by Bella Benz
Delsin’s mind continued to analyze the situation. For a moment, he was lost as that familiar smile appeared on Lilith’s stunning face, not quite reaching those exotic eyes. “Mom, we’ve lived here for nearly two years. It’s time to realize that we are safe.”
Bernice folded her arms over her chest. “We may be within the protective aura of the Chamberlins, but that doesn’t mean we are safe. Unless you really want to have to flee again in the dead of night, I suggest you take this more seriously. After how long we spent running, I for one am not interested in having to hide for a few months before trying to find another home. Don’t get complacent just because we’ve been here a while; that’s what leads to disaster.”
Lilith let her face slip into a downcast look, her lower lip pouting ever so slightly. “But I can’t be trapped in here any longer. I need to get out and see –”
“You can go out in the back and take care of the animals. They won’t judge you.”
Rolling her eyes, Lilith looked almost like any other teen. “Mom, we’ve been through this. I can’t keep hiding. It’s –”
“Lilith Preston, you will not go anywhere near the rest of the village. Do I need to remind you that any hint that you’re here could bring the Chamberlins out to find you?”
“Good.” Lilith’s face clouded over. “I would love to see them again. There’s no reason for us to keep running from them.”
Delsin’s eyes watched as Bernice ran her hand through her hair. “It’s been so long, I cannot guarantee that they will let you run free. I mean, it took everything I had to convince Chase not to track you.”
“Oh yes, that was soooo wonderful, wasn’t it? Use your magic on the person trying to help you, and then make him regret that he ever trusted you. Brilliant, Mom. Just the right way to thank them for everything they did for us. Betrayal.” Lilith’s hands balled up. “I would rather be locked up in their home than trapped here in this little hovel!” She stormed past her mother and toward the back door.
“Where are you going, Lilith?” Bernice called after her.
“To play with the pigs since you don’t think that I’m worthy of interacting with your species, Mother.” She slammed the door behind her.
Bernice ran a hand over her face. “Maybe I should track her before she does something that we’ll both regret.”
Delsin looked at the woman with a knowing half-grin. “You won’t though, will you? It would be against your principles and would prove that you never should have left.” As soon as he realized that he had spoken aloud, the warlock clamped his hand over his mouth.
Bernice pressed her lips together, her eyes still following her daughter, who had frozen just outside the door. If she had been able to hear him at an earlier time, she seemed to have lost that ability as the pensive look did not seem inspired by his words. However, Lilith turned and looked back at her mother, something obviously on her mind. Whatever she was thinking, the teen’s anger won out, and she turned a little overdramatically, throwing herself off balance. Lilith’s ankle rolled, and she nearly fell. Trying to hide this with a few uncomfortable dance moves – as if she had intended to stumble – Lilith moved away from the home.
Delsin watched her, wondering what she had wanted to ask. Before following her, though, he wanted to learn what it was her mother was so upset about. There was no good reason to keep her daughter hidden, as she had just made very clear by considering a tracking measure herself. Bernice had to know just how risky it was to leave her daughter untrained and unknowledgeable about even the basics. Any adult would know that she was a demon spawn. No human looked like that.
Muttering to herself, Bernice was clearly feeling at a loss. “Maybe I should contact them. They may be able to help…” There was a heavy sadness in her eyes before she shook her head. “If I go back now, they’ll split us up. They wouldn’t have any choice after what I’ve done. And I have no idea what they’ll do to Lilith. They have a reputation to keep up now, and even if they allow her back into their home as sorcerers, it will not be like when we were last there.”
To Delsin’s ears, it sounded like she was trying to talk herself out of returning to them – there was nothing in her words that sounded like she believed what she was saying. She stopped talking and shook her head. Whatever she decided, she didn’t bother continuing. Delsin slid out of the way as Bernice walked back down the hall.
Deciding that he would gain little by following the mother, Delsin turned and headed outside to watch Lilith. As he slid through the door, the warlock tried to remind himself to be more careful around the demon. Nearly every memory so far had included something that was slightly unnerving. The demon had seemed to look at him, Bernice had seemed to react to him, Lilith had sought him, and he may have been able to enact magic within the most recent memory. If all of that were true, this trip was about a lot more than just being shown Lilith’s memories – he may have always been a part of her life. It should have been a paradox, but then, she was a demon. Without anyone to teach her what she could and couldn’t do, Lilith may have done many things that no one else had tried before that time.
Say nothing. Do nothing. Don’t let her know that you’re here. His thoughts became like a mantra as he followed the demon across a large yard, keeping a distance that would limit how much of his presence she could feel. To his surprise, Bernice had set up a farm to raise her child. It was a far cry from where she had been when he first saw her. Delsin turned around to take it in as he felt respect and admiration for everything that Bernice had done. Even if she had bought the farm in good condition, two years of maintaining it without any magic was a real feat. He knew that to stay hidden, Bernice would have kept from using magic, especially Lilith’s. Even though it wasn’t a big farm, it was impressive for a witch to create a place that looked no different than any other home in the area.
Lilith was marching toward the woods, and an idea went through Delsin’s mind. She was going roaming. Curious, he followed her to see what she planned to do on her momentary escape from the small farm. To his surprise, she did not head toward any settlement, but moved further into the woods. There couldn’t have been any draw for her, at least not naturally. Demons usually surrounded themselves with humans so that they could feed when needed. In Lilith’s case, it would have made sense for her to look for some kind of companionship because it looked like she lived a very secluded life with her mother.
The young teen moved through the woods, appearing to enjoy just being away from home. Several hours passed with Delsin simply enjoying the sight of her looking happy and at peace. That was not a look he had seen on her face very often. As the light in the forest seemed to start to diminish, the demon seemed to follow a path that would take her home. Not that she hurried. She hummed and swayed, dancing through a small stream of water, then moved gracefully around a few trees.
A small voice caught her attention. “What are you doing?”
Delsin closed his eyes, not wanting to turn around. He thought he knew exactly what he would see.
Lilith stopped in mid-step, frozen in her own surprise. Delsin opened his eyes in time to see her hide her hands behind her back as she turned to look at the source of the voice. He kept his eyes trained on her, watching every movement of her face and body as she first set eyes on him.
The entire sensation was strange. He was watching everything from two completely different perspectives – his younger self and his much older, wiser self. As soon as Lilith saw who was addressing her, she smiled. Without warning, she bolted from the child.
Delsin wondered what his own childish reaction had been, so he finally turned to look. The child version of him was much younger than he had expected.
As he looked down at himself, he muttered, “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I have no recollection of this encounter, but she had been roaming before that day.” His mind was pitching back into his own memories, overlaying them with the current timeline.
The child Delsin cocked his head
to the side. “Was that a sprite? Or maybe a wood nymph?”
A voice behind the child called out, “Delsin!”
The young boy turned. “I'm over here, Mummy!”
Delsin’s eyes widened as he realized what he was about to see. Holding his breath, he watched as his mother came into view, a sharp expression on her face. “How many times have I told you not to go running off?” She crouched and pulled his younger self into a hug. “These woods are supposed to be a place for you to learn, not put yourself in danger.”
“But I’m fine, Mummy. I just –”
His mother pulled away and put her hands on his shoulders. “You must promise me that you won’t do that again.”
“But I want to go exploring. You don’t like being out in the woods.”
She gave a light laugh. “I know you want to explore, but you can do that safely close to home. I would be so upset if something were to happen to you.”
The young Delsin smiled at her. “Nothing can happen to me. I’m strong.”
There was a sad smile on his mother’s face, something he couldn’t have recognized when he was young. “I wish that were true, my dear.” She pushed his bangs back. “But you haven’t seen seven winters yet, and you know that there are always people out to get us. People who are afraid of magic and seek to remove it wherever they find it.”
He snuffled, “I think I’m tough enough to take them.” Holding up his small hands, young Delsin made a little fireball with one hand and a spectral dagger with the other. “They won’t know what hit them.”
His mother ran her hands down his arms, negating the magic. “No, honey, that is not what our magic is meant to do. We protect. We are not aggressors.”
“I would only attack them if they attacked me first.”
She shook her head. “It is best to avoid confrontation as much as possible. They’re just scared of the unknown, and there are better ways to teach them about us. Attacking them – even to fight back – will just make them that much more afraid.” She stood up and held one of his hands. “Come along. I hear some chocolate cake calling out for a tummy.”
“Really?” His eyes lit up, their discussion completely forgotten. “Will I ever be able to hear chocolate?” His eyes then took on a skeptical shine. “Are you just making fun?”
“It’s a special skill.” She looked down at him with an amused smile. “I’ll try to teach you.”
The older version of Delsin stepped forward. “Can you hear me?” There was a hint of desperation in his voice as he talked to the pair moving away from him, joking and laughing as they went. “Please, you need to be careful of the Dark Mages coming this way.” There was no hint that they heard anything. Attempting to use magic, he found that he couldn't draw anything from the world around him or from his own resources. Helplessly, he watched his mother walk out of his life.
Again.
But this time it was so much worse. This time, he knew it was coming, but there was no way to warn her.
✽✽✽
CHAPTER SEVEN
Initially, he tried to follow them, but the memory began to pull him backward. That had to mean that Lilith was moving at the other end of the memory, and his experience was tied to her.
When he realized that there was nothing he could do, Delsin felt sick. The memory was pulling him further away from his mother, but the world seemed to be spinning around him. Turning away from the image, he took several steps within the memory toward Lilith. It wasn’t enough, though. He couldn’t keep going.
He couldn’t stay here knowing what was to come.
Delsin chose to leave on his own, even before the memory became hazy. Watching the exchange made his heart hurt, but not being able to interact one more time was too much. Despite the fact that he had no idea what Lilith was doing, he didn’t want to stay in the memory. He knew that his parents would die soon – before he saw his seventh birthday. He couldn’t remember this particular exchange with his mother, highlighting just how much he had forgotten about her.
A part of him was grateful for a chance to see his mother again, but it also made him feel entirely alone. He had lost so much, and there was nothing he could do in this memory to change the future. If he could tell his younger self to appreciate it, if there had been any way for him to spend just a few minutes with his parents, Delsin would have done anything. But there was nothing he could do but continue to suffer in silence. The first peaceful memory had ended up being the most emotionally traumatizing for him. Using some powerful magic only accessible through strong emotions, he began to push through the very fabric of the web.
The web pushed back against him, issuing its own silent warning as everything shook as if the whole thing would come crashing down with him still trapped in it. Narrowing his eyes, Delsin lifted up his hands. “Clearly you don’t work like you’re supposed to. Let me through or I’ll blast a hole through the center.” It was the worst thing that a person could do when trapped in a web because it could shatter one’s mind.
But most webs were built around the mind of the victim, not the creator.
The world around him shook a little, as if trying to get him to focus on the time. The nudge had no effect on his resolve. As soon as he realized that the trap needed some kind of persuasion, he allowed heat to spread around his hand and over his body. Webs had a unique kind of sentience and would try to preserve their memories for as long as possible. In reaction to his threat, the area around him vibrated like a fly trapped in a spider’s web, but it didn’t seem quite as insistent on him paying attention to the memory. “Last chance,” he murmured as a dark light formed over his hand.
Everything began to shimmer around him, but the colors did not change as they usually did at the end of a memory. Suddenly, he emerged into a vacuum of time woven together in the web, plunging him into darkness. Keeping the light in the palm of his hand, Delsin moved to the next thread, closer to the center of the web. As he exited the memory, the thread snapped and the memory fluttered behind him as he entered the next one. The string waved helplessly, unfinished and causing ripples across the rest of the web.
Finally, the warlock put his hand down, extinguishing the light. He looked around the vacuum and for a moment was in awe of its delicate beauty. It was both astonishing and terrifying how effective the web was. The warlock made sure to memorize the sight because it was one that he would likely never see again – one that no one would ever see again. There was even a part of his brain that was trying to remember it for future research because he was so aware of how unique an opportunity it was. For a brief moment, Delsin was able to escape his own emotions as his more logical thoughts took over his mind. Despite everything, he was still one of the most powerful magic users in the world, and he could not help but appreciate what he could learn from the experience. If he survived.
The loose memory floated across his vision, reminding Delsin that he could not remain where he was. His body was still trapped back in the present. It was safe, but the longer he took in the memories, the more harm Lilith could cause the village.
Forcing himself to remember just why he was there helped the warlock to calm his emotions. His eyes moved around the spectacle of this unknown void that no one had ever experienced and lived to talk about. Not once did it cross his mind that he might die at the end. The more he learned about Lilith, the more determined Delsin was to find a way of helping her.
It was what his parents had wanted – what he had wanted all these years.
Stepping into the bright light of the next memory, Delsin held up an arm to cover his eyes and squinted at the memory. He had spent more time outside of the web than should have been possible – the transition between memories should have been seamless with no ability for the victim to actually see the web. It had been strange, and the image was etched in his mind, but Delsin had noted that he only had three more threads until the memories were done. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the light, but a lovely voice was singing not too fa
r from him. As his eyes acclimated, he opened them ever so slightly to see the person he knew was nearby.
This time, the warlock remained entirely quiet, the short period of emotional stabilization giving him the objective view he needed to keep going. Lilith sat there singing quietly to herself as she peeled an apple, her pale skin in stark contrast to the bright red fruit. She seemed surprised when she was able to peel the skin without once breaking the chain. An innocent smile flashed over her face. “Well, only one thing to do with this, right?”
Giggling, she threw it over her shoulder. A loud metallic sound stopped her before she could turn and look at it. Like a doe caught off guard, she sat frozen to the spot, her eyes flicking around her. It was clear that she was panicked. Delsin couldn’t help but give a little smile at her fear because he knew exactly what she was about to find.
How many times had he heard that sound when he was young?
When she realized that she wasn’t in any immediate danger, Lilith stood up carefully and moved toward the sound. “Are you here, Dad? Are you watching over me again?” Her voice was hesitant, and Delsin realized that he had gotten too close to her. Drifting backwards, he put a lot more distance between them.
She shivered. “Of course not. You haven’t helped me in forever. You no longer care, do you?” There was defiance in her voice. A sudden flash lit up her eyes, and Lilith clenched her jaw. “Fine. I’ll show you. I’ll show all of you. I’m not helpless.”
Quietly, she moved toward the noise as it grew louder. Keeping his distance, Delsin followed her again, his eyes watching her closely, though he tried to scan the scene in his periphery. As soon as he saw movement, he shifted to get a better view of both himself and the demon.
