The Phantom Inker

The last rays of the sun dwindled and disappeared, and Arica landed on her hooves, breathing deeply from her lower lungs. She paused for a moment, savoring the fresh air, then glanced to where Dayan stood in horrified shock against a nearby tree. "I didn't know how to tell you," said Arica. "But now you know. This is me, every night, sunset to sunrise. I don't sleep: instead — this." She held her hands wide.

Dayan stared, his mind reeling. "How — "

"When I was seven years old, a witch cursed me," she said. "My father owed her a lot of money, so my humanity became the payment."

He shook his head. "That's horrible — "

She smiled. "I've lived with this for a dozen years, Dayan. I barely remember any other life. Someday — I don't know when, I don't know how — the curse will be finished. She told me it would end, someday. But tonight, it's still my truth, and you're the first person in a very long time to see it."

I was browsing DA a few weeks ago, and I saw this drawing by nekolover86 and Muse was like "Ooo! That's great! Do that! Do a silhouette like that!" And so we ended up with Arica here, drawn from scratch in a single sitting of just a few hours.

This sat finished in my upload queue for a long time, and then finally I scheduled its posting for today just so there’d be some content this summer. I really ought to be drawing mermaids and cecaelia given how hot it is out there, but this will do for now, I think.