Blood And Stone

Chapter 27: Death Is Born

Torvir stood naked as the day he was born, which was quite a long time ago, staring out the window of his new private bathing chamber. Having successfully taken over as the King, and disposing of the real King's body most horrifically and satisfyingly, he had taken all the King had possessed as his own. He had spent weeks wrapping himself in the fine fabrics that the King had carelessly draped around his shoulders, curling up in the many beds that were generally reserved for the royals that visited, and even indulging in many of the King's female consorts, all of which were killed after. He was living a highly privileged life now. He walked the streets and reveled in the fact that all that crossed his path would kneel in devotion or fear. It was glorious.

Torvir reached behind himself and gave his ass a nice scratch before dragging his dirty bath water to the window in several buckets. "Water! There's water here!" He yelled into the night. The homeless swarmed like roaches with buckets and cups held above their heads in pure desperation. He smiled as he recognized several of the dirty faces as the King's guards. He had dispatched the majority of them as his new servant, Guthrid, was strong enough to replace them on his own. He grabbed the first bucket and tossed the contents out the window, laughing as the darkened water splashed over the crowd. Several scuttled away, satisfied with their filled containers.

Torvir noticed that the remaining people were mostly King sympathizers and had a grand yet horrifying idea. Pushing the second bucket of dirty water to the side, Torvir fetched his waste bucket. It stood nearly full of his excrement and urine, the flies buzzing around it dipped and dove excitedly at their meal. Taking it swiftly to the window, not only did he pour it onto the heads of those below, he tossed the entire bucket out, laughing as it bounced off one of the men's heads. The man collapsed and a dark pool of blood spread around him as he lay there. "Alas! Kneel before thy new king and ye shall have flesh to dine on tonight!"

The remaining people dropped to their knees faster than he had ever seen. One man hit the stone road so hard that his knee split open and began to bleed. Not giving his wound a single second of his attention, he joined in with the collective, "All hail the eternal King, Torvir the Terrible!".

"Gather your knives and separate your portions, dinner has been served!" Torvir laughed as his crooked finger pointed at the unconscious man on the ground. With permission from their King, the crowd began to dismember the man, killing him in the process, and scuttled back to their homes to feed their starving families. He then poured the remaining bath water over the spot and watched the blood lightly float away.

The smile that slid across his face was filled with decaying teeth, looking much older than he was but adding a satisfyingly horrific touch to his appearance. He found great delight in the fact that his face made the small children of the city weep and the adults wince away in disgust. He was a despicable man with the ugliest of faces and the most disgusting of fantasies, all of which he planned to enact as his reign of terror drew on.

As he began his retreat, a bitter wind rushed down from the ruins of the tower to his East. The wind thrust itself between every home and building, forcing it up and through his window, wrapping itself around him like an icy fist. His decrepit and saggy body slammed against the cold stone of the floor and the fist held him there, pressing into his sternum as if it were a man's hard boot. Any attempt to draw air into his lungs caused the invisible boot to sink harder, compacting his lungs and threatening to snap every bone in his torso. The pain shot through him faster than the panic, leaving him angry before he could even think to be afraid. He lay that way for several moments, trapped beneath the invisible force. The cold gripped him, burning his skin and leaving a fine layer of crystallized water caught on the ends of his chest hair. As quickly as the icy tyrant had come, it disappeared, leaving him gasping on the floor with nipples as frozen and shiny as the purest of diamonds.