Burning Vengence

The Betrayal

The long night was upon him as it was during this time of the solar cycle. The frostbite inducing winds whipped around him, causing him to spit curses about Hell and death and the cold. Yet, the thing he cursed more than the cold, was his siblings, for banishing him to this wretched place, for simply being stronger. Being made the pinnacle of the elite, the best of the killers. The perfect predator.

Their jealousy was unnecessary, they were the oldest, the ones with the kingdoms full of life and warmth, yet he got stuck with the frozen wasteland devoid of all human life. But it was not their jealousy that placed him here. It was there blaming him for their banishment from the Garden, our home before all of this. The animals, as spread out as they were, fled when he tried to approach them, never returning to the place afterwards. He stared at the sea and reflected on the time before his exile, when he was happy, warm and accepted.

*****

He opened his eyes and the optic nerves were assaulted by the color and beauty of his surroundings. He breathed in deeply for the first time in all of his existence, and heard the voices of others that came before him.

"He must be the last one," the female said in an awed tone, her eyes drifting from him to their surroundings.

"Well that's kind of obvious, considering the fact that we were told by the Void that there would be only eight of us, and that those who came after are the ones we would rule in the future," the big one spoke.

The big one turned to me and spoke, "Welcome to the family little brother, my name is Amit," he gestured towards the others with a sweep of his arm, "The oldest is Lorenzo, after him we have Yui, then Stephan, and Vladimir, John, and Caden, me, Amit, and finally you. What's your name?"

They all looked at him expectantly, causing him to shift his weight from foot to foot as he tried to recall the name given to him by the Void. He closed his eyes and recalled the rhyme that the Void had used to soothe him when he was given his powers. He called it the rhyme of the Crow:

One for sorrow

Two for mirth

Three for a wedding

and Four for a birth

Five for silver

Six for gold

And Seven for a secret never to be told

He opened his eyes and whispered, "My name is Asmodeus."

*****

The Void, during this process, was in the midst of creating Man and Woman, and had tasked the Eight siblings with protecting them, from harm and their ignorance. Yet the first Seven did not take heed to the Void's words that if they failed to protect his creation, then they would be punished severely. Asmodeus was the youngest, but not as foolish as the others. He kept tabs on Man and Woman, whom he came to know as Adam and Eve, protecting them from harm. Yet he could do nothing about their ignorance for he could not commune directly with the Newest Creation. So, he watched and waited. Then came the day where he couldn't move before the serpent planted the seed of disobedience."

Asmodeus watched in horror as the Serpent spoke to Eve, convincing her to pluck the fruit from the forbidden tree, and take a bite. Her eyes widened as she tasted the fruit and rushed to get Adam. After she had left, Asmodeus approached the Serpent.

"Serpent, do you know what you have done? You have doomed them, myself and my siblings. Why did you make her taste the forbidden fruit when you heard the Void say, that they could have all the fruit and animals in the Garden but not of the Tree of Knowledge? Why have you doomed us all?" Asmodeus interrogated the Serpent