Heart of Darkness

"Skender!" Acheron\'s voice suddenly snapped him back, as if something left his mind, throwing him off balance.

He felt confused for a moment. He had been in the meeting setting some new rules and then…what happened?

"Skender? Is everything alright?" Acheron asked when he neared.

"Yes." Shaking the confusion away for now. "Did you need anything?"

"How am I supposed to lead? I can\'t do that." He said deeply concerned.

"If we ignore the sins, then after Vitale you would still be the one I choose to lead."

"What if I can\'t?"

"Well, you have time to educate yourself to be a leader," Skender told him. It wasn\'t as if he was a skilled leader. After waking up from his nightmare, he had decided he would not endure these meetings anymore. If anyone was going to endure them from now on, it would be them. He had enough.

Acheron gave up with a sigh, knowing there was no escaping this. Patting him on the shoulder, Skender left him to think.

For the rest of the day, he had to deal with human and royal matters in different settings. From their thoughts, he picked up a few things. They would try to bring up the matter of marriage and an heir. He couldn\'t get a break.

Getting married? What a horror. How would he get out of this one?

When the workday ended, he didn\'t relax. He went to the small cabin that Marie took him to. He knew she didn\'t forget the payment so it would be better if he found her instead of the other way round. He also just wanted to get it over with and move on.

Going to the window, he looked outside, watching the sunset. Even the light of the day got replaced by the darkness of the night.

The destroyer\'s words echoed in his mind. "You need me, Skender. You lack balance. Every good needs bad."

Well, his words were convincing. He lacked balance but how bad was the bad he needed? How bad was the destroyer? He guessed it wasn\'t a small bad if he was called the destroyer.

He sighed and let the curtain fall. When he turned around he found Marie standing in the room.

"What troubles you?" She asked stepping closer.

Skender leaned back against the wall and watched her. He let his gaze travel along her body to see if it would have any effect on him. To see if he would be enticed. He didn\'t know if going for so long without touching a woman would help him react to the simplest of touches or if it would be the opposite.

Marie didn\'t look bad. She was tall and slender, her rich brown hair reached below her shoulders. Her eyes were dark green, her lips well-shaped. She took well care of herself even though, only a few knew how these witched took care of themselves. They had different ways to remain looking young. He would guess that Marie was in her mid-thirties, but she could be older. He knew witches if very skilled could prolong their lives to two-hundred years.

Well, he was a little over a thousand years so what did old mean exactly?

Marie stood still and let him watch her. Skender decided he wouldn\'t think of it too much because if he thought about it, he would just make it harder for himself.

He pushed himself away from the wall and walked up to her. He could hear the skipping of her heart as he neared. "It had been a while since I have been with a woman. It might not feel much of a reward." He told her.

"I\'ll let you know after how it felt."

He grabbed the back of her head, and then leaning down he kissed her. He had truly forgotten what it was like to be with a woman but his body remembered instantly. As if it had been waiting to finally be taken care of after being neglected.

He let his body lead him, leaving every other thought behind. His hands got acquainted with the female body again, exploring and finding out what pleased her. She did the same and he could tell this wasn\'t new to her. Her hands carried the magic across his skin and while everything lasted it felt good but once they were done, he lay there the feeling of coldness slowly creeping in as his breath and heart calmed down.

Marie rested her head on his shoulder while catching her breath as well. "Is it a demon thing, because I have a hard time believing that you haven\'t been with a woman for so long?"

"Probably." Had he been human he would have finished before he started. demons could last longer, and even more so Archdemons.

"I found out you were sick." She began.

"You know already. You didn\'t tell me everything while warning me."

"You would have been angry and went to talk to your punisher. I don\'t want to be in the middle of your fights. I have my people to protect."

He remained quiet. Everyone had their reasons.

"You have to start caring about yourself." She continued. "I hope you learned from this."

He certainly did.

"Your purpose as a defender is bigger than saving one person. You need to be there when there is a threat or injustice toward a race, a population of people. Otherwise, people are in danger every day. It is part of life. You have to fight for the greater good."

Greater good? Hmm…

"If you die for one person, who will be there to save all the others when a threat comes along the way?"

Or what if he didn\'t die and he actually became the threat?

"Are you listening Skender?"

"Yes." He pushed himself up and got out of bed. "I get it. It is fine if I die as long as I save as many people as possible. I get it."

He began to pick up his clothes and she sat up watching him with a frown. "Are you angry?"

He slid into his trousers. "No. You didn\'t say anything new to be upset about."

She remained silent as he put on the rest of his clothes.

Once he was done, he turned to her. "I\'ll take my leave then."

She gave him a nod and he took himself away. He didn\'t know why he found himself outside Rayven\'s home, watching William sitting in the garden from a distance. He was reading a book in his hand or maybe he wasn\'t. His eyes stared at the pages but not looking. He was thinking. What deep thoughts troubled this young boy?

He had always wanted children. His dream contained Ramona being his mate and his children looking just like her, having her red hair and blue eyes. Just like William. That dream was shattered and now he realized why he was here. He was saying goodbye to William. For a while, he had let himself dream. Now it had to stop.

He stepped inside, to have his last conversation where he would let his feelings get involved. As if sensing him, William looked up from the book.

"Your Majesty," He stood up from his seat.

"When are you going back to military camp?"

"Lord Rayven told the camp teacher that I would be training with him. I am thinking of making that true. I need to not only learn how to fight humans."

Why did he like this boy? It couldn\'t only be because he resembled the children he dreamed of having or because he had the prophetic abilities that Ramona had. He was strong-spirited, kind-hearted, humble, and very well-mannered. It could be a result of his abilities but Skender knew not all prophets necessarily had the same personality traits.

"But I will be studying as well, to enter the court."

Skender nodded.

The boy watched him closer with a thoughtful look. "Is it true you will become a destroyer?"

Skender felt a stab in his heart. "Yes." He said just to distance himself.

"Will you destroy everyone?"

Skender clenched his jaw, thinking of even laying a finger on this boy made him sick.

"I don\'t know," He replied.

"I don\'t like it." The boy suddenly said.

Of course. He could already see the disappointment he would have on his face.

"The destroyer," he then added. "I don\'t him. I don\'t even like the defender because I don\'t know him. But I like you, Your Majesty."

"I am not Rayven. Your words of wisdom won\'t work to open my eyes."

William frowned. "It is not words of wisdom, Your Majesty. It took me great courage to say this. It is…"

Suddenly he grabbed him by the shirt pulling him closer. "Stop speaking nonsense." He hissed.

"Skender!"

A strong palm hit him on the chest, pushing him away and causing him to fall back. Rayven placed himself in front of William, his eyes blazing with fury. "I want you to leave my home now before I hurt you." He said.

Skender was confused for a moment, his eyes searching for William from behind Rayven. William stared back at him, confusion and worry clear in his eyes.

His lungs burned from the lack of air as he stood up. He saw Angelica in the back as well but couldn\'t see her face clearly as things seemed to fade away. He stepped back and then another step back and then he left quickly.

\'Now you see. You have no one but me.\' The voice in his head told him.

The destroyer.. The destroyer intended to?destroy him first.