GODS OF ASEROTH: The Prodigal Son: A monster is born (3 page)

    
“I figured you would say that. Is it possible that your sister will join them too?”

     Azar smiled and
took the pipe out of his mouth and blew away the smoke “Yes, She would love too.” He paused “But I would like to leave now. I have to make preparations.”

    
Lamfari excused him and he left. He wrote a letter to his sister, Neiham, an enchantress and a potion maker and the master charm caster of Gelus. Both siblings were very close and highly successful with a love for magic.

     Azar went back to this house and began writing a letter to her.
He grabbed the quill, dipped it in the ink and started writing on a piece of paper, under the candle light:

 
   Greetings, My dear sister,

    
I hope everything is fine. I have a special message for you. As you know, the son of Asurot, the prince of all gods, is supposed to wipe out all evil from this world. For your information, the lucky day has come. Lamfari has decided to send the boy out to the journey of getting the weapons, to defeat Geluna, and he has chosen you and I to accompany him. All I ask is that you come to the outskirts of Geluna, as soon as possible. We will be leaving soon and we will leave without you, so better come fast.

   
Your brother, Azar.

    
After writing, he rolled up the piece of paper and tied it to his phoenix’s leg. The phoenix flew away into the sky and took the letter to his sister. In the same manner, Leosher wrote to his friends, Usere and Urey:

    
Greetings,

    
I hope you are still into bounty hunting. As you know, I always had a love for adventure but I could not leave with you to the distant lands, for I did not have the means to. I just found out that I am a god and that I have to defeat Geluna, the evil witch. I would love it if my best friend, Urey and his brother, Usere are beside me while I complete the task. Come to my town in Gelus as soon as you can.

    
Your friend, Leosher.

    
Since Leosher was not rich, he wrote it on a piece of parchment and tied it to his pet dove’s leg. The dove flew and went to the land of elves, outside Gelus, in Strinthius. There, the elves had a giant colony in which they lived but there was no harmony, no matter where you went.

    
The brothers received the parchment and came to Leosher, as fast as they could which was in a week. The day after Usere and Urey arrived, Neiham arrived at Azar’s house as well. She had brought gifts for Leosher and Virgil, for she was happy that finally the days of hardships were about to end.

     
Azar took her to the Poppins brothers’ house, (Leosher and Virgil’s house) that morning and told Leosher that they were supposed to go with them. Leosher loved the idea and introduced the Elf brothers to Azar and Neiham.

    
Urey was an elf, who used a bow and arrows to hunt and made a living out of it. He had long and luscious black hair and was pale in color. He was tall and had a clean face without a beard and mustache. His eyes were green and ears were sharp and had a point to them. He wore a deer skin coat and did not wear rags like Virgil and Leosher did, for the elf brothers were a little rich because they hunted bounties and received plenty of money. He was a witty man with a great sense of humor but he knew the difference between being disrespectful and being funny.

    
Usere was the twin brother of Urey. He looked same but there were some differences. Usere was very serious and rarely joked, only on happy occasions and special events, and he had a thick beard. His hairs on his head were short as well and he carried a broad sword instead of a bow and arrow. While his twin, Urey, had green eyes, Usere had sky blue eyes.

    
They both met Azar first “Hello, Azar, I am Urey” he said joyfully, while moving forward to shake his hand “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

    
Usere did the same thing. He greeted Azar and shook his hand. Then both of them met Neiham. She had a pointy hat and had short white hair. She was a little short, and a little chubby. She had slight wrinkles because of old age but smelled like roses. She was very jolly as well, just like Urey. She met the elf brothers and then moved on to Leosher “Son, it is a pleasure to be at your side” she said “I am proud to be a part of this journey.”

    
“Same here, madam, it is an honor to work alongside such magnificent beings like you,” he paused and laughed “But I am magnificent too.”

     Neiham nodded
gave Leosher a gift. It was red leather, battle skirt and golden armor made of steel. She also gave him two spears that were golden at the tips. Then she moved onto Virgil. She greeted him and gave him a steel chest armor. It was silver, unlike Leosher’s, for gold represented royalty and greatness, and silver was a little below gold. Then she gave him two battle axes too.

    
After everyone was done meeting and greeting, Azar went to the front of the dirty room and announced “We will be leaving at dawn tomorrow. I have rounded up six horses and we will take them on our journey. It is going to be very hard and tough to handle, for we are going over the misty mountains, through the caves of the shape-shifting serpent and through the land of the dead, therefore, be prepared to go against anything and everything. The townspeople are holding a ceremony, commemorating Leosher’s bravery and courage. They have a special gift for him and for the rest of you as well.” He paused and looked outside through the window to check the weather “And pack some warm cloaks and coats.”

     After he was done talking, h
e went outside and into his mansion-like house. The elf brothers went to the inn in the town to get some rest but Neiham stayed back. She went to Adne, who was in an empty room, sitting and weeping, for her sons were going to leave.

    
Neiham, being a kind hearted woman who knew the pain of losing sons for she had her own son killed by Geluna, comforted her….

   
Soon, it was nightfall and everyone went to sleep.

CHAPTER
3

    
Everyone in the town woke up before dawn and got everything ready for the ceremony. Everyone gathered in the town square and put a throne like chair in the middle. When it was finally dawn, they took Leosher and put him on the throne. Then, Azar and Virgil brought Lamfari out and the ceremony began. Lamfari came close to Leosher and put his hands on his head and started:

    
“May the blessings of the gods be with you and may they protect and pave your way through the hardest parts of this journey. May you get guidance when you most need it and you shall be blessed with a bright mind to make calculated and good decisions. Though you are a god, may you always have the attitude of a commoner, calm and humble and may you never fall into the hands of evil.”

    
Then he called out for the crown and Adne brought it to him with her old ragged hands. He felt where it was with his hands and put it on Leosher’s head. “You are now the new king of the new empire that will be ever expanding. May this empire soon expand over the world.” When he was done, Meagon brought forth a red, Warrior-king’s cloak. Leosher slipped it over his shoulders and got up to address to his people

    
“I promise you that the reign of terror and evil will no longer prevail and I proclaim that we shall be free.”

    
He was now looking exactly like the prince of gods in his red cloak, golden armor, and leather battle skirt and leather sandals. His long hairs were tied back and his beard was giving him glory. This was the beginning of the peaceful era of Thraenus.

   
After the coronation ended, Buntius lined up the warriors, including the Poppins brothers, the Elf brothers, Azar and Neiham. Lamfari blessed them all with oil and then departed them. Everyone sat on their horses except Leosher, he went to Meagon to say good bye. He kissed her and afterwards he went to his mother and said goodbye. After he was done, he sat on his black horse and rode away with the rest of the warriors. They rode out of the outskirts and followed the stream that flowed all the way to the icy mountains and continued towards the southern shore of the kingdom….

    
After a day’s journey, they reached the top of the icy mountains. There they stopped and set up a fire. It was cold and there was not one living or dead creature except for the brave warriors but Azar had his staff and was on guard, for he felt the presence of something. Same was the case with Usere, he was on guard and alert, but the others sat around the fire and roasted the deer they had killed at the foot of the mountain, to eat.

    
“So, Leosher,” said Urey “How does it feel to be a god?”

    
“It feels good, knowing that you have power and you are one of the gods, but I do not feel any different than before.”

    
Just as he was talking, they heard a thrashing sound. These were the ice giants. These were magical creatures that lived on the mountain and blocked the path of travelers and only let the soldiers pass through. These were one of the first lines of defense Geluna had. These giants blocked the path of anyone, trying to reach the green castle of Geluna. The giants were as big as a noble fir. There were three of them in number but they were big enough to wipe out entire towns. Usere and Azar quickly got up and began fighting, to buy the others some time. Leosher grabbed his spears and joined the fight as well and Urey followed him by shooting arrows at the giants.

    
It was worthless for Urey to fight them, because his arrows were being absorbed by the giants. Virgil even tried cutting their heads off but it was hopeless. They just simply picked up more ice from the ground and placed it on their necks.

    
Everything seemed pointless until Neiham brought forth a fire basilisk from her cards. She had a set of magical cards with magical creatures trapped within them. They were old cards that Azar had given her. The cards were green and brown in color and were in a ragged condition. She used these cards in fights and was effective in many battles. All she had to do was hold the card and call forth the beast with her mind and she did so, right now.

    
A basilisk made of fire rose up into the sky and came down upon the giants like the suns. Everything lit up in the night sky, for the light from the basilisk was so bright. It was like a thrid sun in the sky which came out at night. The giants instantly melted and stopped. Everything calmed down instantly and everyone took a deep breath. Their cold was now gone, for the fire from the basilisk had set the trees around them on fire but soon, the giants started to come back to life for they were still in ice. But Azar quickly put his staff on the ground. Just as the tip hit the ground, a blinding flash of blue light came out of the head of the staff. This flash sent the giants flying off of the mountain and into the cavities. There was a moment of silence again, but then everything ended.

    
Azar looked around to make sure they all were save and then put his pipe back in his mouth and sat on a rock “We have to be more careful from now on. We almost got seriously hurt. Everyone has to be attentive at all times or the risk of losing lives is imminent.”

    
Leosher smiled “We are the best. Who can mess with us?”

   
“Beware Leosher” warned Usere in his heavy voice “Do not let your cockiness take over your reasoning, for it will be your downfall.”

    
“I think we all should go to sleep now” Urey smiled and cheered up the atmosphere “We have a long journey to look forward to tomorrow, and pretty she-elves are waiting for me in my dreams. I do not wish to keep them waiting any longer. ”

    
Everyone laughed at his joke and went to sleep on the ground.

    
Soon, the fire died down and everything on the mountain slept. The stars shone bright and the moon smiled upon then.

    
It was snowing and the warriors were lying on the soft cushion of snow, sleeping but then there was a shrieking sound. Everyone was too tired so they did not wake up from their slumber but Leosher did. He got up and paid attention to the grunting. He found out that it was his horse, half eaten, dying in pain and in vain. Leosher immediately knew that it was trouble so he went to put on his armor but he did not have the time to. Just as he was walking to the camp, he saw a giant beast, in the woods, staring at him. He quickly grabbed one of his spears and chased the beast in the woods, barefooted and half naked, for the only thing he had on, in this cold and snow was his battle skirt. He chased the beast for some time and slowly they began reaching a hill which was glazed with ice and was highly slippery.

    
The woods were clearing up now and Leosher could see the back of the beast. It was covered with white fur and it was a little taller than a bear. It walked upright as well.

    
Both ran and didn’t pay attention, and accidentally began sliding down the hill while dodging trees. The beast used his long and sharp claws for traction and Leosher leaned back, on the ground and used his fingers and spear for traction. Leonidas jumped over cliffs, trying to get close to the beast and fortunately, he could now because soon, the slope ended transformed into a frozen lake and brought the beast and Leosher face to face. He couldn’t see his face properly because it was dark and it was a blizzard but the beast was taller than Leosher. Its teeth were bigger than those of a sabre tooth tiger and its claws were longer than those of a bear. Its fur was blue and white and its face was like a gorilla and a ferocious wolf. Its eyes were fiery red and its roar was long, loud and intimidating.