Empire of Night

Chapter Nineteen

Numb

Inerys had truly become a stranger in her own body. There was always some new oddity and this morning’s had been particularly unsettling. A familiar, near-drunken haze greeted her as she woke for the second time that day and when she yawned, there had been a strange contraction above her gums and along the roof of her mouth, as if she’d flexed some undiscovered muscle group. Her mouth had never felt stiff, yet a certain relief came with the sensation, like a tense muscle finally being granted a much-needed stretch.

She stiffened and willed her heavy limbs to push her into a more upright position against the pillows. Her jaw felt . . . different; more pliable, in a way. At first, she couldn’t quite figure out why. She inspected the gaps of her missing teeth with her tongue, only to discover new ones had grown in their place. Disturbing as the sudden growth was, she didn’t find them all that different from her old ones.

Not at first.

Cautiously, she reached to probe her gums with her fingers despite her bound wrists. When her fingertips brushed the sensitive tissue, her canine flinched. She sucked in a startled breath. The tooth had settled almost immediately, but there was no mistaking the action. It had moved and as it did, the rest of her foremost teeth had shifted accordingly. She found shallow, near-vertical ridges along the roof of her mouth in place of the previously smooth, hard palate. They were more ligament than bone with each one bound to a corresponding tooth.

The more she prodded, the more she realized she could control certain portions of her jaw and move individual teeth semi-independently. Most of her molars remained fixed and stationary, yet both her canines and incisors could be articulated at will. There was a degree of extension, like that of a cat’s paw, but nothing egregious– perhaps only a few centimeters, but enough for Inerys to feel as though she were spreading the front half of her mouth as if it were her hand.

Spirits’ breath, what was she?

All four of her prior canines had been replaced by the fangs Sorisanna had spoken of. At the time, Inerys hadn’t believed the woman, but now, there was no denying the new additions. A smaller, lesser set had grown in place of her upper, secondary incisors as well. They, like the neighboring canines, were more dexterous than those of her mandible. While at rest, they were marginally longer than the previous inhabitants, but descended and retracted on command. They did so with an alarming delicacy and to her horror, the ability felt normal, mundane.

She had been so distracted, she failed to notice the approaching footsteps from down the hall. The moment her door opened, she jerked in surprise and nicked the tip of her tongue upon one of the fangs she’d been inspecting. A sudden tingling accompanied the bitterness blooming across her tongue and soon, it went numb. She yelped and tried to clap a hand over her mouth. Both Sorisanna and Rhydian looked up in alarm.

“Inerys?” the sage asked, face drawn in concern, “What is it?”

“Nothing!” She insisted, but the damage had already been done.

With her tongue anesthetized, her th had come out more of a sh. Clearly, the pair had noticed too. Sorisanna took a seat upon the bed and reached out for Inerys’ face while Rhydian watched over her shoulder.

“Let me see,” she said.

Reluctantly, Inerys dropped her hands and opened her mouth.

The sage placed her palms upon Inerys’ cheeks, humming her thanks, “Now, would you like to try again?”

She tried to say no, but of course, all she managed was an awkward, “Huh.”

The cursed appendage refused to work properly. She would have thought it limp, had she not felt it aimlessly flapping about the rest of her mouth when she tried to speak. In the end, she decided to simply remain silent and not embarrass herself any further.

Sorisanna’s brow knit, “What happened to your tongue?”

Inerys saw no point in lying, so she raised her top lip and pointedly wiggled her fangs. Doing so made her shudder, but an all too excited smile broke across the woman’s face, her eyes wide. Rhydian, on the other hand, recoiled and appeared as though he’d just witnessed her sprout another head. The sage practically squealed as she tipped Inerys’ head up for a better look.

“Fascinating!” She breathed, then seemed to remember herself. She cleared her throat. “May I?”

After a moment of deliberation, Inerys nodded, the first inklings of sensation already beginning to return.

Sorisanna tilted her head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were some sort of viper. Your fangs aren’t too far off the mark, but it looks like they may carry some sort of anesthetic rather than venom. One you're not wholly immune to either, by the look of it, but if you're anything like the wyverns, you should metabolize the toxin rather quickly.”

Rhydian must have noticed the question in Inerys’ eyes, for he offered, “They have a degree of resistance to their venom, but not an outright immunity.”

She still had no idea what a wyvern was, but she filed the information away nonetheless.

Sorisanna carefully drew back her lip for a proper inspection, humming to herself as she went down the line, pushing and wiggling teeth. All the while, Inerys did her best not to squirm. Her gums were strangely ticklish and every now and again, she couldn’t help but flinch, especially if her fangs were touched. When one of them was drawn down held hostage for a more thorough examination between the sage’s thumb and forefinger, a low, involuntary growl escaped her.

“Sorry,” Sorisanna said, immediately releasing it as she withdrew her hands, “I only – I’ve never seen anything like this before. Well, anything like you, I suppose. Your jaw has been completely restructured and yet, there appears to be no outward sign of the changes. Maybe some extra elasticity in your cheeks? It’s hard to tell, but I won’t prod you anymore. I promise.”

Inerys breathed a shallow, but skeptical sigh of relief. In truth, she wasn’t sure what to make of the woman’s enthusiasm. She held a hand to her lips, soothing her fangs as she gauged the usefulness of her tongue. Most of the numbness had worn off, but it still prickled in places.

“I fear I’ve become a monster,” she said, taking care to properly enunciate each word.

Sorisanna’s face softened.

“You may be venomous, but you’re no monster, Inerys,” she said, “You’re just different. And being different isn’t always a bad thing.”

Inerys wasn’t so sure.

“There’s no fixing me, is there?” She asked.

“In relation to your recent changes . . . likely not,” she murmured, “but there are things I can fix, like your channels. I think I know why you’re not improving, but I’ll have to perform a more thorough assessment to know for certain.”

Inerys bit her lower lip, mindful of her fangs this time. “What is it you’d be doing?”

“In short? Searching for ruptures along your meridians and physical channels,” Sorisanna said, tucking a stray lock back behind her long ear.

“And . . . what are those, exactly?” She asked.

“Rhydian tells me you were a hunter, so I assume you’re familiar with butchering and the like?”

She nodded.

“I suppose the closest comparison would be to the veins and arteries in the body,” she said, “Think of your meridians as the arteries and the channels as the offshoots. Instead of blood, they circulate vital essence. At least, they do at lower Ascensions. Once you progress past your third, they start to cycle additional essences in from your spiritual core. However, a new meridian has to be opened from the physical core to the spiritual. I won’t get into the specifics of how it all works now, but I believe this meridian was forced open prematurely, overwhelming your channels and causing them to expand under the combined pressure of the mixed essences. If they’re overstretched, they can rupture and burst.”

Gooseflesh prickled along Inerys’ arms and down her legs. “You’d be searching for these ruptures during your assessment, then?”

The sage nodded. “I plan to mend them as I go, as well.”

“Will it hurt?”

"No. It's more discomfort than true pain. Certainly far less than you've already endured,” Sorisanna said, “Don’t worry, though, I have a light touch. You won’t even know I’m there.”

She took a deep breath. “There’s no chance they’ll heal on their own?”

“Not without intervention, I’m afraid. You’ll still need to cycle regularly once I’ve addressed the damage,” she said and was quick to add, “I’ll teach you about it later, no need to fret now. My main focus is making you whole again. Everything else will come with time.”

Hesitantly, Inerys said, “I thought I was running out of time?”

This time, Rhydian spoke up.

“We may have a solution to that as well,” he said, glancing sidelong at his companion, “Can we set the shackles once you’ve finished mending?”

The woman sighed as she rubbed her brow. “I had hoped to wait until later this evening, but I suppose now is as good a time as any.”

Inerys watched on in confusion. “I thought I was already shackled?”

“You are,” she said, “but like you said, it won’t hold long. In theory, layering multiple shackles over the current one should prolong the time it takes your spiritual core to devour them. Instead of a week, we would be buying you up to a month, if not more.”

“In that time, we can prepare your body to contain the core without them,” Rhydian said, “and hopefully reverse the damage. Or at least, most of it.”

Inerys fidgeted, considering. Thus far, her hosts had made it clear they had her best interests at heart, but she had the sense there was something more to it. Why did these strangers care about her at all? And why go through such great lengths to salvage what she was beginning to think was a lost cause? She supposed she would learn that in time. For now, this was an opportunity. She’d be a fool to refuse help, especially in her current state. She could hardly leave the bed, let alone endure the journey home.

“All right,” she sighed, “what do you need me to do?”

“For now, all you have to do is lay back. Preferably, without your hands bound,” she said with a pointed look in Rhydian’s direction.

He didn’t appear thrilled by the idea, but offered a single, relenting nod as he stepped forward. With an air of reluctance, he crouched beside the bed to undo the intricate knot binding her wrists. His fingers were light, quick and soon, the awful cloth-bound silver fell away.

“Please don’t make me regret this,” he said quietly.

Inerys brought her hands close to her chest, rubbing her wrists as she met his hard stare. There was a promise in those storm gray eyes. One she wouldn’t soon forget.

Hesitantly, she maneuvered herself into the center of the bed as Sorisanna explained the process and specifics of how she needed Inerys to lay. Her shoulders were stiff and protested the motion, but relaxed once she was in position. She rested upon her back, pillowless and with her arms and legs lightly spread. Her heart raced, finding its home in her throat and her fingers tingled along their tips. The sage offered her a smile as she stood beside the bed and placed a reassuring hand upon her shoulder.

“You’ll feel better, I promise,” she said.

Inerys wanted nothing more than to believe her, but her nerves were beginning to wear thin and doubt crept in. She thought of Soren and Nan, wondering what they would make of all this. And Alaric . . .

With a quick gesture of her fingers, the spheres slowly circling behind Sorisanna’s head began to glow and adopt a bright, aurulent glow not unlike that of the sun on a clear day. They appeared to be made of some sort of thin, crystalline glass, but weren’t entirely corporeal. A similar light kindled beneath the woman's skin and bled through her eyes until it consumed them entirely. She brought both arms out in front of her, fingers spread.

While Inerys saw nothing beyond the soft glow of the woman’s hands, warmth surged through her body. She had the distinct impression there was a purpose to the ebb and flow of the energy, as if it were being guided through her flesh to seek out the imperfections. Entire areas of her body grew cool while the warmth intensified in others and drew out steady bouts of aching pressure, akin to a bruise. By the time each one was revealed, there were over a dozen. They were spread throughout her body, varying in both pain and size. The most keen, however, dwelled in the space between her heart and naval. She wondered, briefly, if it was this connecting meridian Sorisanna believed had been forced open.

One by one, each node was addressed. Heat would flare before the affected area fell as numb as her tongue had been. Sorisanna’s touch was indeed light, for she hardly felt a thing. If she were back among the city-states, her care would not be half as thorough. Though, then again, if she hadn’t wandered back out into the deepwoods, perhaps none of this would have happened. She should have listened to Alaric, should have stayed and spent more time with those closest to her, but she had been a fool.

Close to an hour would pass before the sage’s touch receded and Inerys drew her first full breath since this whole ordeal began. For a moment, she was afraid to move. Her bones thrummed and no longer felt as though they’d been turned to iron. Stirring, she found her limbs, though sore, were no longer sapped for strength.

“Well,” Sorisanna said breathily, “How do you feel?”

“Better,” Inerys said, though remained where she lay.

Rhydian stepped up beside the sage, one hand around his middle with the other held at his clean-shaven chin. Admittedly, she stared at him far longer than she ought to. He was just so alien. She was fairly certain she’d spied an extra membrane in his eye when he’d last blinked too, which had only exacerbated her unease. Spirits’ breath, he’d likely haunt her dreams for the rest of her days.

Some distant part of her wondered if he felt the same about her.

“No lightheadedness or nausea?” Sorisanna asked.

“I’m a bit hungry,” she admitted, blinking back into focus, “but no. No nausea. My head still feels like it's been rung like a bell, though.”

The sage pursed her lips.

“We may have to come up with another solution for your ears,” she said, then straightened as if an idea had suddenly struck her, “Do we have any spare earmuffs? They may help dull some of the incoming sound.”

Rhydian passed her a questioning look. “We should, but I would have to see for certain. Do you really think they would help?”

She shrugged. “Unless you have any better ideas?”

“I suppose it's worth a try. I’ll have someone take a look once we’ve finished,” he said, “Do you need a moment?”

The sage shook her head and glanced down at Inerys, “I can continue. So long as you’re ready? Setting these extra shackles will likely be disorienting.”

“I’d rather have it over and done with,” she said.

Sorisanna raised her hands once more.

“Very well. If you feel any pain, tell me to stop.”

Inerys did her best to relax. Her skin prickled, the creature inside her stirring in response to some unseen threat. Then, the sage’s power seized her. All at once, every instinct told her to run, to escape the net descending upon her, but she forced herself to remain still. A great weight was cast over her prone body, pressing her down into the bed.

A second weight followed, then a third and finally, a fourth. To some degree, she could still distinguish the individual layers, floating somewhere deep within her like thin planes of water. Then, the first of the new shackles snapped into place. Her spirit compressed and the air was driven from her lungs. Inerys gasped. Her body gave a swift, involuntary twitch, and she could have sworn she heard the bed crack beneath her as her back arched. Each consecutive layer bore down on her spirit, each more heavy than the last. Breath eluded her, a foreign concept her lungs refused to grasp. Her eyelids fluttered, mind reeling.

Her passenger shifted, wary, but unharmed. Its fear ebbed, something she sensed as keenly as her own for all of a heartbeat. The entity gradually faded from her perception, disappearing back into the shadows of her soul. Inerys shuddered. What was that thing?

Distandly, she heard Rhydian ask, “Did it work?”

“They’re holding,” Sorisanna said hoarsely.

The woman swayed as the glow faded from her eyes. Rhydian was quick to steady her, his expression a mask of thinly veiled concern. Sweat beaded the woman’s forehead, her skin a shade lighter than it had been moments before.

“Easy,” he murmured, guiding her into the chair beside the bed.

“I’m all right,” Sorisanna assured, “that core of yours was rather stubborn.”

Inerys laid a hand over the tightness in her chest and tried to muster the will to speak.

“Please tell me we’ll never have to do that again?”