Bahamut is coming. The sword in my hand vibrates as I walk down the hall to meet him. My sister is trailing behind me. She looks scared to death, but at least she's no longer suffering. I healed the burns and all of the wounds inflicted by Bahamut. Now, I have to make sure those are the last wounds he inflicts. On my sister—or anyone.

"Hank!" Bahamut roars. "You have entered my home! I will inflict unimaginable suffering for this intrusion!"

"You already did that!" I shout down the hallway. "But it ends now."

A naked man fighting a god. I'm putting a lot of trust in the sword I'm clutching, but I have no other alternative. Bahamut murdered my niece and nephew. He ate them in front of their mother—my sister. Jenny is the most innocent, trusting person I know. She didn't deserve to watch her children die. She didn't deserve to spend months as a dragon's plaything.

"Swing left, swing right, then left again to block his tail," the sword hisses. "Bahamut is an old god. He's predictable. Use it to your advantage."

"Got it," I mutter, glancing back at Jenny. "Stay here."

"Please don't die, Henry," she pleads.

"I don't think I can die," I growl.

The rumbling gets louder and I run ahead. Upon exiting the hallway, I see a man who stands nearly eight feet tall with red scales for skin. He has swirling lava orbs for eyes and they flicker when he sees me. A long tail move back and forth behind him.

"This is what you really look like?" I ask.

"This is one of many forms," he snarls, his fingers curling with razor-sharp talons poised for an attack. "But it'll be the last one you ever see. You were wrong, Hank. You can die… if I let you. Your sister's suffering is far from over."

Bahamut charges me and swings his right arm. I remember what the sword told me and deflect his attack, then swing right and left to deflect the next two. Bahamut recoils and circles me, but I match his steps, keeping the sword in front of my face.

"That sword!" Bahamut rumbles, his lava-orbs reflecting anger.

"Destined to go straight through your heart," the sword replies. "Attack!"

I've had no training with a sword, but I listen to the one in my hand, and start attacking Bahamut. He deflects my attacks. Some with his arms. Some with his tail. One with his foot, which ends with him doing a back flip and breathing lava at me, but the sword makes it spew harmlessly in a cone that never touches my skin.

Bahamut launches another attack, similar to the first, and I deflect it. He seems to get angrier, but his attacks have a pattern. The sword was right. He's predictable. Even when he uses his feet or spews lava, it's all in a pattern. Just like the video games I used to play. I'm cognizant of Bahamut's ability to read my thoughts, so I keep a blank mind. I notice the spots that are left undefended, and after defending myself from his onslaught, I jump forward and drive the sword into his left shoulder without thinking about it in advance. It cuts right through his scales and a violet substance oozes out. I assume it's blood.

Bahamut roars and jerks away from the blade, but he's wounded. He goes on the defensive and waits for me to strike, so I telegraph a few swings, making sure my thoughts proceed each one. I repeat the pattern a few times, then spin with a backhand swing that slices across the edge of his jaw. The sword breaks the scales and I see sharp teeth underneath the layer I slice off.

"I'll cut off your dick every time it regenerates! I'll eat it in front of you for a thousand years!" Bahamut roars—he's pissed now.

"Yeah, I can tell you're eager to have my dick in your mouth," I spit back.

"Careful," the sword cautions. "An angry god is a dangerous god."

"I'm angry too!" I growl, then I launch another round of attacks.

"You should listen to the sword," Bahamut chuckles, deflecting all of my attacks and retaliating with a tail-strike that breaks from the pattern. It gashes me from the bottom of my neck to the top of my pelvis. Blood gushes from it as I recoil and stumble. "All it takes is one mistake."

I spin around and bring the sword in front of me, but Bahamut's tail curls around my wrist. He slings me against the wall and I hit it hard, dropping the sword as I crash into the ground.

"Henry!" Jenny yells, and I look up to see her running into the room.

"I told you to stay back!" I scream, trying to push myself up.

"She misses me," Bahamut laughs, then he jumps, flips, and lands on my back. The talons from his feet dig into my flesh until I'm gurgling blood, and then he starts stomping his talons into me.

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"Ah! Fuck!" I scream as the talons impale me again and again.

"Get off him! Leave him alone!" Jenny screams, but she keeps her distance.

"Miss me that much?" Bahamut chuckles, then he steps off me and starts walking towards my sister. "Want me on top of you, instead?"

"Now, Hank Nelson," the sword whispers. "This is your chance."

The regeneration is working, but it's slow. Bahamut has done so much damage I can barely move. I'm laying in a pool of blood. All of the skin is gone from my back. Some of the stomps were so hard his talons went clean through, and I have holes all over my upper torso. I gather all of my strength and push myself up. Bahamut is closing in on my sister.

"Jenny, run!" I yell, and thankfully, she listens.

Bahamut cuts off her escape and she has to retreat. He doesn't seem to be trying to kill her. I guess he really does want to keep his toy. Another thing to use to my advantage. I get myself to a standing position and stumble as I get my bearing, then I pick up the sword.

"Let's finish this," I mutter.

"Just as the prophecy foretold," the sword says. "My destiny is so close. I've had a taste of his blood, but it's his heart I want."

"You'll have it," I growl.

Jenny runs down the hallway the screams are emanating from. Not my first choice of an escape route, but at least Bahamut hasn't gotten to her yet. I leave a trail of blood as I pursue them. The hallway is shorter than the others, and when I reach the end of it, there is a large circle-shaped room.

Then I see the source of the screaming.

There are people chained to the wall. Others are nailed into the bricks with large stakes. I recognize a few of the tormented faces. Some people are hanging by their wrists. Some by their feet. Their wounds are a mixture of fresh gaping cuts, whip marks, bites, and older marks—many of them infected. It smells like death and decay. There are implements of torture on tables nearby, and they're all drenched with blood.

I ignore the screaming and focus on Jenny. She's backed against the wall. Bahamut is closing in on her. I tighten my grip and move towards them as quickly as possible. As soon as my legs allow it, I break into a sprint, with the sword in front of me like a spear. Bahamut spins around at the last second, but I have so much momentum, I drive the sword straight into his chest. It goes in deep and violet blood splatters from his back when I push it through to the other side.

"No!" Bahamut gasps, violet ichor spilling from his mouth. "This is not… your destiny."

"But it's mine," the sword says. "And yours."

I hold onto the sword as the lava-embers in Bahamut's eyes darken into coals, but as soon as they do, the sword starts to glow with an orange light. I try to let go of it, but I can't. It starts to burn my hand and as it does, the mark on my arm lights up with the same orange hue.

"What do I do?" I ask the sword, grimacing as my mark begins to turn into lava.

"My destiny is complete," the sword answers, then it shatters into shards that fall to the ground. A second later, the entire room starts to shake, and pieces of the ceiling fall around me.

"Fuck!" I yell, falling to my knees and clutching my arm. "Jenny, you gotta get out of here."

"We need to help these people!" she insists, looking up at the screaming faces.

The ceiling continues to cave in, then lava runs down the wall and boils at least a dozen people in a river of fire that pools on the floor.

"There's no time!" I grab my sister by the arm and force myself to stand. "We can't help them."

My mark is still burning and looks like the lava pouring into the room. I do my best to ignore it and drag my sister towards the door. The screaming gets louder—people beg for help—I close my eyes tight and blink away tears as I pull my sister down the hallway. The walls are cracking. Everything is coming apart. I see lava leaking into some of the cracks. We'll be swimming in it soon, and while I might survive, my sister won't.

"That's the only hallway we haven't checked!" Jenny cries, pointing ahead.

"Then that's the way out, or it'll be our tomb," I mutter, sidestepping rubble as I proceed forward.

We barely get to the end of the hallway before everything behind us collapses. I pull my sister into a room that is empty except for two spinning blue swirls. When I get close to the first one, the symbol on my arm starts to burn so much it forces me to my knees. I move towards the other one and the pain lessens. I take a deep breath and push my hand into the swirl. I feel something tugging, like it's trying to pull me forward.

"Should I put my hand in it?" Jenny asks in a panic.

"I-I think it's some kind of portal," I stammer. "Wait, Bahamut said the Dying Wish opened a seam—maybe this is what he was talking about. Don't stick your entire hand in. Just a finger."

"O-okay," Jenny says hesitantly, walking closer to me.

Jenny carefully dips a finger into the swirl and I hold my breath. She gives me a curious look and shrugs.

"I don't feel anything," she says, then a moment later, she's nearly decapitated by a piece of falling rock I have to pull her away from.

"Try the other one!" I say, pushing her towards it.

Jenny stumbles forward and as soon as she touches the swirl, she vanishes into it.

"Jenny!" I scream. "Fuck!"

I pull my hand free and move towards the swirl Jenny vanished into. My arm starts radiating with agonizing pain. I'm forced to my knees, so I crawl, but it hurts so much I can't even see straight. Rubble nearly crushes me, and a second later, the ground swallows the swirl Jenny vanished into.

"No!" I reach out from the swirl, but watch helplessly as it disappears into lava that gushes into the room.

The pain in my arm dissipates and I hop to my feet, just in time to avoid the lava. The other swirl is my only option. It's either that, or the lava.

"I'm sorry, Jenny. I really hope you made it home," I sigh as I walk to the other swirl. Before I stretch out my arm, the floor caves, and I'm thrown forward. The blue swirl envelopes me and I tumble forward.

Then I'm laying on a mound of red dirt.

"Elenos," I mutter, looking up at the copper sky and two moons. "If I'm here, then the other portal must have taken Jenny home."

I force myself to sit up. I'm in a lot of pain. The mark on my arm looks like a white-ink tattoo again. I'm still naked—and still look like I did after the sword transformed me. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I feel a lot weaker when I stand, and I notice a few small cuts on my hand that doesn't seem to be healing.

"Now what do I do?" I sigh, looking around.

There's a road in front of me. I've walked it before. Several times in my dreams. Once several months ago. Going back to the cave seems pointless, so I pass the spot where the man in the brown robe used to wait for me.

All roads lead somewhere, right?