Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 136

Why did it always involve more scars? Why did I have to watch him die over and over again? I'd watched him die more than anyone should ever have to, I'd suffered and endured, he'd been through hell and back, and once more we were being plunged into the abyss.

I had dutifully trusted that there was a plan for us, that somewhere there was atonement, and that we'd finally get to live in peace. 

That dream would end today, once we agreed, once he was turned into this.. reaper.. there would be no going back. It would be permanent, there would be no quiet retirement and that hurt most of all. In the midst of all of this, my wolf kept reminding me of the choice he'd made.

I struggled to envision a world where this man was not in it, where it would be possible for me to live without him, and in that I couldn't help but be angry at what he'd negotiated for. 

Seperation from me, the ability for me to live when he was no longer living. It would take the rest of our eternity for him to repay me for this. 

 His body was impossibly hot, pushing me back further as I shield my eyes from the blinding glow of the staff plunging into a being that wasn't mortal. Verando grips the staff, gritting his teeth, his body shuddering as it is forced to endure another transformation.

 How much more could he take? Was there a risk to this, should I worry about his heart giving out before the completion of our fate? 

It was a stark rejection, a body stuck in limbo, his eyes casting over in flickering black as Fenrir fought for the surface. 

"You think I'd serve you, Anubis?" He manages through clenched teeth. 

"My contract is with your vessel, not you. I'm sure you'll find your way to make this into a positive for you. I have no business with Nordic gods, though I'd like to remind you who brought you the occasional treat while you were in your personal hell." Anubis twists the staff, plunging it deeper as Verando falls to his knees. 

That cry of pain made my stomach twist. It was like watching the life drain out of him all over again, I'm brought screaming back into that moment when Taryck took him from me. 

"If you think I'll shrug off this power, that I'll surrender my mission, you have another thing coming. Give me the ability of the underworld, I'll gladly take it. Every follower of my captors will bathe the streets in their corpses, they will keep their own company in the swamps of hells dead sea."

Though his words were dripping with malice, his expression was clear as day, it was revenge he sought. Tyr told us that Fenrir was good at one point, that he was imprisoned wrongly, on the grounds of what he might do. Was it possible he viewed this as a punishment, too? It'd be hard to imagine he didn't see this as another collar set to control him. 

This seems to bring Anubis little pause. "Don't worry, I'm going to give your vessel an arsenal to combat your wickedness.."

Retrieving a golden dagger from a sheath on his hip, he glances toward me with those large black eyes. "I won't be around for some time after this, it will explode my vessel and I'll have to find a new one which will take time. You are a magic user, teach him our ways, the powers of Death are endless." With a slash of the knife, it's as if he cuts the air between us and at that same moment I feel my heart skip a beat. 

As if someone had pulled the cork out of a basin of water, the cup that bound us together had been tipped over, and bit by bit, I felt less of his pain. I could only assume that was the last traces of my warlord leaving my body, as I blink away the haze I find I'm on my hands and knees. Gasping for air, clutching at the ground as if I'd just surfaced from a long dive under a black veil.