“We lowly servants are humbly thankful you grace us with your presence and bless these two people for their pure love in the face of the Gods. Let us celebrate the union of their mind and flesh. Let us be reminded as those two want to become a family that even the gods are a family. As the ancient text shows how they both emerged out of nothing and created light and darkness. An everlasting equilibrium of good and bad. Inseparable and yet separate for all eternity. The everlasting forces bound by love and blood. Bound by fate and destiny. Bound by us. Born out of necessity, born out of love, born out of trust in each other out of the unsteady whirlwind of time and space. At the beginning of everything and the end of nothing. Always watching. Always judging. Always there. Praise be!” the who had seemed frail priestess began her preaching, raising her arms in the air full of life. “They have been together since the beginning and will be together even after the end. With this belief and hope we want to bless the union of these two believers. With this belief let us sing of the glory of Gods. For all eternity! Praise be!”
The Priestess put everything she had into her sermon. Um’ra could see sweat form on her forehead as she began to breathe heavily. Reli who could still not move, was stunned by what was happening in front of it. Gods, Humans and Demons existing all together, side by side. It could not make any sense of it. It was just too different from what it knew. In Aver, its world, there were no humans, only demons. But in this world, Primaver, they coexisted. Even the long-dead Demon Queen was still alive. It made no sense. Everything was different from its experiences. It thirsted to know what was going on, it had already forgotten that this was a test if it was compatible with the Queen's Essence. It felt everything Um’ra felt. The awe of meeting the Gods. The worry for the priestess. The annoyance of needing to live her life here. It was almost too much for the little gray ooze. Its head spun trying to make sense of everything.
Suddenly someone behind Um’ra began to scream. Quickly she turned around, seeing how Haoc rushed next to Um’ra, brandishing ‘Nebul’ and swinging the bright white blade towards the God of Humans The edge connected, slicing the black silhouette into two. Prince Swerhousen reacted the fastest, instantly he drew his sword, decapitating Haoc.
Um’ra screamed in shock as blood splattered in a high arch all over her white dress.
Chaos broke loose. Everybody sprung up from the benches, jumping at each other's throats, yet Um’ra could not take her eyes off the now lifeless body of the one person she had called her true friend. The betrayal of her trust, of his word, felt surreal. The silhouette of the God of Humans began to flicker and lose sharpness. Prince Swerhousen turned around and pointed his bloodied blade towards Um’ra's face.
Then everybody froze except for the two Gods. The black silhouette flickered even more, trying to connect again, to become whole again, but failed.
“You damned Demons! For murdering my brother I banish you into a world of death, to wander for all eternity! Never will I forgive you! May all of you rot!” the white Goddess screamed.
Everybody could feel the hot burning anger in her voice. Nothing would stand between her and her judgment. The white silhouette lifted its hand and snapped and the world around Reli turned dark again.
When Reli could see again, it was in sitting on a comfortable couch in a white room. Across it sat a beautiful woman who looked similar to King Fell. Her slight purple skin, curly horns and dragontail gave her away as the Queen of Demons Um’ra. Still dressed in a white dress that was smeared all over with blood she looked Reli up.
“Let’s talk, Reli,” Um’ra said in a calm voice, “What are your thoughts on what I have shown you? What do you feel? Were you surprised? Oh, where are my manners? I know you can’t speak, but please just think about what you want to say. In this space, I can read them as if you would say them.”
“What did I see?” the gray ooze thought unsure if it would work.
“My memory, at least, parts of it. Something that had happened millennia before you hatched. Obviously, I have experienced way more things, before and after this. However to understand who I am, it is the most defining one, don’t you think so too?” the Demon Queen asked rather amused.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
“So, everything I just saw and felt was real?” Reli asked the Queen confused.
“Aren’t you an impertinent one little Larvae? Asking the Queen of Demons things before answering her? Maybe I should just end your life here and now?” Um’ra replied while looking at her hands which had transformed into purple-scaled claws as if she wagered if she should attack Reli or not. “Don’t worry I don’t mind. My physical body has long been gone, this here is nothing but an echo of who I was. A copy of my thoughts and feelings and memories, captured and preserved by my Mana for all eternity until someone comes to share my burden. To be tortured by them, I suppose. Maybe my Soul, who knows? One last punishment by the Goddess. Yes, everything you saw was how I remember it, Every feeling you felt emitted from me, were my feelings. Your feelings, however, are yours and yours alone. I don’t know them and neither could I feel them. So I ask you again, little one, what are your thoughts? I am interested in hearing them.”
“I am confused, like really confused. From everything. This here, you, what you have shown me. But most of all, why everything happened? Why did the Demos and Humans fight in the first place when they all lived in such a world? Why did Haoc do that? The betrayal must have hurt you a lot. I am sorry for that,” the gray blob began to apologize as he noticed what it had said, “I can’t even imagine how lost you must have felt after all of that.”
“Oh, you couldn’t even begin to imagine. I lost my father, I lost my best friend. At that moment I had lost everything. My future and past. I was alone. And the Demons who wanted power used this. They began to riot. Fighting against each other, trying to gain control over what little resources this barren world had. And for countless years a gruel, bloody war raged. Many lives of honorable Demons were lost on every side. Until finally, one day, I regained control over the world and my people again,” the Queen said dejectedly.
“I am so sorry. You lost your father?” Reli was confused, “Was he not brought to Aver with everybody else?”
“II don’t know what happened to him, but that was the last I ever saw of him. It is one of the regrets I have, not knowing what had happened to my father. But enough of that, let me ask you the most important question, the one that will decide if you are worthy of my Mana. And this time I won’t accept you not answering, I hope I made myself clear. What do you think was my purpose after coming to the world you know as Aver and what would you have done?” Um’ra asked while she leaned forward, her eyes piercing into Reli, trying to notice any emotion and thought the gray ooze emitted.
“If what I felt is the truth, I would have searched for my father, I would have tried to help my people, I would have tried to find a way back,” Reli answered, “And I think that is what you have done, too. You fought for a better future. You bloodied your hands in pursuit of a path back. Isn’t that the reason why you are sitting here like that? But there is one thing I really want to know. How could Haoc kill a God?”
The Queen of Shadows leaned back as a playful smile appeared on her face. Her beautiful golden eyes sparkled as she heard the answer of Reli. The Ooze felt as if it was the answer she wanted to hear. As if she was extremely pleased with it.
“That is something I do not know. My theory is that it has something to do with ‘Nebul’ but I have no way of telling for sure. It was left behind in Primaver. But I have heard enough. The way you think, the way you feel. You are worthy of my Mana and what it stands for, use it well,” Um’ra said as she stood up and moved towards Reli.
She leaned over the Larvae, closed her eyes and gave it a kiss. It was a warm feeling as the accumulated Mana entered Reli's body. The dark feeling it had felt before was still there and now after having seen what Um’ra had gone through, Reli did recognize this dark. It was regret. But it was not alone anymore. It could feel sadness, hope, love and so much more. Everything that Um’ra had felt was inside of it. As the kiss ended, the white room changed back into the hall it had been before and Um’ra and the essence were gone. Before Reli was an old familiar window greeting Reli.
Congratulations on absorbing ‘Essence of the Shadow Queen’.
Gained Experience.
Level up gained!
Title gained!
Awarded upon level-up: +5 free status-points
Title: Heir of the Shadow