Cassandra stared up at her savior and felt an overwhelming desire to hold him close. He’d fought hard to protect her and had brought her back to life from the jaws of death. Garen stood beside her, watching over her as her wounded body healed itself. Breathing had become easier, but it was still too painful to move, so she could only stare up at him in longing.
He looked at her with eyes both familiar and alien. The irises of his emerald eyes had become slightly more vibrant and pronounced, but the white of his eyes had darkened to an ashen gray. His face was still the same as it had been before, though, and he smiled down at her softly, his expression full of genuine relief. As he continued to smile at her, she could see the ashen gray color begin to fade from his eyes making his smile seem all the brighter.
Is this what love is; could it be that I’m truly falling for this man? How strange that I’ve spent a lifetime searching for a power that would allow me to leave my feelings behind and become a true demon, yet here I am, filled with desire for the very man whom beat me to that power. This could’ve ended many different ways, but he decided to protect me in spite of everything else.
Garen continued smiling reassuringly down at her for a moment, but then his attention returned to the fallen column that had crushed Babossa. He'd been staring at that spot with a frown on his face since the moment that the bolos had been buried beneath the immense block of stone.
Relief had flooded through her as she’d watched Babossa fall beneath the column. She'd known that Gormum had been powerful, but seeing the way that Garen had sliced through the stone column as if it were nothing had still surprised her. After seeing the massive chunk of stone drive Babossa into the floor, she’d been certain that he was dead.
Watching Garen, however, she was no longer sure. As the minutes dragged on and he continued to glance at the fallen column, she began to grow apprehensive. Her body ached as she remembered the beating that she’d taken at the hands of the savage bolos. She forced herself to remain calm and tried to halt her rising panic.
Babossa is strong, but even he has limits. That column stabbed down on him like the finger of Orzyrus himself crushing a bug. Surely even he couldn’t survive that, could he?
From the look on Garen’s face and the way that he continually watched the fallen column, it was obvious to her that he had doubts as well. Despite the pain, Cassandra forced herself up onto her elbows and looked down at her body to see how long it would be before she could move freely again.
Her clothing was shredded beyond repair and thoroughly soaked in blood, but she ignored the dark stained rags and peered through the numerous tears at her body beneath. Though her muscles were sore and many of her bones ached, the majority of her body appeared fine. Her ribs just below her left breast were still caved in, but she could almost feel the bones slowly moving back into place and knitting themselves together. The ugliest wound was that of her broken, twisted hips, but like her ribs, she could feel them starting to mend as they painfully slid back into place.
“The regenerative powers of demons are fearsome, indeed,” Garen stated as his emerald gaze fell once more upon her. “I mean, you are a demon aren’t you? No human could’ve survived, much less healed so quickly from those injuries.”
“I didn’t survive, remember. Not on my own at least. You brought me back,” she said slowly. “A true spire demon would've been much less injured than I was and would've already recovered by now.”
“Are you saying that you’re not a demon then?”
“Not a full demon, no. While my father was a spire demon, my mother was human.”
“But how is that even possible?”
“My father is probably the only demon in The Nightlands that can breed with a human, but even so the woman must be like you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“By now you must have realized that your body allows you to survive around demonic power without being destroyed. It is a truly rare gift among humans that is passed down through the mother’s bloodline. Because you apparently possess this unique gift, you’re able to survive demonic power as most humans could not; my mother was the same way.”
“So had anyone else fallen into this place-”
“They would unquestionably have been killed. Humans like you are extremely rare. There are likely only a handful of them in this world; probably less in your own. Even lightwielders can’t match the level of resistance to demonic power that you have. To demons, humans like you are an abomination and are killed as soon as they are discovered.”
“That answers some of the questions that I had, but I want to know more about what is happening to me. I can’t seem to fully control myself since eating that fruit. I keep seeing flashes of memories that I know are not my own, but at the same time seem as if I just experienced them. But that's not the worst of it: I can feel a darkness growing within me. I know it sounds insane, but I can feel it threatening to consume me. Tell me the truth, Cassandra: am I becoming Gormum?”
The question seemed to hang in the air between them for an eternity. Cassandra dropped her gaze away from his. She wasn’t sure how to answer his question without alarming him or causing him to panic. She wanted to provide him with a measure of comfort, but she knew that there was nothing that she could say to comfort him in his situation.
He deserves to know the truth.
“I’m not sure, and that is the truth. There has never been anyone like you in the history of The Nightlands. Normally, when a demon eats the gallovine left by another demon, their thoughts, feelings, and memories blend together in a tangle that drives the demon mad. Some demons eventually decide on a dominant personality from the ones that have been blended together, or they may even create a new persona from a combination of thoughts and memories that are tangled up within them. Most, however, simply go insane, forever losing any sense of self in the muddled mixture of their thoughts.”
“You may have guessed,” Cassandra continued, “that Babossa was not an ordinary bolos demon. During my battle with him, he revealed that Babossa was actually the name of a spire demon that served under Gormum. A random bolos apparently blundered upon the gallovine that he'd left upon his death and ate the fruit without thinking. The spire demon's mind easily conquered the bolos's own and assumed complete dominance over its body, thus the Babossa we know was born.”
“That doesn’t really answer my question. Are you trying to tell me that Gormum’s personality is going to somehow combine with mine or is it going to simply take me over outright?”
“That’s just it, I don’t know because there is no way of knowing how different your minds are. Gormum is dead; the part of him that is in your mind is just a congregation of memories and emotions that will latch onto your consciousness and try to reform into something that resembles the original Gormum. Demons cannot differentiate between themselves and the phantom memories implanted in them by the gallovine because the thoughts of demons are so similar. In your case, however, you should be able to tell the difference between your memories and those of Gormum. If you maintain a mental wall between the two you may be able to remain as you are.”
“And if I can’t; what happens then?”
“As I said the dominate personality takes over or the two fuse together, neither of which is something you want to happen. Already the two of you have begun to merge, which is why you possess his memories.”
Garen turned away from her and stared blankly at nothing in particular. Silence hung between them for a while as Garen stood locked in thought. She felt sorry for him having sacrificed his life as a human and possibly his mind just to keep Babossa from getting the gallovine. She wasn’t conscious to see it happen, but she knew the quality of humanity that Garen possessed, and she was certain that that was what had happened.
“Wait,” Garen said suddenly as he turned back to her with alarm in his eyes. “Does that mean that you were going to eat the gallovine fruit knowing that it would possibly destroy your mind?”
“Yes,” she
admitted softly. “There was always that possibility.”
“Why would you do such a thing; what could drive you to want to do something like that to yourself?”
“As I told you my father was a spire demon and my mother a human like you; that makes me half demon.”
“Doesn’t that mean that you’re already more powerful than a human? Even the demidemons seemed to be afraid of you, so why would you sacrifice your mind for more power.”
“Because being half demon wasn’t good enough for my father and the others,” she cried, surprised by the emotion in her own voice but unable to stop herself from continuing. “My life has been filled with pain and misery for that very reason. The only benefit I’ve ever seen from my mixed heritage is the fact that apparently my body doesn’t dissolve away immediately as a full-blooded demon’s body would. You wouldn’t have been able to revive me had I not been half human.”
Garen stared at her for a moment as if about to say something, but he remained quiet. She knew that he was reluctant to accept that she was willing to sacrifice her mind for the power that he currently held. His obvious concern for her both bothered and thrilled her. She'd never been the object of such affection and didn’t know how to properly react.
They both fell quiet and Cassandra lowered herself off her elbows back down to the cold stone of the floor. Her body was healing quickly; but the damage done by Babossa had taken its toll on her. She was exhausted both physically and mentally. She knew that even once her body had recovered, it would be awhile before she was back at full strength.
“It’s strange,” she said softly while staring up at the high ceiling. “I’ve spent all of my life on the run, always trying to stay one step ahead of the more powerful demons. I’ve survived for decades on only my thirst for vengeance, but now that the gallovine is gone... I don’t know what to do.”
She could feel her eyes beginning to fill with tears, so she held them closed. Even wounded, her pride would not allow her to cry openly in front of anyone. Cassandra could feel her inner barriers begin to crumble away as the tears ran down her face from her closed eyes and all at once her emotions burst through.
“I died,” she said struggling to keep her voice calm. “After a lifetime of seeking power, I was killed before I could ever attain any. All that my lust for vengeance has ever brought me is pain and death... until it brought me to you.”
The words hung between them for a moment, and she listened to the quiet steady sound of her own breathing. When she opened her eyes, she turned to look over at Garen. Through the haze of tears in her eyes, she could make out his emerald eyes and the solemn expression that he wore.
“If I had never come in search of Gormum’s power, I may not have died at the hands of Babossa, but I surely would never have met you. In all of my life, not a single demon or human, not one, has ever cared about me, but with you it’s different. Since the first day we met, you’ve done so much for me. You weren’t scared to be around me and treated me as a friend.”
Garen’s gaze fell away from her own. He stared at the floor for a moment as if pondering her words. When his eyes finally turned back to her, his expression was riddled with conflicting emotions. Cassandra continued on again as their eyes met, unable to stem the tide of emotions that flowed freely from her.
“You befriended me and offered me concern and compassion such as I’ve never known. You even saved my life when I was attacked by the demidemons back in the tunnel knowing that you, yourself, could’ve been killed. Then, you fought here to protect me after using a power that you barely understand to bring me back from... ”
Garen knelt slowly beside her and she fell silent. He reached out and gently touched the side of her face. His hands were calloused and rough from months of hard labor, but to Cassandra his touch felt warm and gentle.
“It’s alright, Cassandra,” he said as he brushed a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to say anything else; I understand completely. Since the moment I first met you in the tunnel, I haven’t been able to get you out of my head. You’ve haunted my thoughts night and day. Even after I saw you as a demon for the first time, my thoughts have only been of you. I wanted to meet you, get to know you, and I refuse to sit by and let anyone hurt you.”
The passion in his voice caught her by surprise. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart raced. Even ragged and dirty, despite the slight blur of tears, the sight of Garen kneeling over her surpassed any fantasy of happiness that she’d ever dared to hope for.
Never did I imagine anyone would look at me like this. He truly does have feelings for me; even more than I suspected.
“Cassandra, I-”
A sudden clatter of shifting rock immediately drew both of their attention back to the fallen column. Garen stood up swiftly and took a step in front of her protectively. His hands curled into fists and he prepared himself to attack, but nothing happened.
“You said that Babossa’s power came from a spire demon of the same name that served under Gormum right?”
“Yes, at least that is what he claimed.”
“Perfect; I thought that his ability seemed vaguely familiar. I remember him from Gormum’s memories, but the memories are 200 years old. Gormum couldn’t have known that his servant had died and left behind a gallovine, so I never even considered it. Now that I do know, however, this fight is over.”
Several seconds dragged by without incident and she almost began to question what she’d heard, but Garen never relaxed. He was still poised and ready when the clatter of tiny, stone fragments falling began again. As they both watched, the column slowly began to rise up from the floor.
The column only rose about a foot from the floor before it was shoved aside by the massive arm of a bolos. The stone slammed into the floor and once again splintered the stone floor with a deafening boom. The vibrations from its fall loosened pieces from the ceiling and a brief shower of dust and pebbles rained down on them.
Breathing furiously, Babossa sat up within the crater that the column had formed in the floor as it had slammed down onto of him. Slowly, he climbed to his feet, every movement seeming slightly strained, and turned his head directly at them. His face was contorted into a mask of unrestrained rage and seemed less human than before and much more sinister and demonic.
As he stepped out of the crater, he glared directly at Garen. His upper lip twitched constantly as if it had a mind of its own. The thick slabs of bare muscle that covered his entire body bulged and trembled and his breathing was loud and labored. Numerous veins covered his muscles and his skin seemed to be stretched so tight that they threatened to burst through it.
“Did you think that was it? Do you believe that the mighty Babossa could be defeated so easily?”
“Not really, no,” Garen replied his voice filled with malice. “I was surprised that it took you so long to recover, though. Surely a rock like that is nothing to the mighty Babossa.”
“Enough!” Babossa roared in a voice so intense that Cassandra winced from the sheer sound of it.
With a savage snarl, the monstrous demon charged at Garen. Babossa ran straight at him without the slightest hint of restraint as if completely blinded by rage. For the first time that Cassandra had seen, Babossa was behaving like a bolos and seemed to have lost the ability to control his temper.
Garen darted off to one side drawing Babossa away from her, and Cassandra watched as the raging bolos thundered after him. Babossa appeared completely uninjured by the column, and he moved even faster than before. He stormed after Garen like a mindless beast; driven by rage and hatred.
Each time that Babossa managed to get within striking distance of him, the bolos immediately began swinging wildly with his powerful fists, but he couldn’t manage to land a single blow. With the agility and reflexes of a true demon prince, Garen nimbly dodged around every attack, and put more distance between them without the slightest attempt at a counterattack.
Garen is purposely keeping hi
m angry, so that Babossa remains focused only on him. It seems to be working, but it’s a very dangerous plan. A rampaging bolos is no joke even under normal circumstances, but with Babossa’s seemingly invulnerable body, Garen could be in serious trouble. I hope that he truly knows of a way to defeat Babossa.
“You should know that I’ve figured out your ability’s weakness,” Garen explained while continuing to dodge Babossa’s wild attacks. “More precisely, I've remembered its weakness. I remember a spire demon named Babossa that used to serve Gormum; he had the same ability. His skin would adapt to any form of attack used on it thus rendering further attacks of a similar nature ineffective.”
“Shut up and die already, slave!” bellowed Babossa as he swung at Garen again.
“The only reason,” Garen continued as he easily avoided the attack, “that you were able to survive that column falling on you is because of the size and density of your bones as a bolos. I’ll admit that I underestimated you a bit, but you’re a fool if you think that I can’t kill you whenever I wish.”
Babossa ignored Garen’s warning and continued to press his attack. Every strike grew more wild and ferocious than the last as he advanced on Garen relentlessly. The two of them quickly moved out of sight behind one of the many rows of columns.
With a groan of pain, Cassandra forced herself to her feet. She refused to be left behind, unable to watch the battle unfold. Her legs were shaky and racked with pain, especially across the top of her thighs, but she forced herself to follow them as best she could.
“The spire demon I told you about served Gormum,” Garen’s voice said from around the column. “He served because they both knew that Gormum could kill him at anytime. I will destroy you using the same method that was set aside for your predecessor.”
A chilling uneasiness settled over her. The last part of Garen’s statement had sounded different to her, cold and threatening, as if it wasn’t really Garen talking. Forcing her aching legs to work faster, she staggered toward the nearest column. She practically pulled herself around it to find the two standing face to face less than 100 feet away from her.
Garen looked perfectly calm and controlled without the slightest hint of worry, but his eyes seemed different. They were once again ashen gray around his emerald irises, and they were far too cold to be the eyes of a human. Below, his lips were pursed in a slight smirk as if mocking his much larger opponent.
A few steps in front of Garen stood the towering bolos, Babossa. The demon's chest and arms were drawn tight and bulged from the strain of trying to hold his rage in check. Babossa’s back and shoulders heaved up and down constantly in response to his every anger-laden breath.
With the memories that Babossa has from his previous life, he must know that Garen isn’t bluffing. It must be taking every ounce of control that he has to keep himself from attacking; I’ve never seen anyone look so furious in my life. The spire demon in him is trying desperately to hold his rage in check out of a desire for self-preservation, but the bolos in him wants nothing more than to destroy Garen at any cost.
Babossa's upper lip continued to twitch in obvious rage as he stood before Garen like an animal backed against a wall. His entire body seemed tight, coiled, and ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. White knuckles studded the ends of his tightly closed fists as if begging to be bathed in the blood of his enemy. His inner struggle to maintain control was becoming more difficult with every passing second.
She returned her gaze to Garen. Lightning popped to life on his skin. Flowing from the back of his neck, the violet bolts of energy slid across his shoulders and down the length of his arms. As it reached his hands, the lightning arced between them with a snap and sizzle. With cold eyes, Garen stared at Babossa as if he were nothing more than a nuisance.
They both look so powerful. Even if I were at full strength I wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight like this.
“It’s your choice, Babossa,” Garen said in a smug tone that sounded completely different from his usual voice, “but we both know that you won’t survive this.”
His control finally snapping, Babossa charged forward raising both arms high over his head and locking his hands together to form a massive hammer of flesh and bone. He only managed to take a single step, however, before Garen pointed at him with his left index finger and a slender bolt of lightning rushed out in a flash. The violet bolt instantly arced between Garen’s outstretched finger and Babossa’s lone remaining eye.
Babossa’s charge stopped immediately as his eye burst and he was stricken blind. He staggered slightly in surprise before he seemed to notice the extent of his injury. Gore running down his face, the blind bolos howled in pain and rage, but still he refused to cease his attack. Holding his face with his left hand, he swung his right arm wildly in a desperate attempt to hit Garen.
Garen moved ever-so-slightly out of the bolos’s path as Babossa rampaged past him and his fist collided with one of the large columns. The thundering blow rocked the entire column and part of it exploded beneath his heavy hand scattering rock and glowstone shards in every direction. Cassandra was forced to dodge aside as a few razor-sharp fragments flew past her.
Babossa roared louder in frustration. Without the use of his eyes, he was no longer able to discern the correct direction in which to attack. Each of his swings strayed further from Garen and he was left attacking empty air.
It’s over; Babossa can’t fight anymore now that he’s lost his eyes. Very few demons are capable of regenerating from something like that and he isn’t one of them. If it were possible for him to recover from losing an eye then his other one would’ve been healed by now. He still might be difficult to actually kill, but he's no longer much of a threat.
Garen stood by as Babossa raged on swinging blindly at air and he seemed to be enjoying himself. His cold gaze took in Babossa’s suffering without ever wavering or blinking. Cassandra felt a chill run down her spine as she saw the icy look of satisfaction in his eyes.
Something is very wrong with him. That look in his eyes; it’s not like him at all. Did he already lose his inner struggle against Gormum?
Streaks of purple lightning emerged from every part of Garen’s body and swirled about him in an ever-flowing pattern as if they were a second skin. A few streaks lashed out and struck Babossa in his arms and back, but they had no obvious effect other than to alert the bolos to his location. The rest of the lightning that swarmed across Garen’s body surged and instantly gathered in the palm of his right hand.
After a few of the lightning bolts had struck him, Babossa turned to face Garen. The bolos pulled his left hand away from his face and formed both of his huge hands into tight fists. His head slowly panned from side to side as if trying to pinpoint Garen’s exact position through some sense other than sight.
He's seriously going to do it: he's going to kill Babossa!
“Where are-”
Babossa’s words were cut off mid-sentence. The instant that he’d opened his mouth, a brilliant bolt of lightning had emerged from the seething mass of energy in Garen's hand. The violent bolt arced from Garen’s hand through Babossa’s open mouth to an unseen place deep within the bolos’s body.
Babossa immediately reeled from the blast and staggered back a step before falling forward onto his hands and knees. With a sound somewhere between a cough and a groan, he leaned forward and spit out an enormous amount of blackish blood. His breathing sounded ragged and he seemed unable to draw in enough air.
“Your tongue’s gone,” Garen said in the eerie voice that was not his own. “You foolishly made the wrong choice and now you’re going to pay for it with your life.”
Only a short distance separated them, but as Garen walked toward his enemy he moved with a slow, sinister grace; a predator cornering the wounded prey. There wasn’t the slightest hint of mercy or remorse in his cold, emerald eyes as he looked upon the large, suffering form of Babossa. With a shutter, Babossa staggered again and fell to his knees in obvious ag
ony.
A slight smiled crossed Garen's lips but it quickly vanished. Cassandra watched as he continued to advance toward Babossa's huge kneeling form, spellbound by his confidence and utter lack of compassion. The manner in which he held himself, his expression, his every slow, methodical movement; they all provided a glimpse at the power and arrogance of the demon prince locked within him.
“I no longer wish to hear your horrid voice, though I’m fairly certain that some of your organs were destroyed along with your tongue. From the sounds of it, at least one of your lungs is gone.”
Babossa continued to hack up blood and small pieces of black, charred flesh, but Garen didn’t seem to notice his enemy's obvious pain. He took a final step toward Babossa and stopped at the edge of the growing puddle of gore beneath the demon's open mouth.
There’s no way that that’s still Garen; he would never be so cruel even to an enemy like Babossa. Gormum’s personality has taken over his mind; he’s become a monster even worse than Babossa.
“You see, Babossa, you may have thick skin, but to me, you’re the same as everyone else: weak. On the inside you're just as fragile as any other pathetic demon and so-”
Garen’s hands shot out and grabbed hold of the bolos’s open mouth. A violet storm of lightning immediately sprang to life on his arms and surged up into Babossa’s mouth and down his throat. Babossa tried to cry out in pain, but he hardly uttered a sound before the lightning reached its target.
“Stop it Garen, that’s enough!” Cassandra shouted, but it was no use.
Unlike his previous lightning attacks that had flashed to life and then disappeared just as quickly, the lightning that streamed through Babossa’s mouth continued to increase in intensity. Purple streaks rapidly raced from Garen’s body down the giant demon’s throat. Smoke rose from Babossa’s skin and his flesh began to crack and separate from the heat building up inside of him, but Garen's attack only surged in response.
In a flash, the rope around Babossa's waist broke away, burnt and black, and the lightwielder skulls fell to the ground, cracked and smoking. The demon's waistcloth burst into flames along with the hair on his head and shoulders, and his body began to glow like the coals of a blazing inferno.
“Garen!”
At once Garen’s attack ceased and he glanced over at her in surprise. His smug sneer had vanished, replaced by a look of bewilderment and concern. He quickly turned his gaze back to Babossa’s charred body and released his hold on the bolos’s mouth and took a step backward. The demon’s body immediately slumped forward and fell face down on the cold, stone floor.
Burnt, cracked flesh caved inwards as it dissolved away. Though he'd been massive in life, in death the bolos was reduced to nothing more than a stain upon the stone floor. After Babossa’s body had dissolved entirely, Garen stood staring at the spot where it had been with a look of concern on his face.
“I couldn’t help it,” he said softly without turning to look at her. “I was trying to focus on Gormum’s memories of Babossa, but once I allowed my mind to touch that darkness it took hold of me. The moment that I touched his memories I could feel his hatred and wrath at being betrayed. He... I needed to punish Babossa for his disrespect and stupidity.”
He turned and looked at her with haunted eyes. It was painfully obvious to her that he was beginning to truly understand what it was that he’d done to himself. She felt sorry for him with all of her heart. Though she'd long sought the very power that he now held, she'd always known the immense price for such power.
Having his mind destroy itself from the inside is possibly the worst kind of suffering... and it can never be undone. I’m sorry that this happened to you Garen. I'm truly sorry, but there's nothing that I can do to help you.
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