Abel's Tale

X. Fear is the Heart of Love

Malachi knelt in the center of his personal quarters. Black wood lit by red candles on his mahogany desk. The words Isaiah spoke to him replayed through his mind, refusing to escape. What did he mean?

You will help him.

He told Thanatos that Abel was his successor, that Malachi would play a role in his ascension. No! That right belonged to him, to Malachi. He was the apprentice, he'd spent his entire life training under him, learning from him, hoping to one day be strong enough to replace him. It was Abel who would help him. Abel who would see reason.

But maybe that wasn't what he meant. Maybe he was confused after weeks of torture. But then what had he seen? What did he tap into to see this future? Thanatos always warned Malachi to be wary of visions and premonitions, they could lie, they could show something only partially true.

But then Malachi found himself ignoring his Master's advice when he placed his silver helmet on a dark stone obelisk. When he found himself uttering words to the helmet, hoping it would show him something, hoping to hear the voices again.

"I feel it again, her mercy. I thought killing her would finally rid me of my pain and conflict, I thought she was the source of my problems. I thought that by removing her I'd be able to stay true to my mission,

"And then he came. The Scavenger. He who's mere existence has awakened something in me. A weakness in me. Show me what the old man saw, and I'll let nothing stand in our way."

Malachi felt something invade him. Something dark and heavy. The exact feeling he'd been waiting for. He felt at peace in the dark, it was like home to him. It was the cold comfort at the end of every day. The black orb guiding him in the blinding light.

He felt himself levitate off the ground as his thoughts became more and more distant, as he let himself be taken by the darkness he'd invited in.

Malachi found himself at the center of a decimated village. Smoke plumed into the sky. A thousand bloodied hands shot out of the dirt. His mother approached him, with a man beside her who wore the same ring Abel wore.

A thousand ghosts peered in to watch what Malachi would do.

The man disappeared and his Mother began to leak blood out of her eyes and nose.

The ground swallowed Malachi whole. He walked through a cave with a thousand mangled arms reaching out for him. At the end of the cave he emerged into the throne room. He saw himself knelt before Thanatos. He watched himself be shocked with lightning arcing out of Thanatos fingertips. He looked down at his hands and saw his own lightning arcing toward himself too.

"Release me!" Malachi pleaded with his eyes open now. But even with open eyes the nightmare refused to end.

In the mirror was the reflection of a man he wished he could be. He looked so much like Abel. The mirror shattered and behind it was his Mother again. She reached toward him and grabbed his shirt with her iron grip.

"You murderous snake!" She hissed.

Countless more voices entered his own mind.

"Liar."

"Wretch."

"Monster."

Thanatos took his mother's place and threw him into the dark. Malachi landed before the feet of himself. Somebody much colder. Somebody on the throne.

"Look at what you could have been," Emperor Malachi said. "Look at what the scavenger has reduced you to now. A slave to yourself."

Malachi was back in his room, and his helmet was shattered on the obelisk.