“A god’s war”

Chapter One (The man who walks in the Shadows)

The morning day appears the same as always in a small town near the ocean; people go about their business while the younger ones prepare for school. Throughout the years, this place remained quiet and simple almost like it is separate from the city.

Mayumi held her books while walking on a narrow road towards the school located at a hill top. The town has a fair amount of cabs, but Mayumi prefers walking for she believes that she might run into a man whom she had seen years before. A classroom half filled with students can be seen at the gate and from the window Mayumi’s friend Elise waves to greet her.

Elise had been her friend since first-year high school, even though she was not a childhood friend they still share a deep bond that grew stronger after some certain events. She opened the door and entered the room as always then Elise sat behind her.

“Hey! You seemed a little late today, why?

“Well, you do know that I have to make sure that our apartment building is being renovated well right?”

“That old place? Why not just sell it and move into your relatives? Being alone is not safe and I’m a bit worried that you stay there while there are guys renting the upper place.”

“That apartment is the only inheritance that my mom and dad left and besides, I spent my childhood in that old building.”

“Ok ok… But in any case if something is wrong give me a call ok?”

“You just want a reason so you can come over.”

7 o’clock in the morning but their teacher hasn’t still entered the room instead the school principal accompanied by two police officers came in his place. They haven’t started talking yet, but it is clear something is not right. The students began to murmur and their whispering voices filled the room.

“Ok class. I’m sure you haven’t heard yet, but Mr. Leonise won’t be coming and it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that he was killed and his body was found near the woods."

The announcement caused the students to focus their eyes on the old man. Startled by the news their whispering became even louder and it’s obvious they want to know how their homeroom teacher got killed and for what reason. The town may be small, but almost everyone knows each other and such crime never once happened before. Their curiosity immediately turned into fear and the principal knows that they must say something before the students start to panic. The two officers who were with the principal stepped forward and the taller one at the left began to speak.

“We still have no idea how and who killed Mr. Leonise but first of all everyone needs to calm down. We need every student to cooperate with us in the coming days. It is important that we first know who was with him before he was killed. And just in case any of you think about it, we do not see the students as suspects cause the crime that have been committed on your teacher can’t be done by just mere students.”

The class silenced for a while but fear still hovers above them. Mayumi was speechless while Elise still covered her mouth with both hands. Mr. Leonise was very well known not just in their class but throughout the school. He has a cool demeanor and enjoys spending time with the students especially on P.E. No one knows who could have done it but all the students told the same story to the cops who questioned them. The day before Mr. Leonise died he was doing what he always does. In the morning, he will go to the faculty lounge and prepare some coffee before heading to class, he always wore a warm smile even though at some times he was strict. A man whose age is younger than all of the other teachers yet remains single. After the class ends, he would go to the principal first before going home and even after he is out of the school he still does his everyday ritual of buying some snacks in a nearby convenient store. Mr. Leonise's house was not that big yet not small and just like Mayumi he prefers to walk home but after he had said goodbye that day the entire school would not have believed the news if it didn't make the city’s news headline.

The principal sat behind his desk still shocked from the news even though it has been days since the officers brought in the tragic surprise. He looked outside his window which is overseeing the vast waters of the sea. Deep in his thoughts he still can’t cope with what happened. He asked the officers about the details of the crime but instead of talking to him the cops presented a full written report about the murdered teacher. Mr. Leonise’s body was found hanging on a tree branch without some of his limbs. His head was crushed and his abdomen has been torn open with the ribcage still missing same as the legs and right hand. The left arm was partially consumed and his blood painted the grass red. The police still have no suspects, but the possibility of a robbery was ruled out for everything he had the day prior to his death were not missing. The man had no quarrels with anyone due to his habit of going straight home after work. There were similar cases before, but it was on a very far off city and the last murder there was committed a day after the crime, but similarities are still there. The body of the victim before Mr. Leonise was mutilated and some parts were missing, the oddest thing was that two investigators found a huge hole near the vicinity which resembled a crater made by fallen meteorites.The trees around that crater were sliced clean off without any traces of even a single chip. The cut was very amazing like as if it was sliced all the way then fine sanded to make the surface glimmer, but that was the last thing that they found after the killing. They fear that it might have been done by a number of people and those killers have chosen the small town as their next hunting spot. The local town government announced a state of emergency and did not allow anyone to break the curfew without any permission or a valid reason. The principal stroked the back of his head knowing that every day will become difficult for the students and their small quiet town will now be a place of fear.

Mayumi walks with Elise but not today, Elise has some errands that she needs to do so Mayumi packed her books and headed out of school. The curfew starts at 7:30 pm and the girl reaches her home at around 6:14 but she decided to buy some stuff before going home. She took the same route everyday, but a warm breeze blew behind her neck that was unusual since it’s that time of day when the air should be cold. She looked around and found nothing, so she kept on walking. There should be a small alley on the left but what she saw instead was a dead end and to her right was a small trail leading to what it looked like was a small narrow road similar to the route she takes everyday.

Mayumi hesitated at first but decided to go anyway yet still she knows that none of this makes sense. As Mayumi was about to reach the narrow road, she heard the trees rustle and there was a light thump on the ground like something just made a short jump. The surrounding is too silent, neither birds nor insects can be heard. There's a breathing sound coming closer, but Mayumi is frozen in fear. The shadow of huge claws hovers over her. She can see that the shadow, but no matter how much she wants to run her legs won’t move an inch. Her eyes were covered with tears and Mayumi feels the impending demise that is about to fall onto her, all she did was to close her eyes shut and prayed for it to end quickly.

A strong gust of wind surrounded Mayumi and to her surprise her body moved from its place. Mayumi opened her eyes and saw that she was being held in a princess cradle where the arms belong to a man who for some reason seemed familiar.

His golden yellow eyes glowed in the dark, but it is noticeable that he also has bloody red retinas. Blue hair sways with the wind and covers the man’s forehead. The strong pair of arms gently placed Mayumi down, but no words were uttered for her. Mayumi looked in front of her and there it was.

The creature is 8 feet tall, has no eyes, a diamond mark on its head an upper abdomen which is that of a human but the lower body was a snake and the hands were equipped with sharp claws. The creature opened its mouth and began to speak.

“You. Why did you take my food? How dare you enter my domain without permission!”

The man has a cold gaze and Mayumi hid behind him. He has a strong build even though his long black coat covers his body even his shoes. The hands wear leather gloves and on his right shoulder was a small strip of golden chains. Without turning his head, he let out a deep calming voice for Mayumi.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let that worm harm you so stay back a little.”

Mayumi felt reassured with what he said and hid behind a tree. He walked two steps towards the creature Mayumi is doubtful, but she knew that even this young man is not normal by any means.

“You dare disturb the balance of life and death? You mock the souls by destroying their earthly bodies. A worm like you should never exist here or anywhere.”

“You blabber like you can even kill me! You look like those humans so you must be like them! I will eat and dine on their flesh! Someone so weak like you can not stop me.”

“Then let us see if you can prove me wrong. So then my weak friend, shall you take a little taste of me? They say that I’m to DIE for..”

“I’LL EAT YOU UP AND HAVE THAT GIRL FOR DESSERT!!”

The monster raised its claws and took a full swing at the young man. He easily dodges the attack then the monster uses its tail to try and capture his legs but it was like the black coated man already knew about its plan of attack and strike after strike the monster misses, never managing to land a single hit.

“QUIT MOVING AROUND!! FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!!”

“Like a man? How I wish I can but I have no time to mingle around so I’ll end this now.”

He lifted his right hand just below his shoulder level and on the earth a glowing pentagram appeared, from the middle of the circle a chained stave began to emerge upwards until it reaches his hand. He grabbed the now spear length stave and pulled it out to reveal a chained scythe. The weapon was connected to the earth by the chains and yet it still moved freely as if the bind was never there. Mayumi’s eyes grew wider with what she saw, a weapon appeared from the earth and is now wielded by her savior.

“THAT WEAPON! YOU CAN’T BE?! TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!!”

“The dead has no need to know my name. And by dead I mean you.”

“NO! IT WILL NOT END HERE!! I’LL KILL YOU!!”

The monster released a full barrage of attacks but no matter how fast it strikes the claws won’t hit the opponent. The young man casually walked closer to its prey closing the gap and at this moment the creature who felt confident about his strength now fears for its own existence. With a full single swing of the blade the seemingly endless attack stopped, black blood poured onto the soil and its body was sliced in half just a little below the abdomen along with the trees behind the monster. He looked at his dying prey with a cold gaze then its corpse started to melt and Mayumi walked towards him.

“Uhm. Thank you for saving me but who are you and where are we? This place is not familiar.”

“Oh my.. Forgive me but I need you to come with me.”

“What? Come with you where?!”

Before Mayumi could finish her words, the man placed his hand on her head which in a strange way made Mayumi lose consciousness. As she was falling, the man captured her before hitting the ground but behind them was another presence.

“I figured you’ll come. So why does an ancient beast hang around a girl? What is your purpose, little chimera?”

A chimera is an ancient animal who has a lion’s head, a goat head behind its back and a snake for a tail but the one that appeared before them has a different feature yet still possesses some of the original characteristics. The head of the goat was not there but instead its face is more longer than a lion’s, it has horns and a golden coat but the tip of the tail is covered with a long fur, so it’s hard to determine if a snake’s head was there.

“Why are you here? And what do you want from this girl?”

The young man asked the beast like as if it will speak, but instead it opened its jaws and attacked with a black wave. He blocked it with his right hand but exploded covering the entire area with pitch black darkness. He opened his eyes to find that the girl was gone and the Chimera as well. He felt no danger for the girl. The beast was clearly there to protect her from him and the monster, but it still baffles the man why an ancient beast would protect a girl. In a short while he felt a pain deep inside his head, images popped up but he knows nothing about them, yet he does recall a beautiful young woman who told him about the future and what must be done in order to save what is left of this world. The surroundings started to vanish, changing to an entirely different place. The young man is standing in the middle of a park close to the small town. From a far a concealed presence was watching as the young man vanishes into the shadows.
“Well well well. You who is hated, you who walks a different path, you whose name only a few knows but feared by everyone who lives. You who wish to find a desire for your own. It’s been a while, Thanatos. I finally found the god of death and now the game of damnation will begin. Your time is almost up Zeus, just what will you do now that you have gone too far with your cruel selfishness? I am eager to see how this tale will end.”

End of chapter one.