Confrontations

Several hours earlier…

Helen lay before me, her small figure faded into the shifting wiry fur of the panther-like beast as we entered the gloomy forest. While I had no idea if the Order was pursuing us, I didn’t want to wait around to find out. The surroundings grew darker and darker, but my vision was not affected, as I did not use eyes to see.

The emissary rode ahead of Helen and I, scouting the path as her mount was nimbler, whilst ours burlier.

“Ergh.”

Helen let out an anguished cry as the panther leapt over a fallen tree landing hard. I looked down at her swollen face, realising she had been suffering in vain. I released my grip on the beast’s fur, pulling Helen closer to me, still carefully ensuring my body did not touch hers. I willed the black aura which coated my bones to gather at my fingertips, it coalesced slowly becoming whirlpools of darkness.

Once these swirls had formed, I flipped a switch mentally, reversing them, sending the whirlpools churning in the opposite direction. As they changed their movements the blackness vanished, revealing a pure white. These white swirls then slowly ran from the tips of my fingers, passing through my black gloves and dripped onto Helen’s face.

Instantly the swollen cuts and bruises receded visibly, the open wounds closed, and her broken bones mended. Colour reappeared in her cheeks. I felt the girl shiver in my arms, in that moment, I understood my attachment to the girl.

I remember it like it was yesterday. The pitter-patter of rain and dribble of water clogged our ears. I hugged her arm, goose-bumps running along it. We breathed underneath the blanket, thinking the world was hiding from us, but in truth we were hiding from it. It was dark. So dark, but I felt safe. Her breath on my skin, her warmth keeping me alive. She whispered.

“Run Erebus.”

“Erebus.”

“Subere!”

The emissary had come to a stop. She hissed, the way one does when simultaneously shouting and whispering.

“What is it?”

“Something has been following us. There are never any elves or goblins in this neck of the woods. It has to be the-“

Her whisper was cut off by the silhouette of a small creature passing from tree to tree at ridiculous speeds. The two panthers began to growl, crouching, ready to pounce. I readied my magic, but the emissaries’ comforting hand landed on my shoulder as she dismounted from the panther.

As she approached the silhouette, it stopped. The small creature poked it’s head out from behind a tree. Suddenly it stepped out, with a hoarse voice it boomed,

“Ho ho ho ha ha, ho ho ho he ha. Hello there, old chums. I’m gnot a gnelf. I’m gnot a gnoblin. I’m a gnome. And you’ve been GNOMED!”

“Greetings, guardian of the forest.”

The emissary bowed deeply. The gnome stroked his beard in approval before casting his gaze upon me. I was submerged in laughter of course, if I could have, I would have wet myself.

“You’re telling me- hahaha. That’s the guardian of the forest, hahaha! I love this fucking world.”

The tiny creature’s eyes flickered, glinting at me slightly. The emissary turned to me and shook her head, clearly panicked. But it was too late. The guardian vanished from sight, I felt a whistling sensation coming from behind. Leaping from my mount I twisted my body in the air as the small figure sent its tiny fist towards my chest.

Channelling my full physical power, I didn’t dare underestimate something that could travel at such speed, I punched out meeting fist with fist.

*BOOM*

Two figures shot out from the collision, both crashed through trees travelling hundreds of meters from the explosion. The blast shook the forest.

I eventually came to a stop, picking myself up from a large crater, I dusted off my robes and soon arrived at the collision. The little fellow was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. But that made him even more funny in my eyes- or sockets. In the midst of my flight I noticed one of the bones in my fist had shattered, the power required to do so was enormous.

Thankfully it had taken just a moment to heal entirely. The emissary, Helen and the two panthers had retreated to a safe distance, the emissary was clearly gobsmacked at my level of power, thinking I would have died from a single blow.

A small figure with ragged clothes and a smoking fist met me in the middle of it all, facing me he smiled.

“Ho ho ho, gnot bad.”

“I can say the same.”

He raised a small hand up to me as he walked forth.

Similarly, I held out a gloved hand to him.

“My gname is Gnoggin Clonfilth.”

“Hahaha a good name, mine is Subere.”

“Gnice to meetcha! Gnow, what has brought you to my woods?”

At this point the emissaries’ twitching face calmed slightly.

“We are travelling to the Eventide Kingdom in an effort to escape the Order.”

“Ho ho, that Gnorder is gno gnood.”

It seemed Gnoggin also had his problems with the Order.

“The enemy of an enemy is a friend.”

The emissary and the gnome had to think about it for a moment, upon deciphering the phrase, they both looked at me with a different light. The kind of gaze one has for a revered individual.

“Wise words, it is as he says Guardian, we all share a common enemy.”

“Ho ho, seems so. I gncan show you through the forest, but for gnow, there are some intruders I have to deal with.”

“The Order?”

Gnoggin turned to me.

“Gno, gnot to my gknowledge. They seem to be gnormal gknights.”

“Alright you lead the way then.”

I mounted the panther once more, ensuring Helen was fine. She was a heavy sleeper it seemed. Gnoggin shot off at a speed hard to follow with the eye, fortunately I didn’t have eyes.

We rode for three hours, Gnoggin leading the way, causing any creatures that did see us to flee in terror. The tiny gnome clearly carried a God-like status in this forest. We were riding normally until a terrifying shrieking cut off my hearing. I noticed the mana in the air grow violent and begin to emit a shrill noise.

Waving my hand, the mana in the surroundings calmed. The gnome had come to a stop. I dismounted the panther drawing close to the gnome, the emissary following course. Then I saw it, an enormous skeleton thrashed at a tiny figure in comparison. The monster threw palm after kick at the man crushing nearby trees. The man had a strange neon-green armour which lit up the surroundings and carried an ice-blue longsword.

*Bang*

The man was caught out by the skeleton’s kick, his armour shattering as he soared through the air. The tree behind the man began to collapse and Gnoggin beside me began to quiver.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh gno, the daylight will penetrate the canopy! You must help your fellow skeleton!”

Without asking how Gnoggin knew I was undead, I tried to get my thoughts in order. This was my first encounter with a being similar to me in this life. A dead being, left to walk this world in repentance, or perhaps to exact vengeance. But the morals I wished to have in this life made me want to save the man.

“I’ll just save both.”

The fighting grew to its most intense state, as a sweeping blow came at the man, now unable to see with his armour destroyed, he launched himself ten metres into the air avoiding the lethal strike. He stabbed towards the giant bone-man but just before the sword collided with the skeleton, a ray of sunlight illuminated the side of it’s skull. The man stabbed into that spot, driving the sword deep into the bone.

The skeleton retaliated by swinging the man and catching his body with its teeth, but before it could crush down the jaw was sealed in ice.

I broke into a sprint. This fight would be over soon. I needed to enter at such a time where both parties would be grateful.

*Crack*

The ice split but the man wriggled out, only losing an arm. Then in a split second, the man climbed the skeleton once more, grasping the sword and sealing the giant in ice, the knight fell to the floor. His body resembled a raisin as he wheezed out the ramblings of a dying man.

I approached him, a godly sentence entering my mind.

“Subere, there is no hope for him.”

I waved my hand at the emissary; my plan was coming together.

“I’ve got a bone to pick with you, mister. Did you do that to my big boned friend over there?”

I felt like a detective, getting the man to confess his crimes against bone-kind. The dying warrior’s eyes widened as he saw me.

“Just let me die in peace.”

Die? I wasn’t possibly going to let this guy die. That was way too easy… He had to atone for his sins.

“Don’t talk about death in front of me.”

I crouched down, removing my mask to make things easier for myself.

“The Grim Reaper-“

They have that myth here. That’s odd. I suppose some things never change huh.

I shrugged as I removed my glove before the knights terrified eyes.

“What is your name?”

I tried to put on a spooky voice, not denying I was the Grim Reaper.

“Ri- Richard of Turvea.”

That was all I needed for the spell. In my evolutionary slumber, I learned of the three schools of magic I controlled. Death, Shadow and finally Darkness. While Shadow and Darkness sound the same, Shadow is a magic used to blend in with the light, whereas Darkness drowns out the light. But Death was my most potent magic of all. It could be divided into two sub-categories, Mortality, with which I could end or extend mortal beings lives and finally, Necromancy.

That is what I was going to use now. The best way to pay for your crimes against bone kind, was joining us. To start the spell, I needed life energy and death energy. Luckily, I was in a forest, and my body itself was constructed from death. I created a black vortex with Darkness magic, siphoning the life from the nearby trees and plants under the horrified gaze of Gnoggin, but I didn’t care, it was merely a drop in an ocean.

As the life energy gathered, I refined it into a pearl, then removing my glove I channelled my intention as I touched it with my black bone. At first the two elements conflicted, but by channelling my will, they began to co-exist, the pearl soon resembling a taijitu. In order for the spell to work, the recipient had to be fully dead. Laying a bony finger on the man, his heart stopped beating.

Then I ripped open his chainmail and lay the pearl on his chest. It melted, spreading across his naked body. As it came into contact his body began a spasm attack.

I stood up, under the bewildered gazes of the emissary and Gnoggin, I began to chant.

“You died Richard of Turvea,” a strange power swirled above as I mentioned his name, the soul which had yet to depart his body was sealed inside by the melted pearl.

“Rise Thanatos, servant of Subere.”

Through the gap in the canopy, I could see the maelstrom forming overhead, black clouds and thunder cheered for my success.

But in that moment I realised something had gone wrong, Richard’s body had become a vortex, sucking in my death energy and siphoning life from miles around.

His eyes glowed bright white and the clouds swirled down.

*CRASH*

An arc of lightning drilled into his metamorphosising body. It jolted, before stilling.

There was now a crater, in which Richard rested his body, smoking.

I stood there staring blankly. Just as I was about to call it a day-

“What- am I.”

I shook slightly. How could he still be alive? The man stood from within the crater- no longer a man. He towered over me, muscle rippled on his red skinned body, he looked down with confused eyes. The creature was over two and a half meters tall, many jagged streaks of gold running through his skin.

“This- your name is Thanatos. You are my servant.”

“Master.”

He kneeled down, still as tall as me when kneeling.

“Do you remember anything?”

“I- I was Richard. Richard of Turvea. The prince… I have to protect-“

The red skinned giant saw the Gashadokuro frozen there, instantly, the air buzzed with energy, lightning sparked from the giant’s eyes.

*Zoom*

Richard- or Thanatos rather, vanished from that spot.

*BANG*

Bits of ice and bone flew through the forest. I protected the emissary, Gnoggin and myself by forming a barrier of darkness, catching the shrapnel from the explosion. The pieces of bone and ice melted, falling onto my bones. The shrapnel, unbeknownst to me, increased their hardness and durability.

“One- one blow.”

The emissary mumbled out, seeing Thanatos destroy a nigh indestructible creature.

Horrified at the sight of my bony brother’s explosion, I grew truly angry.

“Thanatos. Kneel.”

“Argh!”

The giant shot back before me, his own body following my commands.

I reached out a bony finger scratching a formation into his forehead. Instantly his gargantuan body shrank to the size it used to be.

He now looked exactly like he used to when he was human, the only difference was the pale red skin and large seal on his forehead. I had sealed his powers to better control him, but also not draw too much attention.

*Pah*

My slap sent him hurtling through the forest.

“Do not act without command, unless commanded to.”

Then I shot beside him again, delivering a kick to his chest.

“I am your master, Subere. Do not forget it.”

He rose from the ground, a defeated and blank look in his eyes.

As I walked back to the group I waved my finger, a black cloak forming around Thanatos’ body. A similar hannya mask formed on his face, but different to mine it was red in colour.

He then followed close behind me.

“You are the first of your kind. Wear that with pride. I will name your species, Stantibus.”

Thanatos looked at me from behind his mask. I knew he would need time to adjust to things, as I did when I first awoke in this body.

First of all, I apologised to Gnoggin for wrecking a part of the forest. In the corner of my eye, I noticed Helen, who had awoken in the midst of things. Remounting, Thanatos ran alongside Gnoggin, matching his speed with ease. I explained everything that had happened whilst comforting Helen.

“Thank you, Subere. You are truly kind.”

If only she knew how much blood I had on my hands. I focused on the road ahead. It was all behind me now; this world was what I sought. A new beginning.

Gnoggin was leading us to the rest of the knight group under Thanatos’ request. He wished to save his old comrades. It seemed he was a kind man, but I knew he was just like me. As his master I saw the Eventide Kingdom through his memories. It was a place where the strong preyed on the weak, and there was no room for anything else.

In a short minute or two of speeding we arrived at a clearing in the forest. Many Demons and monsters lay scattered and dead as did. A group of men stood behind a magical barrier, outside roughly a hundred creatures had accumulated. Thanatos was the first to arrive, even under my seal a lower-class Demon was vaporised by his fist. Under the befuddled gazes of the knights we crushed the monsters. Thanatos, covered in at least nine different kinds of blood, approached the knights.

He spotted a man at the centre who seemed to be the leader.

“Brent! It’s me.”

“Richard? What’s with that get-up? What happened to the Gashadokuro?”

“I killed it, I can’t explain what happened, but know these people are not our enemies, in fact the Order emissary is here.”

Thanatos pointing at the emissary made the knights want to cry with tears of joy. They had completed their mission.

“Your eminence, may we ask your name as a precaution?”

“I am Alarielle, sent by the Order to your Eventide Kingdom.”

“Thank you, Lady Alarielle and welcome.”

The knights kneeled before her. I turned to Gnoggin in the meantime.

“We can go the rest of the way, thank you.”

“Gno problem, an enemy of the Gnorder is my friend!”

The knights turned their heads to the gnome. Even Thanatos was confused. About to draw their weapons Brent’s stern voice rang out.

“Stop, these are good people. We would not have been alive for much longer had they not helped us. And what makes you think we stand a chance against them in the first place.”

The knights looked at each other, lowering their arms.

“You must have your reasons, your eminence.”

“Mhm, it seems like you are a good commander.”

Interjecting I said, “Lets be off then, before we run into any more trouble, thanks again Gnoggin.”

The knights looked to Brent who looked at Thanatos who nodded before falling in line.

I continued along, Helen stroking the Panther as we rode towards the Eventide Kingdom. It took no more than an hour before we exited the forest. No creature dared to even make a noise with my flaring aura in the woods.

Coming from under the canopy, the sun was almost at its highest point in the sky. Through the power of magic, I could feel the heat, it was incredibly comfortable. We rode along a winding hilly path, but of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

A man in armour shaped like an avocado headed a battalion of mounted knights, they all wore the same olive armour as the knights which we rescued. I knew something wasn’t right.

“Charge! Run down the Heretics!”

The blubbery man’s fat giggled as he roared commands. In that split second, I got a rough idea of what had happened. The Order sure acted fast, managing to send a message of our defection in mere hours.

“Form ranks!”

The man named Bret commanded it, and the veteran knights followed. I could sense through our connection that Thanatos was truly aggrieved by the avocado-like man.

“Master, let me kill that man.”

“Mmm.”

As I clicked my bony fingers, the seal faded. Thanatos’ mask grew with his body, but his robes did not. They ripped to shreds revealing his red skin flared with gold streaks. His muscular physique like Hercules he charged forth, resembling a God of War.

I whispered to Helen as we watched.

“This looks like it will be fun.”