Author's notes
An alternative ending I came up with while reading Hell's heroes, so be warned, if you haven't read all ten books of this series yet, this fic will be a mass of spoilers for you. Pun intended in the title.
I do not own the demonata series.
Chapter 1
One would think one corridor made of spider webs would be the same as the others, but I have no trouble finding my way through this palace. Knowing how to tell these hallways from each other is just one of the many advantages of my more than flawless memory.
I head for the throne room where my master, the demon of sorrow awaits me and the knowledge I carry: the location of lodestones on planet Earth. I know exactly where to find them. I've absorbed the memories of Beranabus, who's failed to destroy the lot of them, and could do no better than hiding them from sight. Once we obtain them all, we'll just need a couple of demons and some humans to make the sacrifice and the tunnels will be ready for invading the human world. It's the foolproof victory of the demonata.
Beranabus… Bran. Just that name alone brings back so many memories. My own ones. I remember the boy I came to love centuries ago. He wouldn't have wanted me to do the things I'm doing. He fought all his life for the safety of humanity, which in his case means a whole lot. I've undeniable betrayed him, along with the rest of my world. No, the latter isn't true. What I've left behind wasn't my world. Everyone who's ever shone caring towards me has fallen by the claws of the demonata. I pray for the peace of their spirits, but they can't expect me to ever join them. I shall live forever, even after we've returned the universe into its original state, for I am now the vessel of death itself. I chose not to be tortured to death a second time. First time was torment enough for one person to go through.
Saving a life may have been my purpose to coming back to life in someone else's body, but this life won't end the same way. This time it will be every other human to scream of pain, just until we've hunted down the other key figures: Grubitch Grady and Cornelius Fleck.
They too could've chosen to pledge their allegiance to the winning side of this war, but they instead remain in arms, fighting one pointless battle after another. Eventually they will fall, bearing the worst of agonies. I can't say I'm comfortable with all this, but that is the will of death which I am, we all are obliged to follow for there is no stopping it.
I could only imagine the Shadow's power the time we first faced it in battle, more accurately when Beranabus did, giving his life just to banish it. When we became one I was granted forces beyond the wildest imaginations, which should not be an underestimated statement coming from the memory of the Kah-Gash. Such energies have only run through me at the times we used the weapon. Now I may wield 'the blade'. Matter of fact, the shadows around me can take many kinds of forms, just as they did when I fought that older creature.
The entrance of the throne room opens before me, and Lord Loss welcomes me with whatever joy his nature allows him to express. Every demon should feel overjoyed right now, for their victory is only short while away.