Heresy: The Book of Mammon

Chapter 21

Chapter 21



You cannot fight them alone, Valimaar.

He sat silent in the corner of the cell. Ithaca continued to whisper his dark stains into his ears, but he ignored them. He was numb to the evils of the world.

I can help you! She’s more powerful than the both of us.

Perhaps the Daemon was right, for he felt its fear when Nyx looked upon him, but he would not break him. He did not fear her strength. She was nothing more than a Daemon with a different name. Angels, Daemons, monsters – they were all the same. He’d overcome the darkness of the world before, he would do it again.

Listen to me Valimaar. I know her.

He ignored the whispers, and watched as the shadows molded once more before his eyes. The dark figure sat across from him in the corner. Again, it had no eyes but he felt its gaze upon him.

Nyx was my wife. She was corrupted by the fires of Heaven. Astaroth is her brother. They came upon the lands of hell and destroyed its beauty.

He tried to ignore the voice, but its truth rang in his ears. For the first time in many months, he listened.

The Scarlet Ones tainted them. They twisted their souls in the engines. When they were spat out, they held nothing but contempt for their creators. They are Daemons Valimaar, but more than that, they are gods. My brothers and I fought them within the earth, and their fires scorched our world. You’ve seen my kingdom, the fires still burn.

The darkness waned. What once held an icy grasp on his spirit withered away, and its claws dulled as it spoke.

We were wounded. All of us still struggle to regain what we once had. The earth is rightfully ours, Valimaar. We saw its birth and watched as it bloomed into a beautiful world. The Scarlet Ones tried to take it from us, but we saw their descent from power. You humans are ever stubborn to accept rules, but we kept you in bondage for your own good. When you broke from our control, the Scarlet Ones rose to power. They brought with them, their gods. They took the world for their own and cast the rest into servitude! They took my wife from me! They took my brother from me! We can stop this… together.

Thoughts of what the Daemon spoke filled his mind. He remembered seeing the daemons laboring to rebuild their world. Erebus told him they had been rebuilding for a long time. He told him that the battle wiped everything out. Was this the battle that he spoke of?

Yes Valimaar, now you understand the faith that you served clouded your mind, and tainted your spirit. They taught you to resent us. We are not the enemy, they are. We only wish to see our world restored.

Could it be true? Had he resented the very ones that tried to help? It couldn’t be so, he’d seen Daemons before. He’d seen the damage that they caused. They were evil, as they always had been. It was a lie. It had to be a lie.

Remember Valimaar, you were chosen for a reason. The wytch didn’t choose you; I did. You are a strong spirit, but ignorant of truths. Heaven’s fire burns bright, and the powers that fuel this world are burning in the wake. Together, we can save them all.

He didn’t know what to believe. The shadow vanished before him and he sat with little more than his thoughts. Could it be possible? He didn’t know anymore. Regardless, if he were to overcome the monsters that awaited his shattering, he needed his strength. He shut his eyes, and for the first time in many days, he let sleep take him.

***************

Hazy darkness blurred his vision as the jolt ripped him from his sleep. Valimaar’s eyes shot through the darkness as he struggled to gather his self. He had no idea how long he’d been asleep, but he felt strength once more. He forced the grogginess away as he struggled to sit upright.

He couldn’t move. Slowly, his focus came to him, and her blue eyes stared into his as she smiled. Nyx walked about the room as he lay on the stone slab. The cold moisture of his blood still wetted its surface, and its touch chilled his back.

“Hello Valimaar.” Her hand ran across his lips and the sting of her touch spread through his face. It wasn’t sharp, but dull, little more than the sting of a mosquito. “I have something to tell you.” She leaned in and he felt the cold of her breath in his ear. “Tonight you will break.” Her whispers sent chills down his spine, and her tongue caressed his earlobe. He felt no pain.

She stood and stepped around the slab. She stopped at his feet and turned away. “I can see that pain no longer has an effect on you. Your body has hardened, but your spirit remains weak.” She moaned suggestively as she turned to face him.

Her face was no longer hers. The naked body of Lady Elaine stood before him. Her eyes were gentle and stared him up and down.

He heard his wheezing as Astaroth walked behind him.

“Do you like what you see, Valimaar?” She caressed her body and her fingers ran from her bosom to her abdomen. “Ithaca will eventually kill her.”

Her hands rested upon her abdomen, and her body began to swell. Her belly stuck out in a round lump as she smiled at him. “A child grows in her womb.”

She pulled away her skin, and beneath the flesh, an unborn child curled within. “It will kill her. His child will kill her.”

Fire burned from within as he looked at the lie that stood before him. It wasn’t possible. She couldn’t know of such things.

He felt his body rise upright. Her face was before his, and she licked his lips. “I can save your child from his taint.”

Astaroth’s hand gripped his hair, and pulled his head backward.

Her hand rested upon his brow, and he felt himself tear apart. It was not pain, it was something much more. It felt as though his soul were ripping in two. Cold fingers gripped his beating heart and the strength his rest had granted him was washed away. He felt himself falling to darkness as she ripped the Daemon’s spirit from his soul.

“Give him to me Valimaar, and you will go free. Surrender Ithaca, and your child will be redeemed.”

Visions of Lady Elaine filled his thoughts. Her smile touched him, and her eyes caressed his spirit. He gathered the last ounce of strength that he clung to, and he gripped the Daemon’s spirit with his own. Rage burned within his heart as he ripped him from her grasp. He focused his very being on the presence within. He felt it surge through him. He felt his spirit twist with it, and the two became one.

Red light radiated in his vision as his eyes shot open. Nyx backed away from him as Ithaca’s spirit shot back into his body. He felt a thunder burst from him, and the two angels fell backward. He wrestled with the Daemon no more. At last, his spirit was at peace, and yet, he remained himself.

He turned to Astaroth who lay upon the floor behind him. No more would he harm her. No more would his terror reign over her. Her whimpers and cries coursed through his memories as he felt fire surge through him. He looked upon the angel that rose to its feet and the walls rumbled with violence.

The dark shadows in the corners melted from the walls and gathered around the angel. Chains, bones, and steel rose from where they lay and circled the beast. He felt energy surge through his fingers as the objects stabbed into Astaroth’s flesh. The monster roared in agony, but it stood in place as the shadows closed in around it. Slowly, its flesh singed away, exposing the bones beneath.

Smoke rose from its skin as the shadows burned. The scent of burning meat hung in the air as its bones snapped and cracked. Flames burst from within its chest, and consumed what remained of its flesh. As the bones fell to the floor, one final roar escaped before it burned to ash.
Its torturing was no more.

He heard her laugh behind him. Nyx remained, but not for long. He would see her last breaths in this world. He turned, and she held the disc in her hand. It was a duplicate of the Seal of Baalberith, but the inscription was different. It shined in the dim light.

“You’ve finally broken.” He felt himself forced back upon the stone slab. What was happening? Why could he not overcome her?

He watched as her flesh melted away, and she again returned to herself. Her red hair fell away, and her golden locks wormed from her scalp and returned to lie across her exposed breasts. His eyes darted about as he struggled to break free of her grasp.

Her lips touched his, and her moist tongue scraped against the back of his teeth. He felt her hand slide down his abdomen and rip his belt. She removed his pants and smiled at him. “You will not enjoy this,” she said, as she shut her eyes.

He felt the chilling touch of her lips, and the pain returned once more. His legs went stiff as Lady Elaine’s blue eyes flashed through his mind. His crotch burned as her lips touched it, and he knew, the pain would continue until he submitted.

His eyes closed as he let the cold grip on his heart, shut out the daggers of pain.

Never succumb to the darkness.

***************

It felt as though years passed by before he finished. He huddled in the dark corner of his cell gripping between his legs. It throbbed and bled upon the floor. The pain subsided every so often, but would return with new waves of burning and throbbing. He’d been taught that his body would feel pain. The teaching were wrong, he felt more than that. Shrouds of icy flames burned throughout his limbs. Everywhere she touched, welts and bruises swelled upon his skin. He was a shell, though he felt himself deep within. What lie on the outside was someone or something else.

The agony was but a small price for his accomplishment. He had not freed himself from his bonds, but Astaroth was no more. If anything, he at least succeeded in stopping the woman’s torment. It was strange that he risked his life, and perhaps his spirit to save one whom her name remained unknown. She was nothing more than a mysterious whisper – a shadow in the darkness.

He saw her face in the haze. If not anything else, he spared her the pain of another rape at the hands of the wicked angel. The punishment he received for his act, was but a small price for her life. She would live on, perhaps forever in the dark, but her body would no longer be ravaged. For that, he was thankful. He too would remain here until his days saw their end, but he’d done what he desired. He’d overcome the beast and left him as little more than a pile of ash.

Nyx however, remained untouched and invulnerable to him. Ithaca told him they had no power over her, and he was right. What victory he had over Astaroth fizzled out upon her fortress. She was untouchable. It was difficult to understand. Was Astaroth any different from her? They were both angels, did they not both share the same strengths and weaknesses? It didn’t make sense.

Waves of heated flames burned the skin of his groin and it pulled his thoughts away from him. He grasped between his legs and shut his eyes tight as agony pulled him ever further into darkness.

You cannot best her, Valimaar. Sooner or later, you will fail.

Still, his voice whispered to him. He thought it had vanished that moment when his spirit was torn apart. Nyx’s cold touch still lingered deep within. Whatever she’d done, left his spirit scarred, though the struggle had subsided. He no longer felt the presence of darkness within him, rather he felt he was the darkness. He felt new life beneath his flesh. Life that for so long, had been stolen away beneath the skin of the earth. There in the darkness, he struggled to find himself.

Ithaca was right. Eventually, he would fail. He felt himself clawing through the black veil that shrouded him, desperately reaching for the remains of his former self. Nyx told him he’d broke. Was she right? Whatever happened here within these tunnels, he knew, he was a different person now. It was difficult to tell if he were better or worse, but he knew that this place changed him. If he were to ever leave here, the taint of its darkness would remain. That much was certain.

Still, he’d gone farther than he could have hoped. He listened to her soft breaths that echoed against the walls. Whoever she was, she felt no more pain.

You are a mystery, Valimaar. Your body is broken and your sanity is shattered. Why then, do you persist?

“Because I choose to.” He shut his eyes to the hungering dark and loosed his grip between his legs. “I will not submit.”

I do not ask you to submit. I ask you to survive!

“Leave me be Daemon. I grow weary of your voice.”

You cannot be rid of me just as I cannot be rid of you! Our fabric is sewn together, you and I. Wherever you go, I will be there. We linger on through this darkness… together. I did not want to be part of you, but I did it to save this world. Your body grows weak. Let me finish what you’ve started.

He shook his head. “You said you have no power over her! What will you do that’s any better than what I’ve tried?”

That is not what I said! I said we have no power against her.

“What’s the difference?”

I’ve known her far longer than you can begin to imagine. I still see her spirit behind the corruption. I can reach her, but you must first stop resisting me!

“I pulled you from her grasp Daemon. Be thankful I did that much.” He pulled his legs close and laid his head upon the floor.

You did what you had to do to survive, not to save me. Don’t twist the truth with lies, Valimaar. I am not a fool.

Ithaca was not the fool. He was. He should have let the angel take his life. Perhaps then, his spirit could finally be at peace, but somehow he knew, Nyx would never kill him. Not until he told her of the book. The book which still remained, a mystery even to him.

Regardless if he’d die alone in this place or not, he’d done what he set out to do. The gateways were destroyed, and the woman who slept in her cell could finally have a night without torment. His purpose was fulfilled.

The gateways are not destroyed, Valimaar. If they could be, do you not think they would have been long ago? Hell is everywhere. It is around you; within you. One cannot simply destroy it. It can’t be destroyed.

“I said be silent.”

What you did, has already been repaired. Even now, the one you love is not safe. Your sacrifice means nothing.

“Be silent!” His voice rumbled through the halls. It carried daggers through his throat.

There is only one way to protect her, Valimaar.

The woman stirred from his shouting.

You must come back to her.

The words sliced through him. He shut its voice out, but still they haunted him. It spoke fire into his ears. The madness was too much to bear. Visions of Lady Elaine flooded his thoughts. Her eyes, her smile, her voice – they gripped his spirit. He could not force them away. He felt himself struggling to keep his breath. Within the darkness, he clawed away to find himself, but he was no longer there. What remained was little more than a memory; an echo. He drowned in the dark, and slowly, his spirit withered away. All that remained was the memories of her. She was all he had left. He struggled to find himself, but that man was gone. Beneath the flesh and blood, only a Daemon remained, and he welcomed it. If not for anything else, he welcomed it in the hopes he’d see her one last time.

You will see her again.