His eyesight adjusted, revealing two slender candles burning before him, Lucius seated upright on a sarcophagus between them. He was watching him patiently, his signature goblet resting between his folded legs. “Good morning, my friend,” he said softly.
Davius wiped the crust from his eyes. “What have you done to me?”
“You fainted from shock. I brought you down here so we could talk in peace.”
“What is this place? The Romans do not bury their dead.”
“We are underneath my home. A great temple had once been erected next to the mad priest’s residence, with catacombs dug beneath both. He was a foreigner, bringing his customs with him. I come down here often, to relax and reflect.” He looked around, affectionately. “When the priest first began his downward spiral into insanity, he made this place his chambers. The bones you see are undoubtedly his, though I gather he is accompanied by more than a few unsuspecting victims.”
Davius shuddered. “What is it that you want from me?”
Lucius rose, waving his hand so the torches that lined the walls suddenly burst into flame, illuminating the sepulchral chamber. Lucius delighted at Davius’s open surprise. “Just a trick,” he smiled. “Unfortunately, I am bound to many of the same laws that you are in this realm.” He came closer, gliding across the dusty floor.
For the first time, Davius was able to view him in vivid detail. His face glowed an iridescent white, his eyes sparkling amber and gold, swirling together like pools of ink. His hair fell in rivers of shining black, edging his handsomely sculpted face. His smile revealed straight polished teeth, save for two perfectly sharpened canines that reminded him of a wolf’s terrible grimace. Although David was tall in his own right, he appeared to tower over him.
He tried to move, but Lucius held up his hand to stop him. “Please sit. I want to answer all of your questions.”
Davius acquiesced, his curiosity stronger than his repulsion.
Lucius paced around the undercroft, as he often did when he spoke, taking careful sips of his drink. Davius nauseated with the newfound knowledge of its contents. “I am one of the oldest deities in the world, before the concept of deities, actually,” Lucius began. “I was an idea, the shadow that light creates, that evolved as humanity flourished, as their simplistic brains progressed into minds that could create and conspire. They gave me form with their words, the ultimate explanation for all of their woes. Eventually, humans would build civilizations, and their simple stories would expound into grandiose tales with intricate pantheons of gods and goddesses. The names changed, but I had already become, evolving along with them.”
“You are evil,” Davius whispered.
Lucius laughed, pleasantly. “Good and evil are human concepts. I am far older than that. I am simply the darkness. All other qualities have been attributed to me over time by man. I accept them all, however, regardless of their accuracy.”
“Then you are a god.”
“You could call me that, if it makes it easier for you to understand. I once loved humans, their abhorrence of me giving me purpose, an intoxicating feeling of empowerment. I have taken on so many different names and faces, through each civilization, each tribe. I have been called Aži Dahāka, Hades, Leviathan, Set. I have even been associated with your Morrigan, who I happen to adore.”
Davius was shocked. “You converse with my gods?”
“Do you not converse with them yourself?” he pointed out. “Gods exist when they are called into existence by the minds of men. We are given power and meaning by those who worship and fear us. The lush hills of Gaul have always been captivating to me, as are the Tuatha De Danann, who your people, the Celts, conceived. All the gods coexist together in outer realms unable to be penetrated by the human eye, unless one knows where and how to look. Your father knew all this. So did our poor priest who met his demise within these walls—it was the knowledge of it that inevitably drove him to madness.”
Davius paled at the mention of his father.
Lucius looked down at the bones that lay at his feet, watching as a brave rat wove through them. Lucius snatched it with lightning speed, crushing it instantly in his hand. Blood poured from the animal’s crushed body, which he drained into his cup before tossing the corpse aside. Davius looked away in revulsion.
“Does this sicken you? How different is it than your sacrifices in the woods?
“Yes, I have been watching you for quite some time,” he answered, before Davius could speak. “It pleases me that you have kept up with your traditions. Your father knew the power in sacrifice. He made a pact with me far before your mother bore you that for every sacrifice made in my honor, his son would be given power beyond human restrictions. He was a great magi, your father. He knew precisely how to bend all of the gods to his will.” He returned to his seat on the sarcophagus, crossing his long legs in front of him. “He did, however, pay for it with his life. You survived of course, delivered to me without harm, your destiny fulfilled.”
“So you are to give me power,” Davius stated flatly.
“For a price,” he replied casually. “My purpose in creating the pact with your father was selfish. For centuries I existed, adoring humanity from afar, obsessed with their ambitions and earthly desires. I longed to be one of you. It was a sorceress who finally summoned me into mortal form, but her magic was not strong enough and I am flawed. I have strength and immortality, but the light of the sun scorches my flesh. I do not require food nor drink, yet my body demands the blood of animals to thrive. I once lusted for such earthly delights, but I see now that those pleasures are necessities required by lesser beings. Blood ensures my unending survival, blood earned only through the sublime experience that is the hunt.”
“What is it that you want?” Davius pressed once more.
“What do all ambitious men want? Power! I did not choose to come into the world in this form, I wanted to be human. But now I have realized that this is the true power—I am stronger than any man alive. I am a god among them, and one day I will be hailed for it! And you will help me achieve this.
“This life has served me well. I am capable of enough magic to propel my journeys to foreign lands. I have scoured the world, seeking knowledge, absorbing cultures, witnessing the beauty of an earth I can finally see, and smell, and touch. But I am lonely, Davius. I have had trysts with human women, yet they have never been able to truly satisfy. Then one evening, it occurred to me that I should make more creatures like me, to walk alongside me in this life. Yet every time I have tried to bring another into this world, I have failed. You will be an exception.”
“Why me?” Davius murmured.
“Because you were offered to me, and you are the only one strong enough to bear these gifts.”
Rattling bones suddenly shattered the silence of the tomb, the door wrenching open and slamming shut with a thunderous clang. Davius was running, so fast that his legs burned within moments, his lungs squeezing for breath. He heard Lucius’s frustrated cries echoing behind him. “You run now, but you will be back—you will! This is your destiny!”
Davius burst out of the house, the cold air slapping him like an open fist. He sped faster and faster, thinking only of Gaia. They would flee Rome tonight, he decided, whatever the consequence. He raced down the stone street, his bare feet tearing painfully from exertion. He sprinted towards the villa, not registering that it was alive with torchlight, a rare occurrence so early in the morning. He ran faster, fearful Lucius had stolen all his time.
“You!”
Davius had almost crossed the threshold when three of Eridus’s guards blocked his path. Startled, he tried to come up with an explanation for his whereabouts. “I—I was…” he stammered.
A fierce blow shot into his stomach, causing him to double over, a foot landing hard in his ribs as he gasped for breath. He had expected reprimand, but nothing like this. He fell to the ground, watching a spittle of blood from his mouth darken the dirt below. A guard lifted him roughly by his neck, tossing him into the atrium. He looked up to see Eridus looming above him.
“Get up,” he growled. His face was a mask of blotched red fury.
“Please let me explain—”
“Get up!”
A foot lodged itself into his back, forcing him to rise.
Eridus’s large frame towered over him, surrounded by dozens of armed guards. He caught Gaia out of the corner of his eye, her arms held behind her. Her head was down and her eyes averted, concealing the details of her face.
Confused, he looked up at Eridus, meeting wide and blazing eyes. “You,” he spat. “I trusted you.” His words were short, dripping with venom. “I treated you like a human being—I gave you everything!”
Two guards flanked him at Eridus’s command, one delivering a cruel blow to the soft of his back. Davius fell to his knees once more in anguish. His vision trembled as he tried desperately to see Gaia, who he could hear crying in response to his beating. She hung helplessly at the mercy of her captors, tears streaking down her face and collecting at a swollen lip that was caked with her blood.
