Impure: Godslayers

The dark streets of Dong city were lit by the dim glow of the paper lanterns which were hung over every street corner. As George stuck his head out of a hole in the ground at corner of the city’s main street, he mulled over the plan that they had agreed on earlier that day.

The three brothers Full, Half and Crescent each raided a city to get sacrifices for their father, at the first of every month. Mang lent the idea that they should abduct the brothers in cites of Lu and Dong, in other to remove all suspicion of their location in Yu. Silence was paramount. This was because Mang had also cautioned that a majority of the sacrifices were voluntary, some mortals believed it was their mandatory duty and would defend their captor with their lives.

“What is taking so long?” Lee said.

George rolled his eyes and dipped back down into the hole.

“Remember be quiet, and follow me,” George whispered haughtily.

“Why can I not lead the attack,” Lee replied.

“Because you cannot tunnel through the ground with a mere thought and you cannot sense the pressure of different footsteps on the ground around you,”

“Oh,” Lee said as he climbed out of the hole with George.

The two boys crept in the shadows as they made their way down the deserted main street. Suddenly they stopped and held their breath as the sound of whimpering and the distinct thudding of a galloping horse, became louder. Further down the street, a bald man on horseback appeared from around the corner. He held a scythe in one hand and a chain in the other, which was connected to a huddle of sobbing girls that trailed behind him.

“Remember the plan?” Lee hissed.

“He has the scythe. It must be Crescent, be careful.”

As they split up, George and Lee nodded at each other before approaching the horse-rider. Lee stepped out of the shadows.

“Another volunteer? Come here let me tie you up boy,” Crescent commanded.

With his head down Lee approached Crescent. When he was several feet away Lee rose his head and his hands burst into flames simultaneously.

“What the-” Crescent said when he saw the flames on the boy’s hand.

However before Crescent could finish his shocked utterance, Lee clapped his hands together over his head. The flare of Lee’s golden flame blinded everyone unlucky enough to have been staring in its direction. Bucking as if maddened, the horse knocked Crescent off its back and galloped blindly down the opposite direction. The flare died down, but its glare had been seen from all around the city. Furthermore the closest group of patrolling soldiers were only round the corner.

“Did you see that?”

“What was that?”

“Let us investigate,”

First to the scene, all that the soldiers found was a crowd of whimpering girls, a large Scythe and a hole on the ground next to it.

Osy flew over the multi-inclined rooftops of Lu city. He became solid and dropped heavily on a rooftop.

“Please Priest Full, have merc-”

The loud thud interrupted the mother’s tearful rant. Full looked up at the nearby roof but saw nothing in the dark night. Scowling suspiciously Full turned back to the weeping woman and snatched away her daughter abrasively. Unbeknownst to Full, as he argued with the mother, Osy was examining him from the rooftop of the neighbouring house. Osy swallowed nervously at the sight of the strange and menacing weapon that Full held in his left hand. It was in the shape of a large lantern, but it most resembled a wide hat with a large depth. The top and the rim were made of iron, and the middle was made of a thick netted fabric. In and around the rim was a stream of long blades. A long chain was attached to the top of the weapon, the length of which hung on Full’s left arm.

“Ungrateful wench,” Full yelled.

In a last desperate effort to save her daughter’s life, the woman fell to the ground and held on to Full’s leg. Full snarled as he kicked the woman off his leg.

“Tzio, the Light of the East causes the sun to rise every day and all he asks is for one mortal life,” Full spat.

“Take my grandfather,” the mother said.

“I have seen enough sun rises, I am willing to be sacrificed in my grand-daughter’s stead,” an elderly man said as he helped the weeping mother up to her feet.

“I shall take both of you,” Full said manically.

As the Priest pulled the old man and his grand-daughter out of the house, Osy leapt down on him. There was a scream and some Lu soldiers came running down the street. They gaped as they saw two ghostly figures soaring away into the night sky.

Full’s unconscious body dropped on the courtyard, and Osy landed right next to him.

“Secure him,” Osy said.

As Lee ran forward with some thick chains, Osy noticed the ruined state of the house. There appeared to be signs of struggle for the gate was smashed off its hinges and the furniture were scattered all around the main building. Mang was sobbing heavily in the courtyard.

“What?” Osy asked.

“Ying… she is gone,” George said

“Oh no,” Osy gasped.

“I went to send the message–the gates…. With neither of you home, no one could stop him from taking her to be sacrificed,”

“Damn it,” Osy cursed loudly.

“I do not see how this affects the plan?” Lee said monotonously.

“You!!” Mang barked in revulsion.

He grabbed a wooden plank and lunged at Lee. However, Osy and George grabbed Mang first and held him back.

“Let the old mortal through. What is he going to do?” Lee scoffed as he checked the restraints on Full’s body.

“Stop it,” George cautioned in a hushed tone.

“What? I have said nothing wrong. Tzio cannot know that we are in anyway affiliated with Ying. So we just send a message to Tzio and wait for his reply begging for his sons to be returned to him. Then we set the meeting time for the evening and fight him at night. With no sun to feed him we will win,”

“……….He is right,” Osy said.

“What?” Mang said as he pulled his arm free of Osy’s grip.

“But she is innocent; you said no mortals would get injured,” George protested in confused tone.

“And she will remain so, as long as we do not raise Tzio’s suspicions,” Osy retorted.

Osy put a hand on Mang’s shoulder.

“Your daughter will be fine, it is nearly daybreak. The gates of all three cities are far away from the temple. The sacrifice will take place long before Half gets back,”

“No, no, no,” Mang deplored anxiously.

“She will be alright. We will release her after all this is over,” George said reassuringly.

“No, no not that. Forgive me please,” Mang begged.

“What now?” Lee said as he rolled his eyes.

“Forgive you for what?” George asked as his brow furrowed with suspicion.

“To combat the spies, the couriers are being monitored by the army,” Mang muttered hoarsely.

“So?” Osy asked.

Suddenly the sound of the synchronised stomping of soldiers caused them to turn round. The soldiers marched into the courtyard, led by a man on horseback.

“They intercepted the message, they are here,” George said.

In moments they were surrounded by archers on the rooftops and more soldiers in the courtyard. The rider rode around the boys looking at them with scrutiny. He wore extravagant armour and a buffalo hide helmet. He had a thick long sword attached to the side of his saddle.

“Well, well, well, if it is not the god-slayers. All the nights as a child that my grand-mother regaled me with tales of your coming, come to find that you are just children,” the man laughed.

Joined by his men in what turned out to be a brief spell of laughter, the man stroked his long wild beard in hilarity. The laughs soon subsided, and Mang ran forward and dropped to his knees in front of the man’s horse.

“Please my Lord Shen,”

“I have half a mind to take you to Tzio as well,” Warlord Shen barked.

At the sight of the Warlord’s scowl, Mang crawled back, bowing ever lower as he did so.

“Now I have a prize that Tzio cannot refuse. If this does not get the Tzio on my side for the war, I do not know what will. Restrain them and release the high priests,” Shen ordered.

“My lord, there are only three, there should be four god-slayers,” the Captain said.

George, Lee and Osy shared familiar confused looks.

“Who cares whether there are three or four? Get them,” Shen commanded.

“George?” Osy yelled.

“If they resist shoot them,” the Captain shouted at the archers.

The soldiers all advanced, bringing their circle of spears tighter around the boys.

“On it” George said as he raised his hands.

The unwarranted motion caused the archers on the roof tops to fire at the boys. However, four interlocking, high walls erupted from the ground, following the upwards motion of George’s hands. The wall surrounded the boys and Mang, shielding them from the barrage of arrows.

“This is soil. These walls will not hold for long,” George said as some arrowheads protruded from the wall.

“We need to capture the Warlord and we need to go to the temple…now,” Osy said urgently.

“What, now? But it is only daybreak… if we leave now we will be there in the afternoon,” George protested indignantly.

“Yes, a fair fight,” Lee laughed.

“Shut up, you crazy bastard,” George snapped indignantly over the sound of another volley of arrows hitting the other side of walls.

Despite his smile Lee was rather shocked at George’s response, for George was ever complacent and rarely got angry.

“We do not have a choice,” Osy said with gritted teeth.

“It was you who said it would be suicidal to face Tzio in the daytime. Suicidal…Osy that was what you said,” George admonished.

“I know but this is the only way...” Osy exclaimed back in George’s face.

As George flinched with a scowl, Osy immediately regretted his harsh response. He paused and exhaled heavily.

“We do not have a choice….Are you with us?” Osy stated calmly.

“Like you said, we do not have a choice,” George grumbled.

“And you?”

“Oh yes brother,” Lee said with his angulated brows and an eager smile on his face.

Osy shook his head and George sighed resentfully.

“George, quake time,” Osy said.

“Great now I am going to have a headache,” George groaned.

He crouched and slapped his left hand on the soil. Violent tremors coursed through the ground, like ripples on water. Meanwhile Osy became a wraith and flew through the wall.

“Alright bring the walls down,” Osy yelled.

George raised his hands and the walls toppled to the ground, revealing the utterly demolished house. The tremors were so severe that all the soldiers were either crushed or knocked off their feet. It was only Shen who remained on his horse, with a sword held to his throat by none other than Osy.

“Sorry for the house Mang,” George said as he clutched his forehead in pain.

“Sorry for my betrayal,” Mang replied.

Avida lay in the bath on one of the high levels of the temple. The opposing effects of heat from the morning sun and the cold bath water had her floating in a cloud of serenity. Suddenly Avida’s tranquillity was disrupted by the distant sound of angry yelling. She understood that the only person who would dare raise their voice at such a volume would have to be its benefactor. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, as she motioned for a priest to hand her a cloth. Avida was in the process of wrapping the cloth around her body as she stepped out of the bath, when the doors of the bath chamber were smashed off their hinges. Tzio stormed into the room, his huge shoulders heaved up and down as he breathed heavily in frustration.

“You wench… I offer you my protection, only for you to stab me in the back?” Tzio bellowed.

“I do not know what you are talking ab-”

However before she could complete her statement, Tzio stepped close to her, causing Avida to grow cautious.

“Your accomplices have captured two of my sons, but they will not be successful. As I speak, the Warlord of Dong city is leading an army to engage them,”

“My accomplices? What these so called god-slayers are here. Let me clear this up allow me to stand by your-”

Avida did not even see Tzio move, one second she was speaking, the next she was hanging in the air with Tzio’s hand wrapped firmly around her throat. Tzio watched momentarily as Avida desperately choked out some inaudible words, before he threw her into the nearby wall.

“And to think, I went against my siblings for you,” Tzio said as he stood over Avida’s unconscious body.