It was my turn to be a silent partner as the nightmare took control. Tala sat next to me, making a noise akin to a whimper. The nightmare stared down at her and I felt it wondering why it should help her survive. Why it should use precious resources to help her flee. And then it remembers that I told it to. That it was part of our bargain."Child," the nightmare said after a few seconds. The voice was my own, but different—the speech was all wrong, as if the words weren't used to being spoken out loud. Tala glanced up at me, and recoiled slightly when she saw my eyes. I knew what they must look like—blackness spilling out from them, covering my face from my forehead to my mouth, with little patches of pink showing through, the only evidence of my waning influence. "Child," the nightmare repeated to her. "When I say go, you will run to that door and hammer on it for all you're worth. Tell them Nathan sent you.""I can't run.""Then you will die," the nightmare explained. The nightmare placed one of my hands on Tala's leg, and the orange glyphs on that arm turned to turn to black as my blood magic did its work.
