Mors est Deus (Death to God/s)

Azraphael, the Sunderer

My name is Azraphael and I kill gods. If you are reading this then my mission is finished, there are no more gods. Every religion has some mention of me, In Christianity the apocalypse happens and the horsemen come to end the world, they were wrong, I come, to end their god. The Vikings believed ragnarok was the end of the world too, one final battle where there gods would die one by one and the world would end, again slightly off, their gods have all been slain by me, but the world keeps turning, in Egyptian mythology I am Apothis, the eater of the sun (also the eater of Ra, the sun god, and the entire world) I have no intention of eating the world and as for Ra, I tried to kill him once, sadly he got away, but that is a story for another time. Currently though I look probably just like anyone of you, while I walk this earth looking for revenge on Ra, Horus , (known now to you mortals as God and Jesus) I do so in the body of an 18 year old male, the curse Ra put on me during our confrontation that allowed him and Horus to get away.

I sighed and looked round at my surroundings, bright light, giant buildings of steel reaching their fingers into the starry night sky. Lights from cars and neon store signs light up the area and all the people’s faces milling around and going on their own busy ways. Every major city is the same, same people, same buildings, same lights... and same thugs. I sighed when I realised what I had done, here in Cairo the city is a maze and I had managed to wander into some dark back alley, filled with the usual sorts of people, thugs, muggers and rapists. Already I could hear the sound of footsteps hurrying towards me. I sighed again and took up a fighting stance, I was here undercover, no powers no weapons, I didn’t want to attract attention. Three thugs ran up to me, and I studied them one by one; the leader, a skin head carrying a wicked looking bowie knife, the muscle, a big beefy guy with a Mohawk carrying a lead pipe, and the other guy, carrying what looked like a balisong knife. A small smile flickered across my face, none of them had firearms. "Now boys, I'm going to warn you once, leave now or someone is going to get hurt' the leader hefted his bowie knife threateningly "yeah and its going to be you" he growled. Inwardly I groaned and rolled my eyes, I settled into a crouch and put my middle finger up at him. He yelled and charged forward, aiming a viscous swing with his Bowie right for my neck, I grabbed it spun and, using very precise pressure points numbed him from his entire shoulder to his fingers. He dropped the knife and I hit him twice in the sternum, once in the nose and finally once to the head. He slumped and I looked at the other two and showed them a wolfish smile. The thug with a the rod and apparent lack of brains took that as his cue that he was up next to fight me, again, he blindly rushed me, this time though I simply took it off him and hit him hard in the head with it. There was a satisfying crunch and he hit the ground, I didn’t need to check he was dead, I felt his soul leave (yeah, they exist) the third guy turned to run and nearly made it to the end of the alleyway and relative safety before the spinning lead pipe caught him in the back of the head and dropped him out cold. I left the alleyway and walked away back into the bright lights, to be honest I felt almost bad about killing the strong stupid one, but they would all have done the same thing to me, and I cannot afford to take risks. Ever since about the year 20 BC, when I was transmuted into this (admittedly less then) frail mortal body I have had to be more careful then I previously ever have. I actually almost have to thank Ra and Horus, I have learned so much through the centuries, and thanks to their rise to power as God and Jesus, they have unwittingly sentenced so many of their brethren to death.

As I walk through the city of Cairo I can feel the ancient powers here, I may have killed nearly all her gods, but Egypt is still an incredibly strong centre of magic, it’s so strong I can almost taste it, there are very few places in the world where it is as strong. Greece, Ireland and parts of South America are the strongest magical resonators in the world, oh and yes, The Bermuda Triangle, one of my let’s say, larger mistakes. Long before I was forced into this form I came across Atlantis, and they had an interesting legend, if the Atlantian gods were to die then the island would sink and curse all who ventured near it, obviously I ignored that, just more of that If our god dies the world dies rubbish, unfortunately though for everyone what they said was right, after I killed their gods the island sunk (nearly taking me with it) It was near Greece when that happened, but thanks to continental shifting it has ended up in Bermuda and is the true reason behind all the disappearances. I end my reverie and continue my walk. So far I have trekked all through Egypt, Visiting long forgotten shrines to long forgotten gods, walking through endless expanses of lonely deserts, stepping into ancient tombs, some disturbed by tourists and archaeologists, many unknown to all but a very few. Oh and the monsters, don’t forget the monsters, they really loved the tombs and deserts I can tell you that. Ushabti in tombs, Djinn in deserts and wild demons taking the shape of whatever animal suited best, bats and spiders in tombs, jackals and scorpions in the deserts. Each though, was no match for me, and even when the spirit of a sphinx came to fight I still tore through them, such is my nature. So different are the loud cars and crowds of people, bright lights and ambient glows of a city, and yet. Even here spirits lie, looking for a chance to avenge themselves upon the slayer of their gods perhaps. I must be on my guard, and doubly so considering who I am going to talk to. I stop at a curb and hail a taxi "The pyramids' I say, the driver looks at me in surprise, I guess he doesn’t get many 18-year-olds looking to visit the pyramids, I don’t care. I just sit in the back and close my eyes. "We are here, that comes to 20 dollars" I look up at him in irritation. Both at being disturbed and at the price, but shrugging a hand over 20 dollars and get out.

Night time, a full moon and a necropolis, it doesn’t come much more horror storier then that, I can’t help thinking to myself with a sardonic smirk. As if on cue I can suddenly sense the dead begin to rise around me, an unnatural fog descends and the voice of dead people call out, in the mist I can see strange shapes wandering around and I suddenly start as a revenant passes through me. I wish I had my trusty weapon on hand but that’s the reason I’m here, to find it... AGAIN. Instead I pull out a silver knife and notice that straight away the undead draw back. Grinning I wander towards the Great Pyramid of Giza. Standing before it I grimace and then mutter a few words in a language long dead. I begin walking again and step straight forward through the walls of the Pyramid and into the heart. I look at the room. Barren. Everything of use stolen by robbers or taken by authorities to preserve them. The sarcophagus on the other hand, remains. "Khufu" I intone slowly "I summon and bind thee by my powers, appear and converse with me". I wait but a moment and there he is, the spirit of Khufu. He appears in ancient Egyptian battledress holding a curved sword, a Khopesh. "Hello there, Sunderer" The shade says before spitting at me, the spit passes through my body. "Now now Khufu, that’s no way to treat an old friend" the shade scowls darkly at me "I know, you’re not my friend, you are no one’s friend" He says. I think it over and then nod "true, but at least remember to keep a civil tongue, I have silver and in case you don’t remember. I control the dead." as I say the last bit he shadow changes to show myself with a jackals head rather than a human one "and I will not be defied" The shade pales, if that is even possible "alright sunderer, what is it you wish to know"  This time I smile and it maybe a trick of the light but my canines appear to have grown and sharpened "Where is the sword Exkâribur, I have tracked it's location up until the french revoloution and then it dissapeared, and secondly, when was the last time Horus and Ra came here?" I flashed him another grin. Khufu gulped and then replied "the sword is not far from where you first took it, from the hands of the Golden King, and the last time Ra or Horus was here... Ra hasn't been here since you drove him out. Horus was here 50 years ago" I looked up in shock "where are they now?" he looked at me hard "The new world" he said, his spirit began to fade, and just before it dissapeared he said something that gave me another shock for the night "Someone close to you will be hurt becuase of you" I laughed "you just said i had no friends" just before he vanished completly he smiled "Ah but sunderer, she is more than just a friend" and with those mocking words he vanished