Epilogue
“Long, long ago,” Hiro said flatly, “there was a very ordinary boy.”
Liz listened in silence.
“His only talent was that he knew things other people didn’t.” He tapped a finger to his head. “But they were valuable things. Useful things. Useful enough that the people started to call him their savior.”
His voice was sorrowful, wistful, each word matter-of-fact yet seeming to cause him pain.
“But the longer he spent with them, the less remarkable his knowledge became. Humans are born with the ability to learn, and the things that made him special ceased to belong to him.”
In time, the boy became paranoid that he would lose his worth and be cast aside. So he sought power, desperately, ardently. Yet his search proved fruitless. Every day brought only new disappointments. Despite his best efforts, he remained stubbornly ordinary, even as the world changed around him.
“And then one day, his chance came. A Lord appeared before him.”
The Lord asked the boy if he desired power. The forbidden fruit dangled before his eyes, and in his desperation, he took a bite. His newfound strength grew to possess him. On that day, the age began to turn, and on that day, all went awry.
“He became what would later be known as a Fallen. A reviled name for those foolish enough to take the bargain.”
Over a thousand years ago, there had been a king afflicted with insatiable curiosity. He took to experimenting with spirit stones, crushing them to powder and synthesizing them into a concoction he called a spirit elixir. This he fed to a young soldier—a boy captured from a foreign nation—only to be disappointed when it failed to have any effect. Yet later that night, when all were abed, the soldier became afflicted by terrible agonies before transforming into a horrifying monstrosity that lived only to slay. The first to fall victim to his bloodlust was a sentry drawn by the noise. The second was the king. Thereafter, the boy fell upon the rest of the castle, devouring all he encountered in an orgy of slaughter.
“As the nation fell into disarray, it was conquered by one of its neighbors, and the boy joined the battle as the monster he had become.”
After that, he had been retrieved by his blood-brother, but all attempts to return him to normal had failed.
“So he used his newfound power to accomplish great things. He fought on, possessed all the while by fear of the curse burrowing into his flesh.”
After witnessing his strength, many others had been inspired to take the same bargain. Kings imbibed magick as their nations fell, hoping to spit in the eyes of their conquerors. Some even used it to assassinate others in what became known as elixir poisonings. That age had been a dark one indeed.
“At last, after a string of victories, the people came to revere him as the War God, Mars.”
Yet not all who fell succumbed to madness. A handful withstood the corrosive effects of the bane they had drunk, gaining bodies far mightier than any human while their minds remained intact. The people called these fell creations of the spirits’ magick “fiends.”
“But some knew him by another name:”
The Fell Divinity—Loki.
“You don’t have to do everything yourself anymore, Liz. I’ll finish this myself.”
He squeezed his mask until it shattered. The pieces showered down around his feet.
“I can’t tell you how long it took to get here.”
He fixed Liz with his gaze, both eyes radiating golden glory.
“The Grantzian Empire is on the verge of eternal prosperity. Its thousand years of history will only be the beginning.”
He thrust Excalibur into the ground and extended his hand. His fingers were crusted black with Ladon’s blood.
“And all you have to do is give me Lævateinn. Do that and you’ll be empress. You will rule all of Aletia.”
At last, Liz’s lips moved. “And what will happen to you?”
Hiro smiled, his gaze softening. “I will watch over you. Whatever history you write, I will bless it.”
He spread his arms wide. Light and dark issued forth from Excalibur and Dáinsleif, bleeding together around him. He looked as gentle and frail as a full moon floating in the black of night.
“For the world above and the world below, this stalemate ends today.” He turned his gaze back on Liz, his face filling with unshakable resolve. “I will ascend to the heavens and become a god.”
Liz raised Lævateinn in a guarded stance. Hiro gazed at her—all fierce, beautiful crimson—and smiled.
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