Chapter 195: A Price Worth Paying

A bast of dark magic hit me, sending me flying. I fell on the ground a little further away. 

"Divine?" Asher's voice sounded. 

"Leave. Now!" Fetheion shouted. I tried to push myself up to a sitting position, but before I could even do so, Fetheion appeared before me. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. "Both of you." He said, shooting a deadly glare at Asher and Lucius. "I said leave!"

Asher ended his spell. The lightning dancing on his skin disappeared and the sky began to clear up. He shot a confused look at Fetheion, but as soon as he noticed the Divine's dark expression, he grabbed Lucius' arm and pulled him away without a word.

"As for you," Fetheion glared at me. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" 

"I don't understand-" I began speaking, but he wasn't hearing any of it. His grasp around my wrist tightened as he cut me off.

"Trying to copy the Demon Lord's power? Have you lost your mind?"

"I was about to lose!" I protested. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Lose!" He hissed. He pulled me towards the lake not too far away. "Wash your face and pull yourself together, Kai." He said coldly. "Then you'll sit down and listen." He pushed me towards the lake as he let go of my wrist. 

He was usually so kind and calm that his behaviour now felt so wrong. Hesitant, I approached the lake, knelt by the shore and splashed some water on my face. I glanced at my wrist where he pulled me. The mark around it reminded me of how damn strong Fetheion really was.

"Done?" He asked with a calm, yet for some reason terrifying voice. I nodded and rose to my feet. "Yeah," I said with a low voice.

Fetheion raised his hand. His magic – the infinitely deep darkness – spread from his hand, enveloping us in a dark sphere. 

"Your friend loves to eavesdrop." He said as I tried to calm my racing heart. "Clearly, he never learned manners – or he doesn't care about them."

I gulped. I couldn't see anything, despite my darkvision. A light suddenly appeared. A tiny, silver orb of light floated in the air between us, somewhat above our heads. 

"Now," Fetheion said raising his chin a little. "What the hell were you thinking?" 

I hesitated. "Sorry," I finally said. I did not want to anger him even more. This was a stark reminder of how damn powerful he was – perhaps even more so than Aelith herself. He was not my friend like Asher and Lucius were – I had to be wary near him.

"I didn't ask for an apology." He said with a terrifyingly calm voice. "What were you thinking? Why did you try to replicate the Demon Lord's power?"

I wanted to look away, but the only thing I could see was him and the orb of light. "I remembered what you said about my body being that of an ancient demon." I chose my words slowly and carefully. "You said the Demon Lord was an ancient demon too, so I thought that I could somehow become more powerful if I tried to copy him." 

Fetheion sighed and pushed back a few strands of loose hair. "At least you did put some thought into it." He mumbled before shaking his head. "Come here," he said, gesturing me to approach with his hand. 

Hesitant, I took a few steps towards him. 

"Give me your hand." His voice was calm again, but his usual kindness was nowhere to be seen. I did as he said and extended my arm, if only not to anger him more.

A thin strand of darkness wrapped itself around my hand. "Now," He said. "Try it again. On a smaller scale."

I glanced at him. "What?" 

"Try to use that power, but on a smaller scale. Like a flame in your hand. Or something like that. Contain it here." He pointed at my palm. 

Still confused and somewhat wary, I did as he asked. I tapped into the power I had felt briefly before.

A flash of purple light was quickly covered by the darkness of the Divine before me. "See?" He said as I quickly pulled my hand back.

"What was that?" I asked. I had only felt a sliver of power before his darkness stopped me. 

"That, is the power of an ancient demon." Fetheion's voice sounded almost lost in thought, or perhaps lost in memories as his eyes seemed to lose focus. "It's not something you can control – not with such a weak will."

I clenched my fists with anger, but that anger quickly left its place to fear as strands of darkness creeped closer. "Then what do I need to do?" I asked, trying to mask me feelings. 

"You need to understand something – my people may not be the good guys in this whole story, but the Demons aren't innocent either. Their power itself is that of darkness, and so is yours." 

I wanted to make a snide comment about his own dark power. On second thought though, it was probably not the best idea right now, considering how powerless I felt right now and how angry he was. 

"Their own power can and will corrupt them." He continued. "And the same can happen to you. Not to mention the hundreds of souls you have resting within – you're a ticking time bomb, eventually, you will destroy things around you." His words rang in my ears as he didn't pull his punches. "That power of yours is not something you can control and even if you could, it's not something you should use against those you care about."

I looked away. He was right, especially with his last words. Despite Asher's ridiculous assault, I shouldn't have tried to use demonic power against him, knowing it could harm him more than others.

"And most of all," Fetheion continued. "If you unleash that power, the whole demonic world will know where you are – just before you create a huge crater and die." I could feel his deadly glare despite not looking at him. "So, make sure that power is a last resort only." A strand of darkness forced my chin up. I looked at Fetheion as he asked. "Am I clear?"

I gritted my teeth. "What if I need that power?" Forcing those words out took most of my courage. "What if I need it to save someone?" I asked and took a step forward. The darkness around me scattered as I passed through the strands. "What if I need it to fight Aelith? Or the other Divine?" The power I had now wasn't going to be enough, I knew it.

"You didn't need it before. You were plenty strong enough to take on pretty much any Divine except for Aelith if not for the Divine Pillar." 

"Yet Divine Pillars seem to be popping up everywhere!" I protested. "What if I need to fight one of them by a Pillar again? How many souls do I need to take in? How many creatures must I kill?" I shouted. With such power just within my grasp, I didn't want to let go of it. Wasn't this what we'd been looking for? Enough power to defeat the Demon Lord and get the hell out of this game?

Fetheion shook his head. "Sometimes it's just not worth the risk." 

"What if it is?" I shouted. "What if I can actually stop Aelith?" What if I could free everyone? But I couldn't tell him that, could I? "What if that power will give me what I need to put an end to this?"

Fetheion didn't answer immediately. I could see the hesitation in his eyes. He knew I had a point, and he knew I could, in fact, use that power for good.

"Fetheion, what if this awakens the spirit of your friend?"

He flinched. For a moment, his eyes lit up, making me regret saying those words. If my predecessor's spirit – his soul – returned, what would happen to me? Would I be sent back to my body? Or would I remain here, trapped? Would I be just another soul within his body, giving him power?

Just the thought of it was enough to terrify me.

"It's not safe." Fetheion finally said. "Promise me you won't use it and I'll try and figure out a way to help you learn safely."

My eyes widened. "You have my word," I said with a weak voice as I tried to get my emotions in order. Suddenly, power was within my reach, but a new danger, something else to fear had also appeared on the horizon. I knew why Fetheion had accepted to help me – it was to try and bring my predecessor back. His friend whom he still mourned.

I felt betrayed, somewhat. But also relieved. The darkness covering us disappeared, revealing the setting sun. 

"Rest for an hour or so," Fetheion said as he turned away. "There is something going on not too far from here – I will show you how to stop it. So be ready."