GODS OF ASEROTH: The Prodigal Son: A monster is born (11 page)

    
“Leosher, you are brave and courageous. It takes courage to go against the Leviathan but your arrogance made you face the Leviathan. I do not wish to help you but I cannot stay without helping either. Just remember, this is the last time I will help you, for you have disappointed me with your evil desires and your hunger for power. If you desire more help from the gods, change your ways and only then, you shall receive the things you want.”

    
Leosher quickly opened his eyes and saw that his brother had jumped into the water to pull him out. He grabbed Leosher’s hand and swam up to the ship where they all regrouped again, with the original warriors, Usere, Urey, Neiham and Azar.

    
“This is hard and beyond our power” said Urey “We cannot defeat it. We have not even seen it; all we have been doing is battle its tentacles.”

    
“Trust me,” said Leosher “We can defeat it, for you all have me on your side and nothing can defeat a god that was created to be stronger than all.”

     J
ust as he said that, a huge wave rose up and knocked all of them off of the ship and then the beast rose out of the waters.

    
It was gigantic, bigger than the entire village that Leosher was from. Its scales were shut tight, and did not let any air or metal pass through. His eyes were numerous, like those of a spider. His face was like a turtle, long and sharp. His tentacles were like those of an octopus’s, big and thick. Its arms were long and strong like a bear’s. Its claws were like a lions, long and strong and his legs were scaly and short but he was big enough to stand in the deep sea without having to float. His stomach was not pierceable and it was buried under a thick layer of rock like scales. Its teeth were sharp and countless. If one broke, another grew in its place; its mouth was a void, whatever went inside, never came out; its tail was like long trees, tied together. It swept oceans clean of its creature. Its roar was jaw dropping and heart stopping; even the mightiest ran from its roar. It was black in color and its numerous eyes were yellow with red pupils. Its teeth were yellow and its claws were yellow as well. Its tail had a claw-like end to it, which was capable enough to sweep the entire Empirion army out of the sea without any effort.

    
Even Leosher was intimidated by the size of this creature but then he calmed his nerves. He got back on the debris of the broken ships and gained his balance but the Leviathan grabbed him with one of its tentacles. Each of the tentacles had millions of sharp, small claws at the end which made them even more deadly. The tentacles were attached to the ribcage of the beast and some of them also hung down from the beast’s chin.

    
Leosher went unconscious again but this time in the grasp of the Leviathan, and again, it was Asurot, talking to him.

    
“Son, do not be intimidated by the beast, for help is on the way. Just remember, this is the last time you will receive help.”

    
Leosher finally responded “Mother, neither did I ask for your help, nor do I need your help. I will conquer this beast with my own might and I do not care what the gods think. I will take over Thraenus and soon, Aseroth, the heavens and even the underworld will be mine.”

    
Asurot, who was worried about her child, replied “My son, you are dear to my heart and you do not know what you say. You still have time, walk away from your evil desires, for if you do not stop, the guardians will find you and they will imprison you. Do not wage war on Aseroth, the heavens and the underworld, for you will turn the gods against you. Aseroth is yours to rule, for you are the prince of the gods but you have to be pure at heart and if you are not, I am afraid we will have to find someone who is worthy enough to rule but for now, concentrate on the beast.”

    
Just as the conversation between the prince and the queen ended, Leosher got back to his senses and became conscious again. He opened his eyes and found himself high up in the air, because the beast, the Leviathan, had thrown him up and was now standing with its pit-like mouth open, ready to engulf him. Just as Leosher reached the tip of the mouth of the beast, the beast was thrown out of balance with a strong blow and Leosher, instead of falling into the mouth of the Leviathan, crashed on the side, face first, and then in the waters. When he looked up and cleaned his bloody face to see, it was an earth giant, sent by Asurot to help defeat the Leviathan. This was the help Asurot had been talking about. It was a mountain given life, arms, legs and a body. It was covered in trees and was made of soil, dirt, sand, rocks and clay. It was almost as tall as the Leviathan, and a great fight broke out. Both creatures fought with great strength.

    
The punches were so intense that they created shockwaves which made strong waves in the waters and nearly drowned the swimmers. The battle was magnificent. Both giants fought in the rain and the thunder and lightning made it even more dramatic.

    
Leosher swam to his brother and asked him in a shock “Did you do this? Did you bring forth the giant?”

    
“No,” said he “I am not a great wizard. I cannot possibly bring forth this beast. I am just as shocked as the rest of you are. I have no idea where this beast came from, all I know is that he is helping us.”

    
Then Leosher walked to Azar “Did you do this?”

    
“No,” said he “No my lord, I did not do it, for it is far beyond a wizard’s power to create a beast of that magnitude. Only a god possesses the power to perform a feat like this.”

     When Leosher heard that, it
struck him. It was his mother that had done it and as the thoughts came into his mind, a burst of arrogance and anger came too for he did not want his mother to help him but she was. Angry, he ripped out the longest rope he could find out of the ships and said to his friends “I might not return.”

    
Neiham moved forward and increased her king’s morale “My lord, you shall return, you shall triumph over this beast for you are the king of The Empire, the rightful heir of Aseroth and the prince of all gods.”

    
Then Virgil came to his brother and said to him the poem:

“We are not ordinary,

for we battle with destiny.

We have great power,

the power to write our own fate.

There is a beast rising within us,

and our revolt is weakening.

The beast is at the edge of our souls,

and its might is strengthening.

The beast is raw and pure,

its power is like lightning.

We cannot begin to describe,

the storm that is inside.

But the beast will rise again,

to bring forth the eternal pain.

The sun of hope has risen,

and the battle has begun.

But we remember one thing,

we will always be one.

We let the beast within us, rise,

to bring forth our enemy’s demise.

We move forward with one creed,

for it is our need,

Clearly, we are not ordinary,

                                                               for we battle with destiny.”

    
Leosher was rejuvenated with hope and faith in himself. He swung the rope in his hands and wrapped it around the earth giant’s ear. He swung hard and jumped far, far up in the air and over the storm. He almost reached the top of the world and then he came down like a meteor, engulfed in fire. He took out his scythe out on the way down and got ready to battle but the Leviathan saw that Leosher was coming down for it. It closed its mouth shut, for it knew if Leosher attacked it at this pace, it would surely die. It shut its mouth and its teeth became sealed gates. Not even air could pass through them. It was the only thing the Leviathan could do because it was too big to get out of his way. Though he had created a barrier against Leosher, it did not stop him.

   
He crashed through the barrier with a blast and broke its jaws and the Leviathan screamed in agony. The giant helped Leosher by shutting the mouth of the Leviathan, close, and holding it in a tight grip and keeping the beast from moving and creating a steady platform for Leosher to fight on.

    
Leosher was now in the chest of the Leviathan. It was like a castle, only made with meat, flesh, bones and blood. Leosher swung his scythe and started to cut the internal organs of the Leviathan. First he destroyed its lungs by cleaving them down the middle and then he broke the rib cage. It was huge, it was like columns but Leosher was a god, he kicked and punched and finally, they broke because they were not strong enough to hold on against Leosher’s anger. Afterwards, Leosher saw that the heart of the beast was there within sight too. He approached the heart but the beating was you intense, that it made Leosher’s ears bleed. The heart was bigger than the the Galleon Leosher had been traveling on. It took him some time to finally make his way towards the heart, for it beated to hard.

     He
grabbed the heart and ripped it out of its place. Blood squirted everywhere and Leosher could hear the Leviathan scream in pain and agony, even when he was inside its bosom. Now, there was a flood and Leosher had to get out of the body, for if he did not, he would drown.

    
He jumped with all the power he had left in his body in a desperate attempt to escape the body of the Leviathan. The bruised and battered warrior jumped high and ripped out through the head of the Leviathan. He came out of the top, piercing through its skull and brain. When he came out, it was like a volcano that had just erupted. Blood spurt out of its head with such a pressure. The giant quickly backed up and Leosher shot up in the air. All the warriors rejoiced because their nightmare was over, the Leviathan’s terror was over. He was dead and their king had killed it. Now they had faith in Leosher, for before, they thought he could not possibly defeat the unbeatable.

    
When Asurot saw that her son had succeeded, she ordered the Giant to retrieve. The giant smiled at Leosher who had fallen back into the water and slowly melted and soon, it vanished in the waters, and left no trace behind, it was as if it was never there.

    
Leosher was now unconscious, for he was dried out of his energy and the injuries were prominent. He had been battered the most but luckily he was still alive. The battle was over now. The Leviathan fell in the water too but the only difference between Leosher and the Leviathan was that Leosher was alive. Both were equally injured but the difference was Leosher was made stronger after every injury he survived. That was the way he was created, a warrior god. After every battle, he became stronger and stronger.

     
Virgil saw and he fished his brother out of the water using magic and brought him back to one of the few ships the had left. All were in very shabby conditions. Some’s sails were ripped and some’s paddles were incapacitated.

    
It was not long before Lampus returned with his mermen and mermaids too. They were happy that the beast that had been troubling their kind for centuries was now defeated but the grief of losing his throne was prominent on Lampus’s face. It was as if he had not been expecting Leosher to be able to defeat the Leviathan but instead, Leosher had ripped its heart out.

    
He went and saw that Leosher was unconscious and covered in his own and the Leviathan’s blood. His ears, eyes and nose were bleeding because the tentacles had damaged him internally but the blood came out when the vibrations and shockwaves from the heart widened the wounds.

    
“Bring him and the rest to the castle,” said Lampus “For they need to rest and recover from injuries.”

    
They all jumped in the water and ate the red flowers and all the men were able to breath underwater. They all swam in the castle, where they were looked after by the beautiful, glorious mermaids and only in a matter of hours, all had recovered except Leosher.

    
His injuries were far beyond repair and even the lava flower elixir was not working. They all worked a bit but there were some wounds such as the rips in his heart, which were beyond repair and just needed time to heal. Virgil was devastated that his brother was injured and there was nothing he could do to help him, therefore he prayed to Asurot and asked her to help them. Asurot being a listening god answered the prayer and came in Leosher’s dream. They both stood in a blank, white void, Leosher covered in blood, and Asurot, clean and fresh.

    
“Son, you have made me proud by slaying the Leviathan but that does not change the fact that you have changed. You are strong but you are not invincible, therefore you need my help.”

    
“No, mother, do not help me. Am I a helpless child that you need to help me everytime something happens?” said Leosher angrily “I do not need your help. I defeated the Leviathan without your help and I am going to get better without your help. You can leave me alone now, please, for I do not wish to disrespect you more.”

    
His mother left his dream disappointed, but on the way out, she increased the speed of the healing, permanently. Now, if he was to get injured this badly, he would live and not die. Leosher did not know that she had done so but he woke up in a little over five hours, fully rested and rejuvenated.