Part II: Yuber's Eternal Punishment

"Should the women eat their offspring,
The children they have cuddled?
You have invited as to a feast day

The terrors that surround me."

Lamentations 2:20; 2:22

In all the demon's days of dwelling on Earth, he had never ever felt such intense hunger pains, that familiar thirst for blood intensified a thousandfold. God!!! He was so hungry!!!

Something had happened, something Yuber couldn't recall. But here he was, stranded on this island.

Shipwrecked? he wondered. He'd run into similar problems in the past. But something didn't seem right...about the situation, about the place. First of all, he had no idea how he'd gotten there, and, secondly, the ocean's waters did not move--there were no waves, no ripples, nothing. The water was black and gel-like; Yuber was afraid of it.

After hanging around the shoreline for days upon days, perhaps for weeks (he couldn't be sure, as a perpetual twilight had settled over the land), Yuber decided no one would be coming for him. Either they didn't know he'd been left behind...or he'd been intentionally marooned.

But...by who?

His mind was foggy... Yuber was sure there must be a reason for his banishment, if that's what it was. He'd like to leave...he should be able to just open a portal to any destination...and yet he couldn't recall how the thing was supposed to be accomplished!

It will come back to me, he thought. And, finally, he started for the jungle, realizing that nothing could be accomplished--eating, especially--by staying on the deserted beach for the rest of eternity. And eternity it would be, because Yuber was immortal.

His main priority was food, now that he'd decided he was alone and apparently no one was searching for him. A nice, bloody chunk of meat was what he craved. And yet he found no animals. The forest was as void of life as that dead sea out there.

Yuber used both his swords to hack away at the foliage, but it grew back as quickly as he chopped, until he had to work twice as hard, making a cyclone of his flinging blades to get through the thick jungle plants.

Damn... It's getting hot!

And so it was. The sun had finally risen, but it was baking him. Yuber paused, surprised at the sweat that drenched him already. He tossed his hat to the ground, mopping at his forehead with his coat sleeve before letting that garment fall away as well.

Hot... So hot..!

The demon, now bare-chested, retrieved his swords from their resting post against a tree trunk, and once again took to the task of clearing a path. The roots of the bamboo were thick and hard, and all the other plants and their vines were covered with sharp briars. Yuber's body got nicked from all sides, his skin getting scratched by the thorns and burning from the heat of the sun.

After an endless trek, Yuber stopped for a short rest. He set his swords aside and wiped his face with his bare hands, his palms coming away as though he'd dipped them into water.

Water....

Damn, it's hot!

I'm so thirsty!

He smiled at the scent of water. There must be a waterfall or stream nearby...

The sweltering jungle heat made Yuber want to rip away the rest of his clothes--what little remained--but he was forced to abstain, as the forest's dangerous foliage would have shredded him to ribbons. He had no choice but to pick up his swords and continue on.

He kept going, and going...getting hotter and hotter, growing more and more weary...yet there was no end in sight. The smell of the water seemed even stronger, but... where is it?

Yuber stopped suddenly, mid-hack, his left-hand sword falling to the ground. He had nearly stepped on the top hat he'd earlier discarded.

"What the--!?!" he growled aloud. He tossed his other sword down and stormed through the tall, thick grass and vines, the scratches going unheeded and unfelt, driving on until he came to what he feared--the beach.

"What kind of sick joke is this?!?!?" he screamed at no one in particular. No one, because there was no one there to hear him, and no one, because Yuber knew there was no God.

But God knew better.

Days passed. Yuber tried--unsuccessfully--to get back into the forest to retrieve his swords, if not to find out where he'd taken a wrong turn, but there was no way to get back inside. The forest seemed to have closed up and purposefully shut him out. The palm trees came together to form a solid wall of wood, their boughs so high that he couldn't possibly have reached them, and the thorns along the tree trunks too thick to climb--especially now that he was all but naked, having lost his shirt and hat, and torn his long, black pants into shorts.

So now Yuber paced the beach. He couldn't stand the fucking heat! It was too harsh! If he stayed in one spot for very long, he would feel his skin burning and could actually hear the sizzling as his flesh cooked.

And so he walked, without sleep, for what seemed days. Or had it been days? Perhaps it was the same day, and it had not yet ended. He couldn't be sure any more, because the sun never set. It moved, though. The sun rotated in whatever direction Yuber walked, so that no matter where on the island he went (he'd marched the circumference several times, marking his spot in the sand to make sure he was right) he was always directly under the glaring rays.

So tired...so hot...so thirsty! And--GOD!--so hungry!!!

God! What he wouldn't do for a drink!!! For a bite of food! He could have starved for years now; there was no way of knowing. He felt thinner, weaker... It had to have been more than a day, probably more than a week. How long could his human half sustain without water?

Twice, as he walked full-circle around the island, Yuber tried counting his paces and turning them into seconds. One second for every pace...that meant sixty paces made a minute...

One walk around the island had taken him forty minutes. The second walk had taken him twelve. Obviously, whatever was causing this to happen to him, it--or whoever--didn't want Yuber to stay sane for much longer.

Of course not; because this is my punishment.

Suddenly Yuber halted his staggering, drunken gait.

"Who said that?!" he growled, but it sounded more like a weak, frightened choke. And why not? His throat was parched. He couldn't even drink the sweat dripping from his pores because the salt made him crave fresh water even more, just as the sea water would have, if he'd been fool enough to drink it. Or could he drink that grey jelly stuff?

He knew no one had spoken to him. But where had that idea come from? And why should he be punished? He had done nothing wrong...had he? No. No more than usual.

The demon's stomach gave a loud, complaining groan, and he moaned aloud in agony.

"GOD!" Yuber screeched, falling to his knees. "Give me some food!!!" He still didn't know who he was shouting to, but it felt good to hear someone's voice--even his own scratchy, hoarse one.

"You want food?" a voice asked.

Yuber spun around on the beach, sending a spray of sand flying at the stranger who had approached.

Only it wasn't A stranger. It was a TRIBE of strangers. Six men and women stood in ragged clothing, presumably self-made of the only materials at hand--the plants. They were the most hideous humans Yuber had ever seen, their flesh covered in boils and leaking pus from open, infectious sores. They reeked some ungodly stench, and the ravenous looks these pox-faced, sickly-thin maggots gave Yuber made him want to wretch.

Disgusting...

And yet...and yet...they were alive. They were living, breathing...mortals.

This meant three things to Yuber: food, water, and shelter, preferably in that order.

"Yes," Yuber croaked at the front man, "I want food."

"You come to village," the man stated. He turned without waiting for a response, expecting Yuber to follow. Which, of course, he did. The people behind him stared at him, making some sort of gnashing motions with their teeth. They looked as though they'd skipped quite a few meals, themselves.

But Yuber wasn't too worried. It wasn't as though they were going to eat him, for God's sake.

The village was dark. Yuber couldn't believe it, but the trees grew in a canopy-like roof overhead, almost completely obscuring the sun. Yet the heat blazed inside, seemingly trapped by their cavernous confines. And the stench...God... Where did it come from?

No one in the bizarre village spoke to Yuber. Hundreds or perhaps even thousands of scabbing, rotting corpse-like bodies walked the strange wooden bridges connecting this house to that store to that street over there...

Almost looks like Le Buque, Yuber thought wistfully, but then he forgot where and even what Le Buque was. He shrugged. Nothing important, probably.

"Can I have food now?" Yuber asked as the leader-guy led him along. He looked back a few times to see how many people were following them, but there were ever more, and soon he lost track of the sheer multitude of them.

It seemed strange, but this man in front was the only one who had spoken to him...or spoken at all, for that matter. For as many people lined the bridges and came to their windows to peek out at the new guest, there was not a whisper to be heard among the streets.

"Yes, food...soon," came the primitive reply.

"Okaaay," Yuber said slowly, still walking along the bridge. He hoped these things were sturdy. He couldn't see anything below because of the darkness, but he imagined quite a fall. Or a pit of sorts.

He could see a platform of some kind, just ahead. It was made of solid earth--thank God!--and all bridges seemed to connect to it. There was a raised section in the middle, like a stage, and Yuber wondered what it all meant. He would soon discover its purpose.

No one else came near when Yuber and the chief walked onto the platform. The man led Yuber to the center, to the raised part, where there was some sort of... How to describe it? It was like a circle of stone, under the earth. Almost like a buried disk...or a plate. A buried dinner plate. A rather large one, at that. Four or five people could have eaten from it.

The man looked at Yuber. "We eat here. Sit. Enjoy."

Yuber nodded. So he was the guest of honor, after all!

The man turned to some men standing on a bridge near their bit of earth. "Bring food," he commanded.

"And drink!" Yuber added. "Plenty to drink!"

The man looked at him as if to say, Oh, like I'd forget THAT! But he said nothing.

A few moments later, two warrior-looking men dragged a woman's body out of the crowd and threw her down onto the plate.

Ah...native politics, Yuber sighed, assuming the ragged urchin to be a thief being brought before their king. He hoped this wouldn't interfere with his meal.

But he was wrong.

Dead wrong.

The old man knelt down next to the girl, brushing her hair away from her face. The strands came away in his hand as though they'd never been attached to her dry scalp.

Yuber realized with a start that the girl was dead.

There were no eyeballs left in the corpse's head. The bone of her jaw was clearly visible from the missing skin under her shriveled lips where a chin should have been, and the cartilage of her nose was completely gone, leaving nothing but two very large holes gaping in the center of her face. They were absolutely oozing with insects and worms.

Even the demon, Yuber, the Black Knight, was revolted... too appalled to speak.

But it got worse. Oh, God....! It got much, much worse....

The old chieftain leaned over and reached forward, delicately lifting one of the girl's stiff arms. He bent his head over the limb, taking a deep breath as though savoring the scent, then parted his lips, and pressed his mouth to her pallid, dry skin.

And he bit down on the rotted flesh.

And he chewed--oh, God, he chewed!!!

Blood that was no longer red spurted from torn, ragged veins over the body, followed by a seeping white liquid that Yuber couldn't have identified if he'd wanted to. There were things that just weren't meant to be known--by man or monster; the living had no business knowing what the dead knew...it just wasn't right!!!

And, certainly, neither was this!

The old man paused, waiting for Yuber to join him. Yuber had no such intentions, however, and stood with disgust blazing in his color-contrasted eyes. The old man looked down at his victim--or was it his?--and gently lifted one of her withered hands, in offering, turning the arm towards him to show smooth skin not yet gnawed through.

"...Fuck, no." Yuber shook his head slowly, then faster, with more conviction. He glared at the thousands upon thousands of villagers staring at him. "Fuck, NO!!!"

"Yuber."

The demon turned around to face the woman who had spoken, and gasped. Why the hell did she seem so familiar?

Suddenly, all of Yuber's memories rushed black, staggering him in their intensity. He knew this woman, but he did not know how he got here, even still. Maybe she could tell him. But...her name... They'd fought together, and fought against each other. Two separate wars... They'd both been eager to dip their hands in the blood of those wars, whether Lucia would admit it or not.

The Karaya Clan's late chief looked straight at him now from the crowd. But something wasn't right about her...about the way he remembered her...

"Yuber, I think you'd better take a bite of what you're being offered."

"I most certainly will not!! Are you crazy? Is everyone here fucking insane?!"

"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Lucia asked without an inflection in her tone.

"Nnoooo," Yuber said slowly, shaking his head in confusion. "I never said I wanted to eat someone for dinner. I haven't eaten, or drank...in...I can't even remember my last meal!"

"If you want to eat, then you'd better get started with her, over there," Lucia said, pointing to the corpse, oblivious to his earlier refusal.

The old man looked up at Yuber hopefully, an encouraging smile on his face. It was then that Yuber realized...this man...his teeth...

"...Is he...is he what I think...he is...?"

The demon man turned back to Lucia, but he saw it in her as well--in her eyes. Or, rather, the lack of anything in her eyes. Lucia could not see him. She couldn't see anything anymore. Her eyes had lost their spark, their light... It was dark here because there was no need for light. Why should the dead need to see?

"We're waiting, Yuber," Lucia said, a vacant expression on her once-beautiful face. "We're all...waiting...for you..."

"To what!?!" Yuber screamed in terror. "To eat your flesh? Drink you blood!?!?"

"Yes."

The demon began to tremble. "Who are all these people? Why me?"

"Because it's what you've always wanted," Lucia said. "You've asked God for that which you desired most, and now you have it."

"I don't understand!" Yuber screamed, tearing at his long, dirty, sweaty blonde hair.

"You killed everyone here by your own hands, Yuber. You wanted blood, you wanted death, and now...you have it." Lucia's voice was different than he recalled--deeper, hoarse. Yuber knew why; her vocal cords were drying out, like everyone else's had, long before. "You will eat each body you destroyed, beginning with that one over there." Again, she slowly lifted an arm and uncurled her fisted hand to point to the corpse on the platter. "In order, for each life you took--beginning with the first and ending with the last--you will set our souls free."

"I didn't kill you," Yuber argued.

"You did," Lucia contested. "I was one of the last, before..."

"...Before what?"

"Yuber."

"What?!"

"The sooner you get started, the sooner you will finish. There are thousands more waiting. It's better to eat them fresh; you'll see what I mean when you taste of that one."

Yuber turned back to the woman on the dais. Her rotting face...looked frighteningly familiar...but why?

The demon thought back...

The first...life...he'd taken... Oh...God... Mother!

Yuber's mother had died in childbirth, as did all women who bore the child of an incubus.

But...Yuber hadn't done that on purpose--!

"What's he doing?!" Yuber gasped, clutching his roiling stomach. The old man had resumed the task of chewing Yuber's mother's arm.

"Helping you," Lucia said. "He hasn't been here long, but he is impatient to be set free, as are we all. Please, Yuber...feast. I admit that I, too, am eager for release..."

"Make him stop!" Yuber screamed, but Lucia remained motionless. The demon rushed forward, knocking the old man away from his mother's body. "NO!" he screamed. "No one else touches her!!!" He turned to Lucia, pleading. "...I can't.... I can't eat all these people, Lucia!"

"You must," Lucia insisted. "You have no choice, Yuber. There is no other food. There is no other drink. You will feast, or you will suffer. You can never eat to your fill, but you can never be hungry, as long as you devour our bodies. Starving will only cause you pain, but it will not kill you. You will writhe and moan on the ground while we weep; you will beg for mercy, but this is your mercy, Yuber. This is the only way to escape. Yuber...you must feed."

Things became all too clear to the demon. The situation made perfect sense, considering. The demon didn't recall each life he'd taken, but now he would never forget. Starting with his mother, whose face he'd never set eyes on in life, but knew that at one time must have resembled his own. "...Mother."

Yuber knelt down next to the body. The old man had crawled away, burying himself in the rest of the crowd, out of Yuber's way. Without turning back to her, he asked of Lucia, "When I complete this task...am I free to go?"

"Oh, yes," Lucia sighed, a wicked smile spreading across her paled, dead face. "Yes, Yuber. When you finish me off, as your final meal, we're both...free...to go..."

The demon looked down at his mother's thin, skeletal arm, holding it gently in his two hands. Could he really...? He had no choice.

Yuber bent over his mother's body, much in the way the old man had done, and opened his mouth, ever-so-slightly. He pressed his lips to cold flesh. He was revolted. He dropped the arm, turned his head and took a deep breath, his eyes closed. Then he tried again. And this time he succeeded.

A titanic cheer arose from the gaping jowls and decaying throats of all those thousands present, as well as the hundreds, thousands, MILLIONS of decomposing bodies waiting outside in the black gel; a thankful sigh for the first swallow of all the flesh that had yet to be devoured.........