My mind went blank, unable to think as countless objects stabbed into my body, setting my nerve-endings aflame in an agonizing sympathy of suffering. Blood pooled in my mouth, making me choke as it went down the wrong pipe. I thought the worst was over when my body was full of more metal than skin, but, then it was pulled out. I screamed until I found my resolve in darkness.

Cold water brought me back. I couldn't move. I couldn't fight back. I was useless as my life force and magic spilled out into buckets surrounding me. It was once again red tainted with black now that Zendar had been locked away. I didn't think I would miss him. I never thought I would. But now that I was alone in my agony, I did. If only for someone to talk to that didn't want the worst for me.

Lacey grabbed a hot stick from the fire, cauterizing each individual wound, one by one. I screamed until my throat hurt, until I no longer was able to make a sound.

My chest ached, pain shooting down my left arm as she continued to work. I couldn't breathe. Was this it? Was I dying? Despite the continued pain she caused, I couldn't stay conscious.

"Oh whoops, it seems I found your limit, not matter, I can fix that." Lacey's voice echoed in the darkness.

Everything was quiet. Peaceful. I was completely numb as I floated in the darkness. Zendar stood on the opposite side. His lips moved but I couldn't hear a word he said. I tried to grab his hand but found myself against an invisible wall that was erected between us.

I kicked it, the wall wavered and shattered.

"That's what I've been telling you to do all of this time, because our connection is stronger than any sort of random concoction. I'm not a demon, general, Falosa," Zendar said as he grabbed my hands and danced around. "Are you having fun with Lacey? She seems to really know her stuff. I should take some lessons."

"Lessons in suffering?" I curled my lip in disgust. "You know what, don't answer, I don't want to know. . . If you aren't a demon general, then what are you?"

"I'm not sure. I know Tragore is my father who abandoned me to suffer. Not sure what my heritage is. I'm trying to find out," Zendar stated. "But I know I'm different, we're different. We've been bound together since childhood, there was just this barrier where I could see your life but I couldn't talk to you. Something's changed, something's different now where our memories bleed and our consciousness is shared. I don't know what happened."

"Maybe when I was tainted it broke the barrier?" I asked. "Maybe you gain more power when we have demonic blood."

"If that's the case. . . Then in order to escape, we need to get into Lacey's stoke, then I'd be able to level the place," Zendar stated. "Do you think you can do that?"

"I can't move. I don't think that's possible. I have no magic, she keeps draining me of blood until I have nothing left." I stopped allowing him to spin me around. "What are we going to do?"

Zendar put a hand to my chest. "I have an idea. It's risky. But it should work."

"What do I need to do?"

"Stab yourself in the chest and die."

...... ....... ....... .......

Before I had a chance to question him, cold water brought me back to Lacey's laboratory. The plan was ludicrous. Stab myself in the chest and die? I suppose I could see how that would get us out of this situation in one way, I'd be dead and therefore rendered unharmable, but I doubt it was his intention to get me to give up.

Zendar was insane. What if he wasn't in his right mind? What if it was a joke? What would happen? I didn't know. I didn't know anything at all.

The hammering of steel sounded to my right as Lacey created something new. I had no intention of finding out what it was. The spiked table was still in front of me. It had intentionally left the chest area out to prevent death to the tormented, but it was within reach of my chains.

My heart raced as I inched toward it, preparing to impale myself. This was insane. Why was I doing this? Cause a demon told me to? What if he was wrong? What if I just ended up dead?

"Lacey won't let you die, she needs us," Zendar whispered. "Do it. I have a plan."

I allowed my body weight to fall forward, stabbing one of the spikes deep into my chest and through my heart. I could feel it slow as Lacey ran toward me, running around in a panic. I couldn't hear her words, but I had to trust Zendar. Never in my life did I think I would, and perhaps this was a mistake, in the same way I had fallen into Lacey's clutches.

There was no going back.

I could see the flames of hell rising up around me as my soul flew further from my body and into the depths below.

A hand reached down, stopping my fall. Zendar was above me, with one demonic wing, and one angel wing keeping us from hitting the ground. "Don't touch the fire, or we'll never get out."

"You say that as if we've been here before," I said, staying just a breath away from the flames around us.

"I have, many times. You're not the only one who's died."

..... ..... ..... ..... ......

I came to in a bed. It wasn't soft in the slightest, but it was an upgrade from the chains that I had experienced down below. Cold prickled at my exposed skin as the reality of just how painful to breathe it was came into fruition.

Reaching a hand to my chest, I felt stitches up the center. They were perfectly done, neat without a thread out of place. My whole body felt tired, different. It was as if I'd caught some kind of cold that wore on me. There were no chains on my wrists nor on my ankles.

I sat up, only to lay back down, holding my head. It throbbed painfully, a wash of dizziness and nausea overtaking me. All my injuries had healed over with no scars left behind. That meant Zendar clearly had his abilities back again. But then, why wouldn't the one on my chest heal?

Lacey stepped into the room, hanging her head down in shame. Her eyes were normal now, not the black that they had been in the depths of her labratory. "Forgive me, Falosa. Sheila overtook me the instant I got home and there was nothing I could do to stop her. She's full of vengeance against those who have brought harm to me and my family." She leaned against the doorframe, sliding down till she sat on the floor and cradled her head in her hands. "I had promised to get rid of your demon, but I fear, because of what you've done that he's only gained more power over you."

"What do you mean? What did you do?" I asked, rolling to my side cause it was the most I could do.

"You ruined your heart, tore it to pieces. I couldn't fix it. I had to replace it with the closest thing to an immortals heart. The heart of the demon. A general of course, because they have power equivalent to yours, but. . . With it battling your immortal, your body might reject it, or it could allow your demon to take over entirely." Lacey looked up, tears running down her face. "I'm so sorry. I've made it worse."

Zendar had planned this. He knew what he was doing. Was this an attempt to get rid of me? To gain more power? Did he not care what harm happened to me along the way? Of course he didn't. He was a demon. How in my desperation did I forget that?

Vomit spewed out of my mouth. I felt weak, so weak and sick. What had I done?

Zendar came to the forefront, taking over our body and disappearing Lacey's place from sight. I was too tired to watch, too tired to care, and faded into the silence of our mind. 

Oh geez.
What consequences do you think will await Falosa for the choice he made?
Do you think it would've been better to remain captured?
Or try an alternate plan?
What do you think Zendar is planning?