So Many What-Ifs

You slowly open your eyes, blinking the dust away, trying to adjust to the bright light that takes you by surprise. It had been evening when you cast the spell; had you somehow spent all night down here, cowering in the fetal position? Embarrassed, you untangle your limbs and sit up, brushing some of the dirt off your clothes, before becoming aware of someone, or something, staring down at you.

It takes you a second before you gather the courage to look up. And then you rather wish you hadn’t. The being glaring down at you almost defies description. It’s easily four meters tall, and two meters wide, its body constructed of rock, earth and other things not often associated with living creatures. Within the cracks of its rocks, a vivid orange-red liquid moves around. Lava, you guess.

It was hard to tell its limbs from its torso, to the point where you weren’t even sure it had limbs. It had a head, that much you could be certain about, but it was oddly shaped – jagged pieces of rock sticking out at all angles, no discernible neck, and facial features that you might as well be imagining, because they kept shifting when you tried to focus on them. Three burning embers glow fiercely in your direction though, and you avert your gaze.

Trembling, you get up, and face the creature on unsteady legs, trying to recover the courage you had had in abundance before the ground had opened up.

A low rumble erupts from the creature’s head, but before you have time to realise you haven’t researched which language it might speak, the rumble appears to reverberate inside your head, somehow turning into words you can understand.

“Who dares summon me?” It asks, and you swallow, trying to find your voice. You rehearsed this. No backing out now.

“My name is – ” You start, before a loud, low growl interrupts you.

“I care not for your name, human.” The words echo around your brain. “Spare me the speech you have undoubtedly prepared; I have heard it all before, and had hoped never to hear it again. How dare you wake me? What gives you the right?”

Your whole body shakes with each word, leaving you trembling and nauseous, but determined to get your point across.

You clear your throat, before trying again.

“I would like your help in acquiring dominion over this world. You would get to do as you please with mankind, as long as you leave enough people for me to rule over, and afterwards, whichever reward you’d like would be yours.” You briefly dare to glance up at its face, but the brightly burning embers burn your eyes, so you look away, and stare at the ground instead.

“No.”

“E-excuse me?” You look up in disbelief, too surprised to be put off by its glowing eyes this time. Not even a negotiation? The ancient texts you’d read had asserted that power and violence were its bread and butter, that unleashing it would certainly doom the earth. You’d simply wanted to team up with it, to use its power for your own gain. You’d feared it might be too eager, too power-hungry to wait for you to explain your plan. What you hadn’t expected was an outright refusal.

“I am not yours to command, not a tool for you to use. I am not at your disposal. This power you seek, you will have to fight for it yourself. I will not take part in the destruction of your world, nor in the genocide of your people. I have nothing to gain in doing so. Do not summon me again, earthling.”

Its body started to fold in on itself and the ground started trembling once more.

“No, no, wait!” You yell, reaching out your hand as if to grab him. The demon stills, its stare burning through you, and you hastily retract your arm, awkwardly tucking it behind your back.

“I mean…” You try to steady your voice. “I’m sorry. I just don’t understand. I thought wreaking havoc on worlds is what you do? Bringing terror to people? Why would you not want to help me?”

The creature slowly bends over, until its head is almost level with yours. The rocks of its body scraping together, creating an unnerving sound while readjusting their position to keep its balance. You try to swallow, but your throat is dry, and for a second you forget how to breathe.

“Every time.” It growls. “Every single time I am summoned it is by some petty creature wishing to gain power over a world that has not threatened it, over people that have not harmed it. And every time, this insignificant creature assumes I will jump at the chance to harm innocents, to destroy cities and forests and mountains. Why? Why would I take pleasure in such acts? Why would I agree to take the blood of beings that have done me no wrong?”

The hairs on your neck – and the rest of your body – stand up, every part of you is trembling and you can barely think straight. It takes all of your energy and concentration to even stay upright. Yet your mouth seems to open of its own accord, and the words that tumble out aren’t quite what you’d have said if you’d had any energy left to think.

“You did it before!” It comes out as an accusing whine, but you’re too distressed to be embarrassed by that now.

“I most certainly have not.” Its rumble sounds indignant; had you not been as terrified and upset as you were, you would have been impressed by its ability to convey tone through gravelly growls and rumbles.

“You have! I’ve read the texts.” Your voice is unsteady at first, but you’re working your way back to confidence. You know what you’re talking about. You did your homework.

“You destroyed entire countries, ancient cities and structures! You killed millions of people! And all without prompting! You’re the definition of evil!” You’re yelling now, breathing hard, and blinking rapidly in an attempt to clear your vision, which is starting to blur.

“No.” Another growl. “It was not unprompted. It was the only way to save this sorry world of yours from its oppressors. I did not kill innocents, I killed tyrants. You must be more careful checking the sources of these texts you read, youngling.” It’s quiet for a moment, although its body was continuously making noise, as the rocks move and touch and shift.

“Hmmm. Perhaps the authors of these texts were survivors of my wrath. They would have had cause to describe me as evil.” It makes a shrugging motion with the rocks somewhere below its head.

“In any case, the evil you are looking for can be found on the surface of this earth, youngling; you should not search for it in my realm. You would not like what you would find.”

You shake your head, although most of the movement is involuntary, because it’s caused by the tremors shaking everything around you.

Impossible. The texts were clear in their descriptions of the many innocent lives that had been lost. Cities that had been brought to ruin by the creature towering over you. ‘Humanity’s one true enemy’ was a phrase which had turned up in more than one of the texts.

“It seems as though I have failed,” the demon grumbles, slowly moving into an upright position again, covering you in a thin layer of dust created by its rocks scraping together. It turns around and surveys its surroundings, before dropping its gaze to you again.

“I must not have been thorough enough. The tyrants still roam this earth, and appear to have taken full control of it. What is left of the people I tried to protect?” It asks, and you’re not sure if you are supposed to answer that question, so you just shrug. The texts never mentioned different fractions of people.

“Are they gone?” The rumble sounds forlorn. “The people who were so kind to this earth and all its creatures? Who looked so much like you, but for their shorter stature and their bright, colourful eyes; whose voices were softer and whose words more gentle. Have I been summoned by none but tyrants, seeking dominion over their fellow tyrants? Have I been blind?”

A deep, growling sigh erupts from its entire body, its rocky parts shifting and grinding together.

“I have let time get away from me. It moves so quickly up here, your lives are so fleeting.” Another groaning sigh fills the air surrounding you, covering you, rooting you to your spot.

“I will let you live, young tyrant.” It says, turning back to you. “I will let you live, so you can re-examine your history, to discover the people you have lost and buried and forgotten. To update these texts you studied, so I will no longer be awoken by bloodthirsty creatures hungry for power. For if this happens again, I will comply. I will kill all the tyrants. Every last one. No matter if they do not remember how they came into power in the first place. No matter if there are no people left to liberate from their tyranny. I will wipe out every single last one of you, to avenge the people you eradicated. To make up for my negligence. Let the texts reflect that, young tyrant, and still your thirst for blood and power with the knowledge that I am letting you live, even though you do not deserve it. Ensure I will not be woken again, or unleash doom upon your people.”

With that, the creature stretches, roars, and sinks in on itself, lowering itself into the earth, which cracks and sways and causes you to fall down again. The deafening roars and groans make you curl up into a ball. When the ground finally stops moving, and the blood stops rushing in your ears, you are greeted by a deafening silence.

Slowly, carefully, you open one eye. Then the other. It’s dark outside. You slowly sit up, and look at your phone, but the screen is cracked and it won’t turn on. You look around you. It’s only a little darker than when you’d started the summoning, as if maybe only an hour or so has passed.

Your head is spinning, your thoughts are racing, and your legs feel like jelly. So you sit and stare at the ground, which is a little cracked, and a little dirtier than it was before, with a thin layer of gravel covering everything within sight. Other than that, it looks completely normal. Not how you’d have expected a demon known for destruction to leave this place.

Then again, there was apparently quite a bit you didn’t know about this creature. You stare at the evening sky, watching the stars grow brighter while the sky darkens.

Suddenly you remember that one text, the very short one, that hadn’t sounded like any of the others. The one whose source you hadn’t been able to verify, because the author’s name –  unusual as it was, didn’t even get any hits on google.

The text which you’d quickly discarded as nonsense, because it had spoken almost lovingly  of this creature. Which hadn’t mentioned any death and destruction, but instead had celebrated the way it had protected people from evil.

The one that had referred to the creature as light-bringer.

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Based on the following writing prompt:

You awoke an Ancient Terror and plan to use it to conquer the world. But it seems the demon doesn’t understand your motives, and you’re starting to doubt whether it is actually evil.