Impure: Godslayers

The Ellenian King swished his red travelling cloak in annoyance and folded his arms as the Priest spoke. As a man of a hefty build, he did not care for the mousy priest or his lofty diction. The king was a simple man, who wore a loin cloth, sandals and a sword hung at his side. One would have taken him for another Ellenian soldier, like the two that stood at his side, if not for the crown on his head. Yet the crown itself was nothing magnificent, for it was simple iron band.

“Forgive me King Nilas, but I would not be remiss in saying… it is pig-headed to seek the god of the night, at noon,”

The priest’s words seemed to strike a nerve, for King Nilas pushed him aside and forced open the heavy gate. Despite being armed themselves, priests on the temple grounds were silenced by fear of the spears and shields of the Ellenian soldiers, who marched behind their king. However, instead of the door below the statue of Drazo, Nilas headed for the one below Avida’s statue. All the pilgrims silently cleared a path. In the temple was a large hall. At the end of the hall was a flight of stairs, which had no balustrade. There was a large bowl at the top of the stairs, hoisted up by three faceless stone statues. Significantly, this temple was populated by gleeful priestesses with light coloured, skimpy garments. They played and drank from some of the large fountains that were sprawled around the great hall.

“I am Lead Priestess Vera. What is your prayer my king,”

Nilas turned to see three priestesses approaching him.

“How did you kno-”

“It is my purpose to know,” Vera replied.

“…Well I want-”

“We do not conduct prayers like that. Here in the temple of Day and Water we are more discrete,”

As she spoke Vera stepped forward and delicately pressed her ears to Nilas’ lips. When he had finished speaking, she withdrew but an inch from his face. Although she had some grey hair and wrinkles at every curvature of her face, Vera acted like she was as young as the other priestesses.

“And your offering,” she said seductively.

Hardened by his intent, King Nilas turned to a soldier and nodded. However the Ellenian soldier was so captivated by Vera that he did not notice his King’s signal. Nilas shoved the soldier aggressively.

“Give her the gold,”

The soldier fumbled the bag and dropped it, scattering unevenly crafted gold coins on the temple floor. As the priestesses all rushed to gather the coins, Vera headed up the stairs. When she reached the top, she fell on one knee. Subsequently, Avida rose out of the depths of pool like bird ascending in sky. With her dripping wet linen attire sticking to her body, she walked on the surface of the pool as though it was solid ground. When she reached the edge of the pool, her and Vera began to converse. However, King Nilas was out of earshot, and the chatter of the other priestesses was not helping the situation. As he stared intently, King Nilas caught Avida’s gaze. He immediately regretted this and averted his eyes, but her divine eyes were forever burned in his memory.

“It is so cold,”

The three boys were sat below deck. They wore thick fur coats and fur boots, yet they were still stricken with cold.

“We have being two whole weeks on sea, when will we arrive at this island?” Lee complained.

“It should take a few more days,” Lasters said.

“I hope so, because I do not think I can handle this cold much longer,” Osy said bitterly.

Meanwhile George gagged loudly as he vomited into a large barrel.

“-You? I only feel comfortable on land Osy, all this water is making me-”

However before he could finish his statement, vomit projected from his mouth, causing George to dunk his head in the barrel.

“That thing is getting quite full. Soon one of you will have to take it up to the deck and tip it overboard,” Lasters said drearily.

Osy scowled and was about to retort, but he was interrupted by a snort. Everyone looked at Lee who was fast asleep, snoring noisily. He had taken his tunic off but still had his coat on. He had a hand on his exposed chest, burning with red flames around it. This kept his body very warm. Lee snorted loudly once more before continuing his regular snoring, forcing a smile on Osy’s face.

“He is such an idio-”

George was speaking with an unpleasant tone before he was forced to plunge his head over the barrel to vomit once more.

Avida woke up abruptly in her bedchambers. Yet she was not having a nightmare, it was like her instincts had dragged her out of sleep. The rays of the rising sun caressed her cheeks, bringing a smile to Avida’s face as she stretched her arms.

“Ah!”

Avida screamed when she caught sight of the pair of eyes lurking in the shadows of her room.

“My apologies my child, did I scare you?”

Even before he had spoken, Avida knew it was her father because of the faint gold glow of the sclera in the darkness. However she was yet to recover from the shock as she gripped her chest, palpitating.

“No, I just thought I was alone… and I am not used to seeing you in the daytime,”

“Yes it is no secret that the sun does have a....”

As he spoke, Drazo put his left hand out in the shaft of light closest to him. Instantly, the back of his hand sizzled and smoked under the sunlight. Drazo retracted his hand back into shadows without so much as a wince.

“….particular effect on me,” Drazo replied.

Avida’s eyes had finally adjusted to sunlight and she could now see Drazo. She could even see the tendons and muscles reconstituting from his burnt flesh, and fibre by fibre, his skin grew back.

“I heard a King prayed to you yesterday,”

As Drazo spoke, he clenched his fist wafting away the last of the smoke from his skin.

“Yes father. The King of Ellenia… so?”

“You failed to mention it to me last night,” Drazo said as he stepped forward.

He walked past several shafts of lights till he reached the shadowed area right next to Avida’s bed. Wisps of smoke rose from his body as the burns on his scalp healed and that section of his hair grew back to its long length. Avida was so nervous that she failed to reply for a moment. Then she inhaled deeply and cleared her mind of this unreasonable fear.

“I did not see any need to,”

“I am the Deity of Night and Blood; you did not think it insolent that a mortal will pray to you about my affairs?” Drazo said coldly.

“No father I did not see it that wa-”

“And how exactly did you see it?” Drazo said with bared fangs.

-“I ju- The …king is a clever mortal seeking blessing for both victory in battle by coming to you and the longevity of his army and crops, by coming to me afterwards,” Avida explained.

Drazo curtly changed his countenance and gently caressed Avida’s cheek with the back of his hand.

“Oh my child, you have so much to learn. I always forget that you are only thirty-two years old, and the fact you look sixteen…forgive me but sometimes I mistake you for a mortal,”

He sat next to Avida, who moved to the shadowy side of the bed and immediately slammed her head on her father’s chest. Avida shut her eyes and wallowed in comfort as Drazo continued to speak.

“I have been surrounded by mortals for too long, their minds.... yet they are so frail,”

Subsequently Drazo raised Avida’s head up, so she was looking straight in his eyes.

“The ...Ellenian king only brings a virgin to be sacrificed once a year, whilst the Nomean and Aculean bring two or three each. We do not reward the intelligence of mortals but their loyalty is what counts.”

“Yes father, but the ...king brought a lot of gold...pleas ...reco...sider,” Avida whimpered imploringly.

“We are immortals, what need have we for gold... but I will give your thoughts worthy consideration,”

Avida knew her father’s nature well and judging by his tone, she could not help but think that he was not being entirely sincere.

“I shall be leaving you. My brother Shadro has summoned all the other gods to convene.”

“Why can’t I come?” Avida asked excitedly.

“Who will the northerners of the central continent pray to with both deities of day and night absent their lands? I will not be long. Diantha will remain here in my stead,”

Then Drazo pulled one of Avida’s arms in front of him and bared his fangs hungrily. Then he reclined back and concealed his fangs.

“May I?” Drazo asked.

Although she winced, Avida nodded firmly. Immediately Drazo dived down and plunged his fangs deep into Avida’s arm, gulping down her sweet godly blood.

As soon as the ship hit the misty shores, George lunged over the edge. His fur coat and boots were soaked and heavy as George trudged through the shallow water. The moment he crossed the shoreline, George hugged the muddy soil like it was a long lost relative.

“Uh that is disgusting. For goodness sake George, it is mud,” Lee said as he jumped off the ship.

George snapped round with a scowl on his muddied face. Lee cringed at the psychotic look on George’s face and inched away.

“A little help here?” Osy groaned as he was pulling the ship onto the shore by a thick rope.

When they had pulled the entire ship on the shore, the three demi-gods fell face down on the beach, panting heavily. Abruptly, George stopped wheezing. He frowned and cocked his head to the side, like he was trying to hear a distinct sound.

“Boys, this island is supposed to be deserted… right?”

“Yes why?” Lee asked breathlessly.

George assumed a crouching position and dug his hands deep in the murky beach.

“I sense heavy trampling on the ground...horses… and they are heading straight for us,” George susurrated.

“Its your mind playing tricks on you. Deserted means there is nobody living here,” Lee said dismissively.

“Alright now I can actually hear hooves,” Osy said.

Lee and Osy stood up and began to back away. They were promptly joined by George, as the silhouette of several horsemen became visible in the misty hills.

“Are we on the wrong damned island?” Lee hissed.

“Damn it. This is what we get for letting a mirror stir our ship” George vented contemptuously.

“Both of you calm down and act submissive. We already have a god after us; we do not need to turn the mortal populace against us as well.”

Lee scoffed loudly at Osy, just as the five horsemen finally reached them. The men all had long flaxen hair and unkempt beards of different lengths. Despite the cold weather, they wore knee length woollen garments and sleeveless woollen vests. However the demi-gods did not care for the horsemen, instead they were enthralled by the sight of the horses. The eight-legged steeds with their thin trim manes were magnificent.

“Who are you and what are you doing in these lands,”

The gruff voice of the first horseman came as a surprise to the boys, who were still enchanted by the horses. He was the largest of the horsemen and had a short beard.

“We are just humble travellers. I am Osy this is Lee and George,”

“I was not talking to you stranger,”

As the first horseman barked, he shoved his spear inches from Osy’s face. Then the horseman looked to George. Meanwhile Lee also had spear shoved inches from his face.

“You there boy, where did you meet these strange people where do they come from?”

Lee laughed at the primeval weapons that the horsemen wielded. Their weapons consisted of shafts and handles crafted from thick, hard wood. The blades and hammer heads were different shaped, sharpened rocks, which were tied together with thin strong rope.

“Your horses have eight legs,” Lee said in astonishment.

“If any of you strangers utter another word you will die,” the first horseman bayed.

“How dare you? You rag bearded monkey,” Lee snarled as he raised his clenched fist.

Osy grabbed his arm before Lee could use his godly feat. However, it was too late for the first horseman turned his spear on Lee. Swiftly, George jumped in between Lee and the spear.

“Please forgive my brothers, we mean no trouble,”

“These are your brothers?” the first horseman mused.

He looked round to the other horsemen, who burst out laughing. This was all except one horseman who approached the first. He whispered something inaudible into the first horseman’s ears. The boys watched as the first horseman looked at them, his horse trotted forward as he leaned low to look in each of their eyes. The first horseman galloped back and looked thoughtfully to the band of horsemen.

“...Fine, my King will decide what to make of this- bind them.”

The boys’ exercised restraint, as the horsemen gruffly tied them up.

“This is embarrassing. These mortals do not even use saddles and we are letting them bind us?”

“Shut up,” Osy and George hissed under their breaths.

“What about their big boat and the treasures that lie within,” a horseman asked.

“The king will decide…but take the monkey,”

Singe who had been hanging over the edge of the ship by his tail, screamed as he was snatched and tied up.