Out of all the things we went through on our treasure hunt, this one was by far the most dangerous one. I didn't know there was an ancient demon or whatever that was held here. If only my mother warned me of such horror hiding in the back shelf of the never-touched treasury.

"What are you!?" I repeated, pointing my little dagger at the beast.

"I am beyond your understanding," it answered. It was the first communication with it. What it said didn't put any comfort in me, but now I knew we could talk this out... maybe.

[My mother should look for me soon. When my mentors find Siski, they'll come inside the treasury, I'm sure of it] I contemplated in my mind.

My shaky hand reveals my fear. "I summoned you here with that box! Don't make any sudden movements if you don't want me to use it again!"

My threats fell on deaf ears as the ever-growing darkness approached slowly. The movements were so unnatural, it didn't feel real. It didn't resonate any aura, no magic. I was familiar with dark magic, elemental magic, even spatial and psychic magic. This entity does not project any of those, any at all...

It looked at me curiously, observing my body with its gleaming eyes. “Your soul… It is an interesting specimen. I’ll give you something destined for you, made to fit your paved future.”

"I don't need anything from you," I respond.

"It is my duty. And I demand a sacrifice in exchange."

"I'll use the box! Don't come closer!!" I yell out.

"Silly child, the box never contained me. I was brought here from places you will never visit. Once my duty is over, I will just return to where I belong."

I could see now.

A black hand the size of my upper body emerged from the darkness, its long fingers slowly approaching me. When I saw that the fingers weren't aiming for me, but for Julie, I acted.

"RUN!!"

We sprinted towards the general direction of the door leading outside, but we were in total darkness. I carried Julie in my arms and I almost tripped on every artifact here.

[Where is the exit!? We should have gotten there already!] I thought.

My anxiousness was growing rapidly, and I realized something. There were no treasures around me. I was in an empty dark room, running straight into a trap set up by that demon.

"MOTHER!!!" I screamed loudly, with Julie covering her ears from my magically enhanced voice.

I shivered, looking around while holding Julie. I could see nothing beyond my feet in this darkness. An abrupt sound of feet touching the ground rang behind me. I spun around, realizing the weird feeling in my arms. I was carrying an armor the size and weight of Julie. How did I get tricked??

"Shit!" I cursed, dropping the armor down to the floor.

I ran towards the sound, only to see Julie standing there. She was in good condition, thank God. I rushed over to her, seeing tears welled up on her face.

"It's alright, we'll get out of here! My mother will barge in at any second now!" I assured her.

Her face was sad, but she didn't even whimper. She was probably in shock, not being able to process what was going on.

I regret ever setting foot inside this treasury, damn it.

When I grabbed her by the shoulders, I felt the coldness of the northern mountains. It was an icy grip that made my heartbeat skip.

"Julie..."

Her eyes were dead, and I used my dagger to create light. The light fell on her, illuminating the drowned face and her unmoving body. I saw a stain on her pink dress. Blood was covering more and more of her clothes.

Suddenly, a hand emerged from her abdomen, tearing through her clothes. The dark hand dripping blood onto the floor wiggled its grotesque fingers, before a face emerged from the darkness. The 4 white eyes stared deeply into my soul, the 4 crescents of the smiling demon.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

My eight year old mind could not grasp the situation. The dread and despair filled my heart and I was experiencing a million thoughts at once. Out of all those thoughts, my mind could not land on one. I was fear-struck and in shock, my body not being able to choose neither fight nor flight. I already tried to flee, and squaring against this abomination felt impossible for all the right reasons.

The demon inched closer. "You have been chosen. With this, you will be complete, and your puny life will take its designated turn."

Julie's body disappeared, and the demon started retreating. In a lucky twist of events, light started entering behind me, treasures being illuminated once again.

*Squeek*

The sound of old doors opening is heard as footsteps ring out and my mother's voice rings out.

"Adam!!"

I jump to my feet, looking at my mentors and my mother who just entered the treasury. I point my finger at the demon, who is nowhere to be seen.

"No no no!" I scream, thinking that I’ve messed up the opportunity of my mother killing the demon.

Suddenly, the air thickens and the treasury goes dark.

[YES! It hasn't left!] I shout in my mind.

This demon just made the biggest error of its entire life.

The 2 sets of eyes appear, and my mentors each take out their weapons, ready to fight this malevolent entity.

"Light bombardment"

The spell activated does nothing, as the darkness swallows any magic cast by my mentors.

"Is it that strong??" Perle—one of my mentors—asks.

My mother steps in front. "Stand aside, can't you feel that it has no aura? Your enlightened asses can't even begin to scratch the surface. Only I can fight it," she notes, whistling into the air.

Five gods appear, lighting up the darkness. My mother evened the playing field with them, light vs darkness.

Those gods were forged by Lucifer, the best artificer in the whole Overworld, along with many great others. The passion project of building the strongest gods, mightier than those that "protect" the Overworld. The machine-like gods have different kinds of magic, made to fight any kind of opponent.

Ra, the god of the Sun rushes at the demon, using his blazing spear to melt the demon. I could now see its disgusting face. It was a fleshy and boney, wrinkled demonic face. I will forever remember the horror that I experienced that day.

Seth and Osiris joined the battle, each using their signature magic to try and bring the demon down. The moon magic and variations of earthen magic did nothing. The demon was agile, evading any physical threat. It enveloped them in darkness and tore through their mechanical armor, destroying Seth and Osiris easily.

"This is more of a threat than I thought! What even is that thing!?" My mother asks.

This was the moment I froze. Why doesn't my mother know what that is. 2 of the 5 gods just got obliterated by this entity, turning the tides a bit.

My mentors tried to escort me out, but I pushed them out of the way, saying I'll never leave without my mother.

I don't think we could've left, since we were inside this thing's domain.

"Anubis!" Kleopatra commanded.

The god of death stepped up, tilting his scale and placing a heart on it. It uses death magic, something unbeknownst to most of the population. One does not simply learn how to harness death, but has to make a deal with it. If the artificers embodied death inside one of my mother's gods, you can expect their capabilities.

Ra was pushing the power of a sun into the demon, who just ate it all in one gulp, ripping Ra's arm clean off.

"I am not someone who fights, so forgive me for not displaying a fun battle," the demon mocks, taking its sweet time with the gods.

I look at my mentors, but their heads are missing. I scream in terror, seeing my best friends I've known my whole life disappear in one moment.

My mother starts bleeding from her forehead and nose, wiping it off with her hand.

"Adam, where did this thing come from?"

I answer by pointing at the cube that's barely visible on the floor. She didn't seem to see it, asking what it was. I explained what happened, about Julie and everything we did.

"I let a kid die in my palace... What kind of queen am I?"

I cried at those words, guilt washing over me. My mother now blames herself for all of this because of me. I messed up so hard, I don't think I'll ever begin to forgive myself.

"Damn it Anubis, why isn't it working!?"

The scale of death failed at its task, and the demon devoured Ra, along with Horus. Anubis fell apart, the scale breaking in half.

"I guess it's the old fashioned way," Kleopatra says, summoning her staff.

She was bleeding, and I could see she was having a hard time with this thing. What unimaginable power could this thing have to destroy all 5 gods and overpower my mother?

"I won't let my child die here! Even if I have to give my life up, I'll protect him!"

I stood by my mother's side, grabbing her half torn dress she used for important meetings such as today. I cried and wailed into her, not opening my eyes for one second.

"I'm not here for the child. You will be a plentiful sacrifice, and he will live," the demon speaks.

Kleopatra huffs, exhaling deeply. "I accept. I can see you've come from a place worse than Hell, which even I don't know about... If I can protect my son, I'll do anything."

I shake my head violently. "No, mum!! Don't go, PLEASE!!"

My cries were confronted with a smile on Kleopatra's face. She shushed me and said I have a bright future ahead of me.

"Maybe you'll grow to be a better ruler than I was. King Adam... That sounds wonderful…” her words trail off.

With tears running like rivers down my face, I pleaded. "No... Please don't... I love you mom..."

But to no avail.

My mother already made her decision, embracing me in her warm hug. "I love you too, son."

I heard cracks and flesh being torn apart. I fell to the floor, grasping the empty dress of my mother. I think I'll die from shock...

Everything I've ever known and loved is now gone. A

sense of emptiness and loneliness overwhelmed me. The loss was too much.

"Please God, let this be a dream. This is just a stupid nightmare!"