The Frozen Moon - By J.D. Swinn Page 0,41
her friends knew her history with the one before them. To all of them, he was just a nameless adversary, and they didn’t know what he was capable of. She decided to take the plunge all at once, like jumping into a frigid pool of water, and speak, though it would come as a surprise to her friends. They had encountered worse things, she thought.
“Daniel,” she said simply. It was a courtesy that, coming from Nameh’s tight mouth, sounded as sweet as tradition dictated, but held all the hidden thorns of the reddest of roses. Roses, she mused, blood red as the day they lived. She felt, rather than saw, the surprise in her comrades at the sound of the strange man’s name. She felt uneasy, knowing that an explanation was due, but this was certainly no time to give one. Daniel would surely attend to that in his toying ways.
“Nameh,” he said in that damned smooth voice, “it’s been a while.” Those in the black ring around him seemed not to hear the conversation’s advances; their faces betrayed no emotion. Completely consumed by dark magic, they must have been, and trained into submission by their valiant leader. She imagined that there wasn’t an individual thought among them.
“It certainly has.” she replied in her cool, even tones. She had always prided herself in her ability to maintain calm. “Still running with the wrong crowd, I see.” A smug smile slid across his features; he had clearly grown used to it. The expression fit him like a worn glove, settling easily into place.
“As usual, that depends on your view of the word ‘wrong’. What you seem to perceive as wrong has given me more power than you could ever have hoped for.”
“And what have you gained from it?” she asked. “Some followers, a name for yourself? If only I could ask the Daniel I once knew if it was worth it. I know it wasn’t.” The words were a release of feelings enclosed for years, what she had always wanted to say to him. It was as though she were reliving the dream that had plagued her for so long, and everything was coming out in an explosion of renewal. Her friends were frozen behind her, sensing that nothing could be done verbally. She wanted to give them a signal, a glance, a hand gesture, but she knew that as soon as she broke eye contact with Daniel, the fragile membrane holding back battle would tear, and hell would break loose. No, not the battle, she corrected herself, the war. The war to end all wars. The war for the earth.
She knew she had to find a way to communicate with them, tell them something-anything. They needed to know who he was and what they were dealing with. She was furious with herself for not telling them earlier, but she hadn’t thought it would prove this important. A voice cut through her thoughts, an answer to her silent plea. Who is he? The voice was pleading, begging for an answer. At first, she waited. Had she imagined it, was it said aloud? She didn’t think so. Daniel she thought with mental pronunciation, the loudest thought she could muster, in a way. The presence in her mind seemed to be surprised. So whoever was speaking to her hadn’t been aware of it. Nameh had experienced this only once before, with a new Whisperer. Sometimes, she knew, if their emotions were strong enough, they could unwillingly whisper into someone’s thoughts. Generally, they would develop more control as time went on, but this was not an initial skill. That had to be what was happening now, she thought. Nameh? Thought the voice. This time, she recognized the deep timbre she had not before. Seth! You’re a whisperer? She steeled herself against Daniel’s stare; he thought he was breaking down her resolve with this battle of wills they were engaged in. Neither moved, or dared move, neither broke eye contact. Hope swam inside of her as she had not known in ages. What an opportune time to find that out, if you ask me, joked Seth’s voice. Definitely, she replied, But that’s how it usually works. Now listen carefully…
His mind pulsed with thoughts, each now felt as though it was trying to escape the confines of his brain. He prepared to whisper the information into the others’ thoughts, but had begun to worry. There were countless secrets enclosed within the mental folds of his brain