Kalon

  Chapter Eighty-Nine: Shuma Vekka

  Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

  Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

  Solar System: D-447

  Planet: Ora

  Location: The planet's surface

  We have sat in silence for a time now, my breath only now starting to become less heavy, images of the pain I endured under Krotha’s command cause my muscles to twitch from more than just the cold of the cave. Deep breaths find the calm starting to return to me. My eyes turn to look at Luna, she waits patiently, the questions that linger between us rising.

  My body is becoming colder outside of her embrace, the chill of the ice trying to seep back into my bones. Yet for some reason, I am not dead, even without furs, I feel warmth radiating throughout my body, fighting the bitterness. I am sure that a few months ago I would be dead, even in the shelter of a cave. Still, maybe this part of Ora is less frigid than where I am from. My eyes look around, the air in the cave is chilled, there must be an entrance nearby. I still do not know where the man with the wide-brimmed hat is either. Why is my tongue tied, why haven’t I asked her anything yet?

  She stares at me still, not averting her gaze. Her mouth gives form to her thoughts.

  “How are you feeling, is there anything…” Luna begins, but I interrupt her.

  “I will ask the questions,” I say, the resolve the demon had started to forge is present in my mind. It is not her turn to ask, it is her turn to answer. I have earned this much. Her beauty is less blinding than it was before. My jaw tenses, I am being childish, this is not my way. Letting out a long sigh, I turn to her again. The deep purple swaying against the outline of black around her irises, my heart thuds in my chest for a moment before coming back to my control. I do not let the entanglement of our eyes distract me as I begin to form questions upon my lips now.

  “The man, who is he?” I ask.

  “What man?” she asks me, confusion on her brow.

  So, she did not see him. Is this part of the madness that the woman spoke of?

  “How did we get here then?” I question.

  “You… didn’t you bring us here?” she asks, her face becoming more confused.

  Vek. So, either he has disappeared without a trace or I have indeed begun to go mad. How much time do I have left I wonder. More questions begin to form as the injustice of my situation flares in me.

  “You knew what using the Cursed Edict would do, yet you did not…” I pause, I find the words losing meaning, I do not care enough anymore to ask it, the point is moot, I am already going to die by it. It is only now that I realize what my questions should be, how to find the thread between the futures that Krotha showed me. One where those I care for live. What is the best path that I can take to maximize my death’s worth. I must focus on that, my life will soon be gone, and this is all I can give them.

  “I didn’t know how to tell you.” She blurts out, her eyes still locked onto mine, before I can ask the next question she continues “How could I tell you, that I am the reason you will die. Because I brought that–that thing… it is my fault that you are here, my fault that you will die before I could even…”

  “Enough, I do not need your guilt, I have no use for it.” I interrupt sternly.

  She stops, her eyes falling to the ground for a moment, clenching back the pain behind her eyes.

  “The Cursed Edict, the demon inside it, how do I control her?” I ask Luna, closely studying her eyes as they move to meet mine once more.

  “The demon inside it?” she asks, her pupils constricting, her mouth ajar as she searches my eyes.

  “She showed me a future–I will see that future does not become reality.” I say, sitting up and regaining my composure, “How do I bend her to my will?”

  My body shivers in the temperature, as does hers, both of us steaming lightly. She looks at me strangely, tilting her head to the side. Weighing my words.

  “Our bodies cannot fully handle the cold, let me give you warmth.” She says moving closer to me.

  I scoot backward, wary of her wiles that have ensnared me before.

  “Kalon, we will eventually die in these temperatures, even in this cave that shelters us, you…” I interrupt her again.

  “You will answer my question. How do I control it, so I might prevent the future it showed me?” I growl at her. There is little patience left in me. The cold bids me hurry, thoughts of Krotha fighting Leora and winning spurs urgency as I feel strangeness moving on the edges of my perception and running up my hand and arm. If Leora loses, I will surely be dragged back to the hellish embrace of the darkness. I need information quickly. Anything to fight it.

  “Demons do not show the future, even the Gods themselves…” she begins.

  “Do not speak to me of your false gods,” I say, my hand touching my lips, were those my words? I feel the crawling under my skin. It itches and burns. My focus pushes it away, there are so many questions I have, and I don’t know how much time I have to ask them. Why did I hesitate before?

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  Luna looks at me, there is pity forming in her eyes, pity that calls my rage.

  “How–do I control it?” I ask her again, the rage waits for my call.

  “The Cursed Edict cannot be controlled, even among the Cursed Edicts, it is in a class of its own.”

  “There are others like it?” I ask, curiosity swelling in me as my eyes see she tells the truth. I remember she had spoken of it before, back in the abandoned city. Now I need more, I need the depths of what she knows, perhaps in there is salvation.

  “Not exactly, it’s hard to explain, like I told you months ago, there’s so much you would need to know as context.”

  I raise my hand motioning to the cave of ice.

  “Do you have some pressing engagement? Be quick with your explanations, time is short.”

  “No, obviously not. It’s just that…” She trails off, closing the gap that has grown between us grasping my face.

  My heart flutters for a brief moment as she is mere breaths from my face. Her eyes look into mine, then she moves her hand to my neck, tracing something down to my chest. Her hands rip open my shirt and she lets out a loud gasp. Her mouth does not move to speak, in her eyes I see fear and sadness swirling.

  My eyes trail downwards, looking at my now exposed chest. There are black lines tracing the veins of my body, flowing outwards from my right shoulder, pulling off the tattered gloves, I see my right hand fully encased in black ichor. The itching and burning are now explained. My body becomes rigid for a moment, before I can find the breaths between the calm.

  “How do I control it?” I demand once more. There is a sick feeling rising in me as I begin to see the edges of a shadow in the corner of my vision.

  “Kalon…” Luna says putting a hand on my chest.

  My heart drops as I hear the demon’s voice rattling in my mind. So soon? Did she beat Leora already? Sekat.

  You cannot control me

  Even trapped in this prison… My will is still my own

  As it always has been… As it always will be

  The shadow begins to take shape, emerging from the corner of my vision, it is Krotha, appearing before me. She glides over to Luna, leaning down towards her, and examining her. A scowl forms on her face.

  This one reeks of blessings from False Gods… Even more than you… Kill her and be free, my blade.

  “I will not… I will not be your blade.” I say, pulling Luna behind me now. My heart pounds as fear traces into my heart, the memories of the pain she gave me coming closer, trying to strangle the air in my lungs.

  Luna whirls around, looking about the cave of ice, her eyes turn back to me confused.

  “There is nothing here… what do you see?” There is worry on her face.

  Krotha moves toward me now, I shift backward, and Luna grasps me firmly in her embrace, holding me still. I thrash, trying to move away, but she is stronger than me, strangely, not as much as before though. The demon laughs loudly now as its hand moves towards me.

  “There is nothing here, you are imagining it. Breathe, you are with me. It cannot hurt you here.” She says, trying to reassure me.

  “How do I control it?” I plead, the fear of what comes rising to greater heights.

  Krotha places her hand on my chest, the pain from before ruptures as the blackened veins begin to pulse with a deep red. Luna’s eyes grow wide as she sees it. She clutches me firmer. My mouth betrays me as it yells in pain. Krotha leans into my ear and whispers to me now. Her other hand strokes my face, pain rippling from its touch.

  Kill her… Take her power

  I can feel her power crawling under my skin. Her words confuse me, how can one take another’s power? It is nonsensical to me. Words froth from my mouth with the courage that dwells within me, defiance against this creature rising again.

  “I will not… do your worst… Shuma Vekka.” I curse, my heart pounding, the resolve trying to fight back against the fear.

  “Won’t what?” Luna asks, her grip becoming tighter, her breath is uneven like mine “Kalon… what is happening?”

  Krotha laughs loudly in my ear before speaking.

  There is that defiance of yours… Such a sweet smell it has

  I shall enjoy rending you into oblivion

  Making you forever mine, blade

  With that Krotha rises upwards, her face twisting into a malicious smile once more. She raises a hand up. I can feel her pulling me to the realm of dreams now. The pull engulfs me, strangling the will I possess to fight it.

  ***

  Realm of Dreams

  ***

  I am adrift in the torrents of water in the Realm of Dreams once more. My eyes move to the island, now massive and sprawling across the endless seas, the center of it has become taller. Upon the top of it sits Krotha upon a throne made of stone, encrusted with Netherium. Red Lightning cracks behind her. She raises a single hand up and snaps her fingers. The water becomes still, eerily so. I feel a calm washing over me, my body being pulled up from the water towards her. When I finally reach her she begins to speak.

  “Of all those who have tried to wield my power…” she begins, looking me up and down, “Your body of flesh is the weakest. Unfit to be my blade’s flesh, it will be ripped asunder when you cross the next boundary, and cross it for your Goddess, you will.”

  I am afraid, I wish that I were not, but fear ripples in my heart at the thought of the pain she will bring. Her words about my weakness does not stir my pride as it would before. It is strange to feel pride so low in my soul, buried and breaking, it accepts that I am not enough, that it is not enough for what I need to do. The ember sleeping now. Waiting for when I am enough. There is something else that comes in its place, bringing forth the will that has been growing within me. A will not of my own, but of my tribulations, born through my strife. The will of the Ulima inside me. This will listens to the demon’s words without contempt, it seeks to find a way to use the demon. As it will surely use me.

  Krotha pulls me closer, I can feel her peering into me. She searches within my memories again, peeling back the ones I have buried deep within, memories I wish to not dwell upon, memories etched into the darkest parts of my soul.

  “Your flesh may be the weakest, yet your will is not. I will reshape your worthless body, and reshape the weak foundations of your soul. If only to spite the False Gods, Making you mine, by pact of body and spirit.” She says, drawing her sharp fingernail under my throat, “Perhaps you will last long enough to give me satisfaction. I have high hopes for you now, blade. Feel the honor of being chosen by this Goddess, to serve me is to be wanted. Worship me, blade.”

  “Vek yourself.” I curse. Drawing in a shallow breath, preparing for the pain she brings. I will not give her the satisfaction she seeks. I will be strong. Like the ember that never dies. The flame that cannot be fully extinguished no matter the weight of the crushing darkness around it.

  She raises her hand and we rise upwards, the still waters erupt into large waves. Smashing against the large island of raised land which dwarfs the other smaller ones. My soul begins to burn as the land of the island rises higher and higher. Krotha holds me up still as I watch her reshaping the Realm of Dreams. She places a hand on my chest now, images flooding my mind again.

  “If you can survive the pain. You will find a worthy death. Perhaps even grasping the future you desire,” her words are soft, yet I am not entranced with her.

  Pain flows through me again now, I feel weak, it feels like I am dying. Every single ounce of my existence thrashes against the will of Krotha as she carves me open with her will. Breaking and remaking, again and again. I think of the future she showed me, weighing it with Luna’s words. Perhaps she did not show me the future, yet another game she plays with me. I need to become stronger so that I can slay her… can she even be killed? The next surge of pain thrashes against me pulling my thoughts away.

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  Also as a warning, there will be a redacted chapter coming up soon to comply with the RR rules of Sexual Content in books. Basically if I add it in, I have to mark the book for sexual content and then it doesn't show up on a lot of lists for mobile readers. Which hurts a books growth. So I'm not doing it.

  As a solution, when it comes time for that chapter, I will have the full chapter posted on Patreon unlocked for free where you can read the entire scene if you wish to. Thank you again for reading!