Paladin of the Sword: Chapter 2

Ten Years Ago

It had been five years since Darren and his mother descended into the First Layer of Hell. Five years since Darren had seen the light of the sun. He was ten years old, and already, the memories of the world above were fading. He didn’t remember the faces of his friends, or what it was like to play in the mud and the sand.

But he knew other things now. Like how to track a Felbeast through blood-drenched soil, and how to seal his mind from the attacks of Demonic Spirits. Even now, he was tracking an imp while his mother followed close behind, observing his actions. She’d regained most of her magic by now, but the poison was still there, and try as she might, she couldn’t rid herself of it.

“These are the imp’s tracks,” Darren said. “It went this way.”

Darren’s mother said nothing in reply, but Darren was only speaking to himself, anyway. He followed the tracks to a small stream where blood trickled between jagged rocks, flowing in a thick, gooey river. The imp had drunk from that stream no more than three hours prior.

Darren knew imps well enough by now to know they were lazy creatures. After this much walking, it would have stopped for a nap or a snack. The tracks ended with two deep prints, which was probably where the imp sprung off the ground and glided on its wings. Imps couldn’t truly fly, but the ones that had wings could use magic to soar for a while.

This one had circled the entrance to a cave before spotting a demon rat, which the imp had pounced on and eaten raw. Darren found the remains of the rat nearby. The prints picked up again near the corpse, and Darren followed them again. The imp would have wanted to sleep off its meal in the branches of one tree overhead.

Darren took his silver dagger in his teeth and grabbed one of the decaying dead branches of roots dangling down from overhead. The tree these things came from must have reached to the surface, and even this bit of root was thicker than Darren could reach around. He scaled the drooping root arm over arm before he sensed a flurry of motion overhead.

The imp had seen him coming. When it realized Darren was going to find its hiding spot, it tried to take to the air and glide to safety, but Darren had seen this trick before. He jumped from the root, springing off it as he shot into the air and stabbed it with his silver dagger.

Quest Completed!

• Description: Hunt ten kinds of first-order demons.
  
• Reward: 100 bronze coins.
  
• Your body is now developed enough to complete the sigil bonding process. You are now a Holy Adept.
  

Congratulations on becoming a Holy Adept.

• You can now use Skill Books.
  
• You can now utilize Holy Artifacts and enchanted items requiring the use of Divine Aura.
  

“You should be proud,” Darren’s mother wheezed. “Most do not become holy adepts until they’re already adults. It happens as soon as they get a sigil in those cases, but many say those who make the bond as children are shaped by their sigils far more than those who don’t take one until they’re grown.” Though her wounds had been healed, she’d been sounding more and more sickly as of late. Darren was worried that she might be in trouble if they didn’t find a way out soon.

“It said I can use skillbooks now,” Darren said. “And Holy Artifacts.”

“That is good,” Darren’s mother said. “The difference between a normal mortal and a Holy Adept is the ability to perceive and control Divine Aura. And prime among the abilities such a thing grants is the power to use skills.” She pointed to the imp corpse on the ground. Darren stabbed his silver dagger into the corpse as directed, dispersing most of it into raw energy, while some of it went into the dagger. “As a Holy Adept, you get three. If you make it to paladin, you’ll have six.

“That dagger converts Demonic Aura to Divine Aura,” Darren’s mother continued. “Keep it safe. Until you learn a skill that can do the same, down here it’s your only way to replenish any divine power you spend.”

Darren nodded and tucked the dagger away. It had been a constant companion for five years now, and it had been the death of many demons, which was why it had so much Divine Aura inside. The many demons who’d lost their life to the blade had contributed some small portion of their power, and the dagger seemed longer and sturdier for the years of use.

The two of them headed to another cave. It was not the same as the one they’d stayed in that first month in hell, but a new cave. This one was equally cramped and uncomfortable, but Darren didn’t mind it so much now that he no longer feared the creatures lurking outside. He knew he was still prey to many of the more powerful creatures down here. Now at least he could see them coming.

They sealed the entrance to the cave with a few well-placed rocks, and Darren reached for his mother’s bag and started setting up camp again like he normally did.

His mother pulled a blanket out and sat down to meditate. Even short walks through the hellish landscape sapped her energy these days.

While Darren’s mother rested, Darren himself opened his book on Divine Aura and read it again with the eyes of a Holy Adept. Now, he could feel the understanding wash over him like a tide, and he knew he was using a skill book the way they were meant to be used. The Divine Aura coming off the pages made sense to him, flowing through him like a steady rhythm pulsing in and out of his body.

Passages that he’d only ever understood on a surface level became clear to him like he was seeing the memories of the person who wrote this book instead of just reading their words. He could almost feel the touch of Divine Aura, although he’d only ever experienced Demonic Aura in person. Darren could scarcely imagine a magical power he didn’t have to be constantly on his guard against. Those people on the surface were truly fortunate.

When Darren’s mother finished her meditation, she pulled three new skill books from her bag and passed them to Darren.

“Read these and learn the skills inside,” she instructed. “If we were on the surface, I would have acquired a better set of skills for you to master, but we must make do with what we have.”

Darren accepted the three books and read the title and summary of each.

Pure Aura (Uncommon)

• This ability grants the user increased resistance to Demonic Energy by generating a protective layer of Divine Aura around them.
  

Combat Awareness (Rare)

• This set of sensory skills processes information about the user’s surroundings and allows them to identify threats before they approach.
  

Demonhunter (Uncommon)

• This ability allows the user the power to utilize Divine Aura in every attack they make, doubling damage dealt to demons.
  

“Those three books will increase your survivability,” Darren’s mother wheezed. “I wish I had a healing ability to give you, but for now you can still depend on me for that.”

Darren read without stopping, using one book after another. One by one, he acquired three new skills. They nestled in the back of his mind, as though they’d been there his entire life, waiting to be used.

Even when his sigil registered the new abilities, he read the skill books over again to glean any secrets he might have missed the first time. But the magic of the books had deposited their knowledge without flaw.

Without warning, an unexpected message appeared before him.

Hidden Skill Quest Completed

• Quest: Use Pure Aura to repel Demonic Aura for 12 hours without stopping.
  
• Reward: Your Pure Aura skill progresses from 1 to 2.
  
• Hint: Remaining in the presence of high-level Demonic Aura will aid in increasing Pure Aura’s level.
  

***

Pure Aura leveled three more times by the time Darren’s mother ended her meditation. When she was moving again, she answered Darren’s questions.

“Your skills will increase as you use them,” Darren’s mother explained. “They can continue to grow for a time. I suspect that you will quickly max out the yields you can receive from Pure Aura, given our current surroundings. At that point, you’ll have to find a new skill to train.

“Holy Adept is where everyone starts when their sigil fully accepts them,” Darren’s mother continued. “The path from there onward is determined by what kind of sigil you possess. Since you have a paladin sigil once you complete enough quests you will become a paladin.”

Suddenly, Darren felt eager to test his new skills in battle. He took a moment to summon up his list of open quests.

Available Quests (Medium)

• Clear the nearby area of Demonic Spirits (0/200)
  
• Hunt for signs of a second-order Lesser Fiend.
  
• Investigate the human bones by the blood gorge.
  

Darren read off his quests to his mother, who perked up at the sound of the last quest. “Human bones?” she said. “That suggests humans made it to the area nearby, either dead or alive. Either case suggests an exit nearby. Accept the quest and we will follow where it leads.”

Darren held his finger in the air and flicked it across the quest button, which activated with a gentle flicker.

• You have 36 hours to find clues about the human remains in the blood gorge.
  
• Reward: More quests will become available.
  
• Penalty upon failure: Your Devotion will decrease.
  

“Mother,” Darren began, “what is Devotion?”

“It’s a way the sigils measure how loyal you are to the Lord of Light and the Seraph,” Darren’s mother replied. “It doesn’t matter much for you. Besides, I’m sure you already have plenty from all the demons you’ve slain.”

What’s my Devotion at right now?

Darren wondered. As soon as he had the thought, the answer appeared before him.

• You are a Holy Adept in good standing. Your current devotion rating is: Faithful
  

With that question answered, Darren led his mother back towards the blood gorge. He had no map to guide him, but with all the traveling Darren and his mother had done lately, Darren had developed an excellent sense of direction. He knew where he’d been tracking the imp earlier. It had looked something like a gorge, and there had been enough blood around it. So that’s where he headed.

Out in the open, the pressure of the Demonic Aura increased again, which helped his Pure Aura skill level. Before long, Pure Aura reached level 6. All his other skills were still where they started, but Darren was excited to see that number rise. Each time it did, that crushing feeling squeezing all around him grew a little lighter.

For the past five years, he’d been holding this constant knot between his brows, as though a portion of his mind was locked in constant struggle. He’d known he couldn’t let his guard down and let the Demonic Aura in. But now he could keep it out without even trying. It was like he’d been depending on a wooden palisade to protect him before, but now he had sturdy stone walls.

When Darren returned to the blood gorge, the two of them scoured the ground. Darren’s mother quickly found what triggered the quest. It was a piece of shattered skull near the base of the root as Darren climbed up while he was hunting the imp. He might have even brushed against it with his foot during his hunt for the imp.

“Here,” Darren’s mother said as she tossed him the broken bone segment. “It’s a fragment of a male skull, two years old, shattered with a blunt force impact. That means it was killed by something using a weapon.”

As soon as Darren caught the skull fragment, his sigil sent him a message.

Quest Completed: Investigate human remains

• Reward: New quests available.
  

Newly Available Quests (Holy Adept)

• Figure out who killed the victim.
  
  • Reward: More quests will become available.
    
  • Penalty upon failure: Your devotion will decrease.
    

Darren repeated the new quest to his mother, who quickly found more bones. She muttered to herself for a while, fingers waggling through the air as an infinitesimal quantity of golden light shot out from them, twisting and turning as they inspected her surroundings.

This golden light was an information-gathering skill, and through its use, Darren’s mother was able to quickly discern what Darren needed to complete his quest. “The body was gnawed on by a pair of devil dogs. They’re the ones that dragged it here. But they aren’t the ones that killed him. That was another human.”

Darren’s mother started stalking the ground, eyes pointed down as she followed a trail only visible to her mystical senses.

After following the trail for nearly half an hour, Darren’s mother excitedly declared, “Cultists!”

Quest Completed: Figure out who killed the victim

• Reward: New Quest available.
  
• Find the cultists’ lair (Medium)
  

When Darren repeated this latest quest to his mother, she became even more excited. “The way out must be near the cultists’ lair. Once we find them, we can finally leave this wretched place and stand beneath the sun once again. Can you imagine it, Darren? Feeling the grass on your ankles, and the fresh air of spring? Once we’re free of this place, I promise to make up for all the time you’ve lost.”

Darren felt like he should share his mother’s excitement, but he had a hard time doing so. He couldn’t quite remember what the sun felt like. The fresh air of spring and the touch of grass were both strange to him as well, like distant memories from a lifetime ago.

But this was the first time his mother had seemed truly happy since they’d been forced to flee to the First Layer of Hell. So Darren followed.

The tunnel the two of them were following abruptly changed from a rough natural cavern to a smooth and flawless stone that was square and orderly. Before long, they came across an old wooden door. It was locked, but in a surprising display of strength from Darren’s mother, she bent the bar holding the door shut like it was nothing more than a thin willow branch instead of the thick bar of oak and iron that it was.

Darren’s first thoughts when passing through the doorway were that this would be an excellent place to set camp. Only one entrance with enough room to sleep.

“Chairs!” Darren’s mother explained as she ran her fingers across a simple piece of wooden furniture. “It’s been too long.”

But just as abruptly as it had come, Darren’s mother’s smile faded. “Someone is coming,” she said after she figured out what the sound was.

New Quest Available!

• Kill the cultists. (0/6)
  
  • Reward: Escape from Hell.
    
  • Penalty: Death.
    

Between his mother’s warning and the notice from his sigil, Darren knew he had to fight. With practiced ease, he brought his dagger into his hand, holding it at the ready. Shadows flickered in the corner of Darren’s eyes, and he never would have noticed them without his new skill.

He lashed out with his dagger without hesitation, scoring a long scrape along the leg of his enemy. He blinked in surprise when his dagger came away with red blood. He’d only ever killed demons before, so it was strange to see his dagger tainted red.

Darren looked up, shocked to find a man blinking back at him. He was cloaked in long black robes, but he had an expression of surprise on his face as he was stabbed by a ten-year-old boy. The man swung his hand wide, and with that motion, he would have knocked the teeth out of any ordinary ten-year-old. But Darren had the combat awareness skill and using it, he sensed the blow before it happened, ducking low just in time to jam his silver dagger into the cultist’s stomach.

The man fell backward, clutching at his wound even as Darren pulled the knife out and struck again.

Seeing her son had handled himself well, Darren’s mother dealt with the rest of the cultists in the room using beams of golden light. Darren was stabbing the point of his knife into the cultist he’d killed a third time when the message flashed across his screen.

Quest Completed! (Kill the cultists.)

• Reward: Escape from hell.
  

The smell of blood and half-digested bodily fluids washed over Darren, and he suddenly realized what he’d done. Sickness welled up inside him at the macabre sight before him. He felt his throat clench and his stomach roil. Moments later, the contents of that morning’s breakfast made a resurgence and spilled out of Darren’s throat onto the floor nearby.

Before Darren could turn to face the corpse again, his mother wrapped her arms around him. “I’m sorry, Darren. I promise, when we are safe again I will make up for this as well.”

She wiped Darren’s dirtied lips with the corners of her sleeve, then tucked his silver dagger into the sheath at Darren’s waist. Then took Darren under her arm again and led him to a second set of doors nearby. The two of them headed out the door, and bright sunlight met Darren’s eyes, almost blinding with its intensity.

***

Darren could scarcely believe how different the world above ground looked to him. It was so bright, like staring directly into his mother’s light spell all the time.

He was still in a daze when Darren’s mother led them down a path toward civilization.

“Where are we? And where is the nearest shrine of the Golden Temple?” Darren’s mother asked of the first person to cross their path.

“Y-you’re in the Blackwind Empire, my lady,” the peasant woman stuttered in reply as she held a basket full of bread close to her chest. “Might I ask your name? We aren't fancy folk here in the provinces, but perhaps you’d rather speak to the local magistrate rather than me...”

“I am Ariel Heavengrace. I require the Golden Temple’s clerics. And the highest official in this settlement as well. Someone has a lot of explaining to do.”

“Did you say Heavengrace? Like the family from Whiteguard?” The peasant woman took a step back, as though someone had told her she was standing before a queen. “My apologies, Lady Heavengrace! Please, let me escort you to the Golden Temple. We only have a shrine here in the village, but I promise the priest in charge will try to meet all your needs. He’s very good to us, and we’re good, faithful people here.”

Darren wandered in a daze, still staring at his surroundings uncomprehendingly. Perhaps he’d been in hell too long, but everything seemed strange to him. The peasant woman jerked unexpectedly as one of her bread loaves fell from her basket, and Darren jerked his silver dagger free of its sheath as she tried to catch the loaf. Though her motions had been innocent, they’d been sudden and unexpected. Darren’s reflexes told him to be ready for an attack.

Darren’s mother pushed his knife aside, and she showed him a smile filled with sadness as she pushed the dagger back into his sheath.

The peasant woman recovered her bread, having not noticed the hostile gesture in the slightest.

They arrived at the Golden Temple shrine soon after, and Darren had a full plate of food in front of him.

“Eat,” Darren’s mother said. “It’s potatoes and gravy. It’s your favorite, remember?”

Darren hesitantly took a bite of food, flinching as it touched his lips. The taste seemed familiar to him. It differed greatly from the demon meat he’d been eating for the past five years. He wasn’t sure he liked the flavor.

Darren stared at the plate for a long while before taking another bite, forcing the food down as his eyes darted nervously around the room.

Darren’s mother let out a long sigh as she sipped at a potion she’d obtained from the shrine’s priest, rubbing at the old poisoned wound on her stomach as she did so.

“Unfortunately, this is the best recovery potion this temple had,” Darren’s mother said. “Once we get back home, I’ll finally rid myself of this poison and things will be just as they were before. It will all go back to normal, just you wait.” She forced a smile in her son’s direction.

Darren nodded, woodenly picking up his spoon to take another bite of the shapeless, pulverized mass on the plate before him. He wasn’t sure he remembered what normal was like.

“Honored Lady Heavengrace...” a voice began at the door. Darren recognized it as belonging to the priest who kept this shrine. “There are a few paladins nearby who’ve heard of your return. They’ve come to... help you.” The priest shifted uncomfortably for a moment.

“Tell them to wait a few minutes,” Darren’s mother said. “I wish to spend a few minutes with my son.”

“T-they were quite insistent that they see you now, Lady Heavengrace...” The priest chuckled, but there was no mirth in it.

New Quest Available

• Kill Ariel Heavengrace
  
  • Reward: +2 Devotion ranks, Immediate Realm Promotion, and 1 Legendary Skill Book.
    
  • Penalty upon failure: The Order of the Rod and the Seraph supporting it will consider you an enemy.
    
  • Bonus objective: Kill Darren Heavengrace. All rewards doubled.
    
  • Note: By the divine mandate of the Order of the Rod and its supporters among the seraph, this quest has been automatically accepted by all paladin-type sigil wielders within range.
    

Darren’s hand trembled, and he looked down at his sigil as though it had stabbed him. But his time in hell had honed his reaction time to a fine edge, and the moment of shocked betrayal passed in the blink of an eye. Darren pushed himself away from the table and drew his dagger just as the temple walls collapsed.

More than ten figures in shining armor appeared as the shrine was torn apart by the paladins waiting outside.

“There you are, Ariel!” a voice outside chuckled. “You know, we’ve been searching all over for you since you ran.”

“Gaimon,” Darren’s mother spat. “I should have known you’d be in on this. Has your place in Whiteguard truly become so worthless to you that you’d throw it away for this?”

The paladin chuckled. “Things are changing in the heavens, and the Order of the Rod is a rising star. I do what I do now for Whiteguard.”

The ten paladins met Darren’s mother in battle. Golden light enveloped the room, shining like a beacon. But golden light enveloped the paladins as well. Darren’s mother was better than these paladins, but not by much, and not enough to overcome the odds she was up against.

The paladins struck, but her shield held. Darren’s mother flicked her wrist and a beam of golden light shot towards one of her assailants, cutting off his leg just above the knee, despite the armor he was wearing.

The paladins pulled out their weapons when they realized their spell skills would be no match for Darren’s mother. Hammers, swords, and axes all blessed with holy light hammered down on the barrier Darren’s mother erected, and the barrier rapidly weakened to the point of cracking under the strain.

After a long moment, the barrier shattered. Darren’s mother had already prepared a powerful attack to drive her assailants backward, but Darren could see the pained look in her eye that he often saw when her poison was flaring up again.

“Grab the boy, we’ll make her give herself up,” the one Mother had called Gaimon said.

Two of the paladins reached for Darren.

“No!” Darren’s mother screamed, and golden light shot out of her again, slicing through the paladin lunging for Darren.

Darren fell back, feigning fear and weakness. This was a trick he’d often seen the imps use against him. With one hand, Darren carefully slipped his hand to the handle of the dagger behind his back and tugged it free.

The living paladin reached wide with bare hands, hoping to grab Darren in one sudden motion. Darren let the man grab him, but he made sure the arm holding the dagger was free.

“Got you, brat. Now, hold still or I’ll — Gahhh!” the paladin hollered in pain as Darren’s slender silver dagger sprouted from his eye, through the tiny gap in his visor. He dropped Darren as he reached for his face, clutching the dagger as he staggered backward. He collapsed into his comrades in a twitching, quivering heap with Darren’s dagger still in his skull.

“The boy killed him!” one of the enemy paladins said in shock and fright.

“That’s no ordinary boy,” another said, and Darren felt like this enemy was scrutinizing his very soul. “My skill says he’s a Holy Adept. Don’t drop your guard or you’ll end up dead.”

Darren jumped into a chair. There was a window near the dining table, and Darren had spotted it earlier as a viable escape route. He kicked the wooden shutters open and dived through in one motion.

“This way, Mama!” Darren shouted back to his mother.

“Run, Darren! I’ll hold them off!” Darren’s mother shouted back.

Darren bit his lip, trembling in fright at some other feeling he couldn’t fight. He’d only killed one of the paladins because he’d caught them off guard. Otherwise, he was completely outmatched. The paladins were twice his size and at least a realm higher than him.

And so, with tears streaming down his boyish face, Darren ran. He fled on foot towards the entrance they’d used to leave the First Layer of Hell just that very morning.

Hidden Skill Quest Completed!

• Rely on Combat Awareness to kill an enemy.
  
  • Combat Awareness has reached level 2.
    

Two of the paladins tried to break off from their fight against Darren’s mother, but beams of yellow light flicked across their backs, and they dared not turn away from the furious woman.

Soon Darren was ducking beneath the stone archway. In the distance, he heard his mother scream a cry of agony, and Darren’s heart leaped in his chest for the both of them.

Something exploded in the distance, ringing his ears.

“Who has a movement skill?” Darren heard one of his pursuers say. “The boy is in here. Follow him!”

Darren ran onward until he finally stepped out of the inner door of the cultists’ hiding place, making his way back into the First Layer. He knew this place better than those chasing him did. He remembered the path they’d taken to the blood gorge. Devil dogs frequented that place, along with many other creatures Darren had never dared hunt.

The paladins were not frightened off by their quarry fleeing into Hell itself. They pursued with none of the quiet grace they should have had in this deadly place.

Darren ducked between large rocks and hanging roots, slipping through the darkness on memory and what glimpses of his combat skill could give him about the terrain.

The paladins chasing him staggered and slowed as they realized how thick the Demonic Aura was down here, and they had to slow down lest they be overwhelmed. Darren hadn’t dropped his Pure Aura skill, so he could handle anything the Demonic Aura could throw at him.

Darren quickly spotted a set of devil dog tracks. He couldn’t deal with these paladins, but perhaps some of the locals could keep them distracted.

Darren noticed a nearby outcropping of roots had a few broken branches, and an imp shot out as Darren fled past. The imp extended its claws and tried to take Darren’s ankles out from under him as he ran by.

Darren kicked the imp aside without stopping. Imps weren’t dangerous on their own, but they were intelligent creatures, and one of their most common tricks was to do just what Darren was doing now and lure more powerful demons to do their dirty work for them so they could scavenge for leftovers.

So Darren whirled around just long enough to snatch the imp by its ankles. He swung it hard and fast so it didn’t have time to bring its claws around and flung the imp toward his paladin pursuers.

The imp spread its wings to catch itself in the air, sailing right over where the paladins were focusing their minds to fight off the Demonic Aura around them.

“An imp! Quick, kill it or it’s sure to call for more of its kind,” one of the paladins shouted.

The imp’s desperate escape had it fluttering towards the entrance of the devil dog lair Darren had noticed earlier, screeching and hollering to get the dogs’ attention.

Soon, Darren heard deep, vicious growling, and he knew it was time to beat a hasty retreat.

Darren fled back to the blood gorge, wading through the river of blood to cut off his tracks in the mud before doubling back and heading towards the cave where he and his mother had stayed the previous night.

When he arrived, his mother was already there, surrounded by a puddle of blood.

“Darren!” she gasped. “You made it... I had to know... you were already.” Her eyelids fluttered, and she seemed on the verge of falling asleep.

“Mama...” Darren said as he ran up to his mother. He grabbed the hem of her dress and his hands came away covered in blood. He’d cared for his mother’s wounds before, and reached for the bandages in her bag.

“It’s... too late,” Darren’s mother said. “I’m sorry, Darren. I wish I... could have done better by you. Stay safe, Darren. Be strong... and make your way west, to Limedeep.” She coughed, and blood dripped down her lips. Darren looked inside her mouth and golden light emanated from inside her like her body was being consumed in a radiant fire from the inside out.

“Mama, you’ll get better,” Darren promised his mother as he tore the sleeves of his shirt and wrapped them around his mother’s gaping stomach wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.

“I... have one last... thing I can do for you,” Darren’s mother said. She produced Darren’s slender silver dagger. She spun it around in her hand so the hilt was facing away from her, then she pressed the hilt into Darren’s palm. Darren’s fingers curled around the blade reflexively as he grasped the familiar weapon. “I’ll be looking out for you… from up there.” She looked up towards the heavens for a moment, caressing the sigil hanging around Darren’s neck.

Then, with a sudden thrust, Darren’s mother pulled the point of the dagger towards her chest, right into her heart. Her eyes widened, and she held back a scream by biting her lip.

Darren looked at his hand in horror, still clasping the dagger.

Quest Completed: Kill Ariel Heavengrace

• Reward: +2 Devotion ranks, instant promotion one rank, 1 Legendary Skill Book.
  
  • You have been promoted from Holy Adept to Paladin!
    
  • You may take Paladin-level quests.
    
  • You may now contact the Seraph for guidance.
    
  • You may now exchange Devotion for favors from above.
    

“Mama...” Darren said, reaching for his mother’s face.

“Don’t be sad... Darren,” his mother hushed, her voice nothing more than a faint whisper. “I’m going... to see your father.”

Her fingers brushed against the sigil wound around Darren’s neck, and Darren leaned close so she could continue to hold it in one hand. With the other, she rested a hand on Darren’s head.

Her warm blood washed over Darren’s cheek, mixing with his tears.

“Mama... come back,” Darren cried. But her eyes were distant. That burning golden light flickering inside of her traveled up her arm, and a faint spark slipped into the sigil around Darren’s neck.

Then her body went still, and Darren’s mother died.

PREV | NEXT