Tether Of The Soul

The mist began to clear as Amber slowly saw a golden door appear from the surrounding clouds. Even in Amber’s clearer state of mind, the door unnerved him. He knew what lay beyond the portal of the door. Dare he open the door and cross its threshold? Gaze upon the being that ruled this realm, The King of Heaven, Gilldahara!
Amber braced himself as he touched the golden door handle and swung it open. The room was quite small and there was only a maple table as well as a chair in the middle of the cramped space. Amber closed the door behind him and looked around the room. There was nothing else but himself, the table, and the chair. ‘Hello!?’ he said as he knocked on the table ‘King Gilldahara, Are you here?’ Amber sat down on the chair. Not long after, a strange being would slowly show itself to Amber. ‘My Child! You have come to my realm. I fear that your presence here brings horrid tidings.’ Amber had a hard time processing what space the being’s figure held.

It looked bipedal but it also held green fur. Its head was that of a pony but it held no mane, nor did its body hold a tail. ‘Why do you say this?’ Amber asked sheepishly. The being that called itself Gilldahara kneeled and placed an appendage on Amber’s head. ‘My Child! I find that you must be kept away. Kept away from the light of my grace.’ Gilldahara paused for a monument ‘Tartarus needs a ruler and I find you suitable for that position.’ Amber recoiled away ‘W-. Why me? Why do I need to serve as the ruler of hell?’
Gilldahara sighed softly ‘My Child! I do not wish to send you to Tartarus as a demon or a monster. No, you will continue to be the soul I know you are and continue to be. It can only be you, my child. Your soul is fair and just.’ Amber continued to push himself away from Gilldahara ‘I can not in any mindset accept this proposal. The answer is no!’ Amber stood up definitely as he turned his back to Gildahara. ‘My Child! Why must you throw away this gift I bestow upon you?’ Gilldahara said calmly. Amber trotted up to Gilldahara, making them face to face ‘It is not a gift but a life sentence! Do you think I am observant just because you created me? I will not bend the knee to a king so desperate. You gave your creation will of their own making, and I will make sure mine is as ever affluent against you. Till there is nothing more but a boulder carved out by the erosion from it.’

But before Amber could continue his tirade against the King of Heaven, he was impaled by an obsidian sword. The culprit left the sword lodged in Amber’s body and trotted to the side of him. Amber looked over to his left and saw that Sorthath was the one who wounded him. Sorthath’s body had changed to pitch black. There were dark tusk-like horns protruding from his forehead. Sorthath looked at Amber with disgust on his face ‘You dare deny me my right to be forgiven? Then I shall deny you any form of serenity. You will join me in anguish!’ Gilldahara tried to interrupt Sorthath but was glared at by him ‘You dare have the audacity to speak to me, after all I have done for you? You ungrateful, pitifully disgusting thing I have to lay my eyes upon. I have served you faithfully since my birth and yet, you too, deny me my right to peace? Then I shall take what is left as mine. I will take Tartarus as my own kingdom and you can not stop me.’

Sorthath trotted over to Amber and whispered in his ear ‘You will stay with me in hell for all of eternity. Your body will be made of stone. Ever cold to the touch, but your soul is mine to use as I see fit. You will never see Berath as long as I still draw breath.’ Amber tried to push out the sword protruding from his chest, but Sorthath overpowered him and pushed the rest of the sword deeper into Amber’s back till all you could see was the hilt touching his back. The sword began to mistify and surround Amber’s neck. The mist began to soak into Amber’s flesh around his neck as it solidified into a collar. ‘You are now Mine, Amber! Struggle if you must. It will cause you more pain because the collar around your neck will continually dig deeper into your neck until it decapitates you, and once it does Amber! You will continue to be conscious as your head hits the floor. You will gasp for air, it will never come. You will wish for death, that too will never come.’ Sorthath let out a malicious bark of glee.

Amber looked up to Gilldahara in shock ‘My Child! I can no longer help you.’ Amber’s shock turned to hatred as he slowly faded away with Sorthath. Once they reached Tartarus, Sorthath picked up Amber with his magic and flung him against a wall. A primal sound escaped Amber’s mouth before he struggled to gasp for air ‘I finally have the thing that my brother holds dear. His precious muse.’ Amber struggled to stand up ‘You are baiting him to cross blades are you not?’ Sorthath gestured in a mocking manner ‘Correct! My, my, You are quite quick to deduce situations. If only you served our court, I could have made you into a fantastic strategist. Honed on your predictions, your reactions, and your situational awareness of the topographical environments of each battleground. But, here you kneel, beneath me. Oh, how cocky you were with Gilldahara. So confident, yet you cower here under the mere sight of me. Do I scare you, Amber?’
Amber finally had the strength to stand up ‘No! You do not scare me Sorthath. Or should I say Great Demon of Hell: Apatheis! King of sorrow and Instigator of envy.’ He tried to sound unfazed by the appearance that Sorthath took up now, but that faded when Sorthath smiled widely. ‘My, my, such a strong speech from a small pony like yourself. Apatheis! Quite a name you have given me. I shall keep it. Thank you for giving me even more power over you, Amber.’ Sorthath began to trot over to Amber. Amber started to pant in fear from Sorthath encroaching further toward him. ‘I-. I am not afraid of you!’ Amber choked out.

Sorthath chuckled ‘You could have fooled me. Let us see how long it takes Berath to come and get you from my hooves hmm?’ He held Amber’s chin upwards as he started to rip into Amber’s neck with his teeth.