Book One – Chapter 10

Nature dictated a balance of giving and taking, an equilibrium of feeding and being fed upon. But Midnight had set herself above nature. She had done so when forging a bond with a wizard, and she had done so again when embracing darkness to be more.

This was her essence, her identity. She was a being of darkness, but she had long before been a familiar, and even before that, she had been a pathera. And she was still. She was all of these things. Refusing to give was an assertion of her identity. Midnight was a born predator, and that meant she would disregard all the rules of darkness, and she would discard all the learned wizard strategy — she would fight to the death before allowing another creature to feed upon her.

This defiance she conveyed to the DΔϢΠΙΠƓϛ. A significant shift occurred in their touch. Their grasp became heavier, more insistent. Where they had touched to make their presence known, their numerous feelers now examined every part of her body extensively, measuring her up while pressing for her essence. With all that she was, Midnight communicated that her resistance was not a mark of disrespect but of dedication to honour to a bond forged long before she embraced darkness and long before the DΔϢΠΙΠƓϛ had touched upon her.

And then, she went further. She asked them to give to her.