Chapter Five: Freedom and Revenge
Goth smiled, lips curled, his dagger like teeth gleaming in the pale moonlight. Everything was going according to plan. Soon, soon he told himself, soon, you will satisfy Zotz and take your revenge. Everything was set perfectly in place. He was ready.
O dark lord, I will make you reign once more. You will own the eternal night. Everything will be rightfully yours once again.
A sly, low voice hissed like a snake writhing in pain, laughing quietly, dastardly at him.
You have failed me, Goth, when I had given you the chancccccccce, how do I know you won't do it again? It would be far easier if I left thisssssss job for a more promising king, ssssssomeone who will succeed my biddings rather than continuously fail like you have done.
A snort of disgust rippled from the unsatisfied being, none other than Cama Zotz himself. After Goth had, as he had stated continuously failed, Zotz was beginning to lose his faith in the bat that appeared so much mightier than the others. If his brain is barely a portion of how large his body is, he is useless as scum He thought with distate. He could easily swallow him, leaving him forever trapped, churning in the thick, dark liquids in his stomach, and let him slowly die in this abyss-like grave. Goth surely deserved it, the worst possible death. He couldn't do anything.
O, lord Zotz, I ask for another chance, for I am sure I can succeed this time.
Zotz only sighed, his voice sending shivers down Goth's spine.
If I give you one lasssssst chance you better not come back empty handed. If you do, be prepared for the worsssssst death imaginable, in fact, imagine that and multiply that by one thousand timesssss. I will not be impressed if you fail.
As unsuspecting and mysteriously as it had come, his presence faded away suddenly, like he was nothing more than air.
Goth breathed in, the stale, foul air, smelling of dead beings (he restrained himself from gagging) filled his huge lungs with power and belief. He knew what he had to do. He would gather more and more Vampyrum Spectrum together by the tunnel he had finally completed and use them for the next solar eclipse to free Zotz once and for all. It was simple, but it would take time. Goth had all the time in the world. That wasn't much of a-
A sudden boom of laughter clapped like thunder and it shook Goth violently, annoying him because he wasn't usually jolted so easily.
You don't have that much time, Goth. It will take a very, very long time if you wait until at least one hundred life forcessss appear here for you to ssssssacrifice to me. The Humans have discovered sssssomething that can help you with your matters, I'm glad to ssssay. It appears to turn back time…
Almost as if on instinct, an immediate thought coursed through Goth's mind. If he could turn back time, he could be the one tearing Shade's heart out and eating it whole. He had lost that chance when Shade committed suicide, narrowly missing Goth's last attempt at killing him. Goth could see it now, unfolding before his eyes. He would get his revenge on that nasty little bat that somehow foiled his plans before. He would get revenge once and for all.
Thissss…is what I hate the mosssst about you, Goth…Always paying so much attention to detailsssssss and forgetting the overall picture. Forget about killing Shhhhhade…Free me firssssssssst and then worry about revenge. Revenge is not you firsssssst priority. If you fail me again, I will personally resurrect Shhhhhhhhhade if he dies to mock you for your defeat. Do not fail...
Goth didn't need any more encouragement than that. Seeing Cama Zotz himself resurrect Shade from death would be worse than death itself. He would much rather die one thousand times, then see Zotz stoop low enough that he would side with his opposing force that was constantly trying to destroy him. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. No. Goth would not believe that Zotz couldn't beat Shade and his fellow companions. Zotz was the all-powerful, almighty, the ultimate Lord of-
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! You really think I am that sssssssuperior? I wish I could say I am quite gratified to hear you say such humble thingsssssss, but it doesn't help that you aren't the cleveressssssst king around. If I was that powerful I would be ruling now in eternal night. But no. I need strong warriors to ssssssserve me, to bring me to the top, and it doesn't help that you are ultimately uselessssssss…
Goth hung his head in shame. If Zotz could just not give up hope on his hopes of finally becoming the great ruler of all-
You are sssssso…what's that word…?...oh, yesssssss…stupid… I haven't given up on my wish to become ruler of all…I have simply given up on… you.
That statement whacked him in the head like a rock. So Goth hadn't been going insane. Zotz really had given up on him.
I will make you proud, Zotz. I solemnly promise you will never think ill of me again…
Goth flapped hard towards the opening of the Underworld, a hole in the ceiling of stars, wings leaden by the insults thrown at him from the one he served with all his might and tried to drown out, or just bear the haunting, echoing laughter that continued to follow him, long after his last sentence.
The Humans were gone. Griffin looked desperately around him, toe claws moving slowly across the rough bark of the branch from the naked poplar stripped of leaves, stiffly turning in all directions and sighed in envy at how Luna could just simply turn her head in almost a complete circle without moving her body. A revolving head. Griffin shivered in fear. He'd never noticed that in owls until now. But there were times that he found that quite fascinating. Like now.
"Where are they…Luna…? You told me the, the, Humans would be here!"
"I told you that hours ago, they could be long gone by now,"
"Then why did you take me here?"
"Well, I, I hoped you could, maybe, live with me, from now on…"
"What?"
"M-my parents…they, they…
"They died didn't they?"
"N-no! H-how can you s-s-speak of d-death so indifferently?"
"My dad died some time ago and Mom is as good as dead now, too,"
"Oh…well, my parents didn't exactly die, they…disappeared,"
"Well, they're probably dea-
"No! I won't accept that! They flew away to hunt one night and the next thing you know, they're just gone! I spent years looking for them but they never showed… I've grown lonely. Please, just leave your mother, you said she's as good as dead and, just live with me now…please…"
"I've been dead lonely for almost all my life; it isn't that hard to bear. Just pretend you're independent instead of alone. It helps…a little. And think of worst-case scenarios. Like being dead,"
"I'd much rather be dead than be lonely for my entire life!"
"Really? When you die, it is actually quite a selfish thing, leaving others to pick up where you left off, fix your broken promises, leaving them to fend for themselves-
"Are you saying you think your father's death was…selfish? What exactly did he die for?"
"I was dead and so was…my friend…Luna…and so my dad sacrificed his life for ours-
"How is that considered the least bit selfish-
"Why couldn't he have found some other way to save us? Mom doesn't speak to me anymore, so I haven't lost one, but both of my parents…! How is that not selfish?"
"Maybe he didn't have enough time-
"Which is exactly why I want to go back in time to give him enough. Come on. Let's head back. Maybe we missed it,"
Griffin flew off, back into the sky as dark clouds loomed over the sky, signalling that a storm would soon begin again and Luna followed close behind. She sighed, feeling sorry for him, as he shivered, chilled to the bone, even though he tried with all his might to hide it. He had gone through too much, too young. So had she. Her life had been too broken, too many gaps, she couldn't remember certain things and her parents mysteriously disappeared one fateful night. But she would find them again. Just as Griffin would find his father.
Suddenly a harsh wind thwacked at Griffin and he just gave in, plummeting like a rock towards the ground. Luna screeched in surprise and pulled her wings close to her body, compressing her feathers, then flipping upside down, diving deep, falling in and out of clouds, but she couldn't catch up. He was falling too fast.
She looked around, but in vain, for there was no sign of water or anything to soften his fall. Griffin would surely die and join his father as a spirit. Luna couldn't live with that. She pushed harder, forcing herself to reach devastating levels of speed, enough to crush her to pieces if she didn't stop, and hurriedly held onto Griffin, his limp, furry body clutched tightly in her talons.
Luna tried to stop her fall, but the pressure of the air was too strong and she forced herself not to scream in agony as she heard the horrible, snapping rip as both her wings were torn from her body. Luna plunged into the ground, blood spattering everywhere, unimaginable pain searing at both her sides that once had wings. Blood pooled all around her, in irregular puddles, and she began to grow more and more woozy by the minute. She was losing too much blood. She looked at Griffin, unconscious, but miraculously unharmed other than the fact that his left wing was broken, hanging at a scary angle. At least they would die together.
Luna turned her head, as best she could and saw a particular rectangular-shaped object with several buttons in different shapes and sizes, with many wires coming out of it from the side. It was probably just one of those broken machines that Humans made, but still, she was curious.
She dug her talons into the bloodied snow and wincing in pain as she inched herself closer and closer to the object, more blood spilling from her deep wounds each pull she took. Suddenly she was right next to it.
Luna didn't remember it perfectly, but it seemed like she saw this before, somewhere, but her brain was so dizzy, so blurry, so distorted, that it was impossible to go back to that moment. She clamped her beak hard. How much she wished Griffin hadn't given up so soon.
She slammed her talons on to the object in desperate anger, smashing in the buttons as tears began to fall from her eyes.
A flash of white exploded around her and then everything surrounding her melted away, into eternal night.