Chapter 7

  The Devil Went Down….

  The DeLuna party had made great progress in their descent down then East River Labyrinth, and now found themselves on the 48th floor. The floors between were unremarkable, and with the help of Elora’s healing magic, Fay was able to fight his way down to the 48th in half the time it would have taken otherwise.

  The two had grown close in the two weeks that they had accompanied one another on their journey. Fay found Elora to be wildly entertaining. While she normally spoke and acted with an air of aristocracy and grace, when her emotions, namely happiness, ran strong, her persona dropped, and she became ditzy. Fay had taken to teasing her about this, and would refer to her as “Her Majesty” when she refused to drop her act.

  Elora, returning his taunting in kind, had taken to calling Fay “Desperado”, which embarrassed and angered Fay to no end.

  Although the pair had only been acquainted for two weeks, their relationship made it seem as if they were childhood friends.

  DeLuna continued their dive, and blew through the 49th and 50th floors with ease. The 50th floor had been twisted into a great lake by the thick mana of the labyrinth, and Fay learned that Elora did not know how to swim. Swimming from small land mass to land mass with Elora hanging onto him in fear of falling into the depths, Fay realized just how beautiful Elora was.

  The 50th to 62nd floor marked no trouble for DeLuna, and it had taken them less than a week to fight through them. In that time, Fay had become more aware of Elora’s beauty. Her amethyst eyes, her slender pale figure, but most of all her hair. Its silver glisten ethereal and unworldly.

  Elora had also grown fond of Fay. This being due to the fact that he was the only human she had seen in sun knows how long, Fay was unsure, but over time she had begun to speak to him with a fondness that drove him mad.

  I won’t say anything to her until we get out of here. Sun above Dorian is going to pitch a fit when he sees me come back outta here with this beauty on my arm! Fay thought as the hammer of his piece slammed to, rending the beast in front of him apart.

  With the fight concluded, DeLuna continued their journey down.

  At night, or the time they slept, the pair would talk by the small fire they kept at their camp for warmth. Elora would tell Fay of her memories of her time as one with the moon. It watched as the sun blessed humanity and pushed the Beasts into the Labyrinths. It was obvious that Elora was saddened from the way she spoke when telling her grandiose stories, and Fay hurt for her in his heart.

  To cheer her up, Fay would tell her about his once quiet life on the surface. Of Tima and Ridley. Of Dorian and his kind family. Of the strange triplets that spoke as one. Fay enjoyed having someone to speak to. It expensed to him a reason to recall his time above, and to remember and put into words the little day to day pleasantries humans experience and often forget.

  Finding themselves on the 78th floor, two months after their first meeting, Fay was in the middle of a particular humorous tale about a time where Tima had caught him and Ridley stealing apples from the trees of the farmer next door, and made them clean the old man's entire house as punishment.

  “Hahaha, that is quiet some story Fay!” Elora said, doubled over in laughter.

  Fay looked at her. The way the subtle yellows of the fire reflected and danced among the argent strands of her moon colored hair. Her purple eyes pulled the light of the fire into them, becoming a deep rich indigo that Fay promised to paint the walls of his estate in when he returned to the surface with her. Fay was no stranger to the inferno in his chest when wielding his piece, but the feeling that now occupied his heart when looking at Elora was foreign to him.

  Fay’s mind drifted to the conversation he had with with Corina before their discovery of the accident in the labyrinth. Fay was sure this feeling was the one she spoke so sweetly of. When Elora called his name in the morning to wake him, Fay was entranced by the sound of her voice. When he stole a glance of her while they journeyed on, Fay felt as if he could split the seas in her name if she commanded him to do so. When the soft touch of her magic embraced him, Fay felt as if the celestials themselves had blessed him. He loved Elora with all of his heart, but he must wait to tell her until after this was over. If they got all lovey-dovey now, Fay was certain that they would drop their guard, and that would not do.

  Fay already had it all planned in his mind. He would come out of the labyrinth a hero. He would be reunited with his loved ones and introduce them to Elora at a grand dinner at the tavern. He would sell the hundreds of Beast Cores he was holding in his outer-world bag and construct the biggest estate in all of East River. He would tell Elora of his love for her, and they would get married. He would allow the bindings to return to his wrists. That is the life Fay was fighting for. He did not need to be strong if he was happy, he was sure of it.

  Due to his wounds becoming less common than before thanks to his growing combat prowess and Elora’s magic, it had been some time since Fay had last spoken with Barron. When he got back, he would speak with Ridley about it and try to get to the bottom of what Barron’s plan was, and lay all the secrets out on the table. As Fay made his bed for the night, he took one last look at Elora’s sleeping face illuminated by the dying coals of the fire.

  Damn I got lucky.

  Deluna cleared the 99th floor in two weeks after setting off from the 78th, the pair's time spent the same as before. Fay’s love for Elora had only grown deeper, and it was apparent to anyone but Fay that Elora was waiting for him to say something, but he had stuck to his word, and would not confess to her the poetics of his heart until they were under the warmth of the sun on the grass of the surface.

  The pair began their descent towards the bottom of the stairs that would take them to the 100th floor, and they were met with a large pair of stone doors.

  Haven't seen a pair of these since I found Elora, wonder if this is the end?

  Fay spun his piece to his hand and held it to the doors for light. Upon them, just as the last, were long weathered words etched into their gray stone.

  Beyond these doors lie a shard of the brigand that stole domination from heaven's grasp. Those with the will to defy order may enter upon these consecrated grounds and prove themselves worthy of defiant action through holy bloodshed. Take heed all that step through these doors, The Sovereigns shall take notice. Live and be strong, or die and be weak. Dominate or be dominated. Break free of the order; less ye be removed.

  “It looks like this is it” Fay said to Elora after he finished reading the text on the doors.

  “It appears so, Fay”. Elora responded.

  “Fay”.

  Fay turned to face her, and she took his hand in her own. With her grasp tightening on his hand, Elora began to speak.

  “When we get back, there is something I wish to discuss with you.” She said, her ears turning a bright red.

  “Me to” Fay responded, squeezing her hand in his own.

  They stood there for some time, the air of unspoken words and embarrassment drawing the seconds into minutes.

  Having enough of the awkwardness, Fay let loose his grasp on Elora’s hands.

  That small moment had brought in Fay’s heart an inferno that burned like never before. He felt as if he could cleave the heavens and remake the world how he pleased.

  “Let's do this Elora, time for the desperado and the moon, DeLuna, to make our heroic return to the surface. I’m on fire right now.” He said, thumb in his chest, a habit he had taken from Barron when he was especially confident.

  Fay pushed open the massive stone doors, their ear piercing screech across the stone of the floor, a precursor of the battle to come.

  Fay made his way inside the room, and was met once again with the stark white stone of the 35th floor where he had fought the three headed beast. On the opposite end of the room sat a great stone throne, its age showing on its surface, the backrest reduced to rubble. On the throne said a. Human? Fay eyed the man, but it was not a man at all. While it possessed human form, its black eyes followed Fay’s every small movement. Fay felt as if the beasts gaze were peering into his soul.

  The beast’s massive claws in its human hands looked grotesque, and above its head floated a shattered crown of black mana. From its side jutted a shard of immense mana, its obsidian form softly pulsing as the chains that once occupied his wrists had. As the pair entered the room, the stone doors pulled closed behind them.

  “How interesting, I never thought a human, much less a order-breaker would ever come in search of this” The beast growled from its throne, its voice hoarse and dripping with malice.

  “I didn’t come here looking for nothing besides a way home. I’m going to guess you won’t just let us leave” Fay responded.

  While his words had the playfulness of a calm man, Fay was anything less than terrified at the intensity of the beast's mana-presence.

  “You have entered upon hallowed ground order-breaker. By action or accident, it matters not matter to me. We will do battle, and one of us will be proven strong.”

  The beast rose from his seat on the throne, his large muscular body standing nearly 10 feet tall by Fay’s guess.

  Fay spun his piece to his hand. Making sure that Elora was safely behind him, Fay approached the beast as it descended the steps of its throne.

  Corina better make something good for dinner tonight.

  “I didn’t come all the way down here to get killed now, let's get this over with!”

  Fay leveled his piece at the beast and rang out six shots from the end of its glowing barrel. The beast swatted the shots away from itself, and lowered itself onto all fours before pushing from the ground and launching itself at Fay, its giant claws aimed for his neck.

  Pulling mana from the air and sending it to his arm, Fay parried the blow before retreating with his mana clad legs. As he flew through the air, he continued to rain down shots down onto the beast, each one exploding against its iron claws as it was swatted away. The Beast hurled itself from the ground, and flew through the air at Fay, spinning like a torpedo with its claws stretched to a point in front of its body. Fay dodged not a second too soon, and the ground exploded where the beast impacted it, sending rubble into the air.

  A piece of debris dug into Fay’s leg, and blood poured from the wound.

  The dancing magic of Elora was upon the wound in an instant, closing it and erasing the pain that had once been there.

  The beast did not give Fay a chance to recover his footing, and he was upon him in an instant. Realizing he would not be able to dodge, Fay clad his entire body in mana and awaited the beast's arrival. Just as the beast entered his range, Fay threw a kick at the beast's side. The beast caught the kick with its massive palm. With his leg still in its grasp, Fay let loose a point blank shot at the beast's chest. The light exploded at the center of the beast, and both combatants were thrown back by the force. Fay steadied himself, and looked at the wound on the beast's midsection. It had not done much, but a small trickle of blood fell from the shallow scratch his shot had left.

  I can do this. Fay though, his glowing eyes upon the wound.

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  “Not bad human” the beast growled.

  It dipped its thumb in the blood from the scratch and pressed on it with its middle finger, before bringing it to its face. It inhaled a great breath, savoring the scent from the fumes. It licked the blood from its fingers, and seemed pleased with its inspection.

  “This is the first time I have seen my own blood. Now that I have laid my gaze upon it, I know it to exist. Very good human, very good indeed, but if that is all you can muster, I’m afraid I will quickly grow tired of our little dance.” The beast said.

  Finishing its speech, the beast unleashed mana from its core, its shadow-like color forming a ring around it, stretching from its feet.

  “I will show you the strength required to dominate order” The beast proclaimed.

  Standing with its arms crossed, the beast directed the mana from the circle. It struck out in long black spears at Fay. Their appearance reminded him of the fire from Ridley’s sword. They seemed as if they were alive and wished to see him expunged from the world of the living.

  Fay ran as he shot at the tendrils, but there was no end to them. He continued to dodge and shoot, his eyes never leaving the still-standing body of the beast. With a burst of mana, Fay struck the stone floor beneath him, dislodging a large chuck of earth..Shooting the tendrils with his right, Fay hoisted the piece upright with his left, creating a makeshift cover to collect himself from the onslaught brought on by the beast’s magic.

  It ain’t moving. Can it not leave the circle while the magic is active?

  Fay’s thoughts were cut short as spears of magic ripped through the stone wall he had erected.

  Fay forced mana into his legs, and with dazzling speed dashed to the right from behind the cover, his piece already pointed at the beast.

  I’ve got an idea.

  Fay let loose three shots from his piece, and in the same instance, forced more mana into his legs than he ever had before. The muscles in his legs contracted at once, and Fay was moved directly in front of the beast, nearly instantly. The beast's claw was still raised to its side from where it had swatted away the shots. Fay filled his fist with as much mana as he could muster, and punched the beast in the chest where his previous shot had wounded it. The beast hunched as the fist impacted him, and blood trickled from its mouth as it was blown across the room, smashing into the wall and leaving a crater where it had hit.

  Fay breathed heavily as Elora’s magic healed his aching arm and legs. If it was not for her magic, he would not have lasted this long.

  “Fay, be careful!” Elora screamed from in front of the doors.

  He did not know how much longer this fight could drag on. Elora’s magic was starting to not be able to completely heal him, which meant he was starting to get in bad shape.

  “Interesting magic you humans have.” the beast said as it stood to its feet, its chest caved in from Fay’s punch.

  It turned its head to Elora.

  “You seem a bit confused human woman, no, prisoner of defiance. This is a duel, and no outside help will be allowed. And you boy, that was an exquisite application of mana, but allow me to show you how it is properly done.” The beast said before disappearing in a black aura of mana.

  “FAY HELP!”

  It was Elora.

  Fay spun around to where she had been standing, but the beast was already there, Elora’s shimmering hair grasped in its blood soaked hand.

  Elora beat at the beast's hands with her mana clad fists, but the beast seemed not to notice.

  “I commend you for figuring that out on your own, but there was a flaw in your usage. You see, you just sent the mana into your legs. It got you there faster than most can perceive, however if you push mana into your whole body, you will be transported along the mana steam to your destination in an instant. What I believe you human’s call teleporting?” The beast lectured, its massive hand still gripping Elora’s hair as she pounded on its arm.

  “I apologize my celestial prisoner, you have just been given a taste of freedom, but you have broken the rules of this sacred tradition.”

  Pulling back it's free arm, it plunged its claws through Elora’s stomach and out her back. It ripped its arm free, and blood poured from the gaping wound in her chest. The beast dropped her to the floor and turned to Fay.

  “I did this for you human. I feel as if you are on the verge of unlocking a greater power within yourself. Do what you must, I will wait for you”.

  The beast disappeared again, returning to its seated position on the throne.

  Fay rushed to where Elora lay bleeding, her organs falling from her stomach. Her dark blood pooled beneath her in stark contrast against her silver-white hair.

  He knelt at her side, his hands shoving the fabric of her thin under-shirt that had once belonged to him, into the wound.

  “Elora, hey Elora stay with me. You’ve got to heal yourself. Elora. Elora hurry up. Use your magic!” Fay said through sobs.

  “Fay. You know I cannot do that. My magic is only for others. Fay please get back home. I wish I could have joined you. I had so much fun with you. The laughter, the conversations by the fir-cough” her words paused as she coughed up thick blood, tears running down her face.

  “We defied the order together, but maybe we were playing to its tune all along. I was never meant to leave this place. Fay, thank you for the stories, they were lovely. Fay I….I lo-”

  Her words did not finish. Elora fell dead, the blood continuing to pour from her body as her eyes glossed over and gave themselves to the embrace of death.

  “No…No… ELORA NO PLEASE PLEASE WAKE UP. ELORA WAKE THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW. WE ARE GOING HOME. I NEVER GOT TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVED YOU. ELORA ……elora.” Fay hugged the body of his dead love in his arms.

  His chest was hot. It was the hottest it had ever been. Radiant mana of light embraced his whole body, flowing in a celestial aura around him.

  “Son, you can save her.”

  Barron’s form appeared in the light aura that surrounded Fay’s body.

  “TELL ME, TELL ME HOW I’LL DO ANYTHING.” Fay sobbed.

  “Give her your light. Will your soul into hers. You will die son, but I can see how much you love her. The choice is yours Fay.” Barron said as his form faded.

  Save her please.

  Fay closed his eyes and focused on his piece. He imagined himself pulling it from his chest to his hand, and when he opened his eyes, in his palm sat a pure ball of light.

  I was too weak to protect her. Sun, I'm worthless. I wish I had been stronger. Please Sun. Save her.

  Fay pushed the ball of light into the wound in Elora’s stomach, and the wound began to close.

  Fay felt the life leaving his body, his breath growing shallow, and his body cold. His vision began to blur, and once he could no longer see her form, Fay placed his hands on Elora’s chest.

  She’s not breathing. HAHA it didn’t work. I guess I’ll see her soon enough. Fuck, I wish I had been strong.

  Fay’s vision turned to black, and he fell dead next to Elora's body.

  It was dark where Fay found himself. It was not like his soul center. It was cold and barren, and he could feel the pressure in the air.

  I guess I’m in hell. I was a desperado after all. Those damned chains, the damned natural order, the damned Sovereigns. Did we ever really break from its grasp, or was all of this just a part of its plan that eventually led to our deaths? If the outcome was the same no matter what, can we even be called order defiers?

  “Interesting, interesting indeed” a voice growled from the abyss.

  "Who's there?” Fate yelled, his eyes able to see nothing but the expanse of blackness that surrounded him.

  “an order breaker falls into my den, how interesting. I can see you human. You wish to be strong. You desire strength for the sake of strength. You do not seek power to spill blood or rule your kind. You wish for strength to be strong. You wish to dominate order. I will grant you that strength. All I ask is that you feed me, make me stronger. I will bestow upon you the principle of domination. If you accept.” The voice growled from the endless abyss.

  Strength, power, domination. Elora is gone, is there even a point? No. They took her from me. The order and its sovereigns. They killed her. That beast. It tore her flesh. I was fine allowing myself to be chained after we made it back together. Now I will tear the heavens apart and rip the sovereigns from it. I will kill them. I will dominate creation and the forces that govern it for her.

  “I accept, but just what are you?” Fay yelled into the endless expanse.

  “I am the Leviathan” the creature roared in response.

  Fay awoke on his back atop the white floor of the room. His light was gone. He could feel the power of the leviathan in its place.

  It hurt.

  His piece and its light had filled his chest with inferno. It had swelled his chest and made him feel as if he could topple mountains had he wished.

  This power, it clawed at him. Demanded of him.

  It hurt.

  It gnawed at his insides and pressed on his bones.

  “You will feed me that beast's core, or I will consume you” The voice of the Leviathan rang in his head.

  Its core? Fay though.

  “With every core I consume, with every creature I dominate, I gain strength. You will feed me human, or I will swallow you from the inside” the leviathan responded from his mind.

  If it’s cores you want, just you wait.

  Fay reached his hand into his bag and spilled the hundreds of cores he had collected from his time descending the labyrinth onto the floor in front of him.

  “You will die human, that is too much power for your body to take on at one time. Even now the power you feel is a drop compared to the well I possess.” The Leviathan said.

  Fay turned his eyes to the beast sitting on its throne. It spoke no words, but it studied Fay's actions with great attention.

  Like I give a shit, I’ve already died once. I am going to kill that son of a bitch or die here. I will become strong or die weak.

  “Well spoken human. Do as you wish in the pursuit of strength” the Leviathan growled in response.

  Shoving the cores one after another into his chest, Fay could feel the power coursing through his veins with every one he forced in. He was only halfway through, but his body felt as if it would explode. His stomach churned in his body, and he puked on the floor in front of him.

  He saw Elora’s body. Her blood. He resumed consuming the cores.

  His mind was growing mad, and he bled from every socket in his body. He had consumed them all.

  He stood and wiped the blood from his eyes that had clouded his vision.

  “Call it out. Call out my gift to you!" the Leviathan roared.

  Fay felt the object where his soul had once been. He did not call to it as he did his piece. He commanded it to his hand. Black mana rushed from his new core and produced a great two headed axe in his hand. Fay studied the axe, as did the beast from its throne.

  “Human… Did you just use magic without drawing it from the air? HAHA you are a beast just like me now! How exhilarating! Show me this new power through consecrated combat!” The beast yelled from the throne.

  “Sorry, but you are much too weak a dance partner for me now” Fay whispered as he appeared in front of the beast, black mana flowing from his body.

  Before it could raise its arms in defense, Fay swung down the enormous axe from over his head. The axe-head pierced its shoulder. With the same stroke he used to cut the corpses in the slaughterhouse, Fay split the beast to its hip.

  The beast died without realizing what had happened to it. Its thick blood and discolored innards covered the chair. The ruler of the labyrinth lay dead in two on its throne.

  In the middle of the room, a magic circle appeared. The circle to go home.

  “I can feel it in you boy. You are still wrought with anger. You can use that to take you to another labyrinth if it pleases you. You hunger. Satiation awaits.” The leviathan growled.

  Fay went to where Elora had fallen, and took both of her hands in his own.

  “I promise, I’ll make them pay for this,” Fay said as he kissed her forehead.

  He lifted her body from the ground and placed it into the middle of the circle. He took a piece of the broken stone from the throne, and with the beast's blood, he wrote a message.

  Ridley. Please bury her somewhere she can see the moon.

  Fay placed the stone on Elora’s chest, and with a final goodbye, used his new magic to send her to the surface.

  Lev, we are going to the next one.

  “Lev, who do you think you are, lowly creature? I shall concede here due to the massive meal you just fed me, but remember who is your better here.”

  Whatever you say, partner.

  Fay returned to the body of the beast and ripped its core from its chest, alongside the strange obsidian piece from its side.

  What the hell is this? Fay thought as he turned the strange, smooth, black stone in his hand.

  “That's one of my scales. When I expelled my magic into the world as my ultimate act as defiance, I lost most of my physical body. You awoke in my lair outside of this world and the order, due to your order-breaking, and I have given my soul to you to hold your body together.

  There were 8 scales stolen from my body by lower beasts after my final act. They grafted them into their bodies in an attempt to obtain the power of domination. This was one of them. Eintex, the scholar. He was different from most beasts. He was granted a name by his kin. All of the scale-grafters are. He enjoyed studying magic and his opponents when doing battle instead of killing them quickly. If you seek to fight the sovereigns, you will need to recover these scales.” Lev said.

  Well one down, 7 to go.

  Fay crushed the fragment in his hand. The power burst into his core, nearly ripping him apart.

  This pain is nothing. I will never hurt as bad as I do from the loss of her.

  Fay stepped into the magic circle at the center of the room. He pushed the black mana into it, and departed from the final floor of the East River Labyrinth.