How I wished it were that easy. Mytaz was one of the most formidable opponents I ever encountered, and if all this had survived, then he was here somewhere; it was just a matter of finding him.
Eldorata had risen from Hell, but Mytaz hadn’t completely broken free of this place to roam the earth; we would have known if he was loose on Earth. There was no way a demon who walked around turning everything he touched to gold would have gone unnoticed for this long.
“We might as well start searching,” I said.
I tried to walk as soundlessly as I could across the entry and into the room on the right, but my barefoot steps still caused a slight noise to reverberate off the walls. Once we were in the large, barren room, I glanced surreptitiously at Wrath to see what he thought of this place.
He was inspecting the walls of the empty room with open disdain as we made our way past the open windows and into other rooms. I suspected these vast, empty rooms reminded him of being locked behind the barren seal.
I tried not to imagine what his life was like behind the seal, but I couldn’t stop myself from recalling his words about hibernating. Now that I considered it, going into a state where you had no idea what was happening around you would be the only way to survive such a fate.
“What did you do to get locked behind the seal?” I asked. “What was the final straw for the varcolac who imprisoned you?”
“There was no final straw,” he said as he stopped before a window. “He tried for years to punish us for what we are, and finally, with the help of others, they succeeded in locking us away.Thatwas a brutal battle, and if I’d known the fate awaiting us, I would have died during it.”
I shoved aside the part of me that cried out against his death. “So, it was a series of events over the years that caused the varcolac to punish you?”
“Yes.”
“Such as?” I prompted.
“What does it matter? You already think I’m a monster. And in truth, I am.”
His words caught me off guard. Did I consider him a monster still? Before I could reply, he started speaking.
“I’ve driven countless others mad with fury and propelled them to murder. All the while, I laughed while I watched them destroy themselves and others. One time, I entered a corner of Hell well known for its mjéod and revelry. I’d planned to pass the time drinking and picking out future targets to destroy.”
“Future targets?”
“I would pick out demons who annoyed or intrigued me and play with them over time. I had fun gradually making them go mad with a steadily rising anger. They never understood where their burgeoning rage was coming from, and one day, it caused them to snap. Part of the fun wasIdidn’t know when that day was coming. It kept me amused, and after so many years of living,nothingamused me anymore.
“That day, instead of finding new victims, I became so bored by the monotony of the place, I decided it would be more fun to slowly infect a dozen of the thirty or so demons present. Without any warning, those infected turned on their companions, tore out their throats, ripped off their heads, and battered their bodies until only mush remained. I sipped my mjéod and smiled while I propped my feet on a hell stone and savored my destruction. Of course, I was a lot more powerful then.”
I had no idea how to respond. He was right, I did see him as a monster, but since coming to Eldorata, I’d also started to see him as a man and ally in this deadly world. But now, I could only see him as a monster again.
“Why did you do that?” I asked.
“Why not? If you can do it, why not do it?”
“Because then everything would have been complete anarchy in Hell.”
“Who’s to say Hell wasn’t meant to be anarchy? Hell is a mess now, but we’re all surviving.”
“We would have all destroyed each other, and you know it. And then nothing would be surviving now.”
He rubbed his chin. “You’re right; we would have.”
“So why?”
“Because I was bored. Living such a long life is not an easy task.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“I’m not using it as an excuse; it’s who I was. Who Iam,” he amended.
It was who he was, and he didn’t shy away from it.
“What’s it like to be free?” I asked after a while.
