Ghast's was ruined, his powers were suppressed by the
foul aura of the beast and he lay battered and broken before it. At
this point my lord's muscles were now clearly visible and were
starting to tear apart, his eyes could no longer see the what was
happening, and could only writhe in agony, his screams filling the
night air. But for all his pain, he clung to anything that could
allow him to perceive what would happen next. He muffled his screams
to listen, listen to the final words of his half-brother. “You hid
yourself so deep, Styx... So deep inside the flesh of this cheap
imitation... Your will has become great indeed... So great that it
drowns out my own power... This beast is your will, your successor...
What hell have you uncovered in that vile lab of yours... What have
you unleashed unto this world?... Our savior will never allow it...
Bestia Custos will return, and your legacy will know a pain
infinitely greater than mine! Hahahaha-”
Ghast's final words filled my lord with a renewed
sense of dread, “...Our savior... Bestia Custos...” Though not
known by younger Primerans, the story of the Bestia Custos is well
known by elders. Younger Primerans are not told this tale, as it
spreads ideals that many Primerans find to be harmful to our society.
As told to me by my clan's elder when I was a child, the Bestia
Custos, also known as the Animal Keeper, was a being that came to
Ferus Mundus during our darkest age thousands of years ago when
Primerans were little more than slaves and soldiers to our ancient
primordial progenitors. Each Primeran tribe member can trace his or
her lineage back to a single monstrous being. These creatures, known
simply as the Primeran gods, were colossi who waged constant battles
with one another. They sired armies of lesser beings who would become
modern Primerans to fight for them and spread their territory and
influence. We were all bound to the will of our clan's own
respective god, all but one. There is no true description for him,
some say he clothed himself to hide his identity, others say that he
appeared as he wished to better appeal to those he preached to. But
all agreed on what to call him, the Animal Keeper, he who watches
over all of us.
The name, Bestia Custos, is the name given to the
Animal Keeper in the old tongue, the first language Primerans
inherited from humans in the early days of our contact with them.
Regardless of which of the two names used, they referred to the same
individual. The Animal Keeper, as described by the clans most
oppressed in the dark times, was said to have power equivalent to
even the gods themselves, and strove to free our kind from its cruel
parentage, that after years of trying to convince the clans to rise
up against their sires, he eventually sacrificed himself by using all
his power to guide the gods into the depths of the Primeran
underworld, where they would sleep for eternity under his watchful
gaze, protecting Primerans forevermore from their tyranny. There are
those who believe that the Animal Keeper would return if the balance
of the Ferus Mundus was ever thrown into disarray. Alternatively, the
clans who were the most dominant during the dark ages have come to
view the legend as a tale of the consequences of acting against what
is considered to be the natural order. To some, the Animal Keeper was
a Primeran who could not change his cruel fate, and embraced a cursed
darkness that turned him into a monster that destroyed the old ways
and reduced the once dominant clans who had fought and died for their
place in the world to being no better than those they once considered
weaker than themselves. So it came to be that “he who watches over
all of us” could be used to described a protector to some, and an
all powerful oppressor to others.
Why is it then that Ghast would mention such a thing?
For Ghast to describe the Bestia Custos as a “savior” would imply
that he believed in the side of the tale that the Animal Keeper was a
liberator. Though it is true that the Rats were always supporters of
the “savior” version of the legend, the truth is that he served a
Black Heart, beings that would loath to have a god powered
revolutionary against them. Despite his current concerns for Ghast's
words, in that moment all of his thoughts were drowned out by the
immense pain coursing through every inch of his body coupled with
Ghast's insidious laughter, though it would not be for long.
It was then in mid cackle, that my master forced his
eyes open to witness the end of Ghast. From how he describes it,
Ghast was lifted into the air by the beast, who flooded his body with
its crimson tendrils of blood. Red light burned through through every
nook and cranny of Ghast's frame until his body erupted into a red
mist from the sheer force of the beast's roar annihilating Ghast
into oblivion. Though it was over quickly, it seemed almost too quick
of an ending to the terror that had haunted my lord's family for over
a century. It was then that my lord was left alone with the beast,
who had no one left to dispense its furious rage upon, no one but
him. But the beast did not turn on him, instead it bellowed another
roar skyward and enveloped itself in a whirling maelstrom of crimson
light and bloody lashing tendrils. With Ghast's death, his influence
was undone, and the tower he created quickly crumbled beneath my
lord's feet... Or did it not need Ghast's presence to remain, and
instead crumbled beneath the weight of the beast's own tremendous
power? Regardless, both the beast and my lord fell into the dark
depths of the tower, falling deeper into darkness.
Though it is apparent from my writing that both my lord
and Animal survived their fall, my master wishes to leave the
particulars of their survival and Animal's recovery a mystery. Though
I am unsure of why this is, I will respect his wishes. Afterall, if
it were not for him and Animal, my brother and I would have lost all
we hold dear, but that is a story best suited for another time.
No comments:
Post a Comment