Somewhere, between a little village and the den of Ol’ Rockpaw, there was a clearing, now occupied by a group of fewer than ten people. They were sitting, tending their horses and checking equipment, when suddenly, the bush on the edge of the forest shook, letting out a rustling sound.
Each of the men standing there raised their weapon while getting into a formation.
- “Calm down guys! Lower your weapon, it’s just me! Honestly, I did that noise on purpose because last time you told me I was sneaking
A hunter entered the forest’s camp.
- “Is it… done?” Michael Diederik asked his hunter.
- “Ah, young lord, who do you think you gave that job to? Of course! I slaughtered him like a pig…”
- “Watch your tongue!” young noble hissed
- “What now?! I did what I was told to!”
- “Do you think it makes me happy? Ordering the assassination of some peasant?!... Not only that. He was a good man. Fuck! If there was any other way…” young man sat down on a package with equipment massaging his face “… I know that I don’t need to ask, but I will do it anyway, you checked if he died?”
- “Didn’t have to. No one can walk freely with liver in shreds.”
- “Where are your men?”
- “Still there,
The noble held the pendant in front of his face before hiding it in his pocket.
- “So, what now? You go marching into the village as a hero or…”
- “Not yet. We wait for your men first.”
- “Ha? Not trusting my boys?”
- “I don’t need to trust anyone. But, if you need to know, it’s better if all of us would march in together. For various reasons. The main thing is to make sure everyone sticks to one version of the story.”
- “Whatever. You are the one paying.” Hunter just shrugs his shoulders “… is that wench really worth killing for her? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care about some peasant, but, in case of some fiasco, if the rumors of your blood lusting nature would spread… that would surely damage your name on the king’s court…”
Oh, the unspoken threat in the air was almost touchable, and the young noble was quick to notice it. The hunter was blackmailing him.
- “You are right. In the end, quite a few people know about it…” the air around noble became cold “…so what would you say about such an idea – I would reduce the number of everyone who knows about it, let’s say, by four people.
Greedy hunter wanted to make Michael buy his silence. The thing is, you don’t negotiate with ex-criminals such as him. Because, they mistake goodwill for weakness, and would keep on demanding more and more. The only way to truly keep their mouth shut is through fear.
- “Very good idea. I will remember it next time someone would try to threaten our bread-giver.” Hunter bowed with fake courtesy.
Once again, Michael had this uneasy feeling in his heart. He tried to justify his actions… but why? That man was just a peasant! His life was worth as much as a few bags of wheat! If he wanted to, he could just say that he offended him and sentenced him to a whipping, and those very often ended with one’s death…
… why would he care for some unimportant man, that if he wanted to, he could sell to another lord!
His life was a commodity to other nobles! So why?
Michael knew why. Because that was what his father would do. His father, who all the time kept on teaching him that if he wants something, he should just take it. That strong take whatever they desire, and he, as his son and next family head, has to be strong. That those privileges are merely payment for their hard work for the crown.
And Michael hated it. He wanted to bring prosperity to his lands and joy to his people…
… He was told so many times, that if you want to get something done, not once, nor twice, you have to dirty your hands. In order to bring prosperity to many, you need to exploit few. Years ago, in the time of war, in order to protect the capital, people of the lowest class were forced into rush-building the city walls to protect the citizens. Dozens, no, hundreds of them died from exhaustion…. Yet, they managed to do it. Later, a monument was built in their name alongside a table saying “We are living on your ashes, nameless heroes, may your work last as long as the memory of your sacrifice”. Pathetic! They raised a monument just to quench their egoistic needs. To silence their conscience.
And Elize! Elize was smart! With just a little guidance she would become a splendid scholar, economist, architect, or whoever she would ever desire! With her at his side, Michael would be able to truly lead his province to prosperity!... So tragedy like that with the city walls could never happen again.
So, why all these hard feelings? If he was given another chance, would he choose differently?
Michael bit his lip so hard, that a drop of blood ran down his chin.
The answer was – “no”.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Somewhere, between the planes of spiritual existence, the Goddesses of the Three had their meeting. It was quite cheerful and loud, in the end, they were sisters or even three shards of the same presence, and right now, they were celebrating their little victory.
- “And he fell for that?” The Lady of the Night yelled amused.
- “Apparently! Naïve fool! In the end, he is still just like a mortal, when he sees the goal in front of him, he loses his focus and lowers his guard. Mortis, my child, did a very good job.” The Lady of the Nature clapped her hands together. Only Lady of the Light appeared to be lost in deep thoughts.
- “It’s still a tragedy. This poor soul has been played by the divines so much. And just a few days ago, they made an Oath… I was the one greeting them, I could feel their love pulsating under their skin… to know that they will never be together, not only in this life nor any other… I can’t help but weep over their misery.”
- “Even though this one soul is lost, we can still reward this pain to the other one… I agree, sister, we owe them at least this much.” The Night nodded her head a few times.
- “Anyway, do you think our
At that moment, the door to the heavenly chamber exploded, almost evaporating under the sheer pressure of divine power. A man clad in rags entered the room.
- “Yo, I have just one question…” said Zariel as he walked in “The question is: WHAT. THE ACTUAL. FUCK?! I need you to focus, you can take turns answering.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Angels clad in armor were quick to rush into the chamber after the intruder, pointing blades emitting with deep blue fire in his direction, yet he paid little to none attention to them.
- “How dare you address the Three so casually, you little…” one the she-seraphs in silver armor started, yet was completely ignored. Feeling the anger boiling in her, the seraph approached the Divine even closer, unfortunately for her, the tip of her spear grazed The Wanderer.
- “Alett! No!” one of the goddesses tried to stop her angel, but it was too late.
There was a pact between gods, that they would not directly hurt one another, of course, certain acts of hostility could allow you to take counteractions. That...was one of these.
The white-haired man moved quickly, too fast for anyone else to act. He grabbed Angel's hand, pulled her closer, kicked her under the knee making her kneel in front of him. He grappled a moment longer which resulted in him standing above the angel, his hands were grabbing two out of six wings and his leg was resting on her back. One kick would tear them off.
- “Zariel. I beg you for forgiveness for my servant’s actions. You would show great wisdom and mercy by letting her go.” Lady of Light kept on saying in a calm tone, trying to control the situation.
- “I might not kill her if you would be kind enough to answer my question. Aster is MY champion. As such, you shouldn’t interfere with his transformation. Yet, instead of a beast of the forest, he became a walking corpse. Care explaining to me why, THE FUCK, you decided to break the rules of the game? Rules that you set up?!”
- “We didn’t break any rule, we played dirty, yes, but no rule was broken. What you witnessed was nothing more than the outcome of nearly twenty years of plotting. Decades ago, when you came to this Universe and we learned what you wanted to do, we set up The Game. We knew you would need time to study this world before you could start playing along, so we set this up anticipating your actions. We knew you would want to corrupt one of our followers instead of raising your own, you are just this kind of person, so, on purpose, we raised a villager which we blessed with a set of gifts far from the capital, or any possible garrison. We knew that this would pique your interest, it was our intention to let you think that we might be raising him as a trump card. The truth is, we didn’t. Our real champions are somewhere else, training for their quests. We knew that eventually the fate-shift would appear in his life and that you would use this opportunity to manifest, and so, Mortis was waiting. She changed him into the undead already there, before you even came, before you made your deal, and thus before he became your champion. This way, you would lose more years looking for another person you could appoint as your champion in the time when ours would keep growing stronger…”
Zariel stood there with an expressionless face, then, he started pushing his leg onward while pulling his arms back, slowly ripping the wings off the angel’s back.
- “So, in the end, that’s what mortals are for you? Mere decoys, right? Did you set up his life from the start for the sole purpose of changing him into a corpse? Just to prank another god?..”
- “Stop! You told you wouldn’t harm Alett!”
- “I told you I wouldn’t kill her. Actually, I have also said that I would consider not killing her, so I might as well do it. Still, she will be perfectly fine without these two wings, right? She would be just demoted to a mere archangel… How many centuries would she need to re-grow them?”
Eventually, he let her go, making the angel fall to the ground.
- “I could torment her…” The Wanderer started “… I could have torn off all of her wings, sending her to the mortal's realm as a Fallen. I could pluck each and every feather… Do you know why I am not doing it? Because, then I would prove that I am just as sick, twisted, and disgusting as you are… Do you have no SHAME?” He eventually lost his composure and started screaming
- “When I came here and saw what you are doing, I was still wondering if I shouldn’t just join you. If, perhaps, my judgment is still clouded and I don’t see the whole picture… but you actually raised a human from the beginning to be a sacrifice?! How are you different from devils?! You sicken me! I came here, to show you that mortals are something more than pawns! That they can achieve greatness, even help you achieve your goals, be partners in ascension, not just tools! But… But…” he stopped for a moment “… but whatever I would say now, would have no meaning. Right? Villains never recognize the evil of their own actions… But, just so you know, I will not choose another champion. I refuse to give up on him. Prepare your champions well, because when the time would come, Aster will be ready.”
- “So much talk, but in the end, you still want to use him…” The oldest of the sisters raised her voice.
- “Use? No. I will prepare him for whatever fate he would choose. Then, he can do whatever he wants. Because only then, humanity can truly achieve greatness.” He headed toward the door to leave the room.
- “We have been goddesses for many cycles, what can you hope to achieve being ascended for merely a decade or two?”
- “Everything. Everything in what you have failed.”
The Fate-Breaker left the room turning into a purple mist.
He appeared just outside of the Heavenly Palace, in which the meeting took place and started heading toward the edge of the realm in order to leave this plane of existence, but, as he was about to step over the mist, he was stopped by the noise of hundreds of wings, as a group of armored knights descended from the sky.
- "You might have ridiculed our young sister just now, but you better know, that this peace treaty between you and The Ladies will not protect you forever! You will eventually make a mistake and then, you will learn the taste of our iron. For now, flee, as coward you are."
The Wanderer actually smiled wide hearing those words.
- "What I find amusing is that you seem to actually believe the words that you have just said. This treaty is protecting not me, but you."
- "Bark more, you Jester of a Gods!"
- "How do you think, why am I being called a Beast in Black?"
- "Fair question, for to us, you are more a Fool in Rags!"
- "Oh, little lambs, you really have no idea of what I did to ascend into God-hood... But, if you are so desperate to prove yourself, I feel like giving you a chance to do so... What will you say about this idea, we can't attack one another without suffering a repercussion, but if we would agree for a duel..." he left his statement unfinished.
- "What's the catch, Venom-tongued?" one of archangel hissed back
- "Catch? There is none! All of you... versus all of me. We fight till one side concedes or no longer would be able to stand... or exists."
- "You actually want to fight all of us at the same time?! Entire cohort? Does your insolence knows no bounds?"
- "I just don't have time to waste to battle each of you separately... so? Are you in? Or brave angels are afraid of one, poor, fool in rags?"
Seraph leading the group bit his lip. In case of their victory, there would be no glory as Zariel would fend off a hundred of celestial attackers... No matter if he wins or loses, his good name wouldn't be damaged that much.
But! That smirk! That awful, vulgar smile on his face! There is no way they could let him leave unscratched just like that! If they would humiliate him enough, that disgusting creature would never dare to enter their holy domain again!
- "Very well. When and where do you wish to fight?"
- "Told you, my time is precious. So how about here, in a minute?"
- "You wish to battle hundred of angels and... you don't want time to prepare, warlock? Very well. I will enjoy pulverizing your joints into..."
- "I take that as an agreement to my terms of battle... so, I will excuse myself to use that minute... You see, I am a shapeshifter, and I have such one sweet form, which I restricted in chant, just so I wouldn't transform into it under some form of manipulation... allow me... E-them, e-them..." he fake caught
In the next minute, his smile vanished from his face, being replaced by focus and lack of emotions. He opened his eyes which turn into ocean's of pitch-black darkness as he opened his mouth and sang unholy vows.
- "Woe, woe you, my foe,
As the earth has blackened,
And as Heavens has fallen..."
He kept on crying out words which soon turned in a cacophony as if it was sung by thousands of throats. And, it actually was. It was being sung cried by the voices by all the creatures that he ever killed and devoured, and every fool which made a pact with him and failed to meet their end of a bargain.
His body started changing. His lower body, from legs, turned into a tangled mix of thick tentacles. Few could recognize it must have once belonged to a Scylla-like monster. His upper body - the torso, shatter and cracked into two, then four bodies, each with their own head and pair of hands. Later, all of the torsos started separately shifting, evolving into gruesome combination of beasts. There was a head of a wolf crowned with deer's horns. A panther with viper's teeth. A bat with eyes of a hawk. The last torso looked like a Snake covered in scales of different retails.
All this time, his entire body frame was growing. When he stopped, the colossal creature was around eight meters tall, towering above all celestial around.
Then, each of the torsos, as if having will of their own, raised their hands to thy sky and cried out:
- "D'iabel! Axe"
- "D'iabel! Spear!"
- "D'iabel! Bow!"
- "D'iabel! Shield and sword!"
And with a flash of vicious light desired weapons appeared, already ready to use.
The minute passed, yet neither God not angels dared to move just yet. The Beast in Black moved his joints a little testing his new body.
- "I call this form Sviatovid, just so you know, but, I doubt you would know what it means, apparently you pay very little attention to events from other universes... It has been a while since I could move freely... I just hope I didn't get too rusty since last time I fought... Now, I think I know what you were all thinking when I challenged you.
All his heads grinned, just like a predator looks at his prey.
- "You said that a cohort would be too much for me? Little lambs, if you hoped to entertain, you should bring at least a legion."
And then, a one-sided carnage started.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Moving was so hard. Since I became this whole
There is no bloody way I would just attack humans (except for that one very particular person), so I had to find some animals… but, that brings us to the first matter. My clumsiness. There was no way I could hunt anything. My moves were loud and kept on scaring everything in the range of a hundred meters or so.
My plan, for now, was using the hunter’s traps. But I didn’t know how long I could last feasting in such a way…
After nearly an hour of walking, I stumbled upon the first location which I remembered from my previous journeys to the forest. Much to my happiness, I noticed that snares were full.
A rabbit. A small one was lying exhausted within a simple trap. Guessing by his condition, he must have gotten caught a few days ago, for it was extremely tired, and didn't even flinch when he saw me. Merely moved his eyes. He didn’t fight, he didn’t start thrashing around in his last attempt to free himself. This poor soul just gave up.
- “I will not end like you…” I didn’t know why I said that aloud “… there is no way I will welcome my fate. I will never give up… I will, never, stop, resisting…” I put by hand around the animal's neck.
It actually relaxed in my hands.
I see. All these days, you were hurt, right? These snares weren’t like the one that someone from our village would leave. It must have been the hunters that came with Diederik. They were made in such a way, to inflict as much pain as possible. The poor little animal was hurt all over its body.
This poor creature begged to end its misery…
I ended it as quickly as I could. One twist and his neck broke. Death in a split of a second.
I looked into the fading lights in his eyes, and I could have sworn that I saw gratitude.
Monsters. All of them were monsters. Killing someone just because you wanted something or someone that was already his. Killing in such a way to deliver as much pain as possible, to boast as the other one would be dying knowing of what you were going to do next, knowing, that there would be no justice…
… why could such a beast roam this world freely? Why would the Tree allow this?
How could that be ok? Why weren’t heavens trembling? Why didn't the sky split open just to smite these people with thunder and flame?!
WHY!?
Only now, a few hours since the deed was done, when the adrenaline started leaving my brain, could I fully comprehend the scale of their greed and cruelty.
I freed the body of the rabbit from the trap, and for a moment I hugged it closely.
- “How ironic. I need to eat you, little one, but know this, that you will give me the strength to hunt those who tormented you. Did you know about it? Was that the reason why you offered your life without resistance?”
I didn’t know that. There was no way I could.
But I knew one thing. That inside my cold heart, something started boiling. When the blood was dripping off my mouth, I felt the fire lighting up within my guts and clouding my mind.
My journey starts here, with a little rabbit. Hopefully, it ends with a group of nobles.