Rise Of The Godking

The first sign that this was definitely not the case became visible as soon as another thunderbolt appeared in the sky, throwing a flash of light into the mansion, revealing a dark smear on the wall.

"Is that… blood?"

His eyes rooted on it, he walked forward as the darkness returned to the interior of the mansion. He just wanted to confirm his suspicions… but he came to a stop when his foot came down on something slippery, making him stumble, then fall on his back.

Instead of the normal "THUD" that one would expect, a sick squelching noise was heard as he met the floor. Still confused about what was going on, he turned left and right to look for something he could use to climb to his feet… but as soon as he did the latter, thunder flashed again, and his eyes fell upon a face that was familiar, yet foreign at the same time.

A fourth of it had been hacked off, leaving behind a smooth gash through which a bloodsoaked, liquidy ma.s.s could be seen. It took a moment for Daneel to even understand that he was looking at the brain matter of the one who lay in front of him, and when he did realize it, he sucked in a breath and scrambled back, horrified.

He stopped when his back hit the wall, his breath coming in huge gasps that had nothing to do with his recent encounter with the big man. The thunder was coming more and more frequently, now, constantly cracking the silence of the mansion with its booming clamor, and in each flash, he saw more and more details of the body.

It was dressed in the rags of a slave which seemed to be completely drenched through with blood in multiple places. A large pool of the red substance had spread from it, which was the culprit behind Daneel"s fall, before. A large slab of flesh had been almost hacked clean off the thigh, and all the fingers on one hand had been hacked through. Multiple stab wounds were present on the stomach which lay still, and finally, with no other choice, his eyes wandered to the face, again, and he forced himself to recognize who this was.

"I don"t know why I"m bothering to tell you this, but here"s some advice: keep your mouth shut and your head down, and it will all be over quickly"

The words echoed in his ears, the face swam up through his memories. The first time he had seen it, it had been filled with hate due to what his brother had done. The second time it had appeared, he had been helped to the Pit and shown concern that he hadn"t expected, at all, from someone who had almost caused his death.

Sebastien"s snarkiness was all gone, now, leaving behind only the pitiful slave who had been the first to see him as one of them. He had come to like the man and his outlook on life… but none of that mattered as he stared at the body that lay motionless on the floor.

Even in death, he seemed to have a devil-may-care att.i.tude. The corners of his lips were raised as if he had been smiling before his final moments, but there was also a faint hint of surprise on his face, as if he hadn"t expected the final blow that must have finished him off. Daneel didn"t know what it was, but he suspected that it might have to do with the missing part of his brain.

For a moment, it almost seemed as if all of this wasn"t happening to him. He felt like a stranger in his own body, looking down on a plan that had clearly gone to the ruins. It made him chuckle senselessly, feeling unimaginable ridicule at the one who had been so sure that everything would work out, but the reality that he was laughing at himself came cras.h.i.+ng down all at once when a groan reached his ears.

"W-who"s there? Daniel?"

He shrank even more into the corner, first, afraid to go forward and find out what else had gone wrong. It hadn"t even been in the plan that Sebastian would come here, but from the wounds he had sustained and the way he had died, it was obvious now that there had been a very grave miscalculation.

"h.e.l.lo?"

The second groan was too much to bear. Daneel knew that he had to move forward now and face it, or regret it forever in his life. So, he scrambled forward on all fours, reluctant to even raise his head which had been the one to conjure up such a useless plan. He soon came upon a trail of blood and flesh that let to a different body, but it was also unmoving.

In another flash of light, he recognized it to belong to the butler who had seemed so una.s.suming in his visit before. That was the reason that he had agreed to Reese"s plan that he would simply use his aerated sleeping drought to put the man to sleep, but obviously, that hadn"t worked. Two long, curved blades were still grasped tightly in his hands, and he looked like he had stab wounds on both his front and back that had finally resulted in him succ.u.mbing to his injuries.

"Over here!"

The one the voice belonged to seemed to have heard the noise he had made when moving. It was coming from even further on, and after shooting one last look at the Lord"s servant, Daneel hurried forward.

Reese lay in a crumpled heap at the spot where the table and chair of the Lord had been before. Their ruins were present all around, broken and jutting out of the floor like stakes in the mud, and among the devastation, the body that was crawling in his direction slowly stopped, seeing that the one it had been calling to had arrived.

"No, no, no, no, no…."

Daneel"s head hurt so much all of a sudden that he almost fell to the floor. The only reason he remained standing was that despite the situation, he spotted a smile on the bearded healer"s lips that made him run forward, forced to accept that this was how it was, and this was how it would remain no matter how much he tried to deny it.

Taking the man"s body into his arms, he ran his eyes over the injuries all over his body. Strangely, his fingers had been cut off, too, exactly like those of his brother, and the rest of his body was pockmarked by cuts, some deep and some shallow, the blood still leaking out of them like water from a bucket with a hole.

"Take this… and go. I"ll live. I"ll be taken prisoner. What about Sebastian?"

As Reese forced out the question, Daneel felt tears come to his eyes. All he could do was shake his head in response, and when he saw Reese"s beleaguered sigh, he felt like throwing himself on the knife nearby.

"I should have known. The butler was far more of a handful than we could ever have expected. Sebastian came to check on me from the back door when he heard a commotion; he tried to protect me even though I told him to leave. None of that matters, now. You should go. Leave me! Just go!"

It was only now that Daneel spotted the envelope clutched desperately in Reese"s hand. It was dotted with blood here and there, but as he took it in his hands, he saw that it was made of expensive sheepskin that must definitely have protected the contents inside.

He felt the collar of his robes being caught and dragged forward, and he came face-to-face with the man who had saved him, once.

"I don"t have the strength to slap you! Get the f.u.c.k out of here, or this will all have been for nothing! Sebastien would have died for nothing! Go!"

He pushed Daneel weakly, and more by a desire to obey the one he had failed than by conscious thought, he got to his feet. But then… when he realized what he was about to do, he couldn"t make his legs move.

"You have a lot more to do! Don"t hesitate! They"ll be here any minute!"

Reese continued to urge him on, but without knowing it, he had hit on something important. Daneel was instantly reminded of all the mysteries he had to unveil and all the memories he needed to rediscover. He knew that they were important and he knew that he needed to prioritize them… but it hurt to even think of leaving behind a comrade in this manner.

"No… I really should go! He"ll be fine! I"m not even a part of this place! I have to think about everything I still need to do!"

Half of him wanted to leave. Half of him swore it would die rather than leave his friend alone.

"GO, DAMMIT!"

The scream finally pushed Daneel to make a decision. He turned his head away and trudged toward the door…but he felt a deep, deep ache in his chest, as if a part of him had been ruthlessly cut away and left behind. 

With each step, the urge to turn around grew stronger until he was cursing himself for not giving in to it. He felt like a coward, a cheat, a betrayer and even a kinslayer, and try as he might, he couldn"t put these feelings aside. 

Reaching the door, he knew he needed one last burst of conviction, or he would ruin everything. Recalling those images from his memories once again, he held them in his mind…and although the emotions he felt went nowhere, he was able to force himself to jump forward toward the gates.

Without looking back physically but with all his being left behind in the mansion, he blinked away the tears and ran, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn"t run away from himself, as at that moment…there was no one he hated more.