Oblivion Ch. 04

Creed swallowed, but his throat was so dry that it only caused him pain.

"So be it. I will bring her back to you."

"And so my vengeance is complete. You pathetic fool. You should have known that if I could not have her, then neither of us would."

"I never wished to have her. I only ever wished to see her happy," Creed whispered as he and the Eighth Realm Lord rematerialized in the tower of Daedronus's Grand Divinity Stone.

Kristasia gritted her teeth and shut her eyes as the god ran his tongue up the side of her neck. In the moment of his victory, was he really so thrilled with his conquering that he would have his way with her then and there before he even killed Daedronus? She could feel his hard erection pressing into her stomach as he yanked the shoulder of her dress down. Just another moment. Surely there would be just the right one about to come. He shifted his weight as he began to uncover her breast. That was it.

She brought her knee up into his balls as hard as she could. Lucinder's howl of pain was cut short as she brought her fist up into his jaw. The god stumbled backwards just enough for her to escape. His shock and pain gave way quickly to his fiery anger. With burning eyes, he lunged at her.

The very tips of his fingers caught the edges of her hair and coiled it around his fist. Her neck was yanked back sharply and his nails drew blood as they scraped across her arm to catch her in a bruising grip. She swung around, both of her feet leaving the ground only to plummet down together on one of his. He cried out and lost his footing, both of them tumbling to the ground.

Kristasia wrenched herself from his grip and tried to struggle to her feet, but in the same instant he caught the edge of her dress and jerked back to the ground. She felt his weight moving up her legs. Her heel hit his jaw, knocking him back, and she crawled as far as she could before he locked on to her upper calf and violently snatched her whole body back to him.

Suddenly she lay on her back, his body looming dreadfully over her and the back of his hand colliding with her jaw. Her vision went dark and her consciousness wavered before the overwhelming pain in her face shocked her back to alertness. By then his hand was on her throat and she struggled to breathe beneath the pressure.

"You stupid bitch," he spat. "I would have been kind to you. Had you only been kind to me, I would have been kind to you. But if you want my worst, you can have it."

"You know nothing of kindness! You know nothing of compassion! You know nothing of love!" she cried.

But he wanted to. He had hoped to. Nothing and no one in his father's realm had ever loved him or was ever kind to him. There are never been anything but cruelty for the firstborn son and the mother who had borne him. Some ridiculous, twisted, and childish part of his mind had thought that maybe this mortal who had loved Daedronus, the only female he'd ever seen who had truly loved and been loved by one of his kind, might love him as well. Even the God of Cruelty desired that most basic thing deep in the black pits of his heart. In that moment her words struck him down to the core of his being and hurt him more deeply than even the blow to his aching groin had.

"Perhaps not," he told her with a cold anger that had festered to a numbing calm. "But you're about to know everything of cruelty and hatred. I can only hope that he feels through your bond what I'm about to do to you. I will make sure that you feel it."

What he would do to her, only the darkest minds could imagine. Kristasia had been a slave only days ago that now felt like decades. She had known and seen enough cruelty in her life among mortal men that she knew she did not want to experience it from a god. From deep within her heart, she drew all the strength she had and then an ounce or two more.

Daedronus smashed his fist through Atronachus's white aura and knocked the other Lord through the wall. Rocks rained down around them. His enemy was up and when Daedronus caught his next blow, he felt the energy suddenly sucked from his body received the full, damaging force of it. The Lord of the Sixth Realm found himself coming back from a dizzying darkness atop a pile of rubble when the glowing form of Atronachus found him again.

His head ached and his back spasmed with pain. Form a moment, he could not move. His aura had left him. He sensed now what he had failed to sense in the heat of his battle. Kristasia was in pain. Creed had failed. He needed to go to her. Yet he was now almost too weak to move, let alone transfer his whole being across an entire kingdom. He had failed as well. Never in his life had the creator of life felt more like a mortal.

"Is that everything you had?" Atronachus roared. "Pathetic!"

Daedronus heaved a sigh and attempted to heal his broken bones. He hoped she would make better use of his power than he had. There was not much of it left. Soon his kingdom would begin to fall to ruin and then all of his mortals would begin to die. Atronachus had already wasted so much energy that his kingdom was falling to ruin. This would all end now.

"Are you ready to die? Are you ready to lose everything and fade away into nothingness? Are you ready to be cast into obscurity and lost from the world of time forever?" his enemy taunted.

"Do you mean like she was?" Daedronus asked through bloody lips.

"That was your fault!" Atronachus raged.

"She was running from you. You were cruel, angry, vengeful, lustful, and callous. Just like each of your sons she bore you. She came to me to be away from you. She ran away to the Plains of Haradreth because you would not leave her be and she thought she would never be rid of you! Her soul was destroyed there because of your actions, not mine!" Daedronus shouted.

"You should have never let her stay with you! You should have given her back to me! It's your fault for stealing her! I was not kind, but I loved her!" Atronachus roared. "Now I will have revenge!"

A glowing silver sword appeared in his hands. Daedronus laid back, ready for the blow. It was right then that his power returned to him and he knew that Kristasia had been successful in whatever endeavor she'd used it for.

Though she knew not where the power suddenly came from, Kristasia used it to shove Lucinder off of her. He went flying back against the wall of the room. Shocked at her own strength, she took a step back, bumping the pedestal upon which the Grand Divinity Stone sat so precariously. She turned to it, remembering Daedronus's words.

"No!" Lucinder roared as he leapt to his feet and lunged towards her.

Her fingertips moved to be bathed in its glow.

Suddenly two figured appeared between her and Lucinder. The taller of the two reached out with a single bare hand, grabbed Lucinder by his throat, and crushed his entire neck instantly. The God of Cruelty choked, his eyes rolled back, and then his form evaporated like water from the room.

"Kristasia, no! Don't touch it!" Creed cried in alarm.

"Daedronus told me to take it!" she cried back, her body shaking as the adrenaline in her blood spiked at the sight of the demonic Eighth Realm Lord who turned to face her.

"Sweet little mortal, if you take that stone from its perch, you will suck the life and energy and soul from Daedronus and destroy him. His kingdom and realm will be yours and you will be one of us, but he will be no more. If you do that, he will cease to exist except for within your soul, and though he will always be a part of you, I think you might prefer he was alive instead," Firolus explained rather gently.

Kristasia glanced at her fingertips so close to the surface of the glowing stone and then snatched them back immediately. The feeling of strength and power that filled her only moments before began to ebb away as she calmed.

"Why are you helping him?" she asked softly as she looked up at the vicious creature who had made fearsome Lucinder look like a child in his presence.

"Well... I did say I would stand with him less than twenty minutes ago. A deal is a deal. Now, on to the next matter of business. Kayden!" the Lord roared so loudly that the stones in the walls nearly vibrated to pieces.

"As if you roaring my name does more good than using your power to yank me across space does," a brooding demon of a man snapped as he came to appear before them, his arms crossed over his chest in disgust.

"Oh, good! You heard me! I wasn't sure if I'd yelled loudly enough to cross an entire kingdom. Tell Niphythen and Terandis to get some of our servants and go eat Ryandor and Noar and all their pathetic little servants they brought with them. It's almost lunchtime and they're probably hungry anyway. They're fighting with Daedronus's soldiers on the border of the kingdom. Once you've done that, meet me in Atronachus's throne room," Firolus ordered his oldest son.

For all the fearsomeness of Firolus, he certainly looked more human than his oldest son did. The man's skin was a bruised shade of blue and his hair was a thick, mangy, mane of black that consumed half his face. Two pale horns peeked out from atop the mess in even line with two yellow eyes that had all the seeming of a beast.

"Do I have to?" he demanded gruffly, his voice very much like his father's.

"Of course not, son. You don't have to do anything that you don't want to. Now get your damn ass out of here and do what I told you!" Firolus snarled.

Kayden rolled his eyes and disappeared.

"Children," Firolus muttered. "Over a billion years old and they still act like they're under a century. If I'd known that when he was born, I'd have put him back."

"I want to come with you," Kristasia cut in.

"To Atronachus's throne room? If he sees you, he'll kill you," Creed told her dismissively.

"Nonsense. Daedronus will be there and besides, I'll protect her. It will just warm my heart to see Daedronus reunited with the woman he loves so dearly," Firolus gushed with a venomous sweetness as he glared pointedly at Creed.

The minute Daedronus felt his power return to him, he lifted his hands up to catch Atronachus's brutal attack. The sword struck his aura and shattered beneath the might of the blow. Daedronus leapt to his feet and immediately, taking advantage of missed strike and all the energy he'd absorbed from it. In Atronachus's moment of weakness, Daedronus slammed into him, knocking them both to the ground and turning the stones beneath them to gravel.

They wrestled across the floor, trading blow after blow until Daedronus could feel the energy leeching from the kingdom around them. Atronachus would either give in or begin destroying his realm. Already his aura was breaking. Daedronus rolled his opponent over and concentrated all of his remaining energy all that he had stolen from Atronachus into a single blow that completely shattered the other's aura.

"Now tell me where the child is," Daedronus demanded.

"You'll find out soon enough," the other spat.

Suddenly an overwhelming presence entered the throne room and both Lords turned to stare.

"You worthless..." Atronachus began before the Eighth Realm Lord cut him off.

"Shut up and drown in your own self-loathing," Firolus snapped. "And give him back his mortal."

"Go get her," Atronachus snapped.

"Where is she?" Daedronus demanded.

"You should know."

"I should destroy you now!" Daedronus raged.

"Do it."

"Yes. Do it. Kayden should be here any moment. He can have Atronachus's kingdom," Firolus suggested.

"We don't have time. She's in the Plains of Haradreth," Daedronus declared.

"Well that's unfortunate," Firolus stated. "It's a shame that Lords cannot enter the Plains of Haradreth."

"I will go," Creed announced immediately.

"I'm coming with you," Kristasia announced as she strode past Firolus.

"Kristasia! What are you doing here? Go home. It's too dangerous! You cannot go there!" he argued fiercely.

"She is mine, Daedronus. Without her I would rather be dead. I am going with Creed or I will never forgive you for this," she threatened.

"Mortal, you cannot go there. Creed is the most powerful servant in this realm. He will bring her back. I'll send Kayden with him," Firolus offered.

"Send me where?" Kayden demanded as he materialized beside them.

"To the Plains of Haradreth," his father answered.

"Are you insane?! I will not!" Kayden rebuked loudly.

"You will go, you ungrateful brat, or I'll rip your intestines out, boil them, and shove them back down your throat," Firolus growled.

"At least they'd end up back where they're supposed to be," Kayden muttered. "If I go the Plains of Haradreth, the natives will eat them for me."

"You'll be fine, coward."

Daedronus studied the Eighth Realm Lord for a long while as he decided whether to trust the other.

"Why are you helping me?"

"I'm helping Creed."

"You hate him."

"It's nothing personal. I hate everyone."

"It's totally personal."

"Well... I guess you're right. He offered me something I wanted. Now go back your realm with your mortal and wait."

"I will not stand by and wait..." Kristasia began indignantly, but stopped abruptly when she realized she was alone with Daedronus in his throne room.

"Creed and Kayden will bring her back, Kristasia. I cannot go there and I will not allow you to go either," Daedronus told her sternly.

"This is all your fault! I should have told you to send me back to the mortal realm with her!" Kristasia cried as tears began to wet her cheeks.

The look he gave her might have broken her heart, was it not already broken.

"If that is your wish, I will make it so. When Creed returns, you may leave."

"I thought you could not undo our bond," she whispered.

"With time, all things may be undone."

Daedronus then vanished, leaving her alone in her tears.