“That’s my girl,” I whispered and slowly moved to the two of them. It was obvious to the enemy that they had lost, and that all of them would soon die. So they tried to attack us once more. They had nothing to lose, but their lives. I grinned and whispered mytwo favorite words: Spirit Forge.
A black mass of energy surged from my hands and threatened to make me pass out from the incredible pain. I wanted to scream, or to speak to the two, but I couldn’t. The pain was too much to bear for a long moment, before the swords finally appeared in front of me. I gasped for air and spat blood out onto the muddy soil. I looked up again at the weapons, only to find them merging together. A-six-foot long, pitch-black and wicked looking scythe appeared in their stead, glowing bright red.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
18
My right hand shot out toward the battle scythe and grabbed hold of the hilt. A rush of power flowed through me as I placed my left hand around the shaft.The red glow crawled up my hands and arms, covering them with a sort of energy field.
“Do you like my new gift?” Astaroth spoke in my mind, startling me. My heart beat faster as I glanced toward Lilith and Alpha. They’d been surrounded by a new shield wall, and were being pressed hard. Lilith looked like she’d be done for any moment now, while Alpha’s snow-white fur was more crimson, thanks to matted blood.
“I do, master. Thank you for giving me such an amazing weapon. I can feel its power.”
He laughed with delight and disappeared from my mind. I breathed in and out as I steadied myself. It wouldn’t do them any good if I just went in blindly. This bloodbath would never end. Or would it? There was only one way to find out.
“I’m coming,” I sent mentally both to Lilith and Alpha. My speed was increased greatly, as were my reflexes. I whirled my scythe in a circle, and cut through four soldiers in one slice. Stunned, the backline stared at me as if contemplating whether to take me on or run away. I chose for them.
I grabbed hold of the butt end of the scythe with both hands, and whirled in a circle, slashing around me like a madman. Soldiers fell one after the other as the blade passed through their bodies, cutting them in two or decapitating them. A punishing blow brought me down once again, as a war-hammer struck my side. The scythe flew off without me, and slammed into the shield bearers holding Lilith and Alpha in place. A wide gap opened up, giving Al the opportunity to ram through.
Lilith rose up into the air now that the wolf had escaped and darted toward the forest, badly bruised and cut up. But she was holding on to life. Around her whip dangled four soldiers she’d snagged from the ground.
“I’ll need a minute or two. When I’m back, we’ll finish this,” she said and disappeared into the darkness behind us.
“You heard the lady. Can you stand?” I asked and somersaulted back out of the soldiers’ reach.
“No, I didn’t hear her, but I can stand. In all honesty, I thought I’d be much more resilient to physical blows. Guess I was wrong,” Alpha replied and growled at the nearest soldier.
A ray of pitch black darkness shot out from the crowd and slammed into me. I gasped in shock, the pain almost unbearable. I shuddered and looked down at a gaping hole in my chest. Hundreds of thoughts, images and questions went through my mind as I fell to the ground. And the worst among them was that the bond between me and Lilith was broken. Now she would be able to find another master.
“Shit,” I whispered as my face collided with a shattered shield that lay on the ground.
“You really fucked up, you know that?” the already familiar voice of Astaroth whispered in my head. I paid it no heed as I floated in an endless darkness. I could breathe, and move my fingers.
The image of my mother and father appeared before me, the day they had left me to care for myself. I didn’t even remember their faces anymore, only their backs as they left for the capital. I was barely eight years old.
“That’s enough money to last you a few years,” my father had said.
“Don’t spend it all at once. We’ll be back one day, when we’ve done the king’s bidding. After all, the kingdom is much more important than any individual, no?” my mother had added as she’d hugged me. I couldn’t see her face in the memory. Not anymore.
“Here, take this scroll. Read it, memorize it, and then burn it. One day, when the time comes, you’ll know how best to use it. Until then, it will be locked away in your subconscious.” My father placed his palm against my chest. A rush of magic shocked me to the core and threw me into the opposite wall.
“So, it has begun,” my mother whispered. “Lock it away. I doubt he’ll be ready to face Asta--, the thing, before then.”
My father sighed and nodded.
“He’ll curse us once the time comes. Especially once the wolf emerges. Who knows what road he’ll take. I guess we’ll see in time.”
The images blurred and turned into darkness once more.
“Do you want to live?” the familiar demonic voice asked. A faint light enveloped the area around me. Astaroth’s head floated in front of me, dwarfing my small frame many times over. Long, white horns pierced the heavens above us, as his neck stretched down further than I could follow with my gaze. His red glowing eyes stared at me.
“Tell me about my parents.”
Astaroth’s loud laughter echoed in the endless darkness, shaking the very fabric of reality around me.
“You sure know how to surprise me, human. Very well. What do you want to know?”
“Everything you can tell me. I need to know if it’s worth it to live on.”
Astaroth sighed and disappeared. In his stead, a smaller version appeared before me, sitting on a throne made from skulls. Human skulls.
“Your parents were part of an expedition, when you were still in your mother’s womb. Thousands died, but not the two of them. Your mother and father fought on until the bitter end. With the help of a handful of remaining arch mages, they managed to defeat me. But instead of killing me, or banishing my spirit, your mother chose to trap me. Inside of your unborn body.”
He stopped for a moment, drawing a deep breath. I, in turn, was stunned speechless. There’s always been something in me that kept nagging at me, telling me that they weren’t the parents I remembered.
“So, all this time, you’ve been watching and controlling me.”
“No!” he bellowed, rage apparent in his voice. “I’ve been taking care of you for the last thirty years! Keeping you safe and nudging you in the right direction!”
“I see,” I replied and looked down at my feet. If I was to trust himat his word, and I had no reason not to, he’d been more of a parent to me than both my father and mother combined. “And why did they trap you inside me? Any ideas?”
Astaroth shrugged his shoulders.
“I have none. Well, I do, but I don’t have any actual proof. You see, the Krafnian king was desperate to get hold of a weapon that would keep the Kravnians at bay. I think that your parents hoped you could be that weapon, giving them status and leverage with the king. For some reason, they never returned. Maybe they defected, died or ran. I have a feeling we’ll get an answer soon enough.”
I sighed and cracked my neck, looking around in the infinite void surrounding me.
“Do you remember their names?”
Astaroth grinned and nodded.
“That’s an awful lot of questions and favors, my boy. But all right, I’ll give you the names as well, just to prove I’m dealing in good faith. Your parents’ names were Cassandra and Gast Hawkern. Now, answer my question, or I’ll let you die and take over. Do you want to live?”
Lilith appeared in front of me, battling the last two mages, while Alpha did his best to protect her. They were badly wounded, and even though there weren’t many soldiers left, they probably wouldn’t make it. Then, it happened. A halberd pierced Al’s hind right leg. The wolf shrieked in pain as he tried to free himself. A second and a third struck home in his belly and in the leg itself.
“No!” Lilith cried as she hurled a spear at the attackers, and turned her back toward the lone mage. Time stood still as a beam of dark magic streaked toward her.
“Save them!” I pleaded. “Please, save them!”
Astaroth’s laughter rumbled in the void around us.
“Very well. Give me three years of your remaining natural life in return, and I’ll save them. Do you agree?” he replied, calmly. The beam inched slowly toward Lilith as time dragged on.
“Yes, I agree!”
Astaroth disappeared, and took over my body once more, leaving me to enjoy the ride. And enjoy it I would, as he ripped the Kravnians’ heads from their bodies and mutilated them. They deserved it. They all did.
“Astaroth! Don’t kill the slaves, please! Sophia must be with them. I wasn’t paying attention during battle, so I have no idea if she’s there, but if she is, I want her alive!”
I knew he’d heard me, but I guessed he wasn’t in the mood to reply. Whatever. He’d gotten what he wanted from me, and I’d gotten some information on my parents. Three years off my life to learn some things that had been haunting me for a while now. That was a bargain I’d be willing to strike every day of the week.
“Time-lapse!” I heard my own voice call out as Astaroth moved my body. A dark dome appeared around the soldiers in the clearing, Lilith, Alpha and the slaves. The beam stopped inching closer toward Lilith and stood still, a foot shy of hitting her back. I relaxed as her imminent death was avoided for the time being. Though it wasn’t the time to celebrate just yet. As long as there were soldiers and mages remaining, we weren’t out of the woods yet.
With a lunge, my body moved in toward my demon queen and pushed her aside. Even if time resumed now, the spell wouldn’t harm her. Astaroth summoned the scythe and stopped next to the remaining magician, ready to strike them down. With a swing, the scythe passed straight through their body and met no resistance at all. The mage disappeared from sight, instead of crumpling to the ground.
“Better luck next time, Astaroth,” a strong, female voice called out from the edge of the time-lapse zone. “We’ll be seeing each other again very soon.” The woman disappeared in a puff of smoke, as if she’d never even been there.
19
Both Al and Lilith stayed away from the rampaging Astaroth. Before I even had the time to process the mage’s immunity to my demon’s control, and the ease with which she’d disappeared, a handful of soldiers was all that remained, huddled around their officer. He was barely alive, but that could change at any moment now.
“Spare him. We need to figure out what’s going on here, and who that mage was,” I said. Instead of a reply, I got control over my body back.
“I need to sleep for a while. Don’t get yourself killed while I’m in a deep slumber, boy.”
I sighed and winced at the pain I now felt. The gaping hole in my chest had closed just like in my fight against Lilith, but the pain was far worse this time. I looked down and noticed a black ooze seeping out of the edges of where the hole had been.
“Lilith?” I called out and looked around. She’d been standing next to the slaves during my rampage. I sighed in relief as she walked over. “It’s so good to see you’re still alive. Please, feed on the soldiers while we have a chat with the officer.”
She smiled back at me and put her arms around my neck.
“Idiot,” she whispered. “Our bond broke the moment you died. Do you have any idea how much that hurt?”
I shrugged and waved for Al to join us.
“Thanks for keeping this mutt alive. And you too, Al. Thank you, my friend.”
“Meh, whatever. No more sacrifices for today, all right?”
I grinned and patted his head.
“Sure thing. Now, we need to have a talk with that guy,” I said and pointed at the wounded officer.
“Yeah, thought so. I’ve been trying to read his mind, but it’s a mess. He’s in shock.”
We walked toward the group, which cowered in fear. The seven soldiers turned to run, but Lilith caught them with her whip and placed them next to each other like a stack of mummies.
“I’d ask that you to look away, my dear. Feeding isn’t that pretty to look at.”
I waved her off and turned to the officer. His tattered outfit was soaked with caked blood and mud. There wasn’t much life left in him, but he could still prove to be useful. I knelt beside the man and helped him sit upright against a wall of corpses. He didn’t so much as flinch as our eyes met. And in a strange way, he almost looked happy to see me. I could’ve sworn he’d smiled briefly, but that must have been my imagination.
“Why have the Kravnians invaded?” I asked with as much iron as I could. The officer wasn’t phased in the least. His strange look turned into a grin.
“What’s wrong with him? Is he that delirious?” Alpha asked as he sniffed the man. His dark skin and bushy beard looked strange on the man from up close.
“You are all we’d hoped for, and more still. Ever since the failed attempt on your life in Homitage, we’ve been trying to lure you out, so our mistress could test your abili--” The officer coughed violently, throwing up blood. I was caught off guard, to say the least. There wasn’t much that could rattle me, but here he was, admitting to being behind an attempt on my life.
I grabbed the lapels of his coat and pulled him toward me, my teeth bared.
“What did you just say? Mistress? Attempt? You better start talking or--”
“Or what?” he snapped back at me.
I frowned.
“There’s many a way to die. One of them is almost painless, while some others, like dismemberment, or being devoured by my wolf, are much less pleasant.”
I could see the man was a fanatic, but I’d gotten to him. No matter what kingdom we hail from, we all have one thing in common: the will to live.
“Very well. The mistress probably allowed me to live so I could tell you what I know anyway, so I’ll take you up on that offer, young Kane.”
“You know his name?” Lilith asked as she appeared next to me, looking as fresh as a daisy. She winked at me and draped her arm around my waist.
The man shrugged and looked back at me, refusing to give her a reply.
“The attempt on your life was at the mistress’ behest. Believe it or not, it was she who lured the Greptodont to where you found it, and she had placed an order for its marrow.” He stopped to take a breath and coughed again.
“I see,” was all I could come up with in response.
“Yes. The man you killed was one of our spies. One of the lowest ranking, to be honest, but still ours. Anyway, the man who found you three where you were eating, you guessed it. Another spy. He’s still somewhere in Homitage. Maybe keeping your woman compa--”
I slapped him across the face, breaking his nose as I did.
“Don’t even go there, scum. Keep talking!” I yelled and put up my hand as if to slap him again. He recoiled and hurried on.
“Anyway, the main reason you were brought here was to test your abilities. The demon inside you was a wildcard at best, and a burden at worst. To see him fight, that was truly astonishing.”
“I see. So you raiding Krafnian territory wasn’t some prelude to war?”
The officer made a disgusted face, as if I’d asked him the stupidest question ever.
“You’re no match for us. We outnumber you ten to one, and our overall fighting prowess is at least twice as good as yours. If we wanted to take your rocky plains, we would have done so already.”
“I think he’s telling the truth. I can’t feel any of his emotions spiking, which usually happens with liars,” Alpha offered.
I got up and turned away from the man, stretching out both arms and legs. Nothing made sense. Who was his mistress? And why did they know about me and Astaroth?
“Can you follow her?”
“No. Her scent has evaporated. I can’t even trace what’s left here.”
“Lilith, what’re
your thoughts on all of this?”
“Thought you’d never ask! First, get rid of the slaves. Either sacrifice them or let them go. We can’t feed, clothe or protect them. Send them on their way. Secondly, let me eat this guy’s brain. I’ll know everything he does, that way. Once we’re safe, I can transfer the knowledge to you. And lastly, what are you going to do with Sophia?”
It felt like a tight knot had appeared in my gut. She was right about the slaves, even if she had me almost recoiling in disgust with her suggestion about the guy’s brain.However, what got me most excited was the mention of the young woman. Sophia was still alive after all. I turned toward the slaves and got up.
“Sophia, please join us with your brother. The rest of you, make your way to Homitage! Or wherever else you want to go! Ithice is gone, and trying to rebuild it wouldn’t be that smart. There will be more raids in the near future, and I doubt you want to feel their wrath again!”
I felt bad for sending them away like that, but there was nothing I could do for them. Not here, not now. To my surprise though, most of the crowd didn’t move.
“We have nowhere to go, my lord,” one of the men called out. I slapped myself mentally for not noticing earlier. They didn’t really seem like a self-sufficient group.
“Yes! You saved us, now take responsibility for our lives!”
I looked first to Alpha, and then at Lilith. They seemed as confused as I was.
“We can build a new village as long as it’s safe!” a third man called out. More cheers and shouts accompanied the three men as they stepped toward me. One young woman moved past them, holding a younger boy by the hand. Sophia. She stopped a few feet short of me and looked me right in the eye.
“If you want me to forgive you, and if I mean anything to you, then save these people. Most of them are friends, some are family, while others are people I don’t know. Nonetheless, they deserve a chance at life. Save us. Save them. I promise they will do whatever you want for the rest of their lives. That’s the way of us Ithicans. And so will we. Until the two of us die, we’ll remain your personal slaves.”
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