letting the remaining thoughts continue.

It took a few years of Archaios Enas’s sweet words directing Randal along with piles of human bodies before Randal learned enough to establish himself as a leader and god among a small group of people. Once Archaios Enas stopped telling her shell how to act, Randal’s weak mind and weaker personality caused the people once devoted to him to revolt within a year of his ascension.  Like tales of old, they came in force with fire, stakes and pitchforks and invaded Randal’s undefended lair.  Reeling from the glory of power from the chaotic masses combined with their lingering fear and massive worry from Randal, Archaios Enas felt her shell weakening.

-The fool asked me for help.  When I was the one that led him to that point.-

Archaios Enas snickered to herself and pushed the vision on.

Only after Randal had a stake in his chest did Archaios Enas feel the flurry of panic coming from the captured nightstalker.  Archaios Enas felt her own misty form for the first time and began to laugh in Randal’s ears. “That’s right, Randal.  Beg..plead for my help.  Help that will never come.  Some God, you can’t even resist a flock of these primates…and now you will burn for it.”  Archaios Enas’s vile raspy voice flowed like water, “Your last sight will be me floating away as you burn..a brief swirl of inky black smoke and the glare from a set of white eyes, mocking your madness.”  Fire became the catalyst that weakened Randal’s body and allowed Archaios Enas to break free of her host with a wail that sent shockwaves of fear through the group of peasants, forcing them to run and cower in fear.

Letting the remains of her fond memory subside, Archaios Enas thought to herself, 

-My beginning was our beginning. It all traces back to that fool Randal.  I should have foreseen that other nightstalkers would be pleased to be rid of us.  Free of their torment, which freed us for our vengeance.-

Jumping from Elle’s bed and going to the drawer with her body’s underwear, Archaios Enas stepped into and pulled up a set of black panties, then found another set of jeans hanging in the closet.

-Why am I thinking about Randal?  Where is this leading?-

Mildly confused with her thoughts, Archaios Enas finished getting dressed and made her way back into the kitchen, pouring herself a small glass of water.  Refreshed by the cool and cucumber-enhanced water, Archaios Enas figured out what she’d been seeking within herself.  Finishing the crisp drink in one final gulp, she walked across the living room and peered out of the dark window, admiring the twinkling lights below.

-That’s it.  The source.  When the nightstalkers were purged of our temptations, they were free to think and develop unhindered.  They evolved, just like we did.  The ones freed developed their blood magic beyond reality.  Dryods…they knew too many of us would…-

Unable to contain her joy any longer, Archaios Enas felt a series of human emotions pass through her.  She laughed and hopped with excitement as she figured out the puzzle.

-We’d destroy their precious lies and illusions.  We are the superior evolution, so they needed to trap us beyond our influence.  The portal with its sweet song, the lure…Send us to The Harsh Expanse.-

Witnessing firsthand the pull of the Dryod portal, Archaios Enas had tried to keep her faithful shadewraiths from crossing to the other side.

{“They are the same sweet words we used against them, can’t you tell?  Their blood-magic is tempting you… we are the temptation, not them.”}

Archaios Enas recalled the small battle and gave orders to the remaining Shadewraiths that engaged with the nightstalkers. Although she'd figured out that she was immune to the effects of the song, Archaios Enas quickly decided to enter the watery metallic pool and join the others on the far side in their battle with the nightstalkers.

{“The rest of you, stay and keep the portal open as long as possible!  Sacrifice yourself to do it.  The nightstalkers must not trap us on the other side.  I will ensure that the other shells will perish in torture and pain.”}

Upon her appearance at the back side of the portal Archaios Enas saw what she considered a mirror of a young Earth. Huge trees with long shady canopies absorbed sunlight with their wide and rounded leaves dotted the land in packs of dense forestry. Lush vegetation grew without hindrance across the ground where some of the vines had crawled and overtaken the trunks to take their fair share of light.  Beyond the heavy green packs of woods, Archaios Enas saw nothing but miles of untouched grass that had grown to the height of cornstalks she’d seen on Earth.

-What is this place? Where are the others, the nightstalkers…my faithful?-

Moments later it dawned on Archaios Enas what happened to the blood-shells that passed into what they thought was nirvana. 

-They perished instantly in the sunlight, the fools.  That still doesn’t explain where my faithful, why can’t I sense them?-

It was as though the answer flew right into her face the moment she asked the question.  A small metallic disk seemingly came out of nowhere and hovered in front of Archaios Enas’s black mist.  It raised a small antenna and chirped a couple of times, before it sent a blue beam across Archaios Enas amorphous form.

-An automaton.  It lacks any emotion that I can manipulate…what did it just do?-

Archaios Enas floated upwards a few feet before she heard the object speak, “Earth-based phantasmal anomaly detected.  Containment protocol engaged.”  Suspecting that she didn’t want to know what the containment protocol was, Archaios Enas dropped and melded into the shadows of the trees hoping to confuse and avoid the flying disk.

-How many of my faithful did these objects take?-

A loud thunderclap came from the portal and lightning criss-crossed its opening for a few seconds, then the pool Archaios Enas had traveled through disappeared.

-Those initial years were the hardest ones.  One by one I found my faithful, my brethren who hadn’t been captured and used them to survive.-