It wasn't as though the Prophetess hadn't considered this possibility. In fact, she had feared it from the very beginning. She had genuinely believed that the Dark One would emerge while she fought Aether, that it would awaken within him in the middle of her attempt to protect him.
She had even seen it in one of her visions.
And yet… he hadn't come out.
She didn't know why. She didn't understand what had prevented it from happening, but a quiet relief had settled somewhere deep within her.
Because otherwise…
It would have been a one-sided massacre.
She remembered one of her visions. She remembered the sensation of watching herself being torn apart piece by piece, her body rendered helpless beneath something that should never have existed.
Just remembering it made a shiver run down her spine.
But now…
That thing had finally come out.
And the terrifying part was that it didn't feel as though it had awakened.
It felt as though it had been waiting.
