The Ghast who called himself Darius held onto me closely. We tumbled down off the cliff together and the fear of my demise swelled in the pit of my stomach. Darius probably sensed my anxiety and gave out a laugh of madness. I use my blade to stab him in the head and end his miserable life. His laughter stops and I free myself from his grasp. 

I was falling too fast but I couldn't see anything in the black abyss.

I didn't want to die this way, not here in this wretched placed. The anticipation of seeing my doom was forefront in my mind. Something finally came into my vision and I held my breath to brace for the impact. It looked like a green ooze of some sort and my body crashed into it. I felt the texture as smooth and slippery, almost gelatinous.

My body was being forced through but the ooze fought back. My momentum from the fall was being slowed by the ooze. The green ooze stretched across the cavern of the hole and acted like a spider's web. I didn't want to know what kind of monster made this and what for. The ooze couldn't support my weight and I break through. Once my body had passed, I see that another one laid below it. The same thing occurred again and again until almost all my momentum was stopped.

When I broke through the third one, I could finally see the ground and I was still a considerable distance from it. My breathing returned to normal and I knew I had to break my fall again somehow. I sheathed my sword and built some resolve. I tried to flash closer to the ground and roll. I couldn't really gauge the distance in midair but I had to try something. I landed feet first and my left ankle buckled causing me to roll over the ground.

I clutched my ankle and cried out in pain but I was still alive.

After a fall from such a cliff, I had survived with only a minor injury. I most likely sprained my ankle from the fall. I tried standing up and I could feel that I couldn't put much pressure on my foot. I pulled up my left boot and tied my laces around the boot as tightly as I could. My eyes wandered around my surroundings and the cave was glowing a faint white.

The bottom of the cliff was just like any other area in the cave. A mess of rocks and bones were littered here but I could see the bodies of some Elves. I walk closer to examine them and saw that one had the same image as Darius. Other bodies were down here, some were eaten while the rest were left to rot. There were some wounds on the heads of all the Elves but I couldn't tell what made it.

The Ghasts were throwing bodies down here for some reason but for what?

I look up back to the cliff and my vision was blocked by the green ooze. I hoped that Vera and Lenard had left the cave. I wanted them to get out safely as these North Mountains were filled with dangerous things. They had no indication that I could still be alive and it could be all for the better. I was going to find a way out of these caves and go north.   

A rumbling was felt underneath me and I toppled over to the ground. That was the second time I heard and felt such a noise inside these caves. Whatever it was, I wished that it wouldn't find me. I grimaced as I felt my ankle and I stood up again. Sweat covered my body as a heat was permeating around the bottom of the cave. I began walking again and looked for an exit out of this hole.

The glowing of the cave was getting brighter and then suddenly darkness covered the area. Like a candlelight being blown out, I couldn't see anything. Then again the cave glowed in a white light and began to flicker. Was there clouds outside in the North Mountains? That could be the explanation for why the light inside the cave would react in such a way. I started to become dizzy by how the light would appear and disappear again. I closed my eyes for a bit and then opened them to a shock.

Helem was standing in front of me bleeding from the wounds I gave him.

"Helem," I gasped.

"Can you see now Demitri?"

"No," I said. "You're dead!"

"Yes and you killed me."

The light flickered again and Helem disappeared.

My mind was racing and my heart was beating fast. The light glowed again like a switch being turned off and on. Ghasts started appearing in the light and I drew my sword. They rushed at me and I sliced them apart. I could feel my blade going into their bodies and the blood covering me. I couldn't move well enough to fight these Ghasts but I fended them off.

As I killed them, more Ghasts seem to come and replace them. I gripped my sword tightly and felt my muscles surge with energy. The Ghasts were mindless as they kept coming toward me. The light flickered on and off as I fought them. There didn't seem to be any end to the madness. Then with another flicker of the light, those Ghasts disappeared.

I looked around confused and sweat continued to drop from my forehead. The light in the caves still glowed white like it always did. I could hear the sound of my own breathing. There didn't seem to be any monsters around me. Another flicker of the light and the bodies of the Ghasts reappeared on the floor.

What is happening?

Off the light went and then on again. My face was frozen and I started to shake. The bodies that laid on the floor had been replaced with that of children. They were all bleeding and had their eyes opened as they stared at me. My hands and my blade were covered in their blood. I screamed out in horror and my voice echoed through the cave.

Was I going insane?

A little girl was close to me and I tried to reach out to her. I felt the warmth of her body and the blood that covered her. I looked at her closely and saw that she was the orphan girl who was with Helem. The light flickered again and her body was gone. I looked around again and there was nothing. Then suddenly another child stood in front of me. It was a little girl and parts of her neck were bitten off. She was part of the family who I let Martin kill.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Why did you tell him?" she said.

I tried blinking my eyes but then she appeared closer to me.

"Why did you let him eat us?"

"No!" I said. "I di-didn't know."

The light flickered and Martin appeared next to her.

"Aren't you better than the Hero?" Martin said. "Don't you know everything?"

"No! I didn't know! I would've stopped it!" I screamed.

The light flickered again and they disappeared.

"But you didn't stop us." A voice called out behind me.

I looked behind me and saw the faces of Diego, Richard, and Ariel. They were young just like when we were at the orphanage. The light flickered again and now they became older. Diego was covered in arrows and bleeding all over. Richard was in a Lycan-form bleeding from a wound to his heart. Ariel was in a nightgown bleeding from between her legs.  

"You let us steal!"

"You let us die!"

"Why are you still alive!"

"I didn't! I didn't mean to!" I said.

"You took us away from our daughter!" Ariel said.

"You're right!" I screamed. "I failed you!"

I closed my eyes and I covered my ears with my hands.

Silence filled the air and I opened my eyes again. The light continued to flicker on and off. My breathing became erratic as I tried holding myself together. Then she appeared before me like the last time I saw her. She was always on my mind and I didn't know where she was. She was my companion and the daughter of my friends. It was the little wizard Lizzie and she looked at me with her sweet face.

"Why didn't you tell me about my parents Demitri?" Liz said. "Why couldn't you save them?"

"I-I…"

I shuddered and fell down to my knees as I couldn't make a reply.

"I will never forgive you Demitri!" Liz said. " I will always hate you!"

My words wouldn't come out and I felt weak as the lights flickered again. Now I could see the bodies of the dead wandering around the cave. Suddenly, they all stopped and looked at me. It was as if I had finally appeared to them. Their bodies were like ghosts and they all staggered towards me. They all grabbed me and tried to tear me apart. A bright flash occurred and it blinded me.

"You talk about righteousness?"

I open my eyes to look and see Princess Helen.

"You think I'm a monster?" Princess Helen said. "Then what about you?"

"You had the knowledge!" I said. "You had the power!"

"Don't you have the power? Aren't you just running around like a wild dog?"

The light flickered again and Cassandra appeared in her place.

"Why did you kill him Demitri?" Cassandra said. " You knew how much I loved him."

Cassandra was walking towards me and then held her hands to my face.

"I've seen your eyes, did you lust over me?"

"No…" I said.

"Did you want my body?"

"No!" I shouted.

"Were you not always jealous of the Hero?"

"..."

Cassandra started to take off her armor and revealed her naked body to me.

"You want me…do you not?"

I pushed away Cassandra and she disappeared as the lights flickered again.

I felt like I was insane with some sort of madness. I couldn't tell what was real or fake anymore. Tears were welling up in my eyes. My heart felt like it was being dragged through the mud. My mind couldn't comprehend anything. Everyone seemed to know my inner thoughts and I was frightened by it. The flicker of darkness and light scared me.

I was shaking in despair.  

The light came on again and now I saw everyone. Everyone surrounded me and looked at me with deathly stares. They were all covered in blood and there was a trail that led to me. I looked at my hands and they were replaced by a black darkness. The ring on my finger was white and I screamed out as the darkness started to consume me.

They all looked at me and pointed.

"Why?" They said in unison.

"I don't know!" I replied.

"Why!?"

"I'm just a man!" I said.

"WHY!"

"I'm not perfect!" I said.

I slammed my fist on the ground.

"WHAT ARE YOU!?"

"I'm not a hero!" I screamed.

"YOU ARE A MONSTER!" They shouted.

"YES!" I shouted back.

"YOU ARE A DEMON!" They shouted again.

"Yes," I said. "…I am."

I balled up onto the floor and cried. I knew that I let everyone down. I knew that I should've done things better. I knew that I was alive while people around me died. I knew that I was the source of misery to the people I cared about. Everyone stared at me and I felt the air from my lungs leave me. Suddenly they all parted away and looked towards a dark entrance.

I looked at the direction of their gaze and I saw him.

His hair like the sky, his emerald eyes, his majestic white armor and the beautiful smile he always had.

He walked over to me calmly and the light seem to shine brighter.

He was the source of my gravest sins.

He was the Hero.