He looked over his left shoulder and around seeing no one. He then turned to look over his right shoulder also seeing no one. Thanatos took his pet and placed it on the ground that he had bound with a rope around its neck. He then took out a large knife that he had stolen from the butcher earlier during the harvest season. He was blamed for it. Everyone seemed to believe he did it, but he held to his story and none wanted to wrongly punish the child. He was so convincing that even the butcher’s daughter who was not known for sympathy begged her father to leave him alone for pity sake. He held his blade and let it glisten in the suns’ rays admiring the beauty.
He took the knife firmly in his hand and held it tightly to the Epios’ fur on its hind leg. Thanatos gently spoke to the Gentle Beast in a soft soothing voice, “Poor, poor Gentle Beast, you were such a good pet. I loved you so, but I must have control!” He took the knife and cut into the beast’s flesh causing it to squirm and yelp as its body jerked violently. It’s painful voice sounded out, “Aahn, Aahn, Aahn!” The Epios repeated its yapping plea continually.
Thanatos took the blade, having already pierced the flesh, and forcefully pushed the blade up the creature’s leg separating the fir from the meat. The creature yelped out and turned to bite his once loving master. His small teeth did nothing to the boy’s arm but give him a greater sense of power. Thantos continued to skin the Gentle Beast until it squirmed free from his hold. The creature fell to the ground and started to run with blood spilling on the soil. Thanatos quickly grabbed for the rope. Just when it got to the end of the rope’s length, Thanatos gave a frightful tug causing the animal to jolt its head back and fall upon its flipside.
Thanatos quickly ran over, pinning the Epios to the ground. He began his cruel, frightfully cruel, endeavor of carving up his pet. Thirty minutes had passed as Thanatos had held the creature to the ground while he worked his misery upon the beast. He got up off the creature having saturated his own clothes with his pet’s blood. He stood back to see how the Gentle Beast would respond. The creature quaked, shaking from head to toe, having no semblance of life or strength to go on. The pitiful creature had been skinned alive having no fur left on its body.
Thanatos looked upon his pet with disgust realizing that the beast was once his prized possession. Now, it was a hideous creature he hated. He looked around him, searching for something with which to crush the beast. He saw a large rock across the garden that would do the deed the boy intended now to do. He walked through the prized garden of Raziel. Thanatos had at one time tried with care not to disturb any of the growing plants, but now he took no effort to avoid them. He stepped directly onto some of the ripest vegetables in his determined mind to kill the thing he had fashioned. Thanatos’ pet had not the strength to walk, so it was drug behind by his master as he walked with purpose never looking back to see if the Epios was even walking.
Thanatos took his pet and placed it in an open space in the midst of the garden, looked at it, and brought down the rock with great force upon the skull of the creature. The rock hit the beast on the side of the skull sliding off to the side causing minimal damage while producing great pain. The Epios shook with fear and pain falling on its side. Thanatos bent down and picked up the rock again. He brought down the rock a second time with equal force, this time crushing the skull. The creature lay there lifeless with its muscles twitching. Thanatos picked up his rock again and brought it down with force a third time. He repeated this many times until the lifeless creature was hideously disfigured.
Thanatos then sat down by the creature picking it up in his arms. The limp body rested upon the boys lap. He delicately caressed the Gentle Beast talking softly to it, “Poor, poor baby. I am sorry that I had to do this to you, but I know you would have wanted me to. You loved me so much; you would have wanted my happiness. You were a good pet, a pet better than any other. I know deep down inside you would have let me do this to you had you known the misery they plan for me. I know you don’t understand what I am saying but you would have let me willing do this horrid thing because of your love for me.” He hugged the bloody remains, holding it close to his face.
Footsteps were heard, cautious steps. Thanatos turned around with smeared blood on his face to see his master. He turned back around as if a mere trespasser were invading on the privacy of a sad boy. He began running his fingers over the skinned creatures flesh as he would have if fur had been there.
Raziel’s face was filled with disgust as he saw the boy, his mouth opening wide in disbelief. He spoke questioningly not believing what he saw, “Is that Gentle Beast?” He had to ask as the disfigurement made it impossible to be sure.
“Yes Master Raziel, it is my poor Gentle Beast. My poor, poor Gentle Beast.” Sadness could be heard in his voice as he continued to caress the bloody disfigurement.
Raziel couldn’t comprehend what had happened. He looked around him to survey the setting. He saw the butcher’s knife and knew immediately that Thanatos was the thief. He looked around and saw the trail of blood through his garden. He also saw the bloody rock that had been used to crush the creature’s body. He voiced his suspicions, “Did you…did you do this?”
“Do what Master Raziel?” Thanatos knew what his master was asking, but wanted the man to speak what was on his mind.
“Did you kill Gentle Beast?”
“No, Master Raziel I did not.”
The wizard was beside himself, “But then who did?”
He turned to face his master, “Why you did Master Raziel, you killed my poor, poor Gentle Beast.”
“But the knife, I didn’t touch it, nor the rock.”
“Oh, I skinned Gentle Beast alive to be sure. I drug him over to this rock and crushed his bones hitting him with the rock over and over and over again. But it was you that killed Gentle Beast.”
“How can you say that when you are the one who did the actions?”
“Did you not give me Gentle Beast? Did you not know that I was wicked at heart? Why would you kill Gentle Beast? Why?” He went back to caressing the bloody mess. Tears even started to swell within his saddened eyes.
“Thanatos, it was your actions that performed the wickedness I see. Don’t you know that the wicked do such things,” Raziel was shaking his head in disbelief, “The righteous are even kind to their beasts. This was a wicked thing you have done, a very wicked thing. Why did you do it?”
“Because I wanted to; I needed to!”
“And how do you feel?”
The boy turned toward the wizard and had a glimmer of evil in his eyes, “I feel powerful!”
Chapter 22
Suffering is by no means a privilege, a sign of nobility,
a reminder of God. Suffering is a fierce, bestial thing,
commonplace, uncalled for, natural as air. It is intangible;
no one can grasp it or fight against it; it dwells in time—
is the same thing as time; if it comes in fits and starts,
that is only so as to leave the sufferer more defenseless
during the moments that follow, those long moments
when one relives the last bout of torture
and waits for the next.
~Cesare Pavese~
Zoe opened his blood-crusted eyes as wide as possible feeling the pain of life. He was dreaming of reality and living in a dream, as he looked up half dead and half alive. His mind did not comprehend the dreamy state of things about him in its entirety, but he did understand one thing: there was a light in front of him. He saw a glowing light that partially blinded his vision. Zoe wanted to lift an arm as a shield of protection for his sensitive eyes, but he found that his arms would not respond to his request. He closed his eyes. He lay there for a time and opened them again to see a face looking in at him. He recognized the face, a friendly old man, but he could not remember who it was. He looked on and saw the man doing things, but Zoe didn’t understand what the man was about.
Hagious stood over Zoe wrapping him in a soft blanket of dragon’s
fur for the journey ahead. He took special care as to cause no pain to the boy. He smiled upon the child as he looked at his open eyes. He spoke to Zoe, “My child, suffering has come your way, but fear not for all of my creatures suffer. It is a part of life. Suffering is to the rich and poor, to the beautiful and ugly alike, none escape the sufferings of life. Do not think that because you suffer, I am displeased with your service and heart, contrary my child. I have chosen you because I have known you before you were born; I have seen your heart before it was fashioned. I have chosen you to suffer fiercely, that you might rise to the tops of creation. Rest, do not trouble your weary heart.”
Zoe heard the voice, but did not comprehend the words spoken to him. He nevertheless felt comforted by the soothing voice of the man. He watched as the man stood and looked over in the distance. He waved with his hand beckoning for someone or something to come his way. Zoe again closed his eyes finding rest.
Hagious spoke, “Come little sprits of the Karious (grace) Woods, for I have work for your cheerful hearts. I wish for you to carry this young child back to your homes deep in the Karious (grace) Woods where no evil can go. I wish for you to care for this child until he is well and then send him on his way toward the Hills of Kedron; he shall go to a brook near Jerus. There I will again see his face.”
The sprits, hundreds in number, took hold of the blanket that was wrapped around the child; all lifting with equal effort raised the boy from the ground. His body sank down as dead weight scrunching toward the middle. The fairies began their journey back to the center of the Karious (grace) Woods as by order of Hagious.
Zoe opened his eyes several times while being carried through the air. He saw the hundreds of little glowing figures holding onto the edge of the blanket, as he felt weightless. The pain was still excruciating, but comfort came to his heart as he felt the care and concern of the gods for him. He closed his eyes in rest and pain.
His body was carried into the heart of the Karious Woods to the home of all the Karious Sprites. The pixies brought the boy to a hollowed out tree base that no longer had a top. They placed him in the center gently lowering his body down. Zoe opened his eyes. He saw a canopy of trees above, and his fellow creatures, the imps, gently setting him down. When he was completely placed upon the ground, the pixies flew away in a frenzy having no particular flight path leaving him to his discomfort.
Sometime later, though Zoe didn’t know when as time had no meaning for him now, he felt something upon his lips. He didn’t open his eyes. He just rested uncomfortably. The liquid was a powerful taste that he had not known. Not much of it was placed on his lips just a drop or two. He was forced to lick his lips to extinguish the nauseating burning. Once the fluid touched his tongue the substance turned from a strong irritant to a sweet tasting delicacy. He wanted more, but had no power or strength to ask or seek for his now growing desire. Again some more time passed by on the winds, and the fluid was again placed on his lips in similar fashion. This repetitious act was done so many times that Zoe began to not notice as it was now part of his routine.
The last time the fluid was brought, Zoe opened his eyes to see a small woodland sprite holding a small leaf with some liquid substance. The pixie placed the liquid upon his lips. Zoe took it in watching the creature noticing how wonderful the creature that took care of him was. He opened his mouth to speak. Only broken words came out in a raspy defeated voice, “What, yer name?”
The pixie being shocked at his voice flew up and zipped away only to come back a moment later. The sprite came close to his face again and spoke in a playful tone, “I am Dixie because I am a pixie, te he!” She then flew away. Zoe was comforted hearing the familiar playful voice of an imp once again.
Zoe slept from that point on until the next night. When he awoke, he felt refreshed. Not only did he feel the healing powers of the sprites, but he amazingly felt completely well. He sat up and didn’t have any discomfort or pain. He wasn’t sure how this could be. He tried to remember the things of the past few days, but everything was foggy. The last thing he could remember was being attacked by the beast. The entire event of being brutally wounded was as if it never occurred.
Zoe got up on his knees to peek out of the stump not sure of his surroundings. He had to push a blanket aside that was unusually soft. He peeked just over the top. He was amazed at the beautiful spectacle before his eyes. Never in all of creation had a human eye seen what he had, nor would there ever be in all of history a human eye to see it again. Before him was a dance like no other. There were thousands upon thousands of woodland sprites in playful dance before his eyes.
The dance itself was a chorographic nightmare if one were to undertake such a task, but the woodland sprites needed no such expert as they were free spirits doing as their hearts bade them to go. The dance was an improvisational masterpiece that was performed for the eyes of the gods only. Each night the dance changed dramatically, but never having anything out of place. The pixies performed well into the darkness of night until Zoe found he could watch the beauty no longer. He slowly inched his way back down to his soft bedding and fell asleep in total comfort having seen the frolic play of the pixies.
Upon awaking the next day, he saw a fairy about three inches away from his face, waiting for him to awake. When he awoke, the pixie darted off with a loud shout, “Yippee!” Zoe thought that was strange enough. He sat up completely and wiped his eyes clean of the junk that accumulates in the night. He stood up and realized that he was naked. Before him were a thousand imps staring at his naked body. Zoe blushed and darted down into the trunk of the tree. He quickly wrapped himself in the blanket. He listened. He could hear thousands of tiny voices giggling. He somehow was comforted by this recalling his first encounter with a pixie.
He stood up with the blanket around him and looked at them not saying anything. They in turn just looked at him awaiting for the next thing to happen. Zoe felt a little uncomfortable and broke the silence, “Um…do you have my clothes?”
Giggles erupted and then a small sprite familiar to the boy came close; Dixie spoke to him, “I do not know of clothes to wear as naked you came to us naked you may choose to leave, te he; but being naked you might want what we have made.” Out came some clothes fashioned by the hands of the imps. “We took care to get accurate measurements, te he,” Dixie said while she giggled.
Zoe got dressed down in the hole while the woodland sprites waited anxiously outside for him to return. Once he was fully dressed he found that the clothes fit perfectly. He stood up for all the sprites to see their work. They were so pleased with themselves that they went buzzing all around and then disappeared into the woods.
Zoe was beside himself, “Wait where did you all go…” his voice trailed off being saddened at the disappearance of his new friends. Then one sprite quickly zipped by three times and stopped doing a summersault in mid air. Zoe gave a chuckle to the acrobatic little imp.
“Now you must go; and lead you I will,” Dixie proudly announced.
“Go? But where?”
“Oh, poor little boy, hit so hard on his head, he don’t remember, te hee!” She zipped around and came back in front of him again, “Why the god said, to the Hills of Kedron; he shall go to a brook near Jerus,’ te hee. I shall lead you!”
With that she sped off into the opposite direction Zoe was looking. He turned his head to see but could no longer see the sprite as she was quicker than that boy’s movements.
He jumped out of the Decaying tree and looked around seeing no one. Zoe said to himself, “Now what? I still don’t know which way to go.”
With his voice of discouragement, Dixie reappeared zipping back and forth while singing out, “Follow, follow me te he!” Then she burst into the woods the way she had the first time. He had no other choice but to follow. Zoe darted after the playful Pixie.
Chapter 23
Our concern for the loss of our friends
is not always from a sense of their worth,
but rather
of our own need of them—
and that we have lost someone
who had a good opinion of us.
~François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld~
Mikael walked along the shores of the river seeking for a sign that his responsibility might be found. The boy had been enough trouble when alive, what trouble would the wizard gain if the boy were found dead. He pushed the thought aside believing he had no control over the situation and that the gods could do with him as they pleased. Yet a small smidgen of remorse crept in unnoticed to Mikael as he walked searching for the boy. He started to feel remorse not for himself but for the loss of the boy’s presence. He was surprised at his feelings, but didn’t let that bother him much as he continued on his path down river to find Zoe.
He came to a hideously, smelly sight in the woods not far from the river. He saw one of the Parorgismoses remains. The smell of the decaying body was overwhelming as he turned to leave the body of sure disgust, but before he could, something caught his eye. Underneath the left forearm of the wrathful beast was a knapsack, Zoe’s knapsack. Mikael walked slowly over to the beast and removed the sack from the entanglement of the beast and with sadness knew it to be Zoe’s.
Mikael looked around him seeing nothing of a body; hope revived. He saw an open trail that the beast had apparently taken as there was blood stains of the beast upon the forest floor in that direction. He walked slowly looking left and right for any sign of Zoe—nothing. He came to an embankment by the river and found bloodstains all over, two types—the Parorgismoses and human. Scanning the area he found no body, no sign of Zoe. He wondered if the beast had killed Zoe and another creature drug off the remains. With a dejected spirit, Mikael sat upon a boulder to think of his next move.
A voice sounded out, “Does the great wizard have feelings for the boy?” Mikael turned around quickly with staff in hand ready to attack. The voice was Hagious’. Mikael turned back around and resumed his place of contemplation. Hagious again spoke, “Do you find displeasure with what has become of the boy? Are you angry with me?”
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