Chapter 63 - The Imprisoned

Winter took a deep breath in the inky darkness, the copper glow flared in her eyes. She watched Antrandis, her master as he stood there just inside the doorway. The stormy blue of his eyes visible and unwaveringly on hers. She took another deep breath, steadying herself.

“I have been inside of you, since the first moment I saw you. You were with the three. While it angers me that as a gift, I was spurned. I am grateful that I was not truly claimed. You are worthy of my purpose, Master. The Host was insufficient of mind and heart.” she said, her voice low.

“Lumos of the three, your mother, entrusted you to me. But in truth she had no choice, you were the only one I could be with. I know everything about you, Master.” her voice dipped to a lustful whisper, “Everything.”

Antrandis nodded in understanding, a smile on his lips. He remaining silent as she continued.

“Today, for the first time in my existence I was almost whole, walking the physical world. My appearance concerned Sian, but I could not watch on. You entered the blight and it weakened you and this cell. For a moment I found I was able to use my projection and forced my shell to act.”

“Sian did see you.” Antrandis remarked.

“Yes, the ash of the blight caused my appearance to change.” she said.

“You are complete at this moment, are you not?” he asked gently.

A faint rustle could be heard amid the clinks as she shifted, “In your presence, and at this moment I am whole to a degree, your entry into my cell has enabled me to do so, Master.” a smile in her voice.

“Is that why your self, out there collapsed?” he asked.

“Yes, Master. I have drawn the balancing elements of my shell in here with me; else I could not control myself in your presence. He cut us. Divided us. Separated us. He took only what he saw as useful. Thus, the Winter you know was brought into existence, a hollow shell to be commanded.”

She shifted in the dark again, noticing the glow in his eyes grow more intense.

“But you did something different, you loved me, you love me. Not even knowing what I am, you made me yours, and even as I am, broken, I was content.” she said quietly, her voice soft, “You did the same with Sian when you first met her on the trails. If I didn’t know you so well I would say you are a special kind of reckless. Or maybe…” she watched his eyes, hearing his quiet chuckle.

“My physical self’s sense of duty, I fought against it, railed even. My duty to Sian of the old world, a command that still stood, separated my shell from you. My self still in your mind, my self in my body still acting in hiding itself away out of duty. Five years I have been weakening it, attacking it, knowing the truth of your thoughts and of Sian’s. Your bond, you see, when she speaks to you, or lets you see her thoughts, I see them too. I have felt and seen the truth while I stand here chained. Despite residing within you, I could not have my physical self separated from you any longer. It is a paradox, I feel my physical form’s stress, my thoughts tearing at myself, watching you from a distance. Yet, at the same time I am here, close, hearing your thoughts, tortured. If it were not due to the events surrounding this eclipse, it would have taken longer to break my sense of duty down.”

“You speak of your traits and qualities like they are different people.” said Antrandis.

She nodded, “The Host made them so, he separated them, taking those he wanted and allowing them a physical form, leaving the rest of me in here. The fool. It was that same duty that gave Lumos, Aisling and Auryl the reasoning to shackle my physical self, limiting her movement and access to power. Despite my protests and warnings, she enacted her sense of duty.”

Again those copper eyes watched him from the darkness. Their gaze on him as he stood just inside the doorway.

“Soon Master, there is something more that I must explain. Ask the question of me.” she said.

“Are you a demon, Winter? Or of the demonic planes?” Antrandis said, smiling as he heard the sudden intake of her breath, and shuddering release as she breathed out.

She breathed, drawing in a wavering breath, “Yes and no. I was created by a demon. Though I am not. I was physically sculpted in the form resembling that of a succubus of the highest order, and many of my abilities stem from those of a succubus. But, yet I am not. I am significantly more.”

She could feel his thoughts, her physical self’s reasoning from the morning playing out it his mind, “Despite my physical self’s proclamation of being a tool, an instrument of our Master’s bidding, we are not. I am a manifestation designed to appeal to your innermost self, that which you hold most private. I am that of unwavering devotion to my Master’s will alone, a confidant and companion that seeks no other. A companion that desires their master in every way. That was my original purpose, and the reason for being formed as I am.”

Antrandis watched the blinking of Winter’s glowing copper eyes, his voice calm, “Some would consider that way of thinking to be dangerous.”

She chuckled faintly, “Perspective. It is all about perspective, Master. I was made to fulfill a purpose. I do not throw myself at you with falsehoods to bargain for my restoration. The swords and weapons crafted within Meliandra, they are made for a purpose. The simplest of insects have purpose. I was forged with a purpose. There is no danger to think of, in essence I take the form of my master’s desire. Before doing so, I am a shapeless entity awaiting my master’s will, I am but a sword waiting in its sheath for its owner to draw it forth, marvel at its keen edge and craft and then slay with.”

Winter was silent for a moment, breathing deeply, “I was not born from the womb, I was not a babe that was nurtured and grew to what you will see before you. I am a creation with female form, many would say a monster. A pure form that is designed to seduce, to draw forth all those emotions that people keep hidden away, thoughts of desire, the perversions, the true self without morality as a gatekeeper. My life stems from yours. My strength and power draws upon your reserves, mirrors and magnifies. Your will directs and tempers.”

“Who made you?” Antrandis asked.

“I was crafted, brought into life and spirit from the mind of Azzar-Kah-Sharn. Demon Lord and King of the underworld and the planes of hell. He is a consummate artisan with some questionable hobbies, but he is honourable to his word, despite his temperament. I was gifted to the Host as a form of treaty, I am the commander of the…” she closed her eyes, hearing his thoughts, “Yes, I am the true commander of all those the Three recovered. If it is your will, I can call them to your side the moment I am restored. Though many will not heed my call, most are still trapped within the Hall.”

“You are the conduit of their power.” Antrandis surmised.

“I am their immortality, they are all of a lower caste, to change once into the form of their master’s will. The Host was clumsy and rough. Throwing aside his broken dolls like an abusive youngling. Like a soul who is gifted a sword of the highest quality, yet only perceives it as an instrument for cutting, taking it into a forest and promptly uses it to fell a tree. Finally discarding it when its razor edge has been dulled and beaten into submission, its grip and hilt loose from being used to chop instead of slash, cut and stab. All of us were used in such a manner. Myself worst of all. Your mother was merciful when she retained my sisters, she gave us a way to live, a purpose to fulfill and freedoms within reason. But even she does not understand our truth.”

“I believe that Aisling does.” said Antrandis.

Winter nodded as she thought, “I feel that it is correct to assume that she is directly manipulating events. Meddling, due to the arrival of the twins. They have upset the path of destiny, and she is engineering its future path to meet the closest possible outcomes. I have great respect for Aisling and the three. They are undertaking what the old gods refused to do; take responsibility for the future.”

Antrandis nodded, his eyes on hers. He stepped away from the door and toward her.

She took a shuddering breath, “Please, Master. Please, no closer. I am struggling to keep my composure.” her voice again a pleading whisper.

He stopped approaching, “You said you drew the elements of your shell to you, does that include...”

The copper glow intensified, “No, I wished to speak to you as I had been imprisoned. The personality that is the physical version of myself remains outside of the cell.” she blinked, “In here, I am still the creation, out there I am an individual that has experienced, grown, developed. In here I have seen, felt and experienced by proxy, if you were to release my bindings, we would combine, though the Winter you know would… Master, as Snowshadow became Sian. Winter would become more, much more.”

Winter struggled to control her breathing, fighting the anticipation, “Since my bonding to you, even in my damaged state I have changed. You treated me as one with a soul, though I have none. You never once treated me as a possession, servant or tool to do your bidding. You granted me worth beyond my means and deferred to me as a peer or equal. You valued my individuality. Through you, I experienced what it meant to love and be loved, to truly desire. To belong.”

Antrandis watched her copper eyes, their glow intense and aggressive. Her breathing was growing more rapid as he stepped closer.

“Master, please, no closer. I still wish to…”

“I believe you have said enough for now, my dear Winter.” Antrandis said, his voice low.

Winter moaned involuntarily, gasping as she watched him approach. His stormy blue eyes on her burnished copper. Finally, he stood in front of her, he could feel her breath on his face as she panted lightly. Antrandis reached out a hand and gently touched her cheek, drawing a moan from her, her eyes closed. He moved closer, their faces only a hands breadth apart.

“You are her missing pieces, her lust, passion, desire, jealousy and possessiveness among others.” he looked deeply into her eyes, “You have been a part of me, hidden in plain sight since the beginning. You know what I want.” he gently caressed her cheek with his thumb, her eye half-closed as she pressed against his hand, “Tell me Winter, what do you want?”

Her eyes opened fully, the glow flaring into a fire within them, her breathing ragged, “I want you, not because I was made or crafted to be so, because I desire it to be so with all of my being. I felt every touch, every caress. Every shared look, every smile. Every kind word, every whisper was mine, from you to me.” her voice cracking with every word.

His eyes remained locked on hers, even as the darkness slowly lifted in the room. Bathing them both in a faint glow, revealing her physical form, “Do you not wish to look upon me?” she asked, her brows pinching and raising in a frown.

Shadow of the Eclipse: Chapter Timeline

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