Xander's Chance

Deep in thought, Eden was unaware of how much time passed. She heard him approach from the direction of the stairs some time later.

"The smell of blood is in the air." Xander's honeyed growl was low and rich. "It's done."

"How does it feel, boy?" she asked gruffly.

"I drank him dry. I took his mind and made him live through it. Gods, it was better than I imagined! His wife, his daughters, his brothers. I spared no one, but their fates were as painful as I was able to make them."

"You are all that remains of him."

"This world is all that remains of him."

Xander came into her line of sight then. He appeared as if he'd been rolling in blood; he was soaked through with it, his eyes glowing with the wildness of bloodlust. A head taller than her tallest warrior, Xander was thick yet agile, his bulging physique covered in skin the same shade of bronze as hers. His fangs were out.

"I want to crush every last piece of it." His voice held a familiar fury, one she thought would die with his father. He strode to the edge of the tavern.

"We've accomplished what we came for."

"We're not stopping." He faced her. "Look how easy the city fell. I can take the Black God next and the White God. There will be nothing standing when we -"

Eden listened. His eyes flashed bright red, his arms gesturing to the world around as he spoke. Hunger was in his face. Xander stopped speaking and was pacing restlessly, as if ready to fight again already.

"I grow stronger with each one I turn or kill," he said, looking at his hands. "In a thousand lives, how much more can I do? In ten thousand? In a hundred thousand? I will be stronger than all three Gods combined."

"Is that what you want?" Eden asked.

"What else is there?" He barked a laugh. "We are beyond powerful now, ikira."

"The goal was to protect my world."

"Why stop there when we can take what we want from either world?"

Eden's thoughts grew darker. No, she didn't think beyond the day her journey was over. There was no dulling Xander's thirst for war and blood like she might retire a sword. She reached into the velvet pouch.

"Because the worlds will end up like this," she said, indicating the city. "There will be nothing left."

"No one to oppose us. Absolute power, ikira. Is that not what you taught me?"

"It is," she agreed. "But I value life as well, Xander."

He looked at her blankly.