GODS OF ASEROTH: The Prodigal Son: A monster is born (37 page)

    
Samael laughed at Leosher’s arrogance and continued conversating “Do you seriously believe that nonsense? I am the cunning scoundrel who imprisoned his own father. Do you think I would leave myself helpless? I gave those three imbeciles my own powers, but only a third. I still have more power than you could ever handle. And to top it all up,” Samael was joined by his wife, Temuna, who was one of the remaining wizards. She wore a green dress and had fully rouged lips. She also had black nails and her hairs were dark black dreads. She was also brown in color, almost like Leosher, just a little lighter, and had a fresh skin.

     Samael continued talking
“I am married to this rogue beauty, Temuna. She alone can kill you.”

    
Leosher laughed and mocked him “I cannot wait till I get my hands on you. I will kill you and I promise you, it is going to hurt.”

    
Ezhak laughed to support Leosher and spit some fire on the ground but he stopped laughing, for he knew both of them had no chance against Samael.

    
Samael and Temuna laughed too and suddenly, the wooden gates of the castle fell and Samael’s men ran out. They wore thick armor made of steel but since the armors were old, they had holes and flaws in them which were patched with rocks. They had ragged swords but the swords had a dark aura which was the dark energy of Samael.

    
He only had swordsman. There were no archers or any other type of soldiers, just those who wielded swords and the number of soldiers was low as well; there were only about 50 men but those 50 men were highly trained and though they looked as if they could not beat Leosher, they were filled with the same evil Leosher had. It was as if the dark energy was given by the same person, and most probably, it was.

    
The soldiers were pale and their eyes were fully blood red. They had long dirty nails and were bare foot.

    
It was not long before the battle began, when Samael, who stood on the wall, signaled the men by pointing towards Leosher and yelling “Kill him!”

    
There was distance between Leosher and the men but just as the men started covering the distance, Leosher made his move. He threw his scythe into the crowd with such a speed and strength that many could not see it coming towards them. He followed the scythe with the same speed and strength and just as the scythe hit its target it took out at least 5 of the men and killed them and following the scythe was Leosher’s knee. He jumped in the air and came down onto the crowd, knee-first. The impact was great which dismantled the forces even more.

    
Ezhak helped Leosher by throwing fireballs into the fight and buying him enough time to get back to his scythe so he could begin the massacre.

    
Leosher slid from under the legs of one of the soldiers, who stood with his sword ready to kill him, and grabbed his scythe. He quickly got up and swung it with the aim of decapitating the soldier, and he succeeded at it. Leosher killed the soldier and continued to fight. He was untouchable, for that much dark energy in a god’s body who was meant to be a great fighter, was overwhelming. He was too fast for any of the soldiers’ sword to even scratch him. He was too strong for them to hold him down and he was too cunning to be tricked.

    
The battle was over quickly, for Leosher and Ezhak were too good in battles to die and Ezhak’s doubt was proven wrong, for he saw Leosher standing in puddles of blood and a mountain of bodies.

    
“Your end is here,” Leosher looked at Samael and smirked but for some reason, Samael smirked back and Temuna was not standing beside with him.

    
“Are you sure?” Samael said “I am not the one who is about to die” and just as he said that, Temuna came out of the gates and pointed her wooden wand which was wrapped in vines, towards Leosher. Black ropes shot out of her wand, just like the ones Lutman used. They were nasty and shiny and looked like tar, only more elastic.

     
The ropes wrapped around Leosher’s body and incapacitated him. They were overwhelmingly strong, for even Leosher was not being able to break free. Ezhak quickly spat fire at Temuna to kill her but Samael intervened. He grabbed Ezhak’s neck and swung him. It was a spectacular scene, for Ezhak was thrown away like a rag doll and he passed out just as his head hit the ground, for he had never experienced such a thing, but Samael thought he had died, therefore he left him alone.

    
“Leosher,” Samael laughed “Did you really think you could break free? My wife, Temuna is undoubtedly the strongest witch in the whole world, and the most beautiful too.”

    
Temuna smiled and spat on Leosher’s face and said in her shrieking voice “You are to die in our dungeons, and your body shall rot!”

    
She flicked her wand and another strand came out which ultimately covered all of Leosher and then, the whole thing turned into marble. Leosher was now encased in a black marble coffin. Temuna looked at Samael and kissed him “He is an imbecile. Now take this, and throw it in the deepest dungeons of our ragged castle. We shall use his power to kill the guardians and be released from this eternal run.”

    
“I like the way you think.” Samael appreciated her and picked the coffin up and took it inside his ragged castle and went into the dungeons. They were dark and wet. They were the strongest part of the castle, for this was the only place which was not built by stacking up giant boulders. There were many cells with bones in them; these bones were of soldiers that did not listen to Samael and Temuna. There was water dripping from the ceiling and the walls were green with algae.

    
Samael walked down the spiral staircase and walked over to the darkest part of the dungeons with the coffin on his shoulder and as he proceeded, the light became dimmer and dimmer and when he reached the end, it was the deepest point and the darkest as well. There was not even a speck of light and it was incredibly cold just like the middle mountains, and it was wet as well. There were puddles of slimy water on the ground and the floor of the cell was mud.

    
Samael threw the coffin in a corner and left the dungeons and it was pin drop silence now, and there was nothing in the dungeons except the imprisoned, fallen king, the dark horse, Leosher…

    
It was now night and Ezhak had woken up. It took him time to recover but he did and now he stood tall again but he still was injured and he knew that he was not of match for neither Temuna, nor Samael, therefore he flew back to the golden castle where he told Virgil that Leosher was in grave danger.

    
They all stood were in the court hall when Ezhak barged inside.

    
“Virgil,” said Ezhak, “You have to help your fallen brother. His very life is in danger and you are the only one powerful enough to save him. You are the lord of Thraenus and Aseroth; you have the power to kill Samael.”

    
“Where is he?” Virgil stood up “Take me to him.”

    
Meagon, who was also in the court hall, heard that Leosher was in danger, and instantly she wanted to go help him,
     “I demand to go with you, for my husband’s life is in danger and I shall do everything to save him.”

    
Virgil thought for a moment and then looked at her “Get ready, for we must depart now. I do not know how much time Leosher he has till he dies, Asurot has a cloak on him and none can sense him or his presence.”

    
Meagon snatched Usere’s sword and Urey’s bow and got ready and though she wore a dress, it was not a fancy one. It was a normal dress which warrior women wore. The only thing that she did not possess was armor but with Ezhak and Virgil on her side, she did not need any.

    
“Virgil, the fastest way to get to Samael is by flying, therefore, both of you shall ride me there.”

    
“No—you are already injured, and even if you were healthy, I have a faster way, but first, let me heal you.”

    
He put his hand on Ezhak and closed his eyes and within seconds, all of Ezhak’s wounds were healed.

    
“Now,” he continued talking “We shall go.”

    
Virgil put his hands on Meagon and Ezhak and in an instance, they turned into a golden ball of fire. They flew up in the sky like lightning and landed in front of the castle of Samael. It only took them about 4 seconds to get there, because Virgil had read the location from Ezhak’s mind when he touched him.

    
This was the way how the gods traveled but Leosher never quite learnt it. Virgil utilized all of his resources, for he was wiser than Leosher and did not have power on his mind all the time.

    
They stood in front of the castle and Virgil shouted “Samael, I know you are in there and I know you have my brother. Come out now and you shall not be punished by death. You will only be returned to the guardians and will only be put in Ratarus, where you belong—now come out and face me.”

    
There was silence but then Temuna walked out of the broken gate and her hands were in the air, as a sign of surrender but there was no sign of Leosher or Samael. Just as Meagon saw Temuna, fire came into her eyes and she charged at her. She slapped Temuna in the face but Virgil raised his hand and pulled her off with a flick of his wrist.

    
Temuna was angry but was helpless for Virgil was too strong for her.

    
“Where is Leosher?” Meagon yelled at her “Bring him out or you will perish.”

    
Temuna smirked “You are naïve. You do not know what you speak. You are weak, you cannot possibly think you can defeat me. I am too strong for you, stronger than any wizard.”

    
Just when Temuna stopped talking, came out Samael with the marble coffin on his shoulder. He swaggered towards Virgil and when he was finally close, he spoke to him “I shall make you a deal. I will give you your brother alive, and you will grant us freedom from the guardians.”

    
“It is too late, for the guardians already know you are here. I told them telepathically and they will be here any moment now. You have no choice but to give Leosher back.”

    
After a few moments of silence, red smoke appeared beside Virgil and out of the smoke came the guardians. They were looking as grim as always. They wore their thick red cloaks and floated around in mid-air. Their feet were bloody, for the grounds of Ratarus were molten rocks and spikes and their faces were black and their eyes were red. They had hoods on their head and had whispering and grim voices.

    
The leader of the guardians said in his whispering voice “At long last, we have found Samael. Today we shall take you back to Ratarus and wipe the stain away, wipe our humiliation away.”

    
Virgil was the only one who did not look at the guardians but all the others did and although the guardians were grim, none were scared of them, not even Meagon.

    
“Keep them away from me or I will kill Leosher” Samael said right after the guardians talked.

    
Virgil smiled, “You cannot kill my brother before my eyes.”

    
He snapped his fingers and the marble melted away and Leosher jumped out of it and put the scythe against Samael’s throat. All were surprised except Virgil, for it was his plan all along. He knew his brother had a fighting spirit and he would never give up. His plan was going exactly the way he wanted but then things took an unexpected turn.

    
“Leosher, move away from him. He will not harm you. It is his time and he has to go to Ratarus now.”

    
Leosher laughed “I will not let him go, for he has destroyed my pride. I will kill him and gain it back.”

    
“Not if you want to go to Ratarus,” The leader of the guardians said “If you kill him before our eyes, you will have no choice but to come with us. You will be locked away for eternity, for you are disobeying the king of all gods.”

    
Leosher laughed again “The king of all gods is my brother, and I am sure he will not let me be imprisoned.” Leosher looked at Virgil and smiled “Right brother?”

    
“No—I am afraid I will not be able to do anything. I am expected to do what is right and therefore, I shall do what is right.”

    
This infuriated Leosher but he did not stop. He swung his scythe and killed Samael. He had followed Dadurot’s orders, not because he had to, but because he wanted to, for he thought that Dadurot was going to give him the throne.

    
Virgil was angry and Temuna was devastated. She ran forward to catch the falling body of Samael but she could, not for it turned to ash. She fell on the ground crying and put the ash on her bosom, mourning for her late husband.

    
Meagon ran to Leosher, for she was happy to see him. She hugged him but Temuna was not happy at all.

    
“I will take away your love, just like you took mine away.”

    
She turned herself into pure evil energy and shot herself towards Meagon with the aim to kill her but Leosher got in the way and put his left arm in front of her and the energy blast was absorbed by his body and this was the day when both Temuna and Samael died; this was the day when Thraenus was rid of all its enemies.