I never thought I would ever return to this place, but here I stand before the goddess upon the platform suspended in Martog’s maw with Gareth at my side. I was brought to the site of atonement and was powerless to fight against my and my mother’s captures. Guards surrounded the pit, and my mother was now in the grasp of the captain of the guard, whose obsidian knife dug into her neck. Gehenna stood on the small bridge to be closer to his son and I, and to be at the center of all his loyal servants.
With every second that passes, my spells fill with essence, but I won’t have the arsenal to take on this many guards, even if I wanted to fight them. On top of my weakness, they had my mother and Gareth. I’m trapped, and there is nothing I can do. I have failed, and all my friends, the woman I love, and my mother will suffer because of me. My father is dead, and my mother will be subject to Gehenna’s will. If I had never acted, and just left with Argentum all these things would never have happened. All the suffering that will occur is all my fault. There is nothing left I can do.
My thoughts are consumed by the riddles my father told me in the cave, and I know that though the future isn’t set in stone the steps being made will produce what my father thought would come to pass. Uzuri will be returned to her prison and used by Gehenna for his temporary peace, my mother will be repeatedly violated for Gehenna’s army, and all my friends will fall to the teratolion claw, all for Gehenna’s supposed piety and hubris.
“We are gathered here today!” says Gehenna walking out onto the platform raising his arms up to his guard, “To celebrate the exorcism of two demons from our precious world nestled in the naval of our goddess.”
The guards cheer as they listen to their leader, and I feel my soul drop within me. I had done all within my power to save these people from a future of war and ruin, and now I will die amidst their cheers which seal their fatal future upon them. All I wanted was a better world for everyone, and as I gaze upon these people and Gehenna, I know that they would have rejected my world for his. I am a demon, and the teratolion are Martog’s kin to them. Gehenna’s world is already their world, and I stand as a vile stain upon their sanctified tera.
I’m curious to see how Gareth is holding up, and to my surprise I see him smiling. He stands confident, and sure of himself, and his eyes do not waver from the captain of the guard. Gareth looks at me and almost chuckles to himself as he winks at me. I am in utter disbelief of this boy, that looks death in the face with a smile.
Gehenna continues his speech as if languishing in ecstasy with every word he speaks, “We sent that vile incubus back to Martog’s belly, and now his spawn, will join him. However, this awful creature being the child of a fiend meant to charm the hearts of men, did exactly this. He enraptured the hearts of my family and three women of our village, and to break his spell, my son will kill him. This will be his trial to spill the blood of this demon! The blood of the demon will appease Martog, and we will be free of at least this demonic threat.”
A majority of the guards jeered me and cheer their leader, others remain silent like the captain of the guard. I can merely hang my head as I accept the words shouted at me. My world was a fantasy. The true world is that of Gehenna’s make. I am what he says I am. The longer I endure my life the longer this truth impresses itself upon my being. Maybe, everything I’ve done was all just a temptation of Martog. My thoughts and actions motivated to bring the world to Martog’s maw, so he could consume it whole. Though, I can’t bring myself to believe my thoughts fully, this will be how I’m remembered, and history will state two incubi were exorcised by Gehenna’s hand this day.
Gehenna looks at us and with expectant eyes and in a low voice that the guards can’t hear says, “Gareth, you disappoint me, and if you desire to be chief you will have to kill me after you dispatch this vermin. As for you, I know that you will willingly give your life to Gareth, so give us a bit of a show before you toss your life away.”
Gehenna turns his back to us and walks off of the platform onto the bridge to join the circle of guards around the pit of Martog’s maw. I walk to the edge of the platform that floats above the endless pit and kneel. I won’t give Gehenna or the guards the pleasure of fake combat. I will die on my own terms. Almost in morbid reflection, I remember that my grandmother died here only a month ago and the remains that were upon this place were now gone. Nature and time care not for the dead, and I’ll soon accept their influence to wipe my blight from this world.
“Gareth, I’m ready,” I say almost preparing myself to just fall forward and end it myself, “If you can’t bring yourself to do what needs to be done, I’ll do it for you.”
Gareth places a hand on my shoulder and yanks me backward to a more secure position on the platform. His face looked upon me with pity and was contorted in an expression of disbelief. He kneels at my side and whispers, “Uzuri made it.”
I’m shocked to hear this news and I watch as Gareth gets up to his feet and says, “You all call yourselves followers of the goddess, yet you yourselves follow the orders of a man who might as well be Martog himself. Do you want to know what Skath has gone through just to save your wretched lives? When he learned of the risks involved with freeing the teratolion girl, my sister, he went to the teratolion to ensure that the village would be safe. He sold his very life and death to save my sister and has worked tirelessly to save her and our necks. He killed the demon boar Dargot and used his magic to create a ruse so he could save my sister and deliver her as a peace offering to the teratolion. We would have never listened to Skath if he told us that we could have an eternal peace with the teratolion, so he had to go to extreme lengths just to find a bloodless way to save everyone. Which is more than I can say for my father.”
“Silence, or both your blood and the demon child’s will be spilled to satiate Martog!” threatens Gehenna signaling to the guards of the pit. I’m surprised that Gareth has such courage, though his tale and perception of me is extremely embellished, I am overwhelmed by his kindness. I have a true friend who stands before me and in my powerlessness defends me.
“You stand here now because the high matriarch couldn’t stand her daughter pursuing the desires of her heart. The incubus you hated, ended the war between the teratolion and us, not the goddess,” accuses Gareth as he walks much like his father did to speak to the guards that surround us and then he turns around and points at his father, “You violated sacred laws, as you yourself violated not only a teratolion woman, but a woman that was in line to be a high matriarch herself. You murdered a woman in cold blood, calling her a demon and used her daughter as a gambling token. Your daughter who was the source of your peace, you abused and sentenced to a life of isolation. You destroyed the peace that Skath’s father bestowed upon us, and you risked the village’s lives on a gamble that could have sent us all back to a war that would have ended with every one of us being slaughtered by the teratolion claw. You accuse others of sacrilege, but it is you who sins and have long escaped your deserved condemnation!”
“How dare you speak such blasphemy! Guards kill them!” yells Gehenna, and I fully expected there to be an onslaught upon us, but the captain of the guard raises his fist, and the guards stop in their tracks.
“Listen to what the boy has to say. Gehenna sacrifices our lives, all so he can get revenge. We are pawns in his eyes, and my brother Levi now lies dead. I would have shared in his fate if it wasn’t for a messenger who distracted me from my original mission to go with Levi, and Jonathan to provoke Turas,” says the captain of the guard glaring at Gehenna, “Not a single guard was injured when the boar attacked, which is curious. If we compare Gehenna’s plots with that of Gareth’s and Skath’s, it is blatantly apparent that the amount of our blood spilt wasn’t done by some demon, but one of our own.”
“You dare defy your chief?” says Gehenna turning on his captain, “Do you not fear that your wife will condemn you the day you go to be judged of the goddess! I will tell her of your betrayal, and you will be strung up! Your arms and hands will be crushed for your transgressions!”
“I am already condemned,” says the captain of the guard, “I assisted you in the rape and torture of not just one woman but two. Though the high matriarch said I and the rest of the guard were forgiven, I know that to be false. My heart will never let me live down what I helped you to achieve. I tried to convince myself that there was no other way, but now I know there was. I await Martog’s maw, for my sins are great because of you.”
The captain of the guard cuts my mother’s gag, then throws his obsidian knife to the ground and releases my mother from his grasp. My mother, confused by what is happening stands by his side, only to be pushed by the captain to try to get her to run away, but she stands firm. She wasn’t going to leave me.
My mother attempts to grab the knife from the ground, but she finds herself unable to get back up. She clutches her side, and the captain helps her to her feet, only to have her dash at Gehenna. Knife in hand she plunges it into Gehenna repeatedly, only for him to slap her aside. The force of his blow knocks her off balance and she plummets into the pit.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
I crawl over to the side of the platform and watch as my mother falls into the darkness below. She doesn’t make a sound, and when my eyes shift to essence. Her soul hovers close to the ground next to the captain of the guard. She had used the rest of her strength and willpower to try and save me, but she was already dead before her body even acted.
“That whore tried to kill me. I gave her my mercy, and she spat in my face,” says Gehenna removing the knife from his shoulder, “now our future child’s blood will be on her head for throwing her life away like that.”
“Murderer! You killed the teratolion woman, Marion, and even the high matriarch! If hitting a woman is worthy of death, your soul is damned and already has ceased to exist!” yells Gareth at his father, and the guards hearing the news of the high matriarch’s fate grow restless, “what evidence do you need, she isn’t here! My father lied to you; the high matriarch didn’t return because her body is at the bottom of this hole! If he can somehow produce her, then you’ll know I’m lying, and let’s face it you would have accused me of lying if I told you before. However, here we are at the site of atonement, and no high matriarch is here, and she wasn’t at the village either.”
“I’ve had enough,” says the captain of the guard, “Gehenna isn’t our chief anymore. We have been fooled by Martog for far too long, and his evil rests upon our heads. The lives of the high matriarch, Marion her first attendant, and the demon… no teratolion woman all rest upon our collective heads as we permitted Gehenna to commit unspeakable horrors and sins. If disowning our supposed chief makes me a traitor, it will be the best decision I have made in my entire life. I look upon the goddess and beg forgiveness, as I have been a fool and desire nothing more than the chance to atone.”
I hear a guard hiccup and I turn my head to better see the hiccupping guard toss his spear into the hole and say, “hic… I haven’t gone a night without nightmares of what I saw Gehenna do to that dem… teratolion woman. If demons cause and relish in pain, then why did she scream so. Her wails torture me every moment of every day. I also can’t stand the torture of my own conscious knowing that the teratolion woman’s child has continued her mother’s suffering beyond her death. I can’t… hic… stand here anymore. I am with you, Stephen. Who I see before us isn’t our chief, but a pig who has long avoided his slaughter.”
I see other guards follow suit and toss their spears into the pit and Stephen the captain of the guard speaks again, “Thank you Mathias, for your words. Those that do not wish to commit further evil, follow me. Tonight, we confess our sins to the goddess and her village. If death is what is desired, we will face it with penitent hearts, and if life is afforded us, we will live to atone the horrors of Gehenna. Tonight, what atrocities were hidden by the false matriarchs will be unveiled, and that will be our solemn duty before the goddess. Truly, I hope that the goddess Esther preaches of is one of mercy.”
Several guards tossed their spears into the pit and began to walk away with Stephen the captain of the guard, whereas others with confused glances held tightly to their spears and began to huddle near their leader. Gehenna fuming stared at those that had abandoned his leadership and without a second thought ordered, “kill the traitors!”
Some of the guards were hesitant, some cast down their spears, and others, seeing new spears hit the ground thrust their lances into the newly revealed traitors. I look upon my arm and see that I have one chain spell that had recharged, and Dargot’s wrath still at the ready. I will not let those men who walked away die. Turning my gaze to Gareth, I know that this could be the only opportunity for him to escape amidst the confusion of the guard rebellion. If I am to save the repentant and Gareth, I must act now. I may not have much left in me, but I can at least serve as a distraction for these men.
I get up from the ground and tell Gareth, “Remember when I said I would help you with the trials? Well, here we are enduring the trials of Martog, and I’m going to fulfill my promise. You will live, and become chief, just stay out of my way, and when there’s an opening run!”
A guttural yell escapes my chest as Dargot’s wrath fills my body with all manner of chemicals like hormones and neurotransmitters. My heart races, my mind is abuzz with activity, and what limiters meant to protect my muscles and body break. I charged into the crowd of guards. A spiked and bladed chain forms around my wrist and I swing with all my might.
A column of guards in front of me that were stabbing at the hesitant and unarmed split in twain as the chain effortlessly cleaves through them. I more roar than yell at the unarmed guards, “Run! I will protect you, just run!”
I swing my chain to try and form a barrier for Gareth to run through and then charge at the rest of the guards who decided to protect Gehenna. I watch as Gareth escapes and several frightened guards run away, and now feel as if I no longer have to restrain myself. Those that are still here have made their choice, and I will not feel guilt in dispatching them. Only truly vile beings would defend that man. They had their chance, but their chance for mercy is walking away.
“You pushed me to the edge. You killed my mother, and my father. You tortured the woman I love, and nearly killed my future brother! You want a demon; I’ll be your demon!” I growl, as I pounce upon my prey. Guts fly like rain as the chain tears through guards as easily as one would plunge a finger into water. I don’t care if I’m shedding blood and causing harm, these men fight for and protect a world that must never come to exist. They defend a damned future where death is all that awaits them. Mercy is only for those who pursue it, and justice is for those that will stand firm behind their heinous deeds. I don’t care if I’m justifying myself, I know what I’m doing isn’t benevolent, but it may very well be necessary.
My chain swings with deadly efficiency as it hews down those in front of me. I try to prevent myself from thinking as blood paints me red. If I let these guards and Gehenna live, they might seek revenge upon those that had abandoned them, Gareth, and my friends. I may bring upon myself scarlet sin, but it is all for them. I cannot lose anyone else.
I feel my spells begin to fade, and the chain begins to betray my will. I make a few more passes at the guards but many of my new swings begin to miss their intended targets or bounce after cleaving one or two guards in twain. I begin using the strength in my physical body and I feel my muscles tear as I fling the chain haphazardly into them. Gehenna stands behind his slowly depleting force of guards terrified at what he is witnessing but seeing me weaken he knows he has won. He doesn’t care how many he has to kill, as long as he kills me, he has obtained victory.
My arms hang limply at my sides, and the chain barely has any essence in it. I retreat to the platform suspended over the pit and watch as Gehenna breaks through his wall of guards to approach me. Gehenna smiles an evil grin and says, “You have spilt much blood, and that will satiate your creator! However, your arms are just as useless as my hands, and I will exorcise you myself.”
I looked at my arms and he was right to assume that they were useless. The muscles appeared to be torn to shreds as my arms no longer held what appeared to be an arm shape. My flesh appeared to be empty bags that hung like rags over my bones. The chain on my arm was limp at my side, and as I didn’t summon any other spells, that Gehenna witnessed during my fight with my father, he must assume I have expended all I have.
Gehenna approaches me, and I back up to the edge of the platform where I stand at the precipice that had taken my mother and grandmother to the afterlife. The remaining guards gathered to form a blockade at the bridge leading to the platform. I force essence into a spell I hadn’t prepared to use for today, a spell that Cran had prepared that I thought I wouldn’t need.
I feel my soul begin to bounce inside of me, and blood oozes from my arm into my pockets and I say, “Why don’t you have your loyal guard come closer to witness your holy act? Might as well have many eyewitnesses to how you sent me back to Martog. This moment could become scripture for all we know.”
Gehenna acknowledges my request, clearly confident that I was no longer physically or magically able to resist him. I no longer had Cran with me, and I appeared weak and helpless. I would probably be just as confident if I was in his position. I watch as the remaining loyal guards walk up to the platform and I again kneel at the edge of the platform like I did for Gareth.
“Any last words, you wish for me to take back to that succubus,” says Gehenna placing his foot on my back.
“I hope you like fireworks,” I say looking back at Gehenna’s confused face. I begin my final gambit as I release as much essence as I can muster without releasing my soul. Two tiny plasma orbs appear at my sides, and what blood was still outside my body I make into limbs that throw four rapidly growing seed bombs out of my pockets at the bridge. I attempt to cover my ears, but my arms dangle uselessly at my sides. Gehenna confused at what the black balls were, and why I didn’t attack him directly follows the bombs with his eyes, until they reach the bridge and the plasma orbs launch themselves at the four fuses of the bombs. A loud explosion of light wipes Gehenna’s once smug expression from his face, as the bridge shatters and collapses into the pit.
The shrapnel produced by the bridge during the explosion collides with the wall of guards, protecting me from the majority of the crystalline shards that rip at Gehenna and his men. My ears ring from the blast, but I can just barely hear a cracking noise, and the platform collapses into the abyss. I try to lunge from the edge of the platform to give myself a chance to grab at the wall, only to realize my arms are useless. One of my flailing arms catches on a jagged rock and splits down the middle, barely slowing my descent.
I watch below me as Gehenna and the guard yell curses at me or scream in terror as they themselves were going to be Martog’s next meal. The chain having the smallest amount of essence within it, I fling using all the essence it has left to try and catch the chain on the wall of the hole. It responds to me one last time and catches another jagged part of the hole. I continue to fall and my arm yanks upward. I feel my flesh rip and for a brief second, I hang above the abyss which is now silent. What threads of flesh that were connecting my arm to my body snap and I continue to plummet.
I try to fall on my legs, in hopes that I had slowed my fall just enough. When my legs connect with the bottom of the pit, I feel them splinter beneath me, and my body crumples to the ground. My eyes skyward, I gaze at the light spilling into the hole. My vision fading, a tear falls from my eye, knowing that Uzuri is safe, and my friends will be as well. Blood seeping from my arm and shoulder I fade into darkness.