Left Hand of the Divine (A G.R.I.M Tale #2)

Prologue

Erebus

The door closed behind me, sealing me in a darkness of my own making. My heart still grieved; each beat was a painful thud in my chest as I stepped further into the shadows. My footsteps echoed down the stone corridor as I walked deeper into the heart of the Vault.

My final resting place.

I scoffed at that. I was never going to rest, never going to be at peace until I united with my other half.

I could feel the magic of this place weaving itself into my being.

As if it were being stitched into my soul, becoming a part of me.

I had never been down here before, but somehow I now knew every corner of it, intimately knew every twist and turn, every dead end, every brick, and every creature that lived down here.

I was now the Master of this place, and everything down here would obey my commands.

I stepped into the centre of the Vault. A huge room with a domed roof. Floating above me was a night sky, and my heart broke anew.

“Soon, my love,” I whispered to the stars. “Soon we will be together again.”

I had to hold onto that hope, however small it may be, because without it, madness would claim me. Without her, I’d slowly lose myself until I became nothing but a mere shadow of the man that I was.

I reached into my bag and pulled out her Diadem.

Her presence still lingered within the gems, and it brought me a modicum of comfort, knowing that I could still feel her essence, but it was like an echo.

She was everything. Bright and beautiful and so much more than the remnants I could feel in her Diadem.

I placed the jewelled crown on the pedestal beneath the stars and prayed that we had done the right thing. That all this heartache and suffering would be worth it in the end. And, as I turned my back on my stars, I vowed to destroy the Gods for parting us.

One day, we would return, and we would be unstoppable.