Impure: Godslayers

Ellenia was smaller than its neighbouring states, however on this day it was bizarrely over populated. The sparsely populated villages around the capital were unusually crowded with foreign armies. Yet these soldiers were not hostile, for they camped by the thousands and socialised plus traded with the locals. Nevertheless the peaceful atmosphere was summarily interrupted by the formation of dust clouds to the southern borders of Ellenia. At first the alarm was raised but it was soon stopped as the panic morphed into curiosity. The strange army trudged in a slow procession from the desert.

The army advancement was too slow for it to be an attack, so the Ellenians

sent scouts on horseback to assess the army. Half of the scouts returned they divulged that the force comprised of soldiers from the three cities in the desert. Meanwhile the other half led the army into Ellenian territory. They were led through the countryside and villages till they reached the city. Whole areas of encampment and market were smashed out of the way as a path was cleared through the city for the strange army.

King Nilas nodded at a soldier who had just whispered in his ear. Subsequently he addressed the various leaders in the palace hall, who were sat with their subjects and associates.

“There was a false alarm raised early in the morning on my borders. It seems we may have some more allies from the most unlikely origin,” Nilas pronounced.

“Welcomed news, perhaps they can make up for the few Amoro soldiers that we have,” Aldur exclaimed impishly.

Except for the small clutch of Amoroans, everyone in the hall burst out laughing. Even Ning, the young Warlord of Lu city, joined the laughter as soon as Warlord Shen translated King Aldur’s pun into another tongue.

General Obbo slammed a fist on the table.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

The hall became silent as Obbo’s gruff voice echoed loudly.

“I am sure Aldur meant nothing by it,” King Nilas said.

However his efforts to calm the tense atmosphere, was frustrated by King Aldur.

“From every corner of the known world, every leader has brought forth at least two thousand fighting men to support the demi-gods. The Amoroan King brings only a hundred. So no I meant nothing by it, much like what Ugo brought with him. Nothing,” Aldur berated loudly.

“You-” Obbo yelled as he smacked his goblet off the table and stood up.

However he instantly fell silent when his younger brother placed a hand on his arm. As Obbo sat back down, King Ugo picked another goblet and poured in some wine from a nearby jug.

“Many of the regions in the southern part of this continent, do not accept the god-slayers, neither have they made peace with my people. I had to leave enough soldiers to protect my lands,” Ugo said as he placed the filled goblet in front of Obbo.

“An immortal slew most of my fighting men, so I sailed to the western mainland and told the barbarians about the demi-gods who freed them from the yolk of Precipia. Now we stand two thousand strong with soldiers hailing from Brixa, Vlance and Gothos. Six thousand hail from the east. Even King Nilas allied with his aggressors and raised an army of four thousand,”

Everyone mentioned by King Aldur, cheered successively and banged on their table in support. However, King Ugo and the couple of Amoroan officers that sat beside him remained silent. When the raucous had subsided, King Ugo stood up.

“You Freydalis how many battles have you fought?” Ugo said calmly.

He pointed at the Jarl, who was sat beside King Aldur.

“…Three,” Kilowulf said through gritted teeth.

“Three… big number,” Ugo laughed gently with sarcastic undertone.

King Aldur looked at Kilowulf with disgust as Ugo’s lone laughter echoed through the hall.

“You Gothosan, how many battles have you fought?” Ugo said as he pointed at a scantily clad, blue faced man.

“Eight maybe nine,” the painted-face man slurred with a gruff tone.

“Maybe nine...mm” Ugo lamented sardonically.

He looked around to another one of the men that King Aldur had boasted as his ally.

“You Brixan, how many battles have you fought?” Ugo said as he pointed at the hairless General with a garment made from fox pelts.

The man replied in a coarse, unrefined language, which made his tone sound harsher than it actually was. Ugo looked to Aldur expectantly.

“Around fifty-four,” Aldur said.

“Fifty huh?” Ugo asked with a smirk.

The Brixan General scowled as Aldur translated Ugo’s words.

“Amoroans how many battles have you fought?!!” Ugo roared.

“Three thousand six hundred ...and six!” the two Amoroans officials shouted as they smashed their fists on the table.

“Sometimes quantity is better that quality… this is not one of those times,” Ugo said.

King Nilas guffawed loudly, King Aldur bit down on his teeth, as he contracted the muscles at the sides of his jaw.

“Now we can move on to issues of note,” Nilas said as he struggled to regain his composure.

“Yes, but permit me to ask one more question?” Aldur exclaimed.

The smile suddenly dropped off Nilas’ face, like a rotten fruit off a tree. Reluctantly King Nilas nodded and groaned as he took a swig of his goblet. Aldur raised his drinking horn at Nilas in appreciation.

“How many battles have you fought?”

“Three thousand six hundred ...and six!” the two Amoroans officials shouted and smashed their fists on the table once more.

“No, no, not your soldiers. I meant you young King,” Aldur said with a sagely smile.

“Me?” Ugo asked with a defensively high tone.

“Yes. We are all old leaders here; permit us to re-live our youthful exploits through yours,”

“…One,” Ugo said with incredible unease through his gritted teeth.

“One…mm. Forgive me my kinsmen. Now that I have been properly acquainted with the boy King, we can move on to other issues of note,”

Anyone of the soldiers could have cut the tension in the hall with a swing of their sword.

As a young ruler Ning was livid at the remark, which Shen had just translated in his ear.

“King Nilas,” a soldier yelled as he stormed into the palace hall.

The call of his subject was a welcomed sound for Nilas, for the interruption was as an anodyne to the apprehensive and hostile atmosphere in the hall.

“What is the problem?” Nilas asked.

“They are here,” the soldier said breathlessly.

“Call the demi-gods,”

Osy stood on top the palace roof and lifted the baby up towards the sun. With his eyes clamped firmly shut, the new-born groaned with glee.

“He is handsome,” Osy said.

He grinned, starry eyed at the brown chubby baby.

“He just looks like his father,” Ying said with a weak smile.

“You are too kind. I wish I was there when he was conceived but I am sorry I did not know,” Osy replied.

“It was hard but I prevailed,” Ying said as she leaned on Osy’s shoulder.

“Osy! We must have words, to redress past grievances,” George said menacingly.

Osy turned to find George, Lee, Norton, and Hydro all stood behind him. Sensing their livid mood, Osy handed the baby to Ying.

“You should go join the Warlords” Osy implored suggestively.

“Alright,” Ying said as she cuddled the crying baby.

They all watched Ying as she walked down the stairs that led through the trapdoor on the roof. As soon as Ying was out of earshot, Osy exhaled heavily in preparation for the barrage of questions and insults he was about to receive.

“Before you say anythi-”

Yet Osy was interrupted by the punch that George planted on his face. Osy staggered back wiping his bloodied nose.

“How dare you, who do you, think you are?” George demanded in fury.

“You and your damned plans,” Lee voiced angrily.

“You should not make decisions without consulting the rest of us,” Hydro chimed in.

“We would never have agreed to sacrifice Lasters,” George snapped tearfully.

“And Singe!” Lee bellowed as he pushed Osy.

Osy staggered back till he fell to the ground.

“Grow up Lee, it is a damned animal,” Osy said as he flicked his plaits complacently.

“You heartless bastard! You do not even regret your decision do you?” George demanded as he clenched his fists.

Osy stood up as he massaged his nose.

“It was not my decision to make. Lasters made this plan I simply made sure it worked,” Osy said.

“You expect us to believe that Lasters gave his life. Why would he not tell us?” George snapped.

“Because you would never understand,” Norton said.

“Understand what?” Hydro asked.

George and Lee turned round to look at Norton. He had remained silent for a while, but now that he voiced his opinion, it was not one neither George nor Lee were happy with.

“Osy’s godly feat is not too much unlike mine. He can appreciate that Lasters is not truly alive. He was merely an extension of my life. If I died his life would have been forfeited as well. So he did not sacrifice his life, what he did is the equivalent of a coyote gnawing off its own limb so that the whole may live,” Norton said.

“The problem is not Lasters or Singe. That is the past. The problem is Osy withholding information from us. He did it before and we nearly met our end at Drazo’s hands when Avida reneged on her allegiance to us,” Lee retorted caustically.

The bitter memory of his torture returned to him as he massaged his arm with a distraught look on his face.

“My name is Hydro, and I came through at the end did I not?” Hydro asked tetchily.

“Oh you remembered that we are your true family and this initiated your epiphany?” Lee asked mockingly.

“Drazo came to a gory end at my will, did he not?”

“Well Shadro will not fall so easily; it will take everything we have. That is why I had to free Norton ….when and how I did,” Osy said.

He spoke with unusual calmness, for someone who had just being abused.

“By yourself while you sent us off on a long quest to gather mortals support,” Lee scolded.

“Yes if we were all here, we would have probably freed Norton without losing any lives,” George chimed in viciously.

“Norton tell them about Shadro. My words fall to their ears without conviction,” Osy huffed.

“Shadro is the greatest of his siblings. I do not know how strong you all have become and I am in no position to judge. I mean I thought you unfit and you have slain several demi-gods. Nevertheless to measure his might, based on your past triumphs would be folly. Shadro is the living shadow, able to reconstitute himself from any darkness. They are also his doorways for almost instantaneous transportation. He is close to omnipresent. He could be eavesdropping on this very conversation right now,”

The demi-gods all looked to their shadows warily, as Norton spoke.

“This why, I tried to keep you hidden till the opportune time. But you did not listen. As for Osy’s action…. sending you three away and using Lasters and Singe as decoys was a desperate but adequate measure,”

“So you are defending him?” George asked.

“I am not defending him! But without pardoning or castigating, I understand,” Norton reprimanded.

Lee opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by an Ellenian soldier, who came sprinting up to the roof.

“Please god-slayers, we …have emissaries from the cities in the desert,”

The majestic trumpets sounded as the procession of desert dwellers reached the front of the Ellenian palace. The demi-gods were stood on the hill in front of the palace gates. All the soldiers and Ellenian countrymen were in awe of the strangers.

Leading the procession, were three individuals as similar as they were different. The first was a middle aged man, who was now dismounting his chariot. He wore leather sandals and a linen cloth around his waist. On his head was a brown head cloth, which flapped down to his neck and there was a strip of leather fixing it to his forehead. In addition, the golden bangle around his bicep shone brilliantly against his dark brown skin.

Summarily, he was joined by an elderly man, who had swiftly dismounted an elaborately decorated elephant. The man was rather sophisticated. He had a short wide groomed beard, hanging below his long curved moustache. He also had a long silk garment and brown boots. The old man adjusted his huge white turban and looked impatiently at the third figure coming to join them.

The young lady was assisted off the canopied carrier, which was mounted on two camels. The glare of the sun against her bald head and the shimmers of her blue eyes, such a beautiful face drew all eyes to it. She was bare footed, although the magnificent jewel encrusted anklets she wore looked more valuable than any shoe ever made. She wore a two-piece outfit that looked rather like two large bandages had been wrapped around her body. When she had reached her companions, they nodded at each other before simultaneously falling to a knee. It was a sight to behold as the entire procession, which stretched on for a mile followed suit. Even those who were riding either dismounted and bent a knee, or compelled their mounts to bend low on their forelegs.

“There is no need for that,” Osy said with a bashful smile.

“If they bow to Shadro then they can bow to us,” Hydro said tetchily.

Osy turned to Hydro, who ignored his hard gaze. He was about to retort, however Osy was interrupted by George.

“You no longer speak for us Osy!” George snapped as he crossed his arms.

Hydro and Lee looked to Osy with the same resentful scowl. Osy sniffed arrogantly as he took a step back, so that he was slightly behind the other demigods.

Subsequently, Norton beckoned at Osy. He was stood several paces away with King Aldur and other rulers whispering in a huddle. The desert dwellers returned to their feet.

“It is a glorious day for we set eyes on the god-slayers”

“What are you doing here?” George asked.

The middle aged man, who had spoken, was shocked by George’s reproachful response and looked to his companions before replying.

“We heard of your triumphs and elected to aid you against Shadro. Long have we lived under hi-”

“So let me get this straight, an entire city that has long worshipped Shadro suddenly decides to turn against him,” Lee interjected with a sceptic undertone as he crossed his arms.

“Peoples from not one, but all three cities of like mind…”

The words of the middle-aged man did not seem to quell the reproachful attitude of the three demi-gods. There was a chilling silence as the Ellenian and allied soldiers brandished their weapons. Their distrust of the dark toned strangers increased.

“My name is Ket; I am the leader of Hep city. This is Sinbell leader of Abu-Sy city,” the middle aged man said as he pointed to the elderly man.

Sinbell held on to his turban as he bowed low.

“And this is Nisis, leader of Thyst city,” Ket said.

Subsequently the bald headed lady smiled and nodded.

“I thought Shadro was the only ruler in the desert,” George said.

“Some of us do not recognise the Shadow King in secret. Only mortals should rule mortals. So we voted for our leaders,” Ket explained.

“Three leaders?” Lee scoffed in ridicule.

“Once the leader of each city is chosen, we decided who the authority amongst us would be and I received the most votes,”

“Not a King, but an authority, chosen without any bloodshed? That is very good mortal…too good. And If it looks too good to be true, that is because it usually is,” George quizzed distrustfully.

“How do we know this is not a ploy engineered by Shadro himself?” Lee demanded as his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“We risked everything in coming here. The foreign traders often told us of how fortunate we were, not to be compelled to make mass sacrifices, like the other gods demanded,” Ket began.

He exhaled heavily and walked up the hill that the derelict palace gateway was built on. When he was on the peak of the hill Ket turned to address the masses, with the demi-gods stood by him.

“In their eyes Shadro was the greatest of the gods, for not demanding sacrifices. His one imperative was that all the undesirables of our societies would be killed at birth. Our cities flourish without crime, wars or the encumbrance of the ill, deviant or diseased. We are a perfect society, without brothers, sisters, and fathers and mothers… a perfect society for an imperfect people…….. But Shadro forgot imperfection that is what makes us mortal. Our lives are a mere flicker compared to the raging fire of a god or the steady blaze of an immortal. So what right does Shadro have to take away the struggles, the bumps and bruises that we may gain on our paths to love, desire and the many pleasures that life has to offer? No the god Shadro may not have taken our lives but he claimed our souls a long time ago. So accuse us of sedition, call us betrayers…. but never question our hate for Shadro!”

The procession of desert dweller began to cheer loudly. Even the Ellenian citizens and some the allied armies joined in approval.

“The mortal wields words as you use fire,” George whispered as he looked around at the cheering masses.

“I but hope he does so with good intent, because his words shall do little against my burning flames,” Lee murmured threateningly as he looked at Ket.

“Please three of you come in, we shall have words. I am sure that the Ellenian citizens will see your people, to equal necessities as they have to everyone else,” George proclaimed loudly.

Meanwhile King Nilas turned to his son.

“Saturn, see that the desert folk are fed and traded with,” Nilas instructed as he observed the three leaders from the desert.

Nisis was conversing with Lee, who had taken it on himself to help her up the hill.

“We would love a first-hand account of Shadro’s might,” Lee said.

Although interested, Nisis was confused by the smile on Lee’s face, which misrepresented the severity of the discussion.

Meanwhile Hydro sighed when she saw Nisis’ blushing smiled. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eyes, Hydro caught sight of an elegantly moving shadow.

“So how many of you are there?” King Nilas asked.

“Eight thousand women and infants, seventeen thousand boys and men all willing and able to hold a sword,” Sinbell replied.

“And our ranks swell, now we have a resistance army,”

Whilst the leaders and rulers milled into the palace, Hydro strode towards the shadow of a hand that beckoned her forward. She could just see the shadow amidst the crowd, behind an isolated fruit stall at a market just outside the palace grounds. Seemingly out of nowhere, Norton stepped in front of Hydro causing her to gasp loudly.

“It is only you. I told you earlier there is no need for further apology. My mother fell behind and into Drazo’s hands but the other mothers were also important…I know,” Hydro said.

“Before you do something we will all regret, there is something you should know,” Norton said calmly.

Hydro, who was looking behind Norton, for the shadow which had now disappeared, gasped once more.

“W-what?”

“Please… do not insult my intelligence. I was his captive, I know the way Shadro operates,” Norton droned with a stone-faced expression.

The look on Hydro’s face darkened as the muscles around her furrowed brows bulged angrily.

“What now?” Hydro muttered in a dangerous growling tone.

“I shall not tell them… They will make a hasty decision, one which will prove costly. You see they do not know how much they need you and I do not think you know how much you need them,”

Hydro eyes narrowed in confusion as Norton spoke.

“Osy is the most evasive, Lee is the most powerful, George has the best defence…yet without you they are three odd pieces. You, whose godly feat is so malleable, once you fully realise your potential you can make them a cohesive team. You are more powerful together,” Norton explained.

“So you keep the secret of my wavering allegiance, based on a theory that I may make them stronger… now who is insulting whose intelligence,” Hydro laughed in disbelief.

Norton broke a smile.

“Clever girl, yes my silence will come at a price,”

“What do you want old man?” Hydro sighed.

“Nothing from you. I require the aid of your lover….the boy king,”