The Pentagram Child(5)

Tortured souls never lasted long with their skin attached. It was always the first thing to go. Lips and noses would rot away and depending on how long your sentence was, extra demonic senses would form. From the looks of the general in front of me now, he had been here for quite a while, having too many extra teeth to count, no eyelids to speak of and more cracked bone than smooth. Most of which had been crudely stapled back together with claws of some long gone beast, whose decayed corpse no doubt now rested within the sands of souls.

“I ALAL!” He thundered in response and my smile was the last sight he saw before my warning rang true.

“Not anymore!” I said and swung up my sword quicker than any demon could boast. I watched with sickening satisfaction as only the tip of my blade now rested on top of his head, after being speared up through his neck. I watched the crimson spark in his eyes die before dislodging my blade with a slicing motion, causing what remained of his face to fall to the ground with a thud.

All at once the soldiers took a step back.

“Now come on, don’t be like that.” I said before pushing on my swords so that they formed a different shape. The grips folded inwards fitting my fists like liquid steel and the blades readjusted themselves so that they no longer pointed to the ground. Now they both curved up against the length of my arms, so that when they charged at me, the close proximity wouldn’t hinder the fight.

I extended my arms and spun on one foot taking down the ones in closer range to then flick out the swords once more, taking down another line at the back. I was granted a moment to take in the carnage caused with the bodies lay lifelessly at my feet but considering my mood, it wasn’t nearly enough. This wasn’t a fight, it was a slaughter and now where was the fun in that.

“ALKA INA!” ( ‘Come on!’) I roared at the ones left that were no longer so brave and had started the retreat after witnessing so many fallen in just two moves with my blade.

“FINE! I will just have to bring the fight to you then!” I could no longer hear my other self reasoning with my inner battle. All that was left was a rage that had been burning into me ever since I heard the Oracle speak those haunting words of death so long ago. I wanted to kill. I wanted to punish. And I wanted someone to blame. So when I lifted up my swords to strike I wasn’t surprised that a red river of death flowed steadily through my veins, with no heavenly essence in sight.

I ran at the unprovoked beings that I centred this all on and propelled my body from the back of a slumped demon. I landed with my blades held with the sole purpose to maim, to detach limbs from torsos and heads from necks. I sliced my way through the crowd, kicking the ones near the edge from the battlements and taking in their descending cries until they were too far to be heard.

“Enki, batiltu…Kataru…Kataru!” (‘Lord of Earth, stop…Alliance!... Alliance!’) I heard the voice break through the massacre and finally dragged enough air into my lungs to get my rage under control. At the sound of the title my father’s people had named me, what was left of the sentinels guarding this tower fell to their knees. Wrath or not, they knew their place.

“Kataru.” The newcomer said sidestepping amongst those still breathing and those who weren’t. I took in the smaller demon and knew from his plain attire that he was a low ranking servant. Something they call a ‘Rakbu’ which means messenger in this ancient language.

“Yes, yes, Nahu.” I told him to calm down in the only tongue that would be understood by his kind thanks to it being over 5000 years old. They usually stuck to old ways of a long since dead world they no longer knew anything about.

I let my blades retract into my body and calmed my blood, letting my demon side know it had enjoyed enough fun for today.

“Ammeni Enki, alka anna annu asru?” ( ‘Why Lord of Earth, come unto this place?’)

“Sar Sha Hatti.” ( ‘The King of Sin’) He lowered his head in respect and held out an arm for me to precede him through the open doorway. I walked through the stone arch and came to an abrupt stop at the edge of a spiral staircase. It tunnelled so deep it became the epitome of the term ‘bottomless pits in Hell’ and I had neither the time, nor the inclination to descend its many steps. If anything I had just come to the realisation that my actions just now had more likely put those guards out of their misery, if this was what faced them in getting to their post every day.

What was I thinking? I knew my father never wasted a good soul and those guards were like no other, even if now their bodies were rendered useless. There was always an endless supply ready to take possession of a strong soul needing a purpose and in my father’s kingdom there were always those ready to reward such services. It was the Kingdom of Lust after all.