The night was dark. The night was always dark. The world was wrapped in a constant cloud cover that never dissipated. The sun was bright enough to light the world during the day, but night was black. And so it was that Edmon, locked in the back of his mind, watched as the Voice slowly began to move his body to the right and forward. He moved slowly, taking a few steps then stopping and listening for sounds of the woman. SIlence was all he heard. He suspected she was still where his now dead horse was laying since she had at least four firearms there. The only problem was he was not exactly sure where that was now that the light had completely faded. Even though he was not controlling his body he was connected to the voice and he could feel his frustration at not grabbing the ammo pouch and powder horn from the first big guy he had killed. Now he was too far away to go back and all he had was one spent pistol, a loaded pistol and the blade he used to slice the big man's throat clenched in his teeth. Edmon tried pleading with the Voice again, but he did not respond.

  Edmon had moved about fifty feet when he heard the faintest sound of a twig cracking to his left. Did he just imagine it, he had thought the woman was still ahead of them. DId they get that turned around in the dark? The voice tossed the empty pistol and it landed with a thud ten feet in front of him. The dark, and silence were broken with a flash and a boom as the woman fired towards where the pistol landed. “So she had left the horse and was looking for him too,” Edmon thought. The voice knew where she was turning quickly, dropped to a knee and spun out stretching his arm and firing the pistol where the flash had been.

  He was rewarded with a thud and screams. He knew he hit her but was not sure where. He did not have his matches on him and he made a mental note to keep them on his person rather than in his pack. The screams turned into groans of pain, and the voice spoke to him at last.

  “We’ll wait here till light starts to rise. No point in risking her getting off a lucky shot since we can’t see her.”

  “You’re going to just let her suffer and bleed out?”

  “Do you think she would do anything different to us? Or did you already forget she tried to kill us, twice!”

  “I remember, I… I Just want to be a better person than her is all.”

  “You can be a better person Ed. But I’m in control now and I am not a better person.”

  Edmon was silent for a few minutes before he asked. “What are you?”

  “What do you mean what am I?”

  “Are you a demon? Possessing my body?”

  “Ha ha. Oh Ed. No, I am no demon. Demons fear what I am capable of.”

  “What are you then?” Edmon asked again, the desperation in his voice bleeding through.

  “I’m you Ed. At least a part of you.”

  “I don’t understand, how are you a part of me?”

  “I am you without the inhibitor of morals. I am pure animalistic instinct. I am rage, pure, and without restrictions.” The voice paused for a moment before continuing. “At least I could be if I didn’t have you intermingled with my will,” he finished with a sour tone biting at his words.

  “If you are a part of me, why have I never heard you before? Why have you never taken control of my body before?”

  “I can not take control of you Ed, just as you can not take control of me. The power to control OUR body must be given freely.”

  “I never gave you permission to take control. To do any of this. To kill these people or to…” the anger was rising in his voice and when he thought of Ayla his will deflated and his anger turned to loss. “Kill Ayla. I loved her, and now she is gone like everyone else.”

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  “I only know to be sorry I killed her because of your influence on me. Her, like these people, like Rul mean nothing to me. I was locked away, Ed, locked deep in your mind. Occasionally you would tap into my rage when you needed it but I was never able to take control. Not until you were on death's door did you will me from my prison to take control. When you saw your whole family slaughtered by the nobles like it was a game, you wanted to kill every last one of them. You wanted to watch the life drain from their eyes as you stood over their corpse’s. You wanted revenge so badly you willed me from my place deep in your mind to bring your dreams to life. And I can Ed. I will lay their severed heads at our feet even if it means burning the world to ash to do so.”

  “I don’t want this, not anymore.” Edmon said quietly.

  “Yes you do. Because I want this. And I am you, just as you are me. You can call me Rage, and the only thing that has changed from when you were laying on that hill watching, is that then we were one will, now we are separate. I will see our revenge fulfilled.” Neither spoke then and silence once again reigned as the woman's groans faded to stillness.

  Edmon at some point fell into unconsciousness, if you could call it that since he was certain the Rage did not let his body sleep. Light poured into the world as the sun finally rose again. Rage got to his feet and walked to where the woman was laying on the ground. He could see that her chest was still rising and falling every so slowly. He stopped over her and crouched, taking the pistol from her unclenched hand. The action caused the woman's eyes to snap open.

  “Must have been a long night laying here bleeding out. Although there is not much blood.” Rage remarked inquisitively.

  “The bullet went through my side and must have stopped at my spine because my legs gave out and I can’t move them. Otherwise I would have left and never looked back.” The woman was clearly parched as her voice was quiet and croaky. Although alive, she was pale so she had lost blood, just not enough to kill her. Edmon prepared himself for Rage to finish her off and put her out of her misery.

  “Well that is a shame. Terrible way to go, it looks like you stopped bleeding so it’ll be slow now. What will take you first? Lack of water or wild animals?” There was no malice in Rage’s voice, he was simply stating facts, much as one would talk about the weather. Rage grabbed the rifle laying a few feet from her, stood up and started to walk towards his gear.

  “You can’t leave me like this! Please put a bullet in my head and end it.” There was true fear in the woman's voice as she ran the possibility he would leave her to slowly die.

  “You tried to kill me without so much as a bleedin word. You could have asked for my pack, for my horse. I would have told you to suck start your musket, but you didn’t even try. Just repaying the favor.” Rage didn’t break his stride as he answered over his shoulder. The woman began pleading and begging to be put out of her misery and Edmon could not take it.

  “Please Rage, please do not be like them.”

  “She killed our horse, now it will take three times as long to get to Sunderfel. Three times as long before we get our revenge. She deserves worse than what she got.”

  “No!” Edmon shouted. “I will not become like them.”

  “Well, if you want to be her savior so much Ed, you do it!” Suddenly Edmon was thrust into control, his vision cleared and he was standing with his pistol in hand. The woman's cries were harder for Edmon to hear now that he was in control. They pierced into his heart having to listen to it.

  “Now it’s on you Ed. If you walk away you left her to die, if you put me back into control I won’t end her pain and you will still be responsible for that. If you end her misery you’ll have to accept the killer you will need to become to avenge our family.”

  “Please don’t make me do this, please I am Begging you.” Edmon pleaded the fear seeping from his words.

  “I can not make you do anything, you are in control now.” Rage responded calmly with no malice in his words, just facts. Edmon tried to plead with him again but Rage did not answer.

  The woman had stopped screaming for death, and had resorted to whimpering and muttering to herself. Edmon turned towards her with the loaded pistol still in his hand. He began walking towards her, every step felt like he was lifting a mountain tied to his feet. He had never killed anyone before, never even thought about killing anyone before, well at least before he saw his family killed. He knew he needed to do this but he did not think he could. To pull the trigger and send someones being to the Tribulation Plainss, where she would either redeem her innocence and her trials will end and she is granted eternal rest, or she wanders the Plains for eternity alone tormented by her demons. Edmon looked down and she was staring at him, her eyes locked on his.

  “Please look away, I won't be able to do it if you are looking at me.” Edmon said, voice shaking, tears welling in his eyes.

  “Thank you,” she said and did as he asked and turned her head away from him and closed her eyes. Edmon raised the pistol at her chest and his arm was shaking so he helped steady it with his other hand.

  “Please forgive me.” He said out loud to the gods,

  closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger.