Impure: Godslayers

The soldiers winced at the blinding glare of the blast. The heat from the blistering display forced their horses back.

Tzio looked down at the huge smoking crater that he had left in the valley. It was almost the size of a village.

“You impudent little brats. You harm my only sons, and then have the nerve to ignore me?!” Come out!”

Tzio opened his palm and threw a grain sized ball of light down to the valley, which caused another explosion of equal devastation as the last.

“I know you are not dead,” Tzio bellowed.

However there was no reply or signs of activity in the valley below.

“Fine, hide. You forced my hand…” Tzio yelled.

He formed another ball of light and pulled his hand back, in readiness to hurl it at the armies spectating in the distance.

“All of these mortal will pay for your blasphemies,”

A large piece of scorched debris in the first crater moved and rose up in the air as George lifted it up from underneath. This proved to be an easy feat with his iron-skin, as he threw it aside like a pebble. Lee and Osy stood up next to George.

“Well your plan to stall him has failed; the sun is yet to set,”

Osy remained silent as he shook the debris off his head and shoulders. Meanwhile Lee’s body ignited with red flames.

“I will buy us some time,” Lee said as he pushed off the ground.

Subsequently he was propelled into the air by a jet of red flames from his feet, as his boots were burned to crispy ashes.

“Did you know he could that?” George asked with incredulity as he watched Lee fly.

“No, that is not the plan,” Osy yelled out.

“Is he mad? Does he think he can fight Tzio all by himself?”

“I did not know you could do this,” Osy said as he looked at George’s iron skin.

Tzio stretched out his opened hand and a shaft of light shot out. The light hit Lee, and he cried out in pain as he hurtled back to the ground. Osy became a wraith and flew into the air. He became solid again just in time to catch Lee and received the brunt of their collision to the ground.

“Nice Trick,” Lee groaned as he stood up.

“Nice Trick? Are you crazy? You nearly died.” Osy snapped as he managed to find his footing after several seconds of struggling to his feet.

Meanwhile Tzio point his palms towards his own temple.

“I do not burn so easily,” Lee said stubbornly.

Lee cursed loudly as he prodded the burn on his chest. The charred blister was in the shape of Tzio’s hand and burnt deep in Lee’s skin.

“With the sun up, he is better than us in every way. Brute force will not win us the day,” Osy said.

However Lee was not listening, for he was looking up at Tzio. The fact that the god was cutting the great temple with a ray of light was not Lee’s concern. Instead he was eyeing the flamboyant dragon tattoo on Tzio’s back.

“You must listen to us. You have never faced a god and we have,” George snapped.

“That is because you left me to rot in some mortal excuse of a prison,” Lee roared back as he turned to George.

Subsequently, his body was engulfed with red flames and he jetted up in the air. Meanwhile Tzio had just finished cutting a diagonal line through the temple. Due to its unsound structure the top half of the building began to slide off the bottom. In a feat that would forever prove his godhood flew toward the temple. As the top half of the great temple slid off, Tzio caught it. A structure that was more than a hundred times his body weight, yet Tzio maintained his flight and grip. He did it with such ease that even a madman would not have dared to oppose him. Yet Lee rocketed on.

Tzio hurled the structure at Lee, and smiled when the burning boy disappeared behind it.

Meanwhile Osy and George gaped as the shadow of the flung building hung over them.

“Are you seeing this?” Osy muttered in disbelief.

“Oh I see it alright, now move,” George exclaimed.

George plunged underground, whilst Osy turned into a wraith and flew out of the way. Lee on the other hand, jetted straight at the building. Entering through one of the rooms at the severed half of the building, Lee whizzed along the staircases, through the many halls and chambers of the building. Finally the building smashed to the ground, sending a cloud of dust and debris that spread so far and wide that it hit even the spectating armies. Tzio waved the dust out of his face with a smile. The smile grew wider when as the dust cleared, he caught sight of Lee speeding towards him.

“Impressive,” Tzio laughed as Lee shot towards him.

“I will show you impressive!” Lee yelled.

Suddenly a great outburst of red flames consumed Lee’s body. Tzio eyes widened in shock, as the huge surge of flames, took the shape of a wingless serpentine dragon, the same dragon that was tattooed on his back. As the dragon swooped towards him, Tzio grabbed its two prominent fangs, forestalling the flaming beast from swallowing him. Nevertheless the beast dived head first to the ground, forcing Tzio to descend uncontrollably. Try as he might, Tzio could not stop the descent as he was forced, back-first to the ground. Tzio let out an aggravated yell as he plummeted with ever increasing momentum. There was a fiery explosion, the moment the dragon collided with the ground.

“Woow,”Osy shouted excitedly.

“I definitely did not know he could do that,” George cried out in disbelief.

However as the smoke cleared, their smiles quickly twisted into horrified gawks. Lee’s head was the first thing they saw. Lee kicked around stubbornly as Tzio held him up by his throat.

“Nice trick boy,” Tzio said as he squeezed hard.

Suddenly George erupted from the ground and punched Tzio on his face. Despite his iron skin, George’s punch barely left a blemish on Tzio’s face. It only resulted in angering the god further. He threw Lee aside. Then Tzio head-butted George with such a force that he fell head first to the ground. George massaged his spinning head. To his shock George found a dent in his iron head.

“Interesting, you are all covered in iron… but I think you are nothing but soft flesh and guts in the centre,” Tzio said as he walked towards George.

The ground below George opened up, but in an unprecedented show of speed, Tzio grabbed his neck and yanked him up before he could fall into the hole. Tzio levitated several feet in the air as George reached aimlessly at the ground.

“Your godly feat aids you on the ground. Let us see how you fair in the air,” Tzio said as he began to punch George’s torso continuously.

George spat out a mouthful of blood as Tzio left deep dents on his iron skin.

Meanwhile Lee’s body rolled back violently until he finally stopped. As Osy ran to his aid, Lee laid on the ground for a moment, flat on his back and nursing his bruises.

“I thought you two were stalling till night time,” Lee growled out as he gulped in air greedily.

“You have left us no choice,” Osy grunted.

“Ahh,”

George’s scream caused Osy and Lee to stop their witless arguing.

“We need to help him,” Lee yelled.

“Wait. We have being fighting him for a while and he has neither bruise nor blemish. We are achieving nothing,” Osy snapped.

“Then we keep trying,” Lee bellowed back.

He pushed Osy off him and his whole body ignited with red flames.

“No! I will help George. You cannot face him,” Osy exclaimed.

“And what should I do? Spectate?” Lee barked.

“Stop fooling around and blot out the sun,”

“How in blazes am I supposed to do that?”

“There is no smoke without fire,” Osy said as he turned into a wraith.

Lee raised a brow thoughtfully as he watched Osy fly towards Tzio.

“No smoke without fire? What does that have to do with an- Oh,” Lee muttered as his eyes widened cognitively.

Meanwhile George shrieked tearfully at the pain of his iron skin being ripped from his body.

“Now I will peel the iron off your body, like the mortals peel bananas haha! Monkeys HA-”

Tzio cut short his blustering as he felt a stinging sensation on his back. He hurled George away and swung his fist at Osy.

“You fool. You cannot leech on my life, there is too much of it. I am the Light of the East!” Tzio exclaimed.

Yet despite his anger, Tzio’s strike passed harmlessly through Osy’s ethereal body. Osy became solid and placed a hand on Tzio’s back. He could only leech for a moment, before Tzio launched a counterattack.

“I am an extension of the sun itself,” Tzio roared as his punch failed to connect once again.

Meanwhile Lee clasped his hands together. The red and blue fires on each of his hands coalesced into golden flames. The golden flames rapidly spread around his body till they consumed him. They burned brighter till their intensity rivalled even that of the sun. Lee bellowed as a thick snaking column of fire erupted from his body and shot high up in the air.

In the meantime, Osy was still caught in a struggle with Tzio, who seemed to be getting faster and stronger. Finally Tzio struck at the wraith, a fraction of a second before he reverted back to his solid state. Osy wheezed heavily as he looked at his chest, to find Tzio’s forearm plunged into it. Osy was now in his solid state with Tzio’s hand deep in his torso. He opened his mouth to speak but only succeeded in choking out a mouthful of blood. Tzio smiled as he wiped Osy’s blood off his forearm. He grabbed Osy’s hair and pulled his arm out of the boy’s chest.

“I win pretty boy. Only foolish children would think they can fight the power of the sun,” Tzio laughed as he lifted Osy up by his hair.

Osy struggled to talk as he choked on his own blood.

“Why figh- fight the sun, whe- when you can-- blot it out,” Osy sputtered.

He smiled with blood-stained teeth as his eyes strayed upwards. Hesitantly, Tzio followed Osy’s gaze. He gawked up at the fiery beast that hung in the sky. The serpentine body of the golden flame dragon filled the sky above the entire valley. Tzio looked down to see the tail of the great beast shoot up from Lee’s flaming body and into the sky. At his huff, all the flames around Lee’s body extinguished like a weak candle light. He dropped to his knees panting heavily as he looked at Tzio.

“Wha-”

Before Tzio could finish his statement, there was a cataclysmic explosion from above. The detonation was so loud and destructive, that some of the horses in the spectating army bucked off their riders and galloped away. Fear erased their military discipline, as some of the soldiers fled from the valley either on horseback or on foot. Even Tzio ducked as he dropped Osy to the ground. He looked up as the last glare of the explosion was replaced by a mass of thick black smog. Tzio grimaced as the last ray of the setting sun was lost almost instantly behind thick smog. It asphyxiated the sky and stretched on for miles.

“He did it, he took out the sun” Mang laughed triumphantly as he grappled with the reins to his horse.

“I thought only Tzio could do that,” Warlord Ren asked in a worried tone.

“They are demi-gods-”

The words stuck in Mang’s throat, like the sword in his ribs.

“Loud mouth mortal,” Avida shouted as she yanked the sword out of Mang.

Mang died instantly and fell off his horse.

“Do not let your faith waiver. These brats are no threat to the Sun Dragon. god-slayers pah,” Avida denounced bitterly.

Avida’s words seemed to have damned the cause of the three demi-gods, because Tzio commenced to thrash them within an inch of their lives in only a matter of seconds.

Before the final blow was struck, Tzio walked around the demi-gods, like a lion tormenting a wounded prey. The Demi-gods were now so injured that they could barely stand.

With both arms broken, George looked like some deformed creature. This was also because flakes of uneven iron shells covered his blood stained, swollen body. Lee, who was also covered in bruises, limped up to his feet next to George. His left leg was broken in two places, and one of his eyelids was so swollen that he looked like he had an apple lodged under his eyelid.

“I store the energy from the sun you stupid little boys….You know a prophecy once spread among the mortals about you four. The great god-slayers and how they would end me and my siblings. I wish I had not put all those mortals to death, so that they lived to see this day,” Tzio bragged as he walked about the three demi-gods.

“We will never give up,” Osy growled loudly.

“Ever resilient, even with a hole in your chest,” Tzio laughed as he walked towards where Osy was laid.

Tzio snatched Osy’s locks and pulled him up. Osy hung in the air helplessly; his lips were white with pain.

“You may be broken, but you certainly are not spineless…” Tzio said with a callous tone.

Osy was hoisted up in the air by his head and legs.

“Let me change that,”

The sickening sound of breaking bones filled the air as Tzio slammed Osy’s back on the arch of his neck. George and Lee winced empathetically as Osy shrieked loudly in pain. His screams grew louder as Tzio let him drop to the ground. Then as suddenly as they had begun, Osy’s screams cut short as he lost consciousness.

“I am faster and I am stronger than you will ever be….your deaths shall be slo-”

“Ay Tzio,” Lee called out.

Tzio grunted indignantly at being interrupted, as he turned to look at Lee. Lee had a curved blade to Half’s throat.

“What is the meaning of this?” Tzio asked.

“You are right Tzio w-we are not your match. Since we-we cannot slay you, you will do us th-the honour and kill yourself,” Lee stuttered.

Lee’s speech was impaired by his bleeding swollen lips; every word he said was only a mouthful of pain. Tzio looked at Lee blankly for a moment, before the god burst into a fit of laughter. His gruff laughter echoed through the valley as he walked towards Lee.

“You will stay where you are,” Lee said sternly.

Tzio stopped his approach as the smile slowly wore off his face.

“I care nothing for mortals. Slay him and, you and your brothers shall swiftly follow,” Tzio said complacently.

“Lee, what do you think you are doing?” George shouted.

Lee ignored George and he kept his eyes firmly planted on Tzio.

“Of course you do not. But these are not mo-mortals. There are demi-gods and mo-mortals, and then there are those w-who lie in between. They are your sons,” Lee replied

“I have many off-springs-”

“And three sons!” Lee interjected.

Tzio seemed to be taken aback by Lee’s retort, as he paused for a moment with a flabbergasted expression on his face. Despite the severe injuries that had misshaped Lee’s face, Tzio knew a smug look when he saw one.

“You almost obliterated this valley with your power. All except the areas where your sons lay unconscious,” Lee said arrogantly.

“Lee, do not do this,” Osy said.

Osy’s strained voice came as a surprise to everyone in earshot. However, Lee ignored him and continued to converse with Tzio.

“It had me thinking. What would compel a demi-god who demands mortal sacrifice every day, to go out of his way to spare any life?”

“Lee! We do not harm mortals,” Osy squealed breathlessly.

“Speak for-for your-self, I will do whatever it takes to survive!” Lee snapped indignantly.

“This is not part of the plan Lee,” George said.

“Do not talk like Osy, you are not him. He w-ill have us die for the sake of these mortals. In what world is a mortal life wor- worth more than an immortal one?” Lee exclaimed as he finally turned his gaze towards Osy and George.

“Listen to your companions, boy,” Tzio laughed.

Lee turned to Tzio, his face was contorted in rage.

“What did you say?” Lee gasped admonishingly.

Suddenly Lee slit the unconscious priest’s throat. Half woke up to a struggle, choking on his own blood. He convulsed helpless for a couple of seconds before lying deathly still. His eyes remained open, glazed with confusion.

“No!” Osy yelled.

“What have you done?” George asked in a shocked tone.

“What have I- They were trying to kill us earlier today,”

Tzio, who had been awestruck at the distant corpse of his dead son, suddenly sprint towards Lee, his eyes wide with rage. Despite his blinding speed, Tzio stopped in front of Lee with his fist raised. This was because the boy had the sword to the throat of another one of his sons.

Despite his omnipotence, Tzio was pacified by Lee’s gambit. He had never been helpless, never in his life. The situation was so frustrating that angry tears streamed down the god’s cheeks.

“Ar- are you- are you, crying?”

Tzio glared with pain strewn eyes, as Lee taunted him.

“…You spill so much tears for your sons, what about the countless mortals that you have slain?!”

“We are not so different you and-” Tzio began.

“Yes we are, I have to spill but one,” Lee interjected brusquely.

“But this is not a fair fight, the prophecy,”

“I do not give two damns about the prophecy. I will live. Now will you kill yourself or do you want to lose your last son?”

Tzio eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Crescent’s burns are too severe; he will not make the night. After I slit Full’s throat… you will have no sons left,”

“Lee, are you mad?” George snapped.

“You are not like this? We are not like this? Norton did not teach us-” Osy began.

“Norton is gone! It is just me, you and George! And if I have to slay anyone who threatens my family I will, mortal or not,” Lee snapped.

“There is a better wa-”

“Enough!” Tzio yelled.

The three demi-gods all fell silent.

“How do I know if I do what you ask, that you will not slay my sons anyway?” Tzio said as he glared into Lee’s eyes.

Lee stared back defiantly.

“You do not. But unlike you I do not savour killing mortals. However there is no way that I die and your sons live. You may be faster but I am fast enough…How many children do you have a hundred? Well you have only two sons left. You could always take your chances and .live out your immortal life trying to make a son. But after producing only three, out of what... a hundred and three children? ….I would not expect it,”

Tzio breathed heavily as he contemplated Lee’s words. His angry expression slowly lifted from his face as Tzio unravelled his fists and stood up straight. Subsequently, Tzio smiled then he sniggered. Lee looked confused but did not lose his murderous intent as Tzio broke into a maddened laughter.

“Your dirty tricks and insidious words will not defeat me,” Tzio said as he stretched his arm forward.

He opened his palm and a revealed a grain sized ball of light levitating over it. Lee cursed as he closed his eyes and winced in readiness of the pain that would precede his imminent death.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion that ripped Lee off his feet. After rolling back several paces away, Lee gasped loudly as he sat up, surprised to be alive. Despite his hazy vision, he could see Tzio’s headless body stumbling off balance. A thick billowing cloud of smog rose from where Tzio’s head and shoulders had once being. A widening crater trailed far behind him, where his explosive blast had spread. The god’s headless body dropped to its knees and then it fell lifeless to the ground.