Questing Sucks! Book II (50 page)

“I am!” Sehn shouted at her. He winced, fully expecting his outburst to cause the world to darken yet again. This time, however, it did not. If anything, the heat traveling through his body became stronger, as he now felt it even behind his eyes.

“If you’re so great, then why won’t you kill this soldier? He is our enemy.”

“Because that is not how I do things.”

“Then do it because you love me. If you love me, you will kill him.”

For some reason, merely
considering
Cah’lia’s words caused the heat in his chest to lessen and the light of the world around him to further retreat, giving way to a growing darkness.

“Don’t you love me?” Cah’lia asked.

Though she had not yet begun to fade, she now glowed under what Sehn took to be moonlight; the sun was gone, and he could no longer see very far behind her. Visibility worsened until even the pond was no longer able to be seen.

“I take your silence to mean you don’t. So, you don’t love me?”

“Of course I do, Fool’lia!”

“Then make a choice. If you love me, you’ll kill for me.”

Sehn hesitated—and it cost him. At a startling rate, the world once more darkened, all the heat he’d accumulated vanished outright, and now he shivered as he found himself in a sad reality marked only by its absence of heat. Yet again, Cahlia’s eyes were the only part of her still visible; the rest of the world was completely submerged in this darkness, and Sehn despaired at the thought of losing her.

“Will you kill for me?” she asked again.

“I can’t answer that. Cah’lia, do not make me.”

“Then I’ll just have to leave you, Sehn. I’ll just have to—”

“No!” Sehn yelled at her. He reached out and grabbed her hand, surprised that he could actually feel it despite this all being a dream in his head. Come to think of it, he’d also felt the weight of the spear she’d handed him just before. When had he become this immersed? He couldn’t recall.

“No?”

“I won’t do it.”

“What won’t you do?”

“I refuse to kill for you.”

“You won’t?”

Sehn nodded, and the humiliation was unbearable. He wanted to flee and hide. But something was driving him forward—disallowing him from quitting. He’d come too far to turn back now. And so, even as the feeling of shame became strong enough to seem lethal, he squeezed Cah’lia’s hand and told her the truth.

“I’ve never killed anyone. Yes, me. I, Sehn, have never taken a life.”

“Not even once?”

“No, not even once. I can conquer this world without resorting to slaughter. I want to be acknowledged. And dead men acknowledge nothing.”

Several seconds passed, each one seeming longer than the previous. Sehn could no longer see her: not even her eyes. The only proof of her existence that he still had was his grip on her hand, which he held tightly and refused to release. Yet when he squeezed, he felt her fingers slip out of his and her hand become somewhat fluid.

“Cah’lia? Don’t go. Please. Cah’lia!”

Had he spoken wrongly again?

“Cah’lia!”

“I’m…still here.” Her voice was now so quiet that it was only through sheer miracle Sehn could hear her at all. Fortunately, a moment later, she spoke a bit more loudly, and Sehn found her hand just a little easier to hold on to as well.

“I have some questions for you…answer them as fast as you can. Okay?”

“Very well.”

“Do you want to conquer the world?”

“Yes.”

“Will you?”

“I…I don’t think so.”

“Do you love Nero and Rina?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love me too?”

“Yes!”

“Do you fear death?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to live?”

“Yes.”

“Are you aware that you will probably die?”

“Yes.”

“And why don’t you tell this to anyone?”

“Shame. Fear.”

“But you must know you are almost certainly going to die—very soon, too.”

“I know, Cah’lia. I know it’s true.”

“Do you accept your fate?”

Sehn paused—but only for a moment. “No!”

“You don’t? No, you don’t,” she agreed. “But you lied about something.”

“I haven’t. I’ve been completely honest with you. I have not lied about a single—”

“You have,” she said, more firmly this time. “You just don’t know that you have.”

“I have not! If you choose not to believe me, then the fault is with—”

“Once more,” she interrupted. “You know you’re going to die very soon. Yes?”

“Yes,” Sehn whispered. “I know the truth now. I’m well aware of the fact that I…no, no, that isn’t right.”

Sehn trembled, though not out of fear, but out of something he could not quite understand. It was an odd combination of hope and anger: of struggle and rebellion. It was also partly due to the heat in his chest, which had now become so great that it burned even as it revealed more of him to his own self. It soon became apparent that Cah’lia was right: he
had
lied. But it had been an unintentional, accidental lie.

“One last time,” she said. “Are you aware that you’ll probably die?”

“No.”

“You’re not, Sehn?”

“No!”

“You just said otherwise.”

“Fool! The Great Sehn cannot die so easily.”

“What about the curse?”

“Fuck the curse!”

“Do you even know how the curse kills?”

“No.”

“In what way do you think this curse will kill you?”

“I don’t know. I’m guessing it will attempt to poison my body and kill me with a sickness of some sort.”

“No. It won’t. The curse itself isn’t actually harmful. What will kill you will be the Goddess Helena.”

“Hm?”

“When it is time, she will come for you.”

“I thought the God of death comes for the souls of the fallen.”

“Not when it comes to you, Sehn.”

“Oh.” Sehn shrugged. “Either way, I don’t care.”

“You should. What will you do when Goddess Helena comes for you?”

“I shall turn her away with a bitch slap.”

“You would strike a Goddess?” Cah’lia asked. She sounded surprised, but also a bit angered for some reason.

Sehn laughed—and it was genuine. This was the truth. It was the truth layered behind a false truth layered behind a lie, and now he’d found it again. He realized now that, on his deepest, truest, and most sincere level, he did not believe this curse was going to kill him. He simply refused to allow it. Why should he? He was Sehn!

Sure, maybe he wasn’t actually the creator of the universe. Maybe he wasn’t actually the reason why the sky was blue—well, everywhere except in boring, bullshit dimensions where it was red—and perhaps he would never truly be capable of transforming into a dragon and destroying a small kingdom. But what did it matter? He would still try. He was not willing to surrender. Not for a long, long time.

“Yes, I would,” he replied, speaking honestly. “I
would
strike a Goddess. Hear me, Cah’lia! I shall raise my divine hand and deliver to Goddess Helena a bitch slap powerful enough to make the earth rumble! I would do it gladly.” Sehn barked another laugh. “If Goddess Helena thinks she can claim my soul, then she’s about to realize that not even the heavens can fuck with the Great Sehn! Let her try. I
want
her to try. I have not yet had the pleasure of fireballing a Goddess in the face. Foolish Helena. I look forward to meeting her.”

“Are…are you even aware of what you’re saying? Are you even aware that the power you hold belongs to her?”

“No, but…” Sehn scratched his head. “Neither are you. You’re someone I’ve invented in my head, so how do you even know that?”

“Forget about what I know,” Cah’lia said. “Imagine that the power you hold belongs to the Goddess Helena. Does it make sense to you now that she may need it back? That she is not some cruel, uncaring deity with nothing better to do than to stomp on people like ants, crush their dreams, and leave them for dead? Have you ever thought that maybe she has given you to this world for a purpose: and in that purpose, she has hurt her own self? Does this mean nothing to you?”

“Of course it means nothing. I must first understand what nonsense you’re even trying to say to me, Cah’lia.”

“Forget it, then. Here’s a different question: do you know where the energy comes from for a greater summon?”

“No.”

“It is from a realm that harbors no life. It is a world of pure magical energy. No one may enter, but sometimes, a portion of that energy may leave. If it combines with a soul, it forms a being of magic, but one that is still a living, breathing being nonetheless.”

How the hell do I know all this
?
Sehn wondered.
No
.
The important question is why I’m being forced to listen to this unimportant blabber
.

“Nothing to say in response to that, Sehn?”

“No, Cah’lia. And how
dare
you try to teach me things? Enough of this ridiculous conversation. The Great Sehn demands power! I have passed your pathetic ‘feelings’ test, and I have earned it. Now, where is my power? Give me power!”

“You’re back to you again,” Cah’lia said, still hidden in the darkness. Sehn tightened his grip on her hand, but she continued to slip.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve gone back to being yourself. You opened your heart, I saw your soul, and now you have sealed it once more.” Cah’lia laughed, though Sehn didn’t see what she found so funny. “But not before I was able to get what was needed. You know, Sehn, it would go straight to your head if you only knew how many of us root for you.”

“How many of
who
?”

“I can’t say.”

“Good. Because I have just run out of shits to give. Have I passed the test, Cah’lia? This conversation is boring me.”

“Yes. I’ve taken what I need. The soul has been cut. You have succeeded.”

“Wait, really?” Sehn laughed, loudly. The confirmation lit off a spark within him, sending a rush of energy into his very being. “Haha! Yes! Even when forced to behave like a sensitive bitch, the Great Sehn still emerges victorious in all things. Now, if I have passed whatever test this is, I demand power. Now! Give me
my summon
. Give…me…
POWER
!
Grant me my reward!”

“As you wish, son of Shanna.”

“Who? Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Power. Give!”

Sehn waited for something to happen; he waited for his new minion to emerge from the darkness. But nothing did. Instead, Cah’lia’s hand slipped out of his, and just like that, he lost her. It happened too fast to stop. For a moment, Sehn froze, gripped by panic and an overwhelming sense of both dread and failure. Had he lost her? What just happened? Was this the end? Had he put himself through all of this for nothing?

No
!

Out of sheer desperation, he quickly extended his arm, reaching out as far as he could into the darkness with a single grabbing motion. When his hand caught hers once again, he squeezed as tightly as he could, unwilling to lose her yet again. He was amazed at the fact that he’d actually caught her; he honestly did not believe she would still be here, lurking in the darkness.

“Nice try, but no one escapes from the Great Sehn.”

He yanked on her hand, trying to bring her towards him. She refused to budge. He reached out with his other hand and grabbed her with it so that now he clung to her with both. Using all his strength, he pulled her towards him. This time, he felt her moving in his direction. A moment or two went by, during which he continued to pull her closer. Then there was a bright flicker of light, and everything changed.

All at once, the sun blossomed back to life, the world brightened, and now he could see Cah’lia’s features so clearly that it was difficult to believe that any part of this whatsoever was a dream. The heat in his chest returned and became so intense that it was painful; it made it difficult to breathe. He felt a strange sensation of falling, which lasted for just a few seconds. Then the sensation left him, as well as the heat. Or rather, the heat from within. Now the heat he felt came from the sun.

Sehn looked around, and what he saw startled and confounded him. At some point, this had ceased to be a mere picture in his mind and had instead become a reality. Just moments ago, it had been a vivid daydream, one he could easily blink away or dispel simply by opening his eyes or even just by getting pissed off about something. But now? Now it was different. Now he was actually here in the physical sense. It was simply too real to believe otherwise.

He raised his hands and could see them with perfect detail before his eyes. He looked up, and he was forced to turn away from the sun, as it stung to make direct eye contact with it. This could not be a dream. It couldn’t. Somehow, he had been sent here.