“Joining me is not the slavery you imagine,” the Silent King continued. “It is unity. You retain your will; indeed, you are useless to me without it. I merely coordinate you to exert more power than you could separately.”
Lindon began to speak, but the Dreadgod anticipated him.
“My hunger? I feed on excess dream aura, just as Dross does. Small enough that no one misses it. This is a symbiotic arrangement. With a word from you, your loved ones can be safe. I can ensure that they are never endangered again.”
Lindon did feel the pressure of his loved ones in danger, as he felt the weight of the Dreadgod’s will urging him to agree.
But most of all, he was confused.
“You had to know I wouldn’t agree to this.”
The tiger crouched down and laid its head on its paws. “I would be disappointed if you had, the first time.”
The chill around Lindon’s heart expanded.
“My mind can endure in this state for subjective years,” the Silent King said. “Dross is bleeding madra to bear the burden instead of you, but his power is finite. When he runs out, you will last until your will erodes, followed by your brain.”
Fury burned a hole in Lindon’s heart.
What was left was a cold, dark hole.
A void.
The Dreadgod continued to speak casually. “That will take only seconds in reality, but to us it will feel like a year. Or perhaps a decade, depending on how long you hold out. So, Lindon, you have rejected my first offer, and my second. What about my thousandth? My ten thousandth? How many times can you succeed before you fail?”
Lindon turned his mind and spiritual perception to Dross. Sure enough, he was leaking power.
Dross gave the Dreadgod a crazed smile. [As I approach the embrace of darkness, I grow only stronger!]
Lindon turned back to the Silent King. “Apologies, I will have to decline. But I do agree with you in one respect.” Even though it was a mental space, Lindon took a moment to straighten himself. He rearranged the badge on his chest, smoothed his hair, and took direct control of his shaking arm. He faced the giant tiger directly.
“We do belong together.” The Void Icon bled into his voice. “When I Consume your spirit and tear out your heart, you will be with me forever.”
The Dreadgod had some no-doubt clever response, but Lindon reached out for the space around him.
This wasn’t a manipulation of space. It was a technique. The Dreadgod had him in an illusion, meaning he was trapped inside the Silent King’s power.
Lindon unleashed the arm of Subject One. He stopped holding its power back, and felt it resonate with the endless, insatiable hunger of the Void Icon.
“Consume,” the Void Sage said.
The images on the white background flickered like reflections on a pond as thoughts and madra slammed into Lindon. Ancient will struck him like a truck, but he powered through the Dreadgod’s resistance.
As the Silent King responded, its voice warbled. The connection between them was growing thin. “Ambitious. Let’s see if your protector can hold up.”
The Dreadgod raised a claw and flicked it at Dross, who shone with purple madra as he braced himself.
Lindon reached out with his left hand and caught the claw.
“Wrong again,” Lindon said. “He’s not my protector. I’m his.”
Dross had overburdened to protect him from the strain of a Dreadgod’s mind once.
That was one time too many.
[Lindon,] Dross muttered, [You are steadfast and reassuring, but I am approaching my limit.]
Indeed, the memories from the Silent King were flowing through Dross and into Lindon. As Lindon had experienced before, another’s identity was drowning his. He remembered ruling a jungle, remembered controlling thousands of minds. Battling ancient Monarchs. Remembered the thirst for new memories, new experiences.
[Lindon?]
“Consume.”
Lindon couldn’t think about anything else. He had one singular focus, and he didn’t need to survive to achieve his goal.
As long as he didn’t bend.
“Idiocy,” the Silent King said, though his voice was faint. “This is a fragment of me. You can’t…reach…”
Lindon moved a step forward, even as the space flickered. Even when he forgot what he was doing.
He kept Consuming, and he walked forward.
[Lindon!]
The power rushed through him and eroded his thoughts, but he kept pushing.
He would push until he broke.
At first, Dross enjoyed the thrill of approaching doom. The risk made him feel alive.
Then Lindon had started to fight against the Silent King, and Dross felt much as he had when the sky blackened: that at least they would die together, as one.