Return of the Demon Sovereign (Book 1) [Version Discontinued]

3. Broken Brothers

As Erebus rested, he felt something sinister seep into his consciousness. A bloodthirsty desire that he had never felt before. His mana became unstable and he failing to control it.

The evil inside of him broke through and terrorized his mind. Trapped in a nightmare, he was confronted with demons, tearing at his soul and mind, feeling him with a bloody aura. He could feel his body thrashing, and something grabbed his shoulder in a domineering manner. He had lived by fighting so his reflexes were fast, especially after his hellish training in the darkness. So when he felt this threat, he lashed out in his half dazed state.

However when he fully woke up, he found his hand piercing through the chest of his sweet Kore. She was still smiling and was trying to wipe his brow with a towel despite the the obvious pain she was feeling. She knew she was dying but her eyes held no blame and in fact looked happy that he woke up. He watched her in horror as the blood spilled from her wound and she turned cold. As he hand dropped heavily, he let out a heart wrenching wail.

He didn't remember much after that because he reacted like a feral beast, raving and cursing the Primordials. The only thing he could remember in his madness was the eyes of his friends and fellow Dragon Commanders. They were filled with horror and hatred. When they subdued him, they imprisoned him and bound him in chains.

"Brothers!" He would cry out. "What is happening to me! Help me!" The demons continued to attack his mind, now showing him the death of Kore over and over. Soon his cries changed from "Help me" to "Kill me".

He would beg them to help him end the blood thirsty madness inside of his mind, but they would simply state that he deserved the torment, as this was the price for the darkness that he now cultivated.

He believed he would live this pitiful life forever until they were merciful and sentenced him to die.

Decades were spent in solitude and torture, desiring nothing more but to be reunited with Kore and his brothers. Note that he escaped, he was damned with madness and became the murderer of his beloved. He blamed himself and started to truly believe that that cause was the new darkness he cultivated. He fell for the honeyed words of the malicious voice in the darkness.  In the end, he sold his soul to the demons and dark deities, and his beloved paid the ultimate price.

Like the time he fell into the earth, he accepted his death.

But fate would not let him live so easily. Before his sentencing, he was visited by someone of the shadows, a member of the Shadowbane sect.

They bowed on one knee. "Sovereign."

Erebus lifted his eyes and his eyes burned into the dark figure in front of him. "Sovereign? What evil nonsense are you spouting?"

"Sovereign, the Shadow Deity gifted you his legacy." The figure said quietly.

"Gifted? I have been cursed by demons. I was tortured and broken, and now my mind is sinking into the dark insanity. I have betrayed all I have ever known."

The figure shook his head. "Sovereign, you have been wronged."  The figure pointed to his chest where a new mark was exposed.  It looked like it was black five petal flower.

This sentence woke him from his madness for a moment, but he chose to ignore it as well as the flower etched on his chest.

"Wronged?" He laughed angrily. "I let the darkness take over my mind. I have killed her... My hands are covered in her blood."

The figure bowed low and tried to appease Erebus. "You have been given the legacy of the Shadow Deity, but not once had you lost your mind until you came here. This is a place of malice. They are true darkness, my Sovereign."