The End Of Life

His back was drenched in sweat because of the pressure he felt from the two beings in front of him. His body was shaking in fear. He tried to get a good look at both of them as they floated in the distance. 

By one glance he understood they weren't human. They had horns on their forehead. The one on the right had two while the left one had only one. Both of their bodies were purple with lines on them which seemed like cracks, giving out an eerie feeling. The black miasma oozing out of them was the reason for the uneasiness Mark felt. 

Both of them continued to get near as the pressure he felt grew. They stopped a foot away from him and the pressure was too much for him to handle. If he was not forcing himself, then he would have fainted. He was on a very thin thread, hoping that they wouldn't increase the pressure he was already facing. 

The two beings stared right into his eyes, not speaking a word. Their eyes gave off a similar feeling, like the last time he felt it when facing against the three beings. It was like they completely stripped him naked and he could hide nothing from them. 

The one on the left spoke, but Mark could.'t understand one word. It sounded very similar to the previous being's language, making him confused and agitated. They continued to converse peacefully and suddenly turned towards him. Silence took over as they stared at him as if they waited for an answer from him.

Their gaze intensified as the silence prolonged. The right one suddenly got enraged and stepped forward, trying to grab him. Mark felt blood slowly drip from the corners of his lips as he tried to hold back the blood in his mouth. Noticing the blood, the left one immediately stopped his companion and pointed towards Mark. 

His companion nodded and went back to his place. When he did the left one stretched his hands out and Mark felt the surrounding pressure magically disappear. He fell on his knees and coughed out blood. He held his mouth and calmed down a bit. 

He wiped his mouth and stood back normally. He looked at the two beings and before he could say anything the one on the right immediately started talking and waving his hand at him. Mark could not understand what he was blabbering about. After he talked both of them started to stare at him once again, looking for an answer from him. 

Mark slowly pointed at his mouth and shook his head. Trying to show he did not understand their words. Both of them looked at Mark like an idiot, making him frustrated. He once again pointed at them and his mouth, trying to make his point across. As he tried the left one finally understood what he meant and clasped his hand.

He turned to the side and spoke pointing at Mark making his companion also realize the problem. They both suddenly clapped their hands and the left one spoke, "Do you understand now, lowly human?" 

Mark's eyes twitched hearing the last two words. He wanted to refute their way of communicating but he held it back in remembering the pressure he faced only a few minutes before. He could only keep it in and nod.

The right one started to laugh and he once again shouted, "Now that you understand, mongrel. Give us an answer." 

"About what?" 

Before the right one raged on him, the left one said, "Don't mind my younger brother. We asked about the power inside you? How did you get it?" Pointing at him. The elder brother seemed more civilized compared to the younger. 

"Power? What power? I have no such power?" Feeling confused. He didn't have any powers. He was utterly confused hearing them. 

Scoffing at him, the younger brother shouted, "Don't play games with me, boy. You have the orb inside you. There is no way you don't have any powers. Spit them out. Tell us what they are." As he applied pressure on Mark. 

"What orb? What are you guys talking about? I have no powers in me. You must have mistaken it." He gritted as he fell on his knees. The pressure was too much for his weak body. It was crushing his soul as blood once again made its way to his mouth. 

"Stop." And the pressure vanished, making him puke blood once again. He looked at the elder brother and said, "I really do not know what you people are talking about. You got the wrong person." Taking deep breaths. 

The elder brother said nothing as he continued to observe Mark. He suddenly stretched his hand and said, "Well, looks like you need to feel the thing inside you to accept it." And dark miasma came out of his hand.

It slowly made his way into his abdomen and went inside. Once it did, Mark felt his body pulled apart in two opposite directions as he clutched his stomach and shouted in pain. He felt his stomach being ripped apart as if two forces were fighting inside. 

Seeing his reaction, the elder brother quickly retracted the miasma back. A cloud of darkness slowly exited his stomach and went back to him. Mark felt relief when he removed it. The pain was still there, but it was quickly decreasing. He looked at him and asked, "What was that? My body was getting ripped apart. Were you trying to kill me?" 

Before he could answer the younger brother scoffed at him and said, "If my brother wanted to kill you, a flick of the finger would be more than enough for you. But brother, it seems like he really has it inside him." Looking at his brother once again. 

He only nodded hearing his brother and said, "This is very troublesome." 

"Brother, shall we just forcefully take it out?" 

He shook his head and said, "No, if we do that then he would die. Those bastards were very careful this time. They linked it with his soul. So forcefully taking it out would damage his soul. This is a problem." 

"Shall we go for another person? There are plenty in this world. I am sure there will be another person." 

Despite his younger brother's suggestion, he shook his head and said, "No, father asked us to grant it only for the most compatible human. So we can't change." 

"Then what do you want to do? We were too late this time. I am sure father will not scold us if we tell him about this." 

The elder brother remained silent despite his brother giving out more ideas and suggestions. After a few more minutes, a smile formed on his face, and said, "I have an idea." The younger brother quickly closed his mouth and looked at him with expectation. 

"Let's keep both of them inside him at the same time." As his smile became colder. The younger brother's eyes shot wide hearing the cruel suggestion.

"Brother, we just saw what happened when both the forces came into contact. The body would not handle it. It would be a waste of an opportunity for us. And also, if a person they gave power to dies, then the consequences are huge. You know the rules." 

"Who says both the powers need to come into contact. We can just keep ours separately within the same body." 

"But what if they come into contact? This human would die immediately." 

"No, they won't. This is why father always says, you need to observe more, instead of jumping to conclusions. If you look closer, even if they found him sooner, they sealed the orb, and it doesn't look like it would open soon. So we can use this and give ours also to him." 

Before his brother could reply to his statement, he continued, "And, if anything unfortunate does happen and both the forces come into contact. Then it is his incompetence to keep them separated. Not our problem." shrugging his shoulders. 

His younger brother could not say anything after that. The elder simply extended his hand and a pitch-black orb formed on top of it. It excluded the same aura as them but in a much-diluted state. He gently pushed the orb, and it flew towards the tired Mark. 

It slowly entered inside him, and Mark braced himself for pain. But it never came. He did not feel any pain like before and he looked at the elder brother in confusion. 

"Don't look confused. This is only a temporary gamble. Eventually, the lock on the other power will loosen or worse break than you have to rely on yourself. The pain would be a hundred times what you experienced just now." with a cold smile as he looked at Mark like he looks at toys. 

Mark's entire body shuddered seeing his smile. He was shocked and also scared as he heard him. Even when the concept of death was interesting and captivating for him, he felt scared when the situation was not in his control. He did not have the power to take out what is inside him. Even if he could, he would feel the pain again.