As Erebus rested, he felt something sinister seep into his consciousness. A bloodthirsty desire that he had never felt before. His mana became unstable, and he failed to control it.
The evil inside of him broke through and terrorized his mind. Trapped in a nightmare, he was confronted with demons, tearing at his soul and mind, filling him with a bloody aura. He could feel his body thrashing, and something grabbed his shoulder in a domineering manner. He had lived by fighting, so his reflexes were fast, especially after his hellish training in the darkness. So when he felt this threat, he lashed out in his half-dazed state.
However, when he fully woke up, he found his hand piercing through the chest of his sweet Kore. Despite her obvious pain, she was still smiling and trying to wipe his brow with a towel. She knew she was dying, but her eyes held no blame. Instead, she looked happy that he had woken up. He watched her in horror as the blood spilled from her wound and she turned cold. As his hand dropped heavily, he let out a heart-wrenching wail.
E
He didn't remember much afterward because he reacted like a feral beast, raving and cursing the Primordials. The only thing he could remember in his madness was the eyes of his friends and fellow Dragon Commanders. They were filled with horror and hatred. When they subdued him, they imprisoned him and bound him in chains.
"Brothers!" He would cry out. "What is happening to me? Help me!" The demons continued to attack his mind, now showing him the death of Kore over and over. Soon, his cries changed from "Help me" to "Kill me."
He would beg them to help him end the blood-thirsty madness inside of his mind, but they would state that he deserved the torment, as this was the price for the darkness that he now cultivated.
He believed he would live this pitiful life forever until they were merciful and sentenced him to die.
Decades were spent in solitude and torture, desiring nothing more but to be reunited with Kore and his brothers. Now that he had escaped, he was damned with madness and became the murderer of his beloved. He blamed himself and started to honestly believe that that cause was the new darkness he had cultivated. He fell for the honeyed words of the malicious voice in the darkness. Ultimately, he sold his soul to the demons and dark deities, and his beloved paid the ultimate price.
Like the time he fell into the earth, he accepted his death.
But fate would not let him go so easily. Before his sentencing, he was visited by someone of the shadows, a member of the Shadowbane sect.
They bowed on one knee. "Sovereign."
Erebus lifted his gaze, and his eyes burned into the dark figure before him.. "Sovereign? What evil nonsense are you spouting?"
"Sovereign, the Shadow Deity gifted you his legacy." The figure said quietly.
"Gifted? Demons have cursed me. I was tortured and broken, and now my mind is sinking into the dark insanity. I have betrayed all I have ever known."
The figure shook his head. "Sovereign, you have been wronged." The figure pointed to his chest, where a new mark was exposed. It looked like it was a black flower with five petals.
This sentence momentarily woke him from madness, but the clarity was filled with despair. He shook his head and ignored the flower etched on his chest and the stranger's words. He'd instead paint himself as a monster.
"Wronged?" He laughed angrily. "I let the darkness take over my mind. I have killed her... My hands are covered in her blood."
The figure bowed low and tried to appease Erebus. "You have been given the legacy of the Shadow Deity, but you never lost your mind until you came here. This is a place of malice. They are true villains, my Sovereign."
He felt the madness seep back into his mind. "Fuck your sovereign bullshit. I have nothing to do with you, Shadowbane heretics." He tried to attack the figure but was restrained by the chains. He growled like a beast, his eyes wild and feral.
"Sovereign, you are the inheritor of the Shadow Deity. You must lead us."
He let out a crazed laugh. "Leave, or I will take you to hell with me, you bastard."
The soldier nodded. "I accept your command, Sovereign. But I will leave a word of caution. You still do not know what is in another person's heart. Do not blindly trust those you called brothers."
With that, the soldier disappeared.
Days later, Jericho and the other commanders dragged Erebus out of his cell, still bound with heavy chains.
They pulled him out into the stadium that was filled with the members of the Fire Dragon sect. His eyes were dull and lifeless even when they swept over the many tools of torture laid out. He was once a renowned hero for these people and now had to chuckle at the ironic fate. "A public torture and execution, brothers?"
"Do not dare call us brothers, you devil. You let the demonic arts poison your mind and killed our dear Kore. You deserve to suffer more than this." These words pained him more than his time in the earthen prison because he felt this was true.
He watched the kindness that was once in his brothers' eyes become cold and distant. Worse, their hands would be the ones that tortured him. They were broken brothers.
He shook his head. "Suffering has been engraved in my bones, and I will accept this as well." He gave them a sorrowful and resigned smile. "Till death, brothers."
Their eyes flickered with a complicated emotion when they heard his words, but that didn't stop them. He was tied to a table, and an intense torture session began.
His fingernails were pulled off, and his skin peeled back. He was stabbed multiple times in nonlethal but excruciating areas. Each cut was burned and cauterized, all while he was conscious.
He accepted it all.
They started cutting off his fingers on one hand, then cut off the hand at the wrist, then moved to the elbow, then the shoulder, until his left arm was completely gone. They made him watch as they removed his arm and chunks of his skin until they gouged out his eyes, forcing him back into the familiar darkness.
Erebus felt horrendous pain but did not cry out. He was used to feeling his body break, but it was all incomparable to the pain of knowing he had killed Kore. He embraced it, including his brother's hatred.
He had no sight, but darkness had accompanied him for many years. He was sensitive to the things around him and felt the unease and anger from Jericho. He sensed Jericho approach him. His mouth was yanked open, and he felt the sharp pain of someone cutting his tongue away and cauterizing his wound. The last words he uttered were enough for him-till death. He will always keep his brothers in his heart, even if he was carved out of theirs.
He felt Jericho lean in close to him. "How did it feel to plunge your hand into her chest? Did you hold on tight to her pulsing heart until it stopped? I even think a part of you enjoyed it."
Erebus wanted to call out to him but couldn't. He was now mute and helpless. All he could do was try and shake his head. Blood poured down from his eyes, replacing his tears. He felt the horror of that night at every waking moment. He couldn't understand why he lost control.
"No, I am sure her death tortures you still." Jericho sighed. "You are a fool, Erebus. Everything was handed to you, but you didn't know how to appreciate it. Even as a child, you pranced around in ignorant bliss, acting so tough with such a tender heart. But the world is foul... Did you know that there is an ancient poison that is so terrifying that the Primordials have removed it from the world? If exposed to this poison, it infiltrates your mind and brings the darkest part of you to the surface-your bloodlust. It overwhelms you, takes your sanity, and turns you into a ruthless killer. You will only know death and blood. Your only desire is to consume the lives around you. The Phonoi Heart poison devours you from the inside and turns you into a living nightmare."
Erebus shuddered when he heard this description. Wasn't this the feeling he experienced? Did someone poison him?
"Although the Titans sacrificed a lot to obtain this infamous poison, I have to say the results are lackluster. I didn't expect you to keep so much of your rationality after I fed it to you. But I am curious... does the Phonoi madness still haunt you? Do you still feel it scratching at your mind?"
Jericho laughed darkly next to Erebus' ear. "Perhaps you're asking 'why. It all comes back to one irrefutable fact: the strong eat the weak. I am a dragon, and a dragon doesn't tolerate the presence of a rat."
He scoffed a little before he continued. "You're always so stoic... I have to wonder what you're feeling. Is it anger for the betrayal? Sorrow because I used your hand to murder my lover-oh, my apologies. I meant to say your wife."
Erebus shook, ignoring the disdain in Jericho's words and the unfamiliar terms like Titans and Phonoi. His mind reeled because he sacrificed himself so Jericho could live, and in return, Jericho took his wife as his lover. If they believed Erebus to be dead, he would accept it with a broken heart... but Jericho's voice held no remorse over her death. He seemed to be gloating. Erebus kept still this entire time, but now he was trembling.
The madness started to seep into his soul even more. The stadium suddenly became cold, and a long shadow was cast over it. He yearned to strip the life out of everyone present. He wanted vengeance and blood. He started to let out a hoarse laugh, distorted by the lack of his tongue. His wrath echoed with the sound, causing many to flee from the stadium.
He didn't need his tongue to threaten people. He didn't need his eyes to see. He was able to see all of the shadows in the stadium. No chain or restraints could keep him. This was the truth from the beginning, but he chose to experience this punishment because he truly believed he deserved it.
But now, his dearest friend had revealed his betrayal. The Shadow Deity and the Shadowbane member tried to warn him, but he didn't listen.
He found some gratefulness for his foresight. They tried to destroy his mana core, but he felt a need to protect it, so he hid it within the shadows of his body, successfully deceiving them. He circulated his mana and suddenly merged into the shadows around him.
The stadium erupted with screams of terror. The demon had escaped.
Erebus did not escape very far because his condition was miserable, but luckily, he sensed a few figures kneeling before him.
"Sovereign, we have come to fetch you."
Erebus was taken away to the hidden castle of the Shadowbane Sect. They nursed him back to health, but he was still severely scarred and terrible to look at. He covered his face with a black mask depicting a skull with two curved horns on the top of his head. His entire body was covered in black clothing, not exposing a single inch of his skin, as most of it was peeled off or burned. He only had one arm but still had knives strapped to his waist, never wanting to part with his most trustworthy and oldest friend.
Shadowbane taught him what Jericho was referring to when he mentioned the Titans.
The Primordials created the realms, and their remnants are known as Titans and Deities. The light and dark gods were unbelievably powerful, and the Shadow Deity was an example of their strength. Although they created the realms together, their ideals splintered, and the Titans started to fear the creatures of the domains they created. They sought to destroy them while the Deities wished to protect them, so they continuously battled against each other until only a few remained. With much effort from the ancient humans, the Titans were bound and restrained so they would no longer wreak havoc on the land. The Deities, finding fault in their actions, willingly entered the restraints or exiled themselves. However, the Titans revolted.
Although defeated, the Titans still found ways to tip the balance of the world.
They called themselves the gods of light and corrupted the masses to worship them. Their only entertainment was destroying human life, so they created conflict between the humans and watched them kill each other.
The Deities tried to balance the scales, but few remained. The Shadow Deity was one of the few left, and he gifted Erebus his legacy to help right the balance.
Shadowbane was an ancient sect-older than the Fire Dragon Sect. They had lived in the background, fighting demons and the monsters of the land while working towards pushing back the Titans. They strived for balance and partnered with the Dark Elves, Spirit Realm, and other races in their plight. However, the balance was tipped, and the large human sects were being influenced and corrupted, so they invaded the human realm, Halrland, to drive back the Titan supporters.
Many wars were fought, including the one where Erebus fell. And now the humans united under the Fire Dragon sect, the most tainted of all. Shadowbane was facing a hopeless situation, and they needed their leader. Their sovereign.