I decided Winston had the best plan for this one: If you’re going through hell, keep going.
I intended to keep going.
I nodded to Erik and he placed the ring on my finger. For a few seconds, all I felt was warmth expanding through my hand. I looked over and noticed the area brightening as the ring gave off a dull glow, pulsing every few seconds with subtle, golden light.
Then it started.
I had felt pain before. All kinds of pain. Nothing prepared me for this. I saw Erik gesture and back up with Jessikah and Peaches beside him.
“Good luck,” he said. “We’ll speak on the other side…hopefully.”
Regular mage of optimism, that Erik. Moments later, they were gone.
Those were the last words I heard before everything became white noise and pain.
I was alone.
I don’t know how I knew, but I knew I was in the room alone. My senses were on overdrive. Smells surrounded me. I felt the leather straps chafe against my wrists, biceps, thighs, and ankles.
I looked down and realized I was only wearing a pair of shorts.
When did that happen?
The pain quickly focused my attention on the white-hot sun blossoming on my hand. I glanced over at the ring and nearly blinded myself, the energy was so intense. I closed my eyes, turning my head away from the light, and tracking the afterimage against my closed eyelids.
That’s when the festivities kicked up a notch.
My body spasmed. Each of my muscles seized as I strained hard against the straps, arching my back. It felt like an army of dwarves, armed with hammers, had decided I was a nail, and needed to be beaten into the ground…repeatedly. Every part of my body screamed with tension.
The pain subsided a few agonizing seconds later, only to be replaced with a searing heat that made me actually look around to see if I was ablaze. I figured it was my curse trying to heal me, and failing. My eyes were next; it felt like the heat wasn’t content with just incinerating my body. It raced up to my face and focused on melting my eyes.
I took a few deep breaths and tried to ride the waves of pain. It was working to a certain extent; I could feel the crest approaching and tried to breathe through the worst of the agony.
That didn’t last long.
The army of dwarves was replaced with fire ants riding wasps, and they all stung my eyes at once. I started screaming then. I screamed until I lost the ability to make a sound, and then I screamed some more.
“That looks painful,” a familiar voice said next to me, in between my screams. “Is he really worth it?”
I tried focusing my eyes and failed. Everything was a blur. It didn’t matter: I knew who it was by the voice and air of menace.
Kali.
“He would do the same…the same for me,” I said hoarsely. “Why are you here?”
“You are my cursed,” Kali said. “Your current increase in power caught my attention. I came to see if you were actively trying to end your existence. Do you seek death?”
For a split second, I almost said yes…the pain was that bad.
“No,” I said, and gritted my teeth. “It’d be great if you…if you could do something about the pain, though.”
“Would you like more?” she asked. I could tell she was serious by her tone. “I’m certain I could increase the level of discomfort exponentially.”
“This…this is way past discomfort,” I answered with a groan. “This is really up there with intolerable agony.”
“Perfect,” she said, and I could almost hear the smile. “Pain at that level is cleansing, pure. It peels away all pretenses and reveals your true nature. It is in the white-hot crucible of suffering that the dross is burned away. This is good for you.”
“Good? How is this good?”
“Well, in the long term, if it doesn’t kill you, you will be tempered, made stronger,” she said. “Short term, nothing focuses a mind more than pain. Singular focus at that level is good.”
“No…not good,” I said, shaking my head. “Can we dial down the dross-burning?”
“Why?” she asked. “You knew this was going to be pain. Several people advised you, yet you chose to continue upon this exquisite path. Why would I deprive you of this singular experience of purity?”
“Because it’s killing me?”
“Killing you?” she asked, glancing down at the glowing supernova on my finger. “Are you certain? You have proven quite resilient in the past.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, getting angry and momentarily forgetting who I was speaking to. “This thing is melting me from the inside out. Take it off.”
“Impossible,” she said, stepping close enough that I could feel her breath on my face. “If I remove it, I will have to kill you…permanently. Is that your wish?”
“Is it yours?” I asked. “If you don’t get this off me, I’m pretty sure I’m dying here…on a cross…in a dungeon…Wonderful. Is that what you want?”
“I will get what I want, my Cursed,” she said in a soft voice. “You will help me.”
“I can’t do that if I’m dead.”
“Stop being so precious,” she said dismissively. “You’ve withstood and survived worse. Power always comes at a cost. This is a law that cannot be broken—bent, perhaps, but not broken. Out of the seven laws, that one is the most irrefutable. That one encompasses them all.”
“I don’t want this power.”
Even shaping the thoughts to form the words hurt.
“Really?” she asked, as I heard her pulling over some piece of furniture. “Do you think you possess enough? Enough to save Tristan? To defeat Evers and her minion?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” she said with a small laugh. “Then this entire exercise is for what? Practice? Try again. This time, be honest.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t possess enough power to save Monty, or to stop Evers. In case you haven’t
