Gaia's Bestiary Entry #61 - Void Beasts (Unconfirmed\Unproven)

Well, I'm terribly sorry for writing down an unconfirmed existence, but due to the nature of the source, I decided against my better judgement, to share this rather unusual and unusual and disconcerting information.

As you all are well aware, I'm greatly fond of and am a sponsor of the scenic arts. During a rather lowly and not divulged theather presentation, on the streets, I came to meet the director of said play. He was a dignified man, the man smelled royalty, although I could not make myself recall of where or to whom he was related to, his skin was strangely and profusely pale, almost nearing white, and he was clad in dark refined clothes, but I decided to pay it no attention when I asked for the gentleman's name. He dubbed himself 'Dream', but stated that I could refer to him as Mr. Morfeus. I could not believe so, it sounded utterly lunatic! But the confidence and pride behind his words got me curious. So I offered the man to pay a drink in order to unmask the masquerade of the impersonator. I was horribly astounded. The amount of knowledge the man spilled out from his mouth was simply outlandish. And, for the sake of irony, the more we talked and chatted about, the more veracious his stories and tales seem, and the more would I be charmed by his weird charisma. We reached the point he finally mentioned the Void Beasts... In his own words:

'Beasts made of the "absent" matter and that only obeys to the Legacy's, or in mortal terms, the Reality's Astral Ruler. Those beasts are created, no, it's more suitable to state that they are born and surged out of masses of floating chaos amidst the Cosmos and only heed to the innate characteristic "Alpha" ability of a Astral Ruler of a said reality. They come in many forms and shapes, sometimes they are defined by the star constellations defined and discovered, or not, by a sentient civilization\people. In other times, they appear as ilogically and irrational amalgams that defy what a mortal deems as natural. Either way, they are born to the sole purpose of taking down Gods. Should these beasts and creatures ever run rampant, in any Legacy, they would devour the reality tissue and time itself, until nothingness was the only left in that Universe.'

I dare not to add or take any word from this quotation. I can only shiver and tremble in front of the dread that this statement predicts and defines... May the Gods protect us from ever confirming this existence...

Sincerely and truly yours,

Sir. Gallaghan Merlintius, Magical Biologist of the **********

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Chapter 3 – In the Shadows

[… Now we’re standing here together

At the crystal borderline

All my memories are shattered

Nothing’s left of what was mine

I’m tryin’ to hold you

But you slip away

A candle cannot burn forever

To whom am I to pray …]

(I do not own these lyrics, they belong to the musical band Beyond the Black, the music in question is In the Shadows)

“VOID BEASTS!”, Nox was the first to act as she raised shadows in her hands and by clashing her palms into the ground, spread a wave of tangible darkness that created a bubble around the group.

“Gabriel, I thought that jewish spell of protection-thingy was supposed to keep them at bay?”, the casualty in the voice of the hippie man simply did not fit into the faces of dread and anxiousness that took hold of his companions.

“Yes, and it did, mlord! I personally oversaw it and guarantee it!”, the angel responded rapidly. “There was no way that it could have happened! Unles-”.

“Well, obviously you made a sloppy job at tha'!”, the tiger-man quickly snapped at the angel as the creatures moved closer and closer to the dark circle around them. But as the angel was suddenly interrupted by the tiger-man, Jesus realized what happened and his casual look went somber and grim, he had a serious and sad expression as he stared at the beasts, his thoughts only kept to himself...

The sight... The beasts... They were... chaos. There can be no description for them, their forms are a terrible mayhem of deadly and awfully-looking parts jumbled together of what appears to be the sole purpose of instilling fear and dread into the hearts of it's preys.

“WHAT THE SERIOUS FUCK, MAN!?”, the boy screamed as his mind was being obliterated by the sight in front of his eyes. His heart was frantic, his hands and feet trembled, and his eyes just wouldn't stop staring at those things, as he realized it was the first he ever this feeling... Complete and total dread... Horror filled his being and took hold of every bone and muscle, he became motionless at this sight... All of the horros his mind could not imagine, were right in front of his eyes, bashing at the invisible barrier with tremendous and inhuman strength.

“Damned be you, you savage heretic jungle man!”, the angel yelled back at the tribesman, sadly fear took too much a toll in him and made his voice sound less dignified and much more desperate than he would have liked.

“STOP WASTING TIME, YOU BRAINLESS OAFS!”, Nox howled at the two instigators, her voice carried a tinge of both disappointment and pain. Her face was clearly contorted in exertion and pain. She was putting all of herself in the barrier. All of those around her stood silent as they shivered after hearing her voice. “PROTECT RA WITH ALL OF YOURSELVES, Noctumai! GET THE SUMMONING DONE, NOW! ”

The tribesmen gathered around Agio, who put the boy carefully on the ground, then each one of them took a small totem from their pouches, or belts, and together they started putting the pieces in a single whole, soon after they chanted and channeled their powers to it.

'We are the predators of the night, the hunters and huntresses of the veiled darkness, under pale moonlights we rise to take down our preys. May them be gigantic and strong, like the Mammuthus. May them be fierce and zealous, like the Ursaeni. May them be deadly and cunning, like the Tigris. Or may them ingenious and observant, as the Aghias. We bind our animal spirits into one, so that our strength can be one. We bind our souls into one, so that our stronger self may thrive, where we have perished...'

RRRAWWWAAWRR. KYAAAAAARROOOOOAHHHHRGH. The deathly screeches sounded even more desperate and frenzied as the beasts started slamming their whole bodies into the protection. Their mouths full of teeth were drooling and foaming endlessly as they screeched and screeched, again and again... Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom... sounded their bodies into the wall...

“Aaaaaarrgghhh!!”, Nox screamed in pain as she poured even more darkness to hold the protection. “Yehsu! Help me!!”, Nox cried for him to help. Seeing this, the boy couldn't contain the feeling of jealousy he started feeling, but, yet again, she was merely a stranger to him.... wasn't she...?

The hippie boy walked to the side of the woman, made a cross signal. He said a silent prayer, and blood started pouring down his forehead, his hands and his feet, the clothes were being torn apart, though nothing moved to do so, until he stood almost bare-naked and his body was sickly thin and scarred. A golden light came from his mouth, and he started spasming. When he was done, he had regurgitated a thick and old scroll.

“For when I utter these words, they shall have but one meaning. The world of Men is no more. And silent shall be the Earth once again. For I, the Lamb of God, have broken the First Seal. And from my limbs there shall come to be a beast made of white mist. On top of it there will be a rider, armed with a bow, with no quiver, crowned, but not enthroned. His eyes will bear a sickly look, just like the plague he will wrought. He rides the White Steed, and his name shall be Conquest.”

A bright white light surged from the ground beneath one of the creatures. A giant white mist poured from it and took the form of a gigantic eight-legged steed. On top of it, there was a rider, rather a ghost, formless and without outlines, but one could clearly see the bow and the crown. He started aiming his bow and pulling the string, white mists would propel into the creatures waging them down.

“When the land is entirely conquered, and no coward is left on the face of the Earth. The skies will be died in red, to mirror the pain wrought into the womb of the Mother Earth. Fire will surged from the invisible veins of the Old Mother. And from that fire there will come to be a terrible beast. For I, the Lamb of God, have broken the Second Seal. And from my blood there shall burn into existence a beast made of both blood and flames. It will stand on top of four legs, and it's head will be a torso of a man, horned and blind. Armored with dark steel on his chest, and crimson blades on his hands. On it's bareback there will ride a maiden, her skin will be dark as the dirt and her eyes will be flames, her teeth shall be spikes of earth and her nails, sharper than any blade made by man, she will wield lashes made of dark and crimson roses that will make any sinner and guilty, even the innocent souls, repent. Her cries will be deafening, for she is the herald of the Old Mother, that perished in pain and anguish. She rides the Red Steed, and her name shall be War.”

A red thick liquid, apparently blood, poured from the ground flooding a pool on the ground. Then it burned, and from that the Red Steed, exactly as it was described came to be. What came next was a painful screech that made one's soul shiver in regret. Her hair was orange, like fallen leaves, and floated like flames, but it had no gleam. She was the rider, and with her lashes she lunged at the creatures on top of her frenzied steed.

“When the guilty are slain, and the Old Mother's cries have been heard and terrified their hearts. Then the moon will turn until she becomes two halves, one made of light, and the other of darkness. The Moon shall crash unto the Earth, and from it's two halves there will be born one being. For I, the Lamb of God, have broken the Third Seal. And from my mind there shall be split a beast. With two heads and six legs, it's pelt will be both dark and white. On top of it there shall be a rider, a two-headed creature with no eyes and on his torso there will be attached four arms, with four hands, on each of them there will hang a chained balance plate, beneath those plants there will hang, yet again, a meathook. He rides the Black and White Steed, and his name is Famine.”

The ground split as the figure formed itself from both shadow and light. When it was finally formed, it was torn asunder by one of the creatures, but the steed charged fourth, each of his halves, and both of them lashed their hooks and plates at the creatures, tearing and bashing them up, down and back.

“When there is nothing more left. No weak, no sick, only dead. From the dark necrotic dirt there shall form, yet, one final beast. It will stand on two legs, and wings sprout from it's back. It's feathers will be rotten and worn. On it's head there will stand three eyes, the third will hang as the head moves. On top of it, there will stand a maiden. She will be the most beautiful of them all, but she will be the saddest of them all. For she brings the end of men and beast, consuming all of the souls left on the world with her never-ending hunger for life. She will be bare skinned and she will look fair. When time comes, and as her flesh falls down from her rotting bones, life will sprout from the dead earth beneath her rotting corpse, and she will sow the whole world with her dying flesh and bone. Neither the steed or the rider will come from me, for I, the Lamb of God, have broken the Fourth Seal, and I will be one amongst the piles of corpses. She will be hers and hers alone. She rides the Pale Steed, and she is Death.”

The ground became dirt and as flies came out and rotting scent invaded the surroundings, a gigantic crow burst out of it. A rotten, three-eyed crow. On top of it there stood a maiden. Half-alive and beautiful, and half-dead and rotten. She and her steed launched themselves at the creatures, as they frenziedly tore at their flesh and devoured it, at almost the same time. And she would pour her sick and tainted breath on them, and they would perish and rot in the ground.

The riders and their beasts valiantly and ruthlessly charged at the creatures, who were flooding the surrounding with a never-ending tide, an endless number. They were a chaotic swarm that would never stop.

“Huuuugh....huuugh... huuugh...”, Jesus was standing on his hands and knees, his breath was ragged and his body hardly seemed to be able to stand itself. It's stomach was slit open, from side to side and his innards were pulling out, no blood flowed out from his wounds, his limbs were not his own, they were wooden sticks attached to his torso. His eyes looked vacant. “No... more power...”

“Huuf...”, released her breath as she took a moment to rest while the battle reached a draw point. Sweat rained down on her skin, and her muscles trembled in exhaustion, her pale lost the healthy glow it once had, and her hair seemed dim.

“My lord!”, the angel rushed to Jesus's side. “Come, we must leave at once before the worst can hap-!”, Jesus wooden right arm slammed the stomach of the angel as he tried to lift him up. “I WILL NOT LEAVE THEM TO THEIR OWN!”

“Hugh... but my lo-”, the angel recovered his breath and tried to make his lord see reason.

“Sound the trumpet... Before he gets here... Sound the trumpet...”, Jesus slipped the words between his irregular breath.

“The angelic castes...”, the archangel wide-eyed as Jesus talked he looked at him trying to find whatever sign that would say he was not meaning it, that he did not wish to do it, but there was none, “They will die... m'lord...”

“Heed my word for I am the Martyr of Mankind! For I am the SON OF GOD! Obey me, Archangel! Or burn in the wrath of the LION OF JUDAH!!”, Jesus vociferated at the angel.

“Aaaaarrrgghhhhhh!!”, a scream pierced through the sounds of battle. It was a scream of young man. He was surrounded by other four men, and they were lunging a strange-looking piece of wood deep inside his chest. In his heart.

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While Yehsuh summoned upon The Four Horsemen, the tribesmen came into a stop. They just couldn't merge their spirits into one totem. Their minds, their feelings, their intentions, they were all too disparate from each other. They could only chide themselves for not being as their chief told them to be... Brothers in arms, and brothers in the soul... They never truly saw each other as brothers. Surely in the heat of battle they would risk themselves for one another, but that was just in the middle of the fight where thoughts wouldn't always be rational and thoroughly thought over. In peace, they could not make themselves love each other, as brothers and kinsmen, there was always a tinge of anger, or jealousy, or simply envy of one another. They looked at the situation outside the protection, that already bore numerous cracks, and it was only getting worse, even with the creatures that hippie-guy was summoning, even though they were powerful, they were simply being outnumbered. In this point, putting up a totem for a powerless god to summon up a portal to another entity? It was just pointless to do that.

The four of them started arguing to each other, driving themselves even more apart from each other, with a sigh Agio just hung his head and swayed. Then, he stared at the scared boy on the ground. No... wait... not scared, rather... he looks... angry? The eagle-man was puzzled. How can a brat on his age and size, that never saw a real battle in his life, that never faced a man or beast running rampant towards him with killing intent, be glaring and gritting his teeth at an inter-dimensional creature that was out for his blood?

Then he remembered his childhood, back when they were in the dawn of mankind. He once saw a young kid, shorter than him, looking to outside the cave, looking at the twilight. The boy was about two or three years younger than him, and didn't look like much of a fighter material. But Agio was curious about him, because the boy just kept staring outside, whilst everyone else started going even deeper into the cave, so that no beast would try to come to them, they were desperately trying to keep the tiny ember they still had left still lit up. But that boy, he just stood there, then Agio noticed his fist, he was clenching his fist so hard, that blood started to slowly flow down through it. Agio went in closer, then he started hearing what that little boy was mumbling to himself.

'I'm not afraid! I won't be afraid! I'm not like the rest of them! I'm not afraid of you! So, please, protect me! Protect me, Night! Protect me and fight by my side! Help me bring food and shelter to those around me!'

Agio was sincerely surprised at what the boy was saying. No one would dare to pray to the Night, for she was the cause of their terrors and fears, and protected the predators lurking in the darkness. But Agio was soon unconvinced when he saw the boy fidgeting and his limbs trembling. Back then, the little Agio thought it was because the boy was afraid, and so his mumbling did not work, rather he was just a coward that hid behind his mumbles.

But later Agio found out, when Ravahn was already the most promising hunter in the tribe, that he was not trembling because he was afraid. He was trembling because he was angry. Angry for being too young, angry for being too short and angry for being too weak. Agio didn't believe and said to Ravahn prove it. Then later that day, for the first time in his life, Agio went on a night hunt with Ravahn... They nearly got killed and mangled on the first minutes. Then, Agio trembled and shivered. Because he was too weak, as well.

That boy on the ground. That boy that did not know nothing of what he used to be. He was making the exact same face as that chief. That chief that taught him not to be afraid, but to be angry, with yourself, for being too weak, whether to protect yourself or those around you. Unnoticed, he nodded at the boy. His was resolute.

“QUIET!”, Agio shouted at his kinsmen. “By the ancient spirits, WE ARE BROTHERS!”, Agio was disappointed, frustrated, and furious on himself for letting this happen and for also being one at fault, “This is not what he taught us! This not how we should do! Do you all even remember, the way he died!?”, the boy started staring at the scene too, Agio smiled at himself inwardly, 'Hang on, chief! I'm gonna get these dumb-heads to do the right thing, just you wait!'

“...”, the other three stood silently as they hang their heads down in shame.

“Fuck! It was a messy night... Two enemy hunting parties crashed with ours during a night hunt... I mean they were out there for us, even though they looked like they lost a lot of their own for the beasts already, their numbers still was way higher than ours...”

“...”

“The four of us... we were there, together with his wife and some other fine huntresses, but we only summed up to nine, we didn't even bring the war-beasts because it was rest night for them... And the enemy? Woosh, I counted thirty one heads back then...”

“...”

“Ursus and Mamuf wanted to bring it on right in the front, but I told Ravahn I glimpsed a cave a few steps back. He made us go there, and the enemy started running into us. I don't even know how we got there in one piece. When we got to the cave, we asked what to do. Again you two meat-heads, and you too, stripy, wanted to take them on. Chief, told us to press deeper. We thought it was crazy, I mean we would cornered in the worst way ever, with a lot of enemies to face it. But he insisted, and we followed, some of us, convinced, others, just to prove him wrong and die fighting.”

“Tch...”, Tighra clicked his tongue, his eyes were about to burst in tears, and his face was contorted in anger.

“When we got to the end of the cave we were stunned. It was a freakin tunnel! I mean how did he even know that? Was it a memory? Or a guess? Or that sick gut feeling he had, sometimes... Whatever, we went through the tunnel, reached a very thick patch of woods, we could hardly walk side-by-side inside it, relatively safe if we pulled the right way and just waited there sneakily...”

“Fucking tunnel... It would be better if it was a cave...”, Ursus clicked his tongue and muttered, gritting his teeth.

“Yeah... Maybe... But it wasn't. It was a tunnel, and that exit we just left, was barely kept open, as loose rocks were on top of it about to fall down and crash anyone who might be the unlucky bastard... When we looked back, we saw him grinning at us and saying something but he was too far for us to hear it... And then the rocks came down...”

“After that, the cries started...”, Mamuf continued, his head standing high and proud, as tears poured down his hard and strong face.

“Yeah... The cries...”, Agio stated nostalgically, “He died for us... He”, he pointed at the kid on the ground, “died for us! Are we gonna let him die in front of us, again?”

The other three looked into the eyes of one another. Their eyes were decisive and furious. They looked back at Agio, who was grinning with a twitching face. “Chief.”, Agio called out to the boy.

“Hm?”, the kid slowly stood up.

“We are not your name. We are not your power, we cannot offer you anything of what you had or used to be.”

“...”, the kid bit his lip, after all this shit that went through just now, he was just dying to have something. Anything! Even if it was just a freakin memory from his first crap! He was tired of being looked down by these people that seemed to know him, but he couldn't remember them at all! He was tired of just standing by, while he saw Nox standing up and defending him! But... why her, though? Why he was so mad at seeing her tired and weak, and in danger?

“But you are tired, right? You're angry!”, Agio continued as he walked closer, “So... Do you want to have our power? After that, you're just gonna have to take the woman there and the hippie-guy, channel their power with yours, then *click”, Agio snapped his fingers, “Portal to another reality done and ready to go!”

The boy stared at Agio. Then at the three other men. He thought for a second, he thought and he thought so many countless reasons why he should not accept. Why he should just let it go, and end with that already. When they were all finally dead, there would be nothing to feel, because they would be nothing. He just had to let it go, and quit it mid-way. Just like he has always done in his life, so far. Just like he feels he has done in every other life, too...

“Fuck it! I'm done being a coward! I'm done quitting! FUCK THIS AND BRING IT ON!”, as the boy thought out loud, just the second later he realized he yelled it out and the the tribesmen were grinning at him, he met their gazes with a furious and decisive look, too.

“Yeah! That's the chief we talkin about!”, Ursus cheered.

“That's the look that turned a sabercat into a giant and needy big kitty! Haha!”, Mamuf also celebrated.

“Yeah, I got nothing else better to do right now, anyways...”, Tighra falsely sneered with a satisfying smile.

“Hey, kid, I gotta warn ya though! It's gonna hurt, a lot!”, Agio advised the boy, just to make sure he wouldn't back down now.

“Is it worse than a bullet?”

“What is a bullet?”, Mamuf asked.

“That mini-arrow thingy that comes from the metal barrel-thingy. It burns when it touches, though.”, Tighra replied.

“Oh... So it's like a burning arrow?”, Ursus tried to rationalize.

“It hurts more than a burning arrow, I think...”, Tighra replied back.

“It will hurt like a hundred burning arrows puncturing your stomach, then igniting your soul.”, Mamuf stated coldly.

“Tch...”, the boy shivered a little, but he remembered the pain he had when that woman tortured him with his “name”, it doesn't even makes sense how she could do that, even though she herself didn't have his name with her, from what it looked liked, or whatever it meant to “have” his name... All in all, he would take in anything, right now, in order to be able to do something, “Yeah... Bring it on. I already tasted a bit of that earlier...”, the kid had a sneering smile, even though cold sweat swept down from his forehead.

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A.N.: Okay... Things have stretched a bit more than I presumed... I'm so sorry for spending two and a half chapters in the Void, guys. But Ra needed some... well, some "shaking" to get in the right spot. I'm already finishing up on the fourth chapter, where Ra FINALLY get to the other side. Hope you guys enjoy it, although myself don't feel I did my best here.