Void(98)

“Emilia?” I asked warily before standing. I didn’t know what this undead chick was capable of or what she might do. I took a couple of steps back until I was pressed against the concrete wall.

“I’m assuming you’re a Void?” she asked. “Can’t think of any other reason you’d have a necromancer wake me up. That’s a strong one, you’ve got. Most zombies have no consciousness, but I feel almost like no time has passed at all.” She held her hands up and stared at them in awe, twisting her fingers and bending them at the knuckles.

“Y-Yeah, I am a Void,” I answered quietly, still watching her to see if she would be some crazed monster.

She made a clicking noise with her dry tongue. “Get a backbone, girl. Speak like you mean it. The world will crush you if you’re weak,” Emilia said before twisting her neck, a series of popping sounds erupting at the movement. “Is he one of your bonded?” she asked.

I frowned. “I...think so?” I replied lamely. “Wait, is that normal?”

She tilted her head to the side—way too fucking far—making more bones crack and snap. “You don’t know what you are, do you?”

“I just told you, I’m a Void.” I couldn’t believe I was standing here in a crypt talking to a reanimated corpse.

She waved a thin hand in the air. “Oh, that’s what they call us, sure. But we’re more than that. Has no Void elder ever taught you?”

“There’s no such thing as a Void elder.”

She looked sad for a moment, her cracked lips turning down at the corners. “Then I am sorry for you, youngling. In the beginning, we had elders in place to help us. I saw the change in tides before my murder, and it saddens me to know what I predicted has come to fruition. Weaker people have always feared us. Our kind has been hunted and killed throughout the millennia. I will try to tell you as much as I can for as long as his power can sustain me, but you will have to replenish him when I’m done, and seek out your bonded to then replenish yourself.”

My head was swimming with her words like loose puzzle pieces I couldn’t fit together.

“Who do you feed from?” she asked, testing her own weight as she got to her feet and began to walk out through the crypt door. I didn’t want to leave Hyde behind on the floor, but I had no choice except to follow her out. As soon as the sun touched her skin, she let out a blissful sigh. Her fingers traced along the crypt walls before she kneeled down, running her hands over the grass and stray dandelions growing.

“Before, I didn’t feed from anyone. But I’ve met some paragons, and it’s like my Void craves them and only them,” I explained in a rush. I wasn’t sure how much time we had and wanted to absorb as much information as possible.

I could see her skeletal body through her deteriorated dress as she moved, and stringy, white hair was stuck in clumps to her head, “Then it seems your Void sought out your perfect matches. You’ll bond to them, and you’ll feed from them. If you feed on anyone else—on anyone’s power that is not strong enough for you, then you can drain them of power completely, but I’m sure you know this,” she explained, her attention still focused on the flower.

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve taken powers from people under the council’s orders.” It felt wrong to admit this to someone so...ethereal. It made the dirty guilt buried deep in my gut rise to the surface.

She cursed under her breath and stood back up, heading for the nearest tree. “A barbaric punishment for supers,” she said over her shoulder. “One I’d hoped would one day be outlawed, but I suppose that was wishful thinking.”

“You keep saying my bonded,” I pressed, aware of my time dwindling. “Can you explain that more? A mate mark just appeared on my skin, and I feel a pull to them like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

Reaching the tree, she started to circle around it, her spindly fingers running along the bark. “They’re your mates. Your partners. Your life. It’s similar to a shifter’s mating ritual, but so much more potent—and important. They are the people that will keep the Void settled. We are gifted with incredible responsibilities, but burdened by the complex needs of our gift. You are the highest form of elemental magic. Some control fire, wind, earth, or water. You control power.”

My eyebrows dipped in confusion. “I’m a power elemental?” I asked, trying to clarify.

“Yes, youngling. You can take, give, mold, and mend. You wield the abilities gifted to us by the gods. It is your divine and sacred duty.” She turned to look at me, her skin practically see-through in the sunlight. “Child, you bring all the supers together. Your entire existence is meant to bring balance to the world. In my time, the Void and their bonded led the world.”

I put a hand on my chest and could feel the thudding of my heart. “How do I control it?” I asked. Her bright blue eyes had started to dim, and her limbs started to crack and shake with the effort of holding her up. She was fading.

“I don’t have the time to explain that all to you. You must rely on your bonded and use your instincts,” she answered, her voice less vibrant than before. I watched in horror as the skin on her chest dissolved, showing the bloody muscle beneath.

“How do I rely on my bonded?” I asked in a panic. I wasn’t ready for her to disappear just yet. I still had so many questions.