Chapter 35

She looked down at her hands with awe. The black veins consuming her seemed to have followed her into the realm of the gods. She sat above the churning inky black ocean once again as she waited for someone—anyone, to come and retrieve her. Last time it was Hephatus, would her patron goddess return again? Or would accepting the demons control count as a betrayal? She felt as if she had betrayed herself after all, she knew the dangers of allowing the darkness to take control and yet she allowed fear to drive her decision.

"Fear is a powerful driver." Hephatus's voice filled her head softly. She paused to look around her but she couldn't see anything, or anyone for that matter. She stood up.

"Hephatus?" She felt like her heart was racing. If she could feel her heart that was.

"I'm here." With a gust of wind Talia could feel Hephatus's arms wrap around her tightly. The hug was firm and soft at the same time. Her chest hurt as she remembered what it felt like to get a hug like that.

'Mom...' Her chest twisted in pain. It was just like Amber's hugs. The smell of deep ancient pine forests brushed past her. Moss, lichen, timber, soil. It was like smelling home.

"And so is she." Hephatus's lips tickled Talia's ears as she watched a bright orange light blossom in front of her. It took only a second for Amber's form to materialize in front of her. The woman hadn't aged a day, though that was to be expected for the dead. She had retained her beauty, her sharp gaze, and her flashy smile. Seeing her only made Talia feel worse.

"So you brought her here to witness my shame." Her wonder turned to ash in her mouth as she caught glimpse of the darkness consuming her flesh. She crossed her arms across her chest in a sudden bout of self-consciousness.

"Don't be stupid ya idiot girl." Amber snapped softly as she stepped forward to cup Talia's chin. She flinched, she was between a rock and a hard place and she couldn't be certain just what their goal was. But she had to admit hearing Amber's distinct accent was enough to make her heart leap for joy.

"How are you even here? You're not Hephatus's soul to keep." She muttered. She couldn't bring herself to look up and make eye contact with Amber. She couldn't be certain what she'd find in her eyes after so many years, after so much had happened.

"That's where yer wrong darling." Amber's voice was soft, so much so that she nearly didn't hear her say it. She looked up then to see a glimmering of sorrow deep in Amber's glowing eyes. Her face must have portrayed her confusion as Amber smiled and continued to explain,

"I had a long life before I ever met ya kid. And it weren't a good one. Did ye ever stop and wonder why I had an order out on me?" Talia shrugged her way out of Hephatus's firm embrace to turn and face the goddess with an incredulous expression.

"I wondered it every day. But I told myself it was a mistake. No one as kind as you could deserve to be murdered. And my senses have never lead me astray." Hephatus blinked slowly with a sly grin on her face as she leaned back.

"I gave you the choice, child, that much is true. I fault you not for your decision. But you saw nothing but her light, I saw nothing but her darkness. The truth is often a multi-faceted thing, it shows a different face every time you look at it." Talia turned back to Amber. Her confusion only mounted as they spoke, was she a bad person or not? Was she right to spare her or... Not?

"In my youth I was a person feared by many. Ye know I did not hail from yer land, indeed I came from far across the seas. My home was a war-torn land full of strife, famine, disease, and hatred. And I like many others took every opportunity to survive. It just so happens Hephatus offered me a particular opportunity that I could not deny. I swore m'self to her as a teenager and I've served her faithfully ever since." Amber motioned in Hephatus's direction. Talia looked to the goddess warily. If that was true then why had she been sent to kill Amber? Hephatus did not allow assassins under her rule to kill each other.

"Why did you bring her here?" Did Hephatus want her to question her choices? Was she trying to make her see things differently? Because it wasn't working.

"I wanted to show you that the truth is always far more complicated than you could ever imagine. Your truth, hers, everyone's. You're no demon yet daughter, even if you want to convince yourself of it. This change can take decades in dragon riders, Vekkar's influence is still too weak to control you. This is nothing more than weakness, fear, and hatred driving you over the edge. Take back your control, you're far brighter a person than you give yourself credit for."

"Hephatus is right, yer not a creature of darkness. Well, not Vekkar's darkness. Ya know what I mean darling. All I ever saw in ya was kindness and light. If ye were any different the horses wouldn't ave taken to ya." Amber flashed her a sheepish grin as she fumbled for words.

"You both seem to know a lot more about me than I do." Talia mumbled with a deep blush burning her cheeks. She didn't know if she wanted to tell them all the reasons they were wrong, hug them, or just tell them to toss her sorry ass back into her body so she could make her fuck-ups in peace.

"I'm a goddess, and she's dead. It offers a certain... Vantagepoint." Hephatus smiled brightly as she wrapped Talia in a hug again. This time she kicked and squirmed with a small groan. Four arms offered the goddess a powerful grip. Did she have to keep hugging her?

"So what was the point of this besides trying to convince me I'm not a monster?" It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the effort, seeing Amber again was something she would have gladly bled a thousand times over for. She would have paid nearly any price.

"Buying time for your body to recover mostly. I have to admit I may be abusing my godly powers to do this, we aren't really supposed to interact with our mortal patrons like this anymore. Not after the last war. But... I can't help myself." Hephatus pinched at Talia's cheek which seemed to have prodded Amber into doing the same. It was like being double-mommed. She had no idea how to react.

"Gah!" She finally managed to slap them both away and put some space between them.

"Why is it getting so dark?" She finally managed after she pulled away from them. Both women paused to peer at the skies. Hephatus sighed deeply,

"Because time runs short for us all. You need to return to yourself, continue to fight." Hephatus pulled away and started to float back into the skies. Talia frowned,

"And how am I supposed to win against a monster like that?! If you hadn't noticed, he kind of destroyed me." She raised both hands into the skies in exasperation. Hephatus smiled down at her,

"You've got a lot of people willing to help you. You can't do it alone. Alari Dumar. Strong together." Amber lay her hands on Talia's shoulders as she repeated the goddess's words,

"Alari Dmar. We used to chant that before leaving on missions back with all my old brothers and sisters. Do they even still say that anymore?" She sounded wistful as she watched the heavens for the goddess to disappear.

"Alari... Dumar..." She had never heard it. If it was so common with Amber's brothers and sisters why had it never come up in her own families rituals? Was it something the goddess had created, or something that arose from Amber's homeland? Regardless Talia thought back to the dwarves. Bromyr had offered her a place in his kingdom. Offered her education, training, power, status. She wasn't going to stay, she hadn't planned on staying. But she couldn't go home. She had a dragon, a responsibility. And if she were being honest she was growing quite attached to the dwarves.

"The time has come for the fight to resume. But I just wanted you to know that we stand behind you, and that things are never black and white, lies and truth alike. Be careful, it will become harder and harder to know where the lines lie. Oh, and daughter? Ask that demon if he can survive getting eaten alive. Take Ibis, he's rather hungry." Hephatus winked her webbed eye before erupting into smoke.

'Why do I feel like she means more than she's saying? Why does she need to be so cryptic? Whatever... At least she's letting me take her dog out to play.' She thought to with a twisted smile. Amber rested her cheek on Talia's as she rubbed the tips of her ears. She shivered with a mixture of glee and sorrow. Her cheeks burned as a blush crept its way across her flesh. Only Amber knew just how calming it was to her to have her ears rubbed.

"Why did you have to die..." She hiccupped as the world faded to darkness.

"We all do my love." Amber's voice echoed in her mind as she opened her eyes again to the world of mortals. Chaos reigned around her as the dwarves screamed desperately. She didn't have time to pause and consider what had just happened as she clambered to her feet, or foot rather. She leaned heavily on a nearby broken wall as her lower back refused to cooperate along with her broken leg.

She stared in horror as the demonic creature choked Nico with one hand and reached for his face with another. How long had she been unconscious?

'You might think I'm not a monster, but I know something that is. And only a monster could destroy this thing.' She thought as she reached for her mark.

"Ibis!" She screamed as bright flame erupted from her fingertips. Her cry was enough to give the demon pause, he turned slightly in surprise as Hephatus's personal hound leapt from her fingertips. The creature had two heads and two tails, one head had tall sharp ears that tapered off into a point. The other had shorter squarer ears and a narrower head with a longer snout. The bigger head had a flaming mane while the smaller one had flames flowing from its eyes.

On top of its conjoined two heads it had six legs, four in the front and two in the back. It's paws were oddly shaped as it had finger-like toes with razor sharp claws. It dug its paws into the dirt before issuing a challenging roar. The demon dropped Nico promptly with a smile.

"It would seem you offer far more of a challenge as yourself. How intriguing. I'm going to make that bitch of yours scream until you relinquish it back to the pits of its whore mother!" He rushed the hound Ibis with a war-cry. Ibis didn't pause as it leapt up onto the stone walls of the nearest building only to turn and face down with two snarling faces. Its tails swished through the air animatedly as it waited for the perfect moment to strike.

"Talia!" Nico croaked in the mud. She turned away from the fight to slowly but surely hobble her way over to him. Her heart was racing in her throat as she clawed her way forward. The dwarves emerged from the temple as well as they surrounded Nico and herself.

"We thought you were a gonner." Bromyr panted as he dug his arms under Nico to lift him up. Nico groaned through his clenched jaw.

"I never gave up." He spat. Talia rolled her eyes, he was always turning his loyalty into a competition. She cupped his chin gently as she observed every mark on his body, each tally was another mark on the demon's soul.

'For each scratch a pound of flesh.' Her eyes burned as Ibis continued to taunt the demon. He would certainly have plenty of flesh to offer in penance.

"Is he alright? Are you alright?" Reezara landed on her shoulder to peer down at Nico with her own look of concern.

"I think so, there's no time to dwell on it now." She said aloud as she grabbed Reezara to hold her to her chest protectively. She turned just as Ibis's roar split the skies. The demon leapt at it only to fall back with a screech, hands clutching at his torn face.

"Get Nico inside, and you go too Reezara. I'm going to make sure Ibis devours this beast alive." She handed Reezara to Grimor, though she noted his foggy gaze with a pique of worry. No one was in good shape. They were lucky to still be alive.

"You risk too much... As always..." Nico groaned. Talia didn't bother to shush him as she turned back to the fight. Ibis was the most volatile of Hephatus's creatures and she couldn't risk taking her attention away from it for long. She was pleased to know that the battle wouldn't last much longer however as the hound ripped the demon's left arm off and devoured it.

"Tell me demon, can you survive inside the stomach of Hephatus's hound? What will happen when I release it back into her void? Will you follow? Or will you meet a final death?" She was curious to know if demons truly died or if they simply faded back into their realm to await their turn again to rush the light of the mortal realm.