by Ronald Craft
Chapter 37
Kane's cheek was raw, and blistered from a lance of flame. Even when Dagfinn missed, the heat was so intense that it still burned his skin. His body was covered in burn marks, his breath came in ragged gasps, and sweat soaked his back. The stench of it filled his nose and mouth. Kane wanted nothing more than to lay down his sword, and let it all finally come to an end.
Chaerok wasn't so easily convinced.
When Kane entered the battle Chaerok retreated and controlled Kane from somewhere amongst the nearby buildings. Even when Pureus or Dagfinn managed to penetrate his armor it would immediately regenerate and begin healing his wound. Thus, the fighting continued.
The healing is weakening. Chaerok must be struggling to keep up with all the damage I've been taking.
Dagfinn laughed as he danced away from Kane's sword. Another blast of flame shot from his fingertips, and Kane narrowly rolled away in time to avoid losing an arm.
“Impostor, why do you hide?” Dagfinn asked, a grin on his face. “You've left your dog out in the rain all alone. He won't last long without your help.”
In response, Kane's sword darted out towards Dagfinn's head, but he brushed it aside with a finger.
A great roar sounded from behind Kane.
He turned in time to see the sun blotted out by Pureus's great hammer as it swung downwards. Kane threw himself past Dagfinn as the hammer smashed into the ground. The earth shook around him, and a piece of rubble the size of a wagon fell off the tower, crashing into the ground in front of Kane.
It's only a matter of time, he thought. I can't even control my own body. Death is waiting, yet I cannot heed his call.
Soon, he'd visit the underworld once more. The peace that death brought was all Kane could hope for now.
Flame and smoke covered the island around him. The trees crackled and popped as the unnatural fire devoured their branches. Birds screamed, and flew in every direction. Some large beast that Kane had never seen before lumbered past at one point, the white of its eyes showing as it galloped towards the sea.
Dagfinn grinned. “The dog fights better than the worm. You could learn a thing or two from this one, impostor.”
“I have no desire to fight you, Dagfinn,” Kane gasped. His body hurt all over, and the sword grew heavier in his hand with each swing.
“I was dead once. Chaerok brought me back to the world of the living, and now he controls me as if I'm some puppet. This is not the life I wanted.”
“And yet, here you are.” A whirlwind of white hot flames twisted around Dagfinn. “The power you're using pales in comparison to the true power of Bale. I harbor no love for my brother, but our power was never meant for mortals. All the same, I'm just having far too much fun toying with you.”
A voice whispered in the back of Kane's mind, I need more time. You can't die yet.
Chaerok's voice. Kane still didn't know where he was hiding, but it couldn't be far. They were still linked.
Where are you hiding, Chaerok? How much longer must I continue to do this? The puppet grows weary.
Kane was once more compelled to attack. His body bolted forward, and the sword in his hand darted towards Dagfinn despite every muscle in his body protesting the movement. With each swipe, the wall of flame around Dagfinn would part, yet it mended just as quickly. His attacks drove Dagfinn back step by step, but the god seemed to be enjoying it more than anything else. The smile left never his face, and he parried each blow with the smallest effort.
He mocks me. I'm not even a challenge. Why doesn't he just end my misery?
There was a thump as Dagfinn backed into a wall of stone behind him. “Seems you've got me now,” Dagfinn said. “Whatever shall I do?”
His grin widened, and his hand grabbed the blade of Kane's sword. The dark flames running across the sword drank in Dagfinn's white flames, but the power of the sword was no match for the gods' power.
The white fire devoured the black flames hungrily.
Do it now, Chaerok's voice whispered inside Kane's mind once more.
A ring of black fire sprung up around Dagfinn enveloping his entire body. He grunted, and released his hold on Kane's sword. The darkness, freed from suppression, burst forth once more along the length of the blade.
Chaerok emerged from behind the rubble, his eyes drinking in the light. “Perhaps you should have taken me seriously. You've lost your advantage.”
Dagfinn raised both arms, and sent white hot flames into the wall of dark fire surrounding him, but the darkness swallowed the flames and grew in size. He took a step back, his eyes widening and mouth agape. “You shouldn't have the strength for this. Where did you find this power?”
Chaerok gestured around him. “Your power focuses on creation. Mine focuses on death. Look around you, and see.”
Kane saw it now as well.
He drained power from the land itself!
Rotten fruits littered the ground around the trees, patches of grass were brown as the dirt it had grown from, and flowers had wilted into splotches of black.
Pureus let out a roar from behind them.
Kane swung around, and clenched his jaw as he prepared to dodge a blow that never came. Another wall of dark fire sprouted up around the beast, restraining its arms and legs. The creature grunted and growled, pulled against its fiery shackles, but they didn't budge.
Dagfinn narrowed his eyes. “Clever. That's a tactic Bale never resorted to. Even in the midst of battle, he had enough respect for the land to not draw his power from it.” He spit into the flames. “I know now more than ever that you aren't truly my brother.”
“Yet, the question still remains,” Kane panted. “How did he come by this power?”
Dagfinn's gaze shifted to Kane, and he cocked his head as if seeing him for the first time. “That's a question I intend on finding the answer to. I was there when Bale had his heart ripped out. The others all met a similar fate yet, you don't see them wandering around.”
The others? Kane thought. “What are you talking about?”
“The other gods', of course. I believe the former owner of this body told you of their fate.” Dagfinn's tone remained flat, as if he were talking about the weather.
“That's right,” Chaerok said. “Once the worm and the dog are finished with you, Dagfinn, you'll be free to join your brethren in the underworld.”
Dagfinn grinned. “You may have Bale's body, and his power, but you're incomplete. Your strength is limited.”
“Incomplete?” Chaerok held up a finger and a small flame sprung to life, dancing with a dark glee in the wind. “I feel quite whole.”
What is Dagfinn up to? Kane wondered. Is he trying to confuse Chaerok, or is he telling the truth?
Whatever the case, he was tired. He slumped against a rock, and let his sword clatter to the ground. The black armor across his body receded into the sword and he felt an invisible weight lift off his shoulders.
“You didn't listen to Valnoth very well, worm. I still had Bale's heart when he found me. Which means you have the heart of a human.”
Chaerok sneered. “That means nothing. Look at your situation. It's clear that you've met your match.”
“Is it?” Dagfinn asked. “Just how long do you think your power will hold out with an incomplete body?” His expression darkened. “How long do you think you can hold me back?” Flames erupted from Dagfinn's body, and slammed against the dark fire wall around him.
Chaerok stumbled back a step. The wall held, but it grew weaker with each attack.
“How much longer? One attack? Two? You're no match for me.” Dagfinn's eyes burned with the same fire that exploded from his body with each assault.
Kane sighed. What am I supposed to do? If I help Chaerok then I'm still stuck as his puppet. If I help Dagfinn, then my life will be extinguished. Is there no choice left to me? Am I nothing but a puppet?
He shook his head.
No. I will fin
d my own way.
Kane picked up the sword, and walked over towards Pureus.
The beast still struggled against its bonds. It clutched the great hammer in one of its hands, while the other clawed at the air.
Kane regarded it coolly. With everything he had seen since being swept from Lochden, a fire demon hardly phased him anymore. “I have a deal for you, demon.”
Pureus stopped its struggle, and turned its two large eyes onto Kane. They glowed crimson. A raspy voice came from deep within the creature's chest. “A mortal thinks to make a deal with me?”
Kane held up his sword. “I'll free you from your restraints. But, there's a price.”
The fire demon laughed, a sound that reminded Kane of rocks scraping against each other. “I'll soon be free from these bonds. The dark one weakens. What would I stand to gain from such a deal?”
He gestured around the creature. “You're like me. A puppet. I'll free you from your strings.”
Pureus glared at him for several moments before responding. “You could do this?”
“I can,” Kane lied. “If you do what I ask of you, then I will set you free.”
“What would you have me do?” Pureus replied.
“Once I free you from these bonds,” Kane gestured to the dark fire wrapped around Pureus's body, “I want you to free me from my own curse. Banish the darkness from my sword.”
Pureus chuckled. “Oh, the irony. One puppet freeing another. Fine, mortal, it shall be done.”
Kane nodded. He slashed through the bonds, one after another, until the demon was free. “It is done.”
“Give me your sword,” the creature rumbled.
Kane handed Pureus the sword. While it had been large in his own hands, it could've been used as a toothpick by the demon.
Fire spread from Pureus's fingertips across the breadth of the sword. The dark flames tried to absorb it, but they were overwhelmed, and purged from the blade in an explosion of heat.
The demon handed the sword back down to Kane. “It is done. Where once there was darkness there is now light. Be free, mortal.”
Kane grasped the hilt of the sword in his hand. The blade glowed white hot. He expected it to seer his flesh, but the hilt was cold as ice. A strength he hadn't known in years filled his body. Smoke rose off his skin as his wounds were erased from his body.
He was free.
“What have you done?” Chaerok roared behind him.
Kane faced the man that had been the source of so much anguish. “What needed to be done. I am your puppet no longer. You can fight it out with Dagfinn all you want, but you'll not have my help. You're on your own.”
“You'd betray me? After all I did for you?”
He pointed the sword at Chaerok. “You brought me back from the dead into a fate worse than death. I've carried your weak body along the way, and traveled by land, and air, for what? To find out that my brother's wife was impregnated by his most trusted leader, the gods were all murdered because of another gods' ambition, and on top of all of this you want to claim their power as your own?”
Kane gasped for breath. “I'm done. I have my freedom now, and I want nothing to do with any of this.”
“Fine.” Chaerok raised his hand. “Then die.” A spear of dark fire burst from his palm, and lanced towards Kane's chest.
Kane gripped his sword with both hands and slashed downwards. The stream of fire split into two, and soared past him into the trees. “You won't control me any longer, Chaerok. It seems you've lost.”
The wind rippled Chaerok's clothes as he glared at Kane. The wall of dark fire gave way to Dagfinn's attacks, and dispersed into the sky above. Chaerok stood in the center as Kane, Pureus, and Dagfinn regarded him.
“You are defeated,” Dagfinn said.
Footsteps came from behind them, and Kane turned at the sudden intrusion. Three figures emerged from the shadows, heading down the ruined remains of the road.
The largest man Kane had ever seen walked on the left, clothed in no more than a pair of leather pants and a huge pair of shoes. His body was littered with scars, and he wore a frown upon his face.
To the right, Karena, her head of fiery hair, dark blue eyes, a slim body, and a pair of familiar daggers stalked towards them. She was light on her toes, and fierce as a lion.
And, in between them was Ilian, with his curly black hair, muscled arms, the same light tunic he'd been wearing in the image Chaerok showed him, and a simple dagger at his belt.
“Oh gods, so it was true.” Kane took a step forward. “Ilian, why are you here?”
Ilian's eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open. “F—Father? Is that really you? But... how?”
Even Karena, ever the emotionless assassin, had a look of shock upon her face. “Kane? You were dead when I left Lochden. There's just... I don't understand how you're alive.”
The big man rumbled something imperceptible to Kane, and rubbed the stump of his hand.
Chaerok laughed behind him. “You say I'm defeated? Me?” He laughed again. “I've only just begun.”
“Shut your mouth, worm,” Dagfinn barked. Fire swirled around his fist.
It was then Kane remembered Valnoth's earlier words.
They bound the heart of a god inside of him. Inside my son.
“Ilian, get away from here!” Kane shouted. He whirled around, and brought his sword up, but it was too late.
A spear of dark fire flew past him.
