Opalina (prime)/The Price of Defiance
The Price of Defiance
Title: The Price of Definance
Author: Opalina Jalcon
From the journals of Opalina Jalcon- 2002
The smell of fresh bread drifted through Commerce Burrow.
It should have been comforting.
Halflings laughed somewhere beyond the bakery, merchants called to passing customers, and life continued with its stubborn insistence that the world was still whole. I stood among it all, smiling politely, speaking softly, pretending that I belonged in such ordinary moments.
But evil has no respect for ordinary moments.
Nekales spoke with certainty about liches, about the darkness they carried and the folly of believing they could ever be reasoned with. Tianni recounted the horror she'd witnessed, frozen while death claimed everyone around her.
Their words faded beneath another voice.
A voice that did not belong in this world.
The scent of burning sulfur crept into my lungs before the whisper wrapped around my thoughts.
"The feeding that I could do upon you both..."
My blood turned to ice.
It had found me again.
Not in the mountains.
Not hidden by distance.
Not surrounded by friends.
It had always known where I was.
For so long I had fled from it. Tried to ignore it. Tried to pretend that if I ran far enough the whispers would finally fade.
Instead...
I stopped.
"No," I whispered within myself. "I shall not flee from you any longer."
The words surprised even me.
Fear had exhausted itself.
Only resolve remained.
"You cannot take what is not yours," I answered the darkness. "And I am not yours."
It laughed.
Not aloud.
Inside me.
It brushed against my shoulder with fingers that did not exist, reminding me that terror could wear invisible hands.
Everyone around me watched helplessly as I argued with something only I could hear. Tianni's frightened eyes searched mine. Nekales warned me not to trust the creature.
I didn't.
But perhaps...
Perhaps I could make it listen.
"You promised," I said into the silence only I could hear. "No more killing."
The answer was cruel.
It demanded the staff again.
Always the staff.
As though one impossible task could ransom the lives of everyone I loved.
I begged instead.
Not for myself.
Never for myself.
"My life is nothing compared to them," I whispered. "Save my home. Stop your killing."
The voice answered with threats.
It promised death.
It promised despair.
It promised that my friends would suffer because of me.
Then it asked the question that broke my heart.
"Do you wish to see your friend there die?"
I looked at Nekales.
Strong.
Wise.
Steadfast.
I lied.
Not to save myself...
...but to save him.
I told the creature I did not know how to bring the staff.
For one fleeting heartbeat, I believed perhaps that would be enough.
Then the sky split apart.
Lightning.
White.
Blinding.
Violent.
It struck Nekales before any of us could breathe.
He fell.
The thunder came afterward.
I remember Tianni screaming.
I remember dropping to my knees.
I remember wrapping my arms around his lifeless body as if warmth alone could call his spirit home.
"I'm sorry," I cried.
Those words seemed far too small for the weight crushing my chest.
Everyone insisted it wasn't my fault.
Even Nekales's own spirit tried to comfort me.
But guilt does not listen to reason.
The lich had chosen him because of me.
Because I had answered.
Because I had hoped.
Because I believed, however foolishly, that evil might spare the innocent if only someone asked with enough sincerity.
I was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
The laughter echoed through Commerce Burrow long after the lightning had faded.
The others wanted me to leave.
To rest.
To grieve.
Instead I knew only one thing.
There had to be an answer.
If I kept running, more would die.
If I surrendered, countless more would die.
Somewhere between those impossible choices lay the path I had to find.
I hugged Tianni one last time.
"No," I admitted quietly when she asked if I was alright.
"I'm not okay."
And perhaps that was the truest thing I had spoken all day.
I turned away before anyone could stop me.
The voice was still there.
Watching.
Waiting.
So was I.