Carpathian 20 - Dark Slayer

breath rushed out in a long, slow hiss. She had been in pieces, her body filtering through the soil, struggling to pull itself together, so fractured she couldn’t even knit her skin and bones back together evenly. This was worse than mere flesh. This was the very essence of who Razvan was. As each point of darkness was revealed, Ivory attached a thread of white light, anchoring it so that all of the pieces could be kept connected.
    Ivory knew without Gregori having to tell her that she had to provide the light to repair the fractures to Razvan’s soul and drive out that small splinter of evil. Words were powerful, the truth and rightness of them to bring his fractured mind together. They could tune sound to the true rhythm of Razvan’s body to restore balance and push the fragment of evil from his bloodstream. But the heart . . .
    I do not know how to love, healer. There was despair in her voice. I lost that emotion a long time ago. He will be lost because of me .
    There are all kinds of love, Ivory, and you are capable of all of them. He is a warrior first. Love him for that. He is a man alone who fought for all those around him and did not succumb to darkness when others embraced the darkness with far less to drive them. Love him for that. Find what you have to give and it will be enough when he’s never had anything .
    Ivory took a breath and steadied herself. The healer’s faith was convincing. She felt herself settle. This was a battle for a man’s sanity, for his very soul, and they would win because they had to.
    When we chase out the pieces of Xavier, the splinters will need to find a host . Gregori spoke to both Razvan and Ivory.
    Something in Gregori’s voice made everything in her go still.
    Long ago, I experimented with the forbidden and broke our laws. I have a need to understand how things work and I violated our sacred laws to find out .
    The confession was given freely, but Ivory knew it was more than that. Gregori not only wanted to warn them what to expect, but he was also giving Razvan and Ivory a piece of himself because he knew so many terrible things in Razvan’s life. It was a great risk for Gregori to admit such a thing and she respected the healer a lot more.
    What was put inside of you, Razvan, can be removed. I have done this myself .
    Razvan was silent a long moment while Gregori waited for his condemnation. Razvan sighed before he spoke. Sometimes, what started as wrong can be turned to good. I pray that is the case. I am ready, but take no chances that you may open yourself to him .
    Ivory began to sing, synching her tones to Razvan’s body’s natural rhythm. Gregori and Ivory matched the beat of his heart, the breath in his lungs, so that the notes flowed through all of them together, vibrating in every cell and organ.
    Blood rushed in and out of his heart, ebbing and flowing in his veins.
    I
    call
    to
    blood
    flowing,
    hot
    like
    the
    tide ,
    Seek that which is dark, holding it still inside .
    Pulsing
    heat,
    spread
    and
    sear ,
    Cleansing and cleaning that which is unclear .
    Like the sound of waves rolling, the chant spread through Razvan’s veins so that heat spread like molten lava, hot and thick and cleansing. Every cell embraced the steaming inferno, muscles and organs reaching for it. The heat gathered steam, rising, picking up speed as the song changed tempo. The notes provided the cleansing, each of them tuned to the exact same rhythm so that only that small dark splinter hiding in his veins, running before the purifying heat, was discordant.
    Gregori moved quickly now that the splinter was running, murmuring the words to exorcise Xavier from Razvan’s body. He trapped the tiny fragment so that it couldn’t burrow or hide, his words holding it prisoner.

    Ivory began to sing again, the notes changing to those of immense power, her words resonating throughout Razvan’s mind. Gregori’s voice joined hers, in perfect harmony, and then counterpointing, calling, commanding.
    We seek that which is dark, that which has lain fallow .
    We command you forth from the darkness and shadow .
    We command you, Xavier, come forth into the light .
    We abolish every part of you, Xavier, from Razvan’s mind .
    Razvan could hear, as if from a great distance away, the sound of Gregori and Ivory’s voices rising, the notes tuned exactly to his body’s rhythm, the words powerful and