The Demigod and two humans landed at the bottom of the temple’s dungeon, falling for a good couple of seconds. A little later the arachne crawled, descending from the wall. They were met with a huge closed gate. An enormous energy streamed from inside, it felt like the doors were barely containing it. Whatever this island was hiding - was behind that door.
Salgos tensely watched the gates looking for something, his red eyes shone in the darkness. For some reason, Adira could understand how he felt just from his vague silhouette and the ruby glimmer. Something he wanted was behind that gate. Only a single opponent remained between them.
“Show yourself, Ravage.” The Demigod of Darkness commanded. The girl also focused, listening to every glint of a whisper.
“He will not come.” A strict pushing voice replied. Somehow, even at the edge of her senses, Adira missed the appearance of this new figure. “Ravage was deemed not fit to stop you.”
A thin creature strolled into view. A construct of flying cubes and spheres wrapped in a cloak. This construction vaguely resembled a humanoid figure. Its face was hidden behind a hood, but the girl could presume there was nothing under it, only some more spheres and cubes. Piercing blue eyes stared at the group, evaluating everyone.
“Constantine.” Salgos recognized the newly appeared man. The Demigod of Darkness seemed reluctant to begin conflict. Which alerted Adira more than the dangerous Demigods who were coming at them right away.
“Is there someone who is not trying to kill you?” The girl remarked sarcastically, although her real feelings were far from humorous.
“I am the Demigod of Choice, Constantine. I shall call upon forces of nature for a life-and-death game. Quit now and you will be teleported outside of the Ashen Planes safely. If you want to advance, you must play and risk your life.”
“Why don’t we just kill it?” The young huntress readied her glaive. The construct seemed weak, and the girl felt confident, after defeating the Demigod of Chaos.
“We cannot harm him.” Salgos replied. “He has the power to invoke laws of nature. Either we abide it, or God of Nature will smite us from existence.”
“So, he can just wish us to die?”
“Not quite. He must propose something fair, and risk being defeated.”
“Indeed. A simple game.” Constantine acquiesces. Salgos agreed immediately. He was not fazed by the Demigod. Nothing would stand between him and his goal.
“What about the others?” The creature gestured to the rest of the group. Adira did not have a second thought. After everything she had been through, she only thought of going forward. The essence of the God of Darkness also rested with Adira. She did not know what she would do with it, but the answers might be behind that door.
“I’ll play.” Galen said begrudgingly, clearly hesitating, but arriving at the same conclusion Adira had. There was no place to run. Especially for this man, he had to be in control of the situation, and at least know what this journey would unleash on the world. Skreetha hesitated, she turned to Adira and Galen.
“He said he can teleport me out of reach of all of you.” Adira frowned out of spite, if the arachne left now, she would not be able to find her for a long time. “When survival was all that matter to me, I would do that with no hesitation. Now I believe I cannot abandon you, so I will play.” The monster smiled naively looking at Adira as if telling her that she had changed. The gesture only made Adira indignant.
Purple cages appeared, capturing each one of them individually. The translucent bars were chill to touch and radiated the aura of cold which made the girl stay at the center, where nothing could reach her. Salgos and Adira accepted the cages stoically, they were ready to man everything. The girl looked to her right and saw Skreetha and Galen slightly more agitated than usual. The archer reluctantly touched the bars, probably thinking of ways to escape if the need arose. Skreetha seemed frustrated, clearly hating being caged.
Constantine’s voice brought all attention to him.
“The rules are simple. Each one of you answers a question about yourself. Fail to answer, or lie, your team loses a quarter of vitality. If you answer, I will receive a quarter of damage to mine.” The Demigod circled before their cages and stopped in front of Galen. The young huntress frowned watching the two. There must be a catch. “Now, let us begin.”
The apparition bellowed and pierced his gaze into the man. His eyes shone with a blue light as he began his appraisal.
“Man trapped in revenge. A traitor to some, and a hero to others. Once you had it all. A family, a life, and renown. You have abandoned it for your foolish ideals, and others paid the price. Nothing is dear to you anymore, even your life. If not for Adira’s appearance, you would surely choose death.” Galen tracked the Demigod, as he slowly moved around him. “It is easy to see why you resent your life. Or are you?”
Constantine froze, piercing the man with his gaze.
“Tell me, hero, who do you believe is responsible for the death of your children?”
In order to win the game Galen had to answer this question honestly. Adira saw him scowl as his bad memories resurfaced. This was indeed a tough question for the old hunter. The girl thought that the man blamed the kingdom too much in his blind belief that they were wrong. However, she realized that the Demigod would force them to admit the feelings they tried to avoid the most. Maybe that meant Galen was always thinking his decisions were to blame.
“It was me.” The man seemed to arrive at the same conclusion. “That’s what you want to hear, right? That I’ve been trying to hide I was the only one to blame. I know that. Just because I was afraid to admit it, does not mean the knowledge is not eating me at night.”
“Liar.” Constantine murmured sweetly, enjoying his victory. “You want to think that way, but deep inside you still believe you were right. Hence your hatred towards the kingdom. You never wanted to die. You simply needed a reason to kill those who annoyed you, instead of monsters. Look at you now. A friend with a monster, and a danger to your homeland. That was the real thing you’ve been afraid to admit.”
A piercing feeling stabbed Adira, instantly damaging her whole body. Losing a quarter of her life force was painful and exhausting. The energy whizzled out through her throat. Her limbs felt like dried fruit, sucked out from the inside. Around her, everybody dropped to their knees feeling the same thing.
Constantine moved to the next cage. Skreetha worriedly scrambled on her legs. The arachne was so easy to read when she was afraid. Involuntarily the monster pressed herself into the cage opposite the Demigod, as he circled around her. He went like this for some time, analyzing, and then spoke.
“A monster following the Demigod of Darkness out of fear of his wrath. It is your first time living not of your own volition. You hate it. Admittingly, you have found these new friends helpful. You even see a new way of living. Still, you are only slightly smarter than an animal, and obey out of fear.” His eyes locked on Skreetha the same way he did with Galen. The life and death question followed. “So, tell me, who do you fear more? Me with my ability to kill you with words? Or your master, who will kill you if you disobey?”
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Skreetha paled as much as her white carapace allowed. Her eyes rushed between two Demigods. Seeing the monster hesitate, Constantine created an hourglass before her cage. Sand rapidly poured down, counting seconds before she answered. The arachne clearly panicked, which was surprising to see. Still, her hesitation could cost Adira’s life.
“Answer his question!” The girl grabbed the translucent cage bar and shouted an order. It had an effect. Skreetha froze and blurted the first thing that came to her mind.
“I think Salgos has no control over me. I could have escaped too many times from his reign, and he would not do anything!” The Demigod of Choice made a big sigh and shook his head in disappointment. He did expect a different answer.
“Liar. You were not meant to please me but to answer honestly. In fear of the immediate danger, you lied. You were supposed to say your honest feelings. That you fear the girl who outpowered you in a matter of weeks. Who hates you unconditionally, a real threat to your existence.”
A sharp pain went through Adira’s body. She wanted to scream in pain, but no sound could come. She was too preoccupied with feeling the pain.
“I did want to say that.” The girl heard Skreetha’s whimper at her late realization.
Constantine approached Adira. He circled around her cage, leisurely, enjoying the stroll, as he studied the huntress. The girl barely finished collecting the remnants of her being, and weakly raised her eyes towards him.
A wave of cold horror crashed into her, as she realized what others had seen in his eyes. Her whole being was drawn out and internalized by the Demigod. There was nothing he did not know about her life. Even her darkest thoughts and secrets, which she did not want to share, were laid open before him. Constantine knew exactly who she was and how she would think, how she would react to his words.
It will not be easy to answer honestly. He will find a memory she will not admit. The answer would not be something that Adira was afraid to admit. It must be something she was afraid to even think about.
His words reached her, and his speech became the only world Adira existed in.
“A small child lost in power she did not deserve. You thought you would amount to something. You thought you would be unique.” His every word pierced and embraced. Each sound he made felt like a gagging sensation, drawn from inside of Adira, and at the same time goosebumps passed through her skin. “In reality, you failed everyone. People avoid you, even when they want to help you, in the end, they become your enemies. The only time you were not alone was taken from you violently, now you relive this memory hoping for salvation. You ask yourself, what if you grew more powerful? Even that did not change anything for you. You became strong, yet nobody had given you what you wanted. They only take it away.”
Adira listened and could not help but agree. No matter what she did, people dismissed her, plotted against her, betrayed her trust over and over again. She could beat a Godslayer 30 levels above her in a fight, and still, she gets no reward for her deed. The only wish she had was denied. She never was appreciated or wanted. This realization corrupted her mind.
“Now tell me, Champion of Darkness, can you trust someone?” The Demigod asked as if waiting for her to finish her thought and fully understand the misery of her life. His eyes shone, as he asked this question and the trance fell off, leaving her in a cage with only herself, one person she was wary the most right now.
Trust? As if Adira could trust anyone. She thought about Galen. He dismissed her as soon as he found the arachne was a better friend than her. She was Salgos’s Champion and even pledged loyalty to him. Does that make him trustworthy? Absolutely not. He is a part of some God’s play. Before she knew which side was right the huntress could not place her trust. That left only the party that abandoned her and Skreetha. A thought about trusting the last one made Adira smile. She is not that naive.
“I only trust myself.” She looked defiantly at Constantine with a wide smirk. His tricks did not work on her. Her rational side could see through his manipulations. Now let’s see him try to call her a…
“Liar.” Adira froze as if the ground disappeared from under her feet. The fear of his words was as inevitable as the fear of the fall. She was not lying, was she?
“You do not put your trust easily, no. To you trust is something you can rely upon. If you know exactly what someone is thinking, you can trust that person. Skreetha here has your trust and reciprocates it. You travel with her for quite some time, and never you expected her to stab you in the back, despite her treacherous nature. You know she fears you, and you know you can trust that fear.”
That was tough to swallow. As if a door had just opened, revealing Adira the truth she could have seen herself. Of course, if only she thought about it. At the same time, she whole being resented the idea. One part of her soul told her the Demigod was right. The other part of her screamed for the murder of that lying bastard. She would never rely on Skreetha, she would never believe a word she was going to say. Still, Adira knew for sure, because of fear, that Skreetha would obey. There was no one else whom Adira found to be at ease more, than her archenemy.
A sharp pain hit her being, snapping her out of her thoughts. Something seemed to grab her soul and rip a piece out of it without consideration for being gentle. Swimming through the cold void of nothingness was less hurtful than this feeling. Every muscle in her body cried out, suddenly unable to support her weight. With each heartbeat, pain crawled its way through her body.
Constantine stepped away as Adira did not concern him anymore. He moved towards Salgos. The last question remained. The girl now understood how hard it was to answer Demigod’s questions honestly. The looming threat on her life never felt so close. Anxiety grew in her chest, as she saw Demigod approach Salgos’s cage. The Demigod of Darkness should be able to do something, right? She looked at him. Funny, how hopeful she grew when her desperation was at its peak.
“Long time no see, Salgos.” Constantine greeted the caged Demigod.
“Indeed.” The other replied as if it was a conversation between two friends. The Demigod of Choice circled around Salgos analyzing him the same way he did with Adira. The Demigod of Darkness waited, not turning even when he went behind his back, and then he asked. “Let me know what they promised you for my death. You are not the kind, swayed by power, Child of Nature.”
“Hearing you call me that brings back memories.” Constantine spoke reminiscently. “It is the order of things, Emperor of Darkness. I am here to stop you. Because that will shape the destiny of this world.”
“What makes you think you can stop me?” Salgos replied with the friendliest tone Adira ever heard from him. These two had history, but they were ready to fight in earnest. Constantine’s eyes glowed with even more power than he had before.
“A Demigod of the lost era, born in flames and shadows. You had one single nature, but you betrayed it, falling in love. Your softness served the undoing and collapse of everything you had. Joke to the mighty Dark Force he once was. Now made to share his burden with weak monsters and puny humans, knowing full well they would betray you as soon as you turn your back. Leader of the Empire of Darkness with nothing left, but his ego.”
Salgos stayed still, the armor hiding his features made him seem unbothered, but Adira knew how hurtful the words of the Demigod were. Yet, the story Constantine told arrested her mind enough to forget how grave the danger they were in. Did the Demigod of Darkness fall in love and cause the collapse of his Empire?
The Demigod of Choice stopped in front of Salgos. His eyes flickered, and he spoke his dooming question.
“Tell me, do you believe you will find happiness?”
Adira pursed her lips. She could only pray right now for Salgos to find the right answer, as her life was in the hands of the Demigod. They all depended on him to succeed. Everyone locked their eyes on the towering figure behind the purple cage. Each knew that their group leader was supposed to think the unthinkable, in order to survive. Their hopes were high but hung on a thin straw ready to snap into despair.
Salgos raised his chin a little, and the group heard him laugh for the first time.
“Ha-ha-ha! You should have asked something harder. I know I was made for pain and suffering. I know that if I touch happiness, it will destroy the whole nature of Darkness that mortals are so afraid of.”
“Then your answer is?” Constantine looked at him piercingly, and a little smile appeared in the shade of his face.
“Yes. I must find it.” Salgos replied sternly, not to the Demigod of Choice. He was addressing nature itself, defying everything he’s been made for.
“Quite contrary to what is expected of you. Yet that is right. After all, without it, you are just a monster.” Constantine nodded. Adira noticed a trail of different shapes floating around the apparition withered, flickering, and shrinking in size. He lost a quarter of his life force! The girl wanted to jump in relief, however, not one muscle agreed with her will, the loss of life she withstood drained all the power she had.
“You are the first Demigod who understood his contradictory purpose. Maybe second, after me.” The Demigod of Choice sighed. “It seems my job here is done. Goodbye, Salgos.”
The cages disappeared, releasing everyone. The Demigod quickly disappeared with a puffing sound.
“I am curious what will you do now.” The aftermath of his voice echoed over the walls.