Deeper into the mountain was a long and narrow corridor, water dripping from all sides of the walls. There were noises and humming coming from a small alcove around the corner. When the man entered, there was another man sitting on a throne of bones. He was obviously the keeper of these rancid lands. He wore a long coat with a high collar; slicked back hair, jet black with a slight salting. The skeleton of a giant turtle was mounted as the base for him to sit upon. An assembly of other animal leg and thigh bones acted as his backrest, while long horns of deer and antelope sprouted out from the top. The ribcage of an enormous elephant was positioned vertically behind him, stretching around each side to hold up his arms.
“I was beginning to think that the rumors of your return were false. But I’ve also felt your presence. And now that you’re standing here in front of me, I almost can’t believe it,” the man said as he sat up from his throne. He greeted him with a devilish smile. “You are of Volpi blood, no?” the keeper asked, reading right through the man’s confused expression.
As soon as the cloaked man heard the name, Volpi, he knew it belonged to him. Then he heard a woman’s voice in his head say his first name: Rayne. But he didn’t tell this to the stranger.
“Demitri Von Cobb is my name,” he said, bowing. “My king. What can you remember?”
“At first all I could remember were two men who had defiled me. But then I began to remember more. I saw a woman, a beautiful woman who looks so familiar, but I don’t know her name. I can even hear her voice sometimes in my head. I think I knew her.”
“A woman’s beauty can make us think many things. Be mindful of the feminine, they can be very seductive to the lust of men; and I assure you, dear one, she is of no significance to you. I myself once loved a woman, but the inevitable deceptive quality of her gender caused her to deceive me,” he said.
“What happened to her? Where is she now?” Rayne asked curiously.
“Someone who once called himself my friend let her die.” He had a devious stare. Demitri then quickly changed the subject. “I heard about those men who were recently hurt at Ikarus. I’m guessing they were the ones that were involved in your abduction?”
Rayne didn’t respond.
Demitri smiled wide. “Why didn’t you bring death to them in return? How did you keep your composure? That’s very impressive.” He lifted his brows.
“I didn’t want to kill them. That would have been too easy. I want them to live the rest of their lives without the things they cherished the most, yet took for granted every day.”
Rayne took a moment. There was something curious about Demitri. Rayne wanted to exact as much about him as he could. Demitri hadn’t stopped fidgeting with his hands from the moment Rayne arrived. With his left hand, Demitri would juggle a shiny black marble, dancing it across his knuckles with it disappearing as the finale of his trick. As he spoke, Demitri used petty illusions to try to distract Rayne. But Rayne had been quite aware that this man had only intentions to manipulate him. So he paid careful attention to the answers to his questions. The more Demitri spoke the more information Rayne could acquire and make sense of things. “How did you know what I’ve done, living all the way down here?” Rayne asked.
“Ah! Clever man! My king is no fool. My eyes and ears are everywhere, young lord. A skill I have developed, just like you. You don’t understand the power you possess. You are an elemental god to these people; you are earth, the wind. You are fire and water. Your capabilities are endless; you just need to open yourself up to the fact that you are infinite now.”
“What’s happened to me?” Rayne asked. He was more interested in his identity than his supernatural powers, a magic ordinary man could only dream of having. But without his memories, a past, Rayne felt as though he had never existed. The one thing that was most familiar to him was the woman with green eyes.
“As time passes you’ll remember that you were sent back from death to free us, your people, from our slavery to the kingdom,” said Demitri. His eyes turned from deviant to petty; an act to convince a slanted version of the truth, Rayne was sure of it. “We’ve been banished here because we exposed the secrets of our ancestors and the people then accused us of being mages. For God’s sake, they even tried to kill you, my lord, their own king; my king. It is they that are the true villains! They are all corrupt murderers, just like the ones who burned you as an innocent boy who never looked for any trouble. You’ve showed them what a caring soul you have been and yet they cast you out. Revenge is the most natural response to any man whose life had been sketched of abandonment and cursed of betrayal. But first we must be freed from our torture, and that is why everyone here is so excited to see you again. You are our savior; an angel of our kind.” His tyrannical smile stretched ear to ear.
“So, the ones who rule the kingdoms are the enemy?” Rayne asked, anticipating Demitri’s response.
“They are! Invaders! Filthy, selfish cowards, and they will turn on you at the drop of a hat.”
“And what about the bodies floating in these puddles of filth? Were they cowards as
