Crownworth

I

God Emperor.

The devil whispered in my ear, “I am coming for you.”

I spoke back, “Crawl.”

It snickered, hiding behind my ear again.

Voth Elethbar wore red on the day he killed the God Emperor. With his skin as dark as night, his hair cut to its roots, it seemed as if a thick black veil covered his head. His robe tightened at the neck and seemed to vanish in mist at his ankles, flowed forward with the soft winds; his bare feet touched the marble, feeling its coldness. His face proudly displayed the only traces of ink on his body - the holy scripture of His word was printed on his cheeks and forehead, and a white dot lay below his lower lip.

In front of him, ahead of the open doors that led to the chamber before the Hall of Whispers, two blazebearers stood; they were barefoot, wearing purple cloaks with yellow, coned hoods covering their faces. Voth gasped, filling his lungs with air. The first guard ran toward him, spearhead pointing directly at him. He threw his weight to the wall ahead, it now becoming his floor. He fell towards both blazebearers. Voth let go of the air inside his lungs, and tapped the spear as he went beside the man in a flash. In a moment, the thick wooden shaft started to levitate. The man's grip was strong, his knuckles white already, but he let the spear go up, evidently not wanting to be dragged along with it.

The other guard remained on his feet, following Voth with his eyes. Just before hitting the wall, shifting his weight southward again, Voth flopped down and slid to a stop when his feet touched the wall. As he got up, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a spear coming toward him. Looking up, Voth put his palm out in front of the pointed end. When the spearhead grazed his dark skin, it shot upward in an instant; as if shot by a hundred hands, it fell to its floor, Voth’s roof.

     Ignoring it, both guards came running at him. He launched himself at the far wall. Voth plummeted down, arms extended, falling from the polished wall he had created, his toes still touching the floor. As he fell, Voth slapped both blazebearers’ tunics. The two men shot sideways, one going left, and the other ricocheting to the right. Their bodies crashed against each wall. Voth turned back southward again instantly after the two got thrown. The blazebearer on the left was strapped to the wall by the cloak, though he made easy work of the button that held it together at the neck, still maintaining his yellow hood. He was naked, like Voth below his red cloak, but his face and neck were still covered by the coned cloth. Voth gave him a moment to regain his breath, also giving time for his stomach to settle after the quick sewing. The other had met head-first with the wall to the right, and was completely motionless.

Moments after, Voth inhaled and steadied his breath. He began to levitate upwards, his center of gravity shifting slowly. He was now falling to the roof, with his feet up and his head down. When his cloak touched the white marble, he walked to the spear cleft into the rock. He breathed in again, gripping it, sewing it back down. The spear fell in a flash, Earth’s gravity shackling back. The naked blazebearer tapped the back of his head twice and ran toward the spear.

Voth dashed to his right, where the dead blazebearer lay on the floor, and put his knees to the wall. He looked up to the naked man, who was waiting for Voth to reach the floor.

Voth inhaled and threw himself at the wall in front of him, the naked man’s floor, and slid down. As two-sixths of his weight were still tied to the roof, the fall was graceful. The blazebearer seemed to be in deep thought, though still not diverting his sight from Voth. He breathed in, looking down at the fallen man. Him being the wiser, the spear hit the ground. The naked man forfeited the fight, it seemed; he had realized the man he was fighting against was unmatchable for him, invincible. 

Throwing open the doors, Voth entered the Hall of Whispers. Inside, a long red rug made its way from Voth’s feet to the God Emperor; the floor was of a marvelous, empty white, with only that long tapestry above it. The Hall of Whispers was like a cube, and on the far end of it was the Lord he had to slay. He wore a white robe, reading while sitting cross-legged with both arms on His knees. 

The book was on the floor. He had a candle at his side, even though the roof gave way for enough sunlight to read comfortably. The God Emperor raised His head, looking up at the complex glass structure above. He muttered something, though Voth couldn’t care less what. Voth had both hands at his side, looking straight at Him. After moments of silence, and as He returned to his reading, Voth reached the end of the tapestry. The God Emperor didn’t mind him, long breaths coming out of His nostrils.

“God Emperor.” Voth whispered.

“Yes.” He replied, also in that same low tone, stopping His reading and looking up.

“I am sorry to interrupt your reading.”

He smiled, closing the book.

“I have come to kill you, God Emperor.” 

He breathed again in that same slow stroke, his lungs filled with air, exhaling again by His nostrils.

“I see much hatred behind those eyes.”

“It is no such thing.”

“Then what is it?”

“The desire to be born anew. That is what is behind my eyes, God Emperor.”

“Then why do I gaze upon blood and murder?”

“Because a child, too, cries when it is born.”

The God Emperor rose from the red rug, His bare feet touching the tapestry.

“Tongue your name, conquistador.” 

“Voth Elethbar, servant of the First, the Second, the Seventh, and the Tenth, for all the others have betrayed humanity.”

“And me too, the Seventy-Eighth?” The God Emperor chuckled, giving him a hand.

Voth took it, rising to meet His eyes, “You have brought tears to His children, and yet have no honor in wiping them. The third did the same. I wonder where He is now.”

The God Emperor frowned, “Will you conquer me, too?” He whispered.

Without warning, they both launched themselves towards each other. Voth tried to reach His cloak first, but thick brown arms suddenly clamped themselves on Voth’s neck. His mind reeled from the surprise. He strained and threw himself on the roof. He felt his gut being gripped by a powerful hand, as if his organs were a wet towel. He put his feet on the God Emperor’s abdomen and pushed back, planning to break His spinal cord.

Suddenly, He shot to the left, leaving Voth to fall onto the roof alone. He stammered, trying his best to regain his bearings.

He got up, groaning in pain. His shoulder hadn’t been crushed, just  dislocated. He looked down to the wall where the God Emperor stood patiently, awaiting him. Voth gasped for air again, jumping up towards the ceiling. It was a maneuver which twisted his stomach, the grip got tighter. The God Emperor smiled, moving to the far wall.

Voth got thrown to the floor, the God Emperor pushing His feet onto Voth’s stomach. He weighed more and was far stronger than Voth. His knees were on Voth’s breasts, pressing the ribs, and His hands choked his neck, gripping tightly. Voth cried out and hit the God Emperor’s ears with his palms in a desperate attempt to get His grip to lighten and to allow for oxygen to get to his brain.

Disoriented, the God Emperor loosened his grasp. His knees were still pressing down on Voth, however, and they were crushing his ribs from their weight. Voth stabbed his fingers at His eyes, but missed, only grazing them. He gasped and the God Emperor’s eyes shot upward, his eye sockets becoming curtains, blood falling down his cheeks. He let go. Voth gasped for air, completely disoriented. He felt like he was falling, feeling like he was sliding down every wall at once. He had lost his sense of direction, one of the many side effects of his powers; but he was indeed still on the floor, and took a few seconds to comprehend his situation. 

The God Emperor lay on the ground, his neck twisted sideways, his knees crushed by the fall back down. Voth traveled up to the roof, arms extended, his vomit falling to the ground. He inhaled deeply. As he started floating downward, he noticed the doors. They were still open, and a man knelt beyond them.

“You stayed,” Voth whispered. The man did not hear the words, but entered when Voth’s toes touched the red tapestry.

“I presumed I would be the last one in the Palace of Truths,” he spoke softly as he walked hastily to Voth.

Voth drew in another breath as the man approached him.

II

King of Kings.

It bit my earlobe, whispering again, “You are not strong to withstand the storm.”

The handle of the sword melted my skin as I gripped it harder.

“Then I will make the storm kneel to my feet, so that I can walk above it.”

“I wonder, God Emperor. What is it to be born anew? Is it to leave behind? Or to grip your past so tightly it becomes a new thing entirely?”

“It is both.”

“How so?”

“You leave behind some things, and some others stay with you. Whether you desire it or not, they become ink in your skin; be it poisonous or not, only you can know.”

The man, whose name was Aleth, had taken up the good habit of conversing with the God Emperor from time to time. 

After the death of the Seventy-Eighth, Voth Elethbar commissioned The Genesis of the Peoples. It has been two decades since then.

Thus, as His mind was as clear as the cloudless sky above him, as the birds sang to his rhythm, and as the Kingdom of the Kind became closer, war came first.

“God Emperor,” Aleth prompted, “I do not agree with your reasoning.”

“Why is that?”

“War is useless for us, I think.” 

Voth stayed silent, prompting Aleth to continue, “I have come to understand that we are a good people, so why do we have to fight to accomplish our supposedly noble deeds?”

“What would you say we do instead?”

“That… I don’t know.”

“Then why do you complain?”

Voth paused for a moment. “You see, Aleth, I was a slave before taking the cloak. And before that I was a boy. Between those two I was a soldier, and now I take my duty as King of Kings.” He rose up, the dim sunlight complementing his appearance. The tent in which they sat was white, and outside the muffled noise of soldiers, horses, and shouts could be heard. “And I was reborn, although I received my Genesis every time I thought differently than I had before. It is not as complex as many believe, rather, it is as simple as changing a bad behavior, or as complex as giving way to the Kingdom of the Kind.

“During my time as a soldier, I ravaged the land I set my feet on, and that gave me scars my skin does not feel. As a slave I learned many things, such as kindness, compassion, and understanding.” Voth walked to the sliding curtains at the front of the tent and brushed them aside. Dusk entered the tent. “This is a lesson I want you to learn, too. You are my blazebearer, Aleth. My great commander, my first servant. You should know these things, as I have learned them. The texts of the First have been long forgotten, yet humanity is not guided to salvation by a text. It is guided to it itself. Love endlessly, for it is endless love that we seek; make your anger so expensive no one can buy it, and your smile so cheap it feels free. Remember that one who has been forgiven loves instead of hates.”

Voth Elethbar looked at him, his smile soft and kind.

Aleth was once again in deep thought.

‘Why do you follow him?’ they had always asked him.

‘He is good, and good is always good,’ he had always replied.