The Star, The Demon, and The God - 29. What's Dead is Done

Drulai

I frown at the spot Raiyo disappeared through his portal. It left a scorched up piece of my carpet.

Seeing it would annoy me but I think it is understandable that other matters are more important.

For instance, my child wishes to destroy everything and everyone for the sake of being at the head of all things in the universe.

Why couldn’t Raiyo kill Morgoren when he had the chance?

I understand his reasonings but that is pulling us all into the same ending! There are countless lives who do not deserve to be thrown away like garbage.

Pulling at my hair, I sit down on the chair in front of my mirror.

All these gods act like children. What is so hard about keeping their problems to themselves?

When they were all born, I knew that I would not be able to control them all. All my children were strong, even Altiba who most think is the weakest of them all.

I may have been the first god spawned into life, but that does not mean I have kept my strength. Each child I bring weakens me that much further.

Perhaps bringing thirteen gods does not seem like much, but trying to start the first civilizations in Thymestrys took quite a toll.

Now I am here; cared for by different spirits who have asked to watch and protect me.

Retired seems like the right word, I suppose.

One thing bothers me about this whole encounter.

Well multiple things, but one thing specifically.

Raiyo in his past life would have taken the chance to kill Morgoren as soon as it was available. He would not have thought about anything else. That is what happened on that tragic night of his death. Surely that rage is still hidden in there somewhere.

I know it has been over a thousand years, but that rage that I felt...I know it could not possibly disappear into nothing.

Something is wrong. Yes, his memories were wiped by Taisla, but Raiyo told me himself that they were slowly returning. By now he should have remembered Laneer. Right? The final trigger that broke the mask?

Frowning to myself, I wave my hand over the burnt carpet. The black fades away and the blue returns.

“Olenna,” I call.

At once, the doors to my room open. I see that she was not the only one eavesdropping. A few other servants were leaning against the door with her.

“Yes, my lady?” She curtsies.

Grabbing a jar of lotion, I turn to the mirror to rub some onto my face.

“Would you be a dear and find any spirits who are able to slip into Lunarico’s Sanctuary for me please?”

She tilts her head. “You want to send one of us to see the Star?”

I nod and run my fingers along my neck. “We are going to need his help. I need another to fetch his demon as well. That one should be easier to handle.”

Olenna looks a bit confused but she bows her head and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

As soon as they are closed, I lock the door with a wave of my hand. I also shut the doors to the balcony.

With a sigh, I turn in my seat to face the middle of my room once again.

“You can come out now,” I say. “Nobody should bother us now.”

At first there isn’t an answer, only silence and the brushing of branches against the windows outside.

I fold my arms and wait.

Perhaps that is what makes them realize I know they are there.

Black shapes peel away from the shadows on the wall. They grow and solidify into two giant automatons. Raiyo’s automatons to be more specific.

“How did you know,” They speak in unison.

I smile. “When you have children who can hide in all kinds of places, you tend to learn all their tricks sooner or later.”

Steam slowly seeps out of their shoulders, possibly a sign of distress.

“Fear not,” I motion for them to step closer. “Tell me why you did not leave with your master.”

They never get closer. They stay standing in the corner of the room.

Strange that such creatures could be so scared.

“We...We are conflicted with our Master’s interests,” They say. “He has chosen a path that does not allow us to protect him. We know our only option is to come to you for help.”

I shrug. “Forgive me, but I am not entirely sure what plan of action needs to be put in place. Because Raiyo let go of our one chance, who knows what will happen.”

There is a long pause from them. For a moment, I think they have frozen over in defeat. It feels rather awkward sitting here in silence but I am patient. Everyone digests information in their own ways. Apparently automatons choose long silences.

“We know a way,” They speak suddenly. “We know a way to convince him to kill Morgoren.”

I narrow my eyes. “Before you spout your idea, how can I trust you? You are his most faithful servants. For all I know, you are selling lies in hopes of killingl me next. Convince me that what you are about to share is true.”

They look between themselves for a moment, as if they are unsure of what to say.

Scoffing at them, I cross one leg over the other.

“Tell me something about your Master,” I say. “Tell me something deep and dark. A secret that nobody else would know. I will know if you lie, but I want to test how far you are willing to go against Raiyo.”

I am not a fool. I could easily read their minds when they tell me their so called “way of convincing Raiyo”, but if they were to break one of their master’s wishes, then I will truly trust them.

More steam flies out of their shoulders. They must be pretty nervous. Have they ever betrayed their master before? I would not doubt it if they haven’t.

Another puff of steam comes out, as if it is a deep breath to prepare themselves.

They speak.

~~~
~~~

200 Years After Yinx’s Death

The Ancient Ones

We have been ordered to keep away from Raiyo’s chambers. It leaves us quite nervous.

Raiyo has been a lot more quiet than usual. He no longer talks to his followers. He does not talk to anyone!

Every now and then, he would ask to see us, and he would ask how he had become this new dark form. It is always the same questions, as if he finds it impossible to believe our answers.

The answers are always the same however.

We can tell that the Gatekeeper’s memory deletion spell is wearing off. With each passing day, Raiyo acts more and more like his old self.

As Yinx.

It brings great joy in ourselves! We can barely handle the steam rolling around in our bodies!

Sadly, as Raiyo’s memories return, he grows ever distant with everyone.

Like the time when he was alive, he is becoming more of a loner. Never trusting others but us. He never leaves his room and he never lets anyone inside.

We are worried now.

We hear him inside. We hear him crying, sometimes groaning in frustration. We also hear Raiyo breaking things behind the door.

As his memories return, so do the memories of the small things in life; like the feeling of touching your own skin. The air brushing against you. The cold or warmth biting at your nerves. The feeling of another’s body against yours.

Right now, we are unsure of how far along in life that he remembers, but what we do know is that he has not yet remembered his lover.

The reason we know this is because he has not done anything about it yet. We know he would have. At least we think he would. He did kill the God of Darkness and obviously wanted to kill the God of the Moon as well.

What if he does remember the werewolf? We should be there to comfort him. Leaving him alone in this time is not right.

Like the time when he was twelve and ran away into the desert, we must now help him again.

We knock on the door, waiting for an answer.

As we expected, we do not receive one.

Another knock just to be sure. We do not want to appear rude. He is a god now so it would be best not to make him too angry.

“Master,” We call. “It is us. May we please come in?”

Silence is all we get in answer. Not even footsteps can be heard behind the door.

We are about to slip under the crack of the door when it all of a sudden creaks open.

Raiyo is in his bed completely covered in blankets. That is probably the only normal part in this room.

Everything is floating in the air.

Papers, furniture, shards of a mirror, quills, even a random skull of a falcon.

None of these things move. They are frozen in place as if time has stopped their fall.

“You know not to call me that,” Raiyo whispers, grabbing our attention.

At first we are confused by his words, but then we remember the times where he truly hated being called master.

We bow our head.

“Forgive us…” We are not sure what we should call him now. Does he still consider himself Raiyo?

We notice his cheeks and neck have dried up dark lines. No doubt they are from his tears. They are strange tears. They look like ink coming out of his eyes. It is disturbing to say the least.

“Please,” We step carefully around the floating objects. “Let us take care of you in this moment of need.”

At first he looks reluctant, but his bottom lip begins to shake.

He nods and lowers his head.

Offering one of our hands, he places his over our finger and he steps out of the mass of blankets that had engulfed him.

It is slightly surprising to see that he was naked underneath the pile, but we try our best not to stare at the glowing marks on his body.

We lead him to the bathroom to give him a bath.

All the while, Raiyo stays silent. He only keeps a hold on our finger and lets us do all the work.

Once the water is filled up, we wait for it to cool off. It is far too hot at the moment.

We instead grab a bunch of soaps and shampoos to get them ready.

Raiyo lets go of us and slowly steps into the water, not even flinching at the boiling heat. He sits along the edge with his back to us.

As soon as the slight panic slips away, we use a cup to get his hair wet and use the shampoo.

During all of this, Raiyo does not speak or blink. Not even when the soap or waters runs into his eyes.

When we wash along his body does he finally show some life. Unfortunately, it is not one we expected.

His lip trembles as new black ink tears begin to spill from his eyes.

“Raiyo?” We ask. “Tell us what is wrong.”

He chokes on a sob and looks up at us with those scary eyes. “Why...why didn’t you tell me?”

“Didn’t tell you what?” We ask, slightly worried. There is a lot we have not told about the past.

His eyes cloud over with darkness before more fat tears spill onto his cheeks. He brings his hand over his heart, right over the glowing wolf head.

Raiyo’s body turns into a puff of smoke before he vanishes into thin air. Not a single trace of him is leave behind.

Why do we feel like we made things even worse? Should we have told him everything? We did not think he would ever want to remember such things!

We empty the bath and leave, guilt pushing on our necks like the sharp edge of a blade.

~~~

Three days pass. Three days since we last saw Raiyo.

Sadly, this is somewhat normal. He tends to go missing for days on end. We never know where he goes to hide.

When he does return, he looks different. He carries himself differently, no longer walking around as if he is trying to tempt people left and right. His eyes do not burn with that intensity that shows he wants to get under your skin. None of that.

Instead, he treads carefully. He is light on his footsteps. He checks his surroundings. His eyes concentrate on every little thing like a hawk.

It is how he acted when he was Yinx.

They are small changes that I am sure most would not pick up, but we notice them.

His eyes trail up our bodies before he walks past us and heads into his room, not bothering to talk about where has been.

To our surprise, he leaves the door open. An invitation for us!

Trying not to seem too excited, we wait a moment before entering the doorway one at a time.

We blink when we see Raiyo in the middle of the room.

He is on his hands and knees and carving into the stone floor with his claws.

Glowing orange trails come to life from his carving. He creates a giant circle that is around eight feet in diameter.

Inside the circle, he creates different lines and shapes. Circles and lines always kept together; never trailing off. Everything is connected. Even the actual demonic alphabet that he slices into the stone.

The only spot that does not get covered is the very middle of the circle. A small circle of empty space is left there.

Once he is done, Raiyo steps back and looks down at his work.

“If we may ask,” We break the silence. “What are you doing?”

He ignores us.

Instead, with a wave of his fingers, a cloud of smoke materializes over the empty space. It molds into the shape of a wolf. Grey fur sprouts through the smoke and the canine comes to life.

It whimpers and curls into a ball, too scared of its new surroundings.

Raiyo raises his chin and when he swipes his finger through the air, the wolf’s throat slashes open.

The wolf corpse gushes out blood into the stone floor. The blood slips into the cracks of the glowing design created by Raiyo, completely turning red.

“Master, what are you doing?” We exclaim.

Raiyo ignores us again.

The wolf’s body melts into nothing and the blood steams up. The doors to the room slam shut and everything in the room begins to lift up and spin around the room. It is almost like a tornado is in here!

Raiyo stands still, staring at the steaming symbol in front of him.

The symbol begins to glow red, the blood lifting up into the air but maintaining the shape of the design.

The glowing blood then groups together, forming a new shape, a body. A human body. It floats in the air and creates small features on the face, though the red makes it hard to tell what face it could be.

As the blood perfects its new shape, it begins to create a layer of skin on top of itself. Veins slither underneath and hair sprouts through the naked pale skin. Dark red hair covers the top of the head and most parts of the body. New scars are littered over the chest and arms.

It is was the red hair that made it click for who this really is.

Laneer Bancroft.

Raiyo has used plenty of dark magic, but this is at the top for the darkest.

Laneer’s body is moved to stand upright but he floats a few inches over the ground. His eyes are closed as if he were in a deep sleep.

He was naked, but not for long. Different layers of clothing and armor materialize out of thin air and wrap around his body.

The armor is a complete replica of the one he had before he died.

Once the armor finishes materializing, Laneer is finally settled down on his feet.

As soon as he touches the floor, his eyes open.

There is a long silence in the room. We can only stare as Raiyo steps forward and stands before Laneer.

Raiyo’s eyes well up with tears before he pushes himself forward and wraps his arms around his lover, pulling him as close as he can possibly get to him.

“Oh gods,” Raiyo sobs. “I’ve missed you so much!”

Something is not right.

Creating a body is dangerous and looked down upon by the gods, but there is something else. Laneer is not responding. He only stares down at Raiyo. He does not touch him. He only stands still with his arms at his sides.

“Raiyo,” We say in warning, not trusting this...Laneer.

Of course, he ignores us.

He buries his face into Laneer’s chest and keeps his arms wrapped around him as if he is about to lose him again.

When we fear we have to spell it out, Raiyo leans his head back to look up onto Laneer’s eyes.

“Laneer?” He tilts his head to get his attention. “Its...its me! Remember?”

He brings his hand up to touch Laneer’s cheek but he stops himself. He stares at his clawed fingers and pulls away.

“Right,” He says in defeat. “I guess I am not me anymore. Neither of us are. But...but I still love you! Do you still love me too?”

This time he does touch Laneer’s face. He traces his fingers over the freckles on his cheeks and he gasps when he cuts through the skin.

Laneer only blinks at the pain. He never removes his eyes from Raiyo’s.

“You do not feel it either?” Raiyo asks. “You cannot feel like me? I’m sorry. I did not know if the spell would have worked. Maybe I did it wrong!”

Raiyo bites his lip in thought before his eyes somehow brighten. A thought comes to his mind.

He summons a portal and grabs Laneer’s hand.

“Come,” He smiles. “I am sure this will bring some life back into you.”

We quickly pass through the portal, looking for any danger that could harm them both.

To our surprise, we find ourselves in the middle of the Drulai forest.

We have not been here in forever. Not since Raiyo and Laneer were captured by the King of Avelin’s advisor.

The portal brings right where it happened. Right in front of the glowing blue pool and the purple tree.

Raiyo walks up to a boney white tree corpse and presses his thumb to it, bringing life back into the forest.

“The Mother Goddess will know we are here,” We say. “She may bring trouble.”

Raiyo shakes his head and walks back to Laneer. “No she won’t. Not when I made it so she cannot feel our presence here.”

Overpowering Drulai sounds a bit terrifying but we choose not to question it for now.

“Do you remember this place, Laneer?” Raiyo touches his cheek gently, wiping away any blood that slip from the cut on his cheek.

Laneer does not answer. He only stares down at Raiyo with a blank face. No signs of life.

We know that this is not Laneer. This is only a body shaped to look like him. A body with no soul.A walking shell of a man.

Raiyo sits Laneer down against a tree trunk and leans him back to look up at the glowing green and blue leaves above us.

He makes sure Laneer has his eyes looking upwards before he curls himself against his side.

This is quite disturbing.

How can Raiyo not see that there is nothing here? There is nothing alive in this thing. It is only a molding of what once was a man he loved, but the man is not truly there.

Raiyo feeds on souls when he kills. He can feel the souls in all living things. Surely he must know that this is not Laneer.

Leaning his head on Laneer’s shoulder, Raiyo kisses his neck before he bites his lip, his eyes closing as black ink tears begin to spill once more.

He does know.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers so quietly that we barely even hear it.

Raiyo sits up and pulls the Laneer clone’s head to his chest. He hugs him close and weeps into his hair.

We sit around them both to guard and hopefully comfort Raiyo in this dark time.

He rocks slowly back and forth, as if he were trying to put the clone to sleep.

Its eyes do not close however.

“He once told me that he would love me even in death,” Raiyo sniffs. “Do you think he still does?”

We are about to answer but he speaks again.

“Do you remember…” Slight pause to clear his throat. “Do you remember when you saved me from the rapists when I was twelve?”

This time it is a question for us.

“Of course,” We say.

He nods. “You taught me the song of death. I never knew of that kind of magic. I suppose I should have since I am able to sing Morgoren’s song.”

We only sit there in silence.

None of the creatures are here tonight. They were usually fine with Raiyo’s presence before, but we guess times have changed.

Raiyo begins to sing. There are no words. No of course not. The song of death does not require words. It requires the will to end the life of others. Be it for good or evil.

We suppose that in this case, it is a mix of the two.

Raiyo should never have gone down this path. It only brought more pain.

The pain can be felt in his voice. It shakes as he fights against his crying. The pain of what feels like killing his love once again taking a toll on his heart.

It is a short song. The encounter with death is short after all. It is merely a kiss and breath away and you are gone.

The clone’s eyes finally shut themselves and blood spills from his nose.

Raiyo looks down at the dead clone.

It must be traumatizing seeing your lover in such a state like that. At least before, Raiyo did not see the remains of what he did to Laneer on that mountain.

“Look away, Raiyo.” We say, reaching out to touch him.

He shakes us off and leans the clone to rest on the ground.

Raiyo’s bottom lip trembles and the skin around his eyes get darker, making his orange irises glow even brighter.

His hands shake as they rest over the clones chest.

Shadows around us begin to be pulled toward Raiyo. They lift up into smokey trails that surround him and the clone.

We bow our heads. We remember this before. It was just like that night they both died.

Raiyo’s voice screams in rage into the forest as an explosion of darkness spreads around us, completely destroying all life.