The landing was harder than I expected. My ankles protested with a sharp, jarring pain, and I stumbled forward, my arms flailing for balance. I managed to stay on my feet, just barely. I stood there for a moment, my heart racing, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps. I looked up at the window. The room was still dark. No one had noticed. I was free.
At least for a little while. I'm as free as I can imagine being in this world.
I climbed down from the porch roof, using the sturdy support posts as a ladder. I landed in a patch of mud with a soft squelch. I was back in the swamp. The air was thick and heavy, the silence broken only by the chirping of insects and the distant croaking of frogs. I had no idea where I was going. I just knew I had to get away.
Not far, obviously. Definitely not an aimless flight off into the darkness outside of town.
If I left the town I might as well just be logging a request to go to a new world, because I'd be eaten by some random night monstrosity before I got to see the morning sun. But...I had to get away from the inn. From the noise and the people and...him.
And him.
So I started walking, my sneakers sinking into the soft earth, following the wooden walkways of the town. I stay in the shadows, a ghost haunting the edges of Brackenwallow. The town was quiet now, the fires in the hearths dying down to embers. A few lights still burned in windows, but most of the town was asleep. Even the swamp seemed to be holding its breath.
Or, perhaps the better way of phrasing it is that it was also asleep. Like I should be. Like I would be, if I had summoned...some kind of powerful weapon instead of a demon king who seemed to hate the very concept of me getting a moment's peace or happiness.
I found a small, secluded spot at the very edge of town, where the walkway ends in a rickety dock that jutted out over the black water. A small, flat-bottomed boat was moored there, bobbing gently in the current. It's not exactly a five-star resort, but it's private. It's quiet. It's perfect.
Whoever owned this boat...probably wouldn't mind if I just borrowed it for a little bit. I wasn't planning to take it anywhere, after all.
I climbed into the boat, the wood groaning under my weight. I sat down on the narrow bench, my back against the gunwale. I pulled my knees to my chest and rest my chin on them. For the first time since I arrived in this world, I was truly, completely alone. The silence is a balm. A fragile, temporary peace, but a balm nonetheless.
I don't think. I don't plan. I don't worry. I just sit there, listening to the sounds of the swamp. The chirping of the crickets. The croaking of the frogs. The gentle lapping of the water against the hull of the boat. The silence was a physical thing, a heavy blanket that muffled the world. I closed my eyes and let the sounds wash over me.
I'm not an outdoorsy person.
I'd probably be anxious about sitting outside, in the barely-civilization, in the middle of the night. Normally. And that's in a world without monsters.
I should be terrified right now.
I'm just...
Too exhausted for any of that.
Physically, but also mentally. Socially. Since I've gotten here, I haven't even had my thoughts to myself. The only quiet I got was while I was unconscious or when I was so scared I couldn't think about anything else. This is the only peace I've had.
My body ached, my head was pounding, my magic core (a concept I still don't fully understand, but the one I have) felt like a hollow, aching void.
But my soul...
My soul feels at peace.
I could stay here forever. The sun will bring its own set of problems, though, I'm sure. The demon king. The quest. The whole messed-up situation. But for now, there is only the darkness and the silence. And the boat, gently rocking. I close my eyes.
I am not sleeping.
I'm just...resting.
A long, drawn-out sigh, a sound of such profound, world-weary disgust it made my teeth ache, broke my fragile peace.
I froze. I knew that sigh. I had been on the receiving end of it more times than I could count in the past two days.
I slowly, carefully, opened my eyes.
He was standing at the end of the dock, a tall, imposing figure silhouetted against the faint moonlight. He was just... there. A sudden, impossible manifestation. A nightmare given flesh. He hadn't made a sound. He hadn't walked across the creaking wooden planks. He had simply appeared, as if he had willed himself into existence.
If he weren't so unbelievably attractive it would be a truly terrifying sight.
"How did you...?" I started, my voice a dry rasp.
"Your magic is a pathetic, flickering candle," he said, his tone a flat, cutting dismissal. "But it is a candle nonetheless. I followed the trail of smoke."
He walked toward me, his bare feet making no sound on the weathered wood. He stopped at the edge of the boat, looking down at me with an expression that was a perfect mask of contempt. "Did you think you would escape me so easily? The only ease in your plan will be how quickly you are devoured and I am free."
"I wasn't trying to flee."
It's strange. He should be in his room hoping that I die, since that'll just free him.
Which means...
Apparently the necklace won't let him get too far away from me. He's not just chained to me by magic, he's chained to me physically.
I can't decide if the thought is a comfort or a terror.