Impure: Godslayers
Chapter 22: The Night-stalker in the North

Lee woke up to the sound of screams and splashing water. He was still groggy from the drug; nevertheless he could recognise George’s voice.

“Wake up!”

Still lethargic, Lee looked around the stony hall. The moonlight seeped in on the ceiling from the windows high up, however the hall was to a great extent, lighted by torches.

“What is happening? Get up and help me,” George growled.

Lee looked beside him, only to find George was in a huge glass cylinder full of water. He was bound in thick chains that hung from above, suspending him in the cylinder. The surface of the water was just below George’s jaw. Every time he wiggled his body, water splashed on his face, causing him to gasp for breath and from dread. George was truly trapped. Lee tried to stand up, but he immediately collapsed back down to his knees. He craned his head back, looking at the heavy chains around his torso, which were connected to the wall behind him.

Subsequently Lee heard a groan, which spurred him to look to the right. He gasped when he saw Osy. Unlike his two brothers, Osy was not bound. Instead he had a ten foot long wooden stake which went straight through his right shoulder. The end of the stake was stuck in the floor, so that Osy was propped up in the air by the other end. Still unconscious Osy’s body flickered between opaque and ethereal but for a moment, before he let out a painful groan.

“Oh no you have been impaled…” Lee said

He looked around helplessly.

“George, can you not absorb the metal chains and break free,” Lee asked.

“My palms are bound together, and I can only absorb the properties throu-” George spluttered as he tried to keep his nose above water.

“Your palms- do not worry I will get us out of here,” Lee said.

“And how will you manage that?”

Lee turned to the direction of the vapid tone, to see three pale figures walking into the hall from the tombs below. Lee immediately recognised the figure in the middle as Drazo. This was due to his faint gold coloured sclera. Although Lee could not sense what they were exactly, he was sure the other two figures were not mortal.

“I am Drazo, welcome to my-”

“Shut up, you will pay for this,” Lee snapped.

“He is not distracted father. His weakness is distraction,” Avida said as she stepped up from the tombs as well.

Lee’s body began to tremble with anger as Avida embraced Drazo. First his eyes were consumed by a blue blaze, and then the flames summarily spread to the rest of his body.

“Diantha?” Drazo said.

Diantha gave a slanted lip smile before sprinting down the hall. In a blink of an eye she reached Lee. Diantha craned her head with interest as she looked at the chains, which were now melting harmlessly on Lee’s skin. Suddenly she grabbed one of Lee’s arms and punched straight into his elbow. Instantly Lee’s flames were extinguished as he let out a tear-jerking scream. Osy’s eyes snapped open, at the sound of the scream ringing through the hall. He craned his head to the side, to the extent that the wooden stake protruding through his upper chest would allow him. Osy gasped in disbelief, when he saw the grotesque angle at which Lee’s right arm was contorted.

Although she only grabbed his arm for a few seconds, Diantha’s hands were horribly burnt. Yet even as she looked at her hands now, the flesh mended and the blackened skin healed.

“Silence!” Diantha yelled as she smashed her fist into Lee’s jaw.

Lee whimpered in pain, but he did not dare open his bloodied mouth.

“Sister how could you do this?” George groused in disbelief.

“It was easy. This is my real family, I am not this Hydro you speak of,” Avida laughed.

She walked towards the middle of the hall, closely followed by Drazo and Macius.

“Besides even if I was, you have not given me any reason to be loyal to you…Osy never trusted me and always treated me as though I harboured some malicious intent. You are constantly addressing me with a condescending tone and only come to my defence out of some pathetic need to have a sister. Not saying I blame you, being surrounded by these two mongrels all the time would drive me anyone out of their minds. And Lee…Lee just does not like me,” Avida retorted as she smiled back at Drazo.

“The fault is mine, for ever trusting the spawn of a dark god,” Osy said hoarsely.

“Damn you Osy and your stupid plans. If we had come here and burned this place down in the daytime like I suggested, we would-”

Lee’s voice cut short as he succumbed to the pain of his broken arm.

“Do not be too harsh on her. She may not be much of a sister, but she is a good daughter. While her family abandoned her I took her in, shared my power with her,” Drazo said with a staunch emotionless face.

“As long as you fed on her for good measure,” Osy chimed in wittily.

Diantha whizzed in a blur towards Osy and punched him at the side of his torso.

Osy groaned as the force of the blow moved his entire body, aggravating the wound that the wooden stake was pierced through.

“And what do you know of the relationship between a father and his daughter?” Drazo asked.

“Not much ...but I do know that you are a leech, she is a snake and you both deserve each other,” Osy retorted throatily.

Diantha punched Osy once again, causing him to gasp in pain and spit out blood on the sand.

“It is only my fascination at your stupidity that stays my hand. Speak out of turn once more and find your life snatched by my claws,” Diantha warned as she sniffed the air greedily.

Subsequently, she fell to her knees and licked Osy’s blood off the sand like a crazed dog. There was a tense moment of silence as Osy breathed heavily, Lee whimpered and George thrashed about in the water.

“Let us have a civilised discourse. I am not angry that you have slain my siblings. If anything I am thankful, that just simply leaves more mortals to worship me. But yet the fragility of my sibling’s immortality is intriguing. I mean to have fallen at the hands of children. How did you do it?” Drazo droned inquisitively.

There was another moment of silence.

“What no answers ... no jokes … no exclamations…Simply trying to prolong your demise?

Fine. As your fathers slayed mine, I shall do the same unto you,” Drazo said.

“But...but I thought you would keep them alive so that you may gorge on immortals’ blood for all time,” Avida replied hesitantly.

“No my child, they are too dangerous. We cannot have their godly feats strengthen with age. We will drain two till they are bone dry tonight. Then my minions will have one as a pet,”

Macius and Diantha looked at each other with wide sinister smiles.

“To gorge on his blood when they see fit,” Drazo said.

“I want this one,” Diantha said as she ran a sharp finger down Osy’s arm.

“No the fire boy, his blood will be warmer,” Macius protested as he whizzed next to Lee.

“The warmth is nothing. They all smell equally glorious. But this one, he is stubborn, he is hot-blooded,” Diantha retorted.

She sniffed Osy’s oozing wound.

“He talks too much. What about the bigger one?” Macius asked.

“Too dangerous, what if the glass cylinder breaks? Besides this –what is his name? Osy will put up a fight every time,”

Macius’ scowl turned to a devious smile, as he looked at Osy with renewed interest. His thick fangs and heavy breathing betrayed his irrepressible gluttony.

“Besides, I like his mouth,” Diantha said as she reached up.

Osy winced as Diantha wiped some blood off his lip with a finger. When Diantha sucked her finger, her eyes rolled back as she uttered a satiated moan like a drug-addicted fiend.

“What about you father, which demi-god’s blood will you feed on?” Avida asked as she looked to her father.

“Why yours my child,” Drazo answered cordially.

Avida gulped anxiously, a heavy bead of cold sweat ran down her brow and another trickled down her neck.

“I j...I just thought with these three as your captives-”Avida began hesitantly.

“I do not care for collective sentiments. I have spoken” Drazo replied expeditiously.

“Yes pet, attend your master,” Osy groaned.

He laughed with his bloodied mouth, only to have Macius to punch him in the stomach.

“Begin,” Drazo said.

As Osy wheezed, Diantha and Macius were as starved baying hounds that had just being unleashed.

Diantha sprinted to Lee in an instant and buried her fangs in his neck. Macius sprinted towards the wooden stairs next to cylinder. When he was at the top of the stairs he reached over and lifted George by his restraints.

“Sister! No!” George’s scream filled the hall as Macius’ fangs sank into his shoulder.

As Lee and George yelled in pain, the heavy doors at the other end of the hall swung open. Several priests ran into the hall screaming.

“My god, My go-!” the priests yelled as they all fell dead to the ground, revealing their backs full of arrows.

Everyone turned to the distant doorway, but all they saw was the blackness of night. This was all except for Diantha and Macius, who were pacified by the taste of godly blood. However, several well placed arrows to their torsos, forced them out of their stupor.

Ellenian soldiers came bursting in through the door with a battle cry.

“These mortals must have lost their minds. Diantha, Macius teach them a cautionary lesson…one that they will not live to forg-”

Drazo’s words cut short as he caught two arrows simultaneously. The first was inches from the side of his face and the other in front of Avida’s. As he broke the two arrows, like they were dry twigs, Drazo looked at Saturn walking through doors, with a bow drawn.

“Leave the Ellenian wench to me. I shall drain him dry and send his husk to his father,”

Diantha and Macius moved three times the speed of the advancing soldiers. Bones were broken, bodies were flung and yet Diantha and Macius remain unscathed.

Meanwhile Avida was transfixed by the bloody puncture wounds that had been left on Lee and George’s shoulders. George’s lacerations especially horrified Avida, as she stroked the indentations in her skin. The series of scars on her arms were healed wounds created by fangs, mementoes of a lifetime of feeding her father. Avida must have had a petrified look on her face, for Drazo reached over to her.

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Although Avida was still entranced by the horrible wounds on the two demi-gods, George’s wound especially traumatised her. This was because his blood was comingling with the water that surrounded him. Every muscle in Avida’s body suddenly ceased. She began to mutter. Drazo could not hear over the sounds of the ensuing battle.

“What did you say my child?” Drazo asked.

“You are not my father,” Avida snarled.

As Avida spoke a tiny crack appeared on George’s glass prison.

George’s eyes widened as the water around him began to bubble and churn.

“What?!!” Drazo growled in disbelief as he turned to the cylinder which was vibrating due to the sudden effervescence of the water.

“Vera was right; I am no child of yours. I was just a blood bag for you to drink when you saw fit,” Avida snarled tearfully.

Drazo’s killer instinct was seemingly pacified by the hot tears that spilled down his daughter’s cheek. His face relaxed and the golden hue of his sclera twinkled with sympathy, as he softly wiped the tears off Avida’s cheeks.

“We do not have a perfect relationship but it is ours. I am sorry your matron died, it was not my wish,” Drazo said empathically.

“Yes your wish was to see me die,” Avida replied heatedly.

“I had to make plans in case you betrayed me. It was you who brought your siblings to me and in exchange, we agreed that all was to be forgiven on both sides. And things are now as they once were,”

“I am not your food,” Avida said blankly.

“I went against my siblings and took in the daughter of our father’s killers. You will not find mercy of such magnitude amongst gods or mortals. And all I ask is-”

“Never!!” Avida screamed.

Simultaneously there was a large cracking sound as the glass cylinder shattered to pieces and the water burst out.

For a split-second, George hung in the air. Suddenly a dome of rock erupted from the ground and enveloped George like the shell of a clam, snapping the chain that he hung from. Drazo cursed loudly and slapped Avida so violently that she was thrown back into the stone wall.

As Avida fell unconscious to ground, Drazo turned round to find George had already freed Lee. The lumber snapped in George’s iron hands like a wooden splinter, and Osy fell to the ground.

In a fraction of a second, Drazo was stood next to George. Subsequently, George was smashed straight through the thick stone walls by Drazo; causing the whole tower to tremble. Meanwhile Lee struggled to pull the broken piece of lumber out of Osy’s chest, with his able arm. Osy moaned pathetically and spat out blood. However the instant the painful ordeal was over, he began to heal by turning into his wraith form.

Drazo was approaching Lee and Osy until a flaming arrow tore straight into his back, causing him more annoyance than pain. In the blink of an eye, Drazo whizzed next to Saturn.

Fumbling a drawn arrow, Saturn watched in horror as Drazo yanked the arrow out of his back and raised it over him. Although his strike was faster than the eyes could see, Drazo’s stab was stopped. Saturn was transfixed by the sight of the iron boy, who held Drazo’s hand back.

“You?...but how?” Drazo huffed in disbelief.

“I thought I would return the favour,” George said.

With a tense grimace, George heaved Drazo’s entire body over his head. Yelling loudly, he threw Drazo all the way across the hall.

As Drazo’s body rebounded off the wall, the huge formation of bricks crumbled and toppled on him. Diantha and Macius stopped their onslaught on the soldiers and turned to aid their father.

“Now Lee,” George yelled.

Lee looked at his able hand expectantly, but nothing happened. There was no fire, not even a spark. Aggressive, uneven wrinkles surfaced above his furrowed brows as Lee concentrated harder than he ever had. Meanwhile, George was caught in a grapple with Macius and Diantha, who were attempting to claw through his iron skin.

“Now Lee!” George yelled.

Lee roared in anger as a huge tongue of flame appeared on his hand. He threw the flame at the heap of rubble that Drazo was buried underneath. There was a bright explosion. The heat from the explosion caused everyone, except for Lee, to wince. Lee capitalised on this opportunity. He ran towards Diantha and smacked her off George.

Diantha staggered back and looked at the deep burn on her ribs. This was where Lee’s searing palm had come in contact with her body. Subsequently her skin healed and she looked up with a smirk. Diantha slapped Lee aside with both fists clenched together. Lee was sent rolling on the sand over his disabled arm. Gloating loudly, Diantha walked towards Lee, who was groaning in pain on the floor.

“Can your simple mind not comprehend, that I am resurrected? I feel nothing, but the thirst for blood. And yours is the ambrosia of the damned. So put up a fight, it will just make draining you all the more sweeter-”

“So you are no longer alive huh?”

Diantha snorted facetiously as she turned to Osy, who was approaching her.

“You heal fast haha… I am living testament of what happens when a dying mortal tastes the blood of a god. Stupid boy I am dead, yet I shall live forever. You will age but as long as I feed on blood I will never grow old, my claim to immortality supersedes yours,” Diantha spat as she cracked her knuckles in anticipation of the fight to ensue.

Osy smiled and shafts of green light shone from behind his teeth, like rays of sunlight shining through the clouds. Subsequently, he opened his mouth and a tiny green ball of light, shot out. Before Diantha could react, she was hit by the ball.

“I just wanted to make sure,” Osy said whilst he watched Diantha screaming as she fell to a knee.

Meanwhile, the rubble at the side of the hall scattered as several pieces were flung in the air. An emaciated smouldering figure, with a scorched piece of cloth around his waist, emerged from the flaming heap of debris.

“Well that stung a little,” Drazo said as he flicked his newly formulated fringe out of his face.

He had healed at a remarkable and astronomical rate. A few seconds ago he had been burnt beyond recognition and now every fibre of his pale skin had been completely reconstituted.

A blurry figure jetted towards Drazo and punched him so hard that he staggered back. Drazo rocked his head forward and his eyes widened in shock, when he saw his assailant.

“Have you lost your mind?” Drazo exclaimed,

However, Diantha did not reply and looked blankly at him.

“I do not know about her mind, but her body is mine now,” Osy shouted.

An abundance of green light radiated from her eyes, and Diantha’s body was riddled with thin green veins.

“Slay him,” Osy yelled.

Immediately Diantha struck at Drazo, but he grabbed her fist. Subsequently she struck him with her other hand, however Drazo grabbed it also. Similar to a rabid dog, Diantha buried her jagged teeth deep into Drazo’s shoulders, causing him to curse out loud.

“You are lost, and I have no further use of you,” Drazo exclaimed.

Drazo pulled his shoulder away from Diantha abruptly, letting her take a chunk of his flesh in her jaws. Then Drazo drove his arm straight through Diantha’s chest. Without so much as a scream, Diantha burst into flames until she was reduced to ashes and bones.

“No!” Macius yelled.

Drazo threw Diantha’s charred skeleton to the side. As his exclamation echoed hauntingly through the hall, Macius was frozen in horror. Yet he was quick to replace his slack-jawed gaze with a definitive scowl. Macius reversed George’s grapple and slammed him to the ground. He opened his mouth to say something, before an arrow was shot into one of his bulging shoulders. Macius yanked the flaming arrow out and sprinted towards his opponent, Saturn. The mortal prince could barely blink; much less load another arrow in his bow, before Macius grabbed his throat and hoisted him in the air. Yet Macius paid no attention to Saturn’s choking struggles and dispensed with the two remaining soldiers with his other arm.

“Macius go to my tomb and bring me the Omni-Sabre,” Drazo yelled.

A bewildered look formed on Macius’ face as he dropped Saturn to the ground

“You are on your own, old man,”

Subsequently Macius whizzed out of the hall. There was a scream as Macius sprinted straight into the early morning sunrise.

“Fool, you are all fools,” Drazo said as he whizzed towards Osy.

Osy was smashed into a wall, before he even knew what was happening.

“Two of my children hate me, and another is dead. All because of you? You shall suffer the most, then your fire brother and your…”

Drazo had Osy pressed firmly pressed against the wall, as he spoke, until the words stuck in his throat like the blood stopped in his veins. In the next instance all of Drazo’s muscles ceased, leaving him frozen in place.

“I am not your child,”

Drazo could not believe it; he moved the only part of his body that he could, his eyes. His fears were realised when he saw it was Avida who was doing this to him.

“H-How how are you doing this?” Drazo roared in disbelief.

In response to his question, Avida moved her outstretched hand. Involuntarily Drazo released his grip around Osy’s throat. Osy fell to the ground gasping for air and massaging his throat. He watched in utter disbelief as Drazo’s body levitated several inches in the air, towards Avida.

Everyone was dumbstruck as the distinct sound of breaking bones echoed in the hall. Drazo’s limbs contorted involuntarily like the body of a dying snake. Finally his body stopped in front of Avida and Drazo dropped to the ground on his knees, as though the weight of the world were on his shoulders. Even now Drazo looked mortified for he could not fathom in his wildest dreams that Avida would ever be so powerful, or that he would one day be rendered helpless by her.

“You know I learnt a lot of things outside this temple. Do you know that there can be no blood without water? And guess who has gorged on blood for the better part of four hundred years,” Avida said broodingly.

There came a fear so consuming that it left no room for thought in Drazo’s head.

However even when defeated, Drazo’s steely blue eyes against his faint gold sclera’s was still a terrifying sight. Avida was unable to avert her gaze despite the rising sensation of foreboding in her gut. Yet that was before, a past life, for now all that Avida felt was a rage that threatened to split her chest apart.

“I raised you as my own, you ungrateful wench,” Drazo spat.

Yet even as he spoke Avida’s face contorted with rage.

“My child, Avida-”Drazo began.

“My name… is Hydro!”

The blood in Drazo’s veins expanded so quickly that large angry boils appeared all around his body. Some of the boils burst, as the blood vessels closest to the surface of his skin popped. Yet his body blew up like a balloon. Drazo’s body became the size of a cow before he could not expand any further. He exploded, sending his blood and guts all over the hall.

Avida collapsed to her knees gasping wildly and her body was trembling for the feat had expended all of her energy. She looked at the pile of bones and blood. Then her eyes strayed to her blood pasted torso; all that remained of her enemy, her terror her father.

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