Chapter 11: 9 : Wind Clad Demi-God

The sky had changed into an ungodly being made only of twisted maws. There wasn’t anything else in the sky other than those dangerous maws, only a small light that could sometimes pierce the creature’s body lit the area. That is, the flesh that should be between every set of sharp teeth was also made from twisting maws. The sky was a messed-up kaleidoscope of raged teeth.

The sun’s warm light was consumed by the disturbing mass that stood a few hundred meters in the sky above Tsuki. She couldn’t even see a hint of the blue sky she liked. It was just a blanket of disturbing meat and bony teeth.

Tsuki panicked at the incomprehensible sight. It was too much for her mind to take in and understand. Even the twisting of her vision was coming back to keep haunting her even when she didn’t look at the sky.

The Beast screeched, calling all that could hear it to attention. Large humanoid mouths were produced from the Beast like fetid spores. They bloated as their teeth, which the upper set was bound with dark strings to the lower set, were pushed further than they ever should. Something that was moving in each of those mouths gave a strong push at the teeth, not unlike a chick breaking its shell. In some places, those strong mouths gave way to whatever they contained and vomited large downward rivers of bloody meat. They fell far from Tsuki but got closer and closer and closer until she could hear the splashing of meat in the distance.

Tsuki’s stomach was in as much turmoil as her mind was. Her head slowly crept upward, making her neck taut and her veins thumping under her skin, and her eyes slowly darken as a large ball with red extruding hands was just upon her.

Just before it could land and crush the poor girl, the invisible wisp expanded into a large dome that spread all the way to the abandoned house. As the pile of meat landed on the dome, it was pushed back violently and landed away as it crushed some strong trees.

Tsuki coiled back toward the base of the large flower which had to use a root to push the girl away from its sharp spikes. The wisp and the flower had known one another for a long time and knew a day like this one had to come. They alone couldn’t fight the awful god that was now smearing the sky with its disgusting presence. The man they tried to rise back from his slumber, the man who dedicated his life to fighting said god, the man who had lost his daughter to said god…

The flower sent its roots toward the house, breaking into the old structure, and dug into the basement to expose the mummified body to the outside world. The roots pulled him just above the flower petal where a remnant of the wisp was. The wisp slowly moved around to the dead body, singing back the sounds it captured while following the man. It spread the odor of a distant land to raise him back from his slumber.

The flower mixed the wishes of those who once resided in this forest and were now absorbed by the flower’s long roots. So many had died from this god slowly invading the forest with its minions.

Whispering voices coming from the flower begged the man to wake up. Some begged to be forgiven while others begged the man to save their loved one. But the body never responded.

The song from the wind and the flower grew in strength. Old voices of the forest made from lost dreams were added. Undetectable at first but slowly they picked up and became louder. Directed by the wind they amassed and strengthened one another. The voices sang a sad tale of broken desires. They told of unfairness and the wishful dreams they had. The mistakes and the forgiveness. The flower was draining the memories from the ground and nourishing the wind as it grew stronger and almost created a small tornado of dancing leaves and petals. But the body never responded.

❀

 

From the distance, screams and destruction could be heard as masses of moving meat stumble closer to the dome of wind while consuming everything in its path. When they got too close, large roots came out of the ground to pierce them, but this only managed to slow down the horde as they used their dead comrade as food to grow stronger and bigger. It was a gross display of gluttony that allowed their slow but constant advance.

They came closer and collapsed onto the wind dome, their flesh getting destroyed as if they moved into a blender that stopped them from advancing for some time. Alas, this caused the dome to be filled with chunks of flesh and blood that weighed down on it. It turned more sluggish, and the dome was forced to become smaller to keep its protection.

Tsuki couldn’t see a way to escape and knew that her useless strength was far from being the key to her escape. She looked at the floating body above the flower that was cloth in a dancing gale of leaves and petals. She took a dress that was in her bag and ripped it in half using the sharp spikes of the flower. Covering her hands with this soft protection, she hardened herself and began to climb the spikes.

One spike at a time, close to one another like a hard mesh yet distant enough for the girl to imagine herself climbing a mountain. The wind danced, spreading the smell of calming incense as it had often done when the man it had followed for so long would feel sad. A crackling fire mixed with the laugh of his parents, the loving whisper of the woman whom he loved, the proud compliment of the king he once served, the young cry of his newborn followed by her first word… The wisp relayed the sound of the man’s life mixed with the different smells it was able to capture. But the man didn’t respond.

“Kyyyaaaaa!!!!” The girl fell. Her scream broking the soft nostalgic song of the wisp and perturbed the stability of the dome. The monsters managed to move closer before the wisp could regain its focus.

A soft thud and another scream reached the wisp when the girl landed heavily on the ground. Again, the wisp lost its focus, but this time it wasn’t because of the girl. It felt a sort of reaction coming from the corpse it was trying to rise up. A sort of will that was stronger than death itself was now bubbling inside the pitiful carcass of the man…

❀

 

Tsuki was on the ground writhing in pain, her left arm bending where it should be. Her eyes were locked on the dark sky that was slowly coming down. Her body was drenched in a cold sweat as a swelling fear of death clogged her throat.

She tried to push her fear away, making warm tears fall down her cheeks. Pushing and pushing all of her desperation she screamed words that resonated inside the mummified shell of the man.

“I don’t want to die!” She screamed with her voice breaking down and hurting her throat.

A remnant of the man’s soul trembled.

“I don’t want to die yet!” Another scream. “I need to save her!”

The girl’s words were like a hammer that was able to resonate with the most important moments the wisp had protected for so long…

❀

 

The wisp had been born during a strong tempest that toppled many large trees and destroyed many strong houses. The first thing it had heard after it had formed from the remnant of a passing tornado was the pained scream of a woman which was followed by the cry of a newborn boy. The wisp decided to follow this small family of three, absorbing the sound they would produce as they travel far and wide. The boy was named Yassil for the calming green hair that he got from his father.

The parents were two elven merchants who traveled far and wide to trade baskets of herb and spice. Sometimes they would trade a handful of fish when they reached a port, rare and shiny gems when they visited the mountains far to the north, and refined clothing when they came across the lantern towns of the west.

You are reading story Forgotten Sky at novel35.com

Most of the boy’s life was spent in the south. A large forest with trees that reached the sky and eternally burning leaves produced a constant calming aroma over the few constructed settlements.

He was still too young to care for himself when his parents both died from an incurable disease. It formed into a pattern of a twisting flower on his parents that slowly sapped their strength. After four years after the flower apparition, they died as hollow shells of their vivacious self.

A band of traveling druids found the crying child. At first, they were worried as the young boy was an elf of all species. It wasn’t because of racism but because they were worried about the religious belief the boy might have been taught by his parents. The eternally burning leaves of this forest were because of one such elf who cursed himself and this forest in eternal flame following some sort of scripture. In truth, not even his close relative didn’t understand his actions and simply attributed them to madness. Such action from this race wasn’t that rare and was the reason most were wary of them.

The boy’s parents hadn’t taught him anything that could be seen as dangerous. Instead, their belief rested on the usage of the impermanent to obtain something that may be permanent. It was a complex idea that they interpreted with their merchant activity.

Yassil grew up with the druids and learned their craft. He dedicated his life to finding a way to cure the sickness that had killed his family. Quickly, his dedication made him master the art of healing others and when he grew to be a man, he was leading his own druidic circle. They moved far and wide, offering their services to those in need. Yassil found many people with the same flower pattern as his parents but none that he could save.

One day when he was visiting a small outpost at the border between two nations, he met the woman who he will one day marry. She had come from the east, a nation made from great pasture and known for their wonderful glass making which was able to rival the skill of gods in their beauty. Although the girl wasn’t as pretty as the glass pane made in her country, her skin being damaged from her many training as a soldier, her mind was as pure as the light they shined.

They talked for many long hours about their hopes and aspirations. What they talked about later revolved around the confrontation the two nations they were part of engaged in and how they were in disagreement with. It caused them to gain the ire of some which later caused them to need to escape toward someplace safer.

They chose to go to the west, a nation that was known to have a fair emperor who aimed for peace on his land. Before long, Yassil came to serve this man by making great use of his knowledge in healing. Sadly, after many achievements under his belt, the emperor was declared dead after contracting the same sickness that had plagued Yassil all his life. His son took his place on the throne, but he was embroiled in the desire to become immortal and led the once venerated kingdom on a dangerous path.

Yassil voiced his complaints to the young emperor who he had known since he was just a baby. The new emperor, not wanting to fight Yassil, someone who he respected greatly, removed him from his service to the empire and gave him a forest where he could spend the rest of his life in.

Yassil did so and under the cover of the misty forest he now ruled over, married the woman who had followed him all this while. They built a house for themselves and the next year, a young girl was born from their love. They lived in peace and took care of all of those who resided in the forest. Animals, humanoids, fey, spirits, old gods, and more who lived in this forest all love the prosperity the new ruler brought to the forest.

Years went by and they lived in relative peace. There was the occasional invasion from monsters that resided in both the north and the south of the misty forest, but they were strong and able to face them easily. Both invading sides had gods backing them up. To the north in the mountains was something known as The Devourer, the same one that was about to consume Tsuki in the present. For the south, a hero managed to go deep into the enemy territory that was called the Vorpal forest and wounded the reality-twisting god that resided inside.

The many brave warriors under Yassil then tried to land a brazen wound on the Devourer but their courage only rewarded them with the curse of this god which marred their misty forest for years to come. A lot awoke with the mark of a twisting flower on their body…the same mark also appeared on the back of Yassil’s daughter.

Yassil was taken by rage and closed himself from the world to attempt to find a way to slay the beast before its curse could take his daughter’s life. He was often found drunk or taken by violent outbursts. The caring man everyone knew was long gone and they had no choice but to distance themselves from him. Many suffered and the forest regressed as many died from the curse.

One day, Yassil entered the bedroom of his daughter after he believed himself to have found a cure for the curse. But all that he found was a letter which said that his daughter had left with her lover in the hope that they could find a cure that was talked about in an old legend.

The mother who was human had grown weak from the stress of her drunk husband and her missing daughter. She soon died at the age of 53, and the animals she took care of left to live their own life.

Two years later, the daughter’s lover came back. He was a fey with the upper body of a man and the legs of a goat. He looked tired but most of all, he was alone. He gave Yassil a small box without ever looking at him. The fey left with a painful limp after saying that he regretted having convinced the girl to follow him.

The box simply contained a letter and a blue ribbon Yassil had once given to his daughter…

The father became embroiled in finding a way to kill the god who had cursed his daughter. Day and night, he scoured the darkest legend to learn the most dangerous of knowledge that could be used to destroy a god. His quest led him to be tricked by a dark being who shared with him the history of the planet’s creation and the only way to defeat the god he was after. He was granted immortality with that information, but this was a cursed immortality as it disallowed him from moving his body thereafter until one day someone might say the words he regretted never having said.

The cursed words he had never been able to say as he drank away his sadness. Those words he regretted never saying to his daughter who died someplace unknown. Those words of love he forgot to say under the fear of losing those he cared for. Those words he can never say ever again…

“Alice!” A young voice broke the man’s remembrance. “I want to see you! Please…”

The girl’s voice trailed off as she cried warm tears. With her broken arm dangling to her side, she lifted herself while clenching her jaw. She then pulled on the brown cloth with her intact hand to draw her knife.

“ALICE! I love you, Alice. I might die today… I’m sorry. So, please hear me wherever you are.” The girl gulped a ball of air and expulsed it all at once. “I LOVE YOU ALICE!!”

Words of love that broke the man’s curse and relighted an ardent will inside the old dead body. The wisp who was just in front of him was the first to notice the change. The beating of a heart that should have been turned to dust long ago. The wisp sent a signal to the flower. A signal to engage the process of rebirthing the once-dead elf into the sword and shield the forest required to fend off this ongoing invasion.

The flower with its long-reaching roots absorbed the life force of the forest within a radius of one kilometer. Trees rotted in an instant and dirt turned to desolate sand. Coming from far away, a cloud of insects, more intense than anything Tsuki had ever seen and thicker than the god in the sky, flew toward Tsuki’s location at a fast speed. They pierced into the dome of wind by ripping flesh from the monsters in their way and danced around the dead body of the man.

The flower then turned some roots towards the body and began to fuse with it. The flower’s roots became strong innards, and they strengthened the man’s bones while the insects being compressed by the wisp became a new flesh, and finally, the petals became a new skin to cover the new being created.

The wisp, the maestro of this necromancy retracted the dome at once into itself, to give itself more strength for the last step of its ritual. It twisted and danced around the strange mass, sprouting large limbs made from a mix of bones and roots. Two gigantic paws with claws, longer than Tsuki’s height, were made from swirling green leaves. A large bony head constructed from the man’s spine and ribs for the upper part and plant matter for the head’s lower part. It morphed into something like the head of a bear, but more insidious as green energy mixed with insects came from the position eyes should be at.

The mass fell to the ground with the flower having been completely absorbed. It caused the rise of a cloud of dust which forced Tsuki to look away. But her body froze in an instant. The monstrous horde was so close that she could smell their bloodied body and hear the slushing of their moist flesh. She could even feel the warm breath of one of those twisting maws just behind her.

A roar, coming from the cloud of dust, shattered the coming horde as the dome of wind came back with more strength than ever. It protected Tsuki before anything could rip her apart.

Her eyes slowly turned back to the cause of said roar and were met with the sight of a gigantic bear who was taller than every nearby tree and made from bone and root. It stood strong and toppled over everything while being clad in an armor of insects and wind. It let out another strong roar mixed with a male voice who screamed words Tsuki didn’t understand. The man screamed the words of love he could never say in his native tongue. He screamed what he regretted never having said as he retook his role as this misty forest guardian.

A cursed demi-god of life took its heavy mantle to protect his kingdom against an abrasive god of gluttony. Tsuki had yet to understand the mark she would leave on this world…

You can find story with these keywords: Forgotten Sky, Read Forgotten Sky, Forgotten Sky novel, Forgotten Sky book, Forgotten Sky story, Forgotten Sky full, Forgotten Sky Latest Chapter