Champions of Serenity: Destiny Fulfilled

Chapter 20

Dreybrenic paced in his work room, seething over the loss of one of his power caches. How had that Demonic Eleven bitch known he had those? They were disguised and well hidden. His own magic-users didn’t even know he was storing power. He didn’t even know if Chaos knew he was stealing and storing power. All he knew was that somehow that bitch had found and destroyed the catalyst anchoring his storage pocket to the physical world. He also knew that she had taken the power into herself, what she had done with it from there he didn’t have a clue.

Then there was the complete destruction and demoralization of the mercenary outpost attached to Kreben. It might have been the sinkhole that attracted the attention of that half-breed bitch and her followers but how did she get it to her forest stronghold? He magically checked the outpost and none of the alarms had been triggered, so it hadn’t been an infiltration by the Demon Elf and her ragtag band of misfits. All he could ascribe it to was natural causes and not listening to the dwarves when they warned him what building with stone in that area would do.

Checking his other caches had been his first priority after discovering Kreben’s gone. They were all in place and intact. He reinforced their protection and further masked their power signatures from magical scrying. He had then removed his son from Hades and the world in general; hiding him with the one man he trusted above all others. General Larz Demeritz had been with Dreybrenic since the beginning and had protected Dreybrenic more than once. Larz was the one man who didn’t have anything to fear from Dreybrenic, because Dreybrenic didn’t have anything to fear from Larz. Both men understood what was at stake and both men were working to ensure that it happened. Lars was given the responsibility of raising Dreybrenic’s son to the truth of his position and to follow in his father’s footsteps. Where Larz and Nivalle were now, Dreybrenic wasn’t sure and was going to keep it that way until he had destroyed the Circle of Serenity as it was calling itself.

A bright light filled his workroom and he squinted against the power of it. Then a very beautiful woman stepped out from the light and stood over him. She looked him over with smoky eyes, her dark hair obscuring most of her face. Without saying anything to him, she walked around him, looking him over and then scowling.

“Who are you? Why have you burst into my workroom? How did you get in?” She wasn’t someone he knew and that bothered him. When she didn’t answer him, his anger grew. “Do you even know who I am? You will show me respect or you will die.”

“You are a little man with big ideas and a vileness I haven’t seen since Chaos’s first champion killed and ate the entire Faun race. You will not speak in my presence unless spoken to and you will answer me truthfully or you will be punished in ways you have never even dreamed of.” Her voice was musical even through the harshness of her tone.

Dreybrenic then understood this was one of the goddesses and his mind raced through the lists to figure out which one it could be. He stopped trying to follow her progress with his eyes as he thought, then when he figured out it could only be one of them, his eyes flew open wide.

“Serenity?” He said incredulously. What would she be doing coming to visit him? They were enemies.

Sudden pain lanced through his body and he fell to the ground writhing. There was no warning and no sign of what was causing the extreme pain. It felt like every blood vessel in his body was over heating and bursting and every nerve ending was being assaulted with glass covered, leather whips. He couldn’t scream because his throat was tightening on itself, choking off his air, leaving him gasping for breath.

The pain stopped as suddenly as it began, leaving him sweating on the floor, sobbing in agony. He looked up at Serenity’s calm face and wondered how anyone could be worse than she was for punishment; not even Chaos had caused that much pain so quickly or so intensely.

“I am looking for one of my Champions and he was last seen in the outpost of Kreben. He was in battle with one of your magic-users and now he has vanished. You will tell me what you did with him or you will suffer.” Serenity knelt down and looked him in the eye. “And if you thought that tiny jolt was agony, you haven’t yet begun to feel my wrath.”

Dreybrenic’s mind raced. So the sinkhole in Kreben wasn’t natural and one of the Champions had been lost in the rubble. That meant the prophecy hadn’t been completed yet and he still had a chance of destroying that upstart half Elf Demon bitch. But who had fallen? And where was he?

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Lady Seren….” Dreybrenic’s words were pinched off as torturous agony raced through his body. He convulsed on the floor as he turned purple from bursting blood vessels near the surface of his skin. Tiny rips started tearing his skin and blood oozed from them. He screamed as each opening was assailed by acrid liquid and burned away the flesh leaving raw gaping wounds.

“I never said you could speak my name, mortal.” The voice was unforgiving and unyielding. The pain eased enough to allow Dreybrenic to speak again. “Don’t tell me you don’t know, because you do know about Kreben. Tell me now what you have surmised.”

“You have failed and I will win. I have, without knowing it, removed one of your heroes and the prophecy said you needed all eight to beat me.” Dreybrenic gasped, realizing that she wasn’t someone he could lie to and not wanting to suffer more at her hands. “I don’t know what happened to your man, but I’m not sorry it did. And if I do find him or his remains, I will do whatever it takes to defile them and corrupt them until you can’t recognize them even with your magic.” He spat out, blood dribbling from his lips and creating a puddle on the floor under him.

All pain and discomfort stopped. All wounds were healed. Serenity vanished accepting Dreybrenic’s words for what they were worth.

Dreybrenic stood up and looked himself over. Whoever said that Serenity was soft and would be easy to beat had never met her before. He smiled as he thought about what he had learned this day.

This time, as he paced, he wondered which of the eight misfits had fallen in Kreben. How devastated were the others? He was especially interested in how that Elven Demon bitch was reacting. Now that he had won, he wondered just how much trouble the others would cause him until he eliminated all of them. And Chaos had been so worried about them and how hard it would be to stop them. They were just like any other rebel group, let them strangle on their own mistakes.

Whistling happily, he returned to his main hall and demanded breakfast. In the kitchens, some of the bravest wondered what had happened to change his mood so rapidly. He had left early, saying he didn’t want food this morning, a black scowl on his face that bode no good for anyone crossing him. Now he was whistling and calling for his favorites.

Just as he was sitting down to eat, Chaos appeared before him. “Join me, Lord Chaos; I have just had breakfast set down. What brings you here this wonderful morning?” Dreybrenic said, motioning for the god to sit at the table and feast.

Chaos looked Dreybrenic over and frowned. “What has you in such good spirits? You just lost a power cache and a quarter of your mercenary forces. I thought you would be just a little upset about that.”

Dreybrenic finished pouring out some spiced wine, handing the goblet to Chaos. “That can be replaced; a lost hero on the other hand, can’t.”

Sitting back and accepting the wine, Chaos nodded his understanding. “So I wasn’t mistaken. Serenity did come here this morning to confront you. What did you tell her?”

“That I didn’t know where her lost hero was, but if I found him I was going to desecrate and defile him or his remains until she wouldn’t be able to identify them. Also that by her own prophecy, I have won because she no longer has eight heroes to stand against me. So, who is it that was lost? Could it have been that giant dwarf of the leader’s?” He kept his voice light as he fished for more information.

Chaos reached for some fruit as he contemplated Dreybrenic’s answers and questions. Slowly, he peeled the tough, bitter, outer covering of the fruit. When he reached the tender, juicy, sweet pink flesh in the center, he savored a tangy bite.

“No, it wasn’t Airidon, Dreybrenic. I think if it had been him, Lady Trisinda would have been on your doorstep, prophecy or no, ripping your heart out and eating it before your astonished eyes as you fell dead at her feet. You are lucky in that regard.” Chaos said, eating another bite of the fruit.

“So they haven’t given up attacking me?” Dreybrenic said, cutting a large bite of almost raw meat from the steak. He drew the chunk through a sauce on the plate and then shoved it in his mouth.

“Did you think they would?” Chaos answered, turning away from the bleeding charred corpse of some animal on Dreybrenic’s plate. When he finished his fruit, he tore a piece of sweet bread from the loaf and spread it with honey butter and took a bite. “How can you eat something so barbaric?”

Dreybrenic chuckled and drank some wine to wash down the food in his mouth. “I happen to enjoy a rare centaur prime rib for breakfast. You should try it sometime. As for this Circle of Serenity, they can keep attacking me as they like, they aren’t going to win. That prophecy you gave me said it would take all eight to bring me down. With even one dead, it blows the whole thing out of the water. You told me that yourself, when you told me of the prophecy. I have nothing to worry about, in the end, I shall prevail.”

“I’m sorry that I don’t share your confidence, Dreybrenic. Well, I shall leave you to your breakfast and hope that the centaur don’t rise up against you and destroy you for eating one of their race. Good day, Dreybrenic, don’t gloat too long, it isn’t good for your image.” Chaos left his servant in the hall, disturbed even more by the assumptions everyone was making.

Meckin was lost. But was Meckin truly dead? Or was he simply pulled from play by some other god or goddess? If Meckin had been taken out of play, by whom and for what reason? If he were dead, then who was able to circumvent the Father’s will in this matter? There were too many questions and no answers forthcoming. That seriously annoyed Chaos; he was the one who was supposed to be behind such tricks.

This was a mystery, and who better to solve a mystery than the goddess who reigned over them? Chaos left his palace and went to pay a visit to his sister/daughter, Perlish.

Perlish, sitting in her garden, was studying some of the rosebuds. She reached out and touched one of them, and it bloomed a beautiful deep crimson. Another touch and another bud burst into a brilliant yellow. One last touch, and the bud withered and fell from the bush.

“What did it do to annoy you, sister dear?” Chaos asked Perlish. Perlish whirled around to face Chaos, startled.

“It did nothing, Chaos, other than be part of the mystery of why one bud blooms and another dies. What brings you to my home?” She wasn’t that happy about seeing him there and didn’t want to be gracious. She had seen what he was doing to poor Sheagnek ever since that prophecy came into being. Imagine, one god accusing another of interfering with one of the Father’s decrees.

“I have a mystery and I wanted your help with it.” He said simply. Reaching down, he picked up the fallen bud. He twirled it in his fingers and then frowned when it didn’t burst into color as he mentally commanded it to.

Perlish took the bud from Chaos and dropped it back onto the ground. “Sometimes, not even magic can bring the lifeless back, Chaos. That is what makes it a mystery. Now, what is your mystery and how can I help?” She sighed and moved to sit on a padded white iron chair in the middle of the green lawn by her garden. She gestured for Chaos to join her in another padded white iron chair.

“What happened to Serenity’s hero.” Chaos answered simply. He held up her hand when she started to speak. “I’m not claiming you have him or that you had anything to do with his vanishing. I’m simply trying to figure out who would be helped the most by his vanishing, who would have the audacity to interfere with Serenity’s prophecy and Father’s will, and if he was truly destroyed or simply pulled from play.”

Perlish started to get defensive and then when he laid out his thoughts, she started to wonder about it as well. “I see. That is indeed a mystery. Unfortunately, it isn’t my mystery so I can’t give you the answers. Give me a little time, and I’ll set my mind to it and try to unravel the knot you have given me for you. It is indeed a worthy puzzle for me to work through. Thank you, Chaos, for allowing me part of solving it.”

Pulling a table close to her, Perlish started to write down the many questions Chaos had presented her, along with a few of her own. Then she started to draw diagrams and write names and create charts. Looking up at Chaos, she lifted both eyebrows. “This will take more than just a few minutes. I will contact you when I have finished, until then, you are distracting me.”

Nodding his understanding, Chaos bowed to his sister and left. He didn’t have answers, but he had turned yet another mind to solving the problem. Perhaps Perlish would have the answers and perhaps not. At least he was still trying to think it through.

From the garden path, Serenity had heard and watched Chaos and Perlish. She left without bothering the goddess, knowing that when she had the answers, Chaos would let Serenity know. It was time to try something else, but what?