Umbramatic
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Oh god this was also written in 2009. Have another original fiction oneshot from my seventeen-year-old self. It, remarkably, has no ties to any of my current projects, but I'm thinking of making it a kind of backstory to a super special secret upcoming one. It is also instrumental to my love of "what if god-killing is a bad thing. What if it has consequences."
But brace yourselves for a:
Godfall
The sword cut a wide arc though the air as it hurled toward the enemy, barely missing a critical blow as the foe dodged. Argeth cursed, and then let loose another slice at the behemoth before him.
All around were Argeth’s companions; an elemental sorcerer, shooting bolts of energy into the monster’s face (if what it had could be called a face); an archer, shooting arrows into the beast’s hide; a berserker, dealing savage blows to every part of the body; and finally, a white- magic specialist, sending out pulses of healing energy to all her allies.
And then there was the beast itself- a hulking monstrosity, a dark god summoned to defeat any hero that stood in its way. Its wedgelike, alien head leered down at them, while its fists, like hammers, slammed into the ground, sending tremors and chunks of earth at the heroic party. The mountainside upon which the battle was taking place had been reduced to boulders and rubble.
So exhausted… Argeth thought. His muscles ached, his armor rubbed painfully against him, and his face was coated in sweat. Looking around, he saw his friends were in a similar condition. “Are you all having any luck getting a scratch on it?”
“No!” the wizard, Verd, said back. “Nothing’s working at all!”
I can’t let my friends down, Argeth thought. But I can’t figure out how in the world to kill this monster…
Then, he saw an opening, a throbbing area, right where the heart would be on any normal creature. Immediately, he ran up to the being, dodging swipes from its great hands. With every bit of his remaining energy, he stabbed his sword into the monster’s chest.
The sword hit, plunging through the deity’s essence. The creature screeched like a thousand eagles, then stepped back, staggering.
Argeth smiled. “W-we did it. It’s over. We finally killed the thing. ”
But he immediately regretted those words as the being’s rocklike skin began to shudder. Suddenly, millions of black particles burst forth from every part of the god’s body, streaking upwards into the sky like a horde of black birds.
The heroes could swear they heard laughing as it went.
The warrior saw the beast’s eyes and realized they were no longer filled with malevolence. Now they only showed confusion and fear. Cracks began to appear on its skin, slowly spreading across the being’s weakening body.
“No…” said Argeth. He stood there, limp, helpless to stop whatever horrible thing would happen next.
Then the god exploded, spewing golden shards of itself in its final glory, shards that rocketed into the sky and flew above the heroes’ heads in a gorgeous and terrible fountain of light. The resulting sonic shockwave almost destroyed the ears of the band of five. Down at the bottom of the mountainside, villages were being overwhelmed by earthquakes and floods. In the distance, Krakatoa-esqe volcanoes erupted where they never were before.
And as for the god, there was only a tiny, prone body, lying in the middle of a charred landscape.
Verd was first to approach. Holding his nose against the rancid stench of sulfur, he walked towards the body, gravel crunching under his rapidly moving feet. As he got closer, he could see what this new form looked like: a human male, with blonde hair and pale golden skin. His body was twisted into a contorted position, his legs splayed out like he had broken one.
Verd touched him, and then pressed his ear to the being’s chest. An ominous silence followed.
Verd’s eyes suddenly widened. “I think we have a heartbea-“
The god-being then jolted awake, slapping the wizard in the face. He began to crawl backwards across the rough ground, fearfully babbling in some arcane language.
Argeth ran over,. “Listen!” he said. “I know why you’re so upset. We hurt you, and you have every right to be afraid of us. “
Hearing the sincerity in his voice, the being stopped, and he looked at Argeth expectantly.
“We made a mistake. We thought we thought you were the villain here. But we were wrong, and we want to help you figure out who’s really responsible for both our plights.”
The chill wind rustled their hair as they both faced each other silently.
Then the being nodded.
“Alright,” Argeth said, “We’ll help each other out…”
He turned solemnly to the landscape of chaos below. “… If the universe doesn’t collapse on us first.”
+++
(Not to be confused for the video game of the same name WHICH THIS PREDATES DAMN IT)
But brace yourselves for a:
Godfall
The sword cut a wide arc though the air as it hurled toward the enemy, barely missing a critical blow as the foe dodged. Argeth cursed, and then let loose another slice at the behemoth before him.
All around were Argeth’s companions; an elemental sorcerer, shooting bolts of energy into the monster’s face (if what it had could be called a face); an archer, shooting arrows into the beast’s hide; a berserker, dealing savage blows to every part of the body; and finally, a white- magic specialist, sending out pulses of healing energy to all her allies.
And then there was the beast itself- a hulking monstrosity, a dark god summoned to defeat any hero that stood in its way. Its wedgelike, alien head leered down at them, while its fists, like hammers, slammed into the ground, sending tremors and chunks of earth at the heroic party. The mountainside upon which the battle was taking place had been reduced to boulders and rubble.
So exhausted… Argeth thought. His muscles ached, his armor rubbed painfully against him, and his face was coated in sweat. Looking around, he saw his friends were in a similar condition. “Are you all having any luck getting a scratch on it?”
“No!” the wizard, Verd, said back. “Nothing’s working at all!”
I can’t let my friends down, Argeth thought. But I can’t figure out how in the world to kill this monster…
Then, he saw an opening, a throbbing area, right where the heart would be on any normal creature. Immediately, he ran up to the being, dodging swipes from its great hands. With every bit of his remaining energy, he stabbed his sword into the monster’s chest.
The sword hit, plunging through the deity’s essence. The creature screeched like a thousand eagles, then stepped back, staggering.
Argeth smiled. “W-we did it. It’s over. We finally killed the thing. ”
But he immediately regretted those words as the being’s rocklike skin began to shudder. Suddenly, millions of black particles burst forth from every part of the god’s body, streaking upwards into the sky like a horde of black birds.
The heroes could swear they heard laughing as it went.
The warrior saw the beast’s eyes and realized they were no longer filled with malevolence. Now they only showed confusion and fear. Cracks began to appear on its skin, slowly spreading across the being’s weakening body.
“No…” said Argeth. He stood there, limp, helpless to stop whatever horrible thing would happen next.
Then the god exploded, spewing golden shards of itself in its final glory, shards that rocketed into the sky and flew above the heroes’ heads in a gorgeous and terrible fountain of light. The resulting sonic shockwave almost destroyed the ears of the band of five. Down at the bottom of the mountainside, villages were being overwhelmed by earthquakes and floods. In the distance, Krakatoa-esqe volcanoes erupted where they never were before.
And as for the god, there was only a tiny, prone body, lying in the middle of a charred landscape.
Verd was first to approach. Holding his nose against the rancid stench of sulfur, he walked towards the body, gravel crunching under his rapidly moving feet. As he got closer, he could see what this new form looked like: a human male, with blonde hair and pale golden skin. His body was twisted into a contorted position, his legs splayed out like he had broken one.
Verd touched him, and then pressed his ear to the being’s chest. An ominous silence followed.
Verd’s eyes suddenly widened. “I think we have a heartbea-“
The god-being then jolted awake, slapping the wizard in the face. He began to crawl backwards across the rough ground, fearfully babbling in some arcane language.
Argeth ran over,. “Listen!” he said. “I know why you’re so upset. We hurt you, and you have every right to be afraid of us. “
Hearing the sincerity in his voice, the being stopped, and he looked at Argeth expectantly.
“We made a mistake. We thought we thought you were the villain here. But we were wrong, and we want to help you figure out who’s really responsible for both our plights.”
The chill wind rustled their hair as they both faced each other silently.
Then the being nodded.
“Alright,” Argeth said, “We’ll help each other out…”
He turned solemnly to the landscape of chaos below. “… If the universe doesn’t collapse on us first.”
+++
(Not to be confused for the video game of the same name WHICH THIS PREDATES DAMN IT)