Tether Of The Soul

Gilldahara looked down at Berath’s new form with disgust. ‘The Crystal King does not exist. It was a mear tale. You are only the pretender in your family’s bloodline, and yes, their blood fills your veins, even now. You claim that you are rid of them, yet, your hands have been submerged in their blood. Oh, and that little friend of yours. You have corroded their spirit to follow in your example. Are you not aggrieved, Berath?’

Berath chuckled ‘I do concede with you that my family's blood has been spilled by my own hooves, and I know how much this festers in your heart, Gilldahara. I do love the way that black heart of yours secretes that tar substance. When I stab it true with my actions as of late, there is supposed to be blood, but with you, it shows all, that you are no longer the gracious god you claim to be. How can your own creation be able to have the capacity? The audacity? The gull? To attack the creator so? Well, I can tell you that it was quite easy!’ With his hate boiling and his will to finish his final trial, Berath took flight.

Gilldahara scowled at hearing Berath’s true thoughts. ‘You were my child. A being worthy of praise and devotion from those your family conquered. Though you are right, my heart does sting from your exertion, Berath. To think, I cradled you in my arms, as if I were to be your guardian angel watching over you… To even think that you would become this beast. A beast worthy of nothing more than scorn from me is quite sad. I will stop your reign of terror, ONCE AND FOR ALL!’ He growled as he threw balls of energy the size of meteors downwind.

Berath readied his crystal blade for the incoming balls of molten slag falling from the sky above him. The sky was torn asunder from the meteor shower, its hue began to change from a crystal blue to that of the setting sun. To Berath, it resembled a lake of fire slowly spewing forth chunks of discarded earth. Once he met the boulder with the crystal blade, it began to slice through the violent energy and flung the now two separate pieces away from him. ‘Yes, please, accuse me of which you fail to see for yourself. Object me with your projection as if I were to be your clone. You claim me to be the very thing you see in the mirror. Oh, Gilldahara, my god of prayer and fortune, may I be forgiven in your eyes! For I am ever charged with the crime of sin, a sin that I have begun to smear everything with, making it fester, making it congeal, making it pierce right through your heart. Tis a sin that can only be met in kind with death… Please, accept my gift for atonement, my lord!’ He threw up a wet fabric bag in front of him and hit it with the flat side of the sword, catapulting it towards Gilldahara.

Gilldahara caught it. ‘There is no such gift that will atone your soul Berath!’ Once he opened it, the once commanding tone of the King of Heaven sunk to a desperate cry. ‘Oh, my child. What has he done to you my son? BERATH, YOU BEAST! FIRST YOU MOCK AND JEER AT ME, AND THEN YOU DESTROY ANY LASTING BOND WE TRULY HAD. I WILL SMITE THEE DOWN WITH MY VENGEFUL JUSTICE!’ He screamed at the top of his lungs. It sent shock waves outward and throughout Heaven. Berath shielded himself against the concussive waves with the blade, as he cut through them with ease as he closed the gap between him and Gilldahara's heart. Berath impaled his heart as Gilldahara looked away from Sorthath's severed head. ‘What!? No! This can not be, how can one such as you best the King of Heaven?’

Berath chuckled ‘With one that has such hubris as you, it was quite easy. All I need do, is distract you with the one thing you held so dear. After all, you made me the being of despair. You and Sorthath should have never shown your true intentions. For it showed me that he was your muse. Your ever-evolving sculpture that did not have a will of its own.’ He began to run upwards from the impact point on god’s chest as he pulled the sword with him. ‘Now DIE!’ Bearth screamed all the while cutting Gilldahara in two. The two halves of Gilldahara’s body began to separate as a violent torrent of green energy began to rush toward the open air. ‘Now, only be a painful memory I no longer have to revisit, you cur!’ Berath closed his wings and let gravity pull him back down toward the floor of Heaven.

As he closed his eyes while he fell. Berath felt a painful strike hit his chest, breaking his ribs. Letting out a pained groan, he opened his eyes. What he was seeing, was a bipedal being forcing their fist deep into his chest. ‘What? I killed you!’
Gilldahara smiled warmly, almost as if a mother were to smile down to their child. ‘Berath, You can never kill me. You only cut the outer shell that held my soul safe, Though I am quite disappointed in you my son. You have forced my hand this day.’
Berath looked at god confused ‘Son? What do you mean?’ the fist still delved deeper into his chest, searching for something. He screamed out in pain as the hand found its mark. Berath’s heart.

‘Yes, Berath! You are flesh and blood from my very being. You see, your mother was so desperate to have an heir, that she sought far and wide for a stallion to breed her. Only to find in her dismay, that she could never bear a child. Her womb was never able to become fertile. Out of her sorrow, she had all of the stallions she ever laid with executed…
There was a reason why she was feared by the masses she controlled. She was a ruthless ruler, Berath. She had an overwhelming thirst for blood that caused her empire to fall, but before all of that could come to pass. A being glowing with aethereal might, graced her doorstep. He blessed her with eternal youth, with a drive to better her people, and her kingdom. To even have the capability to bear children. Would you like to know who this being was Berath? I can gather you already know.’ Gilldahara crushed Berath's heart with his bare hands. He leaned in, only to whisper into Berath’s ear ‘It was me, Berath. I am the very being that gave your mother two children. Sorthath and you. Now then, I want you to say what I am, vocally. What does this make me, Berath?’

Berath cried out from the pain of his heart being crushed and from the revelation Gilldahara presented to him. ‘That would make you my father.’ His body shook from the cold breath of death creeping deep into his cooling body. ‘Correct, my son… Do not fret, you can never die whilst I am alive! Neither can your brother, Berath. No, as long as I live, you will never die but you will forever feel the pain I am to inflict upon your body and soul. You do not get the glory of death, for you are to be taught a most invaluable lesson.’ Gilldahara used Berath’s body as a landing cushion. The weight of Gilldahara and the force of the impact shattered every bone in his body.

It felt numb, but It was hard to define what it was. Was it his body? His mind? His soul? Berath could not put his hoof on it but he definitely knew it was something. His mind weighed heavy on the revelation that Gilldahara, the King of Heaven. Was his birth father. How could this be? Could Gilldahara be distracting him from his primary mission in retribution? He didn’t know. All he could do was look up at his father with accusatory eyes.

‘Comfortable? Good! Now that I have your attention, I shall impart what truly happened to your dearly beloved, Summer Dream. The night she died, can you remember anything of that night? Was it that you managed to wake from a waking nightmare? Or was it by chance that it was you who murdered the entire kingdom of Weolcan?’ Berath’s eyes grew from fright. ‘No, I could never have done such a thing to King Bow or to the sky horses!’ Gilldahara chuckled softly ‘Oh but that is what you did. After all, I made you do it. I made sure that you did it effectively and methodically.’

‘No, I reject this. I didn’t do it, I was with… With’ Berath had a hard time trying to picture where he was or who he was with, on the night of the genocide of the Pegasus pony race. ‘You were with your Summer Dream as you gutted her, mutilated her body. She screamed out in horror as she watched her husband devour her soul.’ Gilldahara began to pull at Berath’s lower torso, slowly ripping it free from his body. ‘No, please, oh Sweet god. No! It wasn’t me I swear, it was Sorthath, he told me he did. That he did the pillaging of her body’ Berath shook his head carelessly.
‘Oh, Sorthath was indeed there. Though he was only the witness to your crimes against every living thing. You live up to your name quite well, my son. You are the very disease I have cultivated to spread across the land, to form life anew. You see, I am not fond of the creations that I have created thus far. There is always the issue of free will. I wish to eradicate it from my creations. You are my means to this end, Berath.’

‘No, I must not be this tool of destruction, you seek. I must end your reign of terror, I must.’ Berath softly spoke but it was dominated by Gilldahara’s commanding tone. ‘You will be the very tool I seek, Berath. Even if it means I will have to shatter your disgusting soul, piece by rotting piece.’ Gilldahara picked up the broken body of Berath by his neck. Berath’s mind was panicking as the air was cut off from his lungs. Shortly after he felt two hands hold open his maw. This new strange sensation was pulled away from him as overloading pain began to shoot through his mouth and head. Gilldahara was pulling Berath’s jaw apart from one another. Screams rang out from Berath’s horse voice. The sounds of muscle and skin being torn slowly began to replace his screams.

Gilldahara smiled warmly at Berath’s now severed head. His eyes were bloodshot from the pain he was enduring and began to silence the waking world. The veil of pitch-black nothingness slowly took hold over his sight. He felt ever colder in this black void that his mind now resided in. It felt as if he were falling through the clouds of the world, rushing wind hitting his ears as he fell ever deeper into the void. He could no longer bear the thought of being alive and in pain, he only wished for death to come and snatch his soul away and disperse it into the cosmos. His Inhibition, will, testament, drive and longing for a day of peace were leaving his body. He saw them as clouds of vapor were pealing away from his body, from the air rushing passed him.

That was until a voice softly caressed his ears. ‘This is not your fate my beloved.’ His eyes shot open and looked around the void, in search of the voice's location. ‘Summer Dream?’ He spat out hoarsely. ‘I am here my king.’ Berath began to let go of his pent-up anger, it was easy for him to hear the soft and lifting voice of his wife's tone. ‘My love, I have failed you. I have failed you and our son this day. Please, don’t sally your spirit with my degenerating presence.’
Berath began to feel a soft yet warm embrace fill his cooling cheeks. ‘My love, you are never a sight I do not cherish. I will always be here to aid you.’

Berath softly whimpered ‘How can you aid a monster such as I? I mutilated your sacred temple. The very temple that housed your immortal soul. How can you, a goddess, gaze upon my diseased soul with eyes so pure?’ He was cut off with what felt like a kiss. The kiss felt as if it were honey falling to his tastebuds on his tongue. He knew what this feeling meant. He remembered it from all of those nights ago. Whenever he was frustrated at the thought of horrid things happening to the kingdom in the sky, his most cherished place among all of the mortal realm. His soon-to-be betrothed wife would set his mind at ease with a small kiss on her lips. Summer Dream was the only one to ever help Berath make the right choice, or steer him in the right direction from her guiding hoof. She was the very vessel that would aid the ever-damned soul of Bearth. She was the glowing shine of the moon that directed the blade of disease to its fated destination.

‘My love, you are worthy of goodness and peace. Your fate is not set in stone. You have yet to give up on your retribution. Yes, your body did kill me but your soul was locked far away from Gilldahara’s magic. I do not blame you for my death. I do not forgive you for there is nothing to forgive, I do not blame you for there is no blame to place. You still strive to be ever faithful to me, Berath. It is time to be faithful to yourself. I will guide you as I have done for this countless millenia… Break your chains of this blood lust, and set yourself free from this chapter that binds your soul.’ Berath began to feel his body again but he also felt something new. He felt another body hugging him tightly as if they were to be lying with them. ‘Berath, I will always be with you. I shall stay with you always.’

Berath smiled softly as he felt his beloved Summer Dream tether her soul with his. ‘My guiding light, please guide me to where I need to be. I will give all of my strength to your devoting soul’ The void began to slowly fade away to a crystal light shining brightly. His mind started to calm down as he felt his body knitting together from his wounds sustained by Gilldahara. ‘Now, where shall be the first target of my new design? Hmm, I suspect Equeen!’ Gilldahara turned back to Berath's desecrated corpse, but it was no longer lying on the floor discarded. ‘What is the meaning of the heresy?’ Gilldahara shouted.

‘Poweres unknown to thee.’ Berath stood defiant in front of Gilldahara. ‘Ye have little gain from this venture you set forth upon.’ He slammed his crystal sword onto the cobbled floor. ‘How? How can this be? Who has spared your soul? SUMMER DREAM!’ Gelldahara screamed.
‘You dare speak her name from vile fangs, secreting rotten blood from the holes in rotten teeth! I shall put down this mongrel dog!’ he began to scowl down at Gilldahara. ‘You think to be the true ruler of Heaven, Berath?’ Geilldahara spoke maliciously. Berath’s crown of crystal shone ever brighter as he began to gather his inner peace. ‘I do, Gilldahara! Your claim has been revoked by the right of the cosmos. Now, what say you? Do you have the strength to finish this, your highness?’ Berath bowed and kept his sword at the ready. Gilldahara gritted his teeth ‘You arrogant fool. I will smite thee down!’ He lunged towards Berath. Gilldahara swung his arms wildly at Berath, his hands were gripped like claws. His nails were spitting out acid from every swing of his arm. Berath swung his sword, and the concussive blade that emanated from the sword blew Gilldahara and the acid back from the force. His own acid began to eat away at Gilldahara's flesh once it made contact with his skin. ‘Reah! How can this be? I am God! No being has ever been able to beat me.’ Gilldahara’s body began to melt away, it began to show a dark red. His head had two small horns protruding from his forehead. His legs began to show goated fur and hooves with a thin tail stretching from his lower back.

‘No, I am goodness. I am ever glowing justice. How dare this demon project onto me their beastly features.’ Gilldahara claimed. ‘Gilldahara! That is thy true self. You mark everything as a beast, yet here you stand. Grotesque, misshapen, and abandoned by the grace of light. I condemn you to death!’ Berath flew straight toward Gilldahara. His blade pointed in front of him as he aimed for Gilldahara’s heart yet again. ‘No! I will never accept this lie you have given forth Berath!’ Gilldahara launched himself toward Berath, and his anger began to spill forth around him. It took the shape of a fire that grew around the battlefield. ‘I will kill you BERATH! I AM THE TRUE KING HERE!’ His movements stopped suddenly as he saw Berath’s crystal blade dig itself deep into Gilldahara’s chest. ‘How? I am the King of Heaven, No being ever has been able to best me in combat. I was promised this realm and everything in it by the goddess of the universe. Mother, why have you forsaken me?’ Gilldahara’s body began to lose its strength from his soul leaving it’s body ‘How can a being so crude be the true ruler of Heaven? I was your master, your will of hatred. I am your GOD!’

Berath leaned down to whisper in Gilldahara’s ear ‘Gilldahara I have rejected you, I have freed myself from your personal sin. You will die knowing that I, Berath The Crystal King. Have finally found my peace.’ Gilldahara’s eyes began to glaze over and faded to a dull white. ‘I have won my freedom and the freedom of my son, Azure Night! Goodbye Gilldahara.’ Berath pulled his sword from the cavity that had been opened in his chest. Gilldahara’s body fell with a thud as it started to disperse into ash. The bells in Heaven began to chime a low tone, it signified the death of the once proud King of Heaven. Shortly after an earthquake could be felt as the realm began to quiver noting that the vault to the dark recesses of Heaven was opening.

Berath flew towards the epicenter of the shaking. Once he made it there, the shaking slowly dissipated to a standstill. He waited to see if anything would make an appearance from the dark void. Something did indeed penetrate the darkness. It was a dark blue alicorn. ‘Azure Night!’ Berath screamed as he rushed over to the recovering colt.

Berath held his son in his arms as he cried from the freedom, that he and his son Azure Night finally deserved.