"We live to die."
— Verse 8:14, The Aethric Tenet
...
'For some reason... ever since I was a kid, I never believed in the reality of death.
Most people say life is transient and death is inevitable. But I always thought death only happened to a particular set of people; the rich, the fulfilled, the important. Those that matter. Or maybe those that wanted it.
I'm not rich. I'm not important. I haven't fulfilled anything... unless failure at being a sorcerer counts. And I never asked for death.
So there was no reason for death to come to me.
I never mattered to anyone, not even myself.
I was raised in an orphanage for as long as I could remember. Whenever I asked the guardians about my parents, they'd just snub me. Every time, they gave the same response; silence.
Until one day... I realized the truth.
"I didn't matter."
That must've been why my parents abandoned me. Why the guardians ignored me. Why no one ever wanted to adopt me.
Because I didn't matter. I wasn't important. I was just a liability. A burden. An absence.
So... there was no reason for death to come after me.
...But yet... why?'
...
"Why is death coming to me!?" Code's eyes widened, his gaze locking on the massive demon thudding toward them.
Elara stood behind him, trembling and sobbing.
"I don't wanna die!" she wailed.
THUD!
"Shit!" Code bit his lip, tasting blood. "There's no place to run."
Behind them were trees, and beyond that, a deep, wide canal. Jumping in meant instant death.
The demon drew closer, grinning wide, thick saliva dripping from its jaws.
'Is this the end...?' Code thought.
His eyes darted to his left arm. Elara was clinging to it desperately.
'If I ditch her, maybe I can escape on my own. She's slowing me down,' he thought.
THUD!
"Eeeek!" Elara squealed, tightening her grip.
Code snapped. "Oi! Do you mind not clutching my arm? It hurts, ah!"
Elara froze, blinking in confusion.
For a heartbeat, the air between them went still.
At that moment, she looked... beautiful; fragile, scared, but angelic.
'An angel...?' Code was stupefied.
He cleared his throat loudly. "Ahem. For now, we should be thinking about how to escape."
"Isn't there anything you can do?" he asked, eyes flicking toward the approaching demon.
"Uh?" Elara muttered, touching her chin nervously.
'If only I were strong... if only I was even good at basic sorcery... escaping wouldn't be this hard...' Code's jaws clenched. 'At this point, I'd do anything, anything, to survive!' he resolved.
"Um... I think I know a way," Elara said softly.
"Yeah? Out with it, quick!" Code snapped
"I can cast a spell that will place divine protection upon us."
"Divine protection?" Code repeated.
'A god's barrier that shields from negative energy...' He recalled. 'Is she a priestess, then?' his gaze flicked to her face.
"But that comes with a lot of disadvantages, right?" he finally asked.
"Y-yes, it only lasts about two minutes, me-meaning..." Elara stammered.
"We have to get out of this forest in that time," Code completed.
'Given how far we've gone, that's impossible...' Code thought. 'But...'
He looked up. The demon was now only steps away, felling trees with every stride.
"At this point, anything'll do. Cast the spell!"
Elara nodded, raising trembling hands to her face.
"How long?" Code asked, drawing his dagger.
"I have to cast my prayers first. Twenty seconds," she replied.
Shiuuun!
Code unsheathed his dagger, eyes narrowing, as he locked on the demon.
'I might be too weak to win... but I'll use these twenty seconds to stop you!'
"Life is a whisper in the dark..." Elara's voice echoed as Code dashed forward.
The demon's left arm swung at him.
"Death, a silence beyond form..."
Code bent backward, the massive arm slicing the air above his face.
"Between them lies the spiral of return..."
Shwaaam!
The impact shattered the forest around them.
"Infinity begins where both dissolve..."
Code's eyes widened. 'That could've been me,' he reeled.
Another arm came crashing down.
"Shit!" he hissed, leaping away just in time.
The ground erupted behind him.
He jumped again, landing on the demon's arm.
"Gotcha!" he grinned, stabbing his dagger deep into its flesh.
"Shrieeekkk!" The demon screamed as Code tore through its flesh, sprinting forward.
"The one who rules and lives forever in infinity..." Elara's voice grew louder, divine energy swirling around her.
"Ahhhh!!!" Code roared, dragging his blade through, blood spraying everywhere.
The demon turned its head, jaws gaping wide.
"No, you don't!" Code jumped off as its teeth snapped shut...crunch!...just inches from his legs.
He landed hard in front of Elara. 'She should be done by now...' he thought, flicking a gaze at her, but she still seemed to be in prayers.
"How long is this going to take," he grimaced. "I don't have enough strength to-"
"The god of fate and sorcery..." Elara whispered.
"Ugh?" Code froze.
'Wait... did she just say...?'
A violent gust of wind blasted past him...and when he turned, the demon's fist was already coming.
He raised his dagger instinctively...
BANG!
Time slowed. His dagger caved in...then shattered.
He barely tilted his head before the fist grazed past him.
BOOM!
The impact tore the air apart.
Blood exploded from his body, his right arm ripped clean off, as half his face shredded.
"Uh?" Code blinked, dazed, watching his own arm smash against a tree.
He couldn't even scream, just stare blankly as the demon raised another fist.
Elara's eyes stayed shut. "Lord Aethrauzon..."
The demon's shadow engulfed Code.
"Grant us your divine protection..."
The demon's arm fell.
"Divine Shield!!" Elara screamed, and a blinding white light burst forth, forming a vast, circular barrier around them.
Code looked up, eyes hollow.
'I should have known. Why did I even believe. Why did I hope? Did I forget...?
That divine protection doesn't work on me...'
"We did it!" Elara smiled, looking up, until she saw the truth.
SMAASH!!
The demon's fist crashed into Code.
Blood exploded through the air.
"I'm an atheist," Code whispered, and his body flew, smashing into a boulder with a sickening crunch.
"CODE!!!" Elara's scream tore through the forest.
***
To Be Continued...