“I think they are one and the same now. Suter called it the Aphotis.”
“I remember asking him about that word. It has some disturbing connotations. Something that is aphotic can live only in darkness. I do not like the sound of that.”
“In Suter’s realm, there is a belief that, at some point, a person’s soul would go viral and become what they called the darkling wraith, possessing many people’s bodies. That’s what happened with Juaquin Prado. They even described the flowing dark vapor we saw on the videos. Eventually this wraith would gather to one person, consuming their soul and becoming one with it.” Mara’s voice cracked. “I think that’s what happened to Abby.”
“But why Abby? Why didn’t it take you, when you were possessed by it?”
“He needed all of me, and that was out of reach. He seemed confused by that, like he didn’t realize we all exist in multiple realities and how he only had access to this one realm. Prado needed to merge or consume the entire consciousness of a soul, all its permutations in existence. That was only attainable by using the Chronicle to reach out to every realm, which he was not aware of when he first possessed me.”
“But somehow he was able to attain that knowledge?”
“I think from me, when we were joined. But he figured it out too late. By then I started to shine, as Hannah calls it, and drove him out.”
“That’s when he entered Abby.”
Mara nodded. “And demanded that I open the Chronicle. I practically served Abby’s soul to him on a platter.”
“You could not have known,” Ping said.
“Prado took that knowledge from me and used it against me. He even mocked me with it, talking about how I had so much knowledge and so little understanding. I helped him turn Abby into a monster.” Mara wiped her eyes, preempting tears before they ran down her cheeks. “Remember when we talked about good versus evil?”
“You mean, constructive versus destructive forces,” Ping corrected.
“I mean a metaphysical devil.”
“There is no such thing, simply opposing forces competing to define the nature of existence in differing ways.”
“You mean, the battle for existence,” she said.
“Yes, in a manner of speaking.”
“Well, I think it’s on.”
Ping stared at her for a few seconds and then wiped beads from his brow, despite the cold air wafting in from the shattered window. “Surely you’re not taking that literally, are you?”
Mara pointed to the ceiling. “What happened up on the roof wasn’t a metaphor. That thing took my friend. It took the Chronicle, and, if what I suspect is true, it took enough of me to pose a significant threat to us all.”
Ping went pale. “What do you mean, it took enough of you?”
“For a few minutes, it was me. Before it left, it shared my knowledge, awareness and beliefs, so—”
“So, if that’s true, it may have your abilities to shape reality, the abilities of a progenitor.” Ping’s eye twitched and then his cheek. He walked around the counter, sat on the high stool behind it and leaned forward. He placed his elbows on its surface and cradled his head in his hands. Without looking up, he said, “I always assumed that the battle of existence referred to something that would be played out over time, an accumulation of constructive and destructive events that would shape the nature of reality. It never occurred to me that it might be an actual altercation between those forces, an actual battle. Perhaps the coming of this Aphotis is why the dragon has been so restless. This intuition, this sonar it sends out, is definitely setting off some kind of alarm in the creature.”
“Considering what happened on the roof when I was possessed, when I lashed out at the dragon, it’s logical that it would be fearful,” Mara said. “You said it could sense danger, even before it arrives.”
“As best I can determine, that is true.”
“And this started up a few days ago, before Prado and the shedding, and me coming back with Suter. As all of that happened, what you felt, did it get worse over time?”
“I would say so.”
“And now? How do you feel? How does it feel?”
“Barely contained. As long as the threat exists, I may have trouble controlling it.”
“Then we have to deal with the threat.”
“Mara, I cannot ask you to put yourself in danger for me.”
Mara shook her head. “I would do it for you, but it isn’t