by Eric Vall
“What could it be?” I cocked my head to the side. “Oh, do let me know if you figure it out.”
For a moment, the bald god’s eyes narrowed at me angrily, but then I resumed my torture, and my supernatural disease ate through his elbow and his upper arm. His nasal voice erupted into squeals of torment. The sound of his agony was music to my ears. It was so tempting to end his life. With a slight move of my hand, I could choke out his miserable existence and send his ashes sailing into the air. But I couldn’t, not quite yet, and I had to admit I was enjoying the process.
“Oh, I know what it is.” I suddenly snapped my fingers. “I’m in control now, not you.” I glared up at the helpless god. “You pleaded with me a moment ago. Would you still like me to show you mercy?”
Tears began to roll down the deity’s round sweaty cheeks which jiggled as his lip quivered. He couldn’t even muster a nod, only a slight whimper. The defiance was slipping from his eyes. He was nothing more than an animal caught in my snare, and he knew it. There was no trace of self-righteousness left on his face. I had broken him, and it was a delicious sight.
“Now, why should I show you any mercy?” I knit my brow as though I were in deep thought. I closed my grip a little more tightly, and as I did so, a piece of his left ear began to disappear. “Give me a reason why I should spare you,” I said bitterly as the god let out a nasal ear-splitting shriek. His left ear was now gone entirely as was the side of his jaw and a chunk of his neck.
“Still nothing to say?” I asked. “Well, since you’re at a momentary loss for words, I’ll speak. You should have treated us with the respect we deserved. Instead, you toyed with our lives as if they were meaningless. Well, let me assure you, you are the only one here who is meaningless. You tainted the very earth when you first arrived at this place and made it your home. You could have had some pride in your dungeon, but instead, you are merely a cheater. Remember that as you die.”
A smile flitted across my lips. “But fear not, for death isn’t the end of you. No. It’s only the beginning because after I absorb every last ounce of your power, some small part of you will live on within me forever.” Our eyes met. “I think you will find that not only am I a better steward for your power than you could ever hope to be, but I am a benevolent master as well.”
The tortured god bellowed as his beady left eye began to turn to ash-colored dust. The air around him was filled with fragments of his former body parts. The deity choked as he struggled to breathe. I had no remorse. Beings such as this deserved no pity. There was no place in this world for vile, worthless creatures like him.
A raven’s cry breached the air then. I looked around and saw Fea fly out of one of the far tunnels, and she fluttered to rest at my feet. She opened her mouth as she had before.
“Rana is now out of danger,” I heard Morrigan’s flat voice say. “Her challenge is now complete, and I have shot my last target. Another one of those wretched beasts emerged from the door that appeared, but it did not take long for Rana to dispose of it.” The pale elf sounded slightly bored. “Annalíse is now going to cross one of the bridges. It will not matter which one she chooses now, we are all safe. We shall join you directly.”
“Good,” I said with a glance at my tortured prey. “Hurry back.” Fea bobbed her head in response and took flight once more and disappeared into one of the darkened passageways.
“Did you hear that?” I turned back to the deity whose corpulent body hung helplessly in the atmosphere. “Only one more challenge to finish and then that’s it. All Annalíse has to do is cross one of those bridges.”
My blood raced at the thought of the torment the swordswoman had gone through. No one should have to make such a choice. “How does it feel, to know that your dungeon is about to be conquered and that the power is about to be ripped from your worthless body in mere moments?”
I tightened my grip, and a gaping hole began to form at the center of his belly. The giant’s screams pierced the air, and they only furthered my animosity. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to finish him, but I had to wait. Besides, I wasn’t done with him yet.
“I could end your miserable life right here and now,” I said as the hole in the god’s stomach grew larger. “But you see, I can’t violate our contract. We agreed to finish the game, so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. Patience is a virtue as they say. And while your life dangles by a thread, I want you to think about how badly this turned out for you. I’d call it a teachable moment, but alas…” I gestured at him. “You are not my minion, you are my victim.”
The god wailed in agony as I paused the hole’s growth. He was now more empty space than flesh. All that remained were his right leg, his left arm, the right side of his face, and what was left of his torso.
Suddenly, his face froze as a blinding orb of orange light began to emerge from his body. Annalíse had completed her task. The game was over. The sphere began to float toward me, and as soon as it touched my chest, it pressed into me and disappeared. I closed my eyes and released a breath of pleasure. That same euphoric sensation that I had felt when I had harvested the illusion goddess’s power flooded my body. My skin tingled as my heart pounded in my chest, and a fire ignited within me as newfound strength surged through my veins.
I heard a raven’s cry yet again from one of the tunnels to the right of the cavern, and I turned to see Morrigan, Rana, and Annalíse emerge from the dark passageway. Rana and Morrigan were in a lively discussion, and I chuckled at their verbal exchange. I was glad to see that they were safe.
“Look, all I’m saying is, it’s not normal,” Rana shrugged her shoulders as the women walked toward me.
“Normality is of no concern to me,” Morrigan said callously.
“Okay, fine,” Rana raised her paws in the air. “But think about it, I’m dangling helplessly in a cage, and all of a sudden, one of your crows flies up, opens its mouth, and your voice comes out. It freaked me out.”
“Ravens,” Morrigan corrected. “Were you not thankful for the aid that I gave you?” The pale elf raised a white eyebrow as the group reached me. “Would you have preferred that I left you in peril?”
I held back a chuckle since I recalled Morrigan telling me that Rana had thought her communication technique was creepy. The fox woman’s feelings on the matter had clearly not changed despite our triumph.
Annalíse groaned and shook her head. I had the distinct feeling she had heard some version of the conversation many times already.
“Well, no, of course not.” Rana rolled her eyes. “But could you have used a less creepy method? I mean it’s just not right. It didn’t even move its mouth, its beak was just… open,” Rana said with a slight shudder.
“You have been present while I’ve performed countless soul exorcisms, and you have witnessed both Fea and Macha devour the souls of the dead,” Morrigan said plainly. “Now, you have even beheld them regurgitate soul energy. This does not disturb you, but hearing my voice come from Macha does? This makes little sense.”
“I don’t care how much sense it makes.” Rana wrinkled her nose. “Creepy is creepy. And you!” She pointed to me.
“Yes?” I smirked.
“Next time you want to go snatching people with your band of invisible cronies, warn somebody!” Rana threw her paws into the air. “Morrigan told me to unlock my cage and the next thing I know, I’m being carted off over an ocean of lava by people I can’t see. Not exactly comforting.”
“My apologies,” I said with a chuckle. “Morrigan was supposed to inform you that my shadow slaves were on their way.” I raised an eyebrow at the white-haired elf.
“I had multiple tasks that demanded my attention,” Morrigan said simply. “You were in no danger.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know that,” Rana grumbled. “You two did save my tail though, so thanks.” The fox woman shoved her hands into her pockets.
“Yes,” Annalíse chimed in. “Thank you both.”
“You’re welcome,” I no
dded in response.
“I accept your gratitude,” Morrigan said with her usual lack of expression. “Rana, perhaps now would be an opportune time discuss your shortcomings. Had I not--”
“Ah, hold on a second, elfy,” Rana interrupted, and Morrigan wrinkled her nose slightly at the nickname. “Where is Carmedy? Shouldn’t she have been released or something? How does that work?”
“That was my next question.” I focused on the fragmented god that clung to life before me and my lips curled into a sinister grin. “Where is my minion?”
“Here I am!” I heard the feline’s chipper voice call out from one of the tunnels behind us before the chubby god could respond.
The four of turned around to see Carmedy wave at us as she jogged in our direction. As soon as she reached us, she somehow managed to throw her arms around all of us simultaneously and squish us into a group.
“Oh, I’m so happy to see you all,” the cat purred as she squeezed. Annalíse cleared her throat awkwardly, and Morrigan blinked in surprise at the gesture but didn’t seem put off by it.
“We’re glad to see you too, pussycat.” Rana tousled Carmedy’s hair playfully. The feline released us from her hug and smiled brightly at us.
“I am glad you are safe, Carmedy,” I said. “Now that you have returned to us, I would very much like to leave this place.”
“I agree,” Annalíse said before pointing to the dying god. “But what about him?”
“Don’t worry about him.” I turned back to the god with a bemused smile. “His time’s up.”
I closed my grip tightly, and the deity’s body exploded into a cloud of ash. The fragments fluttered throughout the air, and the stench of blood stained the atmosphere then I turned and walked toward the tunnel that we had used to get here.
“Good riddance,” Rana snorted as she took one last look at where the god had been, and the others nodded.
“He was a vile creature,” Morrigan said, and before she could elaborate. Rana threw one arm around Carmedy’s shoulder as we filed into the orange glowing passageway.
“What happened to you, anyway?” the fox asked.
“It was really weird,” Carmedy said from behind me. “All of a sudden, I was floating in empty space. Everything was dark, and I was all by myself. It was lonely, and I didn’t like it.” Carmedy’s voice took on a twinge of sadness. “There was no one to talk to, nothing to do, and nothing to eat. Not even dessert. Can you imagine?”
“Now, why do I get the feeling you’re most upset about the fact that there was nothing to eat?” Rana said with a chuckle.
“Well, all of it was upsetting really,” Carmedy said with more pep in her voice. “But I can live without conversation and things to do, not that I’d want to of course. I’d go crazy. I can’t live without food though.”
“See, but when you say food, you’re not talking about bread and water and meat,” Rana said wryly. “You’re talking about desserts. It is possible to live without sweets you know.”
“Why would you want to?” Carmedy gasped. Rana and Annalíse laughed at the green-eyed cat’s dramatic response, and I too joined in their laughter. I was glad to see that Carmedy’s time in solitude hadn’t dampened her spirits. Then again, there didn’t seem to be anything that could.
Chapter 20
By the time we’d made it out of the dungeon, the sun had already started to set. We wouldn’t be able to get much travel time once we left, but I wasn’t bothered by it. It had been an extremely long day, and I was weary. I longed for a hot meal and the comfort of sleeping outside under the star-speckled sky.
As we began to make our preparations to leave, I waited for my shadow slaves to return with the dungeon’s treasures. I had already ordered them to search the place before we had left as well as to find the soul collector and bring it out.
Before long, they returned with the soul collector and five chests filled with various artifacts crafted from precious metals and gems. As my invisible minions loaded the wooden boxes into the back of the donkey cart, I gave my new monster a brief once-over before sending it to my dungeon with a flick of my wrist. I would have liked to study it more, but now was not the time.
No. Now was the time to find out what Rana was up to. As she had done the other two times, the moment my shadow slaves deposited the last of the treasure into the cart, the fox climbed into the cart and began thoroughly searching through the chests.
I casually walked over to the cart and began to look through some of the contents of one of the chests. Always sure to keep an eye on Rana, I pretended to be busy looking through the goods. I wanted to be in closer proximity while she searched this time. I hadn’t been able to get a good look at the talisman that she had claimed, and even though we were on speaking terms now, I doubted that she was going to allow me to see it.
After all, I had already tried once, and I wasn’t going to make things difficult again by asking to see it. It had upset Rana greatly when I’d mentioned it before. Now, I was close enough to see all of what she was looking at in detail. If she found something that she liked, I would be able to see it better from my current position before she pocketed it. Then maybe I would get some sort of clue as to what she was hiding.
I furrowed my brow as I picked up a few trinkets and held them up to examine them. The fox woman glanced at me for a moment but ultimately ignored me and went about her examination of the loot. I continued to watch her inspect the contents of the chests when my finger touched something sharp. I pulled my hand back in surprise. What sort of treasure would be so sharp?
I scanned the goods in the chest for the culprit, and my eyes rested on a silver-pointed protrusion nestled amongst some chalices. My curiosity piqued, I put aside my analyzation of Rana so I could investigate further. I removed some of the gold and silver goods that surrounded the pointy piece to start to unearth the mysterious object. As I cleared the items away, I saw that what had pricked my finger was the tip of a large metallic curved horn. As I continued to remove the treasures from the chest and at some point, I became aware that Rana was peering over my shoulder.
“Whatcha got there?” She pointed at the piece of silver horn.
“I’m not sure yet,” I replied as I unearthed a second horn. Both it and the first one seemed to be attached to something. I placed my hands around them and pulled hard. Due to the size of the horns, I had expected the entire object to be quite heavy. Surprisingly, it was lightweight, and I lifted it out without any difficulty.
Jewelry and gold pieces cascaded down around it and spilled into the cart while Rana and I blinked in surprise at my discovery. I had uncovered a very sinister looking silver helmet. The malevolent-looking horns were roughly a foot long, and they curved and sprouted from either side of the head.
The face of the helmet consisted of three prongs, and the center one tapered down to a point between where the wearer’s eyes would be. Whoever had created the headpiece had been a true master in their craft. The metal was flawless, and the intricate swirling carvings that covered every surface of it were remarkable. The way that the designs curved, the helmet almost looked like the face of a demon. It was menacingly beautiful, and it was mine now.
“Wow,” Rana whistled over my shoulder. “That thing looks like it came straight from the bowels of the underworld.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” I said with a wry grin. “Perhaps that’s why I like it so much.”
“Whoa, whoa, hold on now.” Rana leaned back and scrunched her nose. “You’re not actually thinking about keeping that thing, are you?”
“Why not?” I said with a shrug.
“Well… it… because it looks crazy and evil.” Rana sputtered.
“Then it fits my personality.” I chuckled. “Besides, the helmet that goes with the armor I currently wear is not as interesting looking. This has caught my eye as that talisman caught yours.” I pointed to the piece of jewelry around the fox woman’s neck. The chain was barely visible underneath her shirt. Rana
blinked at me in surprise for a moment before she gathered herself.
“Alright, alright, it’s not the same thing but fine.” The red-haired woman waved her paw in the air. “If you want to run around wearing some demonic helmet, that’s your choice. You’ll probably make some kids cry, and no one will want to give you a room at the inns, but hey, it's your choice.”
“Do not worry, I will conceal it,” I said with a chuckle, and I placed the helmet in my void pocket.
“Well, I guess that makes it a little bit better,” Rana sighed.
“What did you mean when you said it’s not the same thing?” I asked the fox-eared woman.
“Huh?” Rana furrowed her brow.
“When I said that the helmet caught my eye as the talisman caught yours, you said it wasn’t the same thing,” I said slowly. “What did you mean by that?”
“Oh… uh, well… I,” Rana stammered and shifted her eyes nervously. “I guess… I just meant my reasons for wanting the talisman are probably different from your reasons for wanting to keep that helmet of demon-evil-crazy-death.” The fox-tailed woman’s words came out slowly and with uncertainty, as though she were making them up as she went along.
“Is that so?” I asked as I crossed my arms. “And what are your reasons for wanting to keep the talisman?”
“It has… certain sentimental value,” Rana said quickly. It was obvious that she was lying, but today, I was determined to get the truth out of her.
“Oh?” I said dubiously, and I leaned my back against the cart. “Did you used to own a similar piece of jewelry? Or perhaps one of your family members did?”
“Yes, that’s it exactly,” Rana said hurriedly, and I saw relief flood to her face. She turned to walk away, but I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.