The Elder turned to the gathered crowd. “My children, those worthy of the Path, let us focus on cleansing this man so that he may better become one with the Path and join us. This is Noriko’s chosen mate and he has proven himself worthy. We must sacrifice our will in order to help him, as he is one of us.”
“What the hell are you going to do to me, Noriko? Be honest,” Raegith asked.
The Junrei’sha around him began chanting as they all stood as the Elders concentrated their power on him.
“I’ve known there was a demon inside you since you found me in the Pit, Raegith.” At that moment she looked as she did when he first saw her: alone, trembling and desperate. “I thought that I alone could help rid you of it, but I am not strong enough. When we are finished here, Raegith, you won’t be burdened with this attachment you have to the Greimere and those trapped within it. You will be free of lust and vengeance and will be at peace… maybe for the first time in your entire life. Then we can be together… then the Path will allow us to create life.”
“Create life? You want a baby?” Raegith asked, dumbfounded. “Noriko, you’re Lokai and I’m Twileen. I don’t think it works that way.”
“You are proof that two differing races can create life, are you not? I believe in the Path, Raegith… and I believe in us.”
“And you would erase parts of me in order to get what you want? You would mold me into something else and be okay with what you’ve created?”
“You will still be Raegith, only without the demon inside you that burns away at you constantly. I would have you at peace or no other way.”
The chants took on a physical form as light blue mist appeared and swirled around him. The Elders finished their incantations and opened their eyes to reveal electric, glowing orbs behind their lids that crackled with energy. Between them, a ball of light started off the size of a bead and expanded at a rapid pace.
“What’s going to happen, Noriko?” Raegith asked, eying the ball of light. “What do I do?”
“You fight, Raegith. Whatever you find in there… you fight it.”
The ball became the size of a small tent and then shot forth. Raegith caught a glimpse of Noriko’s face before he was enveloped in the light. She was terrified.
Raegith sifted through the books in his library. They were all there; all familiar. He did not even have to pull them down to know what they held within, he had read them all so many times. It was his only time killer and time was his greatest enemy inside that keep.
Forster’s Keep was large enough for him and the guards kept it clean enough. He would truly feel like royalty if he weren’t constantly reminded of being a prisoner. As he dragged his young finger across the spines of the books his mother stocked his library with, he hit a patch of exposed parchment.
He shook his head as he remembered what it was. Not long into puberty, his desires were driving him mad and after screwing up any chance of interacting with a real girl, he had turned to sketches. He didn’t pull the parchments out, embarrassed by their contents even though he was alone. They were horrible sketches, anyway; extrapolations of what a beautiful woman looked like based off nothing but imagination and the faint memories of the young girls his mother worked beside. He wondered if all young boys felt like this or just the ones that had been raised in a brothel, but he had no other friends to discuss it with; only the guards who were under strict instruction to speak with him as little as possible.
Raegith looked around, making sure that he was alone, even though he already knew there was no one else with him. Then he grabbed the parchments and pulled them out anyway. Just a glance; just enough to get his blood hot, he was so damned bored.
These were not the crude sketches of a young boy, though. On the parchment were beautifully detailed renderings of women he could not have imagined. Lokai with deep purple skin, Urufen with lush collars of fur and Faier with opaque eyes like black stones. The forms at his fingertips were exotic and alluring and painted from an informed memory of what they looked like.
“They’re all yours, boy,” came a voice behind him.
Raegith whipped around to see a figure sitting at the table where he ate his meals. It was a masculine figure, but it was like no other man he had ever seen. His head was like that of a serpent or lizard and his body was covered in leathery scales that rippled with changing colors. His hands and feet were wicked claws and a forked tongue flickered between his sharp, creased lips.
“Take them out… play with them. Hell, those are just a few of what the world has to offer. You’ll get bored with those soon enough and then you’ll go collect even more.”
“Who the hell are you?” Raegith asked, looking around to see if there were any others in the room with him.
“You wouldn’t recognize me, but we’re good friends, you and I,” the lizard man replied, lounging in the chair and looking over some of the pictures. “I’ve been with you from the start, Raegith. You can call me Wrath, if you like.”
“What are you doing here, Wrath? Have you come to free me from this prison?”
“No, he comes to ruin you!”
The girl who spoke to him walked out from the shadows. He recognized her. She was the young Twileen girl who had brought him food from the nearby village. He had not seen her since the night he snuck her into the keep and kissed her on the ledge of the tower under the full moon. It was the greatest moment of his brief youth and he had sobbed for days when he learned she would never be back.
“Put those papers down, Raegith, they’re not what you want,” she said. “I’m what you want.”
“Don’t listen to this bitch, Raegith,” the lizard groaned. “She promises nothing but ignorance and complacence. She’s done nothing for you; not like I have. I’m the one who kept you warm when you were alone. I’m the one who kept you alive through the torture; the one that pushed you on when the hills turned to mountains. I’m the reason you’re still here.”
“You don’t need him anymore, Raegith,” the girl said. “He poisons you, is all. Let me cleanse you and take you with me. I will take you home, Raegith.”
“Bullshit!” the lizard said, standing up. “You’ve been here too long, Raegith. Let’s get the fuck out of here! We’ll march across this land, killing the men and enslaving the women! I’ll show you a hell of a time!”
“He’ll show you to your death!” the girl shouted.
Suddenly the walls broke apart and the space between was filled with light that blinded all three of them.
“Enough of this,” a voice boomed, pushing Raegith back. “This is my mountain and I do not have the time for this bickering.”
“The Master,” both of the visitors said, bowing down before the light spilling through the cracks of the brick and slowly tearing the stone wall apart with its power.
Raegith looked around, confused with the familiarity he felt in front of the light. As he shielded his eyes and tried to look past the glaring intensity of it, he knew that his answers were somewhere inside.
“What am I supposed to do?” he shouted at the light. “You already know, don’t you? Just tell me!”
“Choose.”
“Which one?” Raegith asked. “Which one do I choose? I don’t even know who these two are… who they really are.”
“To your right lies the Path of Action,” the voice said. “You have been on this path from the moment you left the Keep and it has led you here, keeping you alive and moving the entire time. Continue to follow it and you will be filled with power, but you will never find peace and you will never be satisfied.
“To your left lies the Path of Inaction. This is the reward you have earned from your actions and it will keep you safe and comfortable until your end. Follow it and you will be drained of power over others, but you will have peace and you will have love. That is balance. Each of you, say your one truth now.”
The Twileen girl turned to Raegith. “Ignorance is bliss, Raegith. In order to wipe away your troubles, I must also wipe
away your cares for those who have not earned your reward. Your mind cannot be restful and you cannot be happy as long as you dwell on your failures.”
Raegith looked over at the lizard and Wrath spoke to him. “Those who live by the sword, die by the sword. You cannot affect change from a comfortable chair and to make a better world for those you care about, you must place yourself in danger constantly. You will bring death to your enemies and eventually your enemies will bring death to you.”
“Neither of these choices seem entirely evil or entirely good,” Raegith said to the light. “I either abandon my friends for a life of bliss or I follow a path of death and destruction in order to save them. This isn’t fair.”
“Fair has nothing to do with balance,” the voice said. “Neither does good nor evil. I leave you here now, Raegith, to find your Path out of this prison. Choose to follow one… destroy the other.”
Then the light was gone and he was alone in the room with the Twileen girl and the lizard man. He felt a power welling up inside of him and his hands were engulfed in blue flame as his body overflowed with energy.
“Kill the bitch and this power is yours, Raegith,” the lizard hissed. “She is weak and easily stomped out!”
“Empty this power into the demon, Raegith,” the girl said. “His armor is strong, but you have enough power to destroy it!”
Raegith looked at the power in his hands and thought about what the light had told him. He could not have both companions and he could not leave his prison until one or the other was destroyed. Everything he had done, every step he had taken forward out of Forster’s Keep had all culminated in this single decision.
Raegith’s scream was primal, like some caged beast tearing at the walls. He drove into the small girl and slammed her against the wall, holding her by the throat as the flames burned into her. The lizard squealed with joy and encouraged him, but there were only tears in Raegith’s eyes.
“A life with me… everything you wanted to have with Onyx… with Kalystra…” the girl gulped, dying out in his hands. “You could have had it… if you would have just let… this… go…”
“I can’t!” Raegith wailed, shuddering with the grief he felt in this act.
With a final push, before she could say anymore to make him doubt his decision, Raegith flexed his power and the flames erupted through the Twileen girl. She was disintegrated instantly and Raegith stood leaning against the wall. He dropped down to the ashes of the girl and felt a body.
The Keep walls disappeared, along with the grinning, laughing lizard man and Raegith found himself in the stadium atop the Yamada. His shackles were shattered and all around Junrei’sha were scattered, as if some huge blast had knocked them from their feet. The two Elders, bruised and injured from the blast, stared at him in horror and disbelief. Then Raegith realized they were staring not at him, but the body of Noriko below him.
“Raegith,” she whispered, blood running between her lips.
Raegith froze, looking down at her in shock. The flames were still wrapped around his hands and arms like blazing gauntlets. Something had happened while he was inside the vision of the Keep and he remembered nothing of it.
“What happened?”
“I tried to keep you from it…” she said. “The demon. I tried to make you choose our path, but he was too strong… your need for vengeance was too strong… I could not see it. This is the choice you made.”
“It was you?” Raegith screamed. “I thought it was a vision; a girl from my past! Why would the light trick me into thinking that it wasn’t you?”
“You were given a choice, Raegith. Choose one… destroy the other. I represented one path… the demon the other path. You can’t have both.”
“No, Noriko, I didn’t want this,” Raegith said. “I just wanted to save my friends. I just wanted to save everyone… even you.”
“That’s not what was offered, Raegith.” She reached her hand up to his cheek and brushed the wetness away. “I’m not scared for me… I’m scared for you… and what you will become now, because of me.”
“What are you talking about? You tried to save me.”
“As you tried to save the ones you care for, Raegith. Just as you did, I chose the Path of Action… in order to have you.”
“But it didn’t work!” Raegith exclaimed. “You did it for nothing. If I had known…”
“Not for nothing.” Noriko pulled him down and kissed him. The blood on her lips stung him deep within his chest. “There is no wrong Path, Raegith. My Path led me to you, I still believe that. I just mistakenly believed I could choose your Path for you… I wanted you so badly for myself.”
“Why couldn’t you just tell me all of this? Why does every decision I make end up killing someone? What have I done to deserve this, Noriko?”
“Deserving has nothing to do with it.” Noriko smiled up at him and exhaled. Then she stopped moving and Raegith knew that she was gone; just like so many others who wanted to be with him.
“You’ve killed her,” one of the Elders said. “She tried to help you… to love you and you killed her for it! There was no demon inside of you, Raegith the Grass-haired… you are the demon!”
Raegith kissed Noriko’s forehead and rose to his feet. All around him were Junrei’sha braced to avenge their fallen sister. They did not step closer, however. They were all frightened of him, with his power to defeat Noriko. The power still burned inside of him, even as the flames around his fists died out.
“Leave this place, Grass-haired Demon,” the other Elder commanded. “You are no longer welcome among us. You do not follow the Path.”
“You’re wrong, Elder,” Raegith said, leveling his angry gaze at the old Lokai. “I follow the Path closer than any of you. You may be fine living up here, content in your safe haven while those below slowly choke to death on the ashes of their ancestors; I am not. I have bigger things in mind.”
“I shudder to think of the world you will create down below,” the Elder said. “A world of Yin with no balance.”
“Elder, you don’t know shit about balance,” Raegith countered. “Sitting up here on your perch, looking down without remorse or pity on those below, content to believe everything they have is exactly what they deserve… I’ve seen this before. You’re no different than the men in Rellizbix. There is no balance north and south of the Hell Cliffs… but there will be.”
“You’re deluded.”
“I am enlightened,” Raegith grinned. “And I have no use for any of you.”
Raegith turned and left the Junrei’sha behind. He did not return to the cabin he shared with Noriko and he did not look over his shoulder to see what the others did with her body. He had made his choice and though the cost was more than he expected or wanted, he had the power he sought. Noriko was not the first casualty along his Path and she would not be the last; but starting now, he was back to the business of keeping his promise to Onyx.
As soon as he left the walls of the Junrei’sha and was out in the bitter cold of the Yamada, the gate sealed behind him and fused shut. He chuckled at their fear, but did not turn. Before him a familiar figure stood, draped in her black robe and shadowy hood.
“A thousand devils couldn’t shout to me as loud as that spike of power just did,” Izanami said. “That was you, wasn’t it?”
“You remembered me,” Raegith joked. “Or you just hang out outside these walls every day hoping I’ll come out for you?”
“Please! I’ve not scaled this mountain in the five years since you ditched me,” she replied. “Honestly, I assumed you died within minutes of my departure.”
“Any other men come by your shack since that day?”
“None have made it far enough,” Izanami said, defensively. “Why? Are you jealous or something? Maybe you think you were so good that I would just wait for you and ignore anyone else’s company? You’re full of yourself.”
Raegith walked up to her and pushed her hood back from her ghostly white face. “I’ve been
stuck in there for five years with nothing more than a memory of a woman’s touch. I’m tired of talking.”
“Oh? You’ve… five years without…?” she stammered, reaching out to touch his chest. “Are you asking me to… unholy spirits, that’s a lot of power!”
“How fast can you get us down this mountain, Izanami?” Raegith asked, running his hand up her hip and around her waist.
“Yeah, uh… jumping?” she asked, distracted. “Fast. Real fast! Hang on.”
Chapter 45
Helkree sat at the table across from Fenra and Freya. It was a conversation she had been putting off for weeks; months even. She did not want to have it and she assumed Fenra did not either, yet here she was shutting out all excuses and siding with Freya. Helkree refilled her mug and tipped it up, drinking deeply from it.
“You can’t just drink us away, too, Helkree,” Freya said.
“Fuck off, brat. You’re not a Helcat, yet.”
“The hell she isn’t,” Fenra said. “We’ve both put her through the ringer and she’s stayed up here with us almost the entire time. She’s been with us longer than I had when you created this gang. Hel, we’ve been up here for so long we don’t even know how the others are doing.”
“The others are still waiting, Fenra,” Helkree growled. “Why is it only the fucking Urufen bitches in this gang have a problem with that plan?”
“We’re not giving up on him,” Fenra said. “We’re just talking about leaving the village and linking back up with the others. We left Hitomi, Kimura, Indie and the prison survivors all in Shimada after clearing the Rathgar out of every farming village in the west. That had to have hurt whoever claimed the Citadel and the refugees. There could have been an effort to reclaim those villages. We could be the only Helcats left!”
Freya spoke up again, despite the menacing glare cast her way by Helkree. “I barely knew him, but you two have told me the stories enough times for me to feel like I do. I’m committed to you guys; to the Helcats. I’m sure Grass-hair will figure all of this out once he’s back, but it’s been five years.”
Beyond the Hell Cliffs Page 44