Scene Four: The Moon Wolf and the Black Demon
...Of Act Four: Blackness
In the eyes of Lusari Atella, we are in
North Woods of Peul, in the world of Lysvid.
It is early morning
On November 10th, 2017.
"Remind me, Loki – whose fault is it that you're hung over?"
"You're a teacher," Loki grumbled. "You shouldn't let me drink so much in one sitting."
"Not your teacher," Guildford replied, but he smirked.
"You have the worst timing," Sira growled. She trudged ahead as she held Ryoku's hand. As far as I knew, she hadn't elaborated on that. "We don't know how tough this Moonwolf thing is gonna be, and our strongest fighter is useless."
Loki eyed her with a wicked smile. "You think I'm the strongest? Truly, coming from the mighty Sira?"
Will was at my side, his cautious eyes scanning the perimeter, but he spared that a side comment. "I think she meant the strangest."
He drew a laugh from a couple of them: Guildford's was that of a young man, rich, powerful, and undeniably charming. Ryoku's, in comparison, was like the brief illumination of an orchestra, tapping into his beautiful, hidden vocals in a way that seemed to send everyone spinning. He turned to face us, walking backwards to briefly and blindly entrust his safety in the fiery and fickle hands of Sira Jessura – and he smiled.
That was it. Ryoku Dragontalen's secret weapon. His golden smile borrowed the warmth from the hottest suns in the spirit realm to blast us with its brightness. Combined with his beautiful green eyes, the delicate curve of his nose, his cheeks, and the soft cascade of his golden hair, Ryoku Dragontalen was a force to be reckoned with. I was startled he hadn't been able to win over an enemy of ours with just that coveted face of his.
I kept silent, though I made sure he saw just how easily his smile summoned mine. I had to. With the fiery Sira attached to his hip, she'd never let me get close. She couldn't decide whether she was in love with him, or only lusted for him. If I had it right, she helped him get through the Old Forest and fought for him before we met. Ryoku had saved my life. Without him, I would surely have been dead... or worse. Sira didn't need him like I did.
That said, I wasn't sure what I could do anyway. Where Ryoku was preoccupied with everything else, Will watched out for me. He made certain to watch over me especially while we traveled through the unknown territory of Lysvid. He was sharp and wary, never quite taking things at face value – except for me. I could tell he still saw the same helpless girl, surrounded by a bunch of thugs. When his eyes darted to the shadows, it was as though he saw the same men approaching again, this time garbed in the dark attire of the Ritual.
That, and Will seemed almost as preoccupied by the Defender as I was. It wasn't in a sexual way, though, I hoped. Ryoku and Will always seemed to have an understanding and close comradery between them, even when I first met them, and it only grew and grew. I was envious of it. No matter how I tried, Ryoku never lowered his guard around me. Not like he did around Will, Sira, Guildford, or even Loki. The vampires weren't exempt, either. Rex seemed to warm right up to Ryoku. The insidious Cleria wanted to as well, I could tell.
No. For the time being, I was the odd one out. The black sheep of the group. Will may love me, but he had duties and honor that would always come first, whereas I thought Ryoku might jump off a cliff for Sira. Probably for anyone, really. Sira loved Ryoku, whether she accepted it or not. Loki loved himself. Guildford loved Ryoku as a student, and he might eventually teach us like the rest of his class, too.
Being the odd one out was okay, though. From the sidelines, I could watch everyone with comfort. I could study how easily Ryoku spaced out, or how Sira stared at him while he did so. How Will would study his landscapes, his hand always on the lance with carved initials in it.
Loki gave Ryoku odd looks, I thought. It was as though he looked at him and expected somebody else to turn his way. When Ryoku Dragontalen smiled absently back at him, Loki gazed away, and I could almost sense the self-loathing behind his silence.
Rex smoked a lot, despite that he battled his cravings when we first brought Ryoku to the Timeless Castle. Cleria skipped along like a moving shadow, usually somewhere between Ryoku and Rex. It seemed like everyone in the group had their favorites. A ragtag bunch for the history books.
The most accepting of the group, besides Ryoku himself, was surely Guildford. Perhaps he raised the bar a little for Ryoku, but he treated everyone like equals. It didn't matter whether we hung out in a vampire-infested bar or the castle of an eerie old bat. It didn't matter whether we traveled with the fiery Swordstress or the Trickster. It didn't matter whether we fought bands of the Ritual cult or went after savage wolves in the north – Guildford was with us all the way and never complained. In fact, I thought he enjoyed it.
"We'd best be on guard," the teacher warned as I studied him, stowing his map into his cloak in favor of his longsword. He didn't see me looking. "We're near its territory now."
Everyone slowed down until we all traveled in more of a tight flock. Ryoku nervously kept the lead, his hand on the strange black sword that the Timeless One gave him. Did he notice how easily he swayed toward that new weapon?
Will squeezed my hand. "Are you ready?" he whispered. His eyes shone like lagoons in the dark world of Lysvid. They bore an unrestrained love for life. Despite having just as dark a past as any one of us did, he held it well. Almost nothing could shatter his deep enthusiasm for life, even the dark world of Lysvid.
I took my staff from its holster over my back. It was already glowing with charged runes. I'd taken the time to do so during our train ride to the village of Peul. Will smiled, taking out his lance. As he did so, a raccoon-eyed Loki drifted up next to him like some sort of bog ghost.
"We should buy you a new spear, my friend," he muttered, observing the plain lance with discretion. "That's like the kind soldiers use. You're a Guardian, Will."
Will grimaced quickly. "A soldier would not use a weapon lacking quality," he replied. "Regardless, I am but a guide and Guardian. It is a noble position. I need no new weapon, Trickster."
Loki regarded Will like the soldier had just made an ill comment about his weight. He jabbed his thumb at Ragnarokkr bobbing on Ryoku's back. "You sure you don't want something like that? I'm a god, Will – I'm sure I could get you whatever you please. Perhaps something like Gungnir? Sleipnir? Gods forbid it, but the Gae Bolg... Indulge yourself!"
"I could not be more confident," Will replied. His voice sounded more strained now. He gave his spear an experimental spin. When he laid it to rest on his shoulder, I saw the initials carved just below the blade. 'J.R.'.
"There it is!" Guildford declared, pointing ahead with the blade of his sword. Loki and I flinched, but Will didn't react – even in conversation, the soldier was always alert. He stepped ahead of Ryoku and Sira, as they drew their weapons. Rex and Cleria joined us. I heard the quiet shink of Cleria's claws extending. Not quite as deadly as Rex's rock fist, but she was strong, too. She caused a lot of damage when they arrived to save us from the Ritual.
We'd come to an end of the forest where the path staggered off into thicker woods, laden with large boulders and rocky ledges all over. The trees shot out to the sky, gnarled and twisted like claws of the earth reaching for the only lights in Lysvid. If we delved deeper, it'd be hard to tell where we were going in the pitch of Lysvid without the lead of Rex and Cleria, who both seemed to see in Lysvid's darkness eerily well.
Ahead of us, atop a part of the ledge between the trees, the wolf stepped out into the open. Its fur was as dark as the world around it, and resonated with some sort of energy that made the air feel like static. Its black eyes studied us from atop a fang-filled snout, the lip curled up into a silent snarl. It was at least double the size of a normal wolf. The atmosphere it gave off was not unlike that of Jesanht Olace, the interloper who attacked Ryoku when we arrived in Lysvid.
Even before Loki let out a startled cry of realisation, I knew we'd just stepped into something more than we'd intended, like children who wandered into the deep end of the pool by mistake and found nothing beneath their feet. Guildford eased Ryoku back carefully with a touch of his arm, and Will's grip on his lance fastened like a shark's maw.
Loki stepped out before us, a hand on his royal sword. "Geri."
In response, the wolf seemed to be grinning. Its lip curled up in a way that suggested it took humor in Loki's appearance.
"Loki," the wolf growled in a deep male voice. It took me nary a second to realize it was the wolf speaking. It bounded part of the way down the hill, stopping a ways before us to stretch lazily, never taking its eyes off the Trickster. "Fancy meeting the Trickster in a place like this. I thought the gods ventured far from the world of Lysvid, but here I find you. Or you find me, I suppose."
"Not lately," Loki replied. His hangover magically dissipated once an actual threat rose. To Ryoku, he subtly whispered, "This may not be the best place to train, kid." Before he could protest, Loki continued toward Geri, his hand at his sword. "Where's Freki, Geri? Is she with you?"
The wolf let out a rippling snarl, holding its ground. Ryoku attempted to follow Loki, but Will and Guildford held him back, both watching the encounter with hawk eyes.
"Freki has vanished," Geri growled, "as of two months ago. The spark of the new world, and she has disappeared. Do you know anything about that, Trickster?" Before he could get an answer, his nose suddenly perked up. "Interesting."
An intense feeling of dread washed over me as his gaze slid from Loki, to Ryoku.
"How interesting," he repeated, stepping down from the upper ledge further. Loki stepped in his way, but Geri seemed to look right through him. "To find the Trickster god lurking in the shadows of Lysvid. And, with him… a Defender."
I could've sworn I saw Loki's shoulders sag half an inch in relief. Why he would look relieved about that, I couldn't imagine.
"Get back!" Loki shouted, and stepped in the way of Geri just as the huge wolf lunged, clearing the rocky slope like an anthill, and bore down on Loki with his rows of sharp fangs. Loki caught the wolf by his shoulder and jaw, his sword still sheathed at his side. Will and Guildford urgently pushed Ryoku back and stepped forward. Ryoku fell to the ground from their force. Ragnarokkr clattered to the ground behind Guildford. The teacher's glance darted between Ryoku and Loki.
I didn't hesitate, and hurried to Ryoku's side, where I nearly crashed into Sira. "We need to get him the fuck outta here," she told me urgently, as though the thought might never have occurred to me. "Come on, you."
"I can't," Ryoku replied, as simply as if we asked him to go to the markets with us. He ignored my hand and rose to his feet on his own. "That wolf has been hurting the villagers. Somehow, I need to stop it. We took that bounty."
Sira slapped her forehead in exasperation. "That's a fucking god, kid. You realize that? We're looking at the same massive wolf god, right? This is no time to be acting like a full-fledged Defender!"
Ryoku seemed to be looking past her and didn't hear a word she said. He only looked at Loki, his heels digging into the earth, struggling to hold Geri back. The wolf bounded around Loki, trying to force him back, but the Trickster held his own. Guildford and Will hung back, waiting for their opportunity to step in.
Without a word, Ryoku lunged for Ragnarokkr behind Guildford. Sira glared after him like fire following a trail of gasoline. Amazingly, Ryoku didn't seem to flinch at this. If there was a side of Ryoku I could claim to love, it was this. The boy who acted brave in the face of danger. We both knew he didn't stand a chance, but he rushed to protect his friend – a god, of course, and Ryoku was only human.
"Hey! Wolf-head!" Ryoku shouted, waving his sword at the wolf. In another context, I would have surely dropped to the ground laughing at Ryoku's small attempt at an insult. "You're after me, aren't you? A Defender?"
Geri relented. Loki fell forward on all fours. He looked pale. Fighting against a fellow god must take a lot out of him. Geri circled around the fallen Trickster, approaching Ryoku with just as much caution as we regarded it with. Will and Guildford hung near Loki, stuck somewhere between helping Ryoku or Loki. In the end, Guildford stooped to help Loki to his feet, and Will cautiously circled Geri toward Ryoku's side. Sira and I kept right behind Ryoku, though Sira looked just as ready as Geri to sever Ryoku's head.
Geri closed the distance to Ryoku. Sira made to dash in front of Ryoku, but he was too fast. The wolf god flipped into the air and rammed his hind legs into Ryoku's chest like a kangaroo. I felt the wind as Ryoku flew past me, rolling over twice before slamming into a grinding halt on his knees. Impressively, he still had a grip on Ragnarokkr's chains surrounding the hilt.
Shouting obscenities, Sira swung at Geri with all her might, Sinistra screaming through the air. Geri danced around it. The blade struck the ground hard enough to cleave into the earth, spraying dirt everywhere. Will lunged next with his lance, but the wolf caught it in its fangs and used the weight to hurl Will aside, where he landed hard against rocky ledge. Cleria darted out from Will's shadow like a ghost, her claws outstretched for blood. Geri dodged the first swipe, then closed in and rammed into the vampire girl's side. Even the stone-skinned vampire was knocked astray and fell into Rex. He caught her and held back to study the wolf's movements.
Only Guildford and I didn't act. The teacher tried helping Loki to his feet – the only one of us who really stood a chance – and I stepped closer to Ryoku, clutching my staff as a lifeline. My magic would be necessary for healing, I knew, but I needed to be between Ryoku and his enemy.
"What a peculiar scent," Geri growled, resuming a saunter toward Ryoku. "Defender. You smell bright for a human being. And… somehow, quite different."
Everyone struggled to rise. Sira couldn't free her sword buried in the earth, but she looked ready to start swinging at Geri with her bare hands if she needed to. Rex helped Cleria stand and moved toward Geri defensively, but kept distance between them. One false move, and this wolf could easily kill Ryoku.
Ryoku didn't respond, struggling to his feet. The hands clutching Ragnarokkr trembled badly. Just as suddenly as before, Geri sprang into him. His wiry tail struck Ragnarokkr hard enough to create a sound close to steel-on-steel. Ryoku flew back once more, but he used Ragnarokkr to slow his impact and attempt to steady himself. The chains were slickening with blood.
"There is something else in you," Geri decided, sniffing at Ryoku while he lurked ever closer. Ryoku managed to find his footing, but blood was dripping down his face and hands. "I smell it. A sickly-sweet scent. Humans always have it, but I have never smelled such a potent… darkness."
Geri snapped the last word, and Ryoku flinched, stumbling forward against his blade. The blade held, but Ryoku looked fully reliant on it to stand. Loki made to move, but he stumbled. Guildford had to lunge to catch and steady the Trickster. Sira finally dragged her sword free of the ground and turned to rush Geri, only to find Will's hand stopping her. He put a single finger to his lips. What was he thinking? Didn't he see how Geri advanced on Ryoku like a predator?
I couldn't heed his warning. I rushed to Ryoku's side and raised my staff up toward Geri. Energy crackled around my hands, ready to unleash everything I had. Geri briefly sniffed the air at me, but then returned his attention to Ryoku. I was of no consequence.
"Leave him alone, Geri!" Loki demanded, trying to find his footing as he leaned heavily on Guildford. "None of us have anything to do with Freki, I promise you. Why don't you just go to Immortalia and ask the Ancients?"
Geri's laughter came out as an angry bark. "Immortalia is worthless! The gods are weak, imprisoned in a pallid excuse for a godly realm. The Ancients are nowhere to be found, and, more importantly, neither is my sister." His black eyes slid back to Ryoku. "No, Immortalia is not the answer. I have found something worth my while."
Sira struggled against Will, but he surprisingly kept a firm grip on her. Rex and Cleria had slowed to a stop. Only Loki and Guildford approached slowly. Did they feel as useless as I did?
"Do you know what I speak of, boy?" Geri asked. I stole a glance at Ryoku without dropping my staff. He looked like he could collapse at any moment. His hair fell into his face, his head tilted downward. He trembled so violently that I was surprised he could still hold his sword. In fact, after two strikes from a god, I was thoroughly impressed.
"Turn your ears, Ryoku!" Will shouted, still keeping Sira at bay, who looked like she might try to tear Geri limb from limb. "Do not listen to this fallen god!"
Ryoku didn't reply. Geri turned his head to Loki and Guildford, who still attempted to close in despite the rough shape Loki was in – had fighting off Geri really taken that much out of him? "Fallen god? I only speak the truth. Does the mighty Trickster not sense his presence?"
His grip on his regal blade shuddered. "What are you on about, Geri?"
Geri grinned in such a way that a quiet snarl escaped his lips. "You call yourself a god, but you do not notice his energy? The primal darkness that stirs within your precious Defender? Is this not why you chose Lysvid, the darkest world, to hide away in?"
Loki staggered away from Guildford, who only let him go when the Trickster found his footing. Loki didn't pay Guildford any mind. His attention turned fully to Ryoku. Geri slowly turned his head to face the Defender standing behind me.
It was only then, watching the expressions of two gods, that I realized they weren't the only energy here.
I turned as Ryoku raised his head. Wait, was that Ryoku? His skin looked darker. He'd been struggling to stand, but suddenly rose to his full height, rolling his shoulders back in an eerily quick movement. The darkness seemed to cling to his hair, and not a trace of its usual gold shone through – it had turned jet-black.
In the same way that a terrible fright coursed through my body, something else was there, too. Excitement. The way Ryoku could stand up to powerful forces without fear, the dripping threats in his voice when he had nothing to back it up. I remembered seeing the red flash in his eyes when he faced the Keeper in Harohto, or when he shot three arrows in impossible succession into the throat of a Warg. In Gaevrel, when he stood up to the vampires threatening Rex.
It all made sense now.
"What is that?" Will demanded. He lost his grip on Sira, but the fiery warrior stood frozen to the spot.
Ryoku's head snapped up, and I saw the final touch. One eye closed from the blood running down his face, but the other zeroed in on Geri – and it was as red as blood.
He uttered a cold, cruel laugh. It was nothing like Ryoku's. Where his voice sounded musical and happy, this was an enemy. Ryoku's laughter was like wintry bells; his was like the sound of the Reaper's chains.
"I can breathe," the demon spoke. His words almost sounded like Ryoku's, but there was an odd quality to them. Darkened, tainted. He lifted Ragnarokkr with one hand, holding the blade aloft at an easy weight, examining it. He tilted his head a little to see it. His closed eye didn't open. "What a strange form you have taken, Ragnarok. The darkness that weakened me so greatly seems to have taken its toll on you." He studied it a moment longer, and then flicked the blade. What looked like dark energy tapered off the blade in ribbons, inspiring a satisfied smile from the demon. Then his eye slid, ever so slowly, to lock onto Geri.
I felt Rex's hand pull me back. A loud crack shot through the air. A current of wind threatened to floor me, but Rex held me steady. Will caught Cleria. Loki, a look of horror on his face, fell back into Guildford. Only Sira held her ground, watching what unfolded with wide eyes.
The demon that took Ryoku moved. The crack was the sound of a full swing of Ragnarokkr cleaving through the air, which Geri met with a whip of his wiry tail. I caught a brief glance of the demon's face. It was one that would serve to haunt me, imagining Ryoku with that impassive look on his face, his open crimson eye devoid of emotion.
Ryoku's body moved with effortless speed. Geri narrowly dodged Ragnarokkr as the blade cleaved the stone where he stood – the stone fell to pieces in the blade's wake. Geri lunged at the demon and caught his arm in his snout. I cringed, ready to intervene with anything I could muster. Demon or no, that was Ryoku's body.
"This is what you wanted?" Loki cried, struggling to find his footing. "You wanted to fight instead of finding your accursed sister?"
Geri howled in laughter as the demon flung him back, cut short by a whimper as his back struck stone. "We are gods, Loki!" he screamed. "How often do we find a feasible fight? Something we can actually try for?"
"A fight?" the demon spoke. His voice grated my ears. I hated hearing Ryoku speak such dark utterances. It was nothing like the moments of insidious confidence. This was the full monster. "You invoked me for a fight?"
"You would thank me for it, demon," Geri snarled, pacing around the demon. "You were trapped within the mind of this mortal. Were it not for me, surely you would still be sound asleep!"
The demon watched Geri pace for a moment, and chuckled in a way that sent shivers down my spine. "Huh. Mortal body, you think." His laughter turned dry, cynical. "Wolf god, you interfere in matters you do not understand. You believe this is an even fight? You believe you truly stand a chance against me?"
Geri laughed dryly, but did not let down his guard. I noticed Ryoku's arm was bleeding from Geri's fangs. The demon used it like it had no damage whatsoever. "I know you are weakened, demon," Geri replied. "You have been asleep for months. Perhaps longer, and in different time. Like all else in this world, you are weaker than ever."
The demon stopped, regarding Geri with a look devoid of any emotion. Then, ever so slowly, a smile crept along his lips. It was nothing like Ryoku's smile. It was sinister and dark. "What an insolent god. Let me show you just how wrong you are."
If I had chosen that moment to blink, I may have missed the outcome of the fight. Suddenly, the demon was gone, leaving only an upstart of dust in his wake where he stood.
"Let's end this!"
It seemed to come from all around us, like the demon took to the air to invade our lungs. We all looked around, alarmed. He was nowhere in sight.
He reappeared in the air above Geri. By the wolf's expression, he hadn't the slightest inkling of what was happening. The demon's sword – Ryoku's sword – rose above his head, and tangible dark energy spiraled around it.
Three words shot through the air like thunder in a valley. Were they even words? It didn't sound like a language I knew, but I could feel power and darkness in them. The words struck straight through to my very core. My soul stirred, fluctuating, in response to the demon. Somehow, I knew I would never forget those words.
"Rai Shin Kai!"
With that dark utterance, the demon brought down his sword, and the darkness came free of it like a living thing, falling upon Geri like a flash storm. The sound was immense, powerful, and deafening. It came like a meteor striking the earth, jarring the ground beneath my feet both with a thunderous impact and the mighty boom of magic. It cleaved through the earth, and Geri, in an instant.
An eternity could have fit in that powerful moment where the demon unleashed something unlike anything I had ever seen. He landed lightly on his feet behind Geri, his blood-colored eyes impassive. With one hand, he easily put the sword away over his back and gazed back over the maimed body of Geri. His powerful attack had left a scar in the earth, a sizeable gash like he'd swung at a mere pile of sand with a shovel. Geri lay within, a ruined wolf at the bottom of a tear in the earth. For the first time, I felt pity for the wolf god.
It dawned on me, then, what I had just witnessed. The complete and total defeat of a god.
When I finally brought myself to look at the demon again, he changed. The reverse of his demonic transformation came much quicker, as though some deity from above simply readjusted Ryoku's color. In one swoop, his hair turned shining gold again, his skin paled, that horribly impassive expression on his face faded into shock – and he collapsed.
"Ryoku!"
Out came several cries of worried Guardians and friends as we rushed to his side. I was the first to reach him. He lifted his head by himself in my arms, but his eyes remained closed. A small smile warmed up his face as though that cold soul had never been here. Sira took him from me and helped him to his feet.
Then he opened his one eye, the one that didn't have blood dripping over it. Previously as green as a beautiful forest, it had changed into a swirling, toxic violet.
Sira dropped him in uncharacteristic panic, scrambling away. He flailed for a moment, unsteady on his legs, and the flimsy Loki managed to steady him on his feet. The Trickster stared into his eye for a long moment, expressionless. Everyone was silent, studying the change in our favorite Defender. He only stared back, mute and confused. I wasn't sure he had the energy to speak.
"We've been in Lysvid long enough, I think," Loki murmured. "We'll report back on our hunt, and then we're gone."
"Okay," Ryoku replied – to my horror, a trace of that darkness in his voice came through when he spoke. However, when he cleared his throat, his normal light seemed to return. "We should stop by the Timeless Castle. I think I have a few questions for him."
I couldn't tell whether the tapping motion he did on Ragnarokkr's hilt was intentional or not. For that matter, did he remember losing control? Had he allowed the demon to step in, or was it an unconscious surrender? Was it benevolent to him, or just as harmful to him as it was our enemies?
The strangest thing, surely, was the look Sira was giving him. Sira, who had watched in shock when the demon took over and didn't back down, didn't flinch away, and who relentlessly tried to save him from Geri – recoiled from Ryoku as though his skin were made of acid. If she was afraid of the demon, why did she rush to his side as soon as he collapsed?
No, I realized, it had nothing to do with the demon. As Ryoku stared back at us with that violet eye, I realized that must be the very thing Sira feared above all else.