Chapter 11: 11. Scars Are Born – Heresy City Arc

11. 11.Scars Are Born – Heresy City Arc.

 

 

 

“Stop, please stop!” Bedric yelled, root-like appendages pulled him further and further down the depths of the abyss. “Aargh! I’m gonna get ripped apart! Please, let me go! Let me go!”

    Strips of Bedric’s flesh around his arm began to unravel, and a massive forest of eerie tentacle-like roots flashed strange visions of a woman shackled by the wrists, silhouettes of eleven male and female figures with most of their upper bodies shadowed out.

  Black-cloaked armies of exorcists battling against armies of Klipah, a pair of creepy and grotesque eyes opened from the shadows of the void he was falling in, anchoring in on him.

          A familiar female figure emerged from the darkness, coalescing from the qlifot in the void and forming the silhouette of Camelia, her hand outstretched towards him. Bedric reached out, forcing himself forward against the roots that continued to drag him to the depths of hell itself.

    How does it feel? Tumbling into the Abyss? The figure asked with Camelia’s voice, except it was more calm, distorted, and demon-like. Bedric grimaced at the question, trying to contemplate what was going on but he figured it would be best to find answers as quickly as possible.

       “It felt like every abhorrent act humanity has ever committed flooded into my mind, it hurts really,” Bedric said, a blanket of heat pressed against the sides of his head. “It was…. unforgivable. That last bit, the shackled woman who is she? And the eleven figures who are they? I… I need to see some more, please let me see it again.”

    The goddess in chains bears the shackles of the Great Tree of her own accord… but that is not of any importance at the moment. That’s all you can see for now. Fear not Bedric, for you, are blessed by the abyss, with a greater aptitude for being a Klipah contractor than any Lihaa in the Holy City.

   “Why would I want to get into a contract with those things?” Bedric responded with a tone filled with nothing but unrestrained rage. “And defile me any further than I already have?”
     Haven’t you witnessed it yourself? It doesn’t matter what you do, in the end, unstoppable power will always triumph over human perseverance and endurance. That is the reality of the world you live in.

Bedric supported the side of his jaw with his fingers as he contemplated what the figure was telling him. If even an ordinary Klipah had overwhelming power like that…then how can the Holy City be safe?

       There’s no one else that can stop it right now! We became Kraslucists to protect the Holy City! We have to do whatever we must to do so!

   Bedric clenched his fingers to emphasize his resolve. “Very well then, make me a Klipah contractor.”

     The figure’s mouth stretched out into an eerie, inhuman smile. “It is done.”

 

***

 

Serafim perched at the top of the castle’s balcony, watching the beauty of the sunrise and the wide-reaching view of the gorgeous sky-reaching buildings of the black stone spreading out like flames spreading out in a forest. Spires ascend skywards like the hand of a corpse coming out of a grave.

     Even though some called it the Holy City, Serafim found the combination of beautiful blackened sandstone and occult-like façade made it creepy. It had an almost ghost-like quality to it, quite charming yet eerie at the same time.

     Footsteps came within Serafim’s range of hearing, and a faint trace of spiritual presence flooded his extrasensory perception. He swung his gaze towards the sound.

    A fair-skinned boy about his age, strutted his way towards him, a faint smile on his face, his golden brown eyes locked on Serafim’s, bubbling with either mischief or excitement that Serafim couldn’t quite pinpoint and that sent tiny chills down his spine. The scar that ran from his hairline, through his eye, and down to his jaw gave him a menacing look but that mischievous almost child-like smile gave him the opposite impression.

    “Having fun out here on your own aren'tcha?” The boy asked in a teasing tone, the fur from the black fur collar on his long-sleeved, brown jacket blew in the direction of the morning breeze. A single piece of straw hung loosely from his mouth, invoking the image of a cowboy in Serafim’s mind. “Still thinkin’ about the beating Leaifa gave you? I wouldn’t think much of it, every new member goes through it, it’s almost like tradition y’know?”
    “That’s not why I’m up here,” Serafim responded in a steely tone, his gaze diverted away from the boy and back to the city. “I just like the view from up here. It’s not like we exorcists have a home to call our own, moving from city to city, you don’t appreciate the little things that make a place beautiful.”

    “I hear you man, wait a second, don’t you Red-Eyes have a headquarters or something?”

    “That’s classified. Even if I could tell you, I don’t like to talk about it, drop it.” Serafim said with hopes that the conversation would end right there but the boy shrugged his shoulders and made his way beside Serafim.

   The boy pulled out a silver flask from his wide, black belt and handed it to Serafim. “Want some? We all need something to take the edge off y’know?”

    “No thanks, that’s not my thing.”

The boy shook his head, uncorking the flask cap and taking a swing, a chuckle escaped his lips afterward. “You’re a first in that area, heh heh. So, what do you think of captain Leaifa and the Children of the Ain Soph.”

     Serafim paused before answering that question, a faint smirk formed on the edges of his lips. “You’re an intriguing lot, to say the least. If you don’t mind me asking why are you laying down your life for this?”

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    The boy paused for a moment, his gaze was at the cathedrals in the distance, a frown washed over his face that caught Serafim a bit off guard.

   “I didn’t mean to-“

“You want me to tell ya a story?”

    “Huh?”

“I want you to find your answer to that ‘lil question of yours in the story.”

    “Sure, I… uh, guess.”

“My sisters and I used to listen to our uncle’s stories around a campfire, there’s one in particular that stood out to me. It goes back to the Silent Era or Charishi Era as some of you folks call it.” The boy continued as Serafim leaned closer. His calm, monotone voice was spellbinding, putting Serafim at ease and pulling him into the story like a person pulling the leash of a dog. “Back then the first souls had just sprung from the branches of the Ainsoph Tree, an age where souls fought in endless wars for lands to call their own. It’s said most souls didn’t make it past two thousand five hundred years old.”

  “Kinda sounds like the Ma’avak Era,” Serafim commented with a snicker, the boy smiled at the comment although the minor change in his spiritual presence indicated he felt the opposite way. He’s like Leaifa but not exactly. He’s hiding his spiritual presence but struggling to completely conceal it, what’s with these guys? Are they hiding something or not telling me everything?

   “I’d wager it wasn’t that bad,” The boy said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Unlike the Ma’avak Era there was someone who put an end to the madness. God-Queen Odelia, the first ruler of the lands of Veelon and the one who subjugated the place we ordinary folks now call the ‘Seven Heavens’.”

    “Veelon and their five neighbors. Raki’ah. Shechakimi. Zebul. Ma’aon. Mechon. Not sure what the seventh is called, Old Order documents about it are restricted to level one personnel only.” Serafim said, a tinge of curiosity coming over him. If the pieces of the Beast of Ill-Omen’s subordinates are all across each heaven, how am I gonna trace them back to that beast if I can’t find the seventh heaven?

    “Wish I could help but my uncle said even the greatest scribes of Edenia couldn’t find its name. Rumor has it that anyone who gazes at its name had their eyeballs barbequed dunno how true that is but just letting it out there y’know?” The boy said with a tiny, nervous chuckle. “God-Queen Odelia was born to a slave father and a Kraslucist mother under the iron fist of the Lihaa Empire, destined to either be a prostitute or even worse, a sacrifice to the Empire’s abhorrent flesh rituals. One day, with the help of her eleven apostles, she rebelled against the unstoppable empire, tearing it apart with what the Lihaa called blasphemous ‘name magic’ and ‘earth jumping’. She would mark all seventy-two of her most trusted disciples with one rune from her true name, each bearing a shred of her power. Soon they began to worship her as the ‘God-Queen’.”

      “I’ve never heard of that side of the story, my master always said there was more to it but the stories I’ve heard are similar to yours.”

   “I hope you find the answer to your question.” The boy said, patting Serafim on the back with a hearty smile. “My family was wiped out when the Lihaa attempted to overthrow the High Priest at the time, there were a few survivors but they all fled to the other heavens, haven’t seen family in a long time. I’m the last one that bears the rune of the God-Queen in my family, the will of the God-Queen lives on through me and I will not disgrace her majesty and my family’s honor by living like a slave to the same people she fought so hard to free us from.”

   Serafim scoffed at the idea, his gaze turned away from the boy and to the rising sun on the horizon, he remembered his master telling him about how beautiful the sunrise was in the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ and how one day he’d take him there.

 Maybe one day I’ll visit it once this is all said and done.

   “Why fight in the name of someone you haven’t met? You could settle down in some remote town somewhere and live out the rest of your life.” Serafim said, the idea of devoting your life to something intangible, something so far away and inconceivable it might as well not exist. He sighed, and a somber smile graced his lips once the thought crossed his mind. Maybe we’re not so different are we huh? Children of the Ainsoph. Exorcists. We all wage wars against something even though we don’t realize it, some of us are fighting our demons, others wage a war of hearts and others engage in war for what they believe in. I still don’t fully understand it but it’s beginning to make sense to me each day.

    “I can ask you the same, mister Reaper.” The boy said, leaning by the railing of the balcony, his raven black hair spilled down to his shoulders and was swept back by the winds. He cocked his head back and laughed, so light and collected, beautiful. “Captain told me you wanna kill the Beast of Ill Omen, sounds crazy than staging a rebellion with a thousand High Kraslucists. Let me throw your question back at you. Why can’t you settle down in some remote town somewhere and live out the rest of your life? And unlike me you have people that love you, mister Reaper, why would you throw that all away.”

    The boy leaned forward and strolled back into the castle. “Oh, and by the way. The captain said we’ll be headin’ to Serenia up north at the last bastion of the High Kraslucist and his good ‘fer nothing Clerics.”

    Serafim took in what he was saying for a moment before the beauty of the rising sun and old memories overtook his attention, it was almost as if his master sat right next to him. “Hey, I didn’t get your name.”

   “Heh heh, the name’s Suman. Yours?”

  “Serafim,” Serafim replied, raising an outstretched hand towards the sun almost as if he could grab it in his palm. “Hey Suman, the rising sun looks brilliant wouldn’t you agree? Let me tell you something about myself, no matter what happens I will always move forward in this broken world even if the cost of moving forward is losing my legs. Because once you love someone so dearly, if they stood in front of you for the last time you’d find a way towards them even if it means crawling through hell itself. I wish that day to come upon you soon.”

    Suman paused for a moment, glancing over his shoulder with a smile that creased his eyes. “I hope you kill the Beast of Ill-Omen, Serafim. You know what Serafim? You’re right, the sun sure looks brilliant.”

    Serafim’s gaze dipped downwards, footsteps grew further and further until they disappeared completely. I wish you were here with me master, you would’ve liked the view from here. I promise on God-Queen Odelia’s name, I’ll find the Maleficent Earl and the Kalma, they’ll pay for what they did.

  

 

 

 

 

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