Chapter 4: Tears Across Worlds

Chapter 4: Tears Across Worlds

Logan finally arrived at a hidden cabin, its roof swallowed beneath the massive branches of Yggdrasil.

The colossal roots coiled through the ground like petrified serpents, rising in gnarled arches around the clearing.

Faint motes of light drifted down from the shimmering leaves above, bathing the cabin in a dim, emerald glow.

Here, at last, he had returned to where he truly belonged.

Sitting in a rocking chair outside was Rina, a beautiful elf with short green hair, crimson eyes framed by delicate glasses, and a noticeable swell in her belly.

Her pointed ears twitched faintly with each creak of the chair, and a knitted blanket lay folded across her lap, half finished.

The moment she saw him, she froze.

The blanket slipped from her fingers and she rose quickly, the chair rocking back with a soft thud as she rushed forward, throwing her arms around him in a loving embrace.

She pressed a kiss to his lips, tears streaming down her cheeks as she whispered,

"I’m glad you made it back safe. I’ve been praying every day for your return."

Logan held her tightly, burying his face against her shoulder for a brief, stolen moment.

The lingering scent of leaves clung to her hair, grounding him more than any magic ever could.

His voice came out low and steady.

"I’m home. And I don’t plan on leaving you ever again."

Their embrace lingered, the soft rustle of Yggdrasil’s leaves whispering above them, until they finally turned toward the cabin.

But there, standing before it with an irritated expression, was the Goddess Veyra.

She looked completely out of place in the humble clearing.

Golden hair flowed down her back in perfect, gleaming strands.

Her dress shimmered like liquid starlight, untouched by dirt or dust.

Bare feet hovered a finger’s width off the ground, refusing to touch the mortal soil.

The air around her seemed heavier, distorted by a faint ripple of divine power.

"So this is the true reason you refused to return," she said coldly. "You thought this tree could hide your presence from me?"

Her eyes slid up to the massive trunk behind the cabin in a contemptuous glance, as if even Yggdrasil was nothing more than a mild annoyance.

"Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. The Demon Lord is dead, and I have no need to play nice with you any longer."

"Unfortunately for you, you made a mistake."

She held up a singed piece of paper between two fingers.

Logan’s eyes widened the moment he recognized it.

It was the note Princess Sophie had given him.

His stomach dropped.

He must have lost it during the battle.

Then, with a casual snap of the goddess’s fingers, a body suddenly collapsed from the air and slammed into the ground in front of her.

Rina gasped.

Logan froze.

Princess Sophie lay crumpled at Veyra’s feet.

All four of her limbs were broken and twisted at unnatural angles, bent so badly they barely looked human anymore.

Both of her wings had been mangled into spiraling, shattered shapes, their bones snapped and folded in on themselves like crushed frames.

Her eyes stared in different directions, unfocused and lifeless, while thick foam dripped from the corner of her mouth.

The goddess grinned at the two of them, clearly pleased by the horror on their faces.

"This princess refused to speak," Veyra said, her tone almost playful. "Even after all the torture, she still wouldn’t tell me where you had gone. So I had to do it the hard way and forcefully read her memories... which caused a bit of brain damage."

She said it so casually it made the words feel even more monstrous.

Then, with a lazy flick of her wrist, Sophie’s broken body was hurled across the clearing.

She tumbled through the dirt and came to a stop right in front of Logan and Rina, her mangled limbs bouncing limply against the ground.

A sickening chorus of snapping and shifting bones followed her landing, making the entire clearing feel even colder.

Logan’s eyes narrowed as he pushed Rina slightly behind him, his hand already half reaching for the sword at his side.

His jaw tightened, the last remnants of battlefield tension flaring up again.

"I’m not going back. Leave us in peace."

Veyra’s smirk widened, a cruel, practiced curve of her lips that never reached her eyes.

"I cannot do that. You will return, and I am here to ensure it. But first..."

Her gaze drifted down, her eyes sliding to Rina’s belly, her voice dripping with malice.

"I think I should get rid of this mistake."

Logan immediately stepped forward, placing himself fully between them.

His heartbeat roared as the peaceful clearing turned suffocating.

He pushed Rina further behind him and roared,

"You won’t touch them! If I must, I will stop you myself!"

With one swift motion, he drew his sword.

Steel flashed in the green light, the blade still nicked and stained from the battle against the Demon Lord.

Veyra tilted her head, smirking.

"Then try it, hero," as she started to walk towards them.

Logan charged, boots pounding against the packed earth.

His sword sang as it came down with all his might, cutting a bright arc through the air.

"Leave us alone!" Logan screamed.

But the sword froze inches from Veyra’s face.

Time seemed to halt around the blade.

The metal shuddered, caught in an invisible force that hummed like distant thunder.

She smirked, her voice sharp with disdain.

"Stupid hero. Did you truly think to harm me with the sword I bestowed upon you?"

With a flick of her wrist, the force around the blade shifted.

Logan was hurled backward as if yanked by an unseen chain.

His body flew through the air and stopped abruptly, suspended above the ground like a puppet on invisible strings.

He strained against the unseen force, muscles trembling, teeth grit.

Veyra turned her gaze toward Rina, her expression twisting into cruel amusement.

"Now, before I forget... let’s rid the world of this mistake, before it spreads your human taint across my realm."

The goddess raised her hand, and shackles of radiant light coiled around Rina’s limbs, snapping into place with a sound like breaking glass.

She was wrenched into the air, her feet leaving the ground as the bindings dragged her upward.

Veyra approached slowly, her eyes cold.

"Despicable child," she sneered. "Trying to bring a monster into my world? You will be punished."

"Rina!" Logan screamed, thrashing in the air.

He struggled helplessly, until he realized what bound him wasn’t the goddess’s magic alone, it was his own armor, locked tight around him like a cage.

The enchantments etched into the plates pulsed faintly, reacting to Veyra’s will instead of his own.

Every movement only made the metal constrict further.

Desperately struggling, he reached for his dagger.

The angle was awkward, his arm shaking as he forced his hand toward the leather straps on his armor.

He sliced through them one by one, the bindings snapping with sharp cracks.

The armor loosened, plates clattering as they fell away in pieces, crashing into the dirt below.

Suddenly freed, his body dropped heavily to the ground.

The impact rattled his bones, knocking the air from his lungs.

Logan quickly forced himself up, refusing to stay down.

His hand closed around the sword he had dropped, fingers tightening around the familiar grip.

With every ounce of strength left in him, he charged at the goddess again, feet pounding against the earth.

As Logan charged at the goddess, he quickly chanted a spell under his breath.

He thrust his hand forward and shouted,

"Light Beam!"

A brilliant beam of light erupted from his palm and shot toward Veyra.

The spell illuminated the clearing in a blinding flash, washing the roots of Yggdrasil and the cabin in harsh white light.

But the goddess seemed completely unfazed.

She merely raised one hand and blocked the beam with effortless ease, the radiant magic crashing against her palm and scattering into shimmering sparks.

For a brief moment, her vision was obscured by the sheer brightness of the spell.

The goddess grew more annoyed as Logan burst through the bright magical light and appeared in front of her, swinging his sword with all his might.

Just as before, she raised her hand lazily, but Logan was ready this time.

He already knew what was about to happen and had planned for this exact moment.

The blade stopped dead, inches from her face.

The instant the weapon froze, Logan released his grip and let the sword hang uselessly in the air.

With every ounce of strength he had left, he hurled his fist forward, channeling everything he had into that single motion.

His knuckles crackled with gathered magic as he struck the goddess squarely across the face.

Her head snapped to the side from the impact.

The stillness of divinity shattered for a moment.

For the first time, her expression faltered, and a thin trickle of blood slid down her lip.

Logan smirked through the pain burning in his hand, his voice sharp.

"So... gods can bleed."

He followed up instantly, thrusting his dagger toward her side.

But before it could penetrate her side, Veyra’s hand clamped around his wrist with a crushing grip.

A sickening crack split through the clearing as the bones in Logan’s wrist shattered in her grasp.

He groaned in pain.

The dagger slipped from his hand and fell uselessly to the ground.

Veyra’s expression twisted with fury.

Her eyes widened, then narrowed to slits.

With a burst of her divine power, she extended her hand and unleashed a wave of force.

Logan was flung across the ground like a rag doll, his body tumbling as he bounced across the packed earth, tearing furrows into the soil.

He came to a stop near the edge of the clearing, coughing as dust and the taste of iron filled his mouth.

The goddess advanced, her steps slow and heavy with wrath.

Each footfall sent faint ripples through the air, bending the light around her.

"How dare you force me to use my precious power," she scolded, her voice trembling with rage. "I will make you suffer for this humiliation."

Logan tried to rise, pushing his hands against the ground.

Chains of radiant light erupted around him in all directions.

The chains spread across his chest, arms, leg’s and throat like coiling around him like serpents, pinning him to the ground.

His muscles strained, but the more he struggled, the tighter the bindings pulled, draining the last of his strength and leeching the warmth from his limbs.

He could only watch helplessly as she knelt down beside him, her words venomous.

"I have changed my mind. I will not kill your wife and child. No... I will make you both suffer for the rest of your lives. Now watch, hero, as I give you one last memory you will never forget."

"No!" Logan screamed, thrashing against the shackles.

His energy was gone, his power fading away into nothingness.

The magic inside him flickered like a dying ember.

"Fine! I’ll go back, just leave them alone!"

The goddess paused, turning her head slowly.

Her lips curved into a cruel smile.

"Now, was that so hard?"

For a fleeting moment, relief crossed Logan’s face, a fragile hope rising in his chest, until her next words pierced him.

"But it’s too late for that now. You both will be punished."

Veyra turned and approached Rina, who still hung in the air, bound in chains of light.

Rina’s breaths came in shallow gasps, her hands trembling as she clutched at the empty air.

Veyra’s hand lifted, as a black ominous looking flame igniting in her palm.

The flame burned without heat or smoke, its surface twisting like liquid ink.

Strange runes floated around the flame, glowing with sinister light, circling it like tiny, waiting jaws.

As the dark flame floated in her hand, she leaned in close and whispered into Rina’s ear.

"Fear not, my child. I have changed my mind. I shall not punish you for tainting yourself with a human and creating a monster. Instead, I think it only fitting that I pass your punishment to your unborn child. Now... prepare yourself. This might hurt. A lot."

Then, the goddess forced the dark flames into Rina’s belly.

The black fire plunged into her as if her skin were water.

It sank into her body and vanished from sight, leaving no mark on the surface.

A dark aura immediately coiled around Rina, clinging to her like a curse, wrapping around her limbs and stomach like shadowy chains.

Rina screamed, her body convulsing as agony tore through her.

The sound ripped through the clearing, echoing off Yggdrasil’s massive roots.

Blood spilled from her mouth as she coughed violently, crimson streaks seeping from her ears, nose, and eyes.

Her fingers clawed at the air, desperate for something to hold onto.

Her frame twitched uncontrollably, and her eyes rolled back into her head, bloodshot and clouded with pain.

Logan could only watch.

Every nerve in his body burned as if he were the one being cursed, yet the chains refused to yield.

His nails dug into his palms until fresh blood slicked his hands.

Veyra turned her gaze back to Logan.

With a flick of her hand, his restrained body lurched forward, dragged helplessly across the dirt until he stopped at her feet.

She seized him by the hair, forcing his head up until their eyes met.

"Now look. Isn’t this a great memory? I hope you remember it forever. Now... begone from my world."

A portal swirled open beneath Logan, its glow swallowing the ground beneath him.

The air churned with a sickening pull as space twisted open.

The chains of light dragged him downward inch by inch, clinking as they pulled him into the portal.

The world above stretched and warped as the opening widened.

With a snap of her fingers, Veyra released Rina.

The elf collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, her body trembling and broken.

The dark aura still clung to her like oil, slowly seeping beneath her skin.

Then, with a crash, Logan struck earth once more.

The portal spat him out and vanished, leaving only the echo of his fall.

He groaned, lifting his head just enough to see broken concrete beneath his hands and the silhouette of buildings in the distance.

Flickering streetlights cast a sickly glow over shattered roads and silent windows.

The realization cut deep, he was back on Earth.

Cold night air scraped against his throat as he tried to breathe.

The distant wail of a siren echoed somewhere far away, then faded into silence.

Above him, the sky was empty, void of Yggdrasil’s branches and the shimmering leaves that had sheltered him moments before.

Rage boiled over.

He threw back his head and screamed, cursing the gods with every breath until his voice broke into madness.

The sound bounced off walls and empty streets, swallowed by a world that no longer cared.

His fury echoed into the night, but when the rage finally ebbed, grief and sorrow crashed over him in its place.

He thought of Rina’s face, of her pain, of the child now cursed before ever taking its first breath, Princess Sophie, and her mangled body.

Tears welled in his eyes and streamed down his cheeks as his body shook with anguish.

Overcome by both rage and grief, his strength failed him.

Darkness closed in at the edges of his vision as exhaustion claimed him, and he collapsed into silence.