How Gods Bleed

by Shane Porteous

  Chapter 15

  If the Helluvans had suffered nightmares than they showed no sign of it, waking as they always did just as the sun came up. There was a chill in the air that did not seem to belong in this part of the world that the group paid no attention to. In place of having a quick breakfast the Helluvans took the time to rebuild the fire and cook something Cada Varl had never seen them eat before. Using a variety of ingredients, including powders that really didn’t look edible Hazum Ka-te cooked within a single pot. Every now and again the wielder of the Cloud Cutter would stir the ingredients but he really just seemed to be waiting for something to happen. Cada Varl did not recognize the smell that came from the pot so to him it was odorless. The group sat around the fire saying nothing with only the sounds of the morning air to prevent complete silence. Whatever Hazum Ka-te was cooking it took over an hour to be done so.

  Signalized by the fact steam no longer rose from the pot the Helluvans knew it was ready to be eaten. Gokkus went to his bag and took out 5 bowls, at first Cada Varl thought Gokkus had made a mistake, that his mind had temporarily forgotten that Tanagy was no longer with them. But as he passed the bowls to Hazum Ka-te no one else made any mention of it. Whatever had been cooked, it wasn’t stew, for the entire pot was filled with a strange light blue substance that was thick and solid. The food offered little resistance as Hazum Ka-te scooped it up into bowls and passed it around to his other Helluvans. A bowl was even given to Cada Varl though the group was already aware that he did not need to eat. Regardless Cada Varl offered no protest as Zova handed him the bowl with a silent nod. He waited until everyone else had begun before he ate the food. Unlike the Helluvans who had mastered how to eat almost anything without utensils, Cada Varl had not tried to eat anything in a thousand years. He had great difficulty preventing the food from falling onto his lap or chest. He possessed no memory of whatever the food was so to him it had not taste. He looked around to the faces of his companions but none of them showed any sign of whether the food tasted good or not, such things didn’t matter to these kinds of people.

  When the food was eaten the group was quick to pack up and continue on their journey. It was not long after the fire had been put out Zova explained to Cada Varl that they had eaten Lyzen, a kind of porridge like food mixed with potions and remedies that were suppose to cleanse the soul. Cada Varl wasn’t even sure if he still possessed such a thing but he understood why it had been eaten. Even if the Lyzen had no actual effect it was a good ritual to help the group deal with the loss of Tanagy (and Leannol).

  The group did not enter the nearby fields but instead stayed within the relative protection of the forest. They had no idea where they actually were and for all of their knowledge it was just as likely they were in the middle of a place rife with conflict than somewhere isolated. As they continued moving through the forest each grew uneasy for there was a thick smell in the air that Cada Varl easily remembered. It was the smell of death and judging by its stench, a genocide of death had taken place somewhere nearby. At first it could only be smelled when the wind would blow across them but after an hour or so of walking it remained within the air. Each member of the group kept their eyes sharp for any sign of enemies, but they couldn’t see so much as a bug scurrying across the ground. Such a thing did not put their minds at ease but rather haunted them, like they were walking into a place where all life had been extinguished.

  Soon even the trees disappeared from sight and the group was left out in the open for the whole world to see and the smell of death was getting even stronger. They were very careful when they left the shelter of the last line of trees, ensuring that there was not any werewolves around, at least in sight. They entered a series of fields that slopped just enough to keep what the next field had to offer hidden from view. It seemed that Mature Nature was up to her old tricks again. There was still no sign of where the reek of death was coming from; all they knew was with each step that they took the smell was getting stronger. They were completely exposed upon those fields, each of them horribly aware of just how easily seen they could be. Each member of the group may have walked in one direction but they were looking all around them for any sign of movement. Field after field offered nothing more than silence and shallow grass until they came upon a sight that made the entire group stop without command. They were still looking at fields but now they were no longer bare, they had found the source of death’s smell.

  Before them lay a massive field, almost every square inch of which was covered in the eviscerated bodies of werewolves. Thousands and thousands of the creatures lay dead rotting out in the open. By the simple number of corpses a tremendous battle had taking place here. The group at first were hesitant to enter the field, not because it was full of death but rather they wanted to be sure that no survivors were about. The group panned the field for some time looking across the tens of thousands of corpses.

  When they could not see any movement they cautiously entered. The sky remained free of anything but sporadic clouds; there was not a single bird in sight. The battlefield was as silent as the dead were motionless; no scavengers had yet to take the feast provided to them. As far as the group knew there weren’t any scavengers or birds of death in the west. Like most things there were many legends attempting to explain why. The most common belief being that the werewolves had long ago wiped out any type of scavenger in the west. But maybe even scavengers would not taste cursed flesh.

  However if this was true than Helluvans would do something that scavengers wouldn’t and soon Gokkus and Zova were cutting prime pieces of meat off of several of the werewolf corpses. The battle must have taken place only recently for rot had yet to take effect upon the many corpses. As Gokkus took the forearm of a werewolf and wrapped it some kind of cloth Cada Varl found himself asking, “Does werewolf flesh taste any good?”

  To this Gokkus replied simply, “As long as you add the right kind of spices.”

  While Gokkus and Zova were thinking of ways to cook their new found delicacies Imbaka and Hazum Ka-te were interested in something far different. Imbaka studied the colours and shoulder symbol of several werewolves that lay dead before her. The shoulder symbols were well detailed, consisting of a number of shapes and lines. The colour upon the armor was a dark white as simple as it was strong.

  “Troops of Baras the Broken fought here,” She said loud enough for the others to hear her clearly. Her eyes were then drawn to another werewolf body, which stood out amongst the others around it. The colours upon its shoulder armor were light green but more importantly its symbol was different. “They were fighting against Metamok supporters,” she said.

  It did not take someone with her expertise to know who the victor of the battle had been. For every body of a Metamok supporter there were 80 to a hundred bodies of Baras’ troops. The group had always known that Metamok was far from the only would be usurper and Baras the Broken was one of the few others known about in the east. Judging by the sheer scale of numbers Baras had suffered a heavy defeat in these fields. To the group it served as a reminder of how close Metamok was becoming to having complete rule over the west. Apart from Metamok Baras had been one of the most powerful rivals for the throne of Gorgoza. The most important question that they now had to answer was just where had the survivors of the battle gone to? The air wasn’t filled with the sound of marching and surely armies of such size would easily be seen. But the battle hadn’t been fought that long ago and even with werewolf speed the survivors wouldn’t have been a world away.

  “One force went east,” Zova said seemingly suddenly compared to the silence that had ruled before her words. Every eye was upon her following her vision eastward. The sheer amount of bodies almost stretched to the very limits of their vision. The others moved to be close to Zova as to get a better view of whatever had told her of such information. When none of the others spoke Zova explained, “The fields beyond the battle are tattered by heavy footfall in the east, only an army worth of beings co
uld do such a thing.” Cada Varl looked closely and could see that her words were true. Though he was quite impressed by the fact Zova, a human was able to see such detail from so far away. Then again there was a reason why she was also known as Infinite Eye. The forces of Baras may have been on the losing end of this battle but it was doubtful that they had been annihilated. There may have been tens of thousands dead in this place but Baras commanded at least a million warriors. The group had come from the north, meaning either the troops of Baras or Metamok had traveled south or west. It was an important question to be answered for the group did not want to follow either surviving army. As they looked in all directions for more signs of where the other army went they stopped searching when they looked south.

  There may not have been any sign of a leaving army but there was something even a blind man would struggle not to see. In the great distance beyond even the mountains was a structure of some kind, so tall that its top literally disappeared into the clouds. The structure was simply too far away for any real detail to be confirmed with the exception that it was not a creation of nature.

  “The tower of Fokusuman,” Imbaka said softly yet loud enough for the others to her. All eyes fell upon her for a moment before the group collectively stared back at the tower.

  Fokusuman was maybe the most well known werewolf that was not some kind of warrior or tyrant. She was an architect, it was not known whether or not she held such a profession before being cursed but it was a well-known fact she was responsible for some of the most iconic structures in the west. Gorgoza had recognized her genius for imaging such magnificent structures and the tower of Fokusuman was one of her greatest achievements. The tower was created when Gorgoza wanted something so magnificent that no other ruler would ever be able to build something to rival its greatness. According to legend even the very gods themselves were jealous of the craftsmanship of the tower. There were an equal number of legends of what the tower held, including the tormented spirits of everyone Gorgoza personally killed, to treasures that only gods could value. But the group had little desire to know what was within the tower or why it was built. The most important thing out of seeing the tower was it allowed the group to know where they were.

  Imbaka did not hesitate she took out her maps and began looking over them. The group waited patiently for her to do what she did better than anyone and come up with a new course of direction.

  “ We must be somewhere north of the city of Mutamut…” She said not taking her eyes off of the map in her hand. Her fingers gently moved over the map as she thought about several paths they could take. After what must have been careful consideration she looked up from the map and said, “ There are two options that we could take, both offer both problems and solutions.” She paused for just a moment to ensure that her companions had heard her before she continued, “We could head south, towards the tower, the path will be fairly direct but will take us even closer to known areas of large werewolves populations…. Or we could go west, which will eventually take us into wildernesses that we know little about. Going west would take longer but it will keep us away from enemy hotspots, but we cannot be truly sure of what other problems we may run into if we head west.”

  The look in her eyes revealed that she wanted the opinion of the group. It was a slightly twisted version of what they first had been faced with when they began their journey. The option was either remain close to places where werewolves would be fighting or to go back into the mostly unknown. The two biggest challenges were either Mother Nature or the werewolves themselves. It was a decision the group did not take lightly and each member took the time necessary to think about their answer. Ultimately the group decided to head into the west, for although the wilderness had almost killed them before, they had lost two companions because they had traveled so close to enemy populations. The decision was unanimous and they left the fields of death behind heading into the west. There may have been no physical sign of it but their spirits had been lifted. In less than a day they had gone from being completely lost to now having a sense of direction. Many challenges would remain ahead, but at the least all hope wasn’t lost.

  For the entire morning and an hour of the afternoon the fields remained in their path until eventually the landscape changed. In place of continuing on in this new land however the group came to a stop right at its edge for the terrain was peculiar. Gone were the lush fields of short grass replaced by plain white sand where bizarre shrubs without leaves grew up out of the ground. Stranger still was exactly how the shrubs had been grown, in perfect lines that appeared to be the exact same distance from one another. They stretched further than even the Immortal could see and appeared well kept as if someone or rather something had taken care of each shrub as it had grown. Only Cada Varl seemed worried by it for the Helluvans knew what this place was.

  “The Garden of the Gods,” Hazum Ka-te said as if it was almost a boring thing to say. In spite of the name there was nothing sacred about this place, it was named simply due to the way the shrubs grew. It just seemed so unnatural as if the gods themselves had to have intervened to get the shrubs to grow in such a way. Not to mention the fact the white sand of the ground didn’t really seem an ideal place for such shrubs to grow.

  “Be careful not to let the tips of any shrub touch your skin,” Gokkus reminded his other Helluvans and informed Cada Varl of.

  Keeping his hands under the protection of his cape Cada Varl followed the others after Imbaka had carefully chosen a specific path to move down. The shrubs were only about two and half feet tall keeping the group easily seeable as they made their way through. Soon Cada Varl could see why Hazum Ka-te had shown little interest in the garden of the gods. Apart from the way they grew there was nothing interesting about them and before long Cada Varl didn’t even take any notice of them. Because of the shrubs the path of the group was direct and straightforward, however they never let their guard completely relax and were also sure to keep an eye out for any sign of trouble. Moving through the Garden of the Gods was uneventful, they didn’t see so much as a bird in the sky and reached its end in late afternoon.

  Beyond the Garden of the Gods was perhaps half an acre or so of flat ground that quickly lead into a massive forest where relatives of the garden’s shrubs could be seen consuming it. There was a large clear trail that the group could easily walk through in sight of the forest’s entrance but before they could even step towards the silence of the air was shattered violently.

  A howl consumed by the greatest of pain rang out from somewhere deep inside of the forest. The group stood perfectly still as if their instincts believed it would keep them from being seen. The howl was undoubtedly from a werewolf, but what wasn’t clear was what was the reason for the beast to make such a sound? The group was not into the unknown wilderness yet and it was quite likely that werewolves were somewhere close by. The path now was far less desirable to take for it would leave them too exposed to whatever was lurking within the wounds.

  In place of moving through the path the group decided to move through the thick bush off of the path. The bushes were so overgrown and twisted that they would have to crouch and crawl through them but to Helluvans such an annoyance was not overwhelming. Lead by Imbaka the group literally crawled on their bellies through the thick bush. Moving at a quick pace proved difficult but amazingly the Helluvans were able to remain silent. They moved in such a way that the twigs and other things the bushes had to offer did not break or snap as they moved through them. Cada Varl was the second last in line and he tried his best to mimic every single movement Zova made in front of him. He did not want to be responsible for them being discovered by whatever had made the werewolf howl. In any direction it was difficult to see clearly, the group were forced to look through the tiny spaces and breaks of the shrubs.

  Their vision was so hindered that they only noticed something crashing upon the trail near them when it hit the ground. Only a foot and a half or so away from Zova the severed hea
d of a werewolf had fallen, its large eyes lifeless but still full of fear. The group stopped moving completely as each tried to see what had killed the werewolf and more importantly why did it look so afraid. Hazum Ka-te, who was the second in line of the group, had the best view. He watched as another werewolf drenched in its own blood came sailing through the air as if it weighed no more than a common pebble. It landed beyond where even Gokkus could see, but they were all sure that it was dead. The air remained in a horrid silence revealing no clue that some kind of battle or skirmish was taking place within the woods.