Prophecy: Tome of Magic

16. Hell Hungers for the Damned

The cave they were all hidden away in was dank, and smelled faintly of urine. Still, they were grateful for it as they huddled around the small fire that Toby had ignited-though he was no longer with them-and in silence they tried to think of a way out of their situation. When Andreegys had told them they would be hunted, they had not anticipated just how serious he was. Since his latest spell they had found no kindness from anyone outside of their own circle, and in just a few short hours they'd been chased down by every manner of ordinary citizen. So this was where they ended up, the only safe place they'd found as of yet.

"I miss booze," Cliff whispered to himself, his cheek wrinkled up comically in his hand as he sat slumped over. "It's been forever since I've had a drink."

"Yeah, like all of four hours, calm down there, cowboy." Percy looked at him, too apathetic to sass him as rigorously as she'd have liked. Her eyes left him and went to Myrna, hoping that there'd be some kind of reaction out of her. There was not, and she sat as quietly by the fire as the rest of them, still having said nothing. Qui'hara was right next to her, giving her a comfortable amount of space, but keeping a mindful watch over her.

"Quiet yourselves, now is not the time to bicker. It is of more importance now than ever that we close ranks and hold each other up." The demoness was also lacking in emotion when she spoke, tired and knowing that there was a long stretch in front of her before she might close her eyes again. That seemed to be all their problems, and their morale continued to slowly dwindle to a dangerous low. Byrenion could see that from where he lurked, concealed in the shadows because it didn't feel quite right to join them. He was not one of them, he was a being out of time, practically a stranger. But he went to them now.

"She speaks truth," he was quiet as he came to a stop beside them, staring into the fire instead of into any of their eyes. "Do not give into Andreegys, for he would relish the way in which you'd turn on one another."

"Says the guy who's banging him. Or used to bang him, you know what I mean." Cliff wasted no time with a rebuttal, remaining in the same position. "Aren't you supposed to be eternally in love with him, or some crap like that? Why would you say anything bad about him-hell-why are you even here, trapped like rats with us when you could be out there with your sweetheart?"

"I love him." The immortal spoke plainly, finally breaking from the flames to look at the former cop, burning him with his eyes more than the fire ever could. "But I have learned that this is not always enough. Though it has been this way since my rebirth, it is only now that the scales have fallen from my eyes, and I am able to see. Andreegys is no longer the god that I once knew. No longer is he the partner that stood by my side for eons, forging and waring for a better future. I am unsure of the things that he's seen since the fall of the order of the old gods, but I now know that he is too far gone. Evil has taken root, and I cannot save him."

"So what, you're going to help us fight him?" Percy held no stock in the words, even as she said them.

"No." Byrenion viewed her next, pausing for a long moment. "I will help you kill him. It is not something that I wished to do, but I understand now the consequence of letting him live. Now that I have held death in my arms," he stopped, finding himself incapable of finishing. So he moved on. "It is because I love him that I will help end his existence-it is the only way I can think to save him from anymore corruption. Our kind is no longer meant for this world."

"You can kill him?" The ghost asked, wanting to be perfectly clear.

"There are many methods for removing him from creation. I think the easiest of which would be to find his true vessel. The reason he hides in the skin of others-Blair, Myrna, and so many before-is because his vessel is very old, too aged to easily carry his essence. Therefore he has hidden it, in this world or perhaps another, but we only need to find it in order to draw him back into it. Then I can finish him." The thousand voices that the god spoke with seemed to multiply as they bounced off the walls, giving his words a more dramatic effect.