Herpo Chronicles

The Unholy Friar

Jonah, the barkeeper hurriedly wiped the dust off the shelves as the last customer walked out of the bar after paying his dues. He needed to close down his bar and hurry back home before the storm set in..Everyone was off the roads. The night was here once again. The cursed night when people avoided being outdoors after dark. Jonah remembered growing up surrounded by rumours about horrible stuff that took place in a village up on the hills nearby, almost half a century ago. The townspeople in the plains have since then considered this night inauspicious. But Jonah didn't want to think about that now. He shrugged off the thoughts. He could hear the storm approaching from outside. Damn these customers. They come here with all their godforsaken worries and get drunk until they are all over the floor. He expected to get home early tonight but these drunkards got him late as usual. He looked around. All the lanterns were out except for the one on the table, which was already flickering ominously, threatened to be put out by the howling wind from outside. Jonah still had to count the day's earnings and jot it down before leaving. As he started flipping the pages of the accounts book, he heard the entrance door him creak. Someone had entered.

"Sorry sir. The bar's already closed for the day," he said without looking up.

There was no reply. Jonah looked up. The man just stood there still. With just the one lamp in the room, all he could see was this unexpected guest's silhouette. From what he could make out, the guest wasn't very tall, was wearing a hood that hid his face and there was something sinister about his appearance that unnerved him.

"You heard me I am sure. I can't be of any help. The bar is closed".
The intruder was now looking around the shop. He looked like some kind of a friar from his clothes and what appeared like a long staff in his hand.

" I don't want what you sell Kemet", the man said at last.
It was the most intimidating voice Jonah had ever heard in his life. It wasn't deep or booming but on the contrary, he spoke in sort of an eerie whisper which sounded sinister. Jonah could feel his hair rising. He was starting to feel scared now.
" I come here for information Kemet."
"I am sorry but what is it that you are calling me. My name is Jonah and I just run this bar for a living. I don't know what help i can...."

"Shhhhhhhh..." As the man hushed him, a snake like hissing escaped his mouth which made Jonah skip a heartbeat.
" Something happened in the town just above this on this very night fifty years ago Kemet. Something that made your kind fear this night. I want to know everything you can tell me about it."
" I-I don't understand. Who are you. And why are you calling me Kemet"

" I am led to believe that your kind are called Muggles around these parts but from where I am, you are a Kemet"

If that was supposed to make any sense or make him feel better , this scary stranger was doing a very bad job at it, thought Jonah, because he had not the faintest idea what a Muggle meant either.

" Tell me what happened in these parts 50 years ago that you are so afraid of" said the stranger. The commanding tone in his voice was now evident.
Jonah hesitated for a minute. But then thought it would be foolish to not comply with this sinister man ." I don't know for sure because I was but a child. All I know is some tinker's son who had settled up in the hills was burnt alive on a cross for practicing sorcery"

There was a maniacal laughter from the stranger and Jonah had never felt more scared ever in his whole life. Who was this man. What did he want...
" You kemets have never understood the pleasures and the ecstasy that we, the lucky ones have enjoyed. You call it sorcery, hate us, fear us but for what... Because in your heart, you know you can never stand up to us"

" My Revered Friar...I don't know what you are talking about. Please allow me to leave. I need to go home. I have a wife waiting who..."

"RIAKTUS ZATUNIN"
Jonah could do nothing but stare in shock as the man shouted out these words while he slammed his staff on the ground and a huge circle of fire formed its way around the both of them, encircling both him and the stranger.

" You will go nowhere without telling me what I need to know now"
Jonah felt like screaming but realized he had lost his voice. He could not even scream. He stood there, the heat from the fire making his eyes watery and his legs shaking with fear.

"You people killed one of us because he saved one of you. Foolish of him though. It would have been one more worthless Kemet purged off this realm. But I ask you, WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT. What happened later that night that nobody talks about"

" I swear to you..I don't know sorcerer. Please let me go. I have nothing to do with this," said Jonah almost beginning to break down..
"DON'T LIE TO ME. AN ENTIRE VILLAGE WIPED OUT OVERNIGHT. NOTHING BUT BLOOD AND BONES FOUND IN THE VALLEY. EVEN MY DARKEST MAGIC THAT I MASTERED FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS COULD NOT DO THAT. Something was unleashed upon them. Something you fear. Tell me what it is"

Jonah realized the radius of the fire circle was getting smaller. In a few moments, he would be engulfed in the fire. He looked desperately at the crucifix hung at the far corner of the room.

" Oh yes", smirked the sorcerer. "I saw that happen as well. I was there when they crucified him. The carpenter's son from Nazareth. I watched from atop a hill. Your race has always been ignorant, foolish. Killing the one noble enough to be willing to die for your own sins, not being able to sense his nobility. Guess what. Humanity has sinned again for the next 700 years. And this time, there will be nobody to die for your sins except for yourself".

Nothing of this meant sense to Jonah and he barely even heard as the heat kept getting unbearable with every second. He knew he was about to die and decided to keep thinking about his wife in his last moments.

" For the last time Kemet. What happened in that valley that night? What do you fear"

"IT'S A GIANT SNAKE ALL RIGHT ? THERE ARE RUMOURS THAT IT WAS A HUGE SERPENT THAT KILLED ALL THE TOWNSPEOPLE THAT NIGHT. Our elders believe the serpent still lurks around in the valleys above and looks to kill, particularly on this night. That's all I know. That's all"

The sorcerer now removed his hood at last. He was tonsured, had missing eyebrows, a long white flowing beard with numerous scars all over his face. His eyes were pure evil.

" Damn the elder gods. I knew it. I have been denied of my rightful place by the elder deities. But all of this will end tonight. I will end this on the very night it started."
'WHO ARE YOU," yelled Jonah.

" I am the one who has pushed the boundaries of magic to do what no mortal ever dreamt of. I am the one, the only one who has found a way to become immortal. I have lived for more than 1500 years, travelled the world and learnt every language on earth. I am the only living being who has been to the Nether realm and come out of there alive. I am the one who served the Elder Gods by hatching a chicken egg under a toad and giving them the most powerful weapon in the Nether Realm. The King of serpents...used to preserve order in the Nether Realm...But now the gods betray me. The King of Serpents was not to be brought into this realm....But the first one on earth was born fifty years ago....From tonight onwards, Elder gods, Kemets, no one will survive my wrath. I will be GOD MYSELF. AND I WILL PLAY FOUL. BECAUSE THEY CALL ME HERPO THE FOUL"

And with that the sorcerer hit the ground with his staff once again and the flames totally engulfed Jonah's body. The crackling of the huge flames as it set the entire bar ablaze muffled Jonah's cries of pain as he embraced death and left his mortal body. The sorcerer known as Herpo the Foul walked away from the building in flames and disappeared into the night.