Impure: Godslayers

The demi-gods gazed at the awe-inspiring scenery before them. The base of the great mountain covered the entire shore and its tip was lost in the clouds. The moment the ship hit the shoreline, George jumped over the edge and plastered his face on the muddy beach.

“I am getting sick of that routine,” Lee said as he rolled his eyes in disgust.

He then turned to follow Osy below deck, where they found Lasters whispering to Avida.

“Why are we stopping?” Osy asked.

“We have arrived. You will take Avida with you. She may be of use,” Lasters replied abruptly.

“What! You have to be joking,” Lee laughed.

“There is a huge mountain in our way Lasters, what the hell are we supposed do?” Osy asked.

“It is a mountain, traverse it,” Lasters retorted.

“Her royal highness can keep her royal butt on the ship.” Lee stated dismissively.

“I am not a queen, I am a goddess you idiot,” Avida snapped defensively.

Osy put a firm hand on Lee’s shoulder, just as he was about to lunge at Avida.

“Have you seen the size of that mountain?!” Osy asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Lasters replied with a bland tone.

“She was of no help on the sea, surrounded by her element, how the blazes is she going to be useful on dry land?” Lee chimed in.

“Well then you know its damn peaks touch the clouds,” Osy exclaimed.

“What is she going to do, bring forth a spring to quench the thirst of the mortals? We came here to face a god Lasters; it is not a joke,” Lee protested stubbornly as he shrugged Osy’s hand of his shoulder.

“Both of you silence!”

Everyone below deck fell silent with a shocked look on their faces, this was the first time they had heard Lasters raise his voice. They were all too used to his monotonous droning of instructions and facts.

“Now I can only sense the demi-gods… I cannot see them. Do not worry when you mature, you will develop the sense too. I have taken you as close as I can. This is what you wished, now you must go and Avida shall follow,”

Lee sighed indignantly.

“She has changed. Whether she is indeed related to you or not, is irrelevant. The self-proclaimed gods hate her too, in this you are united. There is strength in numbers,”

Drazo and Shadro stood on the flat peak of one of the many narrow mountains that covered this area of the western mainland. The blades of the three godly weapons were plunged into the surface of the mountain.

“I still cannot sense Precipia,” Drazo said.

Drazo’s ears pricked up and his head was cocked to the side, as though he was listening to a sound that only he could hear.

“I know my domain is closer but I shall not be returning for a while. So go to Wazenio’s domain and warn her. If only she answered my summons,” Shadro replied contemplatively.

“And of Tzio?”

“Tell her of his death, that should curb her insolence,”

Drazo nodded and began to walk away.

“If I encounter her, do you give me leave to kill her?” Shadro asked.

Drazo stopped walking and remained silent for one tense moment.

“Yes, the threat these children pose is sending a very mortal chill down my spine. Avida’s existence can be suffered no longer,” Drazo said without turning around.

“Drazo!”

Drazo turned to face his brother, just in time to catch the godly-weapon that was tossed at him. The long, wide sabre was of a radiant metallic hue. The top half of the blade was curved on one side. It also had an intricate golden design that comprised of several columns of thin adjacent lines, running down the lower half of the blade. It led to the bulky hilt, which had a short trigger at its side.

“My Priests call it Omni-Sabre, not saying that you need it,” Shadro stated.

However, Drazo’s eyes strayed to the other two weapons. The first was a weapon much like a spear with a golden tone. The head of the weapon was a large convex blade that looked much like a sabre. The blade was at least half the length of the golden pole that it was mounted on.

“Or would you prefer another weapon. The Siphon Dao perhaps,” Shadro said.

He then walked over to the second weapon.

“Or is it the Sacred Blade,”

“But there are two blades,” Drazo retorted observantly.

“No its one long blade with a hilt crafted around its narrow centre,” Shadro replied.

Drazo admired the astonishingly long and evenly shaped hilt of the second weapon for a moment. A standard blade protruded out the top of each hilt. There was an intricate swirling design on the purplish alloy.

“This is craftsmanship beyond the capability of mortal hands. …..but, this will do just fine” Drazo said as he looked back to his Omni-Sabre.

He pulled the trigger on the long trigger next to the hilt and swung the weapon simultaneously. Meanwhile, at bottom of the mountains, two hunters had being cooking their catch on a campfire under the bright moonlight. Nevertheless they were captivated by sight of the two distant silhouettes on one of the peaks. One of the figures was holding a large sword. As he slashed the air, the blade instantly grew forty feet longer and expanded ten feet wider. It sliced through a nearby mountain crag like hot knife through butter. As the blade shrunk back to its original length, the top half of the mountain slid off and smashed down on the innocent hunters.

“A month on the sea, for this?” George said in disbelief.

He and the other demi-gods were stood in front of a small pool, about twenty feet up the mountain.

“We should swim beneath this pool. I sense this pool goes deep into the mountain. It flows in from the sea. There is a cavern-”

“I have been on the sea too long. Now that I am on dry land, do you really think I would agree to go in a pool?” George snapped at Avida.

“We will trust Avida’s instinct,” Osy said through gritted teeth.

“What?” George and Lee yelled in unison.

As the three boys argued about what route was to be taken, Avida played with Singe. The monkey was dipped in a basin of water next to the pool.

“Is it warm again?” Avida asked playfully.

She put a finger in the basin and instantly some frost began to form on the side of the basin. As the cold vapours rose from the basin, Singe sank down into the water with a long satisfied moan.

“Poor thing, you are just not suited for warm weather, are you?” Avida said teasingly as she poured some of the cold water over him.

Avida looked up to find the three boys gawping at her in silence.

“What… I like animals,” Avida said.

She stood up and crossed her arms, as she replaced the smile on her face with a scowl.

“Well?” Avida asked facetiously

“We will use the pool. Traversing this mountain will be a tiring feat, and we need our energy for whatever is on the other side,” Osy said.

“All you have to do is swim for a couple of seconds and then the current will take you,”

Lee sighed with indignation.

“I cannot swim, I just sink to the bottom like a rock…there I said it,” George admitted furiously.

“Do not worry, I have you,” Avida said as she put a hand out, with a polite smile.

George swallowed hard and looked at Osy who nodded supportively. He looked at Lee, but the demi-god shrugged with an askance look on his face. George sighed as he slowly reached to grab Avida’s hand. However, George shuddered with terror as he looked at the pool. His eyes were filled with some much dread that one would have thought he was looking into a pit full of snakes.

“Lead the way,” Osy said.

Immediately, Avida jumped into the pool, dragging George with her. As George’s screams were cut short, Osy and Lee dived into the pool after him. Almost immediately, they were carried off by a strong current of rushing water. They were pulled upwards at first, and then side to side. Soon they were starved of oxygen and too dizzy to tell which way was up or down. They simply clawed helplessly around as the current rushed them away.

Suddenly, Osy felt something tug at his hair. He groaned and spat out a lung full of water as his body was dragged on a rocky surface. Osy wiped his face and inhaled greedily. Looking up, he saw Avida as she released his braids from her grasp. They were in a large cave, which had a violent rushing stream passing straight through it, from a rocky passage beneath. At both side of the cave were elevated formations of rock, the banks of the rapids on which Osy was sat on. George sat several feet away, moaning like a whipped dog, whilst squeezing the water out of his long blonde hair. Osy shook his head in incredulity as he turned back to Avida. She was crouched, with a hand over the stream and her brows were furrowed in concentration. Precipitously, like a grizzly bear snatching salmon from a creek, Avida grabbed Lee’s neck out of the rushing waters and hoisted him up on the bank. Lee cursed loudly as he landed heavily on the rocky surface. Meanwhile Osy was shocked by the subtle ferocity of Avida’s display.

“Despite your inability during our dalliance with death on the sea, I must admit, water truly is your element,”

Avida heard what Osy had said, and she looked at him favourably for a moment before Lee stood up cursing yet again as he massaged his neck.

“Where are we?” Lee demanded heatedly.

“Thank you sister,” George crooned in relief.

His hair was somewhat dry and so was his attire.

“I am not your sister…But I commend you on showing gratitude, unlike some people,” Avida said as she looked directly at Lee and Osy.

“Why would I thank you when the only reason you helped us was because it was in your interest to help us. Besides we got this far without you,” Osy stated smugly as he walked towards the egress of the cave.

“I just did not need your help, or a headache,” Lee groaned.

“Have you seen this?” Osy asked.

Avida sighed as she followed Osy towards the entrance of the cave. They were summarily joined by George and Lee. Despite the fact that the entrance led to the flat faced side of the mountain, they stood at the brink of the great waterfall. They were oblivious to the terrifying beauty of the water dropping down the precipice and were instead captivated by the scene far below.

The land was vast and from their great height the demi-gods could see it all, jungles, savannahs and a snaking river, which stretched for hundreds of miles. At the thinnest point of the river, which led from the waterfall, was the scene of a full-scale battle. There were two clear sides, each one eager to destroy the other. Yet the army on the right side of the river seemed to be the aggressor, for half of their forces had already crossed the river. Significantly, they were not mortals.

“They look like Norton’s stone soldiers from the underground cavern remember?” Lee said.

“Yes only they are made of…” Osy began.

“Iron, even from this far I can smell it,” George chimed in.

Lee and Osy raised their brows as they scrutinised George, with mutual looks of confusion.

“What?” George asked.

Without answering, Lee and Osy turned their attention back to the battlefield.

The iron soldiers all appeared to be crafted in the veneer of one man. This was because not only were they all of the same height and size, but every detail in the craftsmanship was the same. From the high wide shoulders, large biceps, to the even formation of his bulging abdominals; the iron soldiers were identical. Even their bald headed youthful, emotionless faces were the same.

“Do you think that Norton escaped? Could it be him who did this?” Lee asked excitedly.

A fearsome scowl suddenly appeared on Osy’s face as he turned to Lee.

“Norton would never create anything with the function of harming mortals,” Osy growled.

“My mistake, just being optimistic,” Lee said.

“What part of what you just said is optimistic?” George asked monotonously.

With a smug smile Lee opened his mouth to retort but, Osy interrupted him in order to stop the altercation that was about to ensue.

“Norton is an immortal; he can never achieve a feat on this scale. I mean think about it, he had decades to prepare and he built about a hundred and fifty stone soldiers,”

“So?” Lee snapped with incredulity.

“It was because he could only animate a hundred and fifty non-living bodies….there is at least a thousand iron soldiers down there,”

Avida quickly glanced at the three boys who were on the brink of an argument, before shaking her head and looking back at the faraway battle. Although they outnumbered the mortal army on the left bank by at least nine to one, the iron army was bearing the brunt of the slaughter.

This was because although the mortal army had no armour, they had panel-shaped shields, which protected them from neck to thigh. The iron swords were rather ineffective against these thick animal hide shields. Furthermore the mortal army used iron spears with sharp translucent jewels as spearheads. The strange spearheads punctured the iron soldiers as though they were made of silk.

Avida gasped causing the boys to look down at the battlefield to what had stirred her. Sixty men stood in two columns; their shields were propped up, holding back the iron army. Meanwhile the ranged ranks behind them filled the sky with their spears. Masses of iron soldiers marched across the river, and were subsequently ripped apart by a hail of spears. The iron soldiers turned out to be mostly hollow because, as they fell, an ethereal wisp wafted out from their puncture point. It would whizz back across river and shoot off in the distance. In some instances, the wisp would burst out so violently that it would cause their iron bodies to explode. The shrapnel that was sprayed about ripped apart other iron soldiers. Yet the emotionless metal men simply kept advancing, with every one that fell, another would simply step forward and take its place. Their overwhelming numbers and autonomous efforts soon bore fruit, as the iron soldiers smashed through the mortals’ defence.

The General of the mortal army, who was stood on a mound, led the ranged forces on a charge to aid on the frontline. However, captivated by his bloodlust, the General soon found him-self separated from his men. Despite the slavish manner with which they marched, the iron soldiers were quick to surround the isolated General. Bravely, the General manage to hold his own for a while. This did not last long for a gigantic man pushed his way to the front of the iron solders that surrounded the General.

“I do not know why but that giant man reminds me of Rag-” Osy began.

“He looks nothing like Ragnaghast, not as big either…but I know what you mean. He seems….. familiar…why?” George said

“I am not sure but… I remember Lasters said that when we had developed further, we would able to sense if someone has the blood of the gods running in their veins, just like he can,”

“I have heard enough. Follow my lead,” Lee declared.

“Who died and made you leader?” George sighed.

“Shut up George, I defeated Ragnaghast, I can defeat him,”

George cracked his knuckles in aggravation.

“Then we destroy this iron army; travel in the direction that those wisps are going. That is where we will find the so called deity in the south.”

“What then? I have told you this goddess is formidable; what can you do when you find her?” Avida demanded angrily.

“Then we will slay her… while you teach the mortals to swim,” Lee sneered.

“Wait, we do not even know what is going on here. Let us wait before we interfere,” Osy said.

“Wait for what huh? Back on the eastern mainland when it was your lover in distress, you exposed us and killed the mortal soldiers who were tormenting her. Now that hundreds of mortal lives are in danger…you want to make a plan. I bet if they were all beautiful ladies you would help,” Lee stated with impunity.

There was a tense silence as Avida and George bit their tongues in anticipation of Osy’s retort, however he remained silent.

“Well? Nothing to say? Good,” Lee said as his hands and feet ignited with red flames.

He jumped off the edge and dropped down into the river like a great ball of fire.

“Idiot,” George sighed as he nodded at Osy.

George crouched and touched the rocky ground with his hand and a layer of rock promptly covered his entire skin.

“Be careful,” Osy said as he turned ethereal and flew off the edge.

George nodded. With a wave of his hand, a hole opened up in the ground next to him.

“Coming sister?” George asked.

“For the last time I am no sister of yours!” Avida replied nonchalantly.

She walked past George but he grabbed her in a tight embrace and jumped into the hole. The hole shut close above them. Avida screamed as she was surrounded by darkness and the thunderous rumbling of moving rocks and soil. Suddenly a small hole opened on the mountain side and they slid out of it. Even as they landed on the riverbank, Avida continued to scream for a while. She looked around in confusion and frisked herself as if checking if any body parts were missing. George stood up and sprinted past her, along the riverbank, towards the battlefield.

Meanwhile Lee was taken by the stream until he was washed upriver, where the General was trapped. As he stood up, Lee’s body was engulfed with blue flames. With fiery bursts shooting out of his outstretched arms, Lee created a ring of blue flames isolating him-self, the General and the giant from the surrounding iron soldiers. At first the General was unsure of Lee’s intentions and kept his guard up. Yet when Lee began to engage the giant, the General decided to trust his unknown saviour.

Concurrently, Osy landed at the fringe of the iron army’s frontline. Osy opened his mouth and several small balls of green light shot out and entered the bodies of fallen soldiers. The instant the ten dead mortal soldiers were resurrected, they attacked the iron soldiers from right flank.

The main force of the mortal soldiers; were momentarily perplexed by the sight of their resurrected comrades, and were unsure of what side Osy would fight for. It was only after they saw the utter disregard with which these green eyed resurrected soldiers’ slayed their iron enemies, before they reluctantly rallied behind Osy. With renewed spirits, the mortal forces destroyed hundreds of iron soldiers till they were nearly reunited with their General. Osy became ethereal as he put each hand in two iron soldiers’ torsos and became solid. He yanked his hands out leaving a hole in each of their chests. The iron soldiers dropped limply to the ground as two ethereal wisps exited their bodies and flew away.

“Where is Lee?” George said.

He had just erupted from the ground and now stood beside Osy. Panting loudly, Osy turned and pointed beyond the enemy line.

“Idio-ah,” George exclaimed in pain.

He staggered forward into Osy, as he turned to find several soldiers behind him with their spears raised.

“No he is with me,” Osy said.

He looked wary as some mortal soldiers surrounded them; their furious expressions betrayed their malicious intent. George, who was more mesmerised than scared, looked at the clean cut on his right shoulder.

“What can cut through iron with such ease?” George asked ominously.

“George, you need to lose the iron skin,” Osy growled urgently.

George shook his body frantically and the iron shells fell off his skin like water off a duck’s back.

The soldiers gasped as they backed away from George and hesitantly re-joined the battle.

“Are you alright?” Osy asked.

“It is just a scratch. Let us save that idiot before he gets himself killed,” George replied as he absorbed the texture of a stone.

As the hard rocky texture completely covered every inch of his skin, Geo stood up and nodded as Osy. Then they both ran through the battlefield. They arrived just in time to support Lee, for the giant was nothing like Ragnaghast. He was smaller, somewhat stronger and dangerously smarter. He used the metal husks of the fallen iron soldiers as weapons, and he was not burnt by Lee. Soon, the three demi-gods overwhelmed him. This left the General an opportunity to bury his spear deep into the giant’s back. The jewel spearhead protruded from his chest as the giant fell dead to the ground.

Lee smiled toothily as the last of the iron soldiers fell. Even George allowed himself a smile as he shook off his stone skin. Osy however was not jubilant. This was because he noticed the scowl on the General’s face. The General had a huge eagle feather bound to his forehead by a thin band and a wildcat skin cape. The soldiers on the other hand had a hawk feather bound to each of their heads. They all wore knee length garments, with sandals that reached their ankles. Curly haired and with dark brown complexion, the soldiers all bore the scars of previously fought battles.

The entire battlefield was strewn with a thousand husks of the broken iron soldiers. Yet the mortals had suffered less than twenty-five fatalities. It was a mind bugling victory, but like their General, the soldiers’ head hung low. Suddenly there was some disturbance. Avida was forced towards where the General stood, by two soldiers, who looked like twins.

“Unhand me mortals,” Avida yelled shrilly.

George pulled her away from the soldiers and tried to hug her protectively. However, Avida was quick to push him off.

“Yes great victory!” Lee said as he slapped the General heartily on the shoulder.

The General returned the impassioned gesture with a melancholy scowl, before he turned to look at the twin soldiers.

“Their eyes, they are not mortal. What do you think brother?”

“They did help us,” the first twin said.

“We did not need the help of these strangers,” the second insisted stubbornly.

The twins looked identical. However the second twin who had a moustache and goatee, whereas the first was clean shaven. In addition, the twins both shared distinctively similar features with the General. The General turned to the four demi-gods.

“Please follow me. There is someone you have to meet,” the General said.