The Forgotten God

Chapter Thirty

Babi gave a wide grin as he dodged the mingling embers and ice, twirling amongst them almost gracefully, a rare feat for such a cumbersome creature.

"I sense human misery!" He crowed, clapping his hands to catch and crush the embers "oh, such joy to sense that again! I remember the fear and woe of those damned souls, how they wept and pleaded! The trembling of the slaves was almost as blissful as they cowered in my shadow!"

"Yeah, but what's the plan?" Kyle interjected, the sight making him feel sick "I mean, I can smell those things, even with all this and I still can't understand why we're heading to them. From all the movies I've seen, zombies aren't very useful unless you want to get your innards ripped out."

"Quite so," Babi replied "but they would not dare touch me! You they might be interested in but you'll be safe enough if you don't stray. And they are of no interest, the humans they have been sent to seek out are what interests me."

Kyle looked at him imploringly. Desperate for any elaboration, an expression that amused the baboon even more as his steps turned wilder and ungainly in the shower, savouring the smell of the burning rubbish that had been dry enough to be ignited. With the ice, there was sadly no chance of a towering inferno which would add the delicious smell of burning flesh.

"You see," Babi continued, grabbing hold of Kyle's arm to guide him from the falling flames that were beginning to grow larger, puddles forming as they melted the ice, currently the size of golf balls, falling hard. "If I can offer my aid to them, destroy a few of these walking wretches, then trust comes and I can heighten their hate of Am-Heh." He pulled Kyle to gaze into his eyes, his own burning with angry desperation. "I crave flesh. I crave the pure. Your w***e released me but I need more."

"More..."

"Gods and man are sometimes similar. All of want more, want what we have not got even if we know that when we have it, we will not want it. The latter applies more to you, most Gods want what they haven't simply because it is f*******n to them."

Kyle snorted, bolstering himself. "Yeah, well, you'll get it. I can put on the charm when I need to. I didn't have to with that bint, she was easy pickings. Not to mention the only one about. But," he met Babi's eyes daringly, the fires in the air seeming to light one within him. "I don't just want more. I want everything I can damn well get for this!"

Babi's hand shot up, grabbing Kyle's arm hard enough to almost dislocate the joint, his eyes aflame and lips peeled back to expose the yellowed fangs.

"Don't you dare speak to me in such a manner or I will rip your throat out!" He leaned close, rancid breath making Kyle's eyes water. "You will be rewarded in due course, but only when I deem fit." He paused, looking thoughtful. "I can perhaps give you something on account, as you humans say,"

He reached into Kyle's pocket, and Kyle felt a strange tingle in his thigh before the hand withdrew, opening to reveal three rolled cigarettes, coated in precious metals. He blinked in wonderment, not even feeling when an ember settled and burned through the sleeve of his shirt.

"Pick your poison." Babi cooed, smiling widely at the awe. "You will not have to put up with the excrement mixed concoctions from the backstreets anymore. These give such pleasures and would rival and surpass the opium of the east. They never run dry."

"Which-which is the best?" Kyle asked, his hand hovering over the three pieces, his eyes drawn instinctively to the gold.

"Pick your poison." Babi repeated flatly, not giving any sign of answering.

Kyle knew enough old stories to know the consequences of seeming greedy and taking the finest. The shimmering gold, dusted with a crisp surface of what seemed to be crushed jewels, tempted him greatly but instead he took up the silver, admiring the valuable jacket and inhaling the musky scent it exuded.

"Good choice," Babi snapped his hand shut, his eyes narrowing to sharp slits. "But save it for later. We have business to attend to. Just know there will be more and greater reward, the more you please me, the more loyal you are, the richer the boons."

---

The door in the museum had begun to c***k, and rotten fingers clawed through the gashes they had made, not flinching if their nails or flesh tore on the splinters.

They felt the power of the artefacts radiating and pulsating, smelt the scent of warm blood that made their mouths salivate. If they could feel pain, it wasn't any concern, desperation to feed and obey driving them.

Ash brought down the butt of the fire extinguisher on a random arm that reached through, the bones cracked like kindling and the joint snapped, hanging on by a thin strip of decayed muscle. Still the creature continued, the still attached upper part forcing forward.

"They're going to get in," Ash called, panic edging his voice "we could try getting out the window but it'll be a challenge."

Marie moved across and looked out. A handful of human shells stumbled below, given different orders from their divine commander and were waiting for any attempt at escape. Even had it been clear, Mr Montford was declining, the fatigue heavy on him, and getting out with him in any way would be a trial.

"They're out there as well," she said flatly "not many, five that I can see, but they're right under. Unless you're a long jump champ we've not much chance. The only thing I could think of is distracting them somehow but I'm not sure what would work."

Mr Montford looked to the floor. "You go." He gestured towards the relics which seemed to be glowing when the light faded. "Take them and run, I'm only holding you back."

Marie scowled. Striding over she dropped to her knees, gripping his lined hands warmly in her own. Her dark eyes were wide and serious as she gazed at him.

"I'll not hear any talk like that. None of us got anywhere by giving up. You are born fighting at birth, taking that first breath and every second after, we can't rely on others to tend to everything. We are born weeping because we know the battle before us, but it calms because we know the worth it has. Never forget that, Whatever age you are, you have a future and you matter to people."

Tears sprang to the older man's eyes and he looked away hurriedly to blink them back.

"Mr..."

Marie's soft words were drowned out by a crash outside, the door caving in a splintered arch as a body was slammed into it with great force.

Ash yelled, jumping out of the way as the corpse shattered through, limbs falling akimbo and twisting into inhuman positions as it landed.

What once had been a man groaned, his spine wrenched around to face the front, rendering him unable to move. In life he would have been used to that, crippled as an adolescent, but now his body moved instinctively, forcing wasted legs to walk, no pain preventing them. And still he tried to move, bones beginning to protrude through thin skin with his efforts.

"Christ!"

"No, Christ hasn't returned just yet," a voice from beyond the ruined door answered "I have my doubts whether he will. You people would just crucify him once again rather than listen to reason."

The three froze and Marie almost wretched at the sound of flesh being torn from just beyond their sight and her tension increased as the strange being loped into the doorway. It was like something from a horrific fairy tale, a man-animal, gore coating his paws and the thin strip of rag concealing his modesty.

"My word..." Mr Montford gaped, vaguely recognising the figure from the books he had read. His recollections were blurred though, the images of various beings muddled together.

"The word is the word and what a wonderful word it was," Babi mocked, hurling the limp and contorted body from the room. It collided with two of the others who approached, knocking them back and crippling their legs. "But enough idle chatter, you haven't really the benefit of time or peace to do that."

Marie rested a hand on Mr Montford's shoulder, pulling Ash back protectively also.

"That's true, but how do we know that you're any better than the things you've just decapitated, useful as that was," she said with frost in her voice. "You look like something out of a bad dream, one of those devils that the voodoo masters conquered for mischief and mayhem."

"Oh, I'm made for both of those, fair one," Babi grinned lasciviously "In many, many ways." He reached out a blooded hand, grinning widely as Marie recoiled from it before shaking his head, dismissing the disgust like one would a fly. "Worry not, you are not the type of female my eyes seek, I don't favour women who think too much, they know too much and act far too rashly. One reason I did not get along with others of my ilk."

Marie was too stunned to be offended. Watching instead the lingering corpses who were hesitant to approach, milling around the still twitching bodies of their comrades.

"They want to artefacts," Babi said, pointing to the objects "give them those and I can instruct them to leave. My power did not summon them but they have seen the force I have and, unless they are foolish, they will obey to save their rotten insides." He smiled, trying to look coy, holding his arms out. "You may doubt me, but truly, I am here to help you! For a small fee of course."

"But-but these could..." Mr Montford started to stutter, looking at the fragile relics. "They could..."

"They could save your worthless hides," Babi snapped, hoisting Kyle forward "any detrimental fallout can be sorted out later, correct?"

Kyle rolled his eyes. A move that did not go unnoticed.

"What fee?" Ash asked, narrowing his eyes, Marie's presence emboldening him. "And what fallout? We're not agreeing to anything unless you give some clues. Bad business practice."

"Nothing horrendous," Babi winked "my fee, my fee, what will it be? Something from you, to give to me. Perhaps," he ambled forward. "A relic that I seek also? Something that will aid me in sending back all this chaos."

The sincerity in his voice was beyond doubt. It was not a complete falsehood after all, except that the ending of Am-Heh's chaos would bring a worse one of his own.

Ash exchanged a look with Marie. She shrugged and leaned to whisper to Mr Montford who was still trying to place where he had seen this being depicted before.

"What do you think? He certainly stopped those things."

"I was hoping we would have heard from Shu; I trust that one," Mr Montford muttered wearily "this creature...I have grave doubts, but what option have we got?"

Babi laughed lowly and Kyle cringed, looking at them with a scowl. "Just do as he says, he knows what he's doing and you'll be wise to be on the right side, not the left." He chuckled lamely at the weak joke.

"Give me the amulet of the Shen," Babi demanded, the mirth evaporating as quickly as it had arrived. "That amulet will keep certain powers from the one who did this. Holding them from him will surely weaken his control, and offer you protections also."

The silence fell like a block of lead and the only sounds to be heard were the soft groans beyond the open door and the hammering of the ever-growing icy rain, smouldering with the embers.

"Give it to him," Mr Montford sighed, handing the intricate amulet to Marie. "I have no idea if it is the wisest of decisions but it seems risks are the only route right now."

Marie nodded but held onto the amulet, refusing to place it in the open hand. Babi's eyes narrowed dangerously into slits but she didn't waiver.

"I want a promise. And keep your hands in view so you don't cross your fingers," she stated calmly, looking to Kyle "and you too."

Babi tilted his head, unused to having demands aimed towards him, but slowly obeyed, curious.

"I want you to promise that this will give us protection, from Gods, monsters and whatever comes with them," she continued "I'm not handing anything over without assurance that we'll be safe."

'Gods, monsters and whatever comes with them.'

Babi smiled at the naïve and simple-minded words. It was a promise that seemed to have all they needed and yet lacked everything.

He nodded gallantly.

"I give my word; I swear in the name of the great creator and of the divine mother. You will be safe from Gods, monsters and everything they bring, although," he looked at the window, the c***k widening as the hail pounded it relentlessly. "Some caution must be upon you."

"Of course, I..."

The words remained unfinished as the paw snatched the amulet gleefully and a blinding light encompassed them all. When it cleared, and their eyes adjusted back from partial blindness, Babi and Kyle were gone. All that remained was gruesome pile of butchered bodies, their flesh torn and limbs ripped from them.

--

Meanwhile, across the city, Aiden had found his illicit watering hole.

Situated down the back alleyway and behind a pub of ill repute, the same ground floor apartment had once been rented out. That was before the new landlord allowed the pub to slip and become a haven for alcoholics, d**g deals and prostitutes.

It had become renowned for violence and unrest and it was widely known that one shouldn't walk that way after dark. Even the police ceased to patrol there after one too many had been injured. The arrests just weren't worth the risk.

The apartment had been pleasant at one time, but now the damp saturated the wall and mould grew over the peeling papers.

Carpets had been torn up to reveal stained boards and the pipes were rusted and exposed. The only original fittings were in the bathroom, and they less said the better about them.

The same theory could be applied to the occupant also.

Harrison Grant had been a regular of the area since its heyday, watching and participating in its decline with great relish, gleaning the profits that came from the downfall. With skill and the right words, he had bled the desperate and pushed them to spend more of harder substances and also, if they were a known character, on better protections. He was a hard campaigner not to legalise c******s, it would cut his clients and also take the heavy extra when he pushed them from the easy stuff and onto the darker and more addictive.

When the thugs came, he organised fights, human, dog or even cockerel. The latter were riskier and didn't have the appeal that humans did, but money was money.

He had taken the room early on, paying rent until the latest man took over. The place had gone to wrack and ruin and he had aimed a well-timed threat towards the lanky landlord.

"Think I'm paying hundreds to live in this pit? Screw you, man! If I've gotta live in squalor then I ain't paying. And," he had smiled nastily "I got a lot friends round here, mate. Friends you don't want to get on the wrong side of. So, you leave me be and I'll pay my way in kind. With me around you ain't going to get robbed or attacked, just be a good lad and turn a blind eye. You see kids around here? Ignore it. If you smell something nasty, you ignore it. If you do right by me then I might even throw you a few notes every now and then. Fair is fair."

Fair was fair. And Harrison was left alone. Thankfully, for all concerned, children were once in a blue moon. Bad smells of decay or drugs were all too common though.

Aiden had been a customer for a few years. Starting as an uncertain student, looking for a quick high with the remainder of his allowance. They were the cream of his clients, easy to manipulate and a guaranteed money machine in the long run. Aiden had not disappointed.

From w**d, to meth, to h****n. The list went on. How he was still alive was a wonder to Harrison but as long as he paid up he didn't care. Even if he had needed to enforce heavier measures to get payment once or twice.

It was a wonder he hadn't lost a limb sooner.

When Aiden knocked, he was sat in the dark, talking quietly with two heavy set males who had worked with him for years. The topic was more about what the future of his business held, rather than the oddities happening outside, even though that was the cause of the discussion.

The knock echoed through the mostly empty rooms and in his eardrums, the door enforced with metal to strengthen it against any threats.

"The hell do you want?" He snapped, recognising the familiar form immediately. "This better me important and..." He stared, first at the stick and then at the space where the leg should have been. "What the heck happened to your leg?" He waved the heavy away. "Let him in before he freezes or burns, could be an interesting story if nothing else."