Fate of the Blessed

Aeron

“This could have been so much easier Amara.” I grabbed her by the hair, flinging her backwards. She slid along the floor, coming to an abrupt stop. She struggled to get back on her feet. Blood ran down her leg. I held a malevolent smile on my face as I walked slowly towards her. She was a tough nut to crack, but I enjoy a challenge.  

“Fuck you, Aeron” Amara spat, holding her knee.

My eyes flashed in anger. I held up my hand towards her. Her eyes went wide, the air was being sucked out of her lungs; she struggled to breathe and crumpled to the ground. Her orb on the plinth behind her dimmed. I dropped my hand. Exhausted, she dropped to the ground. I laughed; it was amusing watching her gasp for air.  A sudden memory of hers shot through my mind. Not a recent memory, but an ancient one from long ago. A previous life, perhaps. A lightbulb moment hit me, and I gave a sly smile.

“I know what you are now.” I said, Amara still gasping for breath, looked at me, her green eyes glistened with unshed tears. 

“You’re Thrice-Blessed.” I darted towards her, catching her by the shoulders, staring right into her eyes. She tried to pull herself out of my grip, but she was too weak.

“What the hell are you talking about?” She said. 

“In your past lives you’ve reached the Elysian Fields three times; this entitles you passage to the Blessed Isle.” I let go of her shoulders as I began pacing back and forth. I ran my fingers through my hair.

“You are a rare creature indeed.”

“What does this even mean Aeron, you’re not making sense. I don’t understand.” Her pitch rose as the words tumbled out of her mouth. 

“It means you’re special Amara, the power your orb holds.” 

Amara

I looked at him; I didn’t understand any of this, Blessed Isles, Thrice-Blessed, Elysian Fields. It was all too much. None of it made any sense at all.

“Only a fraction of people ever reach the Blessed Isle, don’t you see Amara? Your soul is rare and powerful.”

I stared up at him; he was crazy. He was dangerous, and I was like a lamb being led to the slaughter. Aeron paced in front of me, but I didn’t take my eyes off him. My mind raced with the possibility of not getting out of here alive if I was still, in fact, alive. I had to get back to Shanti; she needed me. He walked towards me and bent down, his face inches from my own. The intensity of his gaze made me turn my head.

“Oh Amara, what a joyous occasion this is.”

I built up my courage and head-butted him, catching him right in the nose. He stumbled backwards, knocked off guard. I took the opportunity of his distraction, dragging myself from the floor I limped towards the door. I braced myself, fearing at any moment I would be pulled backwards, but I reached the door without incident and slipped through it.

Aeron

I watched her stumble out of the door. This time I let her go. She had nowhere to go, even if she got out of the front door. Her orb was the only way she could escape, the only way she could move on. I wiped the blood from my nose and looked at it smeared across my fingers. I smiled as I licked them clean.

“Run little Amara, you’ll be back soon enough.”

Tae-Seong

I reached the top of the steps, but nothing had stirred. My body was on full alert, ready to react to the slightest movement. My pulsing heart reverberated through me. I held my sword ready, inching slowly forward through the open doors and into the main chamber of the temple. Its marble floors and pillars held an air of beauty. If I was here under any other circumstances, I would have marvelled at its distinction. Pillows and cushions littered the edges, but the middle lay empty, save for one oversized throne at the far end.

I looked about, but the whole place appeared vacant. In my experience, I knew this was not always the case. It felt like the calm before the storm. I entered the middle of the chamber when I noticed a young girl with auburn hair limping across the chamber. She was looking behind her, but she hadn’t noticed me. I watched with curiosity. Surely it couldn’t be this easy?

I gave it a few moments before I spoke. I let out a tentative “Hello”.

She snapped towards me. Her eyes were wide with fright. She was clutching at her arm where an angry scratch ran the length of her forearm. Blood trickled from a wound on her knee. I sheathed my sword and put my hands up in front of me. She took a step backwards, taking another glance behind her. I took a small step towards her. Her head frantically looked left and right.

“Are you Amara?” I said.

“Who are you?” her voice shook with fear.

“My name is Tae-Seong, I am a friend of Shanti’s” I took another step towards her. This time, she didn’t move, but a sob escaped from her mouth at the mention of the little girl’s name.

“Is she safe?” she let tears flow down her face. I nodded my response. Another sob came from Amara, so I moved another tentative step towards her.

“Would you like me to take you?”

She looked me in the eye, her face wet with tears. She didn’t speak; I held out my hand; it took a few moments before she extended her hand and placed it in mine. Her shoulder slumped as she did so. It told me she had nothing else to lose. My heart broke for her.

We moved towards the door when a slow clapping came from behind us. We both spun around when we saw Deimos stood in front of us. Two short swords hung by his side. He grinned as he unsheathed them; I guess he was enjoying this. I did the same, throwing my scabbard to the ground. We both stood battle ready, locking our eyes together, whilst Amara’s pensive eyes darted between the two of us.

“Go now, Amara.” I hissed. She hesitated for a second, and then nodded. She ran past Deimos, who didn’t even glance her way. 

“Come to save the girl, big man?” Deimos said as they circled each other with slow, deliberate steps. I did not raise to the bait and stayed silent. Deimos let out an almighty battle cry and charged forward. I managed parry the attack just in the knick of time. Damn, he was fast. We continued to hack and slash at each other whilst each of us looked for an opening.

The energy dissipated from my limbs after every frenzied assault as I struggled to block his attacks. I let my guard down for a split second. With a graceful back slash, one of his swords came up and sliced across my cheek. Stumbling backwards my hand flew to my face, I felt a sticky wetness under my fingertips. A fiery anger consumed me, and I gave out a loud battle cry, surging forward with renewed strength. Deimos parried my attack, thrusting out his foot he connected with my lower back causing me to crash to the floor. My sword fell from my grip and I slid across the floor. A heavy boot thudded onto my back.

“It is such a shame it has to be like this, you’re pretty hot.”

A bloodcurdling scream came from behind me. Deimos let a maniacal smile spread across his lips. I tried to lift myself from the floor, but his foot held me down.

“Looks like my brother is about to have as much fun as I am.”

Amara

I stopped and looked behind me. All I caught glimpses of were flashes of metal as they twirled and danced. It was mesmerising to watch, but I had to find a way out of this place. Tae-Seong fell down after a vicious slash from Deimos; I wanted to help, but a powerful hand clamped down on my shoulder to pull me back. I gasped as he spun me around, forcing me to look in his eyes. 

“There you are, little butterfly.” He smirked and shook me as I closed my eyes.

“Look at me!” he screamed.

I opened my eyes, and they locked with his. An intense fear built in my lower extremities. It rose through my body and into my limbs, paralysing me. He smiled, dropping me to the ground. I could not move because of the fear. It had knocked the air from my lungs.

“Please stop.”

The fear intensified, causing pain to reverberate throughout my body. I doubled over, falling to the ground with tears falling staining my cheeks. Phobos laughed in response. 

The fear spread through my body like wildfire. My vision blackened as I struggled to stay conscious. I heard the two brothers laughing, but it seemed as if it was far away. From where I lay, I saw Tae-Seong spread across the floor with Deimos’ foot pinning him to the ground. I willed him to get up and fight back. A rough hand grabbed the back of my dress, hoisting me from the floor and onto my knees. The fear ebbed away as I savoured the taste.

“Let’s see you call upon your light now, bitch!” he said.

He let go of me. Unable to stay upright, I flopped back to the floor and onto my side, wheezing. The sense of terror subsided without Phobos’ intense gaze as the strength in my limbs returned. Phobos circled me like a shark circling his prey. However, I bided my time.

Tae-Seong struggled to get up off of the floor as Deimos had him pinned. I focussed on them as my body returned to normal. Phobos was toying with me. I was nothing but a game for him. Deimos took his foot from Tae-Seong’s back and hit him with the butt of his sword. I heard a sickening crunch as his body went limp. I got to my knees, calling out, but Phobos silenced me with a backhand.

“You got her, brother?” he asked.

Phobos nodded. Deimos smiled and walked towards them. The edges of my vision blackened as he picked me up by the shoulders.

“My turn.”

When he did so, I lost all feeling in my body again, my senses shut off one by one, smell, touch, sight. Where was the light, why couldn’t I summon the light like I had the last time? I willed it to come with all my might but nothing materialised. Hopelessness radiated from every pore in my body as a sadness took hold.

Tae-Seong

I got myself onto my knees. Blood from the cut on my face dripped onto my t-shirt. As I looked up, I found the two brothers were taunting Amara. One had her gripped by the chin, whilst the other held her arms behind her. I tried to get to my feet, but they gave way with fatigue. Using my sword and other hand, I stayed on my knees. My head was swimming with the vicious blow I’d received from Deimos, and my back was on fire.

Suddenly, a crash came through the temple doors. The brothers let go of her; she dropped to the ground. Through the doors charged Charon, an oar in hand. He ran at the brothers and hit them so hard it knocked them past me and into the pillars behind. 

“Get up, my boy.” He said as he helped Amara to her feet.

Charon pulled a dazed Amara towards the doors and disappeared through them. With more determination, I climbed to my feet; I wobbled, then steadied myself. As I came out, Charon had gotten Amara into the boat and was motioning for me to run as he hoisted the boat towards the water. I didn’t need to be told twice as I followed them towards the river’s edge.  

“Not so fast.” Deimos said as he tackled me to ground, the sword flew out of my hand lodging itself in the river bank. I was sure my brain rattled in my skull. I rolled over to get back to my feet as Deimos did the same. 

“Come at me, boy.” 

“Why is everyone here insisting on calling me boy?” I asked, swinging a punch at Deimos, who blocked it with ease.

A fight ensued. The God was strong, outmatching me with his enormous strength. When the opportunity arose, I scrambled once more for the shore. I was about to make it when Deimos tackled me again, causing us both to crash into the water of the Acheron.

Immediately the sadness took a hold of me and the fight left my limbs making them heavy like they had become anchors weighing me down. I stopped struggling with the water, letting the sorrow take hold; I welcomed its release. What was the pointing in fighting, anyway? I let my body go slack and closed my eyes.

My father’s voice echoed inside my head, telling me how worthless I was. My eyes were heavy with unshed tears. The water surrounding me changed to a mist conjuring the vague outline of my father. He stood stock still. I walked towards him, but then stopped and shook my head. The longer I stared, I realised it wasn’t him.

“You are useless, you can’t even save yourself, never mind that girl.”

“You’re wrong, Father!” I screamed. A bitter laugh escaped his lips.

“Am I?”

I looked about as I could hear shouting, but it seemed so far away, I didn’t care about that now. The pain in my heart took precedence over everything else. The world dimmed as a blackness danced around the edges of my vision, trying to pull me under into unconsciousness.

“That’s right son let it take you.” he hissed.

I was just about to sink further down when rough hands grabbed my shoulders as they hurled me out of the water.  

Amara

My hands flew to cover the gasp that escaped my lips. Tae-Seong and Deimos had fallen into the water. The hands grabbed at Deimos and pulled him under, screaming as he continued downwards in the water. I tried to throw myself over the side of the boat to help him, but Charon pushed me back.

“You’ll be pulled under too, girl!” he scolded.

“Please help him, he saved my life!”

Charon ignored me. With a grunt, he reached into the water, trying to grab him. Each time his hands came back empty, my hope waned. He huffed, banging his hand against the boat; it rocked. I held on to avoid falling into the water. With a roar, he thrust his arm into the water once more.

He clasped Tae-Seong’s t-shirt, pulling him from the water, coughing and spluttering. He lay on the deck of the boat, coughing up the water that filled his lungs. I put my hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. I sat back, trying not to let the sting of rejection get to me. After all, we didn’t know each other. Tae-Seong looked at Charon in appreciation. He nodded in response. 

“Are you alright?” I asked. He gave me a curt nod.

I tried to put my hand on his shoulder again, but he pulled back, averting his gaze from mine.

“Let’s get you two back to the cabin. You have a little someone waiting there for you.” He smiled. 

As they sailed away from Aeron’s temple, I could hear Phobos shouting for his brother, but he was gone. The Acheron had consumed him.

“I am going to kill you all!” were the last words I picked up as the boat ambled through the water.