As quickly as his oppressive aura had appeared, it vanished. Cypher and Alex took deep breaths and dry heaved as Louis reigned in his dark pressure. They knew that he was still well beyond them, however, they could at least control their fear better than before.
“I see you two are exhausted from your struggles. Here. Consider it a reward for a battle well fought.” Loius raised his hand and two glowing white orbs appeared. They seemed ethereal, hardly more than an illusion, but it was not warmth that shone from their pale light, only fear emanated from them. The two orbs floated over to Cypher and Alex, flickering as they entered their bodies.
The two boys didn’t even bother struggling or resisting, there was nothing they could do in the face of such overwhelming power. The orbs vanished inside them, and faint screams could be heard as they dissipated. Alex and Cypher soon found all their wounds instantly healed, their mental energy restored to the maximum, and their Orriums filled so fully that they were close to exploding.
This was not the most surprising part, however, what shocked them, even more, was the wave of memories and emotions that washed over them. In only a single instant, Cypher experienced the entire life of a young woman named Claire.
Her life had been one of lavish comfort. Raised a noblewoman, she had everything her heart desired. However, greed, lust, and a desire to control everyone beneath her led her to join Zealot’s Ring. She had made many terrible choices in her life, but in the end, it was choosing to join this organization that led to her untimely demise, and now, not even her spirit remained.
Alex suffered a similar experience, the life of a young man named Bradley. He had been a simple stablehand until his lord had accused him of fornicating with the horses. In truth, the lord had been the one doing such an abominable act, but the lord needed to preserve his dignity, and thus blamed Bradley.
Bradley narrowly escaped the death penalty for his supposed crime and was jailed for life. While in prison, he met with a member of Zealot’s Ring who then helped him to escape. Years of petty crime soon followed, but he rose to prominence within the criminal organization, and eventually gained his revenge against the despicable lord. However, Bradley’s life had ended too soon in the depths of this crypt.
Cypher and Alex collapsed, and tears began flowing from their eyes as they realized what had just happened. There was nothing they could do about it, and their despair was almost overwhelming. To have absorbed the soul of someone else… to experience their entire life and struggles at the expense of their entire existence was almost too much to bear.
Louis however simply laughed, cold and uncaring. He was amused by the torment these two were experiencing and he drew great pleasure from it. He watched them weep for a few more moments, before using his power to lift them up, and force them to look at him.
“That will be enough of that nonsense boys. Now, pay attention, I have a task for you. You will leave this place and tell your leaders, your masters, and everyone else who crosses your path that we, the Minus, have once again returned to this world.
“You will spread our name and fill the hearts of your kind with the fear that even to this day bubbles just beneath the surface of calm ignorance. You humans are pathetically forgetful. All it takes is the passing of a few generations, and fear that took thousands of years to cultivate vanishes in a wisp of smoke.”
He brushed his hair aside and licked the tip of one of his pearly white fangs before continuing. “You will do this task for me, or I shall end you here and now. What say you, mortals?” said Louis, a half-smile spreading across his face as he glared at them.
Cypher and Alex could do nothing but nod their agreement. They didn’t want to die, they only wished to return home. This had never been part of the plan, but even the best-laid plans can fall apart at a moment’s notice.
He dropped them to the ground and smiled again, “Good! Now, dear boys, there is one more thing I wish to discover. Those fools who tried to bring back their leader from beyond the veil of death were too weak. They lacked a certain discipline that I had grown accustomed to in my last life. You two, on the other hand, seem to possess that which they lacked. Show me.”
Cypher and Alex looked at each other with horrified and puzzled looks on their faces. What was he talking about?
“I can tell by your vacant expressions that you failed to understand me. Forgive me, I may have given you too much credit, your race is quite slow after all. I want you to do battle with me. Unleash the full measure of your powers against me, I wish to see how far your kind has come in this long age of absence.”
Cypher and Alex went wide-eyed. Did he really want them to fight him? What for? He could easily destroy them without even breaking a sweat. What could he possibly gain from this?
“Tick tock boys. I may be immortal, but I don’t have all the time in the world to play around with puppets that cannot dance when I pull their strings. If you dawdle too long I might just kill you both, and find more suitable emissaries to spread my message.”
Cypher and Alex stood up slowly, their legs shaking beneath them. They pulled their weapons out and prepared to face this monster. “Remember now, everything you have! Anything less than that and I’ll kill you where you stand,” said Louis.
The two could do nothing but comply and readied their weapons. Their hearts were pounding, their emotions were running wild and in the dim darkness of this crypt, they both prepared to give everything they could muster.
A possible victory was nothing more than a long-dead concept at this point, but dying without even putting up a fight was out of the question. Would they be remembered for this act? Probably not. Even still, their grips tightened on their weapons and spells rushed to the forefront of their minds.
Alex was the first to attack. Though, whether it was his bravery or the dam of his fear finally cracking open, Cypher couldn’t tell.
