《The Mad, The Broken, and The Lost》


 The Beginning

    The Madman chuckled, savoring the blood dripping into his mouth,his tongue flickering with delight.


    He could feel the deep abiding hatred and disgust, but most of all the fear that his half-elf victim was feeling! For a few precious moments, he allowed himself to bathe in the euphoria of it; his bloodshot eyes closing in ecstasy.


    Alas, it was not to last!


    He could already feel the power coalescing behind him.  He turned around and beheld Death standing there, cloaked in darkness, a chilling aura emanating into the air surrounding him. He held a gleaming scythe effortlessly in one bony hand. The Madman¡¯s lip curled in a sneer. With a flick of his fingers the struggling and terrified half-elf, behind him, fell unconscious.


    ¡°It is time,¡± Death said sonorously, openly ignoring the overt display of hostility from the Madman.


    As if the Madman was a match for his power! The Madman was simply an ant to be crushed beneath his heel. Death¡¯s teeth ground together in amusement and a blood-soaked dagger appeared in his other hand. He offered it slowly to the Madman.


    ¡°Indeed it is,¡± The Madman agreed belligerently, reaching for the dagger with an expectant sigh.


    Before he could grasp it, Death released his hold on the dagger and it clattered on the ground. The Madman froze and stared at Death¡¯s dark visage. Again there was the horrible grinding of teeth. The Madman, boiling with ill-concealed anger, slowly bent down to retrieve the dagger. No matter which way the view, it appeared as though he was bowing before Death.


    The grinding of teeth increased ¨C Death was laughing whole-heartedly!


    The Madman struggled madly with the impulse to jab the dagger into the dark hood that concealed Death¡¯s face!


    Do it! Do it! Death¡¯s jawbones separated into a hideous grin. Do it and I¡¯ll show you what a madman truly is!


    The Madman gritted his blood-stained teeth, then straightened and turned his back disdainfully on the annoying Death. Just you wait and I¡¯ll show you what I can do.


    He looked down at the slack body of the Half-Elf one last, lingering moment. His chin tightened into an ugly and determined grimace and suddenly and viciously, he plunged the stained dagger into his own beating heart.


    Yet, he did not die immediately. Oh no, he couldn¡¯t, wouldn¡¯t die that fast, not even from a dagger as powerful as the one he held.That was not part of the plan, his plan or Deaths plan.


    Blood spurted out of his horrific wound as he yanked the blood-red dagger out of his chest. The satiated dagger jerked in his hand, struggling to free itself. The Madman¡¯s grip tightened and he raised it high over his victim¡¯s prone body. Stretching his bloody mouth into a rictus smile, he plunged the dagger deep into the Half-Elf¡¯s limp body.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    -The Half Elf-


    I instinctively sensed danger and blearily forced my damaged eyes. open. I could still see! Yet it was not to last, my burst of joy was short-lived! What I saw coming towards me was a bloodstained dagger, glinting wickedly in the orange torchlight. It plunged rapidly towards my chest. I could not move. I could not breathe. My heart filled with despair. I had only a moment to register the evil weapon before it was plunged deep into my chest by hands already stained red with blood. With my lifeblood.


    I heard the sound of a knife on concrete as it exited through my back and hit the slab I was lying on. I was suffocating, choking on blood and pain! In my last moments I saw the face of my mortal enemy; the Madman whom I loathed more than anything in this world - he was laughing! As I gave up my life¡¯s essence and my soul all I felt was pure, unadulterated hate and a ferocious wish for revenge!


    ¡­


    Death watched as The Madman collapsed upon the half-elf''s body. His teeth grinding as he watched the scene in front of him. He sat on a stone throne that appeared behind him and elegantly crossed his bony legs. He smoothed out his dark cloak and looked into the realm in-between, a place only he could see to watch an entertaining show.


    The Madman''s spirit was chasing the half-elves spirit which was flitting frantically to and fro; desperately seeking a way to escape. It soon became obvious that there was none. There were invisible walls that kept him bound to this vile mind-bending in-between realm. He did not understand why his spirit was trapped here. He had thought he would return to the cradle of his ancestors and see his Holy Lady again; instead, he was trapped in a continuing nightmare.


    The Madman¡¯s spirit caught the spirit of the half-elf and a vicious fight ensued. Death nodded approvingly as the half-elf fought like a demon ¨C haha!


    Now that a fight was inevitable, the half-elf took this unexpected chance and never faltered. He was a vengeful spirit driven by pure hatred.


    You tortured me, I¡¯ll rip you apart! His fingers hooked into the eyes of the Madman¡¯s spirit and clawed mercilessly. The Madman howled and he flung the half-elf into the air. He pushed his eyeballs back into his eye-sockets and threw himself upward to heavily elbow the descending half-elf in the ribs. The half-elf somersaulted back into the air sweeping his legs into the Madman¡¯s head. The Madman¡¯s head swiveled 360 degrees and he laughed madly even as the half-elf catapulted into The Madman¡¯s back-breaking his spine. Surely that should have killed the Madman¡¯s spirit? The half-elf backed off and watched warily.


    To the half-elf¡¯s horror, the Madman laughed, straightened, then with the speed of lightning he soared after the swiftly moving half-elf. Twisting and turning The Madman allowed the half-elf to escape his clutches time after time laughing in deranged delight!


    ¡°Stupid Elf, we are no longer in a material plane!¡±


    Then in a seemingly random movement, the Madman captured the desperate half-elf into a headlock and slowly tightened his grip on the half-elf¡¯s neck. The half-elf hung limply, his mind in turmoil. Why couldn¡¯t he destroy the spirit of the Madman? Why was he suffering another death? His eyes blinked in confusion.


    Through the misty in-between he saw Death; one bony finger tapping on his knee and his white teeth gleaming in the shrouded darkness.


    The Madman took the spirit body of the Half-Elf and prepared for the next stage. He ripped off both arms of the Half-Elf and let the blood spurt onto the floor, taking the arms he ripped those apart as well slowly forming them into pure essence. He then proceeded to do the same with legs, he ignored the horrific screaming that the Half-Elf was letting out. He then repeated the procedure on the rest of the body forming it slowly into pure essence. He then meticulously prodded it into the shining half-gem that he conjured on his hand. He then pulled the other half of the gem from out of the air and clamped the two halves together. He held it up and turned it around, inspecting it with a careful, satisfied eye. He was so immersed in results of his handiwork that he failed to notice the sudden warping of the in-between and the incessant grinding of skeletal teeth.

 The Beginning 2

    -The Half Elf-


    I was overpowered by the Madman despite all of my efforts to fight him off and he forced what was left of me ¨C my intelligence, my mind; my spirit entity - call it what you want - deep into the gem.


    I felt like I was sinking into a deep, dark sleep ¨C perhaps one that I would never come out of. I had been expecting a physical death ¨C one that I had used every ounce of courage to bravely but uselessly, fight against. Instead, my spirit had been forced into the in-between and forced to fight again with that Madman! I fought with all my might, spirit vs spirit, but it was nothing compared to the Madman¡¯s ability. I had suffered two losses at his hands. I would avenge myself¡­ I would¡­ I lost consciousness.


    Then¡­ pain¡­ pain unlike any I had ever known before suffused my entire entity; ripping apart the remnants of my spirit and my mind. It went on for what seemed like an eternity, dispersing the very fiber of my being and suffusing it with the gem until eventually ...I broke¡­. my mind, my spirit, everything broke until the being I once was disappeared into nothingness¡­ I was no more and sunk into a dark abyss of never-ending agony.


    ¡­


    The Madman paused and looked around. He felt as though the air was warping and though he was in spirit form he felt an immense danger threatening his very existence! He must get back to his body. He spun towards the rift in the in-between. It was no longer there. Instead, he could see a crack that seemed to be closing like a zip. He hurled himself towards it, his hands reaching out to tear it apart. His hand gripped an edge. His other hand came up to help. The crack continued to close, ignoring the pull of his hands. He screamed. A mad scream of frustration as he pulled with all his might. The gem slipped out of his hand and fell through the crack. The Madman lost his voice in horror. His gem! His precious gem that he had spent his life to obtain! His feet came up kicking the remaining few inches of the crack along with his tearing hands. ¡°Death! You cheating¡­ you cheating, maggot eating skeleton! I will find you and when I do¡­¡± He threw his head back in mad maniacal laughter! Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    -Half Elf-


    I was conscious. But it was a detached, icy consciousness that one could sometimes experience in nonsensical dreams. In my dream, I forced myself to feel myself slip through the Madman¡¯s grasp. I flew through the air. flying through the air as the castle violently crumbled to pieces in the background. Then I started to fall, then... Nothing. The sweet void of black sleep enveloped me once more.


    If the Gem had been conscious just a moment longer it would have seen noticed the walls of the castle dungeon crumbling into dust and heard the shouts of the panicking guards and the screams of the inhabitants of the castle, both human and ghosts.


    The Gem would have seen Death rise unhurriedly from his stone throne, cast his scythe over his shoulder in a workman-like manner and simply disappear along with his throne. Leaving a crumbling castle behind him.


    Nearby the still-breathing body of the Madman had slid to the floor leaving the corpse of the half-elf lying on the cold stone slab. Stones and dust soon covered them both.

 The Beginning 3

    ¡°Where am I?¡±


    ¡°Who am I?¡±


    ¡°What am I?¡±


    I woke up with these questions ringing around in my head. I knew I was within a Gem and I had no heartbeat - but I could think ¨C I had thoughts! Within the Gem, I could stretch out my spirit body. I had questions - but who would provide the answers? I tried looking around; then realized I could see... Everywhere? Is this Prism vision? Beneath me and above me, was mud and dirt. A few bugs were crawling around me and over me.


    I could always see everywhere though, so why am I so confused?


    After looking at my surroundings I decided to take a look at myself. It seemed that I was a Gem, a beautiful one. There were no imperfections upon my surface. I was a perfect spherical shape. My colour seemed to be very fluid though; moving through a kaleidoscope of different colours. Red, orange, yellow , blue, and ones that I couldn¡¯t name. I was mesmerised by the beautiful colours.


    What was my name? Did I forget it? Wait. What¡¯s a name? I don¡¯t think that I need a name, but I feel like should have one, how confusing. I could move around the Gem. The Gem had space inside of it. It didn¡¯t have food though. Once I thought about food, I felt hungry ¨C maybe it was like those people who lost a limb but could still feel it itchy. I was a spirit but felt hungry.


    I looked around at the dirt that surrounded and wondered how or what could I eat? I watched those bugs climbing over me. Then simply without thinking, I absorbed their energy. It wasn¡¯t food as I knew it. I realised that I needed the essence of living creatures. Although small and gritty, the energy satisfied my appetite. I was about to absorb more when two successive flashes appeared in my vision, sending the dirt and mud swirling into the air. ¡­


    Moments Earlier


    The Court of Light was in session. A pantheon stood, huge pillars reaching up and merging with a elegant wall upon which a freso was placed, the ruins of six empty thrones sat stained with the blood of the gods that used to sit proudly upon the. Now? only one throne remained centered in the back of the room, upon which the Queen of Light now sat. All the court of light prostrate before her. They remained silent for a long moment as propreity demanded, before advancing and presenting their cases to the Queen. The reason why they should be one the to get the position, or whythey should be the one to go on such and such mission. The Queen looked on with disdain, not responding and not caring, thinking about which court member should be killed for her entertainment. That was when the doors of the pantheon opened and a messenger walked through.


    ¡°Queen Celestial,¡± the lesser Angel said, ¡°A message from the Watcher. A new Core has been awakened! One Lord Diviner did not see. It is unclaimed and out of quota! It is in need of guidance!¡±


    ¡­


    The Court of Darkness was also in session. yet this court took place in no pantheon but in a castle, built in the darkest place of the hells with only the burning hellfire and screams of the tortured to give it company. It was an imposing sight with walls made from infernal stone and a gate made from hell-iron. It was within the castles dungeons, though, that court took place. Within the dungeom three thrones stood where the Lord of Darkness made court. Two with the old lords of the Hells bound, chained, and forever tormented, and one where the Lord of the Hells himself sat. Unbound, untormented, and ruling. Yet, within the court not a voice was heard; no voice was heard reverberating through the ighty halls of the castle, despite the numerous nobles that stood within, only the King spoke. All others obeyed. All knew the punishment of speech, pain, blood, scars, and eventual death. All present knew that the Court was only a test - a test where none knew if they succeeded or failed, and so they stood grimfaced, hour after hour.


    Unmoving


    The Lord looked on in the distance, still upon his throne and watched his former comrades tortured. No sound was made until the doors of the dungeon opened and a messenger came through.


    ¡°My Lord Infernal! A message from The Imp! A new Core has been revealed; one not predicted by Lady Allseer! It is unclaimed and out of quota it is need of guidance!¡±


    The reply was the same, one a high lilting voice, and one a growl:The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Send a Caretaker, NOW!¡±


    The Elemental Court ¨C a pantheon of the lesser Gods ¨C was also in session. Mistress Water, Lord Flame, Earth, Air and countless other lesser elements all gathered together in a parody of the greater courts up above. They too got a message -a message from Death. Wait a little longer; the time of elements would come soon enough!


    For the last piece on the board had just been played.


    Death was playing a game, a game he was all too good at. He maneuvered. He feinted. Moving his last piece in place, he won.


    The last piece was a core.


    ¡°Checkmate.¡±


    ...


    They both materialized at the same time, one dark, one light. They both had wings and they both had bodies. They looked almost identical, yet, I could tell one represented dark, and the other light; and not just because of the brilliant flashes their bodies made as they came through the in-between.


    They looked at each other in surprise, then squinted and looked again. The light one had a beautiful smile but it¡¯s voice was scornful ¡°What are you doing here?¡± A malignant grin creased the dark pixie¡¯s face as it responded with a bolt of purple-black lightning which diffused harmlessly off a shield created by the Light Fairy. The Fairy shot her own bolt of sunlight which was met by a casual brush of a darkness encased wing. The two of them flitted around the room, scarring the walls with their bolts of bright and dark lightning. The room was filled with the sound of their harsh screeching and clawing.


    Then suddenly they both looked at me as though remembering something. They both surged toward my Gem, their shoulders and wings clashing and vibrating as they both reached out for my surface. They glared at each other hatefully and as their hands touched the gem, they both rapidly intoned: ¡°I bond with this Core, to guide him, to protect him, to never bring harm down upon him, to be there through the bad and to be there during the good. May the gods hear and witness my oath.¡±


    I was scared, very scared. I could tell as they attacked each other that these two were not here to protect me no matter what they swore. They had turned to fight each other again.


    I could feel my mounting panic.


    A bolt of darkness flashed by my core.


    Light exploded and dirt showered me.


    Bug blood was splattered everywhere.


    Like a crystal flashing in the sunlight, the many colours of my gem started sending strobes of light towards the fighting fairy and pixie. Those strobes of light became deadly weapons.


    I attacked the fairy and pixie both over and over again. All of my power was focused on bringing about their demise. They fought back desperately countering my strobes with their own lightning strikes. However, they had sworn an oath to protect me and not to harm me and so whether they were sincere or not, it seemed they could not deliberately hurt me. Their shields started flickering and their lightning strikes became weaker. It seemed that neither wished to give in. Occasionally they would lunge for me only to have my strobes of light beat them back. Then they would try to talk, only to have the same thing happen, then they stood watching as their shields started to flicker and then fail. The shield of light fell first and then the shield of darkness. I lashed out one last time and both beings fell before me, Two streams of light hurtled toward me.


    I absorbed them readily - one light and one dark! I was immediately filled with pure ecstasy! Such a delicious taste! It was indescribable better than anything that I had eaten before.


    I felt my gem start to glow brighter and brighter! ¡°Delicious¡± I whispered in happiness. I sensed both souls sinking through my core, diffusing within it. As I completely absorbed their soul energy, all I could think was that I MUST HAVE MORE!


    Yet, something was wrong. I could feel it. Even through my euphoria I could still feel that something was terribly wrong. Screams started to echo through my head, Then there came a feeling an indescribable feeling that echoed and resounded, striking an unbearable pain within my mind. My whole being was racked as though I was being split apart! My body felt as though someone or some heartless being was hammering my bones, biting them and spitting them into the air, over and over again. The pain went on for what seemed forever. I gritted my teeth. Surely this time I would die! I lost track of time, only the pain was there. Until eventually¡­. It stopped. Leaving behind only a dull throbbing ache. ¡°What happened?¡± I wondered tiredly.


    Looking inward, I saw that my core had grown several sizes and I felt a lot more powerful than before. Yet all I could think about was how good the souls of those fairies tasted, what it felt like as their essence was sucked into my core. It tasted so good, so good and I wanted more, so much more.


    That was when I heard the grinding.


    A horrible sound that reached into my very depths, it resounded throughout the room in which I resided. It was more than a mere sound it felt as if it was attacking my soul, as if at any moment it would shatter me and leave me in pieces upon the muddy ground where I currently reside.


    Then, even worse, the grinding stopped and voice echoed forth into my hole.


    ¡°Core, core, core, what have you done?¡± The voice spoke in a sad tone a tone that conveyed far more meaning the words themselves had.


    ¡°Who are you? Why can¡¯t I see you?¡± I replied frantically, still on edge from my encounter with the fairies.


    ¡°I have many names but most people call me¡­. Death.¡±

 Chapter 1- Death, Blood, and Leaves

    -Ajax-


    Wails split the air; my friend was getting whipped again. Not one soul moved, we knew, we all knew, that to move was to sentence yourself to the same fate. The cracks of the whip split the air accompanied by the screams and sobs.


    ¡°Coward,¡± I thought to myself,¡± help him,¡± I wanted to move I really did, but as all slaves know to move or to interfere was to sentence yourself to the same fate.


    ¡°He¡¯s your friend,¡± We all knew that slaves have no friends, all that friends would bring you would be punishment and pain. As young as I was I knew the truth to those words.


    I rolled over and went back to sleep.


    ...


    Dong


    Dong


    Dong


    The wake-up bell sounded throughout the plantation, reverberating through my head.


    ¡°UP! You gits! I said to GET UP!¡± The overseers were up and kicking moving through the lines of sleeping slaves and kicking those that were too slow to get up.


    ¡°Move, I said MOVE!¡±


    I got up silently hoping that the slave masters wouldn¡¯t notice me, then shuffled head down with the rest of the slaves.


    It was leaf-picking day today.


    The worst day. The leaves had razor sharp edges and if you weren''t careful could easily take off a finger. The real name of the leaves? I had no idea. What I did no know is that all they brought was the whip. Everyone knew you couln''t gather more than eighty unless you wanted to risk a finger.


    A finger or the whip.


    It was leaf-picking day today.


    The worst day.


    We walked through the plantation out past the master¡¯s estate and meandered through the winding dirt roads that lead to the cotton fields, the sun only just starting to rise.


    ¡°Alright! I want at least one hundred leaves out of each of you today! Any less and you get to taste my whip!¡± The master''s voice echoed across the fields.


    And so we started to gather. All I could think was how much I wanted to leave. To escape and leave this all behind.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    We gathered as the sun rose to its zenith, and gathered as it began to set.


    ¡°That''s enough! It¡¯s counting time!¡±


    ...


    ¡°Boy, HOW USELESS CAN YOU BE!¡± The Master was shouting at me, spittle flying from his mouth.


    ¡°I PUT YOU ON HORSE DUTY AND THE HORSE FALLS SICK!¡± His fist came flying towards me smacking into my face with a dull thump.


    ¡°I PUT YOU IN THE WEEDING GANG AND THE WEEDS CONTINUE TO GROW!¡± His fist came flying back sending me to ground.


    He came in close speaking in a whisper, ¡°That¡¯s three chances and you all know the rule, right? three chances and then¡­.¡±


    He reached down for his whip slowly taking and unfurling it.


    ¡°On your knees boy.¡± A grin started to split his face.


    On my knees I went, slowly getting into position for the whipping that was about to come. I just hoped that it wouldn¡¯t last too long. The whip came up and down cracking across my back, I let out a cry of pain, then again, and again. Just as the whip was about to come down for the fourth time I heard a voice.


    ¡°Please good sir, please, have mercy! He is my son!¡± It was my mother, I don¡¯t know why she was helping me, after all as a slave she wasn¡¯t allowed to raise me, maybe seeing me whipped triggered her maternal instinct.


    The master responded quickly and with violence, the whip came up and down across my mother¡¯s face, ¡°I don¡¯t care one-bit slave, he is my property and I¡¯ll do as I please without an upstart telling me what to do!¡± His whip cracked across my back once more and my cries rose into the air.


    ¡°Please! Please!¡± my mother was at his feet this time, begging him. Once again the whip came down and cracked across my mother¡¯s face. She continued to speak ¡°Please! Please! Have mercy, Master!¡± Again the whipped cracked and my mother went sprawling. He turned back to me, lashing me again, and again, and again, ripping off my skin and shredding the flesh beneath. He was going in for another when my mother punched him.


    Punched him.


    Not a hard blow but a blow all the same. The master just stood still in shock for a moment not believing that a slave would ever hit him.


    ¡°That¡¯s your three chances,¡± the master snarled.


    ...


    My mother was getting whipped, the master¡¯s face locked in a horrible snarl while the whip came down over and over and over again. My grandma, the person who takes care of me stood by my side.


    ¡°Remember this Ajax, remember this, never forget, that is what happens to the likes of us.¡±


    Her face was sorrowful as she watched my mother being whipped, something that she had seen happen so many times before to her and to others, too many times before, her face eventually settled into a neutral expression and her eyes seemed to turn to stone. So I watched, watched as my master whipped my mother over and over again, watched as tears streamed down her face, watched as her cries filled the air and blood splattered on my face. Then watched as her body buckled and fell to the ground, yet the master did not stop, oh, no, he kept on going and going until her back lay in tatters and only flesh could be seen. It was then that master stopped, only when no skin could be seen on her back and when she was lying broken, and limp, on the ground in a pool of her own blood.


    All I could think was that it should¡¯ve been me.


    Master turned to me next, his face red and sweat beading at his temples. ¡°Come, boy, come here.¡± He beckoned me over to him, and so I came, stepping over streams of blood and patches of blood-stained grass.


    ¡°You see here boy?¡± He gestured at my mother''s body, belly down and limp blood coming off of her in streams. ¡°This is what happens when you disobey.¡±

 Chapter Two- A Friend

    -Ajax-


    ¡°We need to escape.¡±


    ¡°How? There is no escape from this hellhole, there is only death, misery, and despair.¡± I pressed my ear closer to the door of the storage room, I had stumbled by this conversation by chance, while on a late-night errand for Master.


    ¡°We can take some of the guards by ourselves, all we need is the help of some of the other slaves.¡±


    The more cynical voice spoke once again, ¡°The other slaves are dogs, curs, born and raised slaves! The only help you¡¯ll be getting from them is nothing!¡± The man¡¯s voice rose, ¡°All they will do is rat us out, we are stuck here and that''s final, you need to focus on surviving and hoping to the heavens that maybe just maybe the master will let you go.¡±


    A third voice spoke up this time, ¡°I agree, there is no escape. We are in the middle of thousands of miles of forest, on top of a mountain, surrounded by guards, gathering one of the rarest materials that can be found here in Torian. It¡¯s best to purge all thoughts of escaping and leave that for the next life.¡±


    I could hear them move toward the door, it was time to leave.


    ¡­


    My thoughts were jumbled and confused, I knew that there was a world out there, a place other than our own but I never truly thought about it until I heard that conversation. They said that none of the other slaves would help them escape because they were all too cowardly and never knew a life before this one, like me, like my mother.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    My mother. Blood coming off in waves, staining the grass and splashing my face. The Master grinning as he whipped me and my mother. Standing helpless, not being able to do anything. The screams of the friend I shouldn¡¯t have.


    ¡°Ajax,¡± a whisper came from behind me making me flinch and snapping me out of my reverie, looking behind me I realised it was Varic, my one and only friend.


    ¡°You really need to stop doing that! You scared the nine hells out of me!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, you know I can¡¯t help myself,¡± came his reply a grin stretching across his face, then he went more serious, sombre.


    ¡°I heard about your mother, I don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll help but¡­.¡± He took a breath, ¡°I¡¯m here for you, if you ever need help you can come to me, I promise.¡± He looked me in the eye and I could tell the truth to his words,the sincerity. He took something out from behind him ¡°I know it¡¯s your birthday today so I got a little something for you, snatched it right off the master himself!¡± He gave it to me and I started to unwrap it, his watching me expectantly, inside was a gold coin.


    A gold coin! This was the most money I had ever seen in my life, the most money that Varic had ever seen as well probably, and he was giving it to me, Ajax. It warmed me, and it was then that I knew that I had a friend, a true friend, someone that would stick by me, I had a brother.


    ¡°Thank you Varic, thank you.¡± The words came from my soul, from the core of my being.

 Chapter 3- Wolves and Berries

    -Ajax-


    ¡°I hate picking berries.¡¯¡¯ A grumbling came from my side. ¡°I hate it, hate it, hate it.¡±


    ¡°Stop complaining Varic, we barely have to do anything today. The overseers aren¡¯t even watching us!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care, Ajax, just look at my hands!¡± He raised them up showing the berry juice that stained them. ¡°Do you see these?¡± He waved them in my face, the juice dripping down slowly. ¡°Cause I don¡¯t think you do.¡¯


    ¡°Poor Varic brought low by berries,¡± I said laughing.


    ¡°Yeah, poor me.¡± A grin spreading across his face.


    We continued to walk through the forest, the sunlight filtering through the eaves of the ancient trees rising up around us, with cool air blowing all around and greenery beneath our feet. It made a beautiful sight.


    That was when I heard the growling and the pattering of feet.


    Varic and I exchanged frightened and confused looks. The guards should have taken care of all the major predators.


    Then we started to run.


    I heard more yipping but this time coming from ahead of us, and with those yips came flashing shadows coming from our sides, severing the peace of the forest like a blade.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    I was on high alert the adrenaline coursing through me, the wolves were on our tail and were gaining ground quickly. The forest was a blur of green as I sprinted as hard as I could, leaping over roots and weaving between trees.


    I could smell the wolves behind me, a horrible smell of rot, and decay. I could feel the grass beneath my feet. Most of all though I could hear their growls, hear their yipping.


    Varic was keeping up right behind me, breathing hard.


    That was when he tripped. He had been running full tilt and had failed to see the snagroot, he went flying and then landed in a heap right in front of me.


    I stopped, trying to help him up, but his foot was twisted in a way that no limb should be twisted and I could see the bone sticking out, its tip covered in flesh, and all I got for my efforts were screams of pain.


    The yipping intensified and then suddenly stopped, leaving behind an ominous silence. I dragged Varic until we were backed up against a tree and then tried to catch my breath.


    That was when I looked up.


    The wolves were surrounding us, they were ugly, mangy things, but bigger than any wolf that I had seen before. There yellow teeth were bared and they started to slowly advance, growling.


    ¡°Varic, forgive me.¡± I said, gritting my teeth. I put him on back and started to climb. The wolves seeing what was happening started to close in faster, and then they started to leap. I felt a searing pain in my calf and look down to see wolf jaws clamped tight around it, before releasing its hold and tearing out a chunk of flesh with it.


    Varic was wailing like a banshee, the bone in his leg starting to move and cut. I continued to climb ignoring the pain in my calf, the yipping was becoming louder and started to be replaced by growls. The rough bark of the tree was cutting my hands and Varic was restricting my airway. All I knew was that I had to continue, had to go on.


    So I did, further up the tree until eventually I could go up no further and stopped putting Varic down and watching as the wolves circled round and round, yipping and growling. Varic calmed down, and with his face locked in a grimace asked.


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Varic.¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t know.¡±

 Chapter 4- At the Gates of Madness

    Varics leg was swollen and infected pus leaking out slowly. My leg was no better.. We had slept the night up on the tree or at least had tried too, but our injuries made it so that sleep was nearly impossible.


    The wolves continued to circle underneath the tree, yipping and growling, saliva coming from their mouths and dripping onto the forest floor beneath them.


    That¡¯s when realised that if I didn¡¯t find a way to escape soon that I was going to die.


    I looked down at the wolves and then I looked at Varic, ¡°Any ideas?¡± He looked down at his leg, then looked at my leg, ¡°There is no running, even if we do make it back to the plantation Master will give us the whipping of our lives.¡± He took a breath, his face downcast and full of pain. ¡°Soon enough the guards are gonna come looking we both know Master hated losing property, and if the guards do find us.... then wolves or not we¡¯re dead meat. We just need to choose our way to die.¡± He looked back at his leg, his eyes filled with despair and started to cry,


    Cry for all the things that he had lost, cry for all the hopelessness of the situation, cry because of the bone sticking out of his leg.


    Then I cried too. I cried remembering my mother, I cried for the injustice of it all, I cried because there was no hope. I cried most of all because there was nothing we could do. Then I remembered.


    I remembered the sound of the whip as it his Varics back, the pained cries that were released into the air. I remembered as I turned over and slept. I remembered my mother limp and broken on the cold, bloodied dirt that was her final resting place, and the grin that stretched across my masters face.


    I tilted my head back screamed, and howled, and roared. I knew then that I would survive. No matter the cost.


    I would survive and then I would make Master pay.


    Varic looked at me, a look that said he understood, that he understood that none would stand against us.


    ...


    Rain was pouring down in droves, and the wind was coming just as fast. Even the wolves while still remaining under the tree were whimpering and whining, circling around our captor and sanctuary slowly. Varic and I on the other hand were in much worse condition, both our legs were horribly infected and we were in constant and continuous agony, our moans and cries carried along the winds and then lost. The one good thing about the rain was that it cooled our parched throats, and let us suffer for a little while longer.


    ...


    The wind was howling, whistling, and coming much harder than ever before. Our tree was swaying wildly and it was all I could do to hold on, Varic was doing the same. I could smell the matted and damp fur of the wolves, I could feel the wind pushing against the tree, howling as it did, like a vengeful spirit that had found its mark. For hours it went on, the wind against the earth. The tree swaying wildly but holding on.


    It was then that the wolves left, probably taking shelter against the intense storm, they knew that their prey couldn¡¯t go far not with a storm like this and injured body parts.


    Varic and I exchanged looks wondering what to do, if we made a run for it we probably wouldn¡¯t get far, but maybe we could find safer place. I made thoughts known.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re safe, Var!¡± I yelled, making myself heard over the tempest.


    That was when I heard the crack, and felt the tree start to bend beneath me. The wind was too powerful and the tree to weak.


    It didn¡¯t happen all at once, but it was still fast. I realised that there was nothing that I could do.


    The tree was falling, and I realised something.


    That I was powerless.


    Insignificant.


    Weak.


    I hated the feeling,  the feeling of having no control.


    I forcibly rode the tree, holding on for dear life,  all the way down to its horrific collision with the ground. The collision jarred my entire body, and made me lose my grip, lose my grip and fall into a pit. That was the last thing I saw before my vision faded into black.


    ...


    I woke with a splitting headache, a horrible pain in my side, and the continued agony in my leg..... except that this time it was in my other leg as well, looking down I saw multiple bone pieces sticking from appendages, then looking at my side at saw that it was in no better condition then my legs.


    I could still breathe but each breath was but a gasp, a gasp full of pain. I continued to look and saw Varic clutching a piece wood that protruded from his abdomen, he was in pain I could tell but so was I.


    Continuing to look I saw that we were in a pit, we had landed on the unfortunate bodies of some animals that I did not recognise.


    That was when I heard the scream, and horrible ear-wrenching thing, but not a thing of pain or horror but a scream that seemed to have been birthed from delight. It was something that I never wanted to hear again.


    The scream abruptly cut off, replaced by a man, a man with a table upon which sat a.....brain? Or at least what looked a brain, a quivering mass of white bloody substance.


    ¡°Hello, there. Who might you be?¡± He summoned a knife and started to carefully cut the brain in front of him.


    There was something about this man that was seriously wrong, I could see it in his eyes, and he was cutting up a brain of an unidentified creature. I started retch. Varics eyes going wide with horror.


    ¡°Now, now, now, that¡¯s not very nice.¡± The man spoke in a tone as if he was chastising a little child for stealing a cookie, ¡°The human brain is an interesting thing,¡± He held up the brain in his hand fresh, bloody, and glistening, a horrifying piece of red meat. ¡°The average brain weighs about three pounds, sometimes they get as large four pounds if your lucky,¡± He giggled, ¡°You have to be careful when playing with a brain though it feels like heated butter... firm, but still bouncy, it is in fact quite fragile, if you¡¯re not careful a part might, just..... fall off.¡± He said this last bit with a flourish, ripping off a part of the brain with a wet tearing sound and letting it fly into the air and land on the ground where it splattered into a red mark upon the pits floor.


    I really did throw up that time, letting loose the little food I had left within my stomach. I had a feeling that if I wasn¡¯t careful it might be my brain on that operating table, being cut up for that sick mans amusement.


    ¡°Sorry sir, but I don¡¯t know what your getting at.¡±  I whispered subserviently.


    ¡°YOU MADMAN!¡± Varic shouted at the same time, spittle coming from his mouth.


    With a wave of the mans hand Varic fell backward, unconscious, but still breathing. ¡°So rude, so rude.¡± The man muttered


    ¡°Anywaaaay, I can see that your in a bit of predicament here, trapped within a pit with no way to get out. I too am suffering from a problem such as that.¡± He sighed, put the brain down and started to cut it once more, the knife entering it with sucking sound. ¡°I am trapped in a place called the In Between, trapped there by malevolent entity that refused to keep a deal!¡± He shouted this last part, and took the brain in his hand and ripped to pieces, a snarl upon his face. Then he stopped and his face took on the look of a kindly grandfather helping a young child. ¡°I have a deal to make with you youngling, I will make you my avatar, my chosen one if you will, in return,¡± He smiled. ¡°You release me from my prison, kill the god who trapped me, and serve me until the end of your days.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    This man was mad! There would be know way in all the hells that I would agree to serve a man like that, and kill a god? Release him? No way.


    ¡°Sir, I see that you are a honourable and good man, but I must respectfully decline your offer.¡±


    The man sighed as if he was expecting this answer, ¡°It is obvious that you do not know what the benefits of this are, it is also obvious that you do not who I am. I am the Madman!¡± He looked at me expectantly.


    I looked back in what I hoped was awe, I had never heard of him.


    ¡°You do not know who I am.¡± It was not a question and was uttered in a flat almost monotone voice. ¡°IDIOT!¡± He suddenly screamed, a scream akin to the one he let loose before appearing in the cavern, causing me to flinch back and gasp in pain as my bones cut through my skin.


    ¡°You do not know of the Madman? The scourge of Aetherians, annihilator of the Heavenly Hunt, and blight upon all sentient races?¡± He was talking fast and animatedly this time, pacing back and forth apparently determined to end my ignorance. ¡°He who exchanged blows with Death, killed greater demon lord Voran¡¯ininan, and subduer of one of the fallen gods of the infernal realm?¡± He peered into my eyes, ¡°Now have you heard of me?¡±


    I took a deep breath, this man was more powerful than I had realised. He might be my key to power. The key to killing my master, the key to vengeance. ¡°Now I have, and I would like to ask what the benefits of being your avatar are.¡±


    The Madman smiled and began to talk, ¡°There are four types of power in this world, six to some, but four that you need know about.¡± He took a deep breath, ¡°The first are the marked; those that have been marked by the gods, and have powerful abilities related to the domain that the god rules over. They are the paladins, but don¡¯t be fooled just as not all gods are good the same applies to the marked, they are powerful combatants that are bolstered even further when fighting for a cause that increases the power of that gods domain.¡±


    ¡°The second are the empowered, the most mystical of the four. They take on the powers of one of the greater elemental aspects, not the elemental gods, but the primal aspects of what those gods embody. They do not have the pure power of the marked, but they are like a jack of all trades, they have aspects of both the gifted and the marked. They are what are known as spellswords. Beware, their powers.¡±


    ¡°The third are the gifted,¡± his face curled in disdain. ¡°The wizards, the sorcerers, the healers, they are powerful when they have studied for years but are otherwise weak and need others to protect them.¡±


    ¡°The fourth are the avatars, what you would become, they are chosen by a powerful entity like myself.¡± He gestured to himself and let out a laugh, ¡°They are the closest to marked, yet have subtle, but profound differences, they become the embodiment of their entity and eventually become what their entity is, it is confusing but know that avatars grow in power as their patron grows in power. They are like warlocks, or emissaries.¡±


    He gestured around grandiosely, ¡°I can grant you power, the power to feel no pain, the power to crush your emotions, the power to stop that would do wrong. By saying yes you can become a hero among men! You can slay those that put you into captivity! You can have freedom! You can have choice! You can choose what happens, no longer will life pass you by! You can take it by the horns and guide it where you will.¡± He summoned a crystal, and held it out to me, ¡°Accept this crystal, make a sacrifice, and power will be yours!¡±


    It was like an irresistible force was pushing me, urging me to take the crystal, take the power that lay before me.


    I remembered my mother, crying out in pain, blood running down her back, Master standing over her and grinning. It was then that I remembered something that my grandmother once said, ¡°Remember, whenever something seems to good to be true, it usually is.¡±


    I hesitated, thinking about my mother, and the words that my grandmother had instilled in me, I started to draw my hand away. That was when the Madman stomped the ground shaking it and drawing my thoughts away. The irresistible feeling came back, along with new thoughts.


    It¡¯s only with the Madmans power that I can take revenge.


    My grandmother was right, thing is this isn¡¯t too good to be true, after all I will have to serve him.


    I could take control and help all the slaves.


    I could save them.


    I reached out and took the gem.


    I immediately felt the power coursing through, it was tangible, real, I felt it heal my injuries my bones knitting back together, it was better than anything I had ever felt before. Intermixed was pain and doubt but most of all I felt the power, it was visceral; and it was greater than anything that I had ever tasted before.


    That was when the Madman grinned, ¡°Now, time for the sacrifice.¡± A knife appeared in his hand.


    He pointed at Varic, lying still on the ground, ¡°Slit his throat.¡±


    He asked me to slit the throat of the only friend I had in the world, the only friend that I could trust. This was too much, too much to ask, too much to do.


    ¡°Master,¡± I came out of bondage only to be put into bondage by another being, ¡°Anyone but him, anything but him, he can be useful to me.¡±


    ¡°Exactly why you must kill him, no avatar of mine can have weakness, and this boy is your weakness, kill him and be done with it.¡± The Madman¡¯s reply came, full of disdain.


    I remembered how he gave me the gold coin for my birthday, I remembered how he comforted me after my mothers death. Powerful or not this was an order that I had to refuse.


    ¡°Master, you assume that he is my friend and that I care for him, you are wrong, I only ask you to spare him for he could be a good servant, a good minion if you will.¡± My voice wavered and shook.


    The Madman smiled, ¡°Stupid, stupid, stupid, I know that you care for this boy, it is easy to see.¡± His face turned ugly, ¡°I am thousands of years old, and thousands of others more skilled than you have tried to beguile me with words, do as I say, now.¡±


    I felt fear enter into my heart, hoplessness, these were the feelings that I tried to escape, the feelings that I thought taking the gem would end.


    I took the knife, and tried to plunge into my own heart. Only for it to stop an inch away from my skin. I tried again only for the same thing to happen, I looked up at the Madman, and saw that he was smiling.


    He started to giggle and then he started to laugh. ¡°Aaaaaaaah,¡± he let out a sigh, ¡°Avatar, avatar, avatar, there are hundreds of others that would gladly take this chance, but you? Nooooo, you spit in the face of the gift I give you,¡± He came to me and backhanded me across the face, he seemed to look into the distance, ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to take matters into my own hands then.¡±


    He started to talk, fast and very, very persuasive.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be okay, Ajax.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± thoughts came unbidden to my head.


    ¡°Power is all that you need, no matter the cost.¡±


    ¡°All I need is power.¡±


    ¡°I am your master, your friend is useless to me.¡±


    ¡°My friend is usele-¡° This was wrong, something was messing with my head, I felt dizzy and nauseas, something was very, very wrong ¡°No....no.¡± I stumbled backwards, ¡°What are you doing to me?¡± I felt another wave dizziness come over me, and the Madman spoke again.


    ¡°Your friend is nothing.¡±


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not true!¡± I was breathing heavily, but the words that the Madman spoke were so powerful, so hypnotic.


    ¡°Your friend is nothing!¡± The words came again this time more forcefully, pushing against my will, telling me to obey.


    ¡°No....¡± My voice was barely a whisper, ¡°No.... he¡¯s my friend.¡± Tears started to stream down my face.


    ¡°Your friend is NOTHING!¡± The words came stronger than ever, and destroyed what little was left of my willpower, I screamed, screamed as my will was broken, screamed in empty defiance.


    I strengthened my grip on the dagger and stumbled over to Varic, tears streaming down my face, I was too weak, too weak, too weak to stop this madness. I put its cool, serrated edge against his throat.


    -Varic-


    My eyes opened, and I saw Ajax standing over me... with a dagger to my throat. What was he doing? Why was my only friend holding a dagger to my throat? This didn¡¯t seem like him, I was confused. As I looked up at him he uttered words that I would remember forever ¡°Die slave, for your no friend of mine.¡±


    ¡°Ajax,¡± I gurgled,


    ¡°Friend.¡± Tears formed as the dagger slid across my throat, cutting deep into its flesh but also tearing deep into my soul. And then all I saw was darkness.


    -Ajax-


    It was as I held the blade to his throat that Varic regained consciousness, confusion shining in his eyes, seeming to ask why? Before turning into emotions of despair, sadness, but most of all heartbroken loss and accusation. Words were ripped from throat, words that I tried to fight but had no control over, words that I would regret forever, ¡°Die slave, your no friend of mine.¡±


    His eyes looked up at me, filling with tears as I brought the blade across his throat, only profound loss and sadness was harboured there.


    It was that he uttered the words that would haunt me forever.


    ¡°Ajax,¡±


    ¡°Friend.¡± It was then that I regained control and saw what I had done, the bloodied dagger in hand, and the glazed eyes of my friend.


    I knelt down beside him, my only friend, the only one who had ever comforted me, who had ever cared. And screamed, a scream of loss, a scream of hate, a scream of one whose mind had been broken, a scream of madness, a scream of one that has become lost on the path of the Mad. I screamed, I nudged him, crying, begging him to come back, I howled my defiance but it was all for naught.


    Rumbling came from around me and I saw the mountain explode fire shooting high but I cared not,


    I laid upon the cold, hard ground and cried, cradling the head of the friend whom I loved.


    His last words echoed.


    ¡°Ajax.¡±


    ¡°Friend.¡±

 Interlude- The Madman, Death, and Contracts

    The Madman sighed, he so enjoyed watching the fruits of his labour, his new disciple was on the floor mourning for the friend that he had just killed.


    The Madman cared not, he had his disciple. A broken disciple as well! He just loved it when things came together!


    He was still a bit disappointed in his avatars lack of the commitment at the beginning but there was no one else to go to, and that spot in the pit was the only place with thin enough walls between the two realms to make actual contact and it was out in the middle of nowhere! He supposed he was lucky he got anyone at all, even if he was a tad young, only fourteen or fifteen by the looks of it.


    He plucked a piece of brain matter from the air and started to chew on it absent-mindedly noting to himself that the new freezing technique he had developed made them extra crunchy.


    He continued to watch as his disciple finally looked up in search for him, The Madman had long since disappeared from view though and the disciple had far more pressing matters to attend too, namely that of an exploding mountain. The disciple would survive; even now the gifts of being an avatar helped him.


    ¡°Madman.¡± A voice came from behind him,


    ¡°Death, what do you want?¡± The Madman said cordially, ¡°a piece of brain perhaps? An eye maybe?¡± Taking out the aforementioned pieces and presenting them to Death.


    ¡°Madman what I want is a favour, I want your disciple to meet with my dungeon.¡± Deaths hand clenched at the disrespect that was being shown, when he made the gods kneel no one would act that way towards him ever again!


    The response was clear, vicious, and spoken with hate, ¡°NO! You will be getting no favors from me today Death, after that stunt you pulled at my castle you¡¯re lucky I don¡¯t go over to your dungeon and destroy it completely!¡± The Madman¡¯s face was locked in a snarl, pieces of frozen brain shooting all over the place, the arrogance! When I ascend Death will be the one kneeling at my feet! Already the wheels turn, his dungeon will become mine and Death will be no more.


    ¡°You and I both know there are greater problems at hand than our feud when the gods are dealt with we can resume our feud then, further our contracts forbid it lest we both die.¡± The Madman had to be dealt with delicately or else he would bite.


    ¡°Makes sense, but that changes matters not at all! There will be no meeting unless I say so! Further, the loophole you exploited by trapping me here must be fixed.¡± The Madman crossed his arms and sniffed dismissively.


    ¡°What would it take to accept the deal Madman?¡± SCUM! He should know his place, but remember to act as the Madman acts and there should be no problem.


    The Madman smiled, ¡°Triple my compensation and you have a deal.¡± I have him by the balls all I need to do now is drag him to the ground! A vicious gleam entered into the eyes of the Mad one.


    ¡°Double the compensation and you may take a monster of your choice.¡± He thinks he has me but he should know by now that he is no match for me.


    ¡°Five breedable monsters and double the compensation or there is no deal, after all, you have trapped me in the In-Between.¡± The Madman¡¯s face contorted in hate, He will have a slow death.


    ¡°So be it, under one clause I will not release you from the In-Between.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    Death turned and vanished into the air, while the Madman watched.


    How he hated being stuck, there was still one item of business to attend to though, turning around and facing yet another god that had appeared before him.


    ¡°It seems I¡¯m getting popular!¡± The Madman said doing a little jig.


    ¡°I want the boy, an elite unit and a god killed.¡± Vengeance spoke in a monotone, her voice betraying no emotion. She had come to him in her god-form, a beautiful woman; she had full lips red lips stained from the blood of her enemies, wherever she walked she left bloody footprints, she carried a stiletto dripping poison in her left-hand, and in the right she carried a tear colored broadsword, both weapons she was currently pointing at the Madman.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The Madman¡¯s lip curled in contempt, to begin with, this was only his shadow, though it did look like his true form, after all the Madman specialized in tricks of the mind.


    ¡°No.¡± The Madman said churlishly and then proceeded to belch in the arrogant face of Vengeance.


    Her eye twitched slightly the only sign of her displeasure, ¡°I will owe you a favor.¡±


    The Madman in an impressive feat of flexibility had turned his back on Vengeance had proceeded to bend over and stick his head through his legs, he then farted, belched and spat a piece of brain out of the side of his mouth. ¡°No. A favour from you is hardly worth a thing!¡± He cackled head still between his legs gazing up at the rapidly reddening face of the goddess known as Vengeance.


    She spluttered for a moment, dumbfounded before eventually spitting; ¡°A favor, my support for your ascension into Alpha Deity, and the full support of my followers, and...¡± She smiled, ¡°A pass out of the In-Between.¡±


    The Madman rapidly straightened, ¡°Milady, your wish has been granted! What god do you need me to vanquish?¡± He bowed low, it seemed his magic still worked even in his weakened state.


    ¡°The Three-Headed Beast.¡±


    The Madman¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°You mean, the Hydra? The Lord of Monsters? The god of at least three different domains?¡±


    ¡°The very same.¡±


    ¡°We need to write out a contract, but otherwise, yes, deal accepted, come back tomorrow we can talk then.¡±


    Vengeance disappeared and Varic came with her.


    ...


    Vengeance appeared in front of Death, ¡°The deal is done, The Madman¡¯s charms were hard to resist and I had to fold but he should not be out of the In-Between for a while now, for the magic to work it will take at least a year possibly more depending on how powerful the target is.¡±


    Teeth ground together, ¡°Good.¡±


    ¡°That is our contract, I want Betrayal dead.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± This fit in perfectly with Deaths plans,


    ¡°I also want his domain.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Betrayal had a secondary domain of deceit, and probably had a few more besides that.


    ...


    Death stood on of the twin peaks of Obsidian mountain, wind whipping his cloak, storm clouds stretched out in all directions as far the eye could see, the only illumination was the constant flashes of lighting.


    On the other peak stood Betrayal, holding daggers in both hands, eyeing the scythe that Death carried warily.


    ¡°Why have you come?¡± Betrayal was the first to speak, voice strained, hands shaking.


    ¡°To kill you,¡± Death responded simply.


    ¡°Why? What have I done to deserve your wrath?¡± Betrayal prepared to flee; he knew that he could not fight Death without dying.


    ¡°Nothing, I was asked to kill you and take your domain to give to another. I cannot break a contract any more than you can.¡± Death started to come toward Betrayal over the mountain peaks, lightning flashing behind him and illuminating his skeletal jaw the only part not covered by his cloak.


    Betrayal fled, flying fast across the plains around the two peaks, but Death was faster and he was forced to engage.


    Death came fast swinging high with his scythe and bringing it savagely down toward his victims head, hundreds of mini-scythes also popped into existence and came down upon Betrayals head, who didn¡¯t move at all the scythes came down and went right through him but no blood came out and the shadow dissipated harmlessly.


    Death growled, then turning around saw Betrayal running, but instead of just one there were hundreds of Betrayals running, and they were all constantly multiplying until there were a thousand, and then ten thousand, and then millions.


    Death swept his scythe once and hundreds of shadows went up in smoke, and then again, and again, but it was not enough for the shadows kept multiplying.


    He closed his eyes sending out his life-sense over the multitude of shadows, then grinned, ¡°I have you now Betrayal.¡± His teeth ground together showing his amusement.


    Death leaned back and threw his scythe, which went whirling through the billions of shadows destroying millions as it went straight for Betrayal going much faster than any god could. Betrayal looked back and saw the scythe heading for him moving faster than he could run and back-flipped over the spinning weapon and continued to run, only to find the scythe once again coming for him but from the front this time, he once again dodged, and then again as the scythe came back, and again, and again, still running forward the entire time Death closing in.


    The scythe came rushing again and this time Betrayal was too slow, it hit his arm and sent him flying to the ground.


    Death concentrated and with a thought teleported to where his scythe was, grinning within his cowl his teeth showing as he saw Betrayal lying prone on the ground, the scythe came to him and he brought it down on the victim.


    Betrayal saw the scythe coming, rolled, took out his daggers and stabbed Death in the shin and then watched in his horror as the dagger he had used shattered.


    ¡°You think a measly weapon such as that can take me down?¡± He went to stomp on Betrayals face only to have him dodge and start running, Death sniffed contemptuously and threw his scythe which went spinning towards the cowardly god.


    Betrayal jumped up letting the scythe go under his feet then defying the laws of physics came straight down stepping and holding the scythe under his heel.


    He took out another pair daggers and threw them at Death, who swept them away with his hands, the scythe started to wiggle under his foot and then suddenly Death was there punching him in the face with all his might.


    Betrayal went flying only to be caught by the leg and jerked abruptly back.


    ¡°Why?¡± Was all that Betrayal could say before his face exploded spraying brains, blood, and bones into Death''s face.


    Death wiped his hand, and then stuck into Betrayal''s body looking for his heart, finding it than ripping it out with a wet slurping sound.


    ¡°He only has one domain?¡±


    He looked closer, inscribed on the heart were the words;


    Courtesy of The Madman.

 Chapter Five- Death, a Pet, and a City

    -The Gem-


    ¡°...most people call me... Death.¡± A grinding sound followed those words, his words were not spoken aloud but felt like they were directed right into my mind.


    Death...Death...had come to see me, I started to panic again, I had to be very careful if I wanted to survive this encounter.


    ¡°Mighty Death, Reaper of Souls, why have you come and graced the little hole in which I reside?¡± I tried to make my voice sound as subservient as possible, trying to kiss this guys feet seemed like the only way I was going to be able to survive.


    ¡°I have come to make you my own, I have come to give you something called an attunement. This attunement will grant you powers that put you well ahead of your competitors and will give you the edge you need to survive in this cruel, harsh, world.¡± Sounded good, but there was always a catch to these things, and my instincts were telling me that the catch on this one was going to be big, ¡°but,¡± and there it was, ¡°You must swear your allegiance to me, and do quests for me.¡±


    Huh, a hard question to say the least. ¡°What exactly are the benefits that I will be receiving?¡±


    The grinding sound once again echoed through my hole, grating on my nerves, ¡°Smart little core,¡± damn this guy was patronizing! ¡°All your monsters will be especially suited to dealing out death, further you will also start to gain special characteristics having to relate to death and the ways to deal it.¡±


    ¡°O mighty Death, look, I want to accept your offer, I do! Except I value my freedom, and I do not want to lose that! And so I must respectfully decline. Thank you for asking.¡± I could see the benefits of being under his command but I could also see all the things that could go wrong, namely that of becoming his slave.


    ¡°Humph, I will try to convince you one more time. You are the only being that is fit to receive this attunement in all of the world!¡± I could pretty much see Death gesturing grandly around the room, ¡°Usually I can only grant a mark, but because of what you have done here today,¡± he gestured at the smoking corpses of the fairies, ¡°By combining all the necessary requirements for the element of death to come into existence, that is the emotions of; grief, confusion, denial, relief, fear, peace, etc, etc, you can become an attuned dungeon! An empowered entity! This, as I said before, can grant a whole slew of benefits and can help grow your dungeon immensely, I implore you to accept this attunement and become one of the empowered.¡±


    I have to admit the offer was tempting, very, very tempting, but something still felt off about this guy. He was a god, and yet he was imploring me to come and get empowered.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry O, Merciful One! But I must decline your offer, I do so with utmost respect and gratitude and hope to continue to have a good relationship with you. Thank you He Who Is Merciful.¡± I knew that I was taking a risk here but it needed to be done because there was no way that I was going to become a slave my entire life.


    A cloud of black fog billowed and a cloaked figure appeared from the mist, clutching a scythe that inscribed with the faces of the forever tormented. Death came and pointed the tip of his scythe at my core,


    ¡°Obey, or die. Do not struggle. My power is such that you couldn¡¯t comprehend it, and though you may have killed those fairies...you cannot kill me.¡± Well, that cleared up my choices for me, and also made a lot of sense.


    I started going over my options; I could try to attack him, but something told me that wouldn¡¯t go so well, or, I could just accept it, grovel, and hope beyond hope that I wouldn¡¯t become a slave, or I could bargain.


    ¡°I know that I cannot kill you Mighty One, but what I ask of you before agreeing to your terms is that whenever you ask me to do something, kill someone, and so on, if you could pay me. For example, if you ask me to kill someone you could pay me with the body of a monster or if you ask me to create something for you, you could pay me with precious material. I¡¯m sure that this couldn¡¯t be too hard for you since you are rich, and such items would nothing to your coffers.¡± I think that I did pretty well not going to lie, that is a pretty good deal considering my position and the circumstances and shouldn¡¯t do too much to hamper him.


    ¡°Hmmm, I accept this deal core. I leave you with this,¡± his scythe pressed into my core and with a horrible crystalline screech, followed by a metallic crunch, a line appeared in my core.


    ¡°This is your attunement and punishment; never bargain with me again core, NEVER!¡±


    I was too lost in pain to comprehend, it carried me away, I was lost to my surroundings, it echoed forth from every fiber of my being.


    ¡°Yet, I am merciful.¡± Death waved his hand.


    The pain abruptly stopped.


    ¡°You have one year. That which you seek to find is in the land of Torian. When I need of you, I will fetch you, remember, one year before my binding fails and you fall into never-ending pain and eventual death.¡± I could feel him grinning beneath his cowl. The fog started to obscure him and then abruptly dissipated.


    ¡°Oh, remember, you can form and destroy things using essence, essence you can get from deaths, and materials. Your welcome.¡± Thanks a lot, bastard, lot of good you¡¯ve done me, I didn¡¯t dare voice my opinions out loud, but it¡¯s the thought that counts. It was then that he disappeared, leaving me with one last phrase,


    ¡°Serve me well core, serve me well, and perhaps one day you will be healed.¡±


    ...


    ¡°Damn you, Death, damn you.¡± These were the words I muttered myself over and over again. Along with the promise to myself that I would kill that, selfish, evil, dark, bastard.


    Right now though, I had bigger problems.


    I was stuck in a hole, had a damn crack on the side of me, and hell I was an indentured servant to Death! Death, the bloody god of the DEAD! In shorthand, I was screwed, completely and utterly screwed.


    But,


    I still had the essence from the two fairies that had paid me a visit, though they came with their problems.


    When I had consumed them I felt and urge for more, and more, and more. Like a drug, that sadly, I was hooked on.


    Still, the essence had its uses, already I had excavated four rooms all in a straight line, with my core room at the back of them all. What I had realized was that while I could excavate rooms by absorbing dirt, it took a hell of a lot more effort and time.


    So I used essence. I still haven¡¯t touched the corpses of the fairies or the bugs I ate; I noticed that they didn¡¯t dissipate like the dirt did when I absorbed them.


    I had four rooms, not a ton of essence left but not too little either, oh, and a hunger for more sentient essence. The bugs were staving it off but they couldn¡¯t quite scratch the spot.


    ¡°Stop,¡± I spoke out loud, I needed to curb this hunger, otherwise I was most likely going to become addicted and become a mindless druggy waiting for my next shot. I didn¡¯t like where I had gone after I killed those fairies.


    Thing is, it tastes really good.


    Now onto my next problem, what was the point of me? I was dungeon I knew that but what was I supposed to do as a dungeon? My instincts are just telling me to make bigger and more rooms, as well as to eat sentients. It wasn¡¯t telling me how! It frustrated me, for example, I could tell how big the rooms I made were (10 meters by 10 meters.) Yet I didn¡¯t know how to kill.


    I was also getting kinda lonely. I still have no qualms about killing those fairies but I could use some companionship. I¡¯ve taken to just staring at my core and wondering will I be like this for eternity? I hope not, I would rather die than have such a repetitive existence as building rooms and pondering on instincts that don¡¯t help me.


    ¡°Oh, remember, you can form and destroy things using essence, essence you can get from deaths, and materials. Your welcome.¡±


    Death''s words came back to me in a flash.


    Specifically in the first part, I can form or destroy things using essence.


    My instincts tell me to use it on one of the bugs that are crawling around my room. Yeah. Only now they work. Thanks a lot, evolution.


    I start to funnel essence into a wiggly thing that has no legs, a worm is what I think they are called. It¡¯s starting to grow, and grow, and grow, I watch with fascination as its mouth becomes wider and wider, then burgeoning horror as it grows teeth, its body muscles become ten times stronger and it starts to salivate.


    Oh, yeah, I¡¯m an empowered Death dungeon.


    Whups.


    I keep on funneling, instinct is telling me to keep on adding essence, I have a feeling that this worms gonna be special. It keeps on growing until its head has touched the roof, its teeth are the size of swords, its muscles as strong as steel, its skin soft and spongy but still tough hopefully able to rebound whatever attacks it.


    It is then that I have a genius idea, but who am I to judge? When I had evolved the worm I saw everything about it, what it was made of, what it liked to eat, etc, etc.


    I found that it was good at digging, I had seen it dig through miles of dirt, and so I thought that it would be a good idea to get it to dig out some new rooms for me.


    ...


    My core was residing it the only room that had been saved by the devastation.


    I learned a valuable lesson, war machines knock down walls, they don¡¯t build them.


    My Worm had attacked the roof of my dungeon with abandon, it had let out a roar and launched straight up, teeth presented.


    And proceeded to dig, or more accurately attack the dirt.


    It left a gaping hole in the roof of the first room, and then dug sideways and around, wrecking all the other rooms that I had built, sending them crashing to the floor. So much essence...wasted!


    I probably should¡¯ve exerted my influence and stopped the rampage, the thing is, the thing was beautiful! Digging and digging, then digging up and up.


    Then bursting through the surface, it was then that I called it back down, I could feel the essence holding its form together dissipating, and I didn¡¯t want to lose the only monster that I had.


    -Delvers Guild-


    Tim had been sent by the overseers to check on what was believed to be a new dungeon. He had brought with him a seasoned group of adventurers and delving equipment, preparing to mine down to the dungeon and check out its danger level, monsters, loot, and when it should be ready to be farmed.


    The sun had been outshining over him and his party, luckily the trees had shaded them for the most part, though they were getting a little scarce as of late with the town turned city so close by.


    That was they heard the rumbling.


    Tim was a seasoned delver and had had his share of earthquakes and the like, but this seemed to be strangely localized. He knew that dungeons didn¡¯t have the ability to dig upwards that fast.


    He also knew that earthquakes weren¡¯t that localized.


    He turned to the mage, an earth mage, which was part of the adventurer¡¯s party. ¡°Alright, look, I know that you and your friend rouge, like to play pranks but now is not the time.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t me...¡± The mage put his hand to the floor sending his magic into the ground below.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°What the...¡± The mage''s eyes widened, he started to gesture wildly, ¡°OUT, GET OUT, MONSTER, MON-¡° A huge creature burst from underneath him, huge jaws opened wide for killing, the seasoned adventurer only just managed to roll out of the way losing a finger while doing so.


    The rest of the group came rushing in to help, the healer already hauling the mage away as they all took combat positions.


    The worm went back down the hole it had made.


    The mage continued to scream, the healer working his hardest to reattach the finger.


    The leader of the party, a lithe, slim, ranger walked over to the hole and peered down, then cast a charm.


    ¡°Down this way leads to what I think is the dungeon.¡± She looked down angrily, ¡°In fact, I think that that monster was part of the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°So who''s up for some dungeon diving?¡± A grin stretched across the face of the rouge as he readied his daggers and prepared to enter.


    ...


    Sentients were coming and I had to fight the urge to go up and just eat them all. I had stationed it at the only entrance to the dungeon, which also happened to be where my core was.


    I had a bad, bad feeling about this.


    ...


    ¡°Who do you think it belongs to, dark or light?¡± The mage asked as they walked down the steep tunnel that the worm creature had created.


    ¡°Dunno, I wanna know what loot it has, I also wanna know if it''s empowered or marked.¡± The rouge said with a flourish of daggers.


    ¡°Remember Death, Darkness, Celestial, Infernal, and Chaos dungeon cores must be removed and shattered.¡± The leader this time.


    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been a Death Core in ages, not since the Lord of Darkness, and Lady Light turned up. Though to be fair if the fairy has an empowerment then that could transfer some power over to the Core.¡± Tim spoke in a whisper, torch held high above his head.


    They walked carefully down the dark tunnels, which seemed to lead nowhere, now and then they stumbled across a broken room but they couldn¡¯t find the dungeon core.


    ...


    I thought sentients were supposed to be smart.


    They were just wandering around in circles, going past the same rooms over and over again and yet still they hadn¡¯t found my waiting Worm.


    Wait.


    They were coming.


    ...


    Tim was confused, this was his fifth dungeon excavation and none of them exhibited as much damage as this one did. Collapsed tunnels and rooms riddled the place, and they weren¡¯t in standard formation either, they all seemed to be facing straight and the tunnels were erratic at best.


    ¡°Over here!¡± The mage had finally sensed something, it was usually hard to use your magic sense because dungeons released a lot of ambient essences which could mess up the readings.


    ¡°Alright, Gor and Gork, you''re at the front. Tim, at the back. The Mage, the healer, and I will be support.¡± The leader started to shout out orders, knowing that they were most likely going to be facing the Worm again.


    In this formation, they entered the hole.


    ...


    The sentients had just entered into the main tunnel that led to the room where I was at.


    I had my Worm or Wyrm as I started to call it fade back into the shadows as much as it was able so as not to startle the visitors, though by the looks of it it seemed that the Wyrm already had.


    They went down through the tunnel at a snail''s pace, before eventually coming into the main room.


    ..,


    ¡°I see the core!¡± The rouge was the first to let out the cry.


    ¡°Mage, identify it, see if it has an empowerment, prepare to kill it if needs be.¡± The ranger started to whisper something and her arrow lit up with a blue light.


    The mage raised his hand and concentrated before stumbling back, his face had gone white.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Death Core.¡±


    ¡°Kill it! Go! Go! Go!¡± The leader immediately started shouting orders.


    ...


    I tried to speak but all I did was vibrate, I then tried to send out a sliver of my essence and telepathically communicate with them but that didn¡¯t seem to work either.


    I saw what I think was a mage raise his hand, it was then that I felt an odd sense of discomfort and a fuzzy feeling permeated my being.


    The mage stumbled back, pointed at me, shouted something and then everything went to hell.


    They started to advance on me but I had no idea why that was when the bow-wielding person released an arrow surrounded by blue light.


    My Wyrm ripped out of my control, leaving me stunned and interposed itself between the arrow and me, it exploded sparks going everywhere.


    My Wyrm growled, a black mark stained its hide but it was otherwise unharmed. The bow wielder looked on with amazement before shouting orders and sending what appeared to be two large green-skinned humans with tusks.


    Dungeon creatures? Was another dungeon attacking me? Was that even possible? All these questions whirled around in my head, along with confusion.


    Why were these people attacking me? I started to angry, I started to feel the overwhelming desire to destroy.


    To eliminate.


    To feed.


    I found myself inside of the Wyrm, but I felt no confusion, no disorientation, all I felt was rage, and the burning desire for death.


    Nothing felt wrong, it didn¡¯t feel wrong as I chomped one of the tusked humans in half, nor did it feel wrong when I threw his bloody remains at the rest of his party.


    ...


    Tim watched in open-mouthed horror as he saw the Worm come from the shadows, block the ranger''s most powerful attack, and then rip Gor in half and throw his pieces onto the rest of the adventuring party.


    Tim looked down and saw Gors head roll and come to rest at his feet.


    He stood still, just gazing at the head.


    The mage looked up wide-eyed, ¡°The dungeon is essence buffing the damn thing.¡± That was all he could say before his arm was ripped off and his legs were crushed.


    The monster rose and ripped Gork''s head from his body, blood spurting out of the stump where the head once resided spraying blood and gore all over the cavern.


    The healer hadn¡¯t been able to do anything so fast was the attack.


    Tim had the horrible feeling that this cave was going to be his final resting place, Gorks head landed in his arms, followed closely by what looked like the ranger''s hand.


    Tim screamed brains were covering his hands, blood was splattered around the cavern, pieces of bodies flying through the air.


    The healer''s head landed in his arms.


    He took both heads, looked at one, looked at the other, both faces locked in expressions of horror, shock, and denial.


    He looked at the headless bodies; blood, guts, and bone spraying out of them like a geyser.


    He screamed and started to run.


    That was when he saw the body of the ranger land in front of him, the once beautiful maiden was missing an arm, a leg, and her stomach had been laid open.


    The Worm wrapped itself around him, oblivious to his screams, Tim felt saliva drip slowly down the side of his face.


    The last thing he saw were teeth, the last thing he felt was his spine snapping, ribs breaking, and neck creaking.


    The last thing he heard was his horrified screams echoing throughout the room.


    A dungeon had arisen and it looked like it was out for blood.


    ...


    The men back gave with a satisfying snap, his screams adding a musical background to the otherwise quiet cave, and I found myself thrust back into the core.


    I didn¡¯t have time to think about what I did before euphoria took, the essence that the sentients had provided pouring into my core, it felt good, so good.


    I let myself be carried away, swimming in the emotion, in the feeling, I had dealt death today.


    It had felt ever so good.


    I heard clapping, and then a horrible grinding of teeth, that I now knew was Death''s way of showing amusement.


    ¡°You did well today, pet, I can feel the emotions permeating the air and... mmmm...¡± Death pretended to shiver, ¡°They feel ever so good!¡± Death paused and seemed to bask in the atmosphere of my cave. ¡°Aaaah, I know that you feel it as well core, alas, you seem ever so determined to ignore my gift and... talk.¡± Death spat the last word out.


    ¡°You were lucky I was there to keep you from talking little pet, you had the right idea going for a little while.¡± He came up to me and stroked my gem, ¡°That matters not, your first task is to kill all inhabitants of the city closest to you, or, you must put them into servitude.¡± He took the body of one of the dead tusked humans; orcs I remembered is what they were called.


    ¡°Your payment.¡± He threw the dead body at the foot of my core, he picked up and threw the rest of the bodies at the foot my core as well.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that counts as payme-¡°


    He held up a finger to forestall me and spoke, ¡°Before you start complaining, yes, it actually does count as payment, you have neither absorbed the bodies nor done anything that would claim it as yours, sucking the life essence out of it does not count because that is an autonomous action and out of your control.¡± He stroked my core again.


    I knew better than to argue, even though I was furious on the inside, both for him scamming me and for him stopping me from communicating with the sentients that had entered my dungeon.


    ¡°Calm down pet, you will get more food and sentients to play with as you eliminate the city for me.¡±


    ¡°You bit-¡° Death had waved a hand and a force had settled over me, preventing me from speaking.


    ¡°Pets don¡¯t treat their masters with such disrespect; your punishment is a muzzling for the next week. Bad core, BAD!¡±


    I was fuming on the inside, but there was nothing that I could do except wait it out.


    ¡°Now, you must also remember core that you have a crack in your side.¡± Death waved and horrible pain swept over me, it was so bad that even the Wyrm started to roll around on the ground and cry out, it stopped abruptly. ¡°Now, I hope you have learned your lesson pet if you continue to be a good pet I might even grant you name! I¡¯m sure you would like that wouldn¡¯t you.¡±


    Death was chastising me like I was a child! His tone was what you would use on a disobedient baby! Rage poured through me, but I knew that if I did one wrong move Death would punish me, and I didn¡¯t want that at all.


    ¡°Remember, I want the city gone.¡± His voice was vicious and full of hate.


    ¡°Do not fail me or there will be consequences.¡± I tried to speak but he had left me muzzled, he thought me a dog, I would show him.


    I would.


    It was only then that I saw what my cave looked like, it was then that I sensed the emotions of the sentients that I had killed and what I saw horrified me.


    Fear, pain, despair, horror, all of these feelings permeated the air. It was then that I remembered what I had done, I became the monster that I was trying so hard to hold back.


    I was becoming exactly what Death wanted me to become.


    I felt¡­ like I had failed, I hadn¡¯t been able to control myself, I had become a Death Core.


    I tried to speak, to say something to the corpses that were piled at the foot of my core, but nothing came out.


    I did the only thing I could do and absorbed them, then I sunk into despair. I tried to cry, something that I knew of but could not do. I didn¡¯t want to be seen as a monster, I didn¡¯t want to become what Death seemed to think I would, I also didn¡¯t want to kill a city.


    I had no choice.


    I was a slave.


    The one thing that I had tried to never become.


    I was a failure.


    I sat in the ruins of my dungeon, blood staining the walls, and I started to prepare.


    Prepared to end the lives of thousands.


    Damn you Death.


    ¡­


    -The City-


    The Exarch of the city of Talon was holding court, it had only been in the past decade that Talon had gone from a mere town to a full-fledged city-state and the courtroom reflected that, it had once been a chieftains longhouse but was now used as the court. The doors slammed open and a messenger came through.


    ¡°Sir! The adventuring group sent to scout out the new dungeon has not reported, and had have been missing for over a week.¡± The messenger bowed before the Exarch.


    ¡°What the guild ask of me? There is nothing I can do about a missing party of adventurers.¡± The Exarch responded.


    ¡°The guild asks that you send Lascaris to find out what is happening.¡± The messenger said deferentially.


    ¡°Fine, tell them they owe me a favor. Lascaris!¡± The Exarch called.


    Out of the shadows came the mage, a marked of the Truth, it made him perfect for investigations.


    ¡°I shall go my Lord.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡¯¡¯ The Exarch sat back with a sigh.


    ¡­


    -The Core-


    My dungeon was fixed. I put my core room at the bottom of my five-room dungeon, adding a sixth room. An entrance was also there though I had not yet opened it, it would look just like a mound of dirt to any passers-by.


    This time I built up, rooms starting at the surface and then descending if I was going to kill a city I needed an obvious entrance, so that way I could mislead then ignorant sentients.


    They would only see a three-room dungeon, populated with just enough monsters to give them a fight along with a fake gem that I had found during my digging in the middle of the third room.


    The other rooms were hidden, these were my staging areas I stuffed them full of monsters. I wasn¡¯t able to replicate my Wyrm, but I was able to create mini-wyrms that weren¡¯t as big or strong but could do a lot of damage.


    I had evolved ants, cockroaches, and moles. The ants looked like a human with mandibles, antenna, claws, and dressed in full plate red armor without a helmet. They were only half the size of a human though.


    The moles just got a whole lot bigger, developed tougher skin, and got huge incisors.


    The cockroaches looked like the ant but much bigger and they seemed pretty stupid even by insect standards.


    I hadn¡¯t tried to play with any of them and I had only evolved what I could find, I tried looking for a queen ant but couldn¡¯t find any.


    I still hadn¡¯t brought myself to recreate the sentients.


    The dungeon animals were breeding though but none of them had given birth yet, I was hoping that their children would be able to go outside my area of influence because I was still a long way away from getting to the city. Something like thirty miles, a horse could get there but there was no was getting even close to that point any time soon.


    What I had noticed is that as I killed sentients my area of influence increased.


    A dilemma, to say the least, I didn¡¯t want to slaughter an entire city and based on the attacks of my Alpha Wyrm it would be gore-filled and horrible.


    I just didn¡¯t see any alternatives.


    ¡­


    ¡°Hold!¡± Lascaris shouted.


    The group halted, Lascaris looked on them with disdain.


    There was no one of the import and from looks of it they were all just common guild fodder, Lascaris looked at the floor and exerted his power as a marked.


    And found something horrifying, he was powerful enough that he could see into the past if there was enough intense emotion, he had stopped here because he wasn¡¯t even trying and he could the sense the fear that permeated the area.


    Then he had looked into the past and knew that he would have nightmares for the rest of his life.


    ¡°Who are you, and why do you come to my dungeon?¡± A voice spoke in his head, startling him.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time that he had been telepathically communicated to, but it was the first time he had been communicated to by a dungeon.


    ¡°We are investigating the disappearance of an adventurer group.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, they attacked me after my Wyrm almost killed one, it was an accident I assure you.¡±


    Based on what Lascaris had seen that tale looked plausible, but if there was one thing that Lascaris knew was that more than one of those things could easily decimate the forces of the city, it was with this in mind that Lascaris said,


    ¡°We have also come to make a deal with you, I understand that Dungeons need materials, human essence, and other creatures to be able to survive.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that it is the gist of it with a few odd misconceptions.¡±


    ¡°We will feed you our criminals, and give you creatures and materials and in return, you will not attack the city and let the adventurers guild and farm your depths.¡±


    ¡°What is this farming that you speak of?¡±


    ¡°You do not know? Surely your fairy must have explained it to you! Regardless, it is when adventurers enter your depths, kill your monster and gain the treasure that they drop, or they get killed. A win-win situation.¡±


    ¡°I accept on one condition, should the ever adventurers ever come within shooting distance of my core I am allowed to eliminate them and the city,¡±


    Harsh conditions to say the least.


    ¡°I agree, as the Exarchs advisor I have the authority to agree on behalf of the city, the guild is a different matter.¡± He raised his right arm and proclaimed both mentally and physically in front of witnesses,


    ¡°I swear on the gods of Truth and Honor to honor this agreement let any who break this oath have their soul dissipated and dispersed through time.¡± The essence was drawn from the air and into him.


    ¡°I also swear on the gods of Truth and Honor to honor this agreement let any who break this oath have their soul dissipated and dispersed through time.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°LASCARIS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°CORE! EXPLAIN YOURSELF BEFORE I KILL YOU AND DISSIPATE YOUR SOUL!¡± Death had appeared.

 This is a fake chapter, sorry, but please look.

    I''m moving to a new country so I won''t be able to post for while. Sorry.


    I almost have a chapter ready and if I can post it I will, but I''m busy right now.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Sorry guys, I might be able to get a new one on later.


    Bye, have a poll to make for it.

 Chapter 6: Wrath and Blood

    I was on my knees, sobbing, when the mountain erupted, an explosion of massive magnitude.


    Huge amounts of earth were displaced and flew high into the air before falling back down and crashing into the side of mountain with the force of a meteor. Then they started to roll, destroying all in their way, trees that had stood for centuries were demolished and the ground was ripped apart.


    Lava flowed close behind, disintegrating what was left of the savaged landscape, leaving behind nothing except for a dull barren wasteland.


    Ash flew overhead glowing red from the heat of the volcano, blotting out the sun before descending on anything and everything burning it scorching it and leaving behind tortured cusps of what was once and animal or a plant.


    Yet still more ash flew farther, going to settle upon more populated places.


    I flew, the force of the explosion sending me high and far, it sent me flying. I couldn¡¯t bring my self to care though.


    I landed on the hard unforgiving ground.


    My bones shattered.


    I spat blood.


    I didn¡¯t care. I was numb, broken.


    It was then that I saw Varics corpse, limp, and lifeless go flying over me, blood still pouring out of the neck wound that I had made.


    It was then that I remembered.


    The Madman.


    I needed to redeem myself, to find forgiveness for what I had done.


    I needed to avenge Varic.


    I needed The Madman to feel the pain that I had.


    The Madman.


    It was he that had orchestrated this all, he that had me kill my friend.


    I would kill him.


    I would torture him.


    I would feast upon his flesh.


    I let loose a scream, a scream of rage, a scream of hate, a scream of insanity.


    My eyes widened, my teeth clenched, I clutched my dagger so hard that my hand started to bleed, then I started to salivate, I would rip out The Madmans heart. Rip it out and consume it, I would torture him, then I would piss upon his body.


    Something broke, and I was flooded with power, The Madmans power.


    My bones slowly began to knit back together, flesh scabbed over and was healed, I screamed into the air, blood sprang and fountained from my mouth but just as quickly anything that was wrong healed. My bones came together with a crack, my flesh was pink and new.


    Ash fell from the sky and burned me, melting my new skin, but just as quickly it was healed.


    I would survive.


    I would redeem myself.


    I leapt up to my feet, turned and started to sprint, faster than I had any right to be, faster than the fastest runner in the slave camp.


    Such were the gifts of The Madman.


    I was not fast enough, ash still fell upon me and my regenerative skills could not keep up, I felt rocks start to pelt me, the landslides catching up.


    Once again I went flying, I knew that I was about to die, despite all that I had done, I was still going to die.


    That was when I felt the air warp around my feet and send me flying away from the approaching landslide, and the falling ash.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡­


    -The Company-


    He felt the rock moving under his feet, and saw an entire mountain explode. Aegus cursed the gods for his luck. It was just one catastrophe after another, he thought he was safe! Him and his company had been pursued by the army for weeks now! He had just lost them, and then an entire mountain exploded.


    ¡°HOLD!¡± He held up a clenched fist, his company stopping at the gesture.


    ¡°Run as far as you can, wait for my orders!¡±


    The company turned and started to run, trying to run away from the quickly falling ash and the soon to be coming landslides and lava.


    They went out a hundred meters before Aegus judged that it was time to stop.


    ¡°Halt! MAGES! Come forward and create the barricades! Essence strengthen them! We cannot fail here!¡± He could do nothing at this point being an attuned of Air, except keep the ash off the mages as they did their work.


    ¡°Mages creating barriers!¡±


    ¡°Prepare for impact!¡± That was when he saw the kid, flying through the air.


    A kid. Out here in the middle of nowhere. He could hardly believe his eyes, but what he did know was that he wasn¡¯t going to leave a kid alone to face a landslide. Just because he was an outcast didn¡¯t mean that he had left his honor behind with the army he abandoned.


    He knew that it was very possible that it was some type of demon or hellspawn but his company was able to take on any of those.


    He remembered the screams of the children he had ordered burned, remembered their corpses.


    He remembered dashing infants on stones.


    He remembered killing the captain.


    He ran out to save the child, using air he pulled the kid from the sky and down onto the company. A rough fall but one that the child would survive especially with the healers that they had.


    Leaving him to face the landslides, and the ash


    Luckily he was one of the empowered.


    He faced the landslide jumped straight up in an propelled jump, landed on one the flying rocks and started to run on top of the landslide, ash burning his skin, it took intense concentration and a skilled application of his gift but he managed it.


    He flew forward, his men were well trained and had done things like this before, though perhaps never for so odd a reason. He saw a hole open in the dome that was the barrier, the used the rest of his energy to shoot towards the hole, trusting the mages to cushion him.


    He landed a moment later and looked down at his new charge.


    ¡°Your safe here boy, your safe.¡±


    ¡­


    I woke up, in a strange tent, surrounded by strange people, and strange voices.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s up.¡± A grizzled voice, belonging to scarred man.


    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s the fastest recovery I¡¯ve seen in a long time, only you and the other attuned have recovery like that and he doesn¡¯t look attuned.¡± A slim women, with a slim sword strapped to her back.


    The women pushed my chin up and poured something cool and refreshing down my throat, water I think.


    I started to relax, then I remembered the Madman.


    I sat up, rage boiling and flowing throughout my entire being, I released a manacial scream of anger, I lashed out and my fist connected with flesh.


    The women fell backwards with a yelp.


    The man tried to grab me, only to be uppercutted.


    I jumped from the bed and started to sprint away, screaming in rage.


    ¡°MADMAN?! WHERE ARE YOU!¡± I roared.


    That was when I felt the air tighten around my legs, and my face connected solidly with the floor, I saw stars, then I saw black.


    Aegus looked at the prone kid with sympathy, rubbing his jaw, he had seen it in soldiers, criminals, and people subjected to traumatising experiences, though the boy seemed to be taking it harder than most.


    ¡°Did you have to be so rough?¡± His wife Sonya came up behind him and reprimanded him.


    Aegus walked up to the prone form laying on the ground and tenderly picked him up, ¡°There was no time for that degree of finesse, and I had to calm him down quickly.¡±


    ¡°Poor soul.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°Mmmm.¡± Juice was running down my hands and was smudged across my mouth.


    ¡°Told you they were good didn¡¯t I?¡± Varic said laughing, juice was smeared across his hands and mouth as well.


    I looked up, and saw blood gushing from a gash in his neck.


    He looked up and met my gaze he looked confused, and his eyes were swelling with tears.


    ¡°Why, Ajax?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t.¡± I stumbled back,


    ¡°LOOK, AT YOUR HANDS!¡± I looked and they were covered in blood, in my right hand a knife was clutched tight.


    ¡°You did this Ajax! YOU! YOU WERE THE ONE TO KILL ME.¡±


    I stumbled back, hands out.


    ¡°Nonononononono.¡±


    ¡°Ajax¡± His voice echoed out again,


    ¡°Friend.¡±


    I woke up screaming, tears streaming down my face.


    I sat up, put my face in my hands and cried.


    ¡°Varic forgive me!¡± I howled and started to tear at my face drawing blood, ripping deep furrows in my face. Blood started to spill.


    Varic with his throat slit.


    I screamed louder and louder, and ripped into my face carving jagged lines into it.


    It was then that I felt my hands get restrained and felt someone wrap their arms around me.


    ¡°Your safe here, your safe.¡±


    ¡°VARIC, FORGIVE ME!¡± I let loose another scream, then fell back and let the blackness of sleep overtake me.


    Aegus had seen it before, the madness that overtakes men when they do or see something so horrible that it traps them. Making them relive the moment in different scenarios.


    His wife came up beside him, releasing the lad from her embrace.


    She sighed, ¡°All we can do is nurse him back to sanity and hope he isn¡¯t to scarred from whatever ordeal he went through.¡±


    ¡°We can only hope.¡±


    ¡­


    Nightmares haunted me, I saw Varic dying over and over and over again each death caused by me.


    Each time I would wake up, sometimes in a rage, and other times in tears.


    One thing held firm, I would make the Madman pay.


    I woke up, I did not scream or cry or rage.


    The Madman would pay.

 Chapter 7: Camp Life

    ¡°Ajax,¡± A soft voice sounded in my ear, ¡°time to wake up now.¡±


    I groaned rolled over and saw the face of my adoptive mother staring down at me.


    ¡°Okay, okay, just wait, please.¡± She throws open the tent flap and sunlight comes rushing through straight into my eyes.


    I roll over and then slowly get up.


    Another day at camp.


    I¡¯m grateful though, I still wake up screaming sometimes from my memories of the slave camp and most of all the memories of The Madman and memories of Varic.


    I reach up and touch my back, feeling the scars that cross it, whip marks.


    That¡¯s behind me now.


    I¡¯m safe here.


    I just have to try not let everyone down like I have so many times before.


    After Sonya leaves I get dressed and prepare go outside, looking for Aegus, my adoptive father.


    I can¡¯t see him anywhere. I walk through the camp, making my toward the mess.


    ¡°Hi, Ajax!¡± Tim shouted, smiling.


    ¡°Good Morning!¡± Tabitha yelled, carrying bundles of laundry.


    ¡°How are ya?¡± Hilden called, waving at me.


    I had a place here.


    A smile started to make its way across my face, three years since I was saved from the explosion, three years since I regained my sanity.


    Three years since Varic died.


    I made my way over to Simion, who was currently skinning some rabbits, I sat down beside him and started to help.


    We worked in silence for a while, Simion was a quite guy and silence never seemed to bother him.


    ¡°Aj! Where are you damn bastard!¡± A voice carried out over the camp.


    I smiled, Simon was calling, tall, well built, and fair, he¡¯s the closest friend I have. We don¡¯t have the relationship that Varic and I shared, but we were close. A prankster, jokester, and probably the least serious person I know.


    ¡°Get over here!¡± He motioned me over to the lake.


    I rolled my eyes and laughed I knew exactly what was going to happen.


    When I got there, he motioned me behind some bushes, ¡°Agatha should be coming any time now.¡± He whispered.


    This again? I thought he learned his lesson last year.


    Agatha was the avatar of the huntress and had supernaturally good senses because of it, she was also one of the bustiest ladies in the camp, Simon had been trying for years to catch her with her top off.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    To say the least he has never succeeded.


    ¡°Simon, you dolt! Don¡¯t drag me into this!¡± Half of me wanted to see if it would work and the other half of me feared the consequences.


    ¡°Aw, shut up, you and I both know you want to see her as bad as I do.¡± He winked and grinned at me cheekily.


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    I looked up and took a fist hard to my face, I felt my nose break, and I was knocked flying, right in time to take a foot to my temple.


    I started seeing double.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± I heard a groan off to my right, it seemed that Simon was in just as bad a condition as I was.


    I heard laughing.


    Damn.


    Gerta, and Agatha seemed to have found us.


    Damn.


    ¡°And what do you boys think you were doing?¡±


    ¡°Meesh wasshe abosh to washe meself.¡± Simon responded eloquently.


    ¡°Meesh, toosh.¡± I agreed.


    I saw a foot.


    Then all I saw was black.


    I woke up with a splitting headache, and I seemed to be¡­ strapped to a tree? By a river?


    Then I realised I was naked.


    Then I realised that most of the camp was watching.


    Then I realised that Agatha was explaining what was happening.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe it! We were right behind them and they just carried on talking!¡±


    Oof. I looked around and saw Simon strapped to a tree next to me.


    My mother came up and healed, me and Simons wounds, gave us a disapproving look, and then walked off.


    Leaving me


    ¡­ bound.


    I sighed, just another day in the camp.


    ¡­


    I looked for Aegus later that day, but found nothing. They were probably out raiding again.


    I once asked Aegus if they were evil for raiding villages and towns.


    He sat down near the fire and stared at it for a few long moments before saying.


    ¡°I wonder that myself sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Then I remember what life was like back in the army.¡± He stared at the fire again for longer this time and we hear in crackling.


    ¡°I signed up for king and country, I signed up for honour, the recruiters spat that crap to whoever would listen, and listen I did.¡±


    He looked away. ¡°I regret it to this day.¡±


    ¡°Being an attuned in Cenararian army is both a blessing and a curse.¡± He spat to the side.


    ¡°They¡¯ll give you special training, teach you how to use your talent, make you the best out of the best. Then they tell you to slaughter your way through the enemy grunt troops find and kill the general then slaughter your way back to camp.¡±


    ¡°After you take the city they¡¯ll make you locate the hiding spots of that same general and tell you to rape his wife to death, dash the head of his baby against a wall, then put the rest of the children to death.¡±


    ¡°I killed the wife as soon as possible, pretending to get too carried away. I couldn¡¯t do anything for the children. Not unless I, and my squadmates wanted to suffer the same. This happened over and over and over again, until I became numb to it all, telling myself over and over that what I did was in the name of king and country.¡±


    He sighed ¡°That what I did was right.¡±


    ¡°But when I see a man laughing as he holds down a women and ravages her, when I see other men make the children watch?¡±


    ¡°I could never say that that was right.¡±


    ¡°Never.¡±


    ¡°My company and I were the best of the best, we were trained to be. It became a curse, they gave us all the black jobs, the jobs that had to do with the death of young ones and the burning of cities, I was glad and and horrified at the same time. I could prevent the emotional torture that others would inflict, but the burden of those deaths fell on me.¡±


    ¡°I hate them for it.¡± His lips curled into a snarl, an expression I didn¡¯t see often.


    ¡°I saved as many of the children as I could, and if you look around you¡¯ll see some of them have joined the company. It was good thing¡­until they found out, the arbiters are not a gentle force, and what they made me do almost broke me. I whipped five of them to death, young children, mind you, and I whipped them to death. That was when I decided it was time to leave, it took me a full year to have the opportunity to kill those arbiter bastards and get my company outta there, a full year! Even then we were pursued. I don¡¯t regret any of it.¡±


    ¡°I look at what we are doing now¡± He gestured around at the bustling camp, laughter abounding and the fire running high,


    ¡°And I can¡¯t think that this is evil. We raid with honour!¡± He laughed, ¡°at least as much honor as raiders can have. We don¡¯t rape, or burn the village down, we have a code, and by that code we will abide. We take only what we need and leave enough for the villagers to survive off of, we kill only those we have absolutely have to kill, and try to carry out our raids with stealth to prevent bloodshed from happening.¡±


    ¡°When I ask myself if what I¡¯m doing is evil? I remember what I would be doing, and know that this is the best alternative.¡±

 Chapter 8: Bloodlust

    -Ajax-


    I faced off against Lucien, normally we would both be cracking jokes and grinning.


    This wasn¡¯t a normal situation.


    We remained grim faced and unmoving, ignoring the jabbering of the spectators that surrounded us.


    This was day that we would officially be welcomed into the company and it was not a time for joking.


    ¡°Salute your opponent!¡± Aegus¡¯s voice rang loud and clear over the courtyard, silencing the jabbering around us and focusing the attention on what was about to come.


    Not a sound could be heard.


    I raised my Battle Staff and my opponent raised his Spear, then we bowed.


    We were ready.


    I was ready.


    ¡°Combatants are you ready?¡± His voice rang out once more,


    ¡°Yes, we are ready!¡± We shouted as one.


    ¡°Combatants! Are you ready?!¡±


    ¡°YES, WE ARE READY!¡± We shouted louder this time, our voices echoing out across the courtyard.


    ¡°COMBATANTS! ARE YOU READY?¡±


    ¡°SIR! WE ARE READY!¡± We raised our weapons once more and saluted the crowd, who remained silent, as custom demanded.


    We were being initiated and the mood was fit for the occasion.


    ¡°Combatants! Engage!¡± Aegus¡¯s voice rang one last time across the courtyard.


    We looked each other in the eye and charged.


    Usually we would circle and search out each other¡¯s weaknesses but custom demanded that we charge and engage in combat like so many others did before us.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    And charge we did.


    Lucien went in for a quick jab, his unblunted spearhead coming straight for my heart.


    We weren¡¯t in the sparring field anymore.


    This was real, and wouldn¡¯t stop until one of us surrendered, we had good enough mages that most wounds would heal rather fast.


    Even then, I was an avatar and he was attuned to light.


    With mages ready to save us not a lot could kill us.


    I ducked under the spear, and leaped forward going in for a jab of my own.


    He sidestepped and his knee surrounded by a golden glow came up to slam into my jaw.


    I probably could have dodged it but I was confident that I could take the blow, his knee slammed into my jaw.


    My neck snapped up, my jaw shattered.


    Making use of The Madman¡¯s gift I dulled the pain, then leaped right into Lucien, taking him onto the ground.


    I could tell he was amazed, the only reason he gave up his advantage with his spear was because he thought I would never take a blow like that and just retreat.


    Now he was on the ground, and the advantage was mine.


    Don¡¯t get me wrong I¡¯m not particularly skilled at wrestling, and yes, I lost my staff.


    Thing is being an avatar gives me an inherent advantage in pure strength in comparison to an empowered.


    I punched his nose in, leaving it a squashed mess, and probably cracking his skull in the process and prepared to cave his neck in and win the fight.


    Only to be blinded by a flash of light, I felt a foot in my gut and I was sent flying.


    I landed on my feet.


    And promptly vomited.


    I felt my jaw slowly start to heal, I don¡¯t know why but my regenerative capabilities decreased after my escape from the mountain and now three years later, they, while still powerful, were but a shadow of their former self.


    My vision cleared and I saw a glowing spear point coming for my eye.


    I deflected the spear, jumped back and tried to find my staff.


    It was behind Lucien, who was coming in fast, spear coming for my gut.


    I blocked once again, and the next blow, and the next blow, my hands were a blur and I was utilising all off my gifts as an avatar.


    It wasn¡¯t enough though.


    The spear came through my defences and plunged into my gut and came out the other side.


    Lucien savagely twisted it, and looked to Aegus to call it his win.


    I charged, letting the spear come all the way through me and out the other side, howling in pain I grabbed Lucien and started to punch him, again, again, and again.


    He tried to flash me and escape except that I too good of a hold on him and continued to punch him even while blinded.


    Blood was splattering everywhere, Lucien was on knees.


    ¡°YIELD!¡± I roared lost in the madness of bloodlust.


    He remained silent.


    I continued to attack him, a punch to the gut, then a punch to the ribs, I heard a crack and watched as bone violently shattered and came shooting out his side.


    I saw a white light come over him and start to rapidly heal his wounds.


    I felt air and earth start to wrap around my feet.


    I roared, I was so close! I continued to punch him until I was pulled back.


    I looked around, coming out of my rage.


    All I saw were disappointed people, I looked to Aegus.


    I saw disappointment there as well.


    I saw the broken body on the ground, healing from the wounds that I inflicted.


    I saw them.


    I walked off, into the forest and started to cry.

 Chapter 9: The Blade

    Days after Ajax was chosen as an Avatar.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Varic and nine others were lined up in a cave, nervously looking around at the blood that stained the floor, and the bones that could be seen scattered across the floor.


    Varic had seen worse.


    Out of the shadows came one of the most dangerous men that Varic had ever seen, he excuded an aura of death, destruction, and fear.


    ¡°I am the Blade, refer to me as much.¡± Were the first that came out of his mouth.


    He stood in front of them and looked at them as if they were pieces and he was picking out the juiciest parts.


    ¡°You are children of the gods now.¡± The Blade said, eyes looking over the children assembled contemptuously, ¡°you are the gods servant, slave, and dog. The gods will is your will.¡±


    ¡°Freedom is an illusion.¡±


    He grinned at the children, ¡°Repeat it.¡±


    ¡°Freedom is an illusion.¡± The children chorused after him, some more willing than others.


    ¡°The gods are my salvation, and are my masters, repeat it.¡±


    A thickset boy on the right spat on the ground and announced, ¡°I serve no god!¡±


    Varic respected him as much as he pitied him, he could tell what was about to happen next, being a slave gave him that much.


    Varics thoughts were proven right as a loud ¡°snap!¡± filled the room, and blood started to spring from the boys arm.


    The bone was sticking right out and the rest of the arm was almost parallel to the shoulder, and bent in all the wrong ways.


    The boy started to scream.


    His leg snapped and he collapsed, knocking his head against the floor and going unconscious.


    Varic saw that some of his companions were retching, and throwing up their lunch.


    A punch to the face for each of them, the Blade going so fast Varic could barely track him, and they stopped.


    The Blade walked back over to the unconscious boy and looked down at him in disgust, ¡°This is what happens to the weak, the heretics, the pagans, the heathen¡¯s, and any others that do not heed the words of the gods, do not forget.¡±


    Varic didn¡¯t think he was going to be forgetting that anytime soon, it was brutality the likes of which only Master could match.


    And master wasn¡¯t that fast.


    The Blade turned back to the line.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Repeat after me!¡± He snarled, ¡°We are here to fufill whatever the gods desire, freedom is an illusion.¡±


    Once again they repeated what he said.


    ¡°Good.¡± He said.


    ¡°I will teach you the prayer now.¡±


    ¡°Put your hand on your heart and repeat after me. He took a breath and started¡­.


    ¡°I am a servant of the gods,¡¯


    ¡°They are my Masters, Rulers, they are my Judge and Jury¡¯


    ¡°The gods will is my will¡¯


    ¡°I have no will of my own, for my will is the will of my god,¡¯


    ¡°I have no flesh of my own, for my flesh is the gods tool,¡¯


    ¡°I have no soul, for my soul as been taken by my god¡¯


    ¡°I have no mind, except in service to the gods¡¯


    ¡°I am what my god commands me to be, I will die at my gods command, I will live at my gods command.¡¯


    ¡°Freedom is for the weak, freedom is unnecessary for we serve the gods, servitude grants us power.¡¯


    ¡°Prophet hear us.¡¯


    ¡°And in the name of the courts, we end this humble prayer.¡¯


    He took another breathed, looked at us and sighed. ¡°This place will be a living hell. Persevere and you will emerge with a god¡¯s blessing, and stronger than any other¡­Fail¡­and you will die a failure.¡±


    ¡°All those that stand here now are your brothers. You will protect them, nurture them, but you will also be charged with putting them down. Brotherhood is both a blessing and a curse, they will be your best friends but also your worst enemies. Remember, you must never hesitate, never flinch, as you cut down the traitors.¡± He looked at us.


    ¡°I am the last of my Brothers. I killed one for cowardice, I ran him through and watched as he slumped to the ground, the second I killed for blasphemy, he spat at the high priests feet, I snapped his neck. The others were killed in battle, or by each other. My last brother¡­ I tortured to death, he tried to kill The Prophet, I ignored his pleas for mercy, I ripped all the knuckles from his sword hand, after pulling out his fingernails of course. I fed him my waste, I starved him, I hung him up with hooks and spat at his open sores.¡± He grinned, eyes twinkling.


    ¡°He¡¯s still alive now, though he will never again be a brother to me again.¡±


    Varic and the others looked at him and each other with horror, revulsion clear on their faces, they also glanced at the unconscious boy on the floor.


    ¡°You are all Acolytes, the lowest of the low, you will be trained in the arts of war, strategy, subterfuge, and an endless list of other skills, after gaining an understanding of these skills you will be put through the crucible where you will either live or die.¡±


    He paced, ¡°Lesson one...¡± He put up a single finger, ¡°I will assign you each a god, you will find out the fighting style of each one¡­and master it.¡±


    The Blade started to walk down the line, ¡°You, Lord Flame, You, Darkness,¡­¡± It went on until he came in front of Varic.


    ¡°You, The Madman.¡±


    Varic was shocked, of all the entities he had to get this one, the one he swore vengeance against.


    The one who chose his worst enemy as an avatar.


    The one who ruined everything. He was going to escape that day, he was going to bring Ajax with him.


    Then Ajax betrayed him.


    ¡°No.¡±


    The Blade stopped.


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Varic knew what was going to happen if continued on with this.


    ¡°No, I said no. Give me any god other than the Madman, any god!¡±


    The Blade leaned in close¡­and spat into his eye. ¡°No one tells me what to do except the Prophet and the High Priest. You know what? You will train in the Madmans style, and the styles of all others here. You will get no breaks! No rest! Until you have mastered them all.¡±


    ¡°And for your punishment¡­.¡±


    Varic¡¯s head snapped viciously to the side, blood filled his mouth, and one of his teeth went flying.


    The fist came again, this time into his gut, his breath left him with a whoosh and he threw up.


    Then again, into his side this time, he heard his ribs creak and then snap.


    He cursed Vengeance for saving him.


    He remembered her voice.


    ¡°One in five hundred people are gifted.¡¯


    ¡°One in a thousand are empowered, also known as attuned.¡¯


    ¡°One in fifty thousand are marked.¡¯


    ¡°One in hundred thousand are avatars.¡¯


    ¡°You are marked.¡± She smiled, ¡°congratulations.¡±


    ¡°Count yourself lucky.¡± Then she disappeared, and moments later he was taken here.


    Damn her he thought, as a punch smashed his nose in.


    Damn her he thought, as a kick landed solidly in his groin area.


    Damn the Blade he thought, as both his arms snapped.


    Damn the Madman he thought, as both his legs broke.


    And Ajax? He thought as a punch came sailing toward his temple, promising unconsciousness.


    Fuck you.

 Chapter 10: Hate

    18 months after Ajax''s betrayal


    Varic stumbled down the staircase, seeing double, vision blurred, and collapsed in a heap at the bottom, limbs twitching and eyes fluttering.


    Poison was coursing through his system.


    Varic proceeded to curse his arrogance, it was his one weakness, a flaw in his otherwise perfect self. Ever since he completed the Blades challenge he had developed the arrogance of someone who knew that he was better than everyone else.


    Or at least that¡¯s what he had thought until he was attacked while sleeping. He hadn¡¯t trapped the door, and locking it was never enough. It was stupid, he knew, but such was the price of hubris, how easily a life could end.


    Varic growled, he sure as hell wasn¡¯t gonna let his end here.


    Not only had he failed to make sure the room was protected adequately but he had also drunk the draught that Timone had given him. Timone, the only person he thought was half-way decent in this hell-hole of a place.


    Rookie mistakes, mistakes that he could ill-afford to make. The Blade had pounded into him the importance of being ever vigilant, of trusting no one, it was also The Blade that made him so successful the damn bastard.


    Varic snarled and spat savagely to the side. He had been too successful insipiring envy, distrust, and even hatred in the other Acolytes. He learned ten fighting styles in the time it took everyone else to learn one.


    All of them were damn slow. May they rot forever in Deaths Domain.


    No one could help him now, not that anyone would¡¯ve helped him anyway.


    Except maybe the all merciful, loving, and benevolent gods that had made this slum of a place.


    Not that their blessings were doing much anywhere.


    Bastards.


    He didn¡¯t know if he would be able to make it, he had multiple stab wounds all over his body and he felt an unidentified poison coursing through his system.


    Spitting to the side a congealed glob of blood was the only thing that came out.


    The only reason he was still alive was his burning desire for vengeance, it invigorated, strengthened, and empowered him.


    It was times like this that Varic was actually grateful for what Vengeance had done.


    Didn¡¯t stop him lying prone in a pool of his own blood though.


    Varic felt his limbs start to go numb and he felt and intense coldness in his chest, he couldn¡¯t die though, not now, not like this.


    And definitely not without killing Ajax, the traitor, the turncoat, the motherfu-


    He heard footsteps and voices, seemingly far away, but he knew that didn¡¯t count for anything.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Varic raged, raged against the posion in his body and raged against the bastards that had tried to kill him.


    He would rip them apart, and piss on their remains.


    The coldness retreated once again as his desire for vengeance gave him power and lent him strength, despite that though the poison from an empowered of Pestilence was not something to be so quickly overlooked, he should consider himself lucky for even surviving this long.


    It was when he heard the footsteps and voices coming closer that he knew he was truly and utterly damned, no one would not take the chance to kill him especially in his weakened state.


    He refused to die on his back though, he struggled to move his arm and ripped his knife from its sheath, he hadn¡¯t been able to take it out earlier for obvious reasons but now he could, and would.


    He would die with a weapon in hand as the gods demanded, what he wouldn¡¯t do though is die lying on the ground like a dog. A death like that would be too shameful.


    To be lying on the ground waiting to spitted like a pig? Knife or no, It was an injustice he wouldn¡¯t bear.


    Legs shaking and pain coursing through his system, he regained his footing swaying unsteadily from side to side, before steadying himself on a nearby wall.


    Varic grinned, seemed he would die on his feet as well.


    He turned to the door readied his knife and prepared to face his attackers one last time. Varic wouldn¡¯t go down without a fight.


    Five forms descended, walking slowly down the staircase, Varic could hear the clink of their blades and the screech as hobnailed boots hit the floor.


    Didn¡¯t even show him the respect of a stealthy approach, arrogant sons of bit-


    ¡°Varic.¡± A monotone voice cut through his thoughts.


    ¡°Lin.¡± He replied equally monotone. ¡°Was stabbing me in my bed not enough for you?¡± He looked at her companions, his eyes widened in surprise and fury kindled, his voice changing abruptly.


    ¡°What a surprise.¡± He sneered, at those who he called brothers, ¡°Brothers.¡± Varic repeated scathingly, ¡°What a joke, I was never a Brother to any of you no matter what you called me. At least, not since I proved I was above the likes of you damn slow bastards, Brotherhood is a joke, none of you ever stepped in to help me, so¡­. Do me a favor and go die in hell.¡± If there was one thing that Varic hated above all others, it was betrayal.


    His Brothers took an aggressive step toward him, clearly angered and maybe even a little sheepish. Soft glows starting to surround them. They were calling on their power already.


    They were weak.


    Lin narrowed her eyes, ¡°How are you still standing Varic? The amount of poison in your system right now would be enough kill ten men twice your weight and twice your height.¡± She looked at me, and I knew that the only thing that was keeping me alive was her curiosity, and maybe something else.


    Varic spat at her feet, only thing that came out was a glob of blood but it got the message through. ¡°Burn in the Seventh Hell whore.¡±


    She nodded at one of Varics supposed Brothers, who promptly stepped up and slapped him savagely across the face.


    Varic smashed his forehead into his traitorous Brothers nose, ducked under the next punch, and grinned as he heard the knuckles crunch against wall.


    He stopped grinning when the mans knee rocketed into his chin.


    ¡°ENOUGH!¡± Lin stepped up beside her crony and stared him down. She then looked at Varic.


    ¡°Behave mutt, it¡¯s the only thing keeping you alive.¡± She looked at Varic appraisingly, ¡°What are we going to do with you?¡± She grinned, and started to take out her knives.


    He returned the grin, showcasing bloody teeth and sharp canines, he had learned to file them long ago, as The Blade once said ¡°Always have a weapon, when your arms are cut off, use your legs. When your legs are cut off use your power. When your power is exhausted use your forehead, when your neck is snapped and your holding on by just a thread¡­ rip their throats out.¡± Illogical, but then again, the Blade always was.


    ¡°You know¡­ I¡¯ve hated you since your very first mission.¡± She put one knife away and took out a whetstone it its place.


    ¡°My Sisters were kind to me, we were a group, we looked out for each other, they were my rock in this otherwise stormy place.¡± Shhhing, she sharpened her knife.


    ¡°They gave me bread when The Blade withheld food, water when the blade withheld that.¡± Shhhingg .


    ¡°When all I could do was cry, they comforted me.¡± Shhhhing.


    ¡°You killed them all.¡± She looked up, tears were shining in her eyes. Her voice lowered into a whisper, ¡°All of them.¡±


    Her eyes flashed green, Varic could see the rage kindle.


    ¡°Now you will pay.¡±

 Chapter 11: Poison

    Nine was annoyed, ever so annoyed, she had been sleeping ever so well but then she woke up to horrific screaming, and rolling over she could see blood seeping under her doorway.


    Damn, she would have to get that fixed a blood mage could easily kill her with a glaring weakness like that, whatever the case though she needed to get rid of that screaming it was grating on her nerves.


    Jumping off the bed she grabbed her darts and opened up the door and was greeted by a sight that even she cringed from, which saying something, after all, she had been here since she was ten.


    Corpses littered the hall, all of them with horrific wounds, wounds that she noticed weren¡¯t the precise attacks of an assassin but rather the desperate attacks of a thug with way too much power.


    Now though there were only two figures. One in chains and the other with a glowing green knife. Nine abruptly stopped and was about to head back inside when she the one in the chains, his name was whispered with reverence in these halls.


    Varic. The man who had appeared at fourteen and had risen through the ranks faster than almost anyone in living memory she could count on one hand the number of people that had risen faster than him.


    It was two, that was how many had risen as fast as him. Two. Not three or four or five, two.


    It seemed though that he was in a bit of pickle, gaping wounds were opened on several spots on his body. His fingernails had been pulled out, she was in the middle of slowly opening more cuts and dripping some sort of something into his open wound.


    He screamed louder.


    His torturer laughed.


    Nine, on the other hand, was disgusted and angry. ¡°Do this somewhere else. I¡¯m trying to sleep.¡± She dripped as much contempt into those words as possible.


    Varics torturer glanced over and Nine once again almost turned around and went back into her bedroom.


    It was Lin. Second only to Varic.


    The two most promising pupils had fought and it looked like Lin had come out on top. Not that it looked like fair fight though, Nine looked disdainfully at the corpses scattered around.


    It seemed though that Lin was wounded, looking at the poor wretch on the floor she couldn¡¯t see how, but it had happened based off of the blood seeping from her side, are those tooth marks? Varic screamed and she bore witness to his filed teeth.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Did you not hear me? I said to piss off and do this somewhere else.¡± Nine was annoyed and angry at her fear, she had been here for years! She could take of her self, and she was semi-confident that so long as she kept Lin at a distance she should be able to kill the other women.


    Semi-confident.


    Lin growled at her, ¡°If I move it it will die, and we can¡¯t be having that now can we?¡± Lin giggled, Nine had seen this before, she was lost in the bloodlust and the need for vengeance.


    Nine herself had felt that way before, the thing is she could move her victim without it dying, it seemed that this was not the case for Lin.


    Whatever she would just need to convince her another way, a gurgling voice broke through both their thoughts ¡°Kill¡­.me¡­.please.¡± Varic gargled, before slumping backwards and letting out a moan. Nine and Lin just looked at him for a little bit before Lin said, ¡°Oh, no. Poor Varic, you gonna stay there until I¡¯m done with you, an hour for each sister of mine that you killed remember? Oh, yeah and an extra hour for each Brother of yours that you killed.¡±


    Nine at this point could honestly say that she was disgusted, even when torturing her Blade she had never gone this far.


    ¡°I said piss off.¡± Nine said through gritted teeth, ¡°or else.¡±


    ¡°Ohoho, it seems Varic that someone has come to save you! Sadly, I¡¯ll have to decline your kind offer and tell you to deal with it and piss off. Don¡¯t think that I can¡¯t kill you.¡± She twirled her dagger, round and round in circles.


    Nine was getting more and more uncomfortable with this situation, she didn¡¯t want to back down but she didn¡¯t want to get into a full-blown conflict either, the thing is if she were to attack and win then should be able to gain a powerful ally¡­. Hopefully.


    Lin looked at her, ¡°I said move.¡± She started to turn back to Varic keeping on eye on Nine of course but devoting most of her attention to Varic.


    Nine threw her dart, which began to multiply and multiply further, the real one becoming lost in a haze of fake darts, fake darts that could harm an opponent, though Nine wasn¡¯t powerful enough to make them feel like any more than an ant bite.


    Lin noticing this immediately took a bottle from her jacket and sprayed it at the darts, destroying them all including the real one.


    Nine jumped back and threw another dart, this one wreathed in darkness. She was a chosen of Chance, and her attacks were often randomized, taking on aspects of other elements or even gods.


    Lin deflected this one with her dagger before charging full speed toward her opponent, throwing a dagger while she was at it.


    Nine simply through another dart at the dagger and watched in satisfaction as it deflected the dagger away.


    Nine backed up and threw another two darts, and watched in surprise as they missed! Lin still charging toward her uncontested. Nine started to grin, she saw the darts turn around and start to shoot back toward Lin¡¯s back.


    Lin saw the grin and her eyes widened, and looking behind her almost managed to dodge the two darts, almost.


    The darts impacted solidly with her shoulder and neck.


    Lin got back up and still managed to shamble toward Nine, throwing vials of poison at her.


    Nine dodged the vials and was about to finish the injured women only to hear footsteps behind her, Lin smiled and yelled, ¡°Kill her!¡±