One week.
He'd been discharged from Rafaela's hospital one week after he woke up. Rafaela had swathed his chest in bandages and had left him with a specific instruction not to use magic or any physically stressful activity.
Lancelot had helped him home, solid friend that he was, and here he was.
He really hoped that he would actually recover, and not just stay like this forever. He could feel his chest slightly burning up, and he remembered how bad he'd felt. First getting his chest split open by a Shadowbringer, then getting his head smashed into the sink and suffering the venomous effects of his wound.
How were Shadowbringers even still around? He'd have to look into that.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
He opened the door and Lesley stood there, nervously shifting on the balls of her feet.
"Hey, Les," he spoke, and suddenly she moved, and crushed him in a hug.
Gusion just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do before he decided to respond by wrapping his arms around her too. He felt her body shiver and he realised that she was crying.
"What happened? Are you fine?" he asked, pulling away.
She shook her head and ran her arm over her face, wiping her tears. "I'm sorry," she blurted out. "If I hadn't asked you to babysit Harley, you wouldn't have nearly died, it's my fault-"
"No," Gusion said firmly. He'd had experience with this side of Lesley before, on her father's death day. He'd come in for a visit, and found Lesley drunk and fingering a cyanide capsule. Harley had left to visit Harith, and Lesley had been wracked with guilt and self-loathing over her father's death to the point of contemplating suicide.
He doubted he'd ever forget the vacant expression on his best friend's face as she brought the deadly pill closer than ever to her mouth, and the panic he felt as he watched, frozen by shock.
Then he moved, and snatched the pill right out of her hands. They'd talked, and Lesley had dumped everything on him-how she'd been right there, how she could have saved him but didn't, and how it was her fault.
And here she was again, blaming herself for everything.
"Les, it wasn't your fault. If I needed to, I could have ditched Harley. I made my choice, and I still would have made it even if I knew what happened after that." Gusion told her. "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault."
"But still," she continued, and Gusion cut her off.
"No stills. If there's anyone who's to blame, it's Dyrroth. You have no idea how scary it is to be jumpscared by a Crab Monster when watching IT."
"I told you not to watch horror movies late in the night," Lesley replied, and Gusion's spirits lifted as she smiled at him. "You're fine, right? Do you need anything?"
"Nah," Gusion said. "I'll be fine."
Lesley's phone buzzed, and she dug it out, disgustedly staring at it. "Alice has the worst timing," she muttered, and turned to him.
"Go save the world, Les," Gusion joked good-naturedly.
Lesley waved him goodbye, and he closed the door.
That was a hell of a chat, he thought as he plopped down on the sofa. He did have a crush on his rifle-wielding friend, and every hug, contact, and smile sent his heart fluttering like a butterfly.
He was so blissfully lost in thoughts that when two sickle-like claws wrapped around his neck, he was completely taken off guard.
"Don't move a muscle," the raspy voice from his nightmares spoke, and Gusion's heart rate began accelerating so fast he wouldn't have been surprised if it burst through the bandages.
"I know you're extremely confused, and possibly frightened, but let's not get ahead of ourselves," the raspy voice spoke, and Gusion simply sat stock-still, petrified from fear.
There was a grunt, and some shuffling noises and Gusion realised that the creature was climbing onto the sofa.
He planted his feet on the ground and kicked back as hard as he could, and he heard the creature exclaim as the sudden movement dislodged it. He grabbed it's unsteady arms and hurled it in front of him.
The creature somersaulted in mid-air and landed perfectly on its feet and turned around. "I told you not to do anything," it snarled, and Gusion leapt off the sofa and landed, his feet crashing into where the Shadowbringer had been.
A movement came from behind him and he turned and the monster knocked him flat on his back as it climbed over and pressed the claws to his neck.
"I did not come here to kill you," it rasped.
"I'll believe that when I see pigs fly," Gusion shot back.
"You have to believe me," it said. "Did I nearly kill you?"
"What, you have multiple personality disorder now?"
The creature smiled. "Something like that," it conceded. It removed it's claws and allowed Gusion to sit up, clambering off him.
"I am a Shadowbringer," the monster said. "The last of my kind. I know what the common perception of Shadowbringers are: monsters, horrifying creatures, agents of evil and all that. But believe me, when I say that a week ago, I did not attempt to murder you of my own volition."
"What are you talking about?" Gusion asked.
"It was a no moon that day, yes?" the Shadowbringer asked. When Gusion nodded, it continued, "When the moon is invisible, a dark creature with an exceptionally strong mind can control one of a weaker mind. That was what happened to me."
"Liar," Gusion instantly fired off.
"I speak the truth," the creature insisted, with an irritated undertone to its voice. "Dyrroth had been hunting me for this particular attack as an ace in the hole. He found me the day before the attack, and forced me under control. I could barely remember anything of the night."
"Then why are you here?" Gusion asked.
"I need to know whether there is a threat to my secrecy," it said. "Like you said, I am supposed to be dead. If the Light side knew there was a rogue Shadowbringer, what's to say they won't hunt me down?"
"As long as you haven't fought in the war, there shouldn't be a problem."
"I am confident in my abilities to survive this war. But after? They will spare no cost to see me dead."
"That won't happen."
"You are awfully optimistic."
"And you are awfully cynical."
"On the contrary, I've been told that I'm way too optimistic, and believe me when I say I need to stay under the radar. So let's get to the point. What did you tell your friends?"
"Nothing. They haven't asked, and I didn't say anything."
"Alright, good." The creature hung its head, deep in thought, before looking him in the eye. "You will tell them-if they do ask-that Dyrroth was the only one that attacked you. He managed to wound you severely with a venom-coated knife."
"Dyrroth uses circular razors. Everyone knows that." Gusion told him.
"Dyrroth is unpredictable enough to switch tactics," the monster shot back. "Under no circumstance are you to reveal anything of my existence. If I find that so much as anyone knows of my existence-"
"You have my word," Gusion said. He didn't fully trust the Shadowbringer, but he couldn't tell that it had lied.
"Very well," the creature spoke, just as the doorbell rang.
"Hide!" Gusion hissed, and the Shadowbringer dissolved into shadows.
Gusion pushed himself up as the doorbell rang twice more. "Coming!" he called out, and pulled the door open.
Dyrroth stood there, calm as a midnight sea. "I think I'll finish the job here," he said, and leapt, crashing his knee right into Gusion's wound.
The pain flared again and Gusion sailed backwards, hitting the floor hard as Dyrroth followed him in.
