ASHES OF BETRAYAL THE SORCERER'S VENGEANCE

CHAPTER 12

The darkness slowly brightened, and before the ground was a wounded soul, lying somewhat peacefully, floating in the void.

His skin looked torn apart, more like it was joined together by some glue. 

His eyes flipped open and he stood up sharply, and fear enveloped him immediately. 

He scanned the area, noticing he wasn't standing on anything, just floating in an empty void. His heart raced hard against the slow-moving objects here, and everything seemed blurry before him.

“How am I alive?” He asked himself, his face pale. “I'm supposed to be dead, right?”

He took a careful look at himself and his face twisted into disgust. He just realised he looked like some pieces of bones glued together.

“Where am I?” He screamed loudly into the void, but all he got was echoes from the emptiness. “Where am I?” He was unrelenting and still screamed, hoping maybe someone, maybe someone else, trapped in this hell as it seemed may reach out.

“Hello?!” 

“Anyone here! Where am I?!”

He wiggled himself, struggling to run and cried even louder as memories of his death replayed in his mind.

But just then, while he struggled to move around, a bright light shone immediately and he froze and hid his face from the shimmering beam. 

He couldn't look, the light was too bright and could burn his eyes. His pale skin was already on the edge of being burned and the light came even closer. It had an ethereal and magical feel that shook him and increased his pain.

“Who and what are you?!” He couldn't hold it anymore.

“Kael!” It called his name firmly, and fear engulfed his soul. His brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed.

“How do you know my name?” He fired immediately, his voice firm, but his fear still burned in him.

Her hands reached for his shoulder and she pulled him up without even trying. When he finally got a glance at her face, his mind was clouded with fear as he saw every feature.

Her eyes were like the morning sun, fierce, yet peaceful. Her face was like an angel, radiating with a light that could smoke his eyes out in seconds, but somehow brought warmth to him.

She finally spoke after staring at him for so long and shook away the stillness from him.

“I am the whore goddess. I am cast from the heavens for defying divine law by giving mortals second chances at life.” She explained that her voice, though thunderous and smoky, was still smooth like silk.

Her eyes were fixed on him as she spoke and it baffled him where he actually was and what he was doing here.

“I don't seem to understand all of these.” He beckoned, his voice shaky.

“Child, you're in my chambers, a realm in between death and rebirth and though you may see an empty void, but in here are souls I've saved, souls you'll soon join.”

He raised an eyebrow and stared closely, trying to understand what was actually going on.

“Child, I know you have lots of questions, but I must tell you the truth. I'm here to give you a second chance at life, if only you accept.”

“Uhm, let's begin with answers to my questions, my parents?”

“Child, the truth is indeed bitter, but I can't hide it from you. It was written as your fate from the onset and that's why it's my job to give you a second chance. Your parents, the King, the Queen and the people you trusted ordered your death.” She stated, her voice firm.

The news felt unreal, but it was just too bitter to accept. His eyes strayed away from her face as a teardrop forced its way out. 

But what held his face stared at him.

“Now's not the time to cry!” She ordered and he immediately steeled himself.

“Your story shouldn't end with their laughter ringing in your ears, it'll forever haunt you,” she narrated.

“You're a child of the sorcerers and you can't suffer this way.”

She paused for a second, allowing the words to sink deep into his head. At this point, he was already overwhelmed with all the prophecy drama, and what he was even doing here still wasn't clear to him.

“What do you mean child of sorcerers?”

“Child,” she called softly. “I'll give you a second chance at life, a second chance to avenge your death, the brutality and how you were maimed unjustly. No one deserves to die that way. I'll give you a chance make them regret every breath they've taken.”

His heart burned with rage, unadulterated and raw. His eyes narrowed as he remembered every detail, how he was ripped apart, bit by bit. He remembered their cruel words, and with that, his face tightened, and he turned to her.

“I accept, what do I need to do?” Je asked firmly, his face burning with a fierce determination.

“Give me your hand.” She reached out to him.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly blurting out all the resentments he had held back. With a fierce look, he stretched his hand forward, and the moment they met, the light swallowed him, and all that was heard was his screams as his soul faded away to dust and scattered all over the place.

With a soft smile, the goddess turned away and smiled softly at the earth beneath her.

“Go well child.”