[ OT ] Sunday Free Write : Leave A Story , Leave A Comment - Sea to Shining Sea Edition !

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 *'' There are two forms of corruption, Dieter. Corruption from without, and corruption from within. One caused by power, and one from its absence. Tell me, do you know what it looks like when power corrupts someone. `` * 
 
 Dieter's gaze darkens for a moment, face flickering in the firelight. He shifts slightly, heel dragging almost unnoticeable in the dirt, carving a furrow in the dry soil. His right hand clenches into a fist as the left wraps around the hilt of his saber. His lips turn upwards into a sneer. 
 
 `` I do. I grew up with that man. I despised everything about him.'' 
 
 *'' Oh, is that so? Tell me. What do you hate of him? `` * 
 
 A short bark of laughter from the young man. 
 
 `` Everything!'' Dieter snarls, grey eyes blazing at the rotted titan before him. `` He beat my mother, raped her, tortured innocents, tried to make me into his legacy. He had everything, and he was not content with that. He was a monster. He was murderous, a sadist. I hate everything about my father.'' 
 
 Mordnacht shifts her position, rustling her tattered wings, and running a yellowed claw against her massive snout. She chuckles, that granite scraping on granite sound that sets one's teeth on edge. She sighs, sending a wave of putrid flesh towards Dieter's face. A cloud of flies swarm past and into the night. All this he ignores, a testament to the length of his captivity here. 
 
 *'' As you are so adamant about. Humor me, Lord Dieter. Answer me this, do you know what it looks like when powerlessness corrupts someone? `` * 
 
 Dieter is silent, staring up into those eyes that burn with the blaze of hellfire. A superstitious man might make out the souls of the damn swirling in the endlessly churning inferno. He instead levels his storm grey eyes with hers and says, 
 
 `` I am afraid I do not.'' 
 
 Mordnacht hisses in exasperation. A swish of her shriveled tail knocks an ancient oak aside, sending it careening to the forest floor in a thunderous crash. Her three foot long talons carve great trenches in the earth, each the size of a grave. She leans forward, twenty foot long head mere inches from Dieter's. Bits of rotted flesh cling to her fangs, one piece of entrail dripping onto his boot. He does not notice. 
 
 *'' Of course you do! For the past three years you have seen it! Still yet farther back before you came to this island. You! You and my daughter. Both of you have the stench of corruption on your souls. You were powerless compared to your father. You like to think you fought free of his influence and teachings, but it lingers on you, Lord Dieter. Deep down, in the farthest reaches of your heart it lies like a cancer. You have no idea how close you came to becoming like him. One more year, one more instance of witnessing and following your father's orders, and you would have been indistinguishable from him. Your heart was on the verge of breaking, and still those years of anger and hate taint your soul. `` * 
 
 Dieter bows his head, casting his eyes downward. 
 
 `` So you say. And perhaps you're right, but what about Malvina? How could she be corrupted? There's no way she could b-'' 
 
 *'' Do you not remember how she first treated you!? `` * Mordnacht snarls. *'' My daughter's soul was even blacker than yours! A hundred years. For a hundred years she dwelt in fear and self-guilt, blaming herself for her subjects fate, labeling herself a monster. Tell me, Dieter. Do you believe a century of describing oneself as a terrible beast would do her any good? She is still afraid. Malvina is afraid of losing you. That is why she made you immortal. That is why she tore out your mortality and holds you as her slave yet. She is afraid. `` * 
 
 `` You are wrong, Mordnacht. I am not her slave. I love her willingly and Malvina I.'' 
 
 *'' Do you truly believe that? Test her, ask her to let leave and I guarantee she will throw you in the dungeon. `` * 
 
 Dieter leaps up from his seat, glaring at his mentor. 
 
 `` Never! I will never do anything that would bring her pain. I'd refuse to.'' 
 
 The great beast sighs again, sending forth another wave of rotting smell. 
 
 *'' A tragedy. Both have enslaved one another. You do realize that this path leads to your death? `` * 
 
 `` I have been praying for that day ever since I drew my first breath.'' 
 
 A pleased look graces Mordnacht's decayed head. 
 
 *'' You might make something of yourself yet, Lord Dieter. `` * 
 
 
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 Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. As usual, here are links to my subreddit /r/LovableCoward/ and to my [ Hagedorn Series. ] ( https: //www.reddit.com/r/LovableCoward/comments/371v3a/the_hagedorn_series/ ) Please, enjoy and tell me what you think!
