BORDER

Chapter Two

ANAKIN

Sun does not exist here but still I long for it.

The blood red skies of Gehena have never felt the warmth of a lāni sun. The goddess of Sun and the God of the Damned, Blade, do not get along. It is her decree that the sun will never touch his lands. I only know of the sun from stories spread by the mouth of old demons that were born from darkness and stepped into the light before lāni took the sun away. Now, all we have ever known is the crimson sky above us. A red so dark and deep it is nearly the color of the girl's blood that is splattered all over my clothes.

Sliding off the black horse that once belonged to my beloved late father, I attempt to smudge the color into the darkness of my clothes. My father's palace stares at me as I walk forward, I hate this godsdamned place. It haunts me even when I am not looking at it. I can not believe that it once was my happiest place. Once, a long time ago when my father was alive.

May his soul rest wherever our damned souls go after we die.

I got dealt a shitty card whenever the God of Fate dealt my hand. I just know it because there is no way that everyone feels this eternal dread. If I could, I would off myself, but the thing that is stopping me is that pesky little fear of the unknown. Where does one go when they die? Is it only more misery?

I do not even think there is a place that can be more miserable than this place. Gehena is so glacial that it feels unnatural. The kind of cold that slinks into your bones and restricts you from moving too much if you stand outside for too long. The fires inside our homes and shops are the only thing that can really keep the blistering frigid air at bay.

The feeling of the girl's head pats against my thigh as I walk. I try not to think too much about the girl's head. She did not deserve to die but it was either me or her and I am too much of a selfish bastard. It is not easy surviving my evil stepmother but the one thing that can please her is that if I kill whoever and whatever she wants dead, then I have no problems. I had to keep my head low if I wanted to keep it. No, what ifs, nothing. I need to look high and low for food or something to even survive. I get whatever she doesn't want but it is still rough. I am infinitely hungry but the few scraps ease some of the pain. So, if it was her life or mine, I choose me.

Entering the obsidian palace, I cringe at the awful smell of her perfume permeating the air. It smelt like straight unwashed ass. I do not know how she can stomach the smell, nevertheless enjoy it. Pretty positive she does it just to increase my agony of being here. She knows I hate this damned place.

There is nothing I can do to get away from her, though. Three months out of the year, this is my hell. I would rather be at my true home with people that have a damn about me but this was the vow I made. To keep the peace for the rest of my life, every summer I would return to Pouli Palace and do whatever she asks of me. After all these years, I wanted out of it all. To Russa with Gehena, I wanted better than this hellscape.

I heard past the border is paradise.

Sometimes I think about seeing if I can get across it, back when I was a young boy borders were not a thing. I do not remember it very much. I mostly remember how things were good up until my father married my stepmother. It took a real turn for the worst when he died and she took over. I do not know how the people of Gehena do not revolt against her. She is manipulative and cruel. Also, the type of a woman you would wake up to hiding underneath your bed. That type of crazy.

I walk into the throne room and there she sits, Calytrix Skyla, she may claim to be a Kumar but she is not, in all her glory. I hate to admit she does look regal on my father's throne. Calytrix is not an ugly woman but the thought of her being told she is beautiful makes the bile in my stomach churn: she has an extremely long face, small, slanted eyes that are pooling with blood-thirsty red eyes. She craves misery and attention like it is the air we breathe. I am more than positive this woman is happy with this chaos