“No! I couldn’t… stop her… again…” Chal could barely hear the girl as she cried in frustration. His senses faded, and he passed to a realm of spirits. It was grey fog. Lights beamed in and out of sight. They flickered as they danced. He could see his own light around him. Where was his wife? His son? They were near. But then there was a violent red, and a return.
Chal woke next to a fire. “I have to go now,” the girl said calmly. She had new clothes of fine quality, and a heavy leather pack, which she set down beside Chal. “There’s food… if you need it.” He could see a distant sadness in her eyes, and he looked at her more closely. Her skin was faintly purple, and she had long, pointed ears like the folk of fae. Her straight, violet-purple hair fell below her shoulders, and her eyes glowed green-blue. The girl pulled up her cloak as she held out her palm, took a deep breath, and then disappeared in a blink of light.
Chal’s flesh was entirely covered in bandages. He unwrapped his hands. His body had hollowed, but somehow he had clung to life. Undying? No, he was something different, something new. Something born of chaos. She had done something to him. He cried in frustration, but there were no tears. He felt no chill of the morning, no warmth of the fire, no hunger, no pain. What Chal did feel was the chaotic power newly within him.
Echo of Chal I • Echo of Chal II
Originally published in Faerie Solitaire Harvest