Ill-Fated: A Dark Journey (Dark Fates #1)

Chapter 2 - Unsettled

My body aches and loose flesh hangs off at different places. The nerves are continuously telling me that I am in so severe pain that I must be die but Mandarin's spell keeps me from finding that peace I so crave now. I feel a bit of relief flood through me and I know that Randall, though lost in me, is helping me somehow as well. My friend, I seek not relief but an end to this suffering. I feel the eyes on me and I'm nauseous by how I must be looking like in reality. Did Mandarin really cast a spell on me? Or do they see me for what I am - a moving mess of burnt flesh? 

The cool rain sizzles on the burnt skin that still holds the heat of the lightning within and I scream and fall as I feel them all over me. The pain begins to take over even the Dark Master's spell and I feel the darkness pulling me. As if sensing my acceptance towards something against his wishes, Mandarin's spell strengthens and I am in more pain and still alive. You do not die with unfinished business!  He roars in my head. I will let you die in peace once I'm done with you. So bring me that Orb!

I curse many things as I get up against the pain. The anger only fueled the rain and I have to force myself on counting all the people I blame to avoid focusing on the pain. I blame Mandarin for that lightning strike, for taking over the island, for being so dark, for denying me death, for loss of the happiness we had.

Fueled by the anger, I find a determination to get up and just be done with this. I look around and see the generals of Mandarin looking at me from distance. They have trained themselves over the years of servitude to not show any emotions but that doesn't mean I don't feel the pity radiating off all of them. The spell must have worn off when I was almost dead. What was the use of such a spell that wore off without surviving for even a moment?

I blame the entire Sorjanims family for raising such a monster, for abandoning us, for falling from grace of being the ones who always saved the others.

"Tell us what you seek, we'll help you in your final journey." One of the generals, Veselko, approached me while I was distracted and I look at him closely. Dressed in casual clothes, he is the most normal-looking among the generals with a wiry frame like the rest of Damian population. It is just proof of how you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Veselko is the most violent of them all and, though rumors about him having druid blood in him are plenty, he is the strongest non-magical fighter human this island has ever known. There exists no physical weapon he hasn't learned and mastered. "We are bound as well and by freeing you tonight, we hope our freedom comes someday soon too." The other three generals appear behind him too but they don't speak up.

I curse the generals of Mandarin, the swords who willingly gave up their own freedoms just because they had been bested by Mandarin during his ascension.

I curse Veselko because of the joy he sought while tearing through flesh under Dark Master's banner, the pity he shows towards me, the yearning he has for his own freedom, the selfish reason he is willing to help me.

The generals move as soon as I nod and tell them what I seek - I hate the small relief it gives me to not have to move. But I don't warn them to not try to find out their fates with it. I am dead. Mandarin is dying. Why should these servants survive if they hold the curiosity too?  

I wait for them to bring the Orb while taking shelter within the entrance and, from the way the storm is worsening, so is Mandarin. The pain he numbed me towards is slowly rising in intensity and it serves as a marker for his impatience as well. He won't let me live if this takes way too long. I look around once more, ignoring the pain of raindrops as I step into them, and see the generals are doing their best in their search. Be it manual search or using magic, they are doing their best in trying to find it. Mandarin has magic and a strong grip but seriously, how far did he throw the Orb?