"What does Malum do?" Roland asked Henry. "Like what it truly does. And please don't be cryptic."
The sailor from the 18th century thought about it for a while, before saying:
"The Malum seemed to give Edmund the knowledge to create and to change. To bring matter into existence. But his physical body had already died when he achieved it, so it was no use to him. He could only change Eden, since that is where his soul resides. At least, that is what I believe from what I observed."
Roland thought about what Victoria said about there being 2 more 'Malums', and that Harker/Hanker was aware of it. He asked Henry about this.
Henry replied. "I don't know about that. I may have, I am not certain, for I am simply a fragment, you see. I have never truly felt whole all my life."
"Whole in what way?" Roland asked.
"In... In a way that is similar to him. To the one who had brought me up and took me to your body to be our shelter. I do feel quite terrible that it was without permission, but you must understand us fragments. We always seek to be part of something, because in that way, even if we were not part of that originally….. We just wanted to belong somewhere. Anywhere."
Roland shook his head. "I have nothing against you. That's in the past. The only thing that matters to me now is getting me and my people out of this chaos as soon as possible."
Henry suddenly smiled using Roland's lips. "You are much more like him than you think."
"Like who?" Roland frowned.
"Him. Hank was his name, right? You are indeed like him."
Roland could feel his fury rising again just from the mention of that man's name.
It all started slowly upon receiving the gift. But the moment when "Hank" truly entered his body was that night.
Roland remembered that he was dreaming about sheeps. But that's not the full truth.
The black sheep had stayed pinning him down, but Roland soon realized that it wasn't a sheep. It was a goat. And the goat then turned into a satyr, a half-man half-goat creature. This creature made purely of black and darkness stayed on top of him for the whole night, just watching him from below.
Roland pretended to sleep in fear, but he knew. This…. devil. He knew that Roland was just pretending, and yet didn't acknowledge it.
Instead, he leaned close and spoke until Roland could feel his breath to his face.
"It had always been just you, wasn't it? Only you."
Roland didn't say anything, but shivered by how familiar that voice was. The pitch, the cadence, everything.
Even the touch was familiar. He felt some heaviness as the devil laid directly on top of him, burying his head on the crevice of his neck. He wrapped Roland tightly into a suffocating embrace.
"Ehye asher Ehye, Kochav. Let us become one again."
Then…
That's when he entered.
He entered through Roland's mouth, his eyes, his ears, his nose, the pores of his skin….. It was even more terrible than the first time. He inserted himself even into every fiber of his being, and filled up every space. He had desecrated Roland, and from now on, he will never truly feel clean.
That man, even in his death, will stay with him.
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