Darkness and Hellfire

Volume Five: The Greatest Adventure, Part 2

What is the difference between overwhelming force and overwhelming skill, or creativity, or overwhelming anything else? In the end, nothing. Anything that is truly 'overwhelming' will get you the desired result simply by virtue of being uncontestable. For you, it's dark mana. For me, it's creativity.

Walter Walker

Interlude 11

"But father, what about your story?" Amaranth questioned her father after he had just informed her that they would continue sparring every day until she was 'Ready' whatever that meant.

"We will write it while you regenerate mana." Darkness told his daughter. "We will continue like this until the day the world receives a new demigod."

"But father, what if I am not ready to know that I will outlive not only my children but my grandchildren." Amaranth almost pleaded. "Immortality is as much a blessing as it is a curse. I see the detached way that mother looks at us and my children when she thinks no one is watching. That is such a horrid weight to bear."

"Ama." Darkness, no, Isaac said and squatted down to be at her level. She still hadn't gathered the strength to rise to her feet. "If you die, who will protect your grandchildren, and their children, and so on?"

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"You?" She asked with hope that she knew was about to be crushed.

Isaac shook his head. "No. I will only help those who chose the path of battle and blood. If they want help, then they can come to me and I will give it to them. I will not send shadows out after every descendant just in case they ever get into trouble. You can cast a spell on each of them that will let you know if they are in danger. You can teleport across the world without the need of an anchor like me. The protection of your descendants is something that only you can do." He explained in a tone that brought back memories of every time that she had ever struggled as a child, and even as an adult. His warm fatherly tone was something that very few had ever heard and it made her happy to know that it was still in there after all that time of him being The Lord of All That Is Dark. "I do not want to watch my children die of old age just as much as you don't want to watch yours. That is why I want you to join your mother and I in eternity. But, I also want you to know what responsibility you will be giving up if you truly want to let age take you. Do you understand?"

Amaranth nodded. Her heart ached, not her core from the overuse, but her heart. The thought of watching her children grow old and die was not new to her. She knew that it was going to happen. Her oldest already looked older than she did. Her elven blood was strong after all. She didn't want to imagine burying her grandchildren too. She felt her eyes start to water but she blinked back the tears before any could fall. She swallowed and steeled herself. "You are right, as usual, father. It is my duty, to those I have given birth to, to not only watch over them, but their children and their children's children in a way that only I can." She reached out her hand towards her father and he took it. He helped her to her feet as he rose back up to his full height. "But you had better help me."

Isaac huffed a chuckle. "Only if you help me." He assured her with a warm smile.

"Of course, dad." Amaranth agreed and leaned into him. If he had it his way, they would have a very long eternity together. If she was going to do the impossible, keep an exponential number of people alive until old age, then she was going to need all the help she could trade for. It was a good thing that she knew two people that would help her as much as they could, just like they always had, well, except for that one time…

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