Impure: Godslayers

The buzzards and vultures circled the sky above the heart of the great desert. Usually these scavengers would attack each other over a dying animal or any other potential meal, yet today was different. The number of potential meals was staggering. To the south was an army of fifty-three thousand comprising of charioteers, archers and spearmen. An army of twenty-nine thousand stopped their march in the north. There was a wider variety of units and races in this army than the southern, but this did not matter for in the end they were all just different variety of meat. The scavenger birds squawked and cawed impatiently. This was because it became clear that the battle, and therefore their banquet, was going to be delayed. Five figures stood conversing in the expanse between both armies.

“I see you have new attires,” Shadro said.

He stood with the godly weapons sticking out of the sands in front of him, sneering at the young demi-gods’ attires. They stood several paces away from Shadro. They all wore fitted amour, which comprised of a cuirass and a knee length garment around their waists. They also wore new sandals and leather wristbands, which had a red coloured frame, the colour of the Ellenian army. They ogled the godly weapons, all except for Hydro who had a dagger of her own.

“A gift from the Ellenian King no doubt. He shall suffer…. We are demi-gods you do not need mortal engineering. These armours will prove to be as useless, as your efforts to end my reign,” Shadro laughed in many voices.

“We proved quite useful against your siblings or have you not noticed that you are all alone?” Lee said with a smirk.

“Well if it is not the hothead…. Listen boy, my siblings mistook their immortality for invulnerability. I am both, a true god,” Shadro snapped.

“You and your siblings were playing gods, when you were nothing more than the purveyors of life and death,” Osy shouted.

“Words of irony for one whose godly feat gives him power over life… and death,”

Osy frowned with anxiety as he pursed his lips.

“Yes I know of you, I know about all of you….. The one that generates fire, the ground shaker and my niece… I see you chose your…. other family,” Shadro said scornfully.

“I have but one,” Hydro retorted modestly.

“Osy is it? Look around we are but few demi-gods left, we should unite and rule the mortals together,” Shadro said as gestured towards the surrounding armies.

“He no longer speaks for us. And we will never join evil,” George exclaimed.

Despite the heat of the desert sun, the mortal armies broke out in cold sweats as Shadro laughed with a myriad of voices that echoed around the expanse of the desert.

“The gods left a long time ago. You are no god, just partially immortal and invulnerable… just like us,” Lee said.

“You are a demi-god desperately and unnecessarily trying to fill up a vacuum left by gods. And now you stand alone,” Osy yelled disparagingly.

This statement seemed to strike a nerve, for Shadro instantly stopped laughing.

“Yes we are but pale reflections of our predecessors and the mortals see it. We either rule them or they destroy us. I am not evil. I am a survivor,” Shadro snarled.

His many voices cascaded like the barks of a pack of rabid dogs.

“Well, let us see if you can survive us,” Lee growled threateningly.

“Fools! I and my siblings were only trying to slay you because of the prophecy, the same one that your beloved Norton admitted to perpetrating. We are not our fathers; we are not destined to be foes. Our true enemies surround us,” Shadro said.

For a moment the demi-gods looked at each other askance at Shadro’s cryptic words.

“The mortals outnumber us a hundred thousand to one. It is only a matter of time before they wipe us out. Look at us, five demigods left, and a handful of immortals. What ...Norton, Osy’s son and hot head over there has impregnated several mortal women? But the immortals are weaker than us,” Shadro said.

“You expect us to believe you and your siblings acted as gods over the mortals to protect yourselves?” Osy asked with an awkward tone.

“You were not even born when my father was slain and your fathers’ ascended. You do not know what it was like? I expect you to believe we started to lord over the mortals to protect ourselves. You have lived amongst them you see what they are like, how unreasonable and quick to fear and hatred they are.… We have a chance to maintain our bloodlines, you should let me mate with Hydro,”

“You pig! You foul mouthed. Now that you are outnumbered you start to make excuses for your evil ways,” George countered indignantly.

“If you feel so passionately about purifying the immortal bloodlines, why did you not do something before?” Osy asked.

“Osy shut your mouth, time for talking has passed. Now we slay him,” George snarled.

“Then what? Ah Then what? You let the mortals multiply…unchecked. And they will still praise you for slaying me. Their children will be grateful, but then their grandchildren begin to wonder why you are so powerful. And their descendants finally pluck up the courage to question your might. Then tales of your generosity get lost through the ages and all they see is your power. By which time you will be older than I am now, past your prime. And your descendants- Immortals, with their blood too impure will be too weak to protect you or them-selves. You will probably open the ground and bury a thousand mortals, burn a few thousand to ashes, drain the lives of a few thousand more….but what about the hundreds of thousand that remain. And what of you Hydro, what will you do when this happens, when you are not close to any water. In fact what do you plan to do now?” Shadro questioned in ridicule.

He laughed as he looked around the dry desert.

“Surely you understand you cannot lay a finger on me, much less-”

“We will burn you, rip the fluids from your flesh, drain the life from your body and crush you with the very ground that you stand on, until you fall, never to rise again,” George yelled threateningly.

“Wait, what kind of plan is that? I warned you, we are not his match. He may as well be indestructible,” Osy asked in shock.

“Shut your mouth Osy,” Lee snapped.

Osy ignored him and stepped forward.

“People of the great desert, our fight is not with you. Let us face Shadro you do not have to interfere; no mortal blood has to be spilt!” Osy exclaimed at the top of his lungs.

“I said silence Osy, you will know your place,” George shouted.

He took a step towards Osy. George glowered at Osy with violent intent.

“I really should step back and let you destroy yourselves…. But, just to hasten the act,” Shadro sighed.

He stretched his hand out to one of the godly weapons, but seemed to change his mind as he withdrew it.

“You did not claim the Omni-Sabre after Drazo fell. Why?”

The demi-gods looked in confusion for a moment, bringing Shadro to the realisation that they had no idea what he was talking about.

“Well I reclaimed it. These weapons have seen enough godly blood… besides I want to feel the life leave your eyes as I choke each and every one of you,” Shadro said as he waved a hand high up in the air.

“By Shadro, Kill them all!!!!” the general of Shadro’s army yelled.

As Shadro’s army charged forward from the south, the resistance army also began their attack to meet them.

Meanwhile, the four demi-gods were frozen with fear. They watched gormlessly as their shadows climbed out of the ground. Although the shadows were mirror images of the four demi-gods, they were also similar to Shadro. Their skin tones were not black as in the definite colour, but a hazy black shade like the absence of light. Even their armours were of the same colour. The four demi-gods backed away simultaneously as their Shadow Doppelgangers grinned maliciously. The whites of their teeth and the faint gold glow of their sclera against their shadowy bodies was an eerie sight.

“Was this part of your plan?” Osy voiced sarcastically, over the sound of clashing swords and battle cries.

George grunted indignantly as he held the small piece of diamond on his necklace. Subsequently his body was covered by a formation of diamonds.

As the frontline of the armies collided around the demigods, George, Lee, Osy and Hydro found themselves enclosed in one area. They were trapped with their Shadow Doppelgangers.

Shadow-Lee jetted towards them and tackled the real Lee. Both bodies rolled back on the sands and there was explosion of black flames as the air was filled with the screams of burning soldiers.

“And so we begin,” Shadro said.

Similar to the scavengers above, Shadro watched the battle unfold. Even though he was stood right at the frontline, no mortal dared to engage him. They avoided the area of the desert around him and the godly weapons. Shadro smiled, for he saw that their fear of him was greater than their frenzy in battle.

Suddenly a large chariot hurtled through the air and landed on Shadro. The ground shook as the sound of thudding footsteps became louder. Shadro pushed the huge chariot off him with ease and sat up. He straightened his broken neck with minimal effort and showed no sign of pain. He looked in the direction which the chariot had been hurled from. Shadro saw an enormous armoured figure, crushing the desert soldiers in its way. As the bulky behemoth approached, leaving a path of broken bodies in its wake, Shadro levitated off the ground and cocked his head to the side inquisitively. He grinned when he realised the towering figure was not a man but an eight feet tall construct made of iron, with long diamond shards along its knuckles, shoulders and spine. Yet Shadro was more interested in its face. The iron giant’s face was carved in the likeness of Norton.

“Son?” Shadro called out.

Although the face of the iron giant remained still, Norton’s reply could be heard.

“You did not really think I would stand by and let you pick off my children one by one,”

“Do not be foolish, they are not your children you whelp,” Shadro reprimanded as he raised a hand in front of him.

The iron giant’s shadow shuddered momentarily, but that was all. Shadro tensed his hands but once again the shadow of the iron giant merely shuddered. No matter how hard Shadro strained, the shadow would not move. Shadro cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“Destitute effort father, the giant is my construct. You will have no control over its shadow,”

As Norton’s words resounded in his ears, Shadro was plucked out of the air. The iron giant began to smash Shadro into the sands with its thick arms. The apathetic automaton dispensed with Shadro with surprising passion, bludgeoning the demi-god’s body with its hulking forearms. Tremors travelled through the ground as a great dust cloud formed. When the iron giant finally stopped there was a cloud of dust. The dust cloud cleared, revealing Shadro’s broken body which lay in a small crater. Subsequently wisps extended from the closest shadows on the desert.

The tendrils rose from the ground. They rapidly snaked towards Shadro’s corpse and began the reconstitution of several parts of his body which had been crushed to pieces. In a split second Shadro gasped back to life and levitated off the ground, as the web of shadows around him faded.

“Impressive,” Shadro commented with a sinister smile.

Then he dived towards the iron giant. Despite the fact that the iron giant towered over him by more than a foot, Shadro held his own. They were locked in a monolithic struggle.

Meanwhile, the four demi-gods were fighting a losing battle against their shadow selves. George’s diamond body was battered and chipped by the great force of Shadow-George, whose black diamond body proved unrelenting.

Lee was not only injured but he was traumatised. His disbelief at constantly being outdone by his shadow self was only surmounted by his shock. This was because unbelievably, his fire repellent skin was covered with nasty burns, from the shadow flames of his shadow doppelganger.

With no sufficient water source for miles, neither Hydro nor her shadow doppelganger could use their godly feat. They were instead subjected to the schoolgirl tactics of yanking each other’s hair in a chaotic tussle of which Hydro was losing badly.

Meanwhile Shadow-Osy proved to be superior to the original. Osy was subjected to retreating from his opponent, whilst nursing his emaciated left arm, which nearly had all the life drained out of it. He looked around. All his siblings may have been losing the fight against their shadow doppelgangers, but it was the mortal soldiers who were truly suffering. Life draining explosions, ground splitting quakes and fiery bursts from flaming beasts; the fallout from the immortals’ bout was killing the mortal soldiers faster than they could have ever done each other. Osy lost his footing and was about to collapse, yet George ran to his side just in time. George swallowed the thick nut of phlegm in his throat when he saw Osy’s parched bloodied lips and his bone dry arm. Notwithstanding the fact that he was also injured, the severity of Osy’s injury brought George an overwhelming sensation of hopelessness.

“We are undone. We can never beat ourselves,”

George’s hopelessness seemed to breathe life into Osy, whose eyes lit up with renewed zeal.

“No …we cannot. All of you listen to me, we must switch opponents,” Osy yelled.

He pushed George out of the way as Shadow-George hurled a huge boulder towards them. Then Osy assumed his wraith form, allowing the boulder to pass right through him. The soldiers behind him however were not so lucky. Osy hobbled towards Shadow-George, who was charging at him. The demi-god turned into a wraith once more, enabling Shadow-George’s fist to pass straight through him. Subsequently Osy put his hand in his opponent’s chest and became solid. Instantaneously cracks began to appear on Shadow George, as its black diamond body began to collapse on itself. It was as though his life was being absorbed from within. Osy smiled as his skeletal arm became thick with blood, muscle and sinew. By the time all of Osy’s wounds were healed, Shadow George was nothing more than a mass of black cloud that sank into the ground.

The cloud whizzed towards George, and became his shadow, just as he was locked a struggle with Shadow-Osy. With the speed of a hummingbird’s beating wings, Shadow-Osy’s body flickered from solid to ethereal as it evaded George’s strikes and counter-attacked. Subsequently George swiped his hand upwards in the air. This prompted a mass of sand to rise and tear at Shadow Osy’s face, as if it had a mind of its own. As Shadow-Osy spluttered and stumbled wildly, George grabbed its shoulder. Once his target was still, George put his diamond coated arm through its chest. Shadow-Osy’s shoulders slumped low and its body became limp. This was when George through it to the ground. He pummelled it into the sand, with irrational rage, until nothing remained but a black cloud. The cloud settled flat on the ground and wormed towards Osy to form his shadow.

Meanwhile, Lee landed roughly amidst the corpses of fallen soldiers. He looked up at Shadow Lee who was slowly walking towards him. Shadow Lee grinned manically as he was followed by a serpentine dragon, which was formed from what Lee could only describe as black flames. Instead of lighting its surroundings, the black flames seemed to be absorbing all the light around it.

“What you generate … it is like the shadow of fire, it is impossible. That is why it burns me,” Lee gasped in languish.

“Lee help me… let us switch opponents,”

Lee looked glumly at Hydro. She was pinned down with a dagger being force against her cheek, by Shadow Hydro. Yet his melancholy morphed into rage when he turned to see the grin on Shadow Lee’s face once again.

“No,” Lee said calmly.

“Damn it Lee...this is no time for your foolish pride,” Hydro cursed loudly.

As Hydro’s strength began to wane against the might of her shadow counterpart, Lee’s hands bursts into flames.

“This is not a litigious matter. He may control some sort of flame but I am fire,”

As he made this declaration, Lee clapped his hands together, causing the blue and red flames on each hand, to comingle into golden fires. The golden flames engulfed him, spreading around his body like wildfire. Instantly the raging golden flames formed a fifteen feet long serpentine dragon. The golden flame dragon lunged at the Shadow Flame Dragon. After ripping it to shreds the golden flame dragon devoured Shadow Lee with minimal effort. Lee looked on the ground at his shadow being reconstituted and smiled, as the golden flames around him extinguished almost instantly.

Meanwhile Hydro began to black out as Shadow Hydro’s grip around her throat tightened and the tip of the dagger dug deeper into her cheek. Suddenly, a flaming hand burst through Shadow Hydro’s chest. With a scream, the body of the shadow scattered like ashes in the wind. Hydro coughed as a black foggy residue poured over her. When it hit the ground, it formed her shadow.

“Why did you not rip her from the inside out, like you did to Drazo?” Lee asked as the blue flames on his hand extinguished.

Meanwhile Hydro massaged her throat as she caught her breath.

“They may have looked like us, but there was nothing in them. Just a lack of light and strings for Shadro to pull,” Hydro answered.

Well it is fortuitous that she did not rip you from the inside out then” Lee retorted cryptically.

“Impressive!” Shadro shouted.

Lee let his eyes linger on Hydro inquisitively, before turning to Shadro. Shadro held Norton up by his throat as he addressed the four demi-gods.

“It appears my son’s attempt to stymie my efforts, ends now. I shall deal with him later,”

There was a couple of sickening crunches as Norton’s arms were snapped like dry twigs. The four demi-gods gasped in horror as Norton’s body was flung aside. When he fell to the sands, Norton squirmed in vain as his face was being crushed by the weight of Shadro’s foot.

“There is no need for this fight any longer, there is no good, no evil. There is only the scheming of my son,” Shadro said as he looked down at Norton.

The demi-gods were instantly rendered amaurotic to the horrific scenes of the raging battle around them. George, Lee and Osy gawped at each other in disbelief at Shadro’s words.

“Wait Norton is- is you are…”Lee began.

His voice trailed as his face contorted into an expression of utter confusion.

“Son?” George uttered in disbelief.

“What…. I always thought he was…”Osy stuttered thoughtfully.

“You knew,” Lee growled.

George and Osy turned to see Lee pointing an accusing finger at Hydro.

“Drazo told me of Shadro’s treacherous sons,” Hydro said callously.

“And you did not tell us,” George snapped.

“He was as your father, for many years you were isolated from the rest of the world with him. It is your fault if you did not speak of such things,”

“The fact that he is my son means nothing; the fact that he fabricated the prophecy is everything!” Shadro yelled.

“Lies. Do not listen to hi-”

Norton’s words were drowned out by the blood that came flooding out of his mouth. Shadro smiled as he pressed his foot harder on Norton’s collapsing chest.

“He is hurting him, we must stop this,” Hydro yelled furiously.

She turned to the three demi-gods, who seemed to have not heard her words and had the same mortified expression on their faces. George, Lee and Osy felt like their world had been ripped apart.

“No, Norton could not-” Osy breathed in disbelief

“Why would he lie about that?” George asked.

Even Lee was at a loss for words.

“But…all our lives we th- thought that- I mean we only heard of the prophecy when we were off the island but we knew we were being trained for something, we thou-” Lee stammered.

“Thought that what, you were special? That you were somehow different from me? No there is no good, no evil. Just those who want to serve mortals and other who want to be served?” Shadro said contemplatively.

“Shut up and get off him,” Hydro screamed tearfully as she took a step forward.

“There has never been a godly feat of a prophetic or foretelling nature, so where did he get it from?” Shadro shouted complacently.

“What …but why?” George asked with a despondent tone.

“A fabrication of his own mind, one, which the mortals were all too willing to perpetrate. Silly, superstitious bastards. And all to feed his ploy, so that one day you would fight his father for him,” Shadro laughed loudly.

“What are you waiting for, he is killing him!” Hydro yelled tearfully.

Despite Hydro’s loud castigation the three demi-gods stood there with stunned expressions on their faces.

“All our lives…” George breathed as he looked around gormlessly.

“I thought we were special, we always had a purpose,” Osy said as he shook his head in disbelief.

“All those years of training, all that pain. I ought to kill him,” Lee growled tearfully.

Norton coughed uncontrollably as he was choked by blood and sand. This was more than Hydro could bear as she raised her dagger and sprinted towards Shadro. Osy cursed loudly and George trembled traumatically. The tears that streamed down Lee’s cheeks boiled as he gritted his teeth and scowled in anger. He was the first to attack and was followed by his brothers.

True to George’s words, they used all their godly feats against Shadro, but his was greater. No matter how they attacked or what part of his body they damaged, Shadro simply reconstituted himself from the thousands of shadows on the battlefield. This went on and on, until the anger that fuelled the four demi-gods’ drive, was displaced with desperation. The battle against Shadro persisted until finally, several minutes and a thousand mortal lives later, the four demi-gods began to vacillate. Their bravery was replaced with foolhardiness and their awesome might became a mere annoyance to Shadro. All of them had sustained some manner of grievous injury, except Hydro, who only bore injuries previously inflicted by her doppelganger.

At last their energy was spent. They watched hopelessly as a network of shadows centred between the shoulders of Shadro’s headless body. In one last desperate attempt, Lee threw a huge ball of flame at Shadro. There was a blinding glare as Shadro’s corpse was blown apart. Yet as Lee fell, reduced to his knees by fatigue, pieces of Shadro’s body were already being reconstituted back together.

Even as the mortal armies slaughtered each other around them, the four demi gods were incapacitated by fatigue. They were now all knelt or sat on the sands, battered, bleeding and panting heavily. Solemnly they watched as the top half of Shadro’s unconscious body twitched eerily. Several feet away, a section of the lower half of his body was formulated by a web of dark threads leading from every shadow on the sands.

“Damn it we have tried everything,” Lee spat with a raspy tone.

“As long as there are shadows around, he is unstoppable,” Hydro said with a guttered expression.

“Osy… you were right after all, we never stood a chance,”

Despite George’s regretful tone, Osy shook his head and sighed.

“No. I was wrong. He is not indestructible; we just have to take him where there are no shadows,” Osy said.

“What? Where?” George exclaimed.

He watched obtusely as Osy turned into a wraith and jetted towards Shadro. He became solid and landed roughly on the sands. In each hand, Osy grabbed both halves of Shadro’s corpse by their flailing tendrils. Subsequently he assumed his wraith form and flew straight up into the air.

“Where there are no shadows?” Hydro asked.

“In the sky,” Lee breathed as he looks up in wonder.

Neither their ethereal form nor their rising altitude stopped Shadro from healing. Osy looked behind him to see some streaks of shadows trailing after him. He could feel the tendrils in his hands squirm aggressively, as the shadows became flesh and both parts of Shadro’s body began to merge together.

Osy strained as he increased his ascent in the sky, out-pacing the streaks of shadow that rocketed after him. Suddenly Osy gasped in disbelief when he felt Shadro’s mighty grip around his neck. He was used to being untouchable in his wraith form, but Osy had forgotten that he had also made Shadro ethereal, allowing them to have physical contact with each other. Even as he choked Osy, Shadro screamed in agony. It seemed that his withdrawal from the shadows was somehow causing him pain. His skin was literally simmering under the hot sun. As his skin boiled, angry swellings rose all around his body. Osy finally could not hold on any longer and became solid once more. The pain seemed to be more intense in his solid state, because Shadro screamed even louder and released his grip on Osy’s throat. As Osy inhaled the thin air, he realised that he was higher in the sky than he had ever been. Suddenly, like a lit powder keg, Shadro’s body exploded. The explosion was so loud and violent that it could be heard and seen from the ground. It was a distant thundering, yet it was enough to compel some mortal soldiers to stop fighting and look up in the sky.

Saturn sprinted through the battlefield until he reached where the demi-gods were stood.

“Are you alright? Where is Shadro?” Saturn asked, as he helped George back up to his feet.

“Over there?” Hydro shouted as she pointed up in the air.

Everyone in earshot looked up at an object hurtling down from the sky. The demi-gods watched as the object landed at another section of the battlefield. The collision with the ground was enough to stop the battle, as the air was filled with dust for miles. The screams of injured soldiers could be heard at every corner of the desert. The demi-gods pushed their way through the battlefield, followed by the surviving soldiers from both sides. They were all shocked to see a large crater of charred glass filled with injured and dead soldiers.

The battle had all but stopped as everyone ran towards crater. The demi-gods all ran down the crater. All except for Hydro, who remained observant from the rim. With narrowed eyes, for her vision was strained by the dusty air, Hydro looked at the injured figures in the crater. One figure especially caught her attention. He lay groaning not too far from the centre of the crater, and not only did he wear nothing but a loincloth, he had a strange injury. As Hydro followed the other demi-gods, her eyes lingered on the soldier. She realised that a whole portion of his mid-section was missing, yet there was no laceration or scar. If Hydro did not know any better, she would have thought he had been born that way.

“Beyond the clouds, beyond the blue skies…All I could see was the sun and the star-filled void before the heavens. It is always night beyond the clouds, just an expanse of darkness. That…..that is what I see now,”

“Do not speak so Osy. You can make it through this,” George said as he knelt by Osy.

He propped Osy’s head on his thigh and held the stump, all that was left of Osy’s left hand. Osy’s body was horrendously burned and charred. Even his face had been burnt beyond recognition, leaving nothing but meshed damaged skin.

Meanwhile Lee aided Norton as they both knelt next to Osy. Norton’s eyes welled up with tears as he held the lump of flesh that remained of Osy’s torso.

“We did it; nothing remains of Shadro but puddles of ichor along the crater,” Lee said encouragingly to Osy.

He smiled as Osy strained a weak smile.

“You hear that father, Shadro has fallen,” Saturn shouted up at his father.

“Shadro has fallen!” King Nilas shouted, from where he stood at the edge of the crater.

As news travelled around the battlefield, the desert armies began to surrender, throwing their weapons to the ground.

“Now turn into your wraith form, and heal yourself,” Lee said.

Even as he spoke Lee feared the worst, for he had never seen Osy take punishment like this before. His entire body was scorched and from the look of it, only his right arm was not broken.

“Not this time I am afraid. I do not need saving Lee, how can you save me from myself?” Osy asked.

“What?” Lee wheezed in disbelief.

“I must make amends. Where is Hydro?”

“Here,” Hydro said as she walked forward and crouched beside Lee.

Hydro squinted, in an effort to fight back the sea of tears welling in her eyes. She held Osy’s hand, the one that still resembled a hand and not a charred hunk of overcooked meat.

“I am sorry I misjudged you. You proved to be a good ally and… a better sister. You must aid the others in setting affairs right with the mortals. We must treat them fairly; undo the damage that Shadro and his siblings wrought. We must serve them and they will follow us,” Osy said.

“Forget about the mortals. Heal yourself,” Lee begged.

“Now why will I do something so stupid?” Hydro grumbled warningly.

“What?” Lee asked in confusion.

Hydro carried on speaking as though she had not heard Lee.

“Why should we forfeit our rightful position as gods?” Hydro asked.

“Because, we are not gods…. We are demi-gods and more importantly we are not Shadro and his siblings. We are better than that,” Osy said hoarsely.

“She is not,” Norton said with an ominous undertone.

“With my godly feats…my powers, I am a goddess to these mortals. You were right about me. I am a pampered little terror who was abandoned by her true family and used by a demon, who she thought, was her father. The only positive in my life, ev– ever was being worshipped like a goddess,”

George and Lee gawped in confusion as they watched the expression on Hydro’s face growing more and more sadistic with every word she spoke.

“And anybody who stood in my way has fallen! First my sham of a father, then Shadro and now ….you!” Hydro exclaimed.

Suddenly, all the blood vessels in Osy’s body exploded, leading from the hand that Hydro held to his head. There were several popping sound as several droplets of blood splattered in the air and Osy head slumped lifelessly to the side. Lee yelled loudly as he sat back on the sand, whilst George, Norton and Saturn were stricken by a gobsmacking horror.