Chapter 55: Erebion

“Can you hear me?”

Perhaps against his better judgment, Nerez crouched down beside the boy, or rather, beside Erebion in the body of a child.

He knew better than anyone that it was never wise to let his guard down, but by this point, it was clear that if Erebion ended up lunging at him, he could do something about it.

“I hear you…”

That surprised even Nerez. He had been the one to ask, but the answer sounded far too human.

It was only three words, but his tone already said everything.

“Do you know your name?”

The boy looked at him for a few seconds, his expression making it clear that he did not quite understand the question.

After thinking about it for a few moments, he finally answered.

“Erebion…”

Nerez nodded. The name matched the one Drazira had mentioned, but the answer lacked conviction.

“And do you know who I am?”

“My… killer…”

“That doesn’t sound very nice. You should come up with a better way to refer to me, just in case you ever end up introducing me to someone.”

Erebion stared at him in confusion for a few seconds.

“Someone?”

“It’s nothing. Can you stand up?”

Nerez stood and held out his hand. Erebion hesitated for a few seconds, but eventually took it, which was rather curious. Nerez was testing several things at that moment.

“How do you feel?” he asked once Erebion was on his feet.

“Different…”

“Well, I imagine so, after changing bodies and everything…”

“I’m not hungry anymore.”

Now it was Nerez’s turn to stare at him in confusion.

“Hungry?”

Erebion looked back at him.

“Hungry?” he asked in turn, though more to himself than anything else.

“…”

“…”

“And aren’t you going to say anything about that body?”

“This body?” Erebion looked himself over. “What about it?”

“…Before, you were a human-shaped mass of black mist. Do you really not remember?”

Erebion stared at him for a few moments.

“Ah… yes… I remember…”

Nerez covered his face with one hand. Clearly, something had happened between Erebion and the memories of the body he now inhabited.

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“I don’t think this is going to go very well… Tell me, do you remember what you were protecting? Why you were doing it? Why you considered us your enemies?”

Erebion lowered his head for a few moments.

“Enemies… change… one with the world… separation… no… I don’t know… I feel… I feel like I had to protect order… stability… but… why? I don’t remember… no… I don’t think it’s important anymore…”

Nerez let out a long sigh of exhaustion and resignation.

“At least this should mean we won’t be enemies anymore, I hope…”

Erebion looked at him closely for a few moments.

“No, we are not enemies… And even if we were, there is nothing I can do against you… You are death… you are absolute… At least I understand that much now.”

“I really need to avoid going to the same party as you. I can already picture it… This is my friend, the killer! Sorry! I meant death!”

“Party?”

“It’s nothing… Look, my name is Nereziel, but call me Nerez. Can you do that for me? Not killer, not death, none of that (and hopefully no Lord Nereziel either).”

“Of course, Nerez.”

“Wow… it’s been a while since someone actually listened to me about that.”

“Huh…?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Nerez crossed his arms and looked up at the sky through the canopy for a moment. “All right, so you don’t really know why you were doing what you were doing… which was guarding the entrance to the river of death, no, the Chasm of the Deeps? I think that’s what Drazira called it… But what are you planning to do now?”

Erebion looked at him with an expression that showed he did not quite understand what Nerez was talking about.

“What do you want me to do, Nerez?”