บท 21: Gorak's Aim

Every intelligent living creature is built with the capacity to feel; to love or hate.

For as long as they exist, they have feelings at every moment, either positive or negative.

It pleased the Creator to incorporate this exceptional ingredient in his most treasured creations. He called it "Emotion".

The Creator made negative and positive emotions alike, and when he created them, he also formed and designated Keepers; to manage them:

Gorak and Lilyak. Twins.

One to manage negative emotions, and the other to manage positive emotions. They were made to balance each other out.

Gorak was the Keeper created to manage negative emotions, and Lilyak, Goddess of Love, managed positive emotions.

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Contrary to what you might think, negative emotions are not all bad. For instance, pain creates the awareness of danger to protect the body from harm.

Suffering the consequences of wrong decisions teach you to make better decisions. Hate emphasizes the importance of love, and guilt brings about remorse.

Negative emotions spur you on to make changes in your life that would leave you better off.

One cannot be happy all the time. You must know the taste of sadness to appreciate the value of happiness and know to desire it. That is why negative emotions were created in the first place.

They were a good creation, but Gorak's misuse of them would ultimately bring about bad results.

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Keeper of negative emotions that he was, Gorak's power was derived from negative emotions, which meant that Gorak's level of power was dependent on how much negative emotion there was at the material time.

Due to this, Gorak's powers were derived mostly from the billions, trillions and gazillions of emotional beings existent in the Universes, mortal and immortal alike.

Just by existing, he was already an incredibly powerful Keeper. Young and full of potential. The older he grew, the stronger he would become.

But to be the most powerful Keeper, he would have to be stronger than the Head Keeper himself! The very first and the most powerful Keeper that was made by the Creator. Most powerful, and nearly invincible.

Stratera. Keeper of Keepers.

Being as strong as a first generation Keeper... that level of power was unattainable by the natural course of things.

But by rigging the system, it could actually be done.

You see, Gorak's powers were unique in that they were dependent on existing negative emotion in all the realms.

The more the negative emotions, the more the negative energy and the stronger Gorak was. So, in a sense, his powers had the potential to be limitless.

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Already, feelings of greed, pride, lust, wrath, envy, sloth, gluttony; the seven deadly sins and their consequent dark emotions furnished Gorak with a lot of power from his primary source of power... the mortal realms, and mankind in particular.

But emotions like pain, agony, fear, depression, devastation... such emotions were even stronger.

They would make his goal of being the strongest Keeper realisable, and deliver him to it even quicker.

If Gorak was to be the strongest of his kind, he would have to increase the existing level of negative emotions. And the easiest way to do that would be to cultivate/ grow these stronger negative emotions in all realms of existence.

Mortal beings, whose emotions were easiest to manipulate, would be his first target.

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Thus, with his diabolical plan to be the strongest Keeper, Gorak had come personally to inflict pain upon mankind.

His aim; to bring as much pain as he can to the entirety of the mortal realms to reach illegal levels of power.

....

Right now though, he seemed to be more focused on teaching Dela how to assert dominance over a frail, defenseless little mortal woman...

*facepalm*

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"I will call you Dela."

"You will call me Delara. Because that is my name", Delara retorts, angered. Defiantly staring him down with hateful eyes.

...

"Hah... such bravery."

Gorak chuckles, amused.

"Where did all that fear go? You seem to have forgotten who you are talking to." His aura darkens.

Suddenly grabbing Delara by the back of her neck, he brings her face close to his.

"Ah!", she exclaims, shocked by the sudden assault.

"Need me to remind you?"

...

Gorak's tone is cold, due to his sour mood. As he asks the question, a red glint flashes through his eyes, revealing his dark intentions.

He is cleary displeased.

"..."

All of Delara's bravery instantly melts away. Too scared to speak, she trembles, shaking her head from left to right.

"No?", asks Gorak, pulling her head even closer. So close, she is just mere inches away from his stunningly handsome face and dark eyes.

He is radiating of a terrifying dark energy. She can see him growing darker by the second.

"N-No!", she replies instantly; her voice, barely audible and cracked from the tears she is holding back.

Shutting her eyes tightly, she expects to be killed.

...

"Good."

Satisfied, Gorak lets her go.

*gasp!*

She staggers backwards, pinning her back against the wall once again to be as far away from Gorak as possible, recoiling from the trauma of the moment.

Subconsciously, she takes her hand to the back of her neck which Gorak had grabbed.

She is shocked to be alive.

"I will call you Dela. That is final."

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With those words, Gorak turns away from Dela as he begins to walk off to the far end of the room.

Dela is shaken, yet surprised to have been spared once again. The immortal had been exuding such intense murderous intent, she was so sure he was going to end her in those moments.

Why? Why was she still alive?

She wished he would just end her suffering in a quick death and let her join her fellow brave warriors of the West World in honour.

Did he wish to not even afford her that honour? To thoroughly rubbish her before giving her a dog's death? Was that his plan?

What was his purpose? She had to know.

Now watching him leave from a safe distance, she calls back at him.

"Why wouldn't you just kill me?"

He had spared her, and was now naming her? Naming her meant he wanted to keep her alive for now. Perhaps as his plaything!

Tending to the needs of a monster. A monster out to destroy her lands and her people. A monster that brutally killed her men. A monster she desperately hated...

To Dela, that would be much more humiliating than defeat. She'd rather die a horrible death.

...

Gorak stops in his tracks for a moment when he hears her question, and then resumes his walk towards the far end of the room. He takes a sit in a large throne-style chair, like an Emperor.

"You want to die an honourable death. That is precisely why.", he responds.

Hearing this, Dela's heart fell. This response is cruel and confirms her fears. The immortal planned to give her a dog's death. He wanted to leave her miserable and thoroughly humiliated before he killed her, she thought.

But unknown to her, what Gorak actually meant was that dying right now for her would not be an honourable death. Dying much later, after she had accomplished greatness, standing by his side, would be a much more honourable death for her.

She had no idea how valuable her life was, and so she was willing to lose it. But she was valuable to him. He would no doubt preserve her life.

Snapping his fingers, Gorak summons a group of attendants.

"Take these. Put them on her, clean her up and tend to her every need.", he orders, handing the lead attendant a matching pair of golden leg cuffs, for her feet.

The attendants swarm on her instantly, putting her in the leg cuffs and whisking her away in a flash.

Soon she is scrubbed clean, scantily dressed, embellished with gold and precious jewels and stored like a precious porcelain doll within a large, decorated room, with servants to wait on her.

Bound hands and foot, this pretty doll house is her prison.

And there is no escape

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