Dwell into darkness - Original story by MISTER BIG T

But what has happened to those who fought against the immortal?

Chapter 16: The difference of sisters

Miwako gasped and opened her eyes. Above her head was an old man dressed in a dark blue cloak.

"Calm down.... He’s one of my healers. My troops won the battle," the voice of Melisa spoke to her.

Miwako reached her hand down to where Jenny had stroked her. She could feel that the wound was closed but that skin had been scarred, maybe forever even.

"What about my troops? Can this man save them too?" Miwako asked, as she tried to stumble up to her feet.

The old man's eyes began to glow golden color as he muttered the words "I can save them all. But the burnt one, I shall not."

"Burnt one? You mean, Derek? You mean, you can't help him?" Miwako asked the man.

"It is not that I lack the power to do so, but I lack the will to do so. The spell burnt him far deeper than that of his skin; it burnt him to the depth of his soul. If I were to try and help him, he'd forever remain engulfed by the living fire, as a human torch. The fire in his mind would consume every other thought than that of the fiery death of his own," the cleric replied.

Miwako looked at Melisa, who was helping Marouk stand again.

"I don't believe you. Save Derek and make him complete again. If what you said is correct however, I'll put him to rest again myself," Miwako instructed the man.

AT THE SAMETIME...

In the border of the Rebel territory, several men rode alongside with Renee.

"Your sister instructed us to make sure you'll move out into the Forrest. We packed you with enough supplies to last three days, her final gift to you. She does not want to ever see you or hear from you again and if you attempt to return, you shall be treated as an outlaw. Do you understand?" one of the guards spoke.

Renee closed her eyes and sat down on a rock as she said, "Yes, I'm perfectly aware of all this. Allow me however to do something before you all leave me."

The guards looked at each other, before one of them replied "Very well. What is it?"

"Let me play my harp for you all," she said as she reached down into her dress and pulled the instrument out.

Everyone was amused by the young girl’s last request before being expelled.

"Sure, if that'll make you happy," one of the men said.

But as soon as she began to play the harp, the grin on their faces faded away. It was the most beautiful sound they had ever heard, a song so beautiful it was like gods were working through her hands. Even the animals in the Forrest stopped their doings and gathered closer, much closer than the animals normally would get just to be able to listen to the music. And then, Renee opened her mouth as she began to sing beautiful verses along with the music.

The cruel world casts me aside for what? For what.... For not being cruel as it is.... As it is..... But hear my plead in the forest kingdom; hear my prayer in the wilderness! The blood I refuse to spill shall be the blood that will help; the blood that I refuse to spill shall be your savior....... For as long as we keep fighting.... For as long as our hearts keep beating, we keep on hurting for that is our nature..... And as long as that goes on, we can never.........Be saved.........

As she stopped playing the harp and singing, everything fell silent. No crickets were chirping, no birds were singing and the men dared not to even breathe.

"I know you are all good men with loving families and are only doing what you've been ordered to do. However this war we're fighting is a war we can never truly win. How many of us must die, before you'll begin to realize it? How long does it take, before my sister realizes it?" she spoke, as she moved her harp back to her pack. She gazed into the Forrest and as she stood up, she continued, "I am now going to live my punishment that she ordered for me. You shall not see me ever again for it’s not because of her order, but rather because it’s my intention."

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Chapter 17: When everything good gets robbed from you

Jenny gave a sigh and moved into her bedchambers. She opened the rope around her cloak, making it drop down to ground. Her naked body was covered with scars that could have killed anyone multiple times. She had strange tattoos also covering her body. Her long red hair reached all the way to her butt.

She lied down to her bed and looked at the ceiling, as if she would have wanted something to happen.

"Incredible.... I've been trying to become immortal for as long as I can remember..... I have always wanted to take my revenge against the gods who abandoned me........... " she pondered in her mind.

Long she just stared at the ceiling and did not even blink.

"But now that I have become one, I don't feel any different. It's like.... Nothing has changed.... It's like.....Everything is same but I just no longer have a purpose to live longer.....“ she thought to herself.

THIRTY YEARS AGO....

"Kalasashka!" a man's voice called the girl with a red hair.

The girl turned around and saw her father, the mighty necromancer.

"I..... Heard you did not pray to gods today either. Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked her.

Kalasashka was silent but finally said, "Remember when my mother was really ill? I kept praying every single night and day that she'd get better. I prayed and prayed. But the more I prayed, the sicker she got....." she spoke. She squeezed her eyes close and continued "As I held her hand that moment that she died, I swore to myself to never pray again."

Her father gave a heavy sigh and patted the little girl’s head.

"I know, I miss your mother too. But you must understand that everything happens for a reason.... Every one of us serves a purpose for the balance in the world.... I mourned long and hard for your mother... But it's been over two years and you still....... Act as if it had happened yesterday," he said.

Kalasashka gently caressed her father's extended arm and said, "I cannot forget. Every time I look at myself from the pond or a mirror, I remember my mother. Everything in my room, everything.... Even you father, remind me of her."

Her father fell silent.

"I can NOT forget, unless I become someone else.... Or destroy traces of myself…" she said so silently that her father did not hear the last part.

Just then Jenny gasped and woke up from her dream. She was covered in her own sweat.

"I.... Guess five days were too much....“ she thought as she rubbed her eyes.

Five days of being an immortal...... And she still felt no different.

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Chapter 18: The burning man

The cleric in Melisa's castle held his hands over the badly burned body of Derek. He began to mutter some words in unknown language and his hand began to glow blue.

Just then, Derek opened his eyes and screamed so hard it made everyone’s ears ring.

Immediately, he grabbed the hand of the cleric, who out cried him as his whole hand was devoured by the living fire, with only a mere stump remaining. The man gave a final gurgle, before he fell to ground dead from the pure pain and shock.

Derek held the crispy hand in his own hands and looked at it while it burnt. Not even ashes were left.

"I.... Am alive...." he said as he slowly gazed towards Melisa and Miwako.

Miwako took a step closer to him as she spoke "I can see now why he was so afraid in healing you. But, you don't intimidate me. Not now or ever. No matter what you've become, you still belong to *me* do you understand servant?"

Derek was silent. The stench of his burning flesh was disgusting.

Suddenly, his charcoal colored eyes lit up as bright red when he responded, "I serve.... Mistress even from beyond the grave of flames."

"I have a mission for you Derek. A chance where you can make the woman who did this to you pay," she talked to him as she took another step closer.

Derek gazed at Melisa, who was holding her sword tightly under her grip. He smiled, knowing that she was scared of him. They were all scared of him and his power.

"Speak more.... Of this mission...." he hissed from behind his breath.

And this mission would decide the fate of the world...