GOD ASSASSIN (PT 3) AN ADVENTURE STORY YOU MUST LOVE
Norgid, the revered bastion of the strongest generals was a place I, a humble soldier dare not tread.
“We cannot be here,” I implored my blade but it merely cackled, transforming me back into my slender, slanted form.
“Foolishness,” I scoffed at it as I found myself encircled by the legendary warriors of flames, their masks fused to their skulls.
They charged at me with mocking ferocity, with movements a blur of steel. I then swung my sword wildly desperate to keep them at bay.
“Stay back!” I cried but my plea fell on deaf ears.
“Back?” a guttural voice echoed as a warrior sprang forward, his katana flashing without remorse.
“We don’t stay back”, he ended my life with a single deadly swipe, severing my head from my shoulders.
“Too easy” General Zeed sneered, spitting upon the ground. “This pest appeared more formidable by the riverside. What a shame!”
My lifeless body slowly stirred, crawling to reclaim it’s head.
“General Zeed”, I locked eyes with him putting the skull back in its place. “I cannot best you in brute strength. You are renowned for your prowess and sternness, however I challenge you to a display of swordsmanship.”
The warriors roundabout stifled their giggles, incredulous at my audacity. Had I a mere third ranking general challenge one of the Emperor’s all time greats? Madness!
“Your funeral,” Zeed spat again, a habit that now grated upon my nerves.
His visage bore numerous stitches, a testimony to the blades and arrows of my fallen comrades.
“Choose your weapon”, he gestured to the armory flanking the heart of Norgid. This was a precaution against ambushes which I had failed to anticipate.
“Are you certain I should pick nothing?” I conferred with the dark entity residing within me.
“I am everything you’ll ever need”, it replied guiding my hand to its hilt firmly.
“Wrong choice,” Zeed sneered once more, his irritating habit now a goad. He claimed the mighty zweihander, a sword millennials used to slay mighty forest beasts.
“When I vanquish you and your demon,” he spat for the fourth time, “I shall be hailed as the dynasty’s hero, crowned by the Emperor himself.”
“You wish,” I retorted spitting upon the floor in mimicry of my opponent’s habit.
This was our accustomed battleground where soldiers toiled and fought for the whims of the enthroned elites.
“You are overrated,” Zeed scorned, charging at me with a deadly swing that nearly cleaved my chest in half.
I retreated two steps aback but the dark energy within me healed my wounds with unprecedented swiftness. “For Shogoye”, it spoke with timorousness.
Zeed had secured one of the three strikes required to claim victory, his triumph tantalizingly close. The rules of this twisted game dictated that the first to achieve three strikes would emerge victorious while the opponent would suffer a gruesome demise at the hands of the entire fleet.
“Come at me foul beast,” he taunted, the grip on his sword unwavering.
I ran to make my mark, my movements guided by whatever directed my agility. But the general revealed his power too soon – the ability to manipulate size. With a cackle, he shrank my hand severing it from my wrist.
“Two to nil,” he gloated, spitting upon the floor once more.
My disembodied hand immediately danced to the ground in an utmost scream.
“What was I thinking?”, I asked myself. “Defeating Khonzu made me believe all this would be too easy.”
“For Anan,” my blade cackled angrily as if sensing my fury. “We won’t pick the sawn hand just yet”, it commanded.
I obeyed choosing to fight vulnerably, a bait that Zeed would not refuse.
“Come at me you spitting cobra,” I countered as the general attempted to shrink towards me.
The crush beneath my heel suddenly left the chanting soldiers aghast at the sudden turn of events.
“What sorcery is this?” they murmured as the once-formidable General Zeed let out a pitiful squeal like a mouse trapped beneath my boot.
“Feed him to me,” my blade let out a loud scry,…..such insatiable vengeance.
With that, I savoured and devoured the remnants of the general.
“Winner takes all,” I declared, my left hand now reattaching itself to my wrist with an otherworldly speed.
The warriors eyes seemingly dried with thirst for revenge.
“For the general”, they surrounded me nearly two hundred strong. “He mustn’t get away”, but I wasn’t about to waste my strength.
“By the power of the sword,” I invoked, kneeling before the grey blade, “I summon you,…..you destroyer that dwells beyond the mortal realm. Come and feast.”
“Bless you,” a coarse voice boomed, audible to all.
I stepped away from the sword, my eyes filled with pity as the screams and wails began.
“Run if you can,” I warned everyone but the soldiers charged forward, blindly driven by loyalty to their master.
Just then the creature emerged, its body exactly as it possessed me. A giant lizard who stood drenched in blood.
“Food”, it roared, charging forward like a grizzly.
Its jaws were agape devouring everything in its path.
All I had to do was shut my eyes till all this was over. However another presence caught my attention – General Dorvares, perched atop a rooftop picking up hints from the battlefield with audacious confidence.
