When your emotions have hit a crescendo,
Elevated to a point they can no longer surpass.
Then your sin shall be made manifest in the form of a gift, a Soul Bound relic.
An extension of your sin.
—Lord Edmurh, The Xanthivian Codex
* * *
Adrian lay on the floor of his living room, his body a bloody mess of cuts and bruises, and a few inches away from him?
That was his family, or at least was…
They were dead now.
His betrothed and his two nieces he saw as his own.
Why?
He had refused the king, that was all it took for everyone to turn on him. His kingdom that never really liked him, the maids that served him, but worst of all, his best friend, Darell.
Step!
Darell chuckled as he stepped forward, his face twisted in a satisfied smile.
"The great and mighty Adrian." He lifted both hands by his sides, doing a mock bow.
"The proud and stalwart Half-elf… look at you now. You were just a bastard of some elven whore who didn't know his place."
Adrian wanted nothing more than to take hold of him and rip that unfortunate head off his shoulders but how could he?
He had lost sight in his right eye, his right arm had been cleaved off, and his legs crushed so badly that he could not imagine moving them.
All because of that man…
Not Darell of course, Darell was a coward. It was the man standing behind him.
One of the King's Nine Paragons, Stagheart.
He had been too much for Adrian to handle, and now all he could do was writhe in anger, and weep in despair.
Up until a slender dagger found its way into his heart, bringing an end to his miserable life.
• • •
On a purple star, in a realm unknown to life, sat two mysterious figures shrouded in cloaks of darkness, their very history shrouded in mysteries.
"Nekro, it looks like they have sent another one…" The first figure said, addressing her companion.
The entity sighed and stared down at the world below them, an endless battlefield filled with long-forgotten fighters.
Skeletons so worn that there was not an iota of flesh on their smooth bones.
It was an everlasting war orchestrated by the gods.
A prison for those who had lost themselves to rage, rage so insatiable that they could neither go to rest nor hell.
The entity stared at him, expressing no emotion. "What is his grief?"
"Betrayal, and a dead family." Her companion replied promptly.
Losing all interest in the young man, Nekro frowned. "Basic, far too basic."
Clang!
Swords clashed against polearms, axes against shields, as thousands engaged in an endless battle.
Those who fell would be taken by the earth, only to be spat out a second later, as though the world rejected their deaths.
Drawing their blades, they strutted back into the battle, with only a hint of the fire they once had burning in their eye sockets.
This was rage, it was anger, it was anguish.
With a guttural shout, the newbie yanked a sword from one of the fallen, ripping it out of its bony hands, just before he dashed into the eerie madness.
He had only one arm and yet he fought like the devil himself. With his teeth gritted and his body simmering with purple fire, he brought devastation upon the battlefield.
Pierce!
His head rocked back forcefully, as an arrow found its way into his right eye.
Rustle Rustle
His body slowly sank into the earth, right until he was spat out once more, this time with renewed vigour.
With a maddened smile on his face, the young man danced the dance of war, and carved a path of destruction wherever he stepped.
Yawning, the entity grasped the air, and a teacup materialized, filled with a steaming red liquid.
She took a sip and nestled her chin in her palm. "Adeline, how long do you think the fire would last?"
Adeline shrugged. "Two years, maybe."
"Is that so?" She shook her head in disagreement, "He is just like the rest, two months and all that would be left is a small wisp of fire."
And then they waited…
Two months passed without a dim, just endless laughter and death, a cursed circle of rebirth.
One year came by like a flash. By now his flesh had rotted away, leaving only ragged clothes and bone, and yet the fire had not dimmed.
Four years went by… just a slight dim. Five years, ten years…
The entity smiled, as she pulled off her cloak, revealing long silver hair with a soft ethereal glow, smooth skin that appeared translucent and three curved horns that seemed to grow longer as time passed.
"Rage so seething that it would stand out even in hell…"
"Grief so strong that it would make even the gargoyles weep."
"How tantalizing."
Then something shifted in the space, the whole world paused, the skeletons froze in the midst of their battle.
The only ones who could move were Nekro, her confidant… and the young man.
Her partner gasped, "It can't be…"
Down below, on the battlefield, a dark shape was rising. It was cloaked in the deepest shadows, and pulsed with unrestrained energy.
The ball of energy floated right up to the young man, and burst into life, forming the shape of a pocket watch with a thick black chain.
"To call upon the gods even in a place like this…"
The entity chuckled.
"Let him go, we can no longer hold him."
"Not when the gods have given their approval…"
• • • •
Adrian woke up to the sound of sloshing water, but when he opened his eyes, he winced from the sunlight before sitting up straight.
'What happened?'
His mind was foggy, it was as though he had been hit in the head with a sledgehammer.
It took him a while before it all came to him.
Although some things were still missing, he remembered most of what had happened, the betrayal and his seething rage.
And yet he was strangely calm, the anger was still there but it was no longer as maddening as he had remembered.
It was as though countless years had gone by since what had happened, and yet Adrian doubted more than a few minutes had passed.
Then he remembered something else, he quickly reached for his arms only to gasp.
His arms were intact and his legs felt fine, the only thing left as proof of his ordeal was his bloody sleeve where his hand had been cut off.
'Then how am I still alive?'
Adrian slowly crawled to the river and placed his hands in the cold water, drawing some to wash his face when he paused.
"What the hell?!"
Long grey hair and eyes, sharp defined features and a proportionate nose—
Another face was staring back at him, a foreign face that was not his own.
He immediately pulled his shirt off, but what he saw only further deepened his confusion.
His birthmark was intact, this was his body and yet… his face was different.