"Now what?" I asked, confused.

"Now, use the Void Veil and devour me," he answered, arms spread like an offering to a god.

"That's disgusting! I'm sure there's a better way to say that!" I flinched in disgust.

"Fine, use the power born from the essence of the Abyss called the Void Veil and let it consume my entire being into oblivion. Is that better?" he said sarcastically.

"Yeah, thanks for that, but I don't have any powers here. I'm dead, remember?"

"Oh, forgot about that. Then just create some, you bloody idiot! The Void Veil transcends death because it was born from it. It's molded by negative emotions such as fear, sadness, and loneliness, but it feeds most on hatred. The more you hate, the stronger the power gets. I'm sure you have a lot of hatred stored in your heart; you are me, after all."

Summoning the shadows was easier said than done. Hatred had always walked alongside me, the one constant that never left me and kept me going during my lowest points. And now that I needed it more than ever, it was the one thing that eluded me. I couldn't seem to hate anything, having already made peace with death.

"I can't do it..." I admitted, struggling to summon the shadows. "Why don't you do it? You said we are the same, so logically, you can do anything I can."

"I'm afraid it doesn't work like that," he said, clearly hiding something. But before I could probe further, he warned, "If there's no one worthy of your hatred, then I'll become the thing you will hate for an eternity." He snapped his fingers.

As the sound of his snapping fingers faded, a demon materialized at his feet. This was no ordinary demon; it was likely one of the highest-ranking demons of the Abyss. Just looking at him gave me shivers.

His rough skin was a deep, blood-red hue. Massive, featherless wings extended from his back, with veins spreading through the thin, leather-like membrane. Curly charred thorns spiraled from his head like a ram's horns, framing a face that was both regal and terrifying. His golden eyes blazed with an intense, predatory light, seeming to pierce through the darkness; but at the sight of the Heavenly Dragon, they flickered with fear. His broad, muscular chest pulsed with a fiery glow, as if a furnace of molten lava burned within him, casting flickers of red light across the room. Stone gauntlets encased his massive hands, each adorned with large, red gems. He was kneeling, his gaze directed at the floor.

"You called, my lord?" he said in a deep, resonant voice.

"Oh, it's you..." The Heavenly Dragon said in disappointment. "Tell me, wasn't Zorath the Tormentor available?"

"No, my lord. Lord Zorath is preoccupied with the rebellion, so he sent me instead," he answered, clearly irritated at the mention of Zorath.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"That rebellion is still going? Why don't you just kill the rebels and be done with it? Oh, never mind! I called you here for more important matters."

"Upon my name as Ragnor the Infernal, I promise to execute whatever your lordship envisions! If I had to march alone to Elyria, I would! If I had to—" A snap of fingers silenced him.

"Silence. Nobody likes pushovers," the Heavenly Dragon said, looking at Ragnor with disgust.

"Yes, my lord."

"I have a vital task for you. You will head to a small village in the eastern realms of Eldoria, called Emberfield. There, you will kill two people: former avian Seraphina and her orphan daughter, Iris," he commanded.

His words evoked a burning hatred within me as my consciousness faded to black and thick smoke enveloped my being.

"You leave them alone!" I screamed at the Heavenly Dragon as I leaped forward and knocked him off his feet.

"You see, all you needed was a little push," he smiled.

"My lord!" Ragnor got up to his feet and rushed toward his master, but he was quickly dismayed.

"Stand down, you fool! Something beautiful is about to happen."

"You promised me you would leave my family alone, and now I see your promise is nothing but empty words; they're as hollow as you are," I said, looking at him as if he was less than nothing. Any last shred of love and sympathy I had for him disappeared in but a moment.

"You finally see me for who I am, for who we are! There is beauty in that hollowness, dear Valerian! We can be whoever we wish, for it is easy to fill a hollow space with whatever we want," he said, smiling.

"I know who I am. It is you who is lost. You seek so desperately to become one with me, not because you want to find the dragons, but because you are an empty, lonely soul."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, but I do; we are the same, remember? The difference is, I found my peace, both in life and death; whereas you will never be able to find it, no matter how long you live."

"No!" he screamed, his face etched with anger and despair.

"And it hurts you that I will never need you to be whole," I pressed on, seeing that he was about to break, and I took pleasure in that.

"No! You need me! I need you..." he broke down as black tears streamed down his cheeks.

"You saw your humanity as a weakness and discarded it, and when I was born from that weakness, it was the one thing you yearned for but could not have; it was the only thing that could make you whole again. Consider this my last act of kindness to you: disappear." I said as shadows escaped my fingertips and consumed the Heavenly Dragon into oblivion.

"Thank you." His voice echoed until it completely disappeared alongside his form.

“What have you done?” Ragnor screamed as he charged at me.

“Kneel,” I commanded, and like a loyal pet, he obeyed.

“What is happening to me?”

“I have no quarrel with you. Return to the Abyss and remember this: it is I who let you live, your life in my hands. If you ever betray my trust, a fury like you've never seen will rain upon you and your home. Do you understand?”

“Yes, my lord,” he bowed to the ground.

“Now, begone. This dimension is about to disappear.”

At my command, he obeyed. Shadows spread like wildfire through the hall, devouring the walls until nothing remained.

I was alone in a void of darkness, a place where nothing existed except for me. I could see it clear as day; there were four cracks in time. From each one, a sound could be heard. The one on the farthest left let out sounds of torment, as thousands of souls screamed in anguish. From the one next to it, a flapping of wings echoed. On the right, fierce roars reverberated through the void. At the far right, a heartbeat resonated with my own, calling out to me.

Ignoring the rest, I followed the heartbeat, reaching out my arm. The crack pulled me in, transferring my consciousness to another dimension entirely.