Angelos Odyssey

6-1

-

Tavon

-

The area around us goes dark, it gets harder to breathe as the pressure picks up in the atmosphere, and my ears start to ring as a powerful gust of wind blasts into me. I watch as a lilac aura ripples through the air, becoming brighter and brighter until I come to realize that I’m standing on the balcony outside of a great temple.

Behind me, I see rows of fluted columns supporting a golden, triple-tiered roof that extends far across a plateau. This plateau marks the highest point among an ancient city of stone houses, small villas, columned manors, countryside chateaus, and paved streets arranged in a diamond-shaped grid around the tallest point, the central plateau housing the golden temple at my back. Across the balcony and beyond a stadium that’s north of a central mosaic plaza replete with vendors and citizens dressed in robes and tunics, I can see open plains of green farmland next to a river tinted gold from the light of the sun. Upon closer inspection, I notice that most of the people residing here all appear to be standing still, and all of them have their attention turned toward the main temple. Many of them kneel in prayer, and, as they do, they emit specks of light from their bodies that begin to fly toward the sky.

The balcony flooring is lined with asymmetrical stones and rimmed with a stone rail that sits below a light, and this light radiates outward from a bearded face with eyes that shine stark white. The two horns atop his head begin to sink inward until they become like two broad spikes that are set above the face of a weary old man. Like before, I don’t see any physical body; instead, Lord Jao manifests as a source of power that has enough influence to send jolts of adrenaline up my spine. The light above beams down on my head with a heat that’s dreadful. On the inside, all I feel is scorn, and all I sense is the feeling of having my mind picked apart by the hand of a god.

When Lord Jao opens his mouth to speak, it’s with a bellow that echoes out across the city below us:

“Welcome to Ocmah, the heaven I built for the human race. It is here where those who followed me in a past life can find their reward for a life of service in my name. When I appeared among you, I found everyone worthy of salvation. Why then, should the human who calls himself Tavon Meiziki resist? Why would you allow yourself to be shackled to sin forever? Know you not the wonders that I could show you?”

I’m new to communicating with gods, and I’m not sure how to respond right away. Instead of saying anything, I look to Amegdion, who nods his head and steps forward to speak in my place:

“Lord Jao,” he starts, “I am—”

“I KNOW who you are,” roars the god of Jaodanism. “The Lion of the Black Sun is not welcome here. If you, Tavon, serve Amegdion, then you serve a much lesser god.

“Amegdion, tell me why I shouldn’t have you destroyed right here for interfering with a conversion? What can you offer him that I cannot by showing him a lesser way?”

Amegdion sighs and appears to clench his jaw behind his mask before he responds with, “You’re right in that I don’t have as many followers as you. But, if you’ll allow me one question, then what follower among you can defeat Tavon in combat?” he asks while gesturing toward me with an open palm. “Send us your strongest fighter, and I’ll show you the value of my path.”

“Ha!” Jao bares a wide grin at us, “The Black Sun Gods were said to have been made extinct. For the only remaining heir to return and demand a fight with a higher power is laughable, but I’m intrigued…”

I see a streak of lightning above and then a flash of white light. I blink, and, for a moment, I see tall, black towers surrounding us and reaching up toward a cloudy, lavender midnight above; in front of me, I see a shadowy figure with a cape blowing at his back. I blink, the world around me flashes white, and then I open my eyes again to see the stone monuments and verdant hills of Ocmah. At the same time, energy pulsates in the air in front of me to cause a ripple which stretches the fabric of this world as a grey sphere of aura begins to emerge. From between the folds of one plane of reality and the next, Artemis Spilsbury descends to land on the ground below. Golden cracks begin to appear in the air around me, almost as though there are windows that lead into another world, and each one is ready to shatter.

“I’ve decided to summon my champion. There is another who is worthy, but the fallen Duke Spilsbury is sufficient. He is giving his all to win against the human who rejected my mark of favor. Along with Spilsbury,” Jao says, “I’m bringing forth the entire body of people who were spectating the fight aboard the zekomata. If Artemis wishes to show off the full extent of his potential, let him do so here.”

Golden blasts of aura radiate out of panes of glass that break across the plateau. With each break another person is funneled through into Jao’s domain, until both the balcony and the temple behind us are filled with onlookers who all gaze upon the face of the god who moved them between worlds. Petals of black, lilac, and gold rain down on the form of Artemis, whose body starts to change before us. The fingers on his hands fuse and elongate into bones that turn black and sharpen into ebony blades that run twice the length of his body. His head is reshaped into a thick, black helmet with two horns and a curved point that reaches down past his forehead and becomes what looks like a long beak. The rest of Artemis blackens as his tau expression changes from grey to dark purple and his flesh almost completely calcifies into pitch black bone.

“Look there, Artemis,”—Jao emits a flash of light that strikes the roof of the temple like an arrow and pierces the front of it with a crack which sends debris tumbling down below—“that was once my temple, my designated place of worship. It is here that centuries of sacrifices and prayers have been offered up in my name.”—as he speaks, the area around us flashes white to momentarily reveal the world of dark towers from before—“The Temple of Ocmah is the vestige of an old way. I wish to see it destroyed, for it is a relic that I’ve grown tired of looking at over the past decade. Artemis Spilsbury, exercise the power I grant you at your own discretion; if that power leads to the destruction of this temple, so be it.”

The image of the dark world fades again and leaves behind the golden realm before us. As one portion of Jao soars down into the body of Artemis, another soars up to dissipate into the bright golden sky above the temple. The rest of the crowd begins to take in their surroundings while expressing bewilderment at the sudden change in location. Sygdom has Maeja thugs armed with assault rifles gather around him in a circle, and Titus calmly assesses the situation while gesturing for everyone to quiet down before he speaks.

Artemis is already on the prowl and is walking my way with both swords at the ready. I feel the auras of Kagiso and Raiko immediately joined with two more sources of energy that I don’t recognize. As a result, my body swells with newfound power, and I find that I can breathe a whole lot easier. I loosen up by hopping a couple of times and then prepare myself to charge toward him.

“Hold on!” Titus shouts, “Hold on, now! It seems that the power bestowed upon Artemis Spilsbury has caused him to take us into a new domain, a new battlefield. If both contestants are ready—and they appear to be—then let’s keep going until there’s only one man left standing. We’ve already incurred enough casualties, and the bets have been climbing higher and higher, folks. Let’s go!”

I charge at Artemis; he swings. An arc of black tau emits from his sword and shoots out at my neck—

Right as I slide under his attack and continue forward and on into a series of consecutive swings that build up into a flurry of dark waves that fly at me from every angle.

I sprint to duck beneath one, jump over another, turn in the air to dodge yet another, land on both feet and strafe to the right to evade a fourth strike, and lunge forward and to the left to avoid a fifth. Five arcs of energy soar into the ivory white pillars at my back; when the first connects, it slices through stone, explodes midway, and pushes the column off its foundation with the pressure generated from its impact. The second passes by and cuts halfway through another supporting column; the third blasts open the next, and the fourth and fifth take out columns to my far right and left.

I charge with more speed than before, and, as Artemis comes into reach, I swing my fist at his head. His entire body shifts away from the attack as he swings almost simultaneously and faster than I can see. I lower my head in time to avoid having it shaved off, and, when I do, I feel scorching heat pass over me. Artemis swiftly draws the same blade back, then he thrusts at my face. As soon as I move my head in time to dodge him, he’s already preparing another thrust that flies at my face. I try to dodge, but his attack cuts across the side of my head as a burning black blade passes me by.

Artemis thrusts even faster, giving me little time to adapt as his movement speed increases more and more. He stabs at my face with three rapid strikes and slices through the side of my neck with his third thrust, then he lunges and thrusts with his other arm so hard that a burst of lilac tau shoots toward the temple and blasts into another column behind me. Recognizing that he’s missed his target again, Artemis draws back gracefully and swings out at my head; I duck, so he follows with a swing that runs diagonally along my body; I sidestep and turn away from the attack, and then he swings back in my direction, steps toward me as I duck, and calmly thrusts just as I’m backing away. He swings with both swords, horizontal with the first and vertical with the second, emitting black waves as he does so that I’m forced to jump and twirl between the two of them in order to avoid being cut in half. Both swings produce black arcs that sink into the structure of the great temple. Just as Artemis changes his stance, one side favoring me as he moves my way, I hear the ancient building begin to collapse in on itself and a large section of the crowd screaming as they struggle to move onto the elevated platform where the main fight is taking place.

I hear the sound of giant stones being smashed as the ground shakes in response to the collapse of Ocmah Temple. As the screaming gets worse, Artemis flies toward me with a rapid thrust. I back away in time, but he recovers and shifts forward with another strike that moves faster than I have time to react: he impales me through the side of my abdomen, and I feel burning heat seep through my skin as my blood spurts out from the wound.