4 min read
Shadow Self - Part 2
April 19, 2019
Ryder came awake in the dark, blinking and panting heavily in a pool of his own sweat. The nightmare was finally over. He laid in the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, attempting to catch his breath. He was finally free of that wicked laugh, or so he thought. Moments later, he began to hear Erryd’s laughter echo within his head. This hadn’t happened since the Trader took his imagination power, Ryder noted. It was strange to think about the past six months as though his imagination wasn’t just that, but in fact, it was reality. The entire thing shook the frei to his core.
As the laughter became louder, his head started to throb and a migraine began to set in. Covering his ears and holding his temples did nothing, but at the time it was all he could think to do. His face scrunched up and he couldn’t even think about anything but the pain. He attempted to scream out for help, but to no avail, it was as though his voice was gone. Ryder sat up in bed, feeling such immense pain. Then, it happened.
Ryder’s jaw fell and his eyes opened wide and glazed over. His body went limp as he floated slowly into the air face first. In the center of his forehead a bright white circular light seemed to warp and shine through, as though opening itself to another dimension. Through this portal, a light cream colored hand full of rainbow freckles slowly entered the world, followed by a wrist, arm, and finally, a shoulder. Bursting forth, ripping the portal wider for a split second, the rest of the rainbow freckled frei came into being all at once.
The portal closed instantaneously and Ryder fell back onto the bed, unconscious.
Through this trial Erryd was born.
Finally, the shadow became the ego. He saw himself in the flesh for the first time in the mirror across the room. An evil grin appeared upon his face. He felt every aspect of himself. This is what flesh and hair felt like. This is what air smelled like. He was no longer locked away in the brain of a pathetic idiot. He was his own being, full and realized, finally free of those imaginary shackles that bound him to Ryder's mind. Oh, how he couldn’t wait to practice magic for himself.
Although he had so much to do, the second part of this plan was yet to be completed. After all, he knew that if he did nothing, he was sure to be found out sooner than later. No, to make this dream of his a reality, the first thing he had to do was to dispose of Ryder’s body.
Erryd floated over to Ryder’s side as he lay there limp. A smile crept upon his face. ”Oh, my dear little rainbow. May all of your dreams come true,” he cackled quietly as he pulled the body off of the bed.
THUMP!
”Shit,” Erryd spat. The drop was a lot louder than he expected it to be. He scrambled to push Ryder’s body underneath the bed.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Creak.
”Ryder, is everything okay?” Reuben stated in the doorway before turning on the light.
”Ack, Reuben, what the hell? Yes, everything’s fine.” Erryd spat at the guardian as he laid there covered up in bed as to hide the one thing that differentiated the two frei from one another.
”Oh, sorry, I heard a thud in here is all.”
”Yeah, it was my spellbook. I dropped it by accident. Now, the light?”
Reuben turned off the light, taking notice of the tone the frei was using with him. ”Yeah, okay. Goodnight. Sorry to bother you.”
The door closed.
Erryd let out a sigh of relief as he scrambled to the bed’s edge, looking under the bed only to find the body strewn out across the wooden floor.
”That was too close for comfort. Ugh, is this what it feels like to be tired? I’ll deal with that in the morning,” Erryd stated before laying back down in the bed staring at the ceiling.
"Sleep tight, Ryder. This is my life now."
With that, Erryd fell asleep almost instantaneously, a bright smile upon his visage.
As the laughter became louder, his head started to throb and a migraine began to set in. Covering his ears and holding his temples did nothing, but at the time it was all he could think to do. His face scrunched up and he couldn’t even think about anything but the pain. He attempted to scream out for help, but to no avail, it was as though his voice was gone. Ryder sat up in bed, feeling such immense pain. Then, it happened.
Ryder’s jaw fell and his eyes opened wide and glazed over. His body went limp as he floated slowly into the air face first. In the center of his forehead a bright white circular light seemed to warp and shine through, as though opening itself to another dimension. Through this portal, a light cream colored hand full of rainbow freckles slowly entered the world, followed by a wrist, arm, and finally, a shoulder. Bursting forth, ripping the portal wider for a split second, the rest of the rainbow freckled frei came into being all at once.
The portal closed instantaneously and Ryder fell back onto the bed, unconscious.
Through this trial Erryd was born.
Finally, the shadow became the ego. He saw himself in the flesh for the first time in the mirror across the room. An evil grin appeared upon his face. He felt every aspect of himself. This is what flesh and hair felt like. This is what air smelled like. He was no longer locked away in the brain of a pathetic idiot. He was his own being, full and realized, finally free of those imaginary shackles that bound him to Ryder's mind. Oh, how he couldn’t wait to practice magic for himself.
Although he had so much to do, the second part of this plan was yet to be completed. After all, he knew that if he did nothing, he was sure to be found out sooner than later. No, to make this dream of his a reality, the first thing he had to do was to dispose of Ryder’s body.
Erryd floated over to Ryder’s side as he lay there limp. A smile crept upon his face. ”Oh, my dear little rainbow. May all of your dreams come true,” he cackled quietly as he pulled the body off of the bed.
THUMP!
”Shit,” Erryd spat. The drop was a lot louder than he expected it to be. He scrambled to push Ryder’s body underneath the bed.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Creak.
”Ryder, is everything okay?” Reuben stated in the doorway before turning on the light.
”Ack, Reuben, what the hell? Yes, everything’s fine.” Erryd spat at the guardian as he laid there covered up in bed as to hide the one thing that differentiated the two frei from one another.
”Oh, sorry, I heard a thud in here is all.”
”Yeah, it was my spellbook. I dropped it by accident. Now, the light?”
Reuben turned off the light, taking notice of the tone the frei was using with him. ”Yeah, okay. Goodnight. Sorry to bother you.”
The door closed.
Erryd let out a sigh of relief as he scrambled to the bed’s edge, looking under the bed only to find the body strewn out across the wooden floor.
”That was too close for comfort. Ugh, is this what it feels like to be tired? I’ll deal with that in the morning,” Erryd stated before laying back down in the bed staring at the ceiling.
"Sleep tight, Ryder. This is my life now."
With that, Erryd fell asleep almost instantaneously, a bright smile upon his visage.