CH 38 - Ezra

Caesar clenches his fist as he listens to the footsteps beyond the darkness. His mind sees the prominent upright figure of the ghoulish God of Lies.

The large frame of the body and head are covered in razor-sharp spikes, tiny daggers six inches from his back. The glowing unblinking eyes circle its prey, judging him with his movement.

"She lies, Caesar. She lies to those she loves. Every waking day, every week, she told her sister she wouldn't abandon her. The moment her false prophet, her Guardian, called to her, she left. On a night of a red mist, she abandoned the one person she cared most about," Ezra laughs.

Caesar follows the demon with his eyes as the body shifts in the darkness. Keeping vigilant of what is before him and anything attempting to attack him from behind.

"You have nothing to say for her?" Ezra laughs.

"I do not speak for her or her actions."

"Oh? Curious, you intend to let her be judged?"

"She is beyond your judgment as I am. We have not died. You can cast your doubts and fears but will not alter the path."

"Alter the path?" Ezra laughs as his cloven hooves move across the stone floor, "Her path has been chosen. She has chosen it daily and decided to live without honor."

"She still has her life to live. A single mistake doesn't change her fate."

"A single mistake," Ezra laughs, "All her life, she told her sister she would be there. Then she turned and ran the moment the eighteen-year-old child needed her the most."

"That decision was just a brief moment."

"Yes," Ezra hisses out his condemnation of the girl with a wicked smile, raising its claw of a hand as the light shifts as ten meters of space are encircled in light, blinding the vision of the outside world darkness. Only Caesar's eyes can still track the area of the fark demon, "I bet you by the end of the night, she will abandon you as she did her sister."

"She will not; I have faith in her."

"Faith?" Ezra laughs, "These creatures aren't ruled by faith or logic. By the night's end, she will flee your side once she knows what a monster you are."

Caesar spins on his heels as he bears the cracking of bones and claws as monsters run around them. Peering into the darkness, he knows he is no match for all of them. He knows they won't attack him outright for the risk of angering his father. But they could take the girl at his feet.

Caesar knows he has no choice but to play Ezra's game. She forfeited her life for judgment the moment she walked into the darkness. The moment she chose to be judged, she decided to abide by his will.

She made this decision, like every decision she has ever made, by following her instincts. Following her instincts, walking in a world, she doesn't know. Caesar takes a deep breath as his fingers tremble, knowing he is trapped in this unforgiving moment.

Ezra moves across the darkness, twisting his body as he shifts his form. Watching beyond the light, Caesar watches as Ezra turns into a powerful but familiar humanoid shape. As his body transforms, the red glow leaves his eyes as he steps forward.

From the light walks a younger man with dark tanned skin and long black hair, dressed in the animal skins of a simple man. His enigmatic smile is charming as he steps forward, revealing a strong, angular face with dark, friendly eyes.

"Let's make a friendly wager, shall we? If she chooses to stay with you at night's end, we will allow you to pass. All you need to do is, be honest, my friend. The moment you lie, our deal is forfeited. But if she chooses you, the monster, after our talk. Then you are free.... is that agreeable?" Ezra asks in an elegant but straightforward tone.

"Yes," Caesar says curtly, hating the manipulation that Ezra is planting in the child's mind. He refuses to play games with the lives of so-called prophets.

But he knows Ezra well enough that any deception or change on his part will be met with a violation of the rules. This creature is quite devious in its very nature.

"I see you have found quite a beauty this time, Caesar?" Ezra softly smiles, "Is that why you chased her into the darkness?"

"No, I chased her because she didn't know what she was doing."

"You mean you didn't approve of what she was doing?"

"No, Ezra, I did not."

"Child, what is your name?" Ezra asks.

"Nica..." she responds softly.

"Come, Nica, stand and walk between us. You are among equals. Why on earth would you ever kneel?"

"I... I thought I had to."

"Of course not, child. You came in defiance of the Gods and their horrid scriptures, didn't you?"

"Yes," Nica whispers.

"The Gods demand that you kneel; there are no Gods here," Ezra says with an easy smile. For a while, he is the God of Lies. It is not his morality in judgment but Caesar's. The child had failed her test, having lied countless times before. It is only a matter of time before the truth of the monster unleashes the fury of the depths of hell. Ezra raises his hand to the corrupted child, "Please take my hand and stand among your equals."

Nica hesitantly takes Ezra's hand as he pulls her up to him softly, placing his hand gently on her hip to steady her as a soft smile spreads across her lips, "There you go, that is a beautiful smile."

Nica blushes and turns her head away as she looks to the ground. "As you heard earlier, Caesar had wanted you to kneel when you had no reason to. He came after you because he disapproved of what you did. He is robbing you of your agency. Not allowing you to make these crucial decisions for yourself."

"What of the darkness and the demon?" Nica asks.

"Demon? There hasn't been a demon here in a thousand years. Trust me; you have nothing to worry about. You do trust me, don't you, Nica?" Ezra says as he easily smiles with his superficial charm and soft but raised tone.

"I heard the monster in the darkness."

"It wasn't me. Do you think that someone like me?" Ezra asks, his voice already a higher octave raised at the end. "Someone like me? Could you speak in such a deep baritone? No, I am sorry; I think your mind was playing tricks on you. It happens in the darkness in the lack of visual stimulation. It is in our isolation that our minds play tricks on us."

"But I wasn't isolated..."

"Weren't you? Did you comfort at his feet? Remember, I have heard the voices, the doubts in your mind. My job is to protect you and keep you safe from the evils within the realm. That is why you came to me, isn't it?"

"I came to defy the Gods that commanded that I knelt at their feet!" Nica says defiantly.

"I hear you. They think you are less than them, but you are not. Remember, I did when I had an opportunity to raise you. I never asked that you kneel. I am not a monster... Caesar is the only one who has asked you to do so here."

Nica nods and looks to Caesar quickly before looking away again, "Yes, he said to do so to avoid looking at the monsters in the darkness."

"I don't look like a monster, do I?"

"No, but monsters rarely do."

"That is so true. Can I make a deal with you?"

"Yes," Nica responds.

"If I tell you a bit about what was in Caesar's mind. Suppose I show you something from his past and allow you to see his decisions. Would you at least look at it and judge it not by my interpretation but by your own eyes?"

"How can I know you won't lie?" Nica asks.

"I would never lie. I wouldn't tell you what happened, but the souls of others would."

"The souls?" Nica asks, perplexed.

"Some here are trapped in a hell of their own. Their faith and decisions led them to a life of denial. They deny their sins and the part they played in their lives. They say they were a victim of their decisions, but we don't believe that, do we? I think you know well enough that you make your decisions on your own. You are a person that no one can control or manipulate. Isn't that true?"

"Yes, I would like to think so."

"I felt a regret in you when it came to Caesar. Why is that?"

"Because I am in trouble..."

"Why are you in trouble?"

"Because I saved a woman named Sera."

"Oh, and why would saving someone get you in trouble? That seems like the most noble thing you could ever do."

Nica shrugs, "He didn't want me to at the time, I guess. He wanted me to observe something, and I failed him. I had to save her, and she had haunted my nightmares for far too long."

"Well, in telling you about the monster that is Caesar, would you mind if I started with telling you about Sera?"

"You know Sera?"

"Oh yes, she just passed through here just a few days ago," Ezra says with a wicked smile as he looks up and meets Caesar's eyes.