https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FQITXQhl.jpg [https://i.imgur.com/QITXQhl.jpg]
*Art by Shane Pierre
The red skinned demon stood towering over Victorian. Bulging with muscles and wearing nothing but a ragged leather loincloth around his waist, the monster looked absolutely barbaric.
The young paladin held his pathetic excuse of a shield in front of him, ready to wield it in defense. But the disparity in their power was tragic to the point of laughter. He was unarmed and beyond exhausted, while the creature facing him was the stuff of legends – a true full blooded demon the likes of which a dozen knights could try and fail to slay in battle.
“Do you really think that you can harm me with that thing?” the demon mocked Victorian in a low, booming voice.
On his part Victorian had absolutely no desire to even consider fighting such a fearsome opponent. Outside of divine intervention, however, noting seemed to be more likely than a quick scuffle followed by his inglorious death.
The demon pointed his claws at his battle scarred chest as he boasted, “In my time I have been frozen, struck with lightning and stabbed at with all manner of pointy things.
I was even set on fire once.” His wide grin revealed a set of big sharp teeth as he expressed his amusement. “I suppose the poor mage was very desperate at the time.”
Victorian found it hard to comprehend the intent behind the demon’s boasting, but if it was meant to distract him then the act was working as intended. All he wanted to do right now was to search the room for an opening, but the terrifying presence in front of him was simply too imposing to turn away from.
“What is a demon doing in the lair of the undead?” Victorian asked. The youth found it hard to suppress the dismay in his voice.
“Well, the dead don’t bother me as much as the living,” the demon replied. He scratched his chin with his long claws. “Which reminds me: your presence – it is bothering me.”
Victorian could think of nothing that could turn the situation in his favor. Why by the Oblivion is there a demon in a place like this!? And why hasn’t he attacked me yet? What is he waiting for?
The demon’s gaze suggested that he was sizing up the human before him. His facial features were exaggerated beyond belief, but still held some resemblance to other humanoid creatures.
After a tense moment spent silently staring each other down the demon finally spoke. “If nothing else, I must commend you on your courage, little man,” he said. “Or are you just plain stupid?”
The red beast drew his massive hand over his face in a played up display of shame. “I mean, what kind of an imbecile visits a haunted graveyard at night. ON A FULL MOON! Then gets attacked by the undead and decides: ‘hey, I bet the deeper I go the easier it’s going to get!’
Who does that? What did you think you were going to find down here?” The demon shook his head in disapproval. “Why?”
The creature then looked past the puny human and addressed the banshee hovering in the doorway, “Silphi?”
“Yes, My Lord?” the banshee replied in a sweet voice.
“I am not being unreasonable here, now am I?” the demon asked. “I mean, it is obvious that this human is either suicidal, dumb or incredibly unlucky.”
“Maybe it’s all of them?” the banshee said and gave Victorian an inquisitive look. “Men often die young while pursuing dangerous endeavors. He would make the rule, not the exception.”
Victorian took a deep breath and mustered the courage to plead for his life. There was no shame in it. He was but a fly to the monster before him. So, maybe, just maybe…
”It was not my intention to intrude, demon, sir– Lord…” he stuttered, “If you would just allow me to–”
“Begging for his pathetic little life already,” the banshee amused herself. “And to a demon, no less... How low the champions of mankind have fallen. What a pathetic little creature you are.”
Victorian glanced back at her with a pained expression. He then once more addressed the demon towering over him, “If I could beg of you to spare me, I–”
The demon placed his hand on his chin as he contemplated the paladin’s request. “Hmm… Well, I would have let you leave if you had not made it this far, but…”
The pause gave some hope to Victorian. He anxiously awaited the monster’s verdict. The young paladin harbored no illusions of escaping with his life without the demon’s consent.
After a moment spent pondering the situation the demon sighed. “I am sorry, little human, but you have seen too much of this place. To release you now would be foolish.
I promise to make it as painless as possible,” the beast said. “In turn, make sure not to bleed too much, otherwise the cleanup is going to be a bitch. You wouldn’t believe from how many orifices the human body can vacate its blood when enough pressure is applied!”
The beast reached out his heavy hand to grab hold of the human. Judging from its size, it would not be a pleasurable experience.
Victorian had to act quickly. Down to his last choice, he clutched his golden medallion and hoped with every fiber of his being that it would protect him.
He practically spewed the words that would activate the spell stone. “[Divine Sanctuary!]”
For what must have seemed like the first time in a long while his prayers were answered.
The chamber lit up with golden light as a sphere of arcane energy enveloped the cowering paladin. The boundaries of the barrier were such that Victorian could easily reach out with his arms and fall half-way short of reaching the edge.
The demon roared in pain and pulled back his arm from the arcane veil of golden light. The beast was left shaking his claws as if trying to put out a flame. A trail of white smoke rose from his scorched fingers.
“You sneaky little bastard!” he roared. “You are going to pay for this!”
Victorian’s heart jumped in excitement. His [Divine Sanctuary] had caused pain to the fearsome beast. For a brief moment he allowed himself to believe in a chance for survival.
But the demon had noticed something about Victorian’s shiny new bubble. Namely, that when his claws had collided with the barrier, the human within it had reacted to the force of his motion. Magic or no magic, he now knew that he could push him around.
On his part Victorian wasted no time. He did not know how long the barrier would last, but he was convinced that at the very least the demon would be unable to harm him for the moment. He therefore began backing away towards the exit.
The demon, however, had other ideas. As he clenched his teeth in anticipation of the pain to come, the beast pulled back his massive arm for a strike. He then smacked the golden bubble of light so hard that it was sent flying towards the corner of the room.
Just as the demon had expected, the barrier would not let him reach the human, but it did nothing to stop the force of his attack.
Victorian’s chest almost caved under the pressure of his medallion as it transferred the momentum of the demon’s punch into the body of the unlucky paladin. Had he not been facing the beast at the time, the medallion’s chain would have pulled him by the neck and likely caused worse damage by far.
“Insolent little man!” the demon roared as he went after him. “I’ll gut you alive!”
Victorian tumbled across the stone floor until coming to a stop at the foot of a pillar. With a trembling hand he grabbed hold of the medallion and tore it from his chest just in time to witness the demon come charging in for a second strike.
Just as before, the impact of the demon’s fist translated into the medallion giving way. It was easily parted form the feeble grip of its master and having flown a short distance ended up lodged into the corner of the room.
The demon reached down with his smoldering claws to try and catch Victorian, but the half-dazed paladin managed to roll himself out of the way. Out of breath and short on whit, the young paladin channeled what little arcane energy he still possessed into his fingers and feet. He then pushed himself across the stone floor on his stomach in a frantic scramble for safety behind the barrier of his medallion. There he remained cowering in the corner of the room, under the protective shroud of his spell, hoping against all odds that it would save him from the angry monster and his cruel servant.
The demon’s hand now collided with the edge of the barrier for the third time, but once more failed to pass through it. At this point the medallion was firmly lodged into the corner and no amount of force was going to move it. The demon did try a few more swings at it, but it only served to embed the mangled golden frame deeper into the cracks between the stones.
“Silphi!” the beast called out for the banshee.
The ghostly woman emerged from the floor next to the demon. “I tried passing through the barrier from below,” she reported, “but it didn’t work.”
“It’s going to take the whole night with this in the way,” the demon complained, “Why can’t you just make it easy on yourself and let me end it quickly.”
The annoyed beast belched smoke as he continued prodding the barrier in search of a weakness. When he became convinced that there was no opening to be found, the demon sat down next to the glowing sphere with a loud thud.
“That will be all, Silphi,” he said in a grumpy tone while rubbing his smoldering hands. “I will deal with this little bastard when the barrier inevitably breaks down. Can’t be that much longer…
If you could please close the door before you leave – I would hate for our guest to harbor any illusions of escaping with his life. He has to run out of tricks sometime.”
The banshee bowed her head, “Yes, My Lord.”
“And ask Bones to bring me a book,” the demon commanded. “Something I have not read yet, preferably. He will know.” He then dismissed his servant with a flick of his shovel sized palm.
Silphi left the throne room shutting the massive metal door behind her.
“You’ve got nowhere to run now, little human,” the demon explained.
“I have nothing to say to you, foul beast,” Victorian hissed through his teeth.
“A spiteful little critter,” the demon noted. “You are pathetic.”
Victorian spat at the demon and landed a hit – a small victory for the man. A petty one at that, considering that his chest was still pounding from the wounds he had just sustained.
“Your imminent death does not grant you the right to be rude,” the demon lectured him. The beast crossed his hands in a show of disapproval. “Given the circumstances, I have tried to be as accommodating as possible. The fact that I am trying to kill you does not mean that we cannot be civilized about it.”
The young paladin once more set his hazy sight upon the room in search of an exit. There has to be a way out…
The demon waited for Victorian to say something, but found the wounded man less than enthusiastic about conversing with his would-be murderer.
”Very well,” the beast continued. “I didn’t think that there was much merit in interrogating you anyway.”
The demon prodded at the barrier with the tips of his claws. “This thing has endured much longer than a normal barrier would,” he mumbled to himself. “The spell stone must be a Titan artifact. Where did you get a spell stone this old, little man?”
As much as the demon pestered him about it, Victorian did not feel like sharing the secrets of his family heirlooms at this moment.
Some time passed with the two of them stubbornly staring each other down through the glowing wall of light. It was just about when Victorian had finally gotten a good grasp of the layout of the throne room that he noticed a stunningly beautiful woman enter on the far right. Cast on the backdrop of the red fires, her figure was made even more striking.
The woman shuffled across the room in a half awoke state, her light, short steps carrying her with the grace befitting a dancer. She was dressed in a plain blue night gown and her long black hair – woven into a single arm-thick braid – ran down to her waist.
The woman’s athletic yet shapely figure… the perfection that was her face… There was only one word that struck Victorian as good enough to describe her.
She is like a goddess.
The demon seemed unaware of the woman’s presence. His stubborn gaze was still fully fixed on the intruder before him as he waited for the barrier to fail.
“What is it?” the beast inquired impatiently, “Why can’t you just make this easy on both of us? I have other duties to attend to, you know.”
Victorian ignored him. Who is that woman? he wondered, And what is she doing in a place like this?
He observed the woman leave the throne room on the left. A moment later she returned carrying a plate of food back with her.
Victorian was overwhelmed by the mouthwatering scent of roasted meat as it filled the room. He had not eaten for more than a day now and the sight of food in the gorgeous woman’s hands had an almost hypnotic effect on him. The sensation was unlike anything he had ever felt throughout his entire life. She was the most beautiful being that he had ever seen. For a brief moment she even made him forget the predicament that he was in.
“I will be taking the meal in my chambers, Lemmy,” the woman announced as she crossed the room on her way back.
Her voice sounded like music to Victorian’s ears. He sighed. Could she really be a goddess?
“Wait... What?” he snapped out of his trance like state and looked up at the demon sitting next to him, “Your name is Lemmy?! Lemmy, the demon?”
The demon spun around and bowed his head to the woman. “As you wish, Master!”
Master? Victorian’s confusion had grown to a point where could no longer contain himself. “What in the Highfather’s name is going on here?!” he asked.
The woman stopped. She then slowly turned her head to examine the standoff that was taking place in the far corner of the room.
“Who is that?” she asked.
“I am very sorry, Master!” Lemmy replied. The giant demon–death–beast sounded almost frightened as he addressed the woman.
“This human has somehow managed to make his way inside,” the demon explained. “I am doing my best to dispose of him, but he is not cooperating.”
Victorian observed the mysterious woman in silence as she left her food at the steps of the throne and approached them.
“Did this man really slip past all of your sentries, Lemmy?” she asked in a smug voice.
The demon bowed even deeper. “I am terribly sorry, Master! I don’t know how this happened.” There was a hint of panic in his booming voice. “I will correct my mistake, I promise! I will double– no, triple my patrols of the graveyard!”
The woman walked up to the edge of the barrier. She closely examined Victorian through the golden veil that shielded him from the demon, but refrained from touching it.
“Look me in the eyes,” she commanded the young paladin. “Tell me your name.”
Victorian felt shivers running down his spine. He found himself unable to avert his gaze from her stunning presence.
“Vic- Victorian,” he mumbled, “Victorian Rotwald.”
The woman’s eyes went wide for a moment, but she was quick to try and suppress her surprise. And then… she broke out in laughter. The mask of the would-be goddess cracked along with it. She covered up her face trying to hide her jovial mood.
“Oh, this is,” the woman wheezed as she fought to contain her amusement. “Oh, dear. Really?”
“Wha- what’s going on?” Victorian asked.
The woman dismissed his question with the wave of her hand. Having finally collected herself she then turned to address the bowing demon.
“Well, I might forgive you,” she said. “But you got lucky this time. Our guest is not a bad man, after all. I don’t think it was his intention to do us harm.”
The red light cast by the braziers danced in her raven black hair. “And we haven’t had visitors for such a long time,” she added.
The mysterious woman’s soul piercing eyes once more forced their way into Victorian’s mind. “But is that really who you are?” the woman asked. “You wouldn’t lie to me now would you?”
Victorian was hard pressed to reply. She has the most beautiful green eyes… Just looking at her made his mind wonder. It was almost as though he was under a powerful charm spell.
“My name is– Victorian,” he said. “Sir Victorian Rotwald. I am a paladin of the Temple!” Having remembered his knightly vows he gently placed his right hand over his aching chest in a salute.
It was a boyish display betraying his early years, but it brought an expression of joy to the woman’s face.
“Yes,” she said, “Yes you are.
A brave paladin of the Temple… But which god is your patron, Sir Rotwald? What altar do you bend your knees at?” She gestured dismissively with her hand. “What higher powers do you consider to be worthy of your devotion?”
Victorian frowned in surprise at her question. “The gods of the Temple, of course! I serve the Highfather and the Holy Seven.”
The mysterious woman smirked. “Seven failures and an unspeakable monster – that makes eight. You and I both know that there are more gods out there than just the ones you profess to follow. Better gods too, I should say. More powerful as well…
Well, then again, the title of ‘god’ is thrown around far too readily these days. It used to mean something back in the day… Now – not so much.”
She tilted her head conveying curiosity. “But why do you serve them?” she asked. “What makes them so worthy of your devotion?”
Her questioning of Victorian’s faith struck a chord with the young paladin – one that signaled danger and malicious intent. He knew better than to follow her lead down the path of doubt.
“Fear the heretic,” he mumbled to himself.
The woman let his remark slide. Her look, however, did grow a little colder at its utterance.
“Who are you?” Victorian asked.
“I don’t think that you have earned that question yet,” the woman replied.
“It is truly unfortunate that such a young and promising man as you has ended up here,” she said and nodded at the demon. “I’m afraid that my guardian won’t let you leave.”
“It’s nothing personal, really,” the demon said. “It’s just that no one can know about this place. Or us.”
“But do tell me, please,” the woman asked, “How did you end up here?”
Victorian kept his lips sealed.
“Come now,” the woman said, “We don’t have to be enemies. Don’t let your last moments in this life be filled with suffering. No one want’s to die in misery. Do you?
Or could it be that you actually want to die? Hmm?”
Victorian shook his head in denial. Such an answer seemed permissible to him.
The woman nodded. “Alright, you can ask me a question now.”
“Will you let me go?” Victorian asked.
“No,” the woman replied. She nudged the demon’s hand aside and took a seat on one of his massive, muscle bound legs.
“My turn now,” she said and tapped her cheek as she pondered.
“What would you do if I did let you leave?” the woman asked.
“I would never return,” Victorian answered. “I promise to never tell anyone about this place. Or you.”
The woman shook her head. “Either you are lying to me or you have honor, Sir Rotwald,” she said. “As a paladin of the Temple you are sworn to fight the enemies of your faith to your dying breath. You swore it on your life. You swore before the altars of your seven little gods that you would serve them unto death.
Yet, here you are, wounded and meek – either lying to me or willingly betraying your holy order with that very same mouth that spoke its vows.”
Victorian felt conflicted. Saving his own life – for vengeance, for his own good – was obviously tempting, but the woman was right – he was breaking an oath by doing so. Yet, to honor his vows would mean to die here and now.
The woman sighed. “It’s a difficult choice to make,” she said. “I understand that it’s hard to live for something larger than oneself. Most people just can’t see the bigger picture, I’m afraid. Can’t make the sacrifices… can’t kill to save lives.
But I suppose I got my answer. It’s your turn to ask now.”
“Who are you?” Victorian asked.
The woman acknowledged his question with a nod. “My name is Diana,” she said. “Diana Albrecht.”
“No, who are you?” Victorian asked. He gestured at the hulking monstrosity sitting right next to him.
“Diana Albrecht,” she answered. “The question of ‘what’ is not the same as ‘who’. Mind the difference. Not everything is as simple as the Temple would have you believe. There is always more to discover.
But it is my turn to ask again.”
Diana examined the wounded paladin huddling in the corner of the room. “Are you all alone now?” she asked.
Victorian thought about answering, but decided not to. It was becoming increasingly hard for him to breathe. The pain was getting so bad that his limbs were starting to cramp up.
“You are not alone here?” Diana asked. “Is there someone else following you that I should know about?”
Victorian kept quiet.
Seeing that the cooperation of the young paladin had run its course, Diana reached out for him through the barrier and touched his bruised fingers.
Victorian turned pale at the realization that the barrier did nothing to protect him from the woman. He did not resist, however, as the touch of her warm hand had a soothing effect. The pain faded just enough that he could once more see the world clearly.
“This is a very important question, Sir Rotwald,” Diana said. “I need to know if you were followed.”
The sudden and unexpected reprieve from pain had confused the paladin, and the last thing that he wanted right now was for it to return. So he nodded, answering her question; hoping that the numbing sensation would not be taken away.
Stolen story; please report.
“I see,” Diana said. “Thank you for sharing that information willingly. It would seem that you are not completely opposed to cooperation. There is still hope for you.”
The woman rose to her feet and waved for the demon to do so as well.
“Go and find out if there are any other intruders that we should deal with,” she said. “And, well, deal with them.”
“It will be done, Master,” the beast replied. Even half crouched, the demon had to take care not to run into the doorway on his way out.
“Yes, I suppose that they would want to make sure of your death,” Diana said. She wiped her hands on her gown and turned away from the paladin.
Victorian was left alone in the corner of the room. He watched the woman ascended the steps of the throne and take a seat.
“What do we do with you, Sir Rotwald?” Diana wondered. “What do we do? And what will you do…”
The path was there for him – the demon had left the entrance open on his way out. The banshee was gone as well. This was the chance that Victorian had been praying for.
He forced himself up and followed the wall towards the exit.
“Did I give you my permission to leave?” Diana asked. She waved at the floor beneath the throne. “Come closer, I wish to discuss a few things with you.”
No matter how hard he tried to push himself, the best that Victorian could manage right now was a brisk limp towards the doorway. The threshold and the hallway beyond were almost within his reach when he heard a loud snap.
Diana snapped her fingers and the fleeing paladin convulsed in pain. He fell down on the ground, just a few steps short of the doorway. He curled up, clutching at his aching chest, praying for salvation.
The woman then snapped her fingers a second time and Victorian let of a long sight of relief. The pain had once more subsided.
“What did you learn?” Diana asked.
Victorian reached out with one hand towards the doorway, but dared not to approach it. He realized now that he was entirely at her mercy.
“Are we going to talk now?” Diana asked.
Victorian slowly rose to his feet and turned his back on the doorway. He looked at the woman sitting on the throne and reiterated his last question: “Who– What are you?”
“You must be feeling quite parched after what you just went through,” Diana said. “Would you care for some refreshments? We don’t have much, but I feel that a proper host must offer anyway.”
The woman snapped her fingers once more.
Victorian tensed up expecting the pain to return. But there was a different context to that action now. Clearly, it was only a trigger for something that she willed – a spell key; a way to restrain her mind from setting the world on fire on a passing whim. A mage’s mind had such power that it required safeguards for controlled casting. Otherwise things had a tendency to spontaneously combust around them. That alone was reason enough for most people to shun them.
At the call of their mistress two hooded figures entered the room from the left. They bowed before the throne and awaited her command.
“Bring us some wine,” Diana said. She then raised her hand as if bidding the servants to pause.
“Would you like anything else, Sir Rotwald?” she asked. “Anything at all? I’m sure that my servants would be happy to oblige.”
“Servants?” Victorian blurted out in confusion. His mind was slowly recovering from the sensational overload that Diana’s presence had caused. Now that she was a fair distance away he found it much easier to concentrate. The fact that the pain was gone also helped.
What spells did she cast on me? Victorian wondered.
“Just who exactly are you?” he asked.
Diana took a deep sigh. “My, you are young...”
She waved the servants away and then leaned forward in her seat. With the snap of her fingers a pair of large black feathered wings appeared on her back. She then stretched them out almost reaching the pillars on each side of the throne room before folding them back together in a resting stance behind her back.
“I am what your Temple refers to as a dark power, Victorian,” she said and smile. “Not that they would know how horrible true darkness is. They haven’t seen the Old Gods like I have.”
“The Old Ones?” Victorian asked.
Diana nodded. “There are things out there that mortal minds were not meant to witness,” she said. “If you ever do catch a glimpse of their shadows, know that it is better to close your eyes than to gaze upon their glory. Pray that they pass quickly.
Or better yet, pretend that all is well.” She gestured at the surrounding room. “It was probably your own fault that you ended up here. Righteous people often dig their own graves, after all.”
“What are you?” Victorian repeated his question.
“An enemy of the Temple of Seven,” Diana said. “And that, oddly enough, makes me your friend.”
She shrugged. “Not that you will believe me, of course. I find that people really are too sheepish to realize it when they are being used.”
Diana examined Victorian’s confused expression. “But I suppose you desire a simpler answer. So let’s just stick with what the Temple calls me these days. To your masters I am an arch devil. Note the ‘arch’ part – they really had to drive it home just how much worse I am than the usual heretics and demon worshipers, didn’t they?”
“You are a devil?” Victorian mumbled. “A demon lord… Then why didn’t the barrier–”
“A trivial thing,” Diana interrupted him. “Lemmy is a demon – as strong as any creature the Temple would label a devil, perhaps
–, but I am so much more. And no,” she wagged her finger in disapproval, “Don’t call me ‘a’ devil. I am ‘the’ Devil. There is no other creature quite like me on this world right now, so I feel that I have earned that distinction.
You, on the other hand, are one among millions; a beast of burden to carry the weight of your failing race and its misplaced faith in false gods. But you are also young enough that I could still make something of you…”
“Lies!” Victorian declared. “Don’t try and deceive me, you temptress. I will not be tricked into helping a devil’s cause.”
Diana’s expression conveyed mild annoyance. “Please, Sir Rotwald, you are nothing to me,” she said. “As far as the rest of the world is concerned, your life ended the moment you stepped foot inside this tomb.
You are not leaving this place the same way you came; the same man you were. Therefore there is no reason for me to deceive you. Well, other than for my own amusement, of course. But, then again, you are not that interesting of a man in the first place. Or fun to converse with…
Simply put, you are not special and your gods never even bothered to do right by you.
Give up. Your struggle is over. There is nothing left for you now but to accept your fate… and for me to deliver it.”
She pointed her open palm at him. “Victorian Rotwald, the paladin of the Temple dies today. Why? –Because I said so.
Any last words?”
Victorian fell down on his knees. I see how it is…
Somehow, despite the severity of his situation, he felt more relieved than defeated. This is it, then. I have no idea what is going on, but I don’t think I can get out of this alive.
My only regret is that I could not avenge my family.
He looked up at the Devil, prepared to resign himself to his fate. “Go on then,” he said, “Finish this. End my misery.”
“But where is your curiosity?” Diana toyed with him, “I haven’t killed you yet. Don’t you want to ask me any questions? –questions that your gods never bothered to answer?”
Victorian shook his head.
“Don’t tell me that you are done with life already,” Diana said. “You tried to run for the door the moment I gave you the chance. You could have stayed behind and wallowed in your misery, but you were willing to risk a second encounter with my servants instead. You knew the danger and the odds, but you still took the chance.
Are you trying to tell me that there is nothing left for you to fighting for? If so, then why did you fight for your life just now?”
Victorian kept silent.
“Play along with me, would you?” the Devil teased him, “Help me kill the paladin in the room.”
Victorian’s mind was flooded with dark thoughts; dark memories. I can’t protect anyone… My mother, then father and brother… He felt his pent up anger finally overcome him. “I’m done fighting!” he declared, “It is over. Nothing can be done now…”
“Is your world really that dark a place that you would give up on it willingly?” Diana asked in a compassionate tone that sounded a little forced.
Her question only served to further infuriated Victorian.
“You have no idea,” he said. No. She knows exactly how bad the things are. She is a devil!
He forced himself up from the ground and pointed his finger at her in anger, “All the misery; all the injustice! Why must we mortals be made to suffer so much? If you really are a devil…” he felt tears swelling in his eyes, “Then tell me why! Why do you torture us?”
“That is a good question,” Diana admitted. “I too have long wondered why the mortals are so inclined towards acts of evil.”
“Mortals?” Victorian said. “No, you are the cause of all evil! You are a–”
Diana burst out in wild laughter. “A devil?” she finished his sentence for him. “My brave knight, I am not the cause of evil – I am the result of it.
You humans are free to do as you wish,” she explained, “And you often choose poorly.”
“But you are the embodiment of all that is evil,” Victorian said. “You are malice made manifest, an eternal enemy of my gods. You and your kind are the reason behind this world’s suffering!”
Diana waved her hand dismissively. “Yes, a convenient explanation to preach from the Temple steps, I am sure. But that’s not how reality works.”
She shook her finger left and right as she counted, “Good – bad; cruel – benevolent: they are just concepts, Victorian, moral points of reference to help keep order. Society tells you that you are bound by them, but that is only ever true the day you start believing in them. And when you let yourself be restrained by these foolish laws you become a follower, not a leader.
Successful people don’t follow morality, Victorian, they follow reality. And reality is a cruel place – that is why most people don’t want to live in it.” She put her hands together and made a gesture resembling a butterfly flapping its wings, “Most people would rather dream of flying away to a happy place in the sky.”
“You will not sway me from the true path,” Victorian insisted, “There will always be righteous people – those that you cannot corrupt!”
Diana shrugged in indifference to his statement. “The decisions you make and the events that shape the world rarely have anything to do with me or those things that you call gods. We don’t shape your choices or your morals, at least not directly. If anything, morality is a foreign concept to those that you worship. And we, the so called dark powers… we are merely scapegoats for their shortcomings. Or did you really think that their angels were perfect; that your gods could do no wrong?
Need I remind you that they were nowhere to be found when a devout follower like you was being brought low? In what kind of a sick divine plan does that make sense? Or did they actually plan on you, against all odds, making your way over to this old and dusty tomb just to entertain me for a while?
Some gods they are! What a great divine plan it was to bring a sad jester before my throne. Tell me, do you juggle? I am sure that could find a pet monkey for you somewhere…”
“Highfather works in mysterious ways,” Victorian said, falling back on the last bastion he had as a man of faith.
“Pfft!” Diana scoffed. “There is nothing mysterious about incompetence. Considering how much power they profess to have, it is almost criminal how little most gods actually get done in their day.
It might be a bit hard for you to accept, seeing as how you have been conditioned to serve the Temple without thinking, but I am the better alternative by any margin you might suggest. Your gods are as cruel and selfish as they come. It’s just that you have assumed that white is good, and black is bad. After all, if your gods style themselves champions of order, then, surely, I must be the ruler of chaos, because everything is just black and white, right? They get to decide what is good and bad and you– you swallow their lies and prejudices like the good little slaves that you are.”
Victorian stubbornly shook his head.
“You don’t believe me?” Diana asked. “You said that you were a paladin, right? How funny it is that those angels – the champions of light – never seem to be around when you need them. It’s almost as if they couldn’t be bothered to help you…”
Victorian tried to grasp the meaning behind her words. “Are you really saying that the gods don’t care about us?”
Diana tilted her head. “You have spent your entire life blindly obeying the teachings of a bunch of zealots. A lifetime in service to these priests and priestesses who themselves serve other holier-than-thou preachers that claim to know what the gods want.
The only problem is that the real gods couldn’t care less about you or the never ending spiral of death and misery that you call an existence.”
“It is better than nothing,” Victorian said. “Hope is better than nothing.”
“I suppose,” Diana said. “But the promise of a tranquil afterlife is the easiest thing to peddle to a miserable people. It doesn’t cost anything to promise paradise for the faithful upon death. They only ask for your whole life in return, after all.
Not like the dead are going to complain, now are they? Oh… wait, unless you consider all the lost souls wondering this world.”
“That is the work of necromancy,” Victorian objected. “Our gods stand fast to shield us from it.”
Diana shook her head. “The dead never got what was promised, Victorian. They have a score to settle with your gods and you are just the expendable spellsword they send to silence of them.
Yes, there are necromancers who raise the dead of their own volition, but the phenomenon was just studied by them; replicated. Lost souls are an old problem, Victorian, as are your gods.
The haloed seven want to fix it by destroying the necromantic cult. I want to fix it by destroying the root of the problem. And that makes me dangerous. That makes me their enemy.
That is why I am braded a devil, the same as the other enemies of your faith. Except that I am better, or worse – depending on the side you stand on.
So, will you fight me over it?” she asked.
Victorian furrowed his brows. “How could I?” he asked.
“You couldn’t,” Diana agreed. “So why not join me instead? I can offer you something more than just a promise. I can show things to you – incredible things – things that will save the lives of the innocent that you at least pretend to care about. Haven’t proven it yet – not to me, at least.”
Diana snapped her fingers and the room filled with blooming white light. A low, soothing hum of an angelic chorus grew to permeate the air. Warm clouds flowed gently where the stone pillars had stood just a moment ago.
Victorian stumbled across the soft white surface of the cloud trying to comprehend just what it was that he was witnessing. “Is this– the Paradise?” he asked.
“No,” Diana, now dressed all in white, answered. A golden halo was floating over her head and her wings were black no more. “This is an illusion; a lie. But you like it this way, don’t you? This is what you were promised in exchange for your unquestioning service, was it not?”
The Devil took a deep breath of fresh air, “Ah… So peaceful. So tranquil. Must have been worth suffering your entire life for, right? A lifetime spent ensuring that nothing would ever change; no new ideas could threaten your ‘devout’ society.
It’s just too bad that order requires so much force to be kept; so much blood to be spilled. Again and again – it just never ends when you are trying to light a fire under the sea. And you humans have been going at it for a thousand years now. The effort alone is nothing short of impressive, if only it wasn’t all for nothing.
Make no mistake, Victorian, the end times are drawing ever closer. Doom is coming.”
“The end of days?” Victorian asked. “You follow Caldun! You are a doomsayer?”
“Yes,” Diana said. “I am one of Night Father’s servants.
How much do you know about us?”
“Enough to know that you are crazy,” Victorian answered. “You worship the Titan god of death – expect some kind of an end to the world.”
Diana shook her head. “We don’t worship the coming of the end, Victorian – we merely warn others of it. The time is running out for this world, as it already has for countless others. And we have much in the way of preparations to make.
There are things at work in the universe that you could never even imagine; horrors worse than you bleakest nightmares... fates more cruel than endless torment and suffering. You have no idea of how bad it is out there.”
Victorian listened patiently as the Devil finally drew her speech to a conclusion.
“So, you can keep on living for a promise, of course,” she said. “Who knows, maybe I am lying, maybe not.
It could just be that it is the priests who have spent their entire lives – their very, very short lives, by my standards – in seclusion from the outside world that know the truth. Or, just maybe, listen to this ‘devil’ instead. I have been around for considerably longer after all.”
It was all a little too much for Victorian to wrap his head around and Diana seemed to take notice of it.
“The question that I present to you is simple, Sir Rotwald, paladin of the Temple: would you reject your own faith and search for the real answers, not taking for granted just the convenient ones?
If truth rarely makes us feel good, then consider how your Temple has millions of blissful followers while their world is filled with misery with no salvation in sight.”
The Devil showed Victorian her open palms as if presenting a choice. “Knowledge and truth,” she raised her right hand, “Or the bliss of ignorance,” she raised the left. “It is time to make the first important decision of your new life.”
A choice had been presented to Victorian. Not just between agreeing or not with the Devil’s point, but, in all likelihood, also between life and death.
He was not entirely opposed to her point of view. Deep down Victorian had never been able to console himself with all of the flaws and contradictions of the Temple. He was not a zealot, no matter how hard he had tried to become one. There had always been doubt in his mind, yet the supposedly all-knowing priests teaching him never seemed to have noticed.
“But if we don’t hold faith in the designs of the gods then how are we supposed to accept the world as it is?” Victorian asked. “War, sickness and death – I can’t all be meaningless!”
Diana slowly shook her head. “To the universe the matter of human life and death is of supreme indifference. The sanctity of life is only important to your kind for your own selfish reasons.”
“How can the desire to live be selfish?” Victorian asked.
“Don’t misunderstand me, Victorian. Every creature wants to live, but only the sentient ones feel the need to invent reasons for their right to do so.
You instinctively seek out justification for it. After all, living by divine providence is a powerful motivation – I’m sure you have held witness to this notion. That is why you were the dominant race in your little corner of the world. Well, before the rise of the undead, that is.
Anyhow, in this realm, even though the dwarves, elves and the other demi-humans have their own crippling flaws, zealousness is undoubtedly championed by man and man alone. The elves might be an arrogant bunch, but they don’t preach divine will. They don’t dare to. As for the dwarves – they don’t care to.
And that leaves only you, humans – the race chosen by gods themselves – to pick up the crown of divine providence and spread the ‘good word’ far and wide, with fire and sword if necessary.
That claim makes you feel special, doesn’t it? –being the chosen ones.”
Victorian felt uneasy arguing over the matters of theology and history. He was but a warrior who had trained his entire life to defend the human realms. His reasoning had always been simple – protecting the defenseless was the right thing to do. Killing, he had been taught, was necessary when the gods willed it; when it was righteous. Then again, he had been betrayed by the very same people that had preached these ideas.
How could I ever resign myself to the promises of those that would so easily betray their own people?
“The mortals choose to believe whatever makes them feel good,” Diana said. “You like to be deceived.”
Victorian frowned. “I do not!” he said. “And if this is not the Paradise then stop tormenting me. Just tell me already what is it that you want from me?”
Diana observed him in silence for a moment. “No. What is it that you want?”
“Peace,” Victorian answered without hesitation. “I want the world to be a better place; a world that I would consider worth living in.”
Diana acknowledged his wish with a nod. “A noble intent,” she said, “But for the world to become a better place one must be ready and able to fight for it.
Are you, Victorian? You would have to be willing to kill to stop the killing. To fight for what you felt was right. Yet, you gave up on your life so easily just a moment ago...”
“My life matters little,” Victorian said.
“Then you are a naive fool!” Diana said. “But I suppose a naive fool is better than a bitter one. You only need to find one good reason to keep fighting, after all.
Come now, there is something your heart desires more; something selfish that you are hiding from me. Poorly, I should add.”
“Vengeance,” Victorian admitted. “I want vengeance.”
Victorian set aside his self-imposed high morals for a moment. There was no use trying to convince the Devil of his ideals if even Victorian himself could no longer hold faith in them.
That word, said with conviction brought a sharp smile to Diana’s face. “Ah, there we go. Now we are talking about what your heart truly desires.”
With the wave of the Devil’s hand the clouds parted and a stone archway was revealed. “If you are willing to take the next step on your journey,” Diana said, “Then walk with me through this portal.”
Victorian slowly approached the stone archway. “Where will it take me?” he asked.
“Out of your grave and a little closer to your destiny,” Diana answered and gestured for him to press on.
When Victorian stepped through the stone archway he witnessed his surroundings change once more, this time for the worse. The two of them now stood on the coast of a raging river of molten lava. All around them spanned an infernal mountain range with a pale red sky in the background. The clouds above were black as ash with a blood red moon shining through them. On the horizon he could see an active volcano belching long plumes of tar black smoke into the air. Rivers of lava weaved down its sides like long burning snakes before joining up at the bottom into a raging firestorm of a lake. The air reeked heavily of sulfur.
“Is this what Oblivion looks like,” Victorian asked. “Or is this another one of your illusions?”
He noticed that Diana had turned back to her raven black form from before.
The Devil smiled. “It is only a vision, yes. Many have had it – you call them doomsayers. But the place that I am showing you is just as real as you or me. But Oblivion this is not.
See, your Temple’s precious Paradise might not be an actual realm, but this place is.” She gestured at the surrounding scene. “This is a different world, Victorian. A world at the brink of death…”
Diana pointed to the sky. Through the rolling clouds there were sparse glimpses of a starless sky.
“The Starless Night is going to fall on this world soon,” Diana said and drew her finger across the sky all the way to the horizon.
“There,” she said and pointed to a patch in the sky between two dormant volcanoes, “There you can still see a few starts.”
Victorian had to squint hard, but he finally managed to sight the dim white dots amidst the pitch black clouds.
“I don’t know which one is yours exactly,” Diana said, “But it still has some time left until the Night falls over it. Caldun willing, we might still have enough time to prepare for the event.”
She presented Victorian with a piece of parchment. “I would like to give you the opportunity to change your world for yourself, but it will come with many strings attached. Nothing is free… or easy, as you will undoubtedly find out if you so choose to accept my offer.
“Why a contract?” Victorian asked.
“People tend to forget their promises,” Diana said. “Not that I would ever disregard our agreement, but you might… you are only human, after all. You are not trustworthy. And I would rather not force you into servitude against your will. I don’t need slaves.
So… the decision is yours to make. The contract is there to remind you of it. Think of it as any other vow of vassalage, except made to a power greater than your piddling Temple and its gods.”
She placed her finger at the first line of text. “Khe, khemm– You were of noble birth, right? I trust that you can read it yourself.”
Victorian read the contract carefully: “I, Victorian Rotwald, hereby offer my life and sword in service to the Devil, Diana Albrecht. I vow to protect her subjects and aid her cause before any other considerations. I promise to always answer her call in exchange for all the protections and privileges afforded to her subjects and servants as befits my station.
I shall hold no gods, old or new.
I shall hold no masters other than her.
I shall temper my heart with cold reason and my body with heavy steel.”
There was an empty signature line at the bottom right.
Having read it all a second time Victorian had one simple question: “Why?”
Diana smiled. “Well, mainly because I can... But I also happen to have come up with a use for you.
Good people are always in short supply, and I have no doubt that you are a good natured and just man, Victorian. I appreciate that side of humanity more than most. I can see great potential in it and that is why I would like to help you develop it. All in the effort of shaping the world to be more like you – just a little bit better; fit for my purposes.”
“But why would you want to help me?” Victorian asked.
“Can’t I do a good thing once in a while?” Diana asked. “Being branded a devil doesn’t make me evil, you know – it is what I do to get my way that makes me the horrible monster that you rightfully fear.
Besides, evil is nothing more than an opinion about another’s actions and motivations. If anything, I consider myself more indifferent than evil.
Wait, no… interested – that is what I am right now. You have aroused my interest.
But I am going to be honest with you, Victorian. I intend to wage a great war in the near future. Much about your world is going to change in the coming years.”
She pressed a long, sharp bird’s feather into Victorians palm and closed it. “And, in order to accomplish my goals, I will need a lot of willing servants. I can’t build an empire without manpower and talent.
You are a man with some talent for combat. What I bring to the negotiating table is power. And we both just so happen to get what we want out of it.”
Her intentions struck Victorian out of the blue. “To build an empire? You want me to serve you to that end?”
“Let’s put it like this,” Diana said. “I’m going to do it with or without you. But, right now I am offering you the opportunity to be the shining knight at my side while I do it.” Diana winked. “I have a feeling that you will make it worth my while. And I, in return, will make it worth yours…
It will cost you much. I won’t make it easy on you. You still need to be trained and taught before I can truly use you for my purposes, but such is the cost of any pursuit worthy of effort, no?
Besides, it’s not like I’m going to ask you to eat babies or anything. Well, only to slaughter anyone who gets in my way, but that is a given, right?
–Some leeway may apply. I am not making you my slave, after all.”
Victorian uneasily shifted the feather in his fingers. Can I trust her? He examined Diana with suspicion. “Do I have a choice?”
“I thought that I had made it clear to you,” Diana said. “It’s a simple yes or no answer.
But, if you are having doubts, just ask yourself this: could you really forgive yourself if you didn’t accept? Just imagine what you could achieve with all that power…”
“Turning my back on all that I know,” Victorian considered it, “To obtain the power to change the world.
What about my lands?” he asked. “I am the last heir to the Rotwald estates. Who is going to stand for my people without me?”
“As you patron I would be obliged to help you settle your score with your enemies,” Diana suggested. “Besides, I have no intention of parting you from your land. I merely wish to enlist you as my banner man. Is that not how your vassalage system works?”
“And you would help me?” Victorian asked.
Diana nodded. “How does a fiendish retribution sound to you? I could use the distraction. The crypt was starting to get a little cramped anyway.”
“A devil is going to help me avenge my family?” Victorian was conflicted about the notion.
“Well, you could just try to fight your enemies as you are right now,” Diana suggested. “Alone and weak…”
She’s right, I am weak. Out of all the things that Victorian had been cursing for these last few tragic days of his life it was his own inherent weakness of being just a human that he had come to despise the most. In the absence of his gods what else was there for a man left to turn to? If I could have the power to do what was right… To do what I want!
“I agree!” he said. “On the condition that you see my father’s death avenged.”
Diana looked pleased to hear that. “Then all that I need is your signature–”
Victorian plunged the sharp end of the feather into his arm and drew blood. He placed his signature over the allotted spot and watched as the black letters of the contract turn fire red. The simmering parchment then rolled up and disappeared into thin air. A fine grey mist lingered for a while longer in its place until a warm breeze carried it away.
The young paladin covered his bleeding arm with the corner of his cape.
Diana smirked. “I was about to offer you some ink– but I guess blood will do just as well.”
Victorian did not sense anything changing about him. He felt just as tired as before and his scorched hand still ached.
“I do not feel any different,” he told Diana. “When are you going to grant me what was promised?”
“Oh no, you are not going to get anything for free,” Diana explained. “I have given you the opportunity to attain it for yourself. Your so called gods tend to give out blessings for free and you mortals never seem to appreciate that.
I will provide you with training. I will grant access to knowledge beyond your wildest dreams, but this isn’t something that magic can make happen overnight. It will take time and effort.
But, there is one last thing that I have to do before we part ways,” she said.
“And what–”
In the blink of an eye Diana had plunged her hand into Victorian’s chest. It was a sensation beyond his worst nightmares – her fingers wrapping around his heart and holding it in a vice-like grip.
“Humans are such fragile creatures,” Diana said in a cold voice. “You didn’t really think that just signing the contract was going to be the end of it. I have my interests to look after in you.
You see, it is not the body that fails you most of the time. No, it is your heart, giving in to the fear, which leads to most deaths on the battlefield. You can’t help yourselves, really. The courage just isn’t there most of the time – it goes against your base animal instincts. And I can assure you that you will need a lot of courage, my hopeful champion. As luck would have it that is something I can help you with.”
Victorian’s body convulsed once more as the Devil tore out his still beating heart and held it up before him. The paladin stood drooling and dazed – blood flowing forth from his torn chest and down his trembling legs – as he tried to make sense of the fading world around him.
“You rely too much on your instincts,” Diana pointed out, “When really it is the mind that serves as your most formidable weapon. I find that humans tend to make the best decisions when their emotions don’t get in the way.”
The Devil smiled as she examined the lump of convulsing muscle and flesh in her blood soaked hand. “Remember this sensation,” she said, “Getting your heart torn from of your chest. That is how being betrayed by someone feels like. Don’t ever make me feel like this or I will make you experience such pain a thousand fold.
I can kill you in a split second, but I can also bring you back to life for that long no matter how little of your body remains. And a second is all I need to cause you incredible pain. I can chain those single seconds into an eternity if I so desire.
Don’t – ever – betray me.”
Victorian felt dead listening to her increasingly distant words. He was dead – the proof was right there before his eyes in the shape of his still beating heart in Diana’s hand.
“You can fall down now,” she casually remarked as she plucked a single strand of hair from her head, “We are almost done here anyway.”
The last thing that Victorian saw through the haze was Diana pushing the strand of her hair into his heart. Then he collapsed.
Victorian did not recall hitting the ground. The darkness had already consumed him by then. But it only lasted for a moment.
“I’m afraid there is no rest for the wicked,” Diana’s smug voice taunted him from beyond the black veil of death.
Victorian gasped for air as he awoke on the hard stone surface of the throne room. He immediately grabbed at his chest only to find that his chainmail shirt was still intact. The vision she had shown him had been so intense that he could have sworn it was all real, yet his body showed no signs of change.
Victorian looked up at the Devil standing beside him in all of her inhuman beauty, but found it impossible to convey his surprise in plain words. “How? Wha–”
“Did I startle you?” Diana inquired, her face warped in a wicked grin. She waved for her servants to approach.
A pair of hooded figures entered the chamber bringing with them two cups and a pitcher of wine.
“You ripped my heart out!” Victorian struggled through his panting as he slowly got back on his feet.
“And I put it back, didn’t I?” Diana said and offered him one of the freshly filled cups.
Victorian took it with a trembling hand and immediately drank it dry to quench his thirst. A sudden spike of pain pierced his chest, reminding him that he was not well. Still, it felt negligible when compared to the sensation of having his heart straight up torn from his body just a moment ago.
“Well, you seem lively enough,” Diana said. “I guess this is where your new journey begins. Congratulations, Victorian, you were born again.
Take your time to think about the implications of what we have discussed.”
The Devil turned around and went for the throne.
“Wait! Where do I start?” Victorian asked. “How do I obtain the power that you spoke of?”
“Later,” Diana said. “For now you should rest. We should be ready to depart for your family estates in a day or two. When the time comes I will send for you.”
The Devil looked on as the two hooded figures led Victorian out of the throne room. With them gone she shifted her gaze upon the plate of food resting at the foot of her throne.
“Must have gone cold by now,” she said and took a sip of wine. Diana then looked to the main entrance. “I wonder how Lemmy is going to handle the poor fools that failed to kill him.
Hmm… Bones will not be pleased to learn of what has happened.”