The King's Game - Blackbarrow Arc (Part 1)

Chapter 10: News of Blackbarrow's Defeat & Niarajuel's Proposition

The intensity of the heat continued to rise as Jacob plummeted down the meeting. At one point Jacob was no longer certain if he was even falling anymore, the darkness had thrown his perception into complete disarray. Not once during those brief seconds, or what felt like an eternity, had Jacob feared for his life. He firmly believed that the Gods would not forsake him and that he would be safe regardless of what awaited him at the end of the darkness. Strangely, Jacob's eyes started to adjust to the darkness around him, he could almost see clearly. Taking a chance, Jacob decided to step forward and to his surprised his foot was met with solid ground.

"Welcome, messenger of the Gods. I had hoped you would learn more before we met again, but there is simply no more time." A female voice whispered to Jacob.

"Who said that? Show yourself!" Jacob shouted as he spun in circles, looking for the source of the voice.

"How could you forget me already? You really know how to hurt a girl's feelings. Maybe you will remember if I do this."

Jacob could see smoke rising and wrapping around his body, then came the familiar finger tracing his cheek, only this time the finger left a small cut. The little blood that ran down Jacob's cheek was licked up by a tongue that he could not see, but he knew who he was dealing with the second the smoke wrapped around me.

"Try as you might demon, the Gods' protection cannot be destroyed; not even here, in your playground."

"Oh trust me messenger, if I wanted to I could crush that pathetic little mana shield the Gods gave you. If they really valued you, then they would've cast a shield that could ward off someone of my power. But we are wasting time now. I believe I said the next time I see you I would have a proposition for you, but you would have to learn about the cruelty of your so called Gods first. Circumstances have prevented that from taking place at the pace I would have liked, so I had no choice but to do this."

"I said it before and I will say it again; you are wasting your time. I have no intention of making deals with demons and betraying the Gods. They are the salvation for all living creatures, even you can be forgiven, if you take the path of redemption."

The smoke around Jacob's body dissipated and instead drifted in front of him. A slender hand was formed from the smoke, and it held a small crystal ball. Red and blue energy coursed through the hand into the crystal ball, slowly the ball began to light up.

"This is what your Gods do to mortals, demons, creatures, or anything that does not follow what they preach. It won't be enough to break your loyalty, but it should suffice in opening your eyes to the true nature of the Gods."

Jacob watched as the brightly lit crystal ball fell to the floor and shattered. Smoke rose from the shattered pieces and spread throughout the area. There was a flash of bright light that forced Jacob to close his eyes momentarily. When Jacob opened his eyes, he was met with a familiar sight. He was back in the fields between The Desolate Plains and Blackbarrow. Before him was a giant golem and a cloaked man, that resembled the demon of the blaze, that gave him his message.

"I apologise for my behaviour the first time we met, oh great warrior. It is an honour to meet you, properly that is. I will humbly aid you anyway I can, should you need me, simply call for me and I'm sure the Gods will make sure I am aware of your call." Jacob said as he bowed before the cloaked figure.

The cloaked figure said nothing in return, it didn't even look in Jacob's direction. Jacob continued to face the ground as he remained on his knees, awaiting a response that never came. The stone golem was the first to move, followed by the sound of hooves hitting the ground. Jacob spun around and looked at the approaching guards, they all wore black armour and the insignia of the Blackbarrow guards. There were at least 100 of them that Jacob could count in the brief time it took for them to come to a halt. Jacob watched as the cloaked figure stepped forward and removed his hood, he was shocked to find that the demon of the blaze looked just like any mortal, yet he could see a golden glow around the figure. This proved to Jacob that this man was no mortal.