THE CONGREGATION OF WINGS
(PROLOGUE)
New Genesis
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The rot is apparent in Their works. The bloated, festering corpses of Their churches will lie sundered- Bewildered, antagonised, utterly powerless to protect Their believers who wear the bloody veil of ignorance. They are petrified. For I have seen them.
The chain around the twisted creatures neck began to smoulder and twist. The blood steel began to expand and contract, the chain's links began to break and at once the black gem was free. It began to levitate as the light around it began to flicker with a mysterious byzantine glow and the amber light of high spirits.
The hulking mammoth of a creature was perched on a mound of dirt and rock so high, the fused arms sprouting from neck seemed only like the tall spire of a church unable to reach above the tree line. Underneath the creature was a large circular clearing littered with corpses and scraps of glowing grey crystallised flesh; surrounding this was a sea of green grasses of various types and shade that lead naturally to the exposed roots of hulking ancient trees. It was in that place, where the trees met the bushes, at the genesis of a silver daybreak, a Gainesboro light reflected off a pair of steel spear tips poking through the leaves.
Many hidden eyes watched as a flick of the creature’s tongue plucked the glowing gem out of the air and into its body. The creature's rotting jaw twisted into a grin that almost seemed relieved. Perhaps the gem was what the creature once protected, but now with the twisted animalistic paws and hoofs that emerged from bloody flaps in various places through the creatures almost humanoid form and spasmed through the air that the creatures only source of sustenance was from feeding on the spirits in the stone.
They will die in their own licentiousness and violence. Their grotesque words and cruel deeds will dye the oceans red with blood, and when the scabs form, the people will cry for a cleansing rain and I will watch them from this prison and I will laugh.
The creature collapsed into the rocks on which it stood with a thump, it’s lower appendages too weak to continue to hold it upright. byzantine light flickering through the cracked skin on its forehead. Birds took wing from nearby trees as the creature roared and jerked. Long rabbit ears grew from the sides of its head as blood flowed from the last tufts of hair on its scalp into its beady eyes.
A glow of amber spirit light rippled through its body drying the blood on its head. The creature jerked again, it's many animal appendages suddenly limp as a low grown vibrated from its malformed mouth. It nuzzled its head into the earth, neck crackling as the undergrowth peeled off the freshly formed scabs on its eyes. The monster's long tongue arched in the air as it cleaned the red stains of its head. Perhaps the philosophical observer would comment on the creature’s dedication to cleanliness that almost human, but the men were not particular.
They will thirst for salvation. The ignorant sons of man will cry for their wasted cities. The degenerate elves will plead for death. Those fallen creatures with bodies like those of a man, with hoofs, and tails, and the ears of beasts, will cry out for salvation and I will laugh.
Again, the creature roared as the byzantine light ripped through the cracks in its exposed skin. Its forehead bulging and shimmering with light and dancing red streams of blood. A murmur rose from the bush as the Lesser Condottiere Alberico Sforza raised his crystalline sword, his oversized red cap brushing against a stray branch and almost falling off. I could see the Hon. Lodrisio Sforza’s eyes widen at his brothers’ sudden action.
The Sforza’s where one of the few ancient houses in the region, indeed I once heard Alberico drunkenly claim his pennon had even seen the Ascension Wars. It was my original misconception to think that such an aristocratic family followed chivalric fashions of old. No, it seemed they were worshipers’ fashion itself, devotees of the pleasure Goddess Celestine under Good King Alfreed’s occupation to becoming followers of the war God Malatesta while the Malatestian Order maintained our territory.
Much like many Aristocratic houses under the thumb of the Order their family had declined, at first from a great and powerful house, to dandy pleasure seekers and degenerate drunkards until even their blood now carried with it hints of insanity.
At the very least to me, reports of the Condottiere’s almost religious pursuit of pleasure from Mother, and the man’s bad habit of drinking the blood of the malformed creatures he hunted where reminiscent of the hideous nature of a Fallen. Indeed his tall, muscular figure with his leonine blonde hair and blue eyes could even have been considered handsome if his complexion wasn’t betrayed by his eyes which were sunk so deep into his face they seemed almost pitch black and his cheeks that where deflated and shadowed so completely his face looked almost malnourished.
Perhaps that was why his moustache was so long, twisted in a spectacular fashion over his lips until it seemed he was always smiling. Something of a point of pride to him equivalent to the incongruity of his outfit. He seemed to enjoy the looks he received from the pikeman when they saw him in his bright yellow merchants robe with patches of chainmail draped over it, both the robe and the chainmail however where not long enough to reach his knees, perhaps to distract the men from starring at his exposed legs he wore a large bulbous cap, stark red and reflecting the early morning light. He clearly thought he made the outfit look congruous.
The opportunity for betterment was always there for all of them. They could have walked the path of godliness but instead they waged bloody hell and build the bulwarks of their society on rotten cornerstones. When our warnings came, all they did was laugh.
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The creature roared again as a crystal seemed to emerge from its forehead. The men seemed to shuffle back further into the shrub as it raised its head and torso until it was almost upright and then suddenly rammed its head into the ground.
Again.
Again.
It seemed to react to the gem, raising its head and slamming it into the rocks below its hulking body every time the strange byzantine light erupted from the crystal. Only relaxing, limbs bent, when the amber spirit light rushed over it.
As spirit light once again lit the creature up, the hon. Lodrisio turned towards me, his clean-shaven cheeks brushing past a branch.
“Wilfred?” Said the man, with his eyes to the ground, “what do think that purple light is?”
“I don’t know sir” I whispered, moving my eyes to the patch of ground Lodrisio was looking at, “perhaps an extremely strong spirit?”
“Yes.” He answered, turning his face back to his brother “Extremely strong.”
I was decidedly glad to be Lodrisio’s servant, unlike his brother he didn’t dress like a unemployed jester. His blonde hair contrasting his black, priest like attire. It seemed like he was always in prayer, in fact he prayed regularly, yet never in a church of the Seven and never in places one would normally associate with prayer. From the courtyard of the Ministerial manor to the charity hall, the Hon. Lodrisio always picked the strangest places to quietly mutter with clasped hands.
In fact, our bands double-pay man Jacob often speculated that Lodrisio was actually not religious at all, but instead directed the same obsession Alberico had with wine and women into a much more innocent love of architecture. I, who in the course of my duties have spent the most time with Lodrisio would have to disagree, there was something about him that made me sure he was as a pious man could be.
As I watched him turn towards his brother, patiently waiting for the man to give the order with a small smile on his face. His side profile seemed happy, which was certainly a rare thing to see on Lodrisio’s face when looking at the Lesser Condottiere.
The Condottiere, still crouched turned on his heels in one swift motion.
“Men. Those with Pikes draw yourselves together into two rows of five men each.” Alberico stared at the ten pikemen huddled in the trees, “Like an impenetrable wall you will keep the creature at bay.”
He turned to look at Jacob who had a sword and a spirit crystal in either hand and the four crossbowmen with Paris’s shields behind the double-pay man.
“You will aim for the head and heart,” he turned his head back to where the creature was just in time for us to hear a loud thump again, “if you can find them.”
With that the man rose to his full height, catching his hat on the way up. It seemed he forgot to give his brother a job. I hoped he wouldn’t give me a job either as the men moved into position.
The daystar of the lord’s power will be made manifest, and the heedless will be judged and found wanting. The world will witness the last convulsions of the Gods. The mortal races will cry out to their dead Gods and receive no answer. The red oceans of blood will surge above the heads of the heretics and beneath their boots, and it will scream a laugh of cleansing might. And I will laugh.
As the creature raised its bloody head to once again slam itself into the earth, the gem burst from its forehead shattering into coloured pieces, as the monster let out a loud whimper.
At that moment Lesser Condottiere Alberico Sforza charged forward with a loud “Hurrah!” his men following closely behind letting out loud cries and shouts.
Before the creature could turn its body to face Alberico and his men, the two rows of pikemen have already advanced on its back and where battling its longer appendages.
Lodrisio and I had only just emerged from the tree line before hearing Jacob’s pained scream as he shattered the red crystal in his left hand, a fire bursting to life in his hands. He clenched his hand closed compressing the flame into a small ball before emerging from the rear of the pikemen and standing to their left.
The men stepped back from the creature as Jacob threw the ball of fire in his hand at the creature. Suddenly there was a deafening explosion as fire and smoke bellowed from the monster’s back burning off the bloody clawed limbs wriggling on its back.
With a roar the monster thrashed, its body lurching towards the pikeman, who all at once threw themselves forward at the creature. Those closest used their feet to hold the pike in place as they took out their swords. As the rear of the formation pushed forward, the creature twisted its body revealing its front, dozens of tendrils and claws twisting in the morning sun.
The pikemen pushed alongside the double-pay man until a volley from the four crossbow men struck the creatures torso. With a scream the monster collapsed forward, the pikeman formation collapsing as the men scampered out of the way.
The last moments where a blur but according to Jacob the Condottiere moved from behind the collapsed line of pikeman and to his side. Reaching down the elder Sforza brother took the backup crystal off the loop of Jacob’s belt, swiftly crushed in and threw it into the open mouth of the creature, the ball of fire just missing its long, dagger like teeth and disappearing down the monster’s throat.
A great explosion tore through the creature, showing the men in blood, bone and cartilage. I fell backwards as did many of the men, luckily, I was at the back with the crossbow men at the time or I would have suffered more than just momentary shock.
From that instant I don’t remember much except the all-encompassing sweet smell of burnt flesh and the sight of the Condottiere hunched over what was left of the creature, drinking.
Lodrisio’s hand fell on my shoulder, I turned and was met with a large smile.
Perhaps the largest smile I’d ever seen.
“Your payment, Mr Wilfred.” He said as he placed a fragment of the byzantine crystal in the palm of my hand.
Until the foolish can no longer laugh.
Spoiler: Spoiler
Hey guys!
Thanks for reading this first chapter!
This is the first time I've writen a story on RR so please if you have any constructive critisism please tell me!
I'm in Australia so I may spell things a bit different from you (sorry)
I'm planning to write about 2 chaps per week, but this week thats going to be hard since I have UCAT and then work.
Thanks again for reading!
I hope that all of you are happy and that I can write to you guys again and again.