A Different Kind of Despair (14 page)

"An infuriating artifact, to be sure," she
responded. "I've spent the last two years siphoning its power, but
remain unable to take its core for myself."

"Sounds rather uncreative for you,
Mistress."

"At the heart of the matter, devils
are an uncreative bunch," the Crone remarked. "We seek power to sow
chaos, and the cycle expands and continues. And frankly, some base
desires are welcome after these centuries of
creativity
. It's embarrassing how long Inval's
soul has managed to escape my grasp."

"A mystery, to be sure."

"Yes and no."

The response wasn't what Koronos had been
expecting. The Crone raised the Eyes in her hand, giving me the
opportunity to get lost in their scarlet, swirling depths.

Their cores were enclosed within a spherical
sea of mist. There was something familiar about them.
Something…

"Inval became a Ghostwalker," she snorted,
drawing me from my musing. "I tried to take his soul, but… how can
I put this politely? My claim was superseded."

"Hn, yes, I can see how that would be
troublesome," Koronos mused aloud. "But I was under the impression
that it was a loss. It was quite a surprise that he was
reincarnated."

"A part of him," the Crone stipulated. "A
tiny part hardly even worth mentioning. But as I loathe having that
blemish my perfect record, I'm going to take what I can get my
hands on, even if Marvin is a failure and a coward." She cast one
glowing eye on me, her lips quirked down in a scathing little
frown. "But since you answer to him I suppose that makes you the
bigger failure. You disappoint me, Koronos. I don't need to tell
you how much I hate being disappointed, do I?"

It was an insult and a threat all rolled
into one. My body shivered as Koronos lowered his gaze.

"No, Mistress."

I heard something towards the back of the
room. Shifting. Scuttling. Koronos flicked our combined gazes
towards the Crone. I felt a surge of adrenaline.

With those snakes hissing as loud as they
are, it's no wonder she can't hear it.

The Crone lost herself in the depths of the
Eyes. I wondered whether Formosa finally caught up to us.

Instead, I spotted a blur in the background.
Something was moving through the Grey. Since the Crone made no move
to peer into that realm this visitor was invisible.

"
Miraj
." It was woman's voice.
"
It's me, Diana
."

She came closer, crouching behind my back. I
felt her wispy touch on my skin as she pressed through the layer of
realities.

"
You need to
snatch the Eyes from the Crone on my mark. Send them flying. I
don't care.
"

Diana must've seen the questions on my face.
She hurried to explain.

"Formosa is here with help. You can't last
long in Astheneia's garden. If you stay here for even a few minutes
more then you'll be so weak that separating from Koronos will kill
you."

I heard the sound of footsteps settling into
their final positions. Diana took a deep breath.

"
Now. Miraj,
do it NOW!
"

I lashed my tail at the Crone's wrists. The
Eyes of the Leviathan flew into the air.

Tully dove down from an upper portion of the
caverns, swallowing them whole.

While she was confused Koronos launched us
as far away from her as he could. It didn't take me long to see
why. The Crone sprayed the place we were standing with her breath,
prompting some of the nearby flowers to bloom and unleash their
toxic miasma. All those unsuited to the attack withered in the
space of an instant.

She whirled on her heel, slicing her arm
through the air. A wall of thorns sprung to life, binding my wrists
and ankles before impaling me on their shallow spikes. I screamed
as their barbs hooked into my skin. Even Koronos was jarred by the
attack.

"LEO!" Marvin's voice boomed from somewhere
in the room.

"On it!"

Marvin's golem, Achoo, bull-rushed the
Crone, momentarily knocking her off balance. While she was
distracted, Leo ran to me and hacked at the branches.

"This is gonna hurt," he warned, tearing me
off the wall.

My vision went red. I didn't know the extent
of the damage, but I was almost certain that I didn't have skin on
my back anymore. Tears rained from my eyes. I didn't even have the
strength to whimper.

"Hand her over to me." The voice belonged to
Larry. Leo transferred me to his waiting arms. I heard the alien
sound of runes fall from his lips like a string of tiny bells. I
lost myself in their lilting notes, feeling my body stitch itself
whole again. "It's going to be alright, Miraj. You're going to be
alright."

A chorus of yelling ensued behind me.
Koronos opened my eyes and forced me to watch. The Crone was forced
to fight in melee, which obviously wasn't her specialty. However,
she wasn't without her defenses. Marvin egged Achoo forward. Leo
brought up a series of reanimated Sickly Sisters I'd killed
earlier. Some two dozen minions went at the Crone, but still they
were no match against her.

"Formosa?" I croaked. Where could she be at
a time like this?

Larry swore above me. I rolled my eyes
towards him.

"I need to fight."

"You've done enough!" The steel in that
sentence took me by surprise. "You've got an infection and I can't
get it out."

Diana hovered over me. I felt her hands on
my back.

"
You can't
release Koronos, Miraj. The Crone will summon him to fight at her
side.
"

I pushed myself out of Larry's arms,
breathing hard.

"Then what do you want me to do? Die?!"

Marvin whirled on that last word. I saw him
looking at me in alarm. I also saw the Crone reaching out to strike
him with her bramble arm. I started towards him, but in my heart I
knew I wouldn't make it in time.

"GO!"

Formosa's shrill voice emerged from the fog
of the Grey. She positioned herself between the Crone and her son.
I watched as blood sprayed from her mouth and the hole between her
ribs.

The Crone paused long enough to smile.

"I've underestimated you, Formosa," she
cooed, pulling the woman close. Even with her fatal wound, the
Shaman Mother managed a condescending sneer. "Despite your inferior
status, I rather enjoyed your company."

For a brief instant, remorse flashed in the
Crone's gilded eyes. She pursed her lips, tearing her hand out of
the gaping hole she'd produced. Formosa staggered on the way down,
but still managed to remain on her knees.

The will of this woman!

"Find the Ice Empress." Her eyes
blurred. "Miraj, I leave my fool son in your care.
Urah
."

Her soul left her body. I felt as though I
was the only one who could see it billow towards the ceiling, a
gray puff of fog streaked with black. My legs itched. I looked down
to see additional kauna blooming across my upper thighs.

Leo grabbed Marvin by the hand.

"We need to go, NOW!"

I don't know what they had planned, but
Larry took this as his cue to pick me up and run into the water of
the lake.

12: Six Months

Miraj. You're dying.

I blinked, almost blinded by a flurry of
faces passing over my head. Haggard and worn, Marvin, Larry, Leo,
and Will argued amongst one another. Jiki was there, too. As were
necromancers. Lots and lots of necromancers.

And Koronos wasn't helping.

You've been poisoned, Miraj. You've stayed
in the garden so long you won't be able to survive once I leave
your body.

I wanted to snort, but all that came out of
my mouth was a tiny wheeze.

But I can offer you a means to live, Miraj.
And all the power you could possibly need to avenge your
family.

Marvin was frantic. I'd never seen his face
so red. I imagined mine was the same way the night the Kurai
destroyed my home. The vision of powerlessness. Oh Marvin. Don't
make that face.

Say something. I need you to say anything if
you want me to save you. If you die now then I die with you.
Consider it a free deal. No strings attached.

There was a note of desperation in the
devil's tone, which told me that he was telling the whole truth for
once. Koronos did not want to die, and as it stood it was only a
matter of minutes before I took him down with me.

"-
t
," I croaked.

The commotion paused long enough to
determine whether or not I'd actually said anything. I closed my
eyes.

"
Alright
."

Everything went green.

I felt my body absorb the Crone's poison,
binding to me on a deeper level than I thought possible. Then there
was Koronos, who, rather than fight me during this process,
welcomed my existence in his mind. I felt all the ferocity of his
evil, but also a crippling hubris, tinged with an undercurrent of
primal fear.

He was afraid of the Crone. Koronos was
afraid of many things. I peered through layers of his existence,
finding that whisper of an emotion at the core of nearly everything
he did.

Weakling.

Pathetic.

These two words swam around in my head long
enough that I finally heard a grumbling sigh from the demon as he
shut me out.

I've gazed into your Abyss; now you've seen
some of mine. Let's agree to keep to ourselves from now on.

"Miraj?" Marvin's voice bid me to open my
eyes. I sat up, feeling whole again, stronger, but also on the
verge of breaking into pieces. "What happened?"

"S-she bought time." The entire room, a
cavern, I realized, turned to Jiki. I don't know how but we wound
up in Purilo's caverns. She must've pulled everyone through water
somehow. "That demon chose to abandon his right to his body. Their
s-s-souls are now fused."

I looked down at my body. My skin, while
still seeming human at a glance, was covered by imperceptible
scales. My nails remained unnaturally long and sharp. I still had
horns and a tail, but these no longer felt temporary.

It dawned on me with no small measure of
horror that I was stuck.

"Miraj," Jiki continued. "S-sacrificed her
humanity to s-survive."

I rose to my feet, feeling smaller than ever
in a sea of eyes. Eyes filled with questions, judgment;
accusations. I staggered back, mortified to be the center of
attention like some sort of freak. In the end, I'd done precisely
what Koronos had wanted all along.

I became a demon.

I locked my eyes on the nearest exit and ran
at a speed no human could match, further alienating me from the
people in the room. Koronos was unusually silent for once. He'd
also been human. I don't know how I knew that fact, but I did. This
wasn't a change to be taken lightly. No matter what he thought of
my coping, he was respectful enough to let me handle it on my
own.

Like the majority of Purilo's caverns, I
stumbled into a cove filled with water. My eyes lost their amber
light, permanently fixed into the devil's limey stare. My teeth
were sharp. My tongue was forked. The kauna swirled with gaseous
green mist.

The only part of me that stayed the same was
my hair, though it was wild and crusted with the black blood of
demons. I felt faint, and blacked out long enough to fall forward
into the pool.

I watched the ceiling grow distant as I sank
to the bottom, annoyed at the shallowness of the watery pit. I
could breathe underwater. I could probably breathe in a sea of
molten rock as well.

Ayasha, first my home, then my mother. Then
the necromancers and Formosa. Now my humanity.

What crime have I committed that could have
offended you so greatly?

How much longer must I suffer your rage?

"Miraj!"

My name echoed from somewhere above the
water. I pressed myself against the rock and felt the vibration of
sound and footsteps. It was one person. A man.

"Miraj! It's me!"

I recognized the steel gray hair from my
vantage point. Marvin was too clever for his own good. When he
didn't see me up or around, he looked down.

Our eyes met. I don't imagine mine were very
inconspicuous. They probably glowed even brighter from where I was
standing.

He stretched out his hand and arched his
brow at me.

I shook my head.

I swore I saw him roll his eyes.

Marvin dropped a pile of bones on the floor.
He must've used runes, because they quickly transformed into a
bowl. He set it on his head and dipped into my aquatic realm.

He sank down to my level and shivered at the
cold of the depths. The bone covering his face grew thin enough
where I could see him.