I took a deep, shuddering breath. Thought about consequences. Knew I had no choice.
"No."
As I said it, I lunged for Amaya. I never got there.
The pain hit like a sledgehammer, knocking me sideways and damn near senseless in the process. I lay on the dirt in a quivering heap, battling to breathe as their dark energy tore through every part of me and my brain felt like it was on fire.
Because this wasn't just a psychic attack. It went far deeper than that. It was an attack on my body and soul, and it felt like every fiber of my being screamed in agony. Only I made no noise because the sound seemed to be stuck somewhere inside my throat.
The torture continued, on and on, until I was raw and battered and bruised. My skin ran with rivers of blood that soaked into my clothes and deep into the earth, until the bitter smell of it stung the air and burned my throat. And still it went on, until it felt like they were pulling me apart atom by atom, until there was nothing left of me but a screaming, bloody mass of separated particles.
Eventually—mercifully—I blacked out.
But it was a state that lasted nowhere near long enough. As I climbed backed to consciousness, the dark energy of the Raziq still burned at me. It hurt—god, how it hurt—yet within that energy, something fierce and bright burned, calling to me.
Amaya.
She lay underneath my hand. All I had to do was grasp her… and do what?
I had no idea. I was working on pure instinct now, totally incapable of any actual thought processes.
My fingers twitched; felt metal. Somehow, I found the strength to grasp her.
I expected fury. Expected to be hit once again by the illusionary flames that had burned her from my grip the first time. But nothing happened. The dark energy continued to flow through me, this time rebuilding rather than tearing apart. My body continued to shudder, scream, but Amaya burned brighter in my mind, her energy flowing through me, giving me strength.
The dark energy began to ease, trickling away like water down a drain, leaving me a quivering, broken wreck.
Now, an alien voice whispered through my brain.