Asher the Insane

52 - Alexandra the Intervening Goddess of Redemption Part 02

On the altar, a blinding flash shot out, and I knelt down to take my necklace.

For them, it meant so much, yet, even though it was mine, it meant so little to me.

Apart from Asher, who always had a positive outlook on life, the remaining group was initially silent; their faces frozen in a serious expression.

"Hi Alex," he waved with the old hand of a human woman.

"Good day, Asher," I responded.

There were only six people here now, including Asher and me, so I extended the greeting, and made a formal bow, to the rest of them.

"Do you prefer the name Asher at this time?"

"I think I'd like that," Asher answered.

"You know this old lady?" Aebshem questioned with a chuckle.

"I do," I turned, "Faye," she had accompanied me down onto one of the mortal realms. I could have ordered her to not go, but that would only make her worry, "would you kindly guard Asher and the others?"

"Yes, my goddess," she answered without hesitation.

She drifted by and past Aebshem. He was alight with power derived from the deaths of his comrades.

"You're on the brink of your plan, are you not?" I asked him, reaching out with a gentle hand.

"On the brink? I am far over the edge, my dear. I am the most powerful I have ever been, and that is no small feat. I am the most potent a mortal being can be," He moved closer to the altar.

"Too far over the edge of your life's work, but also over as the leader of people who worship something that doesn't recognize them. Worshiping someone who would loath the works you have done in his name." I stepped down from the altar. "After summoning me, your next move was to enslave me with the residual force that runs through you. It will not work. It was never going to work."

I held up the necklace. "This 'relic' as some of you refer to it, is worthless; a useless piece of junk. Neither has it any influence over me nor anybody else. You didn't summon me; rather, I came through on my own; to see if you could recognize the mistakes you had made.

You cannot bring back the people who gave their lives to serve you, but at least try to live and make an effort to improve the world rather than ruin it as you have done your entire life. Before you were Aebshem and just Shem, the man who had lived forever, you attempted to kill a boy named Aeb just to live another day."

He spat out words like he was trying to poison me, and snarled, "What you believe is irrelevant, little goddess. No one will have another tomorrow once I have you in my grasp and the power of a god."

"Let me warn you before you squander your power. You cannot comprehend the might of a deity. So, I'll offer you a choice."

"A choice? I have all the power in the world to do anything I please, but go ahead, let me hear it," he chuckled once again.

I pointed at Asher, "If you can strike down this old woman, I will freely give you authority over my power; if not, you forfeit everything. This is your opportunity to atone, Aebshem. Do not choose the incorrect path."

Once more, he laughed.

"Wrong decision? The old woman who appeared from nowhere to do nothing, the one you want me to strike down? I'll kill her without a second thought," He began screaming, "THE ONE WHICH ANNOYED ME SO MUCH? I'll give you her death for free!"

In order to unleash the power of ten thousand, he faced Asher and allowed it to flow through him.

Everything erupted into the air like a volcano, destroying most of the mountain into which the death cult's refuge had been cut, as well as the roof of the structure.

The sheer force of destruction left nothing in its original location, altering the entire landscape.

The radiance of the moon replaced the torchlight. As the last remnant of Urien's cult, only dust hung in the air.

I was still guarding the altar, which was standing unharmed through my will. Together with the five adventurers, Faye also emerged unscathed from the debris, and two individuals were there at the explosion's center.

Not a hair was out of place on either Aebshem or Asher.

"No- NO! How is this possible?" Aebshem yelled out, maddened with rage.

"You know how it is. No hard feelings, right?" Asher told him and Aebshem fell to his knees.

I walked over to him and held my hand to his shoulder.

"Power can be a fickle thing, and you chose something that has suffocated. You have chosen, and your heart is still as dark as it has always been. I will take everything that has been Shem and will only leave Aeb, leaving you, Aebshem, with no power."