Devourer

Chapter 145: Lady of Zarima

Count Uxtual followed the mysterious pink-scaled Draconian further deeper into the inner sanctum. The walls looked new as if the construction was just completed yesterday. Count Uxtual was sure the glowing runes that covered the walls were part of the reason why this place was so well preserved.

It was strange, this place almost felt like it was frozen in time. There was no dust, no signs of deterioration. It was almost as if Count Uxtual has just stepped through a portal and was back in the age of the Draconians. 

Count Uxtual continued to follow her through the winding hallways until they finally arrived at a massive circular room. Count Uxtual felt an instinctive thrill of fear at what he saw. The audible gulps and gasps from his fellow told him that he wasn’t the only one shocked by what lay within.

The center of the room was a ring of large chairs, the chairs were occupied by stone statues. At the seat of honor was a particularly ornate and large chair that seemed closer to a throne. On that throne sat a statute that looked almost identical to the pink-scaled Draconian. However, that was not what frightened Count Uxtual.

The room was massive in construction with a circular design. The ceiling was an expansive dome with numerous glowing runes inlaid. Due to its height and lack of lighting when Count Uxtual looked up it almost looked like stars in the night sky. Although at first glance it looked like the ring of chairs was the main focus of the room it was really not the case, or perhaps it was and Count Uxtual felt the larger meaning was lost on him.

Around the edges of the room were massive statues depicting monsters that would only exist in legends… or perhaps nightmares…

“Terrifying aren’t they?” the Draconian asked.

“Yes…” Count Uxtual said breathlessly as he looked at all the towering statues that seemed to be leering at the circle of chairs.

“They were once our masters, they once ruled the world, all of it. From the golden sands to the edge of the world. From your home to the worlds beyond ours. They are the Devourers, the Firstborn and we knew them as the Old Gods.” the Draconian said as she looked up at one of the statues.

“Have a look around, I have time.” the Draconian said as she approached the seat of honor. Count Uxtual watched as the statue of her vanished into motes of light and she took a seat. He knew in his heart she was the Goddess Mahaila but for some reason he needed her to confirm it for herself.

A part of Count Uxtual felt he should just ignore the statues and go to the Goddess. However, another part of him couldn’t help but hold a kind of morbid curiosity. These statues were probably carved when the Old Gods still lived. These were probably about as accurate as they were going to get. Everyone knows the Old Gods, the sheer terror they inspired. Their legacies are carved into the very landscapes. The legend goes that Zarima was once a verdant forest but an Old God casted some kind of spell that turned the entire area into a desert. 

Succumbing to his curiosity he approached the nearest statue. It was the size of a small building and it showed a four winged phoenix like creature whose head looked more like a snake than a bird. The stone showed its blazing body, the pedestal was even carved to look like it was melting from the heat. Below the statue was a gold plaque written in the old tongue of Dracoviss. Count Uxtual was not able to speak Dracoviss fluently but he could read it to a decent extent.

On the plaque laid the old name given to this particular Old God, “Akasha Neraf” meaning “Lady of the Black Sun”. Count Uxtual knew this one, she had many names. “Breaker of Day”, “The Final Eclipse”, “The Black Fire God” and many others. Below the name were a few more words and Count Uxtual couldn’t help but feel unease at the words.

The dark fire will consume

Every life condemned to doom

Then Count Uxtual moved to the next statue and he recognised this one as the Eternal Mother. Her insectoid form was held aloft by a legion of her numberless children. In one of her hands she has crushed one of her own eggs showing the callous disregard she has towards life. To her life was a tool, nothing more than a resource to be consumed and expended as needed. They say she once washed over Zarima in a tide of purple death. As expected her name was simple labeled the “The Eternal Mother”. Below her name these words were laid.

All life is a tool

A resource to be consumed

Count Uxtual moved onto the next one and saw this time it was this bat like creature with eight eyes. Its gaping maw looked like it belonged on a leech or a lamprey. On close inspection he saw the bat wings actually had feathers closer to the edge of the wings. Then he saw feathers were embedded in the pedestal below like daggers. Then he realized these feathers were not there purely for flight, they also acted as weapons. Its torso seemed ape-like but the area where all the vitals organs would be was covered with dragon scales. A clear and stark reminder that the Old Gods had perfect control over their bodies.

This one was labeled as the “Ancient Nightmare”. Count Uxtual has never heard of this particular old god but he could probably guess its style of rule and abilities by the words below the name. Funnily enough this one seemed more like a quote than simple words. Or perhaps these were all quotes…

And all will know the wonder of my dark and jeweled sky

When all the world is wrapped in an eternal lullaby

Count Uxtual moved onto the next one and he was with his fellow great noble, Count Scalid. This one looked particularly strange, it seemed far more monstrous. The body seemed to lack symmetry; its torso seemed vaguely humanoid. However, it had an oversized right arm tipped with a long blade. The other side held two smaller arms each with four fingered arms tipped with long claws.

Its lower body was a mess of tentacles that seemed to form a type of snake tail. Its head was long and covered with thick armor plates, it had a maw that was filled with serrated teeth. On the sides of its mouth were a pair of mandibles with cruel curved fangs. On its back were a pair of demonic wings tipped with spikes.

“Does this one remind you of something?” Count Scalid asked as he furrowed his brow.

“Yes, it resembles the Great Beast slightly.” Count Uxtual said.

“Well they do say all that breaths were built in the image of the Old Gods.” Count Scalid said.

“I supposed that was true initially, right now we don’t look anything like the Old Gods.” Count Uxtual mused as he looked up at the ominous statue.

“This one looks like you.” Count Scalid said with a slight bit of mirth in  his voice.

“Very funny.” Count Uxtual replied with a sideway glance and he saw the barest hint of a smile on his old friend’s face.

“The Wraith King.” Count Scalid said as he looked down at the nameplate.

Count Uxtual looked down at the words below and noted how this one seemed far more simple and ominous.

Give in to despair

Let hope surrender

“The Wraith King was the oldest and most cruel of the Firstborn.” the Draconian said from her seat on the throne. 

“Is it dead?” Count Uxtual asked.

“Yes, I was there when he fell.” the Draconian said and with those words Count Uxtual finally plucked up the courage to ask the big question.

“Are you the Goddess Mahaila?” Count Uxtual asked his mouth turning dry.

“My name is Mahaila, a name gifted to me by my mother. As for being a goddess I am nothing as grand as that. I find my crowning achievement to be The Blade’s one and only apprentice.” the Draconian said calmly. 

“So you have finally returned, Empress.” Count Uxtual said and he noted that the other three had all turned to face her.

“I’m hardly an Empress now, how can I be an Empress without an Empire?” Mahaila said with a chuckle.

“We can build it again, with your return, Zarima can rise once more. No nation will be able to best us.” Count Uxtual said as he took a step forward and he saw a sad smile cross her face.

“It’s not about nations, states or empires. What has always mattered to me were the lives of my kin. I never wanted the crown, but I took it up because I was the best candidate. The Empire was just a means to an end. Besides, we cannot be the strongest nation anymore. We have been having alot of fun when the owners are away, now the owner has finally come home.” Mahaila said softly, her voice carrying an almost haunting tone.

“What do you mean?” Count Uxtual asked in confusion.

“He who rules must have the power to do so. Right now there is one who is more powerful than me who comes to take the world for their own. I have been promised a great many things for our people. Promises that I can enforce.” Mahaila said.

“What promises?” Count Uxtual asked.

“The Averlonian Empire will swallow the world and we will be granted a privileged seat at that table. I cannot reveal myself for now but I will rule from the shadows and eventually Zarima will be the envy of the world.” Mahaila said and Count Uxtual paused for a moment as confusion filled his mind.

“Why can’t you reveal yourself?” Count Scalid asked as he approached as well. By now all four of the great nobles were standing before their Goddess of War.

“Do you know why I left? Why I left all of you one day and left all of you to your own devices? You would not have fallen as far as you have if I still ruled. I am immortal, there would never be a succession crisis as long as I lived. Zarima would not fracture, the glories of old would have been maintained. Are you not curious as to why I abandoned all of you?” Mahaila asked and the four nobles didn’t have the strength to reply.

“It is because if I stayed I would have doomed Zarima. The Seraphim did not like how powerful we were growing. They were uncomfortable with my existence. The threat I posed, their greatest warrior, the Archangel Mihael, we once crossed blades and he was defeated. I even left him a token of my regards…” Mahaila said as she ran a finger across the side of her face referencing the long scar on Mihael’s face.

“Their strongest weapon broke before me, so of course the supposed rulers would not be comfortable with my existence. Even if I did help them break the grip of the Old Gods, even if I did save the Archangel Uriel on numerous occasions. It doesn’t matter to them, I was a threat so I had to be removed. The only question was, if I would drag all of you down with me?” Mahaila said and Count Uxtual felt his blood start to boil. The Seraphim couldn’t defeat their Goddess and Empress in a straight fight. So they used the whole of Zarima as a hostage?

“We were hostages, we were always hostages.” Count Uxtual muttered.

“Yes, the angels sold you two weeks ago, you know. An agreement was made with the Empress and the Great Beast. They would allow Zarima to be conquered in exchange for dealing with the Black Crusade.” Mahaila said and Count Uxtual snarled in response.

“So what will we do?” Count Uxtual asked earnestly, looking to his Goddess for guidance.

“We will get conquered.” Mahaila replied with a smirk.

“What?” Count Uxtual sputtered in response.

“The angels have no idea I am working with the Empire. They have no idea they are handing my lands back to me. The Empire was only granted this because of the Great Beast’s power. By being under the Empire we are also under their protection. Zarima as it stands cannot survive on its own. The promises I mentioned are almost complete autonomy. We will be allowed to prosper under their protection and we will also receive the benefits of the Empire’s powerful economy. 

So we will hide under their umbrella until the day the final battle comes. The Great Beast will clash with Heaven eventually. I want us to be free of Heaven, I do not wish for Heaven to burn but if it must burn then that is something I am willing to live with. But what I am not willing to live with is this shadow of a life all of you live now. 

Heaven wanted this world to be a walled garden, but they couldn’t even be bothered to put some flowers in the damn thing or even do the basic amount of pruning.” Mahaila said, her voice tight and cold.

“They are absentee rulers, much like the Emperor that rules you now. Only one individual can answer to no one, most of us will always answer to someone. I know your reservations of trading one master for another but self determination is just a path to the grave.

Right now I deem it to be the best path forward. I do not care who rules as long as they do their damn job. There must always be a ruler, the only question is if they are worthy of the crown upon their head.” Mahaila said.

“I find that difficult to accept. To be ruled by someone that is not Zariman.” Count Scalid said from the side.

“Of course you do, this walled garden is all you have ever known.” Mahaila said as she shifted her gaze to the statues that surrounded them.

“Do you know why I built these statues in this room?” Mahaila asked as she looked around the room at each of the terrifying statues.

“They are not statues of worship, they do not bring comfort. They are a harsh reminder of the rules of this world. These Old Gods made the rules of the world. They lived by a survival of the fittest mentality, the strong will inevitably will devour and dominate. 

I have watched it happen over and over again. The strong devouring the weak whether for sustenance or by conquest. This always happens eventually, there is no escaping it. The core problem was never this odd concept of us as Zarimans deciding our future. It was obtaining the means to bring the best possible future for our people. That is my goal, that has always been the goal of every civilization that has come. Those that lose sight of that goal end up in the history books.” Mahaila said as she kept her eyes on the statue of the Eternal Mother.

“I served them once, every soul alive knew we could not fight them. They were gods and we were insects. They ruled for as long as history was being recorded. There is a hundred million year gap in the history of the world, we know nothing of the distant past. Of the time where even recording history wasn’t a concept. Most of this world’s history was just the Old Gods walking the world. They are ancient beyond comprehension. Even now I can barely believe we won against them…” Mahaila said as she sighed and looked down as if reliving some dark past memories.

“Do you want to know the simple fact that everyone alive knew when the Old Gods walked the world?” Mahaila asked as she looked at the silent four nobles. Who although are often referred to as the four great nobles now felt very small.

We live because they allow it

We will die when they command it