The butterflies defied the wind and waves as they fluttered flimsily out to sea.

Admirable.

But futile.

Just like you humans.

One of the iridescent blue insects came to land for the briefest moment on my chest, as if recognising that I, too, would soon launch myself into oblivion. Footsteps approached from my left. Turning, I saw the largest man I had ever seen. He was more bear than man, really, sent to patrol the mouths of these caves while the king and his armies tried to figure out how to stop the horror that threatened to overflow from Below. A year ago I wouldn't have cared. But a lot has happened since then.

"You shouldn't be out here, Red, not with darkness so close."

I held up my bow and a quiver of arrows. "I'm not alone."

I also had rations tucked in my tunic and a ritual dagger up my sleeve, but I spared him the details. I knew what I looked like – beautiful, young, delicate, and ripe for the picking. No matter how many times I proved otherwise, Wolfram still thought I needed protection.

"Come back to the camp. I'll take you back."

"Sorry, Wolf." I must have sounded it, for he regarded me with puzzlement.

"Sorry about what?"

Quickly, I threw myself at him and buried the blade of my dagger in his chest along with two spells.

"I have grown to love you like a brother," I said as I pulled out, "and I cannot have you come after me."

"What do you mean like a brother?" He wheezed before the spells took hold. The first spell was for a deep slumber. The second was to heal him.

I smiled. Wolfram thought I was his sister. Indeed, I wore her sweet appearance. But I was Lofae, the monster who rode the storm of war across the Knightly Kingdoms, raping the minds of your kind and wearing your bodies to bathe in blood underneath your starry skies. My unveiling upon your world was marked by a shockwave of terror followed swiftly by the frothing turbulence of death. To me, your scorn is like honeyed nuts, however, whatever you may think of me, know that I did not steal this body. Well, I did initially, but then it was given to me freely.

Wolfram's patrolmen, who had shied away from the family dispute, now rushed forward to save their knight.

"Whoever follows me will meet the same fate!" I roared.

One drew his sword and was immediately spun around by the force of an arrow to his shoulder. He, like all of Wolfram's men, wore amulets of protection against archers. But my bow was from the altar of Venatrix herself and my arrows always flew true. I stood my ground, bow at the ready, but no one else challenged me. After a tense moment, I turned and ran to the caves.

Darkness and salty dampness enveloped me like bloodstained rags. With my human eyes useless, I fell back into blindsight, my first sense from my days Below. With it, I felt hordes of netheren, far closer to the Surface than ever before. Daylight would hurt them. Even a full moon might disorient them. However, the moon was waning and soon the Surface would be stripped of its last defence. I had to pass by the hordes unseen. If anyone saw me, they would use their scurry plates to alert the priestesses of the Citadel and ruin the element of surprise. Worst still, a priestess may be sent through the scurry pool after me.

I covered myself with an invisibility spell and stuck to the narrow paths that larger groups overlooked. Still, there were times I passed close enough to smell the stench of unwashed death and hear the screams of monsters tearing into each other for sport as they waited. As soon as I passed the hordes and their scouts, I dropped my invisibility to conserve my spell energy.

The path became difficult, and nonexistent in places. My blindsight lent me the courage to dive into icy pools and squeeze underwater through crawl spaces that scraped the ribs of my slender body. I didn't know how long I pushed on. Here, time wasn't marked by the sun. As my tiredness dipped into exhaustion, I felt a glow at the periphery of my senses. Though too dark to detect with human eyes, it blazed in blindsight. The path widened, and I inched forward until even my eyes could detect faint light.

A cavernous space yawned before me where every inch of the ground was covered in enormous spears of translucent white quartz; thicker than oak trees, higher than castle towers. The quartz was coated in the dusty, luminous spores of an upside down fungal forest flourishing on the stalactites. Remembering the time I saw a Darkling priestess slice herself apart on such quartz after succumbing to the hallucinogen in the spores, I covered my nose and quickly cast a protection spell against poisons.

Not wanting to waste a spell on levitation, I made my way carefully across the cavern. Partway across, I spotted several long arms of quartz that had grown together in a triangular tent of sorts. Apart from a small opening at its base, it was completely enclosed. Though safety was never guaranteed in the realms Below, this location was more fortified than most so I checked to see that it was vacant before crawling in. I allowed myself a small protection circle. It would do little against most creatures here, but it might warn me of attacks. Once the circle was laid, I dug into my rations for some dried apricots. They were my favourite for they were sweet and had the mouth-feel of cured human brains. I ate a few before I closed my eyes.

There was an indescribable pleasantness about the way his beefy arms were squeezing the life out of me.

"You're alive!" he exclaimed over and over. Something hot and wet dripped on my head. Tears? This oversized man was crying over me. How pathetic, yet completely endearing!

"I am offended by your surprise," I said flatly. It's what Red would have said.

"You've grown so tall!" He raised me up to dangle like a doll. "You look just like mother's portrait!"

"Strike two, brother," I narrowed my eyes. "One more insult and you get to find out about all the things I've learnt in the war."

His eyes softened. "From now on, you'll stay by my side and keep better company than that of gnomes and swindling halfbreeds."

The thought made me uneasy. I never wanted him see me flay a man alive, or drown someone in their own bile. My closest comparison to family was the birthing pit where my 'brothers' and 'sisters' ate each other for sustenance until a few of us grew strong enough to climb out. Red was different. She grew up with love that drenched her like liquid sunshine.

"What if I'm not how you remembered? What if I've... turned to darkness?"

He pulled me close again, smothering me.

"I love you," he said. "No matter what has happened, nothing will change that."

The quartz around me shattered. I was instantly on my feet, diving aside, shedding my bow, casting a spell. I saw the creature, an overgrown and distinctly male mordespawn, with the body of a dire centipede and the humanoid head of a fanged goblin.

I summoned a shadow wraith and flung it at his face.

"How dare you disturb me?" My voice shook with rage. "And why are you so ugly!?"

The mordespawn clawed at his own face, ripping chunks out of it with his pincer legs as he tried to break the wraith's suffocating hold. In desperation, he struck at me with his tail, which dripped with poison. Big mistake. I drew my dagger and buried the blade deep into him. A human sorcerer would have become drunk on the power, but I was accustomed to finer dining. With our positions reversed, the mordespawn looked up at me, his face marred even more with pain and fear. I released the shadow wraith so that he could gasp for air.

"Pleasssssse," he whined. "Ssssssspare me."

He deserved to die, slowly, for waking me from a pleasant dream, for making me waste spells, and for being utterly atrocious looking... but perhaps he could be useful.

"You are my slave." I withdrew my knife but kept it in the edge of his vision.

"I am your ssssslave." He nodded eagerly.

"I will eat you if I get hungry."

"Yessssss."

I walked back to collect my bow and quiver. When I returned, I dropped some dried apricots in his mouth and watched his face contort in surprise.

"If you serve me well, you get to eat."

"Sssssure..." he said with suspicion, as if my proposal was too good to be true.

I didn't waste another spell on a blood oath. If he tried anything, I would simply end him.

"Do you know the way to the Darkling Citadel?"

From the terror in his eyes, I knew that he did. He submitted himself like a domesticated mount so I could climb onto his segmented body. I dug my heels into his soft underbelly and he slithered across the quartz cave, careful not to jostle his rider.

"You've done this before?" I asked.

"I am from the kennel of the High Priessssstesssssss."

Interesting.

The mordespawn's decent was smooth and swift, like sweet poison willingly drunk. Before I knew it, we up against the stinging fumes of the molten pits and the sobbing laughter of those driven to insanity. The entrance to hell was lined with cages filled with the lower castes; deep gnomes, mordespawn pups, grifts, and the like. But it wasn't until I caught sight of a starved mind devourer that the truth of the moment struck me.

I was back in the place where it all started.

I quickly banished all thoughts of Wolfram from my mind as I restrung my bow. To take that tender part of me into the realms Below was as foolish as rubbing my sores in faeces before battle.

It is hard to describe the cities Below to you Surface dwellers, but imagine your best architects and engineers, so high on dream juice that they have only minutes left to live, scrawling their legacy into walls of rock. Then, imagine their creations fermenting in eons of terror. Imagine overcrowding to the point where all surfaces writhe with organic matter; a thousand lives starting and ending in infancy. Walking through the Citadel is like drowning in despair and finding yourself aroused by it.

Those that were too slow were cut down by my mordespawn's whipping tail as we made our way through the streets. Soon, we arrived at the Darkling temple, a masterpiece carved into the gigantic column of a narrow cave, the roof of which rose beyond even my blindsight. Though I had spent the journey steeling myself, I was still struck by the beauty of the Darkling guards by the gate. It was impossible to overlook their silky hair and black opal skin.

To my surprise, the gates parted.

"Sssssssshe told me I would return..." The mordespawn shuffled through.

"The High Priestess?"

He nodded. "Ssssshe sssaid I could run, but her petsssss alwaysssss return."

"Funny, she said the same to me once," I said thoughtfully.

"Hilariousssss," was his gloomy reply.

We made it all the way to the closed doors of the inner chapel before a Darkling blocked our path.

"The priestesses are in prayer," she said.

"They are licking their lips over the scurry pool," I countered.

"Quite so," she said dismissively before turning her gaze back to the mordespawn with a mixture of lust and envy. "Even if you are the high priestess' favourite... mount, you cannot pass."

"Kill her," I ordered, offended by her flippancy towards me.

The mordespawn's tail snapped forward and glanced off the guard's defensive spells. While she was distracted, I leapt off and slashed her with my dagger.

As she fell, I glared at the mordespawn. "You failed me."

He broke the lock with his pincers and nudged the doors open with his tail as he bowed. "A thousssssand apologiesssss, misssstressss."

I stode in to the chapel where the ten Arch Priestesses, representing the ten terrible and great cities Below, knelt around a small pool. The High Priestess stood a few paces back, arms folded but eyes alive with interest. In the pool I caught a glimpse of the Surface were dusk was fading quickly into a moonless night. My mind spasmed at the thought of Wolfram meeting the hordes head on. He would fight valiantly, and he would die. I would never let that happen.

"Who dares!" screamed one of the Arch Priestesses.

I threw every drop of power I had left into defensive casting just as their magic raked against me. I had maybe moments before I was eviscerated. I levelled my bow, determined to make the moments count.

Three arch priestesses went down.

My skin began to blister.

I continued to rain shots upon them, putting another five out of action.

Against the screeching orders of the High Priestess, the remaining two priestesses broke apart and ran-

-straight into the poisonous stinger of the mordespawn.

"Breath in and taste the ssssssound of sssssscreamssssss!" His cry echoed in the chapel as we both turned to face the High Priestess.

I felt her probe my mind, but I was too weak to stop her.

"Lofae," she smiled shakily when she recognised me. "My dear pet, have you returned to offer your master the Surface?"

The moment she read my answer, her spell tore my insides apart.

At the same time, my arrow thudded into her shrivelled heart.

We both stumbled back, but I couldn't fall. Not yet. Not until it was over. By rights, I should be dead, but I was sustained by something larger than myself. Something bright and warm, like liquid sunshine. My feet took me forward until I collapsed onto the High Priestess. I pressed my ritual dagger into the hole that my arrow had made. Even as life slipped from her, she was still a creature of power. I drank it in, reviving myself faster than death claimed me. Finally, I found the strength to stand.

Through the pool, I saw the hordes rising up to meet the human armies.

"The Surface is MINE," I screamed into it.

My voice boomed through their scurry plates, the sound so terrible and distorted that many of them fell to the ground. Some of the monsters retreated, whilst others attacked each other in the frenzied panic. I watched until I was convinced that the hordes were no longer a serious threat to the Surface.

Then, I glanced around the chapel. Darkling guards were at the doors. There, they hesitated. Their dark priestesses had fallen, replaced by a true demon. The mordespawn scuttled to my side and regarded me with reverence.

"I leave you in charge," I told him. "You have seen my power and know what I can do. If the Citadel rises against me, I will hold you personally responsible."

He bowed, looking up only when the rest of my rations bounced off his head.

With a wink, I stepped into the pool and willed it to take me back to the Surface.

I sat in Wolfram's lap as he stroked my hair. This time, it was I who was crying.

"I hate them!" I screamed with the resonance of a tantruming child. "I'll kill them!"

"No you won't," my brother replied surely. "You'll smile and ask for their forgiveness, because those people are not the enemy, Red, no matter how mean they are. It is the darkness in them that we must fight, and we cannot fight it with more darkness."

I buried my face and wailed, "noooooo."

Wolfram chuckled and squished me with his arms. He was big, and wise, like the moss covered statues in the mountain behind our castle. When he spoke, I always listened, even when I didn't want to.

"Darkness is not just an absence of light, but an abscess in hope. Through forgiveness, you offer others hope to drive out the darkness in them. That has always been the way of our family."

I opened my eyes to blinding sunlight. A wave hit me and salty water seared my nasal cavities. I sputtered and batted the water around me. My feet scraped against the rocky bottom, which I could just touch when the waves bobbed low. I saw then that I wasn't far from the shore and a big man was wading towards me.

Wolfram grabbed my collar and wrenched me up.

"What were you thinking?"

In his arms, my head was clear of the waves. I vomited what I had swallowed and couldn't have looked sorrier. Before I knew it, I was mashed against his chest.

"Damn it, Red! You are all that I have left in this world!"

I pushed back and looked up into Wolfram's eyes. I couldn't lie to him anymore. I would always be a creature of death and darkness, barely contained within walls of despair. But perhaps... perhaps he could forgive me. After all, he said he'd love me, no matter what.

"Wolfram..." I felt my throat tighten. "I'm... not your sister. Your sister never came back from the forest. It is I, Lofae."

It was then that he dropped me. Suddenly.

I didn't fight it, I simply sank and felt the cold darkness extinguish the light inside me. Somewhere, I could hear Red was sobbing.

Strong hands hauled me back up and forced me to meet a pair of angry eyes.

"I don't believe you," he said.

We glared at each other. Neither of us knew what came next, but I felt something inside me flicker.

Author's Note

This was written for the March-April Labyrinth Writing Contest. If you like it, and want to read some other great stories, head on over to the writing contest thread of the Labyrinth forum around the 22nd of April where TanteLiz will post links to all the entries (and you can vote for your favourite). The challenge was to write a story inspired by one of 3 quotes. I chose Churchill's 'When you're going to Hell, keep going!', which as Liz pointed out is apocryphal.

Those who read Manifesto will notice that Deliverance kinda follows on from it. I abandoned Deliverance no less than five times over the last two months because I'm not usually a first-person sort of writer and Lofae is a bloody difficult, albeit fun, creature to write. To fit the T rating, I had to go back and change most of the graphic deaths, which was difficult given that Lofae is a monster who essentially travels back to the unforgiving depths of hell. :) Oh no, they totally didn't 'die', they just 'slipped' or 'fell over'. When I finished, the story was closer to 4000 words, but I managed to cut it right back - high five!