The Beast God
"Hey Quartz! Where're you at mate!? I just took out a big'in, mean green dragon, he was practically pubescent!" The disciple, Tazer wandered through the giant gates of Alfa Dilith's throne room. His friend had always been one for a good hunting story, and he was eager to share the tale, he'd gotten a great big scar down his chest as a trophy of the encounter.
The doors parted soundlessly for him, and he wandered in unannounced into the Beast God's Lair. It was an enormous hall, it's end far out of sight, and crossed from floor to ceiling with vibrant greens, an endless array of plants in an almost jungle-like scene. He wandered through the thick foliage, hacking through branches left and right with his enchanted blade.
"-Is heresy, Quartz, do you understand that!? Now, just tell me where you left them, and we'll consider this a moot point, you may return to your business, and nobody hears of it."
"Hmm….nah, I'm thinkin' not Alfie, I know what you'll be using them for, you can consider em' good as lost!"
"Hey guys, what are we talkin' abou-"
"You, dare!? I will banish you for this, in defying me you betray your fellow gods as well!" Quartz met Alfa Dilith's fury with his own deathly blue-eyed glare, a defiant smirk on his lips as he brushed his messy blond curls from his face.
"Try me…" He replied, low, dangerous. Tazer scratched his head, glancing between his friend and the Beast God, what had he missed?
"H...hey guys, what're ya up t-"
"Ehh, pardon me sir, were you by chance invited?" Tazer glanced over his shoulders, the voice coming from behind him. The God's disciple Zurg stood there, the picture of fanciful in his black and gold brocade, his black skin gleaming in the low, spectral light of the chambers. The two gold rings through his pointed ear had some unknown text inscribed on them. "I don't recall Lord Alfa Dilith inviting you Sir Tazer, but I do believe that it's entirely within the realm of possibility that I missed a memo, so please, make yourself at home until milord is finished with his current audiences."
"Oh hey Zurg buddy! What's up? How ya doing? Oh yeah, nobody actually called me in here, I just figured that I'd come in, I'm sure he won't mind." Zurg blinked, beady eyes narrowing as he frowned.
"You mean to tell me….that you don't...have an appointment? And you….came in anyway?"
"Yah huh." The disciple was quaking, blood seeming to flow freely from his eyeballs.
"How…" Zurg threw up his hands, incredulous," how did either of you ever serve a roach? Let alone a god… My Lord is currently dealing with your traitorous friend, consider yourself lucky that you've not committed any crime greater than idiocy or you'd be next. But please, please, give me a reason…" He'd intended it to be menacing, but Tazer had already stopped listening, looking back towards the ongoing argument. "I swear, I AM GOING TO MUR-"
"Oh for goodness sake, Zurg! Let it be!" The Beast God glared from across the room at his disciple, his voice absolutely dripping with contempt for having his conversation interrupted. Zurg almost immediately reverted to his docile state, hands clasped politely behind his back, a delighted smile on his face.
"Of course sir, a good day to you Master Tazer," he said genuinely, Tazer returned the smile easily, completely unaware. Rolling his eyes, the Beast God turned back to the subject before him, the unending castle on his back seeming to cause him genuine strain for once.
"You've one last chance then Quartz, give me the location of even one of the artifacts, and perhaps I'll show leniency." Quartz stood there for a moment, twirling a lock of hair thoughtfully.
"Hmm...tempting, buuuuut I think I'll pass mate, c'mon! Just tell me where I'm getting sent on vacay, I've been itchin' to go somewhere nice." Alfa Dilith growled, the castle atop his back shuddering with it, stones and dust sailing clear of it.
"Insolent worm! I, Alfa Dilith, Beast God of the Divine Ten, will banish you from this realm of the divine and deities, to a world black of heart and black with sin, the realm of demons shall be your abode. For a millenia you shall rot, and if by the end you still draw breath then I will ask you again, and if your defiance remains intact, then a thousand years shall be your fate. Now, BEGONE!" A green fire bloomed in the Beast God's hand, there was something tremendously intimidating, even to Tazer, about a god holding the weight of a castle atop his back and still delivering such a moving speech. But Quartz just stood there and smiled.
"Alright then, try me Alfie, a thousand years? That's nothing!" Sneering, Alfa Dilith threw out his hand, and the flame leapt free of his hand, sailing hungrily towards Quartz. "I HID THEM ALL UNDERNEATH THE-" and then the flame struck him, and he winked out of existence.
…
"Ah damn, so Alfie! What's goin' on?" The Beast God sighed, placing a hand to his cheek.
"Ah yes, I forgot about the other one, I almost didn't recognize you glued to Quartz's side. Now what do you want Tazer? I've order to keep."
"Oh, well I was just wondering where ya sent Quartz to."
"I sent him to the realm of demons, Ishgria. His insurgent ideals, keeping the holy relics from the gods who created them, carried him too far today. So now he's fated to meet out his days i-"
"Yeah uh-huh that's great, listen, when's he getting back?" Alfa Dilith blinked, peeved.
"A thousand years he is to be banished, a thousand more should he fail to tell me where he's hidden the relics."
"Cool." Tazer sat himself down, cross-legged in the middle of the room, humming tunelessly to himself. Alfa Dilith cocked his eyebrow at the disciple, unsure of what was going on.
"W...what exactly are you….doing?"
"Waitin', a thousand's not all that long, I'll be here for when he gets back, I've got a kick-ass story for him. Plus I have to return this staff to him, he left in my room, it looks creepy though."
"Oh no no no no no, you are most certainly NOT waiting for hi- Wait what was that about a staff?."
"So you wanna hear the story!?" Tazer beamed, excited.
"No, I've no time for your stories Tazer, and I've seen less than that for you waiting about in my throne room. You'll not be sitting there for a millenia, chatting my ear off about him or any other stories of yours."
"Oh...well….can I fight you for him?"
"I w….what...I'm….sorry, did I hear that correctly?"
"Maybe, here, I'll try again," the disciple cleared his throat, closing his crystal blue eyes," CAN I FIGHT YOU FOR HIM?"
"No! No you most certainly cannot! Why I've half a mind to put you down for such insol-"
"Actually milord," Zurg interjected, zipping up to stand between the Beast God and Tazer, brandishing a massive leather and gold bound tome. "He can, you see, whoever defeats the Beast God assumes his strength and position, and since you banished Quartz on your authority as the Beast God, Tazer could feasibly revoke the decree should he win such a duel." Alfa Dilith's eye spasmed, irritation scrawled so thickly over his face as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Thank you, Zurg, you're...so...very helpful."
"Of course sir," Zurg replied with a curt bow and broad smile.
"Awesome, I'm gonna deck ya!" Tazer exclaimed, conjuring up his platform of churning water, bouncing back and forth on his feet.
"Oh no you most certainly won't!" The God raged, furious, the stones atop his back shifting and rumbling with his fury.
"But milord, the rules are ironbound that a challenger is entitle-"
"Because Zurg is going to be my champion." Tazer blinked, shrugged, he didn't really care who he fought, so long as Quartz came back to hear about his hunting trip.
"Alright, well I'm still gonna-"
"I WILL TEAR YOUR EYES OUT THROUGH YOUR ASS YOU HERETICAL SWINE!" Zurg bulled straight through the crystal waves and grabbed Tazer by the throat, tossing him clean off the wave that he stood on, the disciple's sword spinning from his hand, then ramming him into a thick tree trunk nearby. His muscles bulged, tearing clean through the silken shirt he'd been wearing, flexing a body rippling with power and traced head to toe with elegant, arcane markings.
Tazer was stunned for a moment, then smirked, using the tree for balance he rose up and wrapped his legs around Zurg's waist, locking them in place.
"Oh Tazer, quite kinky, people will talk," Zurg told him, wrapping both hands around Tazer's windpipe, yet even as the disciple's face grew red he just smirked.
"Let 'em talk." Tazer's blue eyes flashed, and they were suddenly put under by a great sphere of water that materialized around them. Zurg's eyes bulged, the grip on Tazer's throat loosening just the slightest as they were cut off from the air around them. Tazer's hands shot up, moving through the water as if they were mere air, tearing Zurg's hands away. Pinning the demon's arms to his side, Tazer pressed his weight forward, forcing Zurg down, to his knees, then to the floor, gurgling in shock and pain, trying to thrash and free himself, but the water weighed him down infinitely more than it did Tazer. Carefully, Tazer extracted his legs, using his muscle now to hold Zurg down, he pressed a foot into the demon's chest. "Aww, what's the matter Zurg? You were so sure of yourself a second ago!"
"*Blurg* *Burk*" Zurg gargled, lungs failing him.
"Oh, what's that? You're going to send me spiraling into the darkest rings of hell the likes of which I may never return from?" Zurg cocked an eyebrow, burbling again. "Yeah, I get that a lot." Tazer kicked outwards, and Zurg went flying free of the sphere like a bullet fired from a gun, crashing headfirst into the trunk of another tree with an audible crunch, causing Alfa Dilith to actually cringe at the sound.
Tazer strolled free of the watery orb, allowing it to break apart behind him. "Y'know, I always liked that little trick," he began, stooping as he moved to scoop up his discarded weapon, "makes my hair look kick-ass," he passed a hand through his orange and silver locks, pulling them back against his skull to give himself a sleek, polished look. Thinking it would be a cool way to make the kill, Tazer tossed his sword up high into the air, watching it spin end over end, hand reaching upwards to catch it so he could bring it down on the fallen disciple.
"I WILL NOT BE MOCKED DAMN YOU!" Zurg leapt upwards, driving a fist right into Tazer's groin, causing Tazer to moan out in pain, knees folding as stars swam in his vision.
"Ohhhhhhhhh that's a low blow," he groaned. His sword came down and buried itself in the ground beside him, forgotten.
"THIS! IS NOT! THE FACE! OF A DEMON! WHO CARES!" Zurg punctuated each statement with a wicked punch into Tazer's face, feeling teeth crack and flesh bruise under each strike. "WHOO CANCAH!" He shouted, ending the combo by raking his black claws across both of Tazer's cheeks, making him cry out. Grabbing hold of his blade, Tazer swiped at Zurg, putting some distance between them as the demon jumped back. He caressed his cheek, yellow puss already rising to the surface of the wound, which hissed audibly. He spat out a mouthful of blood and even a tooth, then wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.
"Hoo boy," he huffed, suddenly breathless, "that was good….that was really good, I'll give ya that, that's a good burn."
"Is it now?" Zurg asked, an arrogant grin twisting his lips.
"Totall-eeee hells," Taser recoiled a bit as his cheeks suddenly felt like acid, paralyzing the muscles in his face, "Tha-ish no' a 'ood 'urn." Zurg grinned a devious grin and leapt at the injured disciple. In a panic, Tazer jumped to his feet and launched upward, summoning a geyser of water to throw him up out of Zurg's reach. Once he'd landed on a high branch, he made himself scarce, hiding among the treetops, much to Zurg's irritation.
"DON'T YOU HIDE FROM ME!" He ran to the nearest rooted tree, wrapping both arms around its trunk, and heaved. He grunted his rage out, the roots beginning to erupt from the ground, spraying waves of dirt into the air.
"Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah shneak ahaaaaaack!" Tazer chose that moment to come swinging from a vine, falling upon Zurg in a tangle of armor and muscle, driving his sword straight through the center of Zurg's chest, pinning him to the tree. "Aah tha's how ya win a 'ight!" Zurg coughed, vomiting a stream of black blood onto the base of the tree.
"You….guttershite…" The demon wheezed through clenched teeth.
"Wha's the 'aher Zurg, are you alrigh'?" Tazer asked, genuinely concerned, cheeks swelling from the venom rushing through them.
"I have a gods-damned sword in my chest...OF COURSE I'M NOT ALRIGH-OH GODS organ's failing."
"Zurg, hey, hey hang in there 'uddy, heh heh, hang, heh heh…"
"Oh my Karnah Mastah," Zurg sighed, "I don't know,...who handles these...but if I can make a dying wish," he turned his head just enough to catch Tazer's eye, "it's that I hope you get cancer." The demon's body shuddered, convulsing briefly, then fell silent.
"Huh, so 'ooh I win? I 'hink I 'ooh, wooh!" Tazer pulled his sword free of his opponent's chest, allowing the body to collapse, then turned to the Beast God. "Al'igh' Alha 'Ilith, you an' 'ee, le's ooo-"
Alfa Dilith flicked his wrist, tossing out a ball of golden fire that struck Tazer full in his chest, sending the disciple flying back, twitching as he landed face-first, yellow puss beginning to flow freely down his cheeks.
"There, now that that's been taken care of, Zurg." The demon leapt to his feet, back in his clean-pressed suit, completely free of any damage. He dusted himself off, offering a low bow to Alfa Dilith.
"Milord," he answered merrily, head cocked in a joyous smile.
"Are you quite alright Zurg?"
"Well sir, he appears to have opened a gaping hole in my chest that I don't think will ever close up, but that aside I'm good as new."
"Ah, well I doubt that that's much of a-oh…" Zurg unbuttoned his shirt, revealing an enormous hole, as wide around as a fist in his chest, Alfa Dilith cringed slightly. "Oh dear, well I should do something about that." The Beast God shot forth a bright green beam of light that struck Zurg full in the chest. When the beam had cleared, Zurg looked down to find the hole still very much present, though now with a row of razor sharp white teeth around the edges of it.
"Um...milord? What is the purpose of these?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing, but they look intimidating. NOW! Dispose of this yes?" Alfa Dilith commanded, gesturing to the fallen Tazer. "And when the deed is done, do be sure to secure that staff from him."
"Why not beforehand sir?"
"Because I don't need you dying on me Zurg, never underestimate the power of an idiot, even when they're completely unconscious." Zurg nodded, stretching out both arms thoroughly, shaking out his wrists.
"Very well sir, I'll see to it that he's brought to the rifts, he'll be locked up in Kajah's prison for the time being, is a thousand years appropriate?" The Beast God smirked, pleased with his disciple.
"Very appropriate Zurg, very." Zurg took this as a cue, reaching down to hoist Tazer's body over his shoulder, take one more opportunity to bow to Alfa Dilith, and exit the chambers.
…
"Oh gods you're heavy!" Zurg groaned, his back burning as he switched shoulders again to ease the burden. His legs couldn't take it anymore, burning as he struggled to bear the weight of Tazer, gasping for air as he neared his destination.
"Hey I take offense to that!" Zurg looked back over his shoulder to find Tazer hanging there, smiling happily up at him.
"Wha-what in the hells! You're awake!?"
"Well yeah, pfft...duh."
"But how're you...you were dying from toxins! AND WHY WOULD YOU LET ME CARRY YOU THIS WHOLE WAY!?"
"Well yeah, but then the staff that Quartz left me made me better," at this the disciple pulled the staff from somewhere on his person, it was nearly as tall as he was, topped with a wide, blue and gold circle, embedded with an array of sapphires, at its center was a large white stone painted to appear like an eye, it's center glowed white hot. At that moment the center of the eye caught a stray ray of light, shooting a concentrated beam directly into Zurg's eyes.
"AAAH! SON OF A-"
"And you didn't seem to mind so I figured I'd let you keep on," Tazer continued, unabated, "say, could we stop back at that tree we passed like an hour ago? I really like that tree, it's nice to sit under, look up at the star-"
"Tell me Tazer, have I told you how much I despise you today?" Zurg interrupted, sneering. Tazer pressed a hand to his cheek, thinking.
"Hmm, you? I don't think so, not today at least."
"Because I really do."
"Aww, don't be like that Zurg buddy, c'mon, cheer up!" Tazer moved to give Zurg a playful punch, but accidentally put his fist straight through the front of Zurg's clean-pressed shirt. "Huh, say, when did you install this Zurg?" Tazer peered around Zurg to see his hand clean on the other end of the demon, he waved the hand tentatively, then enthusiastically when he saw it, his goofy smile back. "Hi me!"
"Oh I am done with this!" Zurg promptly tossed Tazer forcibly to the ground, the staff in Tazer's hands caught the light again, once again blinding Zurg.
"I AM GOING TO MURDER-"
"Excuse me, Zurg is it?" Zurg glanced up, once again returning to a docile state, to see who had addressed him. It was Karnah Mastah's second in command, Lucius. The god was resplendent in his rainbow plumage, his face suffused in brilliant white light. The light was calming, bringing an undeniable warmth into Zurg's breast, he nodded, offering Lucius a stiff-backed bow. "Is this man due to a detention?"
"Indeed, the beast sought to attack Lord Alfa Dilith."
"Truly? And you defeated him?"
"I...I failed in stopping him, however Lord Alfa Dilith put him down where he stood."
"Oh, and so very humble, Alfa Dilith is so very lucky to have taken on a disciple of your caliber. I'll tell you what, I'll take this one off your hands, I shall see to it that he's disposed of." That honey-sweet voice had Zurg happily nodded along, pleased to finally be rid of the nuisance, except for one thing.
"Well actually sir, I've orders to confiscate a staff from his person once he's been dealt with." Lucius turned to look down on Zurg, that blank white face expressionless, but seemed to express some immense joy onto Zurg."
"You don't need that staff Zurg."
"Oh, well I...I do actually, Lord Alfa Dil-" Lucius seized the demon by his arm, smoke rising from the point of contact as Zurg's flesh hissed, feeling aflame. His face was one of terror as he met Lucius' glare.
"You, don't need, that staff," the god insisted.
"No, indeed I don't," Zurg agreed, prying his arm free of Lucius' grip, rubbing it gingerly as he scurried away from the god's presence.
"Sssoooooooooo….Loosh, you don't really wanna lock me up, do ya?" Tazer none-too stealthily trying to palm off his staff, quite awkwardly given its sheer size. Lucius stared at him, the light briefly flickering as if the god were blinking.
"I...I can't...what are you doing?"
"Noooothing, nothing at all, but come now Lord Lucius, this staff's gotta be worth a pretty penny, I mean, everybody seems to want to kill me for it," Tazer insisted, attempting to plant the staff inside the god's multicolored robes, Lucius slapped his hand away.
"What do you think I would do with money? I'm a god."
"Oh come on, it's gotta get boring being god, who doesn't wanna do a little bartering every now and then? Eh? Eh? Eh?" Lucius sighed.
"Okay, I get it, you're stupid."
"Nooooo, I'm Tazer, but I get that a lot, I guess they sound similar," Tazer replied, smiling his goofy smile. Lucius buried his face into his hands, screaming into them so the sound would be muffled, then took in a deep breath, collecting himself.
"You don't...need to do that." He paused, his shoulders slumping, "oh gods I can't believe you're the only one powerful enough for this."
"Say what now?"
"Listen, you want to see your friend again, this, Quartz, yes?"
"Depends, do you wanna hear a story!?"
"No."
"Then yes."
"Excellent, well it just so happens that I can send you where you need to go, I can open up a gate to Ishgria for you." Tazer's eyes lit up, he began leaping from foot to foot excitedly.
"OOH! Are there monsters there!? Something I can fight!? A place to swim!? GOOD FOOD!?"
"Yyyyes...sure, all of those things. So, do you wish to do it?"
"HELL YEAH!"
"Excellent," Lucius waved his hand and an enormous rainbow gate appeared on the wall beside them, "now, take care to-"
"QUAAARRRRRRRRTZZZZ!" Tazer simply charged, busting straight through the gate, and straight off a cliff on the other side, his screams echoing as he fell. Lucius peered his head through briefly just to watch the disciple drop, but lost sight of him once he'd dropped through the cloud barrier the gate had appeared over. He nodded, satisfied.
"Well, here's hoping that they're not all like that," he muttered, before willing the gate out of existence, locking the disciple on the other side.
GOOOOOOOOOOOD EVENING FOLKS!
I'm quite excited to bring this to you all, I've been considering the idea of doing a story on Feeva's batch for quite some time, and after I brought Narza's story to the Palace of the Gods and started making characters for each of them, I just couldn't resist. So the first couple of chapters of this are going to follow the other four disciples besides Tora and their exile to Ishgria. For those of you that haven't read it and are interested, Tora's exile is detailed in my story The Mad Swordsman's Descent, so give it a read if you wish to see how she finds herself in the demon realm. I'm hoping to keep these chapters relatively short so I'm looking to get them out in a timely fashion, preferably one to every week or so. I'd be delighted if you folks could take a minute to give some feedback on what you think of the story, what do you think of Tazer especially (he was made with love 3) and just any ideas you all might have, I'd be happy to hear them. So, keep an eye out for the next chapter of this, The Supreme, and also keep your eye out sometime over the course of the week for another project I've been working on, I'm really excited to share it with you all, so look forward to it. Until then, have a great evening!