Impure: Godslayers

Of the three cities that surrounded the Temple of Life and Death, Ellenia was the closest. Even the architecture of the temple seemed to be influenced by Ellenian architecture. Yet that was in design alone, for no structure in the primitive city was so grand in scale. To the mortals that journeyed here, the temple seemed to be built by the very gods it housed. Two twelve feet tall statues were sat with their backs rested on either side of the temple. One of the statues was chiselled from a dark rock and in the likeness of a gaunt faced, long-haired man. The other was crafted from a lighter rock, and was that of a wide eyed, innocent looking girl. Around the temple were towers that stood twenty feet tall. The shafts of the towers were thin, just enough to enclose the winding staircase, whereas the tops were wide.

The girl leaned over the ledge of the room at the top of a tower.

“Avida,”

The girl remained still. Deep in thought as she gazed absentmindedly at the profile of her statue, Avida did not realise that she was being called.

“Sister!”

Avida screamed and nearly fell over ledge as a slimy tongue ran up her neck. She held on to the stone balustrade and breathed heavily as the girl that was licking her, was pulled away by a man.

“Now Diantha, you know better than to try and feed on our sister,”

Even as she inched away, the girl was gnashing at Avida like a rabid dog.

“But she smells so good Macius. I cannot take it any longer,” Diantha snarled.

“You would do well to control yourself. You have barely healed from when last father reprimanded you for biting sister,” Macius replied.

His words seemed to calm Diantha down as she shrugged his hand off her shoulder. Although they referred to her as their sister, Diantha and Macius could not be more unlike Avida. She had tanned olive skin and oily long black hair that was archetypal of the mortals in the three cities around the temple. Avida also had a slender build and an attractive face that was only accentuated more by her hair width thin eyebrows. Macius and Diantha on the other hand were more crudely formed. Macius was bald and Diantha’s hair was rough and short, their fingernails were sharp and claw-like. Their skins were deathly pale, like that of a fresh corpse, and their eyes sunken. They both had distinctively sharp teeth, especially their canines. The sharp teeth were revealed every time they smiled or spoke, making them seem like snarling wolves. The three individuals were all richly dressed, with Diantha and Avida wearing silk outfits that were wrapped tightly around their waists and chests. Macius wore a long black tunic that hung over his sandals.

“Why all this commotion,”

The same slithery voice that seemed to cause Diantha and Macius to gasp in fear, brought a warm smile to Avida’s face. They both watched silently as Avida ran towards the man who had just entered the room from the stairs below.

“Father, what took you so long?”

Avida and her father were locked in a tight embrace for a moment, before he withdrew from her.

“Urgent prayers from the Nomean and Aculean Kings… and I had to see my brother Shadro. Is everything alright my child?”

Although they all had brown eyes, only Avida and her father had pale gold sclera. Contrariwise, that was where their similarities ended. This was because he shared the same exterior features as Diantha and Macius; the same deathly pale skin, hollow eyes and sharp teeth.

“What is wrong child?”

“Nothing father, it is alright,”

Diantha and Macius backed away and hissed at their father as he scowled at them.

“Father, it was nothing,” Avida pleaded.

Reluctantly he allowed Avida to pull him back as he glowered at the two.

“It is merely moments till daybreak, come my child I must feed and retire,”

“Alright father,” Avida said.

Although she had a genuine smile on her face, she could not hide the tone of discomfort in her voice.

She winced slightly as her father wrapped his claws around her outstretched arm. He opened his jaw as wide as possible and beyond that. Diantha and Macius licked their teeth with envy as the sound of their father’s jaws dislocating, filled the air. The last thing Avida saw before she shut her eyes and braced herself was the thick saliva dripping from her father’s teeth.

“Row, damn you, row,”

The voice careened over the cold still sea, and so did the distinct crack of a whip. The rowers cursed and spat as the ship finally hit the icy shores. They looked like desert dwellers and were unprepared for a voyage to such a wintry destination. Their brows and shoulders were covered in snow. So was their brown head cloths, which was held to their foreheads with a strip of leather. Bare-chested, they wore nothing but travelling cloaks; knee length linen garments around their waists and leather sandals.

“Ready yourselves,” the soldier in the middle of the deck yelled.

He nodded to the three hooded figures next to him as he rolled up his whip. The hooded figure in the middle stepped forward and nodded back, before falling to his knees.

“Great Shadro, hear my prayers. Your priests calls upon you,”

Almost immediately the faint shadow of the mast that was cast on deck by the sunless sky began to shudder. The shadow expanded into a black circle and a shadowy form reached out. The shadow reached off the deck to form an opaque black hand that rose in the air. An arm and body swiftly followed until a black figure appeared, levitating several feet off the boat. As the figure rose its head up and opened his eyes, revealing his faint gold sclera, all on the boat fell to one knee.

“My god Shadro,”

Although they called him a god, Shadro looked exactly like his mortal subjects. Except for his divine eyes, he had an impressively statuesque physique. His skin was as black as the shadow that he had transmitted through. Shadro looked like a living breathing shadow, so much so that from a certain distance, it seemed as though he was absorbing the light around him. He wore nothing but a white knee length garment around his waist and sandals which stemmed up to his shin.

“This is where we lost sight of the glass man,” the priest said.

When Shadro spoke, it was as though ten men were speaking with one accord.

“They are here. I can sense my sons….and three others? Interesting, find the glass man then you will find them,” Shadro growled.

His voice echoed eerily over the still sea. Instantly the Captain cracked his whip and began barking orders at the soldiers on the ship, who grabbed their spears. Wrapping their cloaks around their bodies, they marched out on the barren icy wasteland.

“Here Singe! No, here,”

Lee and Singe hopped around the large tent playfully. The tent was spacious for it contained a wooden table and chair, a bed and a large wooden frame mirror. George peeked over the edge of the scroll to where Lee was wrestling with Singe. As he attempted to wrest the red monkey off his shoulder, Lee fell against the side of the tent causing it to shake.

“I am sure you have better things to do than playing with that damned monkey,” George said.

“What?” Lee retorted.

He and Singe looked at each other and then back at George, who went back to reading the scroll. Lee tapped Singe and motioned his head towards George. The boy and his monkey smiled mischievously and began to creep towards George.

“I would not advice that,”

The troublesome companions stopped their sneaky skulk towards George and sighed loudly. They both looked towards the egress of the tent, where Osy was stood.

“Why ruin our fun huh?” Lee moaned.

Meanwhile Singe tapped Lee’s forehead with a tiny finger and squeaked excitedly towards George. Wide-eyed, Lee shook his head aggressively; causing Singe to grunt and jump about madly.

“The warning horn has been blown for the first time since our birth, are you not even slightly anxious?” Osy said as he pet a horse.

The curious creature had strayed away from the stables on the opposite side of the fort, and stuck its head into the tent.

“Please…if you are right, for over thirty years no alarm has been raised. We are complete isolated from the outside worl-”

Lee was interrupted by a loud smash that spooked the horse and sent it galloping off apprehensively. Osy turned round to find a shocking sight before him. Everyone else was also awestruck by the sight. Laid on the grass in front of the mirror, was a being. The being had the shape of a lean hairless man, yet its skin was of the same texture as the mirror. A whole section of his entire body was missing. He had only one leg and two-thirds of his torso. Singe smiled toothily and hopped forward looking inquisitively at his distorted reflection on the being’s skin. He rocked his little head to the side and stepped forward, only to yelp in pain. Lee caught Singe out of the air and proceeded to get the piece of glass out of the whimpering monkey’s foot. Meanwhile George and Osy stepped closer to the being. As soon as the first of the broken glass cracked and crumbled beneath their feet, the being raised its head and gasped loudly. Everyone took a step back in shock, and Singe began to scream loudly.

“What is going on in-”

Norton words cut short as he rushed into the tent and saw the being on the ground.

“Lasters!” Norton exclaimed.

“Norton,”

The three boys looked at each other in abashment.

“Lasters?” Lee asked in a confounded tone.

“Lasters, I have you old friend,” Norton exclaimed as he rushed over.

He supported the being, paying no attention to the sharp glass digging into his flesh at the shattered side of its body, or to the totally gobsmacked expression of Lee, George and Osy.

“Who is this? Did he just come out of the mirror?” George quizzed.

Norton ignored him, carrying the limping being out of the room.

“Norton!” Lee and George exclaimed in unison.

They looked in shock at each other, and then gave an identical scowl of disgust before turning back to Norton.

“Do not worry I will explain everything later,”

As Norton spoke, he stared meaningfully at Osy. Subsequently he exited the tent hurriedly with Lasters.

“A strange man made of …mirror drops out of the mirror and yet he gives us no answers. He leaves us here awash with unanswered questions,” George moaned loudly.

“Even I agree with him. We must speak with one voice and demand answers,” Lee said.

Osy ran his fingers through his plaits thoughtfully before replying.

“No more questions. It is time we found out the answers for ourselves” Osy said definitively.