How Gods Bleed

by Shane Porteous

As Yorow turned to face him Hazum Ka-te launched the Cloud Cutter like it was some kind of gigantic arrow directly at her. Yorow brought her spear up easily knocking the Cloud Cutter out of her way. But Hazum Ka-te did not stop his charge he continued on as if he was still armed. Yorow plunged her spear into his chest, cutting through his armor like weathered parchment, his flesh and bones stood no chance. The blade went all the way through, bringing Hazum Ka-te to an awful stop and a dreaded silence.

  Blood, all shades of red, poured out from all sides of the spear as blood spewed forth from his mouth underneath his helmet. Yorow looked him directly in the eye as the light of his soul slowly began to diminish. His legs began to tremble as strength was stolen from them, yet he remained standing. He coughed, bringing up another splat of blood that now began to ran down his chest and join its brethren around the tip of the spear. He gasped loudly only to swallow his blood, causing him to violently spit it out. With his eyes hollowing he looked into the eyes of Yorow who seemed perplexed by what he had done. Why did he continue to charge if he had thrown his spear away?

  “So,” Hazum Ka-te gasped out with a tone so eerie and otherworldly he sounded almost like a ghost hell bent on haunting Yorow. “That is what my own blood taste like.” His words sounded so unnatural that Yorow could not bring herself to look away from him as if in doing so would somehow ensure he would haunt her for the rest of her days. A smile more morbid than anything Yorow had ever seen appeared on his face as he said, “I kind of like the way it tastes.”

  He may have become delirious because of his blood loss but his words nonetheless were powerful.

  “You are a fool,” Yorow said sternly.

  “Am I?” Hazum Ka-te replied before he coughed out another splat of blood, decorating the gray of his armor with an unwanted crimson.

  Before Yorow could answer Hazum Ka-te summoned what strength he had left to seize her by the wrists. She glanced down as he trapped her hands upon her own spear before she was drawn to the sight of Gokkus. The man dressed in black had done what he had been told to do, he held his bow with an arrow strung and ready to fire. Zova and Imbaka did not allow the shock of what they were seeing to override their instincts, they thought the same thing, taking out their bows and stringing arrows. Yorow looked back to Hazum Ka-te with hatred in her eyes as she realized what he had done. He smiled back knowing that he had succeeded. Yorow grunted like some kind of feral thing before she forced her hands off of the spear in turn causing Hazum Ka-te to let go also.

  But it was too late the arrows had been fired and not even her speed would be enough to stop them. From three angles the arrows pierced her heart, through the top and one either side. She let out a gasp as her body realized what was happening to it. With this cold realization she fell backwards, dead before she had even touched the ground.

  Amazingly Hazum Ka-te remained standing, even managing to move his faceplate so the blood that fell from his mouth could do so freely. Gokkus, Imbaka and Zova rushed over to him, their expressions twisted in shock and horror. Gokkus stood behind him placing his hands upon his shoulder and back while Zova and Imbaka rushed to his sides. Together the Helluvan women removed the spear from his wound, throwing it onto the ground away from them. Gokkus could feel the strength leave Hazum Ka-te and very slowly allowed him to fall onto the ground, where Gokkus kept his head raised ever so slightly. Zova and Imbaka knelt by his sides, placing their hands in his to let him know that they were there. The colour of his eyes was almost gone now as the blood flowed freely from his mouth. Gently Imbaka brushed her hand across his face; there was no warmth to be felt within his skin. Her touch didn’t even seem to register as Hazum Ka-te stared into the dark angry sky. None of the three dared to look away from him, knowing if they did they may miss the final second of his life.

  There was no point in fooling themselves, not even someone as tough as Hazum Ka-te could survive such a viscous wound. His sacrifice touched them all deeply, never before in battle had he received so much as a single wound. He proved the legends about him a myth, all to ensure that the other Helluvans would survive.

  “Gokkus, Zova, Imbaka,” Hazum Ka-te forced out weakly in his now ghostly voice.

  “We are here Hazum Ka-te,” Gokkus said unsure if the once wielder of the Cloud Cutter could still see them.

  “Is there anything you want me to tell Tanagy and Leannol?” Hazum Ka-te asked weakly.

  If his sacrifice had touched them all deeply than this question pushed the feeling even further. With a trembling lip and glass like eyes Imbaka said with a forced calm. “Tell them that they are not forgotten…and neither will you be….”

  Hazum Ka-te made no visible response but they knew he had heard them. The blood that had been flowing from his mouth seemed to stop if only long enough for him to whisper.

  “Until we meet again….”

  “ May you be immortal in memory,” Zova and Imbaka said at the exact same time with the exact same sadness.

  There was no final breath, no final light that vanished from his eyes but Hazum Ka-te, the greatest Helluvan warrior of history was dead. Gokkus gently closed the eyes of his companion with a brush of his hand.

  “Thank you my friend,” he said somberly.

  Zova and Imbaka continued to hold his hands even though they could feel nothing but his cold dead skin. They were so consumed by his selflessness and his passing that none of the remaining three Helluvans looked up as a light identical to the one that came from Aneeku sprang forth from the corpse of Yorow and covered the sky in its unique light.

  The Helluvans may not have paid any attention to the light but Solloc did, after blocking the strike of Cada Varl his attention was drawn upwards as the light indicated that Yorow was dead. “What?” Solloc gasped out as if he was convinced his eyes were showing him an illusion. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the dead body of Yorow for himself.

  “Solloc!” Nara screamed realizing he had taken his eyes off of his enemy.

  Just as Solloc turned his head around Cada Varl was already upon him, slashing his sword through the air so quickly that he continued moving forward after his blade had cleaved flesh. The head of Solloc spun off of the shoulders as blood exploded in all directions into the air.

  Cada Varl had seen his chance to end Solloc’s life and he did not hesitant in doing so. The head of the blonde haired swordsman continued spinning through the air before it landed with a heavy wet thud. It had happened so swiftly that Solloc’s expression remained frozen and twisted in shock of Yorow’s death. The dark purple blood that now was oozing from his headless corpse was enough to prove that Solloc was indeed a werewolf.

  As light left the body of Solloc, rising and blinding the sky Cada Varl turned to face Nara, who was now all-alone. The expression upon her face was one of utter shock combined with the greatest of saddest. It was easy to see simply by looking at her that out of all the ways this day could have ended, this was one scenario she never thought of. Her eyes were fixated upon the lifeless eyes of Solloc almost as if she believed if she stared long enough than he would return from the world of the dead. The Helluvans now silently said goodbye to Hazum Ka-te and Gokkus gently placed his head onto the ground. As they stood back up their eyes fell upon Nara and like arrows readied to be fired she felt them upon her.

  She looked away from Solloc, towards the lifeless body of Yorow. The Helluvans now stood alongside Cada Varl, their eyes consumed by the idea of vengeance. Very slowly Nara looked upon them as all three took out their bows and strung arrows. But her eyes were drawn to the red eyes of the Immortal, the one who had killed Solloc. Nara remained in shock but her eyes slowly appeared to be returning to the moment at hand. She was outnumbered and knew there was no line of retreat. Even if she could stop the arrows of the Helluvans Cada Varl could easily catch her. She looked into the eyes of each of her enemies ensuring that her eyes rested upon Cada Varl as she said, “My chance for salvation has come to an end, but my usefulness hasn’t.”


  To the group her words didn’t make sense but to her they were all too clear. She lowered her head as the clubs dropped from her hands sounding as loud as thunder in the otherwise silence when they struck the ground. The long blades of grass around her slowly bent as if they were being swopped upon by a powerful wind, yet the air remained still.

  “She’s transforming!” Imbaka bellowed with a tone that was uncharacteristically unrestrained. The memory of Aneeku flashed in all of their minds as Cada Varl leapt forward bringing his weapon to the forefront.

  Just as he was upon her a light shot up seemingly from the ground itself before her. Instantly the light formed a cylinder around her like an almost transparent wall of metallic pink. When Cada Varl touched this strange light he could feel an unseen yet powerful force strike every inch of him. Involuntarily he was forced to leap backwards as pain struck him. He had never felt anything quite like it but the memory of pain was something he would never forget. Nara raised her head revealing that her eyes were now glowing the shade of pink of the cylinder around her. Thunder now could be heard repeatedly, one after another, angry roars echoed throughout the land, none of which seemed to be summoned from the dark sky.

  Nara opened her mouth revealing that the pink light of her eyes filled her mouth as well. Her face twisted as if she was screaming in agony yet no sound came from her. Cada Varl had been shaken by the force of the strange light feeling his own hands tremble in agony. The cylinder of light around Nara continued to ascend all the way into the sky and as it touched the clouds they separated, revealing the light of the sun to shine down through the cylinder. It almost looked like an act of divinity, but there seemed nothing sacred about such an act.

  The Helluvans, realizing the consequences if Nara transformed fired their arrows simultaneously. As soon as the arrows came into contact with the light they froze in midair for a single moment before they disintegrated as if burned by some invisible fire. As the Helluvans remained in a dark silence the Immortal kept his eyes upon Nara. Her body now was completely engulfed by the light but it had yet to change shape.

  “Get back!” Cada Varl bellowed with words strong enough for the Helluvans to look upon him. He did not return their gaze keeping his eyes transfixed on Nara. The Helluvans did not wait to be told twice they turned and moved quickly towards the body of Hazum Ka-te. Between them Gokkus and Imbaka picked up his body as Zova took the Cloud Cutter in hand. They did not look back to the Immortal for they knew what he was doing. The red light he had summoned to defeat Aneeku with slowly was returning as the air around him began to twist and turn unnaturally.

  It now was a race to see who would transform first, and Nara had a definite head start. Cada Varl could see Nara’s body begin to change rapidly. It was not long after she had began to change that Cada Varl saw that it would be far different than the transformation Aneeku went under. She grew in height but only by a foot or so, not triple the size like Aneeku had. Her arms bulged with new and terrible muscle that then elongated itself. Fur began to grow but it was of different sizes depending on where on her body it was grown. Her face changed but did not become elongated; rather it stayed a similar size. Her fingernails grew like claws as strange flat lengths grew out of the top of her wrists, which resembled sword blades over anything organic. Her ears grew until they were half the length of her head, finishing off in points sharper than even the tip of a spear. A tail that was almost longer than her entire body then spouted, covered with a fur so fine it looked more like pink skin. Her once fine clothes ripped and tattered before falling away from her new body onto the ground before her. Her mouth became covered in 4 rows of sharp teeth with each tooth looking more like a fang.

  As she was nearing her completion the air around Cada Varl continued to increase in both light and heat. As the light and heat expanded the blades of grass around him soon ignited in flame and it took only a second before an inferno had covered the field. The Helluvans who had already moved away a considerable distance now hurried to escape the wrath of the flames. Cada Varl was so focused on Nara he did not even seem to notice that the field was engulfed in an inferno that he had created.

  Now the scream that had silently been leaving the body of Nara could now be heard. It was a sound so powerful the clouds above began to crack like glass. The Light that had consumed her body now disappeared causing the cylinder to then vanish. As it did so it summoned a wind so powerful that it instantly put out the flames of the inferno Cada Varl had created. What once was orange was now a deathly black as Nara completed her transformation.

  The only thing upon her face that resembled a wolf was her nose, apart from that she looked like something else entirely. Her skin and fur was mostly pink with several stripes of dark red, as her claws, being the same crimson in colour, a shade darker than red. The blade like things that came out of her wrists were the same colour as her claws. Her eyes remained large and yellow, filled with something that Cada Varl didn’t recognize, but certainly didn’t like. The light of the cylinder had blown out the inferno like it was the flame of a single birthday cake candle. This was a troubling sign when comparing their power.

  As Cada Varl looked upon her with a faint glow of red around him and his sword Nara was looking upon her hands. She was looking at them like she had never seen them before and chances were that she had never seen them quite like this. Slowly she clenched her hands and then released them several times over as if ensuring that this new body did as her mind commanded. Even the very air around her felt different, heavy with something that could not be seen but was definitely there.

  As she looked upon her hands her newly created tail began to strike the ground with so much strength that the ground cracked open, deeper and deeper with every crack of her tail. The sound of such a movement was louder than even thunder as her tail continued to crack against the ground. She seemed transfixed by her new body so much so that she paid no attention to the Immortal as he looked upon her intently. If he had been able to summon the red light a moment earlier he would have been able to attack her before her transformation had been completed. Not only was her transformation far different than Aneeku’s Cada Varl could sense he was dealing with something far more sever. Invigorated by the red light Cada Varl rushed forward moving far faster than even the sharpest of human eyes could see. Nara still seemed transfixed by her own hands as Cada Varl leapt towards her.

  Then she moved, bringing the blade of her right wrist up and instantly putting a stop to Cada Varl’s movement. The Immortal had moved so fast that the wind took a moment to catch up with him, summoning and then disappearing in one horrible moment. An attack that had so easily killed Aneeku had been stopped by Nara with disturbing ease. She didn’t even have to look upon Cada Varl to stop him as she continued to open and close her left hand.

  As Cada Varl’s feet touched the ground Nara slowly looked upon him with those strange powerful eyes. How they now taunted the Immortal as if Nara was silently asking him ‘Is that the best you can do?’ Before Cada Varl could do anything else Nara pushed her arm forward forcing Cada Varl to leap back. Her tail continued to strike the ground as she turned her body fully to face him. Cada Varl kept his sword raised and his expression hardened, unsure exactly of what he should do.

  Nara looked upon him a moment more then she attacked. She moved so quickly that not even Cada Varl saw her movements completely. But he saw enough to raise his sword in time to stop her. The wind that was summoned by her movement was so powerful it rivaled the wrath of a hurricane. Cada Varl could feel his knees buckle ever so slightly as the blades clashed. Nara had moved so quickly it truly seemed that she had somewhere disappeared from one spot before reappearing in front of him.

  When she saw the concern in the eyes of the Immortal her face twisted to resemble the darkest of smiles. Suddenly she brought her other blade forward and Cada Varl struggled to block the strike. Undeterred Nara struck again and then again, in a pattern of direct and incredibly powerful strike
s. Cada Varl managed to block them but he had to take a step back every time he did so. There was little technique to Nara’s strikes; she seemed simply amused that Cada Varl was struggling to avoid them.

  When Cada Varl was pushed more than halfway across the field he managed to deliver a counter strike that Nara easily blocked with a single blade. She smiled again as she drove her other blade forward causing the Immortal to disengage and step back. He delivered two quick strikes, both of which were easily blocked. They had been performed as if simply to give Cada Varl some kind of offense in the fight. He did not allow the fact Nara had so easily blocked his strikes to overwhelm him, he forced himself onto the offensive. Swinging his sword more like it was an axe he hammered his blade down repeatedly shifting the direction slightly with each strike. Nara blocked every one of them with a single blade before she struck back with the other. The sound of each strike was delayed because of the speed with which each strike was being performed.

  The sound was poison to the ears of the Helluvans who were now watching from quite a distance. They had placed the body of Hazum Ka-te onto the ground as they could not take their eyes off of the sight that was befalling them. It was painfully obvious that the power Nara possessed was not only greater than Aneeku’s; it was an entire world beyond it. Even with the red light around him Cada Varl was making no ground, he was locked in a struggle that he saw no way out of. Nara was like a cat playing with her prey, it would not be long before she grew bored and ended this. Cada Varl was managing to block each of her attacks but they were getting closer and closer to cleaving his flesh.

  After barely blocking one such strike Cada Varl tried to bring his weapon up, hoping he was quick enough to bypass her blades. But she saw his movements and brought both her weapons down upon it, crossing one over the other. Easily she forced the tip of his sword upon the ground, effectively trapping it from any kind of movement. She barely gave the Immortal a moment to look her in the eye before she brought her tail over her shoulder and towards Cada Varl.

  She had moved her tail like it was some kind of organic spear, aiming to strike the Immortal directly between the eyes. Cada Varl violently jerked his head out of the way of the tail, but still its fur brushed against his face so quickly, it broke the skin of his cheek and caused it to bleed in tiny places. This was not an isolated movement for Nara repeated the strike of her tail again and again, seemingly trying to simply overwhelm him. He was moving his head so violently from side to side that if he was a normal human his neck would have broken like a twig. The two combatants became little more than a blur even in the sharp eyes of Zova. As Nara tried to literally bludgeon him to death Cada Varl struggled to get his sword free. He had to get away from Nara, he had to, but without his weapon such movement would accomplish nothing more than a delayed death.

  If through nothing more than sheer determination Cada Varl pulled his weapon free, much to the anger of Nara. She had overestimated her powers and was infuriated to see that the Immortal was not utterly hopeless against her. She would make him pay for his defiance, bringing her own weapons up while still trying to strike him with her tail.

  She tried to trap his blade again but he saw through her tactics, smashing his weapon against hers in such a way his blade remained free of capture. Nara struck her tail forward yet again but Cada Varl leapt back to avoid it. Nara then unleashed a tirade of attacks using both of her blades and her tail, keeping Cada Varl struggling to block the onslaught. Somewhere amongst the melee Nara attempted to trap his sword the way she had done before. But Cada Varl learned quickly and leapt back before she could do so. Nara turned bringing her tail like a tree trunk across the face of the Immortal, bypassing his sword. The tail smashed into his mouth causing blood to splatter out like steam from an overheated fire. Cada Varl stumbled unable to keep his footing, but before Nara could end his life he regained himself and blocked both of her blades. He tried to leap back but Nara followed him attacking with all three of her weapons. As Cada Varl hastily moved his sword to block them the air around him began to twist and turn as it had done before.

  Nara quickly sensed what was happening around her and for the first time she leapt back. The light that had been outlining the Immortal now grew the opposite way to how it had shrunk, returning to what it once was. Nara watched on with narrow eyes soon realizing what the Immortal was doing. He had finally found away to break her attack even though he knew that it wasn’t a permanent solution. Nara then leapt forward utterly unfazed by the returning heat and light. Cada Varl blocked her strike and remained on the defensive as both the heat and light intensified around him. It reinvigorated him and allowed him to block her strikes with slightly more ease. He was even able to leap back from her and place distance between the two of them. Light the same colour as what surrounded him flashed in his eyes before he raised his sword, commanding all of the light to engulf the blade with its power. He yelled as he swung the sword down causing the energy to leave the blade and move towards Nara like a mighty wave from an angry ocean.

  In response to this new attack Nara opened her mouth raising her head as she placed her hands out to either side of her. The cylinder of light that had formed while she was transforming instantly reappeared, becoming almost like a cliff that the red wave came harmlessly crashing onto. As the red light disappeared from sight Nara lowered her head and peered directly into the eyes of the Immortal. Cada Varl summoned back the red light around him as the pink cylinder of Nara suddenly broke apart, eerily like glass. The shattered pieces of the cylinder did not fall but rather changed, quickly transforming into spheres of various size.

  Now looking like frozen drops of some kind of strange rain the spheres stayed still in the air before suddenly rushing forward directly towards the Immortal. The spheres now more resembled shooting stars, moving at a similar pace as well. Cada Varl then began to grunt and for the first time since the Helluvans had met him; he sounded more like a beast than a human. His grunts served a purpose for the red light around him became darker and far thicker, to the point that he could no longer be seen. The pink shooting spheres struck upon the red light but even their speed and power was not enough to break through. Soon the spheres had vanished completely as the red light then fell from around the Immortal crashing like waves sucked up by a cyclone that had suddenly come to an end.

  The red light didn’t vanish however but stayed close to the ground around him as his eyes now glowed, filled with the crimson colour. Nara looked on and was about to charge when Cada Varl summoned part of the light around his sword once more and again unleashed a wave of power upon his enemy. Nara reacted quickly bringing the cylinder of pink around her once more. The attack ultimately appeared pointless as the wave of red vanished as soon as it struck the pink. The red energy continued to move close to the ground around the Immortal as his eyes remained glowing and powerful. As it had done before the cylinder shattered as the spheres returned to fill the air.

  Then without the Immortal moving so much as his finger the remaining red energy rose up in four great columns around him. Just as the spheres began to transform into shapes resembling shooting stars the columns of red leapt forth like the four hands of some twisted giant. Against this surging columns the spheres could do nothing but be absorbed by them, leaving Nara wide opened to attack. The surging red columns struck her from all sides causing her to scream in an excoriation even the gods would struggle to imagine. Like fire the columns engulfed her ascending into the sky and burning even the surrounding clouds. It was a horrible sight to behold that was over almost as quickly as it started.

  In the most sickening of a sense, Nara had been cooked alive, her once red and pink skin was now a charcoal black as every strand of fur had been burnt away. The smell of her cooked flesh dominated the air as she stood ever so still. It had happened so quickly that there was still life in her eyes even though she was surely dead. A single tear fell from her eyes that became steam a second after it had fallen. She then fell to the ground in
silence.

  The entire ordeal had been a surreal sight to behold, one not even found in the darkest of dreams. The dark sky finally unleashed its rain upon the world below as if the gods were terrified Cada Varl would summon the red light to engulf the entire world in fire. The rain that fell was so thick it was difficult to see through but even its strong scent could not cover the smell of cooked flesh. Cada Varl looked away from the falling rain to his companions with eyes still glowing in red. In that moment he looked more terrifying than any monster of Helluvan legend.