The Fallen God's Redemption

Chapter 7: Empowerment thru Suffering

Thick with shadows moving with a life of their own, the forest loomed over me, murmuring mysteries I would not be able to comprehend. The road underfoot was uneven, meandering among gnarled trees whose limbs reached upward like skeleton fingers. This location felt old, older than even the gods, a place where every step blurred the line separating illusion from reality.

The dark energy in the heavy, charged air pricked against my flesh, a warning of what lay ahead. Driven by the recollection of Lyra's voice, the sound of her crying my name, urgent and haunting, I persisted however.

The shadows around me started to change as I went, grouping into forms that were shockingly familiar. Figures from my past, shadows of a life I had sought to put behind, each one sporting a face I could identify. faces of those I knew, those I deceived, those whose life I had taken without compassion.

Silent and accusing, they fixed me, their eyes shining with a hate that sliced over me like a knife.

Kaelan, you believe you are changeable? One of them murmured, its voice full of contempt. "You believe you can flee the blood on your hands?"

I forced myself to be steady, to ignore the poison in their words by clenching my fists. These were illusions, warped mirror images of my own anxiety meant to challenge me. I had suffered more.

Another figure screamed, its face twisted into a s******c sneer. "You're weak." You gave your kingdom, your power, for what? An mortal? A transient love that has simply caused you pain?

Their words weighty, reminding me of every sacrifice, every decision that had brought me here, and my chest contracted. I couldn let them, though, break me. I had made my choice. I would make the same decision-love over power-again, without regard to the price.

"Your path is one of suffering, Kaelan," a third voice said, softer, nearly empathetic. "You choose to embrace death, to walk away from power, but do you even know what you are ready to give up? Are you ready for the required p*****t amount?

The question loomed large and weighty as the figures sank into shadows, isolating me once again. Their comments stayed with me, repeating in my head, and I began to doubt-a flutter of hesitation that bit the margins of my will.

I was ready to provide what? I was ready to travel how far in order to save Lyra?

Deeper into the trees, the darkness gathering around me, every step felt heavier than the last. Then, just ahead, I saw it-a pool of water with a surface unspoiled and glistening with an ethereal brightness. It exuded an old power, beckoning me to probe its depths.

Approaching carefully, I felt the weight of its stare, as though the water itself were evaluating me. I knelt slowly next it, my reflection fragmented and twisted in the changing light back at me.

The surface rippled then, and scenes from my past-memories long buried, events I had tried to forget-started to play out.

The first image showed me on the battlefield, a sword in hand, my icy, unrelenting stare as I knocked down everyone in my path. Their eyes revealed the terror, the despair as they dropped, helpless before the force of a god.

I turned my eyes away, but the pool kept moving, giving me scenes of treachery, faces of those who had trusted me, comrades I had turned aside in search of dominance. Their eyes fixed back on me, their bitterness scorching into my soul.

Then the picture shifted to show Lyra.

Her face pallid, her eyes hollow, as though she had lost something crucial and unique, she stood by herself in a dark room. Desperate to touch her, to console her, I reached out, but my fingers passed the picture and left just a rippling effect.

"You left her," a voice murmured, frigid and merciless. "You abandoned her; now she suffers because of you."

The words pierced through me, cutting a wound deeper than any knife could do. Believing that was the only way she could be kept safe from the wrath of the gods, I had left her. But if I had been mistaken? Had my choice only cause her suffering?

I tightened my hands, resentment blazing inside me. Another ploy, another illusion meant to undermine me and cause me self-doubt, was this. Even as I attempted to ignore it, though, the picture stayed with me, the memory of her anguish carved in my brain.

"What are you ready to give, Kaelan?" The voice asked once more, its tone quieter, even plaintive. "What price would you be ready to pay to rescue her?

I inhaled deeply to help me to stabilize myself. I had travelled this far. I had confronted my own shortcomings as well as my worst worries. And I would follow the road Lyra's saving asked, if it meant sacrifices I hadn't yet thought about, then I would.

"I will do whatever it takes," I said, my voice steady and burning through the darkness. "I will go through any trial and bear any suffering for her. I will not fail her once more.

The pool grew calm, the pictures vanishing, leaving only my reflection back at me, strong and relentless. The shadows around me appeared to move back, as though acknowledging my will and giving me a little break.

But as I turned to go, a darkly formed person appeared from the woods, their appearance unnaturally familiar. Tensing, my hand automatically moving for my blade, I prepared to meet whatever fresh threat lay ahead.

The man moved forward, and my breath seized in my throat as the pool's light lit their face.

Lyra is it?

She stood there, her countenance cool, her silent intent penetrating through me. Still, there was something about her felt incorrect. Her smile was cooler, her eyes darker, a shadow of the warmth I recalled.

"Lyra?," My voice shook as I murmured.

She slanted her head and started to smile faintly. "Did you missed me, Kaelan?"

My pulse thumping, I moved toward her, a mixture of relief and fear spinning within me. "I considered you to be... How could you have found me?

Her smile grew wider, but it never found her eyes. "I have always accompanied you, Kaelan. In your heart, in your intellect. But did you not leave me? Thinking it was the correct course of action, you left.

Stung, a reminder of every decision I have taken and every sacrifice I have given. I left to keep you secure and protected.

" Safe??" She chuckled gently, and that sound made me shiver. And wherever has that taken you? Haunted by your own doubts, searching for atonement that might never arrive as you walk among shadows.

I tightened my hands, the guilt, the rage whirling inside me. Lyra I knew was not this Lyra. Another trap, another test meant to break me, was this.

I convinced myself, though, that I couldn't get rid of the anxiety-that maybe parts of her remarks were accurate.

"What do you want from me?" My voice just above a whisper, I asked.

She moved nearer, her eyes sharp. "Kaelan, you are supposed to perceive the truth. You should know the cost of your decisions as well as the results of the life you left behind.

She vanished then, vanishing into the night, leaving me alone once more and the quiet weighty.

I stood there, my heart weighty with her words and my mind racing. This exceeded a mere test of endurance. It was an exam of my own soul, a challenge to face the decisions I had taken and the price I was ready to pay.

One thing, though, I knew for sure-whatever awaited, whatever sacrifices I would be called to perform-I would meet them. I would challenge her anything.

The shadows moved once more as I turned to go, showing a road more into the forest toward a light flickering weakly in the distance, calling me ahead.