The Book of Immortals - The Beast of The Lands

The Unleashing

In the distant past, humans were once revered as the apex predators, and though far from harmonious, they thrived.

Years after the gods vanished, they were reduced to no more than a species used to populate the children of Chaos.

Three Champions ascended above all, rebuilding the world after it fell into ruins. Decades passed to humans, but to them, they remembered it like it was yesterday.

The winds were as hollow as an echo throughout the night.

In the blink of an eye, the world descended into chaos, and silence blanketed the atmosphere as if time itself had ceased.

The sky that once glittered with fireworks cracked and shattered like a broken mirror.

The once-pearled moon soon painted itself crimson, casting an eerie, blood-red glow upon the skies.

The ground soon rumbled—a scene that one could only read in a fantasy novel. A blinding light flashed throughout the skylines, lightening, and clashing with the hellfire that sprouted from the cracks within the earth. One can only describe it as if heaven and hell were clashing.

Survival instincts kicked in as realizations set in. Many ran chaotically, but nowhere was safe as fire consumed everything it touched, and Zeus' wrath struck, causing buildings to crumble.

What was once known as fiction became reality when the ground trembled with the first waves of transformation, men became beasts, and the beasts feasted on those that remained men.

An insatiable thirst slowly coated their confusion about this anomaly as the scent of blood drenched the air and death gloomed over those deemed unfavoured by the gods.

Eyes weld with tears as the blood moon shined brighter over the terror-filled night. The beasts, no different than newborn cattle, ran rampant through the night, leaving nothing but havoc in their path, killing—no, slaughtering—everything in sight. Their thirst, brought on by their new form, left little room for self-control or humility; only their newfound urge to taste blood was at the forefront of their minds.

The streets were littered with the remnants of what was once human civilization., transformed into a grotesque battlefield.

The scent of destruction and fear filled the air as pleas for a saviour, salvation, and forgiveness soon fell silent, no later than the sounds of bones being devoured echoed through the night. As one prey fell, another was hunted.

What cruel atrocities must one commit to deserve being mutilated by jiggered teeth and ripped apart, limb from limb, all the while alive? It was a mercy to die quickly, rather than those that withered away slowly once the monsters had gotten bored from gnawing on their bones and feasting on their organs, their blood-shot eyes strained from tears, and their throats swollen from constant pleas.

The beasts wanted nothing more than to satisfy their insatiable need to feed their wanton thrills.

The thrill

of the hunt...

to Kill...

to Conquer....

As the night danced on, more beasts appeared, but one among the majority stood above all, gallivanting restlessly in search of its next prey, not to feed but to toy with. This cruel monster tormented the unsaved souls of his past and thrived on the pure ecstasy that soared through its veins as his vengeance was fulfilled. The excitement his soul felt when the silky texture of his enemies' blood saturated its tongue, quenching the thirst brought forth by rage. As the beast grew more erratic, its animalistic urges came to the forefront, and remnants of the man who was once human faded almost past the brink of no return.

Remnants of the blood coated the tips of his fur as he made his exit from the thickets and entered yet another bloody street, the same as the ones prior. Lifeless bodies were severed and scattered; others, though fully intact, were depleted of their essence, leaving nothing but a pale corpse with sunken flesh. As the area showed no signs of life, he continued his journey.

The howls of many echoed in the distance, causing the beast to stir with anticipation as it charged forward. His senses became overpowered with unfamiliarity as he steered to a new destination, a newfound compulsion to dominate the unknown. The earth shook with each stride the beast took, paying no mind to the rainbow of enlarged eyes that bore into his large, distinctive physique.

It was apparent that he was different from the rest. His skin was a patchwork of mottled fur, as black as the abyss, littered with protruding veins like armour and fiery eyes that glowed with the depths of hell. Three heads, snarling and baring wicked fangs, sat upon his shoulders, a foresight into the torments awaiting the new world.

As the beast neared its destination, its pace turned into leisurely strides, interrupting the lesser beasts that feasted on the undead. Its presence was felt before it was seen, the flesh of its victims still hanging between its teeth.

As his stride drew nearer, some immediately phased into a crouching posture, ears flattened, tails tucked between their legs, and heads bowed to the ground. His murderous presence forced them into submission. None could resist the will the three-headed beast forced upon them, and it took nothing more than a growl from the beast for them to begin shifting.

As their blood lust faded and their humanity flicked, memories of the heinous crimes their beastly forms committed set in, their stomachs churned, and those that could not withstand the guilt of their actions allowed their bodies to give in as bile exited their blood-stained mouths.

The question about what occurred went unanswered. The possibilities of what they remembered as simply being a dream were lowered when the beast before them howled, and without hesitation or thought, their bodies fell to the ground, kneeling before the monstrosity, vowing to serve without reason.

Therion was granted unparalleled power for a reason: to stand as a guardian against the impending darkness and to defend the world once ruled by gods. No one knew the reason.

One thing was for sure:

They had been forsaken.

From the ashes of hell stood a champion.