"At one point, we managed to steal an old Fae relic. A moonlight sword. It became your blade. And it wasn't long until the rebels, until we all, began calling you the Moonlight Prince. You were our symbol, Fenris, our symbol of hope. You weren't a High Fae. The High Fae had failed us, we didn't want another one. Not really. You… you were something more. A man from legend… like the Primal One himself. You had come to free us.
"But it was not enough. Our attacks only made them strengthen their defenses. Soon we began losing battles, loosing soldiers. Our numbers dwindled. Our supporters began to flee. And so we devised a plan.
"Tavian, you, and I, would perform a ritual. We would summon a power long lost, and with it we would defeat the vampires."
Realization shatters me. My hands tremble with sorrow. This… all that has transpired recently… this is my fault. "We…" I can barely bring myself to say it. But I must. The memories return and I must face them. "We summoned the Darkness."
"Yes," says Marasphyr. "And we could not control it. The Darkness attacked our own, spreading through Avakiri. It killed innocent men, women, and children. It killed Tavian's family. Us three however, it did not kill. Through the ritual, we had developed some kind of bond with it, gained some of the powers we had wished to summon. But, upon seeing the carnage, you attacked the beast. Your moonlight sword, a blade of legend, could harm it, and somehow, somehow you trapped the Darkness. I did not see the final battle, but Tavian and I arrived at the end. It is then, as you locked the Darkness away, that it cursed us three.
"Tavian, it cursed to never forget. So that he may live with the memory of his wife and child dying every single day. Me, it cursed to remember the future, but never to change it. To see horrible things and never stop them. And you, Fenris, you it cursed to forget your true self. To forget me and Tavian, the people you loved. So that once again you had to live a lie.
"And so you returned to being Fenris Vane, Prince of War. I sought you out, found you at the Black Lotus. I tried to tell you the truth, but you could never hear me. You could never remember the time we shared, or the person you truly were. I tried rekindling our relationship, but it was never the same. You were never the same."
I study her, memories of our time together returning. They seem a past life. We could have lived a good life together, perhaps. But now it will never be. "You…" I say, watching the shadows swirl around her. "You said the Darkness bonded with us…"
"Yes."
"Gave us powers…"
"Yes."
"You… You are the Wraith."
She smiles. And for a second her entire body turns to shadow, to Darkness. And then she is back, Marasphyr, with her pale skin and black hair. "Yes. I am the one you call the Wraith. After we were cursed, Tavian sought to conceal his powers, to deny them, while you could not remember your own. I, however, I studied them. Fed them. Grew in power. So, yes it was me in the cave. The people sacrificed themselves to give me power. But, I did not ask them to. I know I said I did, but I was trying to scare you. They performed a ritual, a ritual much like we did, and it summoned me, gave me strength. I did not wish for it to happen." She looks down, but I cannot tell if she is truly sad or just remembering. "I asked you to bring me Tavian Gray because I missed him. We had parted on poor terms when he learned I had kept using my new abilities. But he was one of the few people who knew my true self, knew my secrets. I wanted reconciliation. You, of course, failed to bring me Tavian right away, but you did eventually, unknowingly. We talked. He still hates me. Hates what I am. But at least for a while, we talked."
I see sorrow in her. Regret.
"You can still do right," I say. "Help me defeat the Darkness. Help me save Arianna."
She wipes her eyes. A single tear. "I see, even with your memories restored, you still love her. I suppose I knew it would be so. I…" She pauses, leaving something unsaid, then caresses my face. "Goodbye, Fenris Vane. I do not think we shall see each other again. This world has been too painful for me. There are many others. And perhaps in one of them I will find happiness."
She leans down and gently kisses my forehead, and then opens the palm of my hand and places something in it—a ring. Arianna's ring. "I was asked to give this to you." And then she stands, walking away.
"Wait," I plead. "Stay. Help me fight."
She looks back, smiling. "Oh Fenris, you don't need my help. You beat the Darkness before, remember?"
And then with a wink, she vanishes into shadow.
I beat the Darkness, she said. I beat the Darkness.
And I will do so again.
I stand, dust flying off my body, and slip Arianna's ring onto my little finger. Niam notices me, his eyes going wide. "How are you alive?"
I ignore him, running for Arianna and the creature. I don't bother finding my sword. I won't need it. Not against the beast.
I know what I must do.
"Find Lucian!" I yell to Arianna. "I will fight the creature. When I kill it, Lucian will be weak, vulnerable." Because he is bound to the Darkness just like I am bound. It is why I felt weak every time Arianna hurt the Darkness. It is why Lucian will be weak when I kill the beast. And it is why, I realize, I have escaped death so many times.
"Are you sure?" asks Arianna, weaving through the sky, her blade clashing against the creature's claws.
"Yes. Now go."