“Put him back where you found him. That’s what I think. Not that you could without getting your entrails ripped out and eaten right in front of you. And of course, I would be the one that Superior Pujo enlists to try and keep him in line. Yeah, right.”
* Voice message of Klasp Smasher to his wife
Nijirono
“You’ve got horrendous aim with that thing,” said Shalika. Her feline nose wrinkled in repugnance, making her whiskers twitch. “Is that really necessary?”
“Hey,” said Horbel. “You defile your corpses your way and I’ll defile my corpses my way.” His voice was deep and sinister. His black scales glistened upon tone muscles under the bright green moon and the large temple that was engulfed in flames. He pulled the front of his black trousers back up as soon as he had finished urinating on his most recent victim. isHisfbjisbvreblieb
“Because
ripping out and eating her heart in front of her students wasn’t enough?” Shalika asked with folded arms of dark blue fur. A lighter shade of blue made stripes that could be seen anywhere not covered by her green and black uniform. She had three long pointed ears on adjacent sides of her head that were each adorned with silver tassels as earrings.
“What can I say?” Horbel said with a chuckle. Blood still dripped from his chin and covered his chest. “I’ve a flair for the dramatics.”
“How dare you defile our master!” one of the students shouted. All forty of which had gone to their knees to watch their master make an example of this boisterous and violent trespasser. After watching Horbel brutally put an end to their master’s life without exerting much effort, not a single one from among them had worked up the courage to rise to their feet. Doing so would be taken as a challenge, and no one dared to challenge Horbel.
The student who had spoken up was choking on blood as soon as he finished speaking. Horbel’s arm extended out to unnatural lengths past the first row and straight through his chest. The other students screamed and scattered in terror.
“Hold it!” Horbel commanded. He retracted his arm back from the young man’s chest and blood spurted all around.
Most of the group obediently stood in place. Preferring to take their chances with not upsetting the intruder. The few who kept running were quickly cut down by Shalika’s long razor-sharp claws. She pounced on each one faster than any of them could react. She sliced most of them across their throats and gleefully watched as other students tried to keep their friends’ blood from gushing out.
“Now, you all know that religion is outlawed in Plaquar,” Horbel said. He started pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. “And this planet has been under Plaquar sovereignty for quite some time. Superior Pujo’s law is very clear on what is to be done with any temples, prophets, or relics.”
Several students started to cry. It made Horbel sick. He despised weakness. Most who knew him would say he was completely lacking in sympathy. That couldn’t be further from the truth. He sympathized alright. He could imagine what it must be like to be a pitiful mortal who had to beg for their next breath. All he desired was to give them peace. A peace that no one seemed to be able to bestow upon himself.
“However,” Horbel continued. A glimmer of hope shown in numerous eyes across the terrace. “I personally have no qualms with you believing whatever fool’s story you want to believe. So long as you can point me in the direction of the Elementi who are rumored to be hiding out on this planet.”
The students all looked at each other dumbfounded. Each one hoping that one from among them might have the answer he was looking for.
Horbel threw his hands up to the sky. “Well? Where are they?!” He shouted. Ash started to fall from the sky as the temple continued to burn behind him.
Everyone flinched upon being yelled at by Horbel. They each now knew just how quickly he could kill any one of them.
“W-warring factions of Elementi c-came here long ago,” stuttered one of the older students. “Our g-goddess, Nivir, spoke to their hearts and they left our world.”
Shalika laughed as she kicked one of the students still standing near her down to their knees. “That’s a ship of shit! Elementi are supposed to be ruthless killers. They don’t just leave cause the locals are having a rough go of it. They’ve pulverized hundreds of worlds!”
“Not to mention the fact that no one’s ever seen this Nivir character,” said Horbel. “If you want a god,” he gestured toward himself, “then look no further.” He walked up to the nearest student. He towered over the warrior in training. To his surprise she stood firm as he approached.
Horbel leaned over and put his face down into hers. “Bow to me.”
A tear fell from her eye, but she stared straight ahead. When she spoke, her voice sounded as though it fought with all its might to stay in her throat. “I do not bow to monsters or men.”
Horbel looked her up and down.
Then she locked eyes and spoke with much more conviction. “Only Nivir.”
Horbel grinned. “How pitiful is it to have courage with no strength to back it up? Let me relieve you of such a sorrowful existence.” Horbel swung his fist through her skull in one fluid motion. He did it so fast and with so much force that it completely obliterated her head. Horbel watched her body slap against the floor with envious eyes. The girl would now know peace.
The rest of the students fell to their hands and knees and started bowing as quickly as they could. Bobbing their heads up and down and saying, “Lord Horbel! Lord Horbel!”
Horbel and Shalika laughed and pointed out which one from among them they thought looked the most pitiful.
“That will be enough of that!” an old man yelled from below the burning temple. He spoke loudly but held no hostility in his voice. His large bushy white eyebrows protruded from a wrinkled and worn-down face. They consisted of the only hair that seemed to still grow on the old man’s body. He wore a tattered white robe and supported his weight on a wooden stick he used for a cane. His bald head revealed a spiraling tattoo of green and yellow.
A couple of the students gasped upon seeing the old man. Horbel overheard one of the younger ask another if the man was Voon’ki. This was confirmed by one of the students quietly telling everyone that he was in fact, Voon’ki, the mountain hermit.
“Where in the abyss did you come from?” asked Horbel. He looked over at Shalika. Her heightened sense of smell was supposed to keep them from getting snuck up on. However, she looked just as confused as he was.
“Nothing comes from the abyss,” said Voon’ki. “Not even a god could escape its almighty pull.”
“Listen, geezer, I’m far older than you can imagine. So, don’t talk down to me like I don’t know how the galaxy works,” said Horbel. “I’ve been slaying mortals since long before you suckled at your mother’s breast.”
“And in all that time you’ve failed to learn the serenity of benevolence.” Voon’ki shook his head. “Such a shame.”
“Benevolence,” Horbel spit out the word with utter disgust. “The master of this temple also spoke of benevolence before I took a bite out of her still beating heart.”
Voon’ki glanced over at her remains. “Master Fioria was a very wise woman. You would have benefited greatly from heeding her advice.”
Horbel laughed and pointed at her remains. “Take advice?” he mocked. “From a heartless corpse covered in piss?!”
Voon’ki slowly walked down the thirteen steps that led up to the temple. He stopped over what was left of Fioria’s body and made spiral motions in the air above her with his right hand. The left remained on his makeshift cane. “May Nivir guide you home,” he whispered.
“Alright,” said Horbel. “I’ve grown tired of you.” He extended his arm out to grab Voon’ki but the old man leaned back just in time to evade his grasp. Horbel retracted his arm back. “Curious,” he said with a smirk.
Voon’ki raised his cane and swung it down at the ground. Dust flew into the air and a shockwave shook the terrace. The blast forced Shalika to take a couple steps back.
Horbel crossed his scaly arms and watched with growing interest. Whoever this Voon’ki character was, he was certainly in a different league than the woman he had just fought. Horbel felt a tinge of excitement go down his spine. From what he’d heard, this was the kind of power he was to expect from an elite Elementi.
Voon’ki lifted Fioria’s body and placed her in the small crater that had formed when he struck the ground. He started taking handfuls of dirt and throwing it over her remains while humming.
“Well?” asked Shalika, “Are we really going to stand here and watch his little funeral service or are we going to kill him?”
“If you’d like to take a shot at him, be my guest,” said Horbel. Throughout his tenure working for Plaquar Superior Pujo, Shalika had managed to outlast all the warriors he had been teamed up with. She had a knack for surviving. Her heightened senses also proved useful from time to time. Though, she was still weak by his standards. Most were.
Shalika hesitated. She didn’t like the tone of his voice. Then she looked the old man over. “He doesn’t look that tough to me.”
“So, what’s the hold up?” asked Horbel.
Shalika hissed and pulled her ears back. Then she dashed toward Voon’ki and right before she was about to sink her claws into his flesh, he turned around and connected an uppercut to her chin. He followed it with a swift kick to the chest that sent the feline warrior flying back thirty paces.
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Voon’ki then went back to pushing dirt over the crater. This time with his back turned to Horbel.
Horbel gave an obnoxious laugh as he watched Shalika struggle to get up. He turned his attention back to Voon’ki.
“You’ve only yourself to blame for what’s happened here,” said Horbel. “The reason I came out to this dump of a planet was because I heard a rumor that it was harboring some powerful warriors.”
Voon’ki ignored him and continued the burial.
“So, you better make this worth my while,” Horbel said with a growl. He leapt forward and swung a punch down at the little old man. Voon’ki had dodged and returned a punch to Horbel’s abdomen before the muscular warrior could react.
Horbel took a couple steps back and puked up purple blood. “Damn,” he said before wiping his mouth. “You’re a quick one.”
Voon’ki did not reply. Instead, he stared down Horbel with a stoic gaze.
“What? No more wise words?” asked Horbel.
“Words mean nothing to men like you,” said Voon’ki. “I fear that no matter how hard I try to dissuade you, your path to the abyss is all but certain.”
“If I understand the old teachings correctly, one will have to die in order to find themselves in the abyss,” said Horbel. “Well, believe you me, I’m not the dying type.”
“Yet, somehow I sense that you are not truly alive either,” replied Voon’ki.
Horbel snarled and dashed at his opponent once again. This time he was able to exchange attacks with Voon’ki for a few rounds before he lost the advantage and was sent tumbling away by a hard punch to the face.
Horbel roared in anger as he got back to his feet. Every time he was knocked down, he got back up and continued fighting as if nothing had happened.
The students sat in wonder. They had heard their master speak of Voon’ki before. Fioria had said he was a very gifted fighter back in his younger days. Had even fought off some of the Elementi who tried to bring their war to the planet Nijira, their ancestral home. Now that they were watching him battle, they realized just how little their imaginations prepared them for what he was truly capable of.
The two fighters leapt to great heights and moved at incredible speeds. Each time a punch or kick landed it made a loud boom that echoed through the jungle mountains behind the still burning temple.
This went on for half the night. No matter how many times Voon’ki knocked back his foe, he kept returning to the fight seemingly unharmed.
“Why don’t you use your Elementi abilities?” asked Horbel. “How dare you hold back on me!”
“I’m not Elementi,” said Voon’ki. “Though, it would seem we must be distant cousins.”
“You could have been employed by a superior with these skills,” said Horbel. “What a waste of talent.”
“And promote more chaos and destruction in the galaxy?” responded Voon’Ki. “My family brought me here when we fled from the devasted worlds. I had my fill of death long ago.”
“From the devastated worlds,” scoffed Horbel. “What a load of piss. Nothing has lived in that region of space for over a half a millennium.”
“I was just a boy when I watched a Devastator lay waste to my home,” said Voon’Ki.
“Now we’re saying we actually witnessed a Devastator?” asked Horbel. “I’ve heard enough of your fairytales, old man.” He dashed at Voon’Ki once more and the two continued their battle.
Shalika had been watching the fight from where she landed. She was the first to spot a starship approaching from above them. “Horbel!” she shouted and pointed up at it.
“Damn it,” he said. “What now?”
The ship flew down and landed right next to them. Several students had to run out of the way to keep from getting crushed. The doors opened and a large minotaur with a protruding gut stepped out. His fur was dark gray covering most of his body aside from his large stomach where it was spread thin. On his forehead were black speckles that reached both of his shiny black horns.
“Superior Pujo has requested our presence,” the minotaur said with a deep and menacing voice.
“Abyss take it, Klasp. Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?” asked Horbel.
“Pujo can and will check the history logs of the ship,” Klasp warned him. “He’ll know just how long you spent piddling around out here.”
Shalika started limping toward the ship holding her bruised chest.
Klasp chuckled at the sight of her. “Look what the cat dragged in,” he teased.
Shalika hissed in response. This time she added a bit of growl at the end.
Horbel met eyes with Voon’ki. “I can tell you are starting to slow down, old man. A few more rounds and I would have you. Elementi or not, it’s a shame how time weakens you mortals. You just might have been able to finish me back in your prime.”
Voon’ki smiled. “You wouldn’t have stood a chance against me in my prime. If we’re being honest, I could have finished you tonight at any moment. Consider yourself fortunate that Nivir still has plans for you.”
Horbel’s eyes widened with fury. “I’ll be back, geezer. And I will make you eat those words.”
Voon’ki folded his arms. “I’ll be waiting. Now, go run along and do your master’s bidding.”
Horbel took a step toward Voon’ki.
“Horbel!” Klasp shouted. “Superior Pujo is not known for his patience. I don’t want to end up like Moog Kessinger.”
“What happened to Moog Kessinger?” asked Shalika as she boarded their ship.
“Let’s just say he has received his final foot massage,” said Klasp.
This piqued Horbel’s interest enough to distract him from Voon’ki. “Superior Pujo cut off Moog Kessinger’s feet?”
“No,” said Klasp. “But I assume that any foot masseuse you send down to him would disintegrate in the same solar atmosphere that he did.”
With fists and teeth clenched, Horbel reluctantly turned around and boarded their ship. No matter how godlike he claimed to be, he never had any desire to test his resilience by trying to walk upon the surface of a star. Not due to a fear of death. He welcomed that. It was more his fear of being stranded on or inside of a star for the rest of eternity. Forever burning with no hope of escape. No, he would leave star-surfing to the mythological gods of old.
Voon’ki and the students watched the ship fly up and out of sight. As soon as it did, Voon’ki collapsed to the floor.
“No!” several students shouted as they rushed to assist him.
They sat him up and brought him water to drink.
“Are you alright, Voon’ki?” one of them asked.
The old man shook his head. “Tonight, was my last battle. Let us just thank Nivir that he was called away. You must find a new planet to call home now. Somewhere further into the neutral zone.”
“He never even landed a blow!” someone protested. “Why can’t we stay? Why can’t you fight?”
“I had to greatly expend myself to keep from being struck. Even one misstep would have resulted in my demise. When next I fall asleep. I don’t expect I’ll be waking up.” Voon’ki explained.
“Then what was the point?” asked a student with teary eyes. “If you’re still going to die then why did you even bother?”
Voon’ki laughed. “How ridiculous the reasonings of the young are these days. I did it for you, you fools. I did it so you all could live and share the light and love of Nivir to the galaxy.”
All the students wept as they kneeled in a circle around Voon’ki. Until this night they had all thought the man to be a senile hermit who wanted nothing to do with anyone. They saw now just how wrong they all had been.
Pujopria
Horbel, Klasp, and Shalika’s hyper-hop took them a day and a half to reach Pujo’s base planet, Pujopria from the outskirt world of Nijirono. The tower he lived in had no hangars. So, the group was forced to park their ship on the ground and use the elevator located outside of the building.
Once inside, Shalika hit the button for the top floor. Superior Pujo’s penthouse suite. It was around floor 24 that a terrible odor filled the cramped quarters of the elevator.
“For abyss sake!” shouted Shalika as she covered her super sensitive nose. “Which one of you savages did that?”
Horbel turned around to face Klasp. He barely came up to the minotaur’s chin, but still got into his face. “If you weren’t related to a superior, I would smear your entrails all over this slow as shit glass box.”
“And how would that make it smell any better?” asked Klasp.
Horbel’s anger caused him to take a deep breath which then made him gag.
“I’m sorry!” said Klasp. “Wife’s got me on this new seagrass diet. My body hasn’t quite adjusted to it yet.”
“If you ever release something like that from your body in my presence again it will have to adjust to being dead!” Shalika shouted. Her voice altered by the plugging of her nose. “My fucking eyes are burning, Klasp!”
“Then just close ‘em!” Klasp shouted back. “We’re almost there.”
When the doors finally opened Shalika jumped out choking and gasping for air. Horbel did his best to remain unphased after gagging, but his eyes had also begun to water, and he too found himself gasping at the fresh air.
“What in blue blazes is wrong with you two?” demanded Pujo. He was an immensely obese man who sat in a large bubbling tub of yellow ooze. He was joined by several young ladies of diverse species. All of them were wearing slave collars and passing around a tray of blue powder that they were snorting lines of.
The room was filled with a pink smoke that carried a strong lustful aroma. The walls were all made of a dense transparent metal that made it easy to see the city below. The capitol city on Pujopria shined with all kinds of neon lights and holograms that stretched off far into the horizon.
“That’s the last time I get in an elevator with a damn minotaur!” said Horbel.
Pujo frowned. “I know the ways of Plaquar seem forever foreign to you, Horbel. This is a nation structured around business. Around professionalism. So, the next time you animals get called in to see your superior, you had better act like professionals!”
Horbel grit his teeth but knew better than to refute a superior.
“Now, I would offer you all a girl and some indigo dust, but I know this squad prefers to skip with the formalities. So, I’ll cut right to it then.” Said Pujo. “I have recently received a very profitable offer from Superior Vishka. She is heading an operation to retrieve a large amount of Liplees that escaped their homeworld when we invaded it over eighty years ago. Reports claim that they now reside on a planet called Wulfo. Since this planet is within the borders of Farako, we decided it would be best to send you. We have strong reason to believe that the planet will have a group of Elementi to defend it.”
“We’re attacking a Farako planet?” asked Shalika nervously. “Is this a covert mission then?”
Pujo smiled. “Not at all. It would seem a certain little Princess Marilyn Voltus has overstretched her authority. So, we are going to show her and her fanatical father that the Plaquar are not to be trifled with. Though, I do expect you to be back with my new batch of Liplees long before Farako sends reinforcements to Wulfo.”
Horbel couldn’t help but reveal a wicked grin. He had wanted to fight an Elementi as soon as he had heard of their existence. Rumored to be among the most powerful races in the galaxy. Perhaps a warrior from among them could give him the challenge he desired. Perhaps one could even defeat him.
It had been a long time since he had been pushed to his limits. Not since his days with the people who made him. Horbel could barely even recall the face of his creator anymore. Though he did remember the name. Diahet the Alchemist. Thoughts of vengeance burned within him upon thinking of it.
“Well,” Klasp chimed in, “I hope this job pays well enough! Everyone who’s someone knows the Elementi are no joke.”
Pujo smiled showing crooked yellow teeth. “Enough for you all to take a very long vacation.”
Horbel snorted. “I’ve no need for vacations. You promised me you’d find my creator! Where is Diahet?!”
Klasp took a loud gulp and Shalika stepped away. Raising one’s voice to a superior could easily grant you a death penalty. Though, Horbel had no need to fear such a punishment.
Pujo rolled his eyes. “No one has ever heard of this Diahet the Alchemist. Nor has anyone dug up any information on the race of people you claim to have come from. For all you know the Zaki could be long gone by now.”
Horbel stomped his foot into the ground, and it shook the whole room. Several of the slave girls screamed in terror as they huddled together in the yellow ooze pool.
“Then why am I still doing your bidding?! I’ve no need of your girls, your drugs, or your money!”
Pujo’s face turned stoic. His new favorite toy was getting more rebellious with each passing day. He had known he would have to come up with something sooner or later to maintain his loyalty.
“I was wanting to wait before I showed you this, but I suppose you are need of a little incentive.” He grabbed a remote that was nearby and pressed a button that lowered a large screen.
Horbel lifted his foot from the dented floor beneath him and eyed the screen warily.
It came on and revealed what appeared to be a woman floating in a vat of pink fluid. The more Horbel inspected the image the more his heart started to race.
The woman was covered in black scales, just like his. She had white horns that protruded from her jaw, just like his. Even in slumber she had the fierce look of a warrior on her face.
She was the most beautiful thing Horbel had ever seen.
“Seems like a perfect match, eh?” said Pujo. “I named her Ahfel. She is my gift to you for continuing to abide within the confines of the thousand-year contract that you agreed to.”
Horbel could hardly speak. He was too captivated by the image on the screen. Her name echoed through his mind in adulation.
Ahfel.
The screen went blank and Horbel snapped back to his senses.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“She is yours upon your successful return.” Pujo then snorted a fat blue line from one of the trays a girl held up to him. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he let out a high pitch squeal. Then his eyes shot wide open and straight back at Horbel. “Enslave every Liplee you find. Kill any who resist.”