Jyx opened his eyes—at least, that’s what he thought he’d done. One moment he couldn’t see, and the next he could, but he knew he had no body, much less any eyes to see.
I exist.
The swirling grey mist of the World Beyond floated around and through him. Dark shades slid beyond him. He felt vibrations somewhere within his own shade that felt like greetings, and he tried to nod in response.
Something large and black made its way through the mist. Jyx gained an impression of flapping wings, and a consolidation of Time itself, and he tumbled away from the creature. The World Beyond lacked direction, and Jyx couldn’t tell if he fell downward or upward or even if he spiralled in some figurative shape. He tried to clutch at himself, to keep himself from tattering apart in the wake of the beast.
I feel like a cobweb in the wind.
Jyx fought to think of all of the spells that he knew, searching his being for the incantations and hexes he’d spent so long memorising. They were all gone, washed clean from his mind when he left the mortal plane.
There is no need for magic here.
The thought made the remnants of Jyx run cold. He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he didn’t have at least the rudiments of magic at his fingertips.
But I don’t have a life, not anymore. It’s just me, and this, forever.
Jyx looked around, watching the other wraiths drift between each other. Some of them paused and acknowledged one another, soundless greetings passing through the silent space, but most seemed directionless. Many of them seemed to be empty, as though the spark of the soul had gone out entirely.
Is that what Eufame condemned me to?
Jyx would have cried if he’d had the body to do so. His mind strayed to the morning meeting with Dean Whittaker, and he wished with everything he had left that the dean had expelled him. A lifetime struggling in the Underground City was no real life, but at least it was better than this non-existence.
“Jyximus Faire…”
Jyx looked around at the sound of his name. It echoed around him, the syllables seeking his essence in the depths of the mist. More words, strangely familiar yet utterly alien, resounded in the air around him, and he felt himself compelled to follow their trail. The echo led towards a golden light, surrounded by dancing fireflies. Jyx didn’t know where the portal led, but he knew he wanted to find out.