Blood and broken teeth splattered from Retvik’s mouth as he took yet another blow to the head. In all the planning and practice he had done in the last week, Retvik had swiftly realised that he had not planned for one thing in particular: the High General discovering his plan. While Retvik had managed to distract Kenon away from his co-conspirators, protecting his friends and family from harm, this did mean that Retvik was now facing the full brunt of the Void Lord’s fury.
Actually, fury was probably the wrong term. Anger and annoyance were more apt. The Void Lord was in fact beating the life out of Retvik, to the point that Retvik was pretty certain he could no longer feel his legs, but he was mainly just playing with Retvik and his increasingly more tattered body.
“You should consider yourself lucky, Retvik. I was going to make a public example of you…” Kenon grunted, ceasing his punches. Retvik tried to draw breath but found his throat to be flooded with blood. And something solid. He didn’t want to think about what that could have been. He also didn’t want to think about what Kenon was about to do to him as those horrible, inky, Voidborn claws wrapped themselves around Retvik’s neck, lifting him up off the ground.
“Tell me, who else were you working with?”
“N-n-no one… Y-you t-think…” Speaking was becoming increasingly more difficult. Retvik was thankful that Kenon hadn’t bothered using any sort of telepathy though. “Y-you t-t-think I am d-d-dishonourable enough to d-d-drag others into my schemes?”
“Well, that is very true…” Kenon shrugged, before dragging Retvik over to a nearby sink. Really, most of Retvik’s surroundings were becoming a blur, but the fact that the High General had a room designed for torture, sealed inside a lead-lined bunker bothered him almost as much as his impending doom. “However, I am getting bored now. I think it is time to end this little ordeal.”
With a snarl, Kenon held Retvik’s head in the sink, then turned on the tap. Ice water roared across Retvik’s face, mixing with the blood and broken teeth, before swirling off down the drain. Retvik’s own mucus and shards of tooth though began to block the plug hole, and the water slowly began to rise.
Realizing that he was going to drown in a mixture of freezing water and his own blood and phlegm, Retvik tried to struggle by kicking his arms and legs, but found the rest of his body to be completely unresponsive. All Retvik could do was watch as the water slowly rose up, flooding his nostrils, trickling down his throat. He was no longer breathing. Instead Retvik was sputtering water.
“You broke the promise.”
The pressure on Retvik’s head stopped. He couldn’t see or hear what was going on, but something was happening. Kenon’s claws let go of Retvik, pushing him to one side, out of the sink.
“What are you doing here?”
“You broke the promise. Now I am going to break you.”
The Void Lord turned around, not sure what was going on. Behind him was something horrible. Indescribable. A black terror which caused even the Void Lord to stumble.
“He conspired against me, Arkadin.”
“You promised me you would do one thing: you would not harm or kill that mortal. Yet that is exactly what you are doing. I have had enough.”
Kenon seemed to shake and shiver, but Retvik couldn’t tell, his eyesight was currently blocked by the mess of fluids trickling down his face. The Void Lord attempted to draw his blade, but never got the chance to. Massive, taloned hands wrapped themselves around Kenon, clawing into his skin, drawing golden blood.
Those claws continued to inflict pain, smashing against Kenon’s face, slamming against his limbs, breaking his bones. Retvik realised that everything Kenon had done to him was now being done to the Void Lord himself. Yet the creature inflicting this torment was eerily silent, concentrating on making Kenon suffer as much as possible.
Eventually, Kenon’s body landed harshly on the ground, just beside Retvik’s own immobile form. Now Retvik could finally see this being. The Thantophor, the God of Death and Decay, stood proudly, holding a spear over the Void Lord’s neck.
“You… you wouldn’t dare…” Kenon sputtered.
The Thantophor moved the spear downwards, thrusting it into Kenon’s chest. The Void Lord howled in pain and… disappeared? A pink, flowery scented dust cloud briefly filled the room then vanished, taking the Void Lord with it.
With a sigh, Arkadin let go of the spear, letting it clang against the hard, metal floor. He then sat down next to Retvik, tending to the broken Rethan’s wounds.
“I’m sorry.”
“It is okay…” Retvik tried to reply, but his mouth was having none of it. He watched helplessly as the Thantophor laid him to one side, his head resting on his hand. It was uncomfortable but Retvik could feel the fluids dripping from the back of his throat, clearing his airways.
“No. It’s not okay. He deserved what I did to him. And now I’m going to pay for it.”
“Huh?”
The Thantophor grunted, wiping blood from his hands. “I tried to kill another deity. I’ll be punished for my crimes. I know what’s coming.”
“I… do not understand…” Retvik shivered.
Arkadin gently patted Retvik on the head. His most serious injuries had been dealt with. he was still in huge amounts of pain, but he’d live.
The Thantophor climbed back up to his feet, still sighing. “I’ll be punished for what I just did. It probably won’t be pretty. But you needed justice, so I accept whatever will happen.”
“Thank you.”
“No. Don’t say that. Just… do what you can to rebuild, to live your best life…” Arkadin closed his eyes, heading towards the door. “And don’t be like me. Don’t let the rest of the universe bully you like I let it bully me.”
With one last sigh, the Thantophor disappeared, leaving Retvik alone in the blood-splattered room.