A QUEST OF DEATH : Dawning Darkness

23 | One Might - Part 1 (new)

Auden had regrets. A lot of them.

He stood alone, watching the smouldering remnants of the pyre that had consumed Shinatzai Zen. The flames had long since died, leaving behind a bed of ash and charred wood. Everyone else had gone, their whispered farewells carried off by the night breeze, but Auden remained.

Cloaked in ebony, his hood pulled low to obscure his features, he was indistinguishable from the shadows pooling in the dark corners of Crepusculum. His head hung low, eyes fixated on a single flickering ember struggling to survive in the ashes.

The heat was fading, but its presence lingered-just like the ghost of the man who had once been among the greatest mages the sanctum had ever known. Shinatzai Zen had been powerful, wise, and cunning. If someone like him could fall, what chance did Auden have? He was nothing more than a shadow now, pulled between forces beyond his control.

His chest tightened with the weight of his failures. He had become a slave in more ways than one, and standing there cloaked in darkness, he could no longer deny it. The snake had coiled itself around his life, slowly tightening its grip, and yet, somehow, he had survived its wrath-a feat few could claim. But at what cost? Each bargain he made chipped away at him, leaving pieces of the man he used to be scattered like the ash in front of him.

It had all started with the Luna Pearl.

The snake had chosen him because he was the only one who could wield it, the only one able to bear the Pearl's weight without succumbing. That had given Auden a sliver of power, just enough leverage to negotiate, to make deals. It was the only reason he was still alive. The snake had no tolerance for weakness, and Auden had come close to being devoured by its venom more times than he cared to remember.

There were moments when he'd felt the snake's fury gnaw at his soul, its venom threatening to consume him entirely. But he'd survived, barely. He'd learned to bend just enough, to endure the crushing weight without breaking. The Luna Pearl had become both his lifeline and his chain, binding him to the snake while keeping him useful-valuable, even. But that value came at a steep price. Every favour earned, every deal struck, was another link in the chain that bound him tighter to the snake's will.

He hadn't wanted it to come to this. Once, he had believed in something. He had stood for something. But those days were long gone, burned away like the pyre before him.

A gust of cold wind swept past him, stirring the ashes and bringing goosebumps to his arms. Auden pulled his cloak tighter around himself. The ember he had been watching flickered one last time before the wind snuffed it out, leaving nothing but cold, grey remnants.

A raspy voice, like the scraping of sandpaper on rough stone, whispered next to him. "It's about time we move on, young master. Lord Gan won't be pleased if we're gone too long."

Auden exhaled slowly, his breath fogging in the cold air. He didn't need to turn around to know who had spoken. It was the Pasuzu, the creature Gan had sent to trail him, to 'protect' him, as the snake had so lovingly put it. But Auden knew better. The snake knew nothing of love. He should have listened to his sister.

"I need to see Hannah before I leave," Auden said, his voice low, still staring at the dead pyre.

"Well then, better get moving," Pasuzu hissed. "The longer we waste, the worse it gets."

Auden knew there was no escaping the path he had chosen-or perhaps the path that had chosen him.

"Stay here," Auden ordered, his tone sharp.

"But I-" the Pasuzu began to protest.

"Stay. Here," Auden repeated, more firmly this time.

With that, he turned, the dark folds of his cloak sweeping behind him as he walked away. He might be a slave now, but once, he had been a Heir-he still remembered how to command, even in the shadow of what he had become.