Omnicron

15 letter in Greek alphabet

“You really think you can kill me?” The man suddenly appeared in front of me, pushing his chest into mine. I toppled backwards.

How did he even get there?

The soldiers nervously make a circle around us, their pikes and swords and axes pointed towards the man like a circle of spikes. I can see their fear-filled eyes glancing at the helmeted figure in front of me, at the heavy black sword he held with one hand, at his confident posture and clever position of the legs. Utter silence, as if the battle around us suddenly was paused and everybody leaned in to look at what was happening.

“Do you really think that anyone here can kill me?” His voice was spiteful, as if he was trying to figure out if we were really stupid or just plain stupid. The crowd watched as he stepped towards the side of the circle and yelled at the infantry, “Does anyone here even think I am killable?”

“I do,” I stand up, the body armor clinking against metal buckles.

The figure twists around. He was wearing very light plating, obviously built more for show or parades than for repelling any sort of blow. “I knew you would want to try. I accept your offer, here you go.”

The man stretched out his arms, presenting his unprotected body to my blade. I caught a hint of a smile between the visor.

First things first. I swiped at his sword, but his grip was inhuman and my steel merely bounced back with a loud clang of metal on metal, futile. He grinned, more visibly this time. “One can see right away that you don’t know what’s going on,” he shouted, and tossed his own sword to the side, into the dust. “Get to it! Do you fear striking a god?”

I could see the men around me start to back away, their shields trembling as they watched the scene. I could only imagine what they were thinking. They must be fearful of this figure to the depth of their hearts, so ingrained in their views that only one thing could break them.

“I am a human; but I am fearless,” I gripped my swords in two hands, raising it above my head and pointing it directly at the figure’s heart. “The future cannot be carried by many, and Death will find you as well!”

And then I pushed it into the man’s chest.

I followed the blade all the way, my hands holding the hilt until I felt the metal chestplate of the figure under my fingers. I was face to face with him, and I could see as his eyes flash with desperation. No, it was pity. He thought me pitiful!

“Zapharius, let go of your sword,” he whispered, his breath barely audible between the metal helmet. My fingers slowly uncurled, letting go of the hilt, until it completely supported its own weight inside of him. He wasn’t dead.

He stepped away from me with fierce victory burning in his voice. “See! This man, this mortal idiot, though he could kill!” He turned toward my troops, my swords still sticking from his chest. I could see its end protruding from the other side, the tip clean and bloodless as ever.

“But who is he to challenge the Gods? These Judges you follow are fools; they would lead you to your deaths without a thought!” he continued. I watched my men slowly lower their weapons, dropping their shields in respect of the superior being before them.

“All of you, throw down your arms at once and you shall be spared!” he said, and the soldiers quickly tossed their spears to the dust. “And you.” The figure pointed his long, stubby finger at me. “Kneel to me and come to my service, and I might not kill you for your attempt!”

He was punctured. I drove my sword right through, and he was in the middle. Any normal man would be dead, but I wasn’t sent here to kill normal men. Death has to come to all.

“Ruler of the Desert!” I shouted, using his former title that everyone knew. “I am Zapharius, the last of the judges, servant of the real god! Do you see me?”

His finger wavered. The god dropped his arm, and I could feel the tension in his muscles. “Of course I see you. Have you lost your mind?”

“Ruler of the Desert, I am Zapharius, the last of the judges and the servant of the true god. Do you see me?”

“I said I see you!” he shouted, his voice somehow louder than ever before.

“Ruler of the Desert,” I said. “Do you see me?”

And then I felt him. He was right next to me, very close, his energy giant and overpowering. I haven’t really felt him before, maybe because he was too far away, but now I did. It was definitely him, definitely the Ruler of the Desert. And he felt me as well, for the first time.

His eyes opened wide, and I knew I had my answer.

“Omicron,” I used his real name, his secret name that only few knew and none used. “I have been sent to kill you for betrayal of my god. Not today, not alone will I be, but fall of my hand you will. There are ways to kill a god, one is particularly possible in this situation.”

Silence, for a few precious seconds. I watched the blade, stuck between the god’s metal armour, wondering just how quickly he would die with that thing lodged in him.

The god reared up. His sword re-appeared in his hand, and he tried to swing at me. But it was too late, because he was growing in size. He was a giant, blotting out the sun and spraying sand into our eyes, then a serpent, tunneling its way past the soldiers towards me, and then a giant fiery dragon, lighting up the world with a fiery blast sent in my direction, then something even bigger and more horror inspiring, growing within moments until the entire army was a grain underfoot, until nothing but he was visible at the horizon, the metal sword gleaming in the darkness, and then he was gone.

The wind blew. Streams of sand crossed the countryside.

The soldiers stood up, uncovering themselves and looking at the sky. Nothing. Clear, blue, a few clouds to the north, the sun wonderfully bright. Nothing. The silence seemed impossible for the few thousand men who wanted to kill each other minutes before. And yet, here they have seen what they have never seen before, and would probably not ever see again.

“He isn’t dead!” I shouted at the scores of men in front of me. “He cannot die! He is merely gone, and I have closed the simple way back.”

Reviews

[annalysiar]

I like this. I apologize I have taken sk long to read. Anyways.
the paragraph with the words "I have no fear" is it him speaking. Or a thought. Where the god is asking if anyone is up for the challenge of killing him. This is a call a challenge. I only felt like he was conversing. The show of faith to the true desert ruler was raw. Really gripping. Great work. Oh and thought has a t at the end of it😇 I really enjoyed this Meeks. Thanks foe having me read 😃

[Sean Reigner]

Interesting story...nice setup. really feel the Omni-presence of the God pushing his
weight around. This is really good. flesh out when the God goes through the changes
and disappears, This will really add to the roundness it all.

[Archos]

Meeks, you are really talented. I love your writing style, the work with atmosphere, the descriptions, the reactions of the characters and this story is just great, but it feels more like a chapter than a standalone story. There's one detail I'd like to point out: I really don't see why he'd swipe at the sword rather than at the man himself. So overall, it is great, I enjoyed it, but I just don't think it works by itself. And it also feels it wasn't meant to end here. Thanks for sharing it with us and I'd definitely appreciate reading more!

[Meeks]

Yeah, I wrote all the backstory in my head.... and I didn't get around to publishing my head yet.read moreYeah, I wrote all the backstory in my head.... and I didn't get around to publishing my head yet.
What actually happened is that I didn't want to spend too much time on this, when I am trying to write something else.

Thanks for reviewing though. Appreciate you time.

[Archos]

I know what it's like. At the moment I have at least three stories going.

[Aswin R Prasad]

Interesting! Great read!
Stories really ain't my thing but i enjoyed this one! :)

Thanks for sharing! :)

[Meeks]

Thanks for your time! Glad you enjoyed it.

[Aurafiex]

There is one bit I don't get, namely..

“All of you, throw down your arms at once and you shall be spared!” he said, and the soldiers quickly tossed their spears to the dust. “And you.” The figure pointed his long, stubby finger at me. “Kneel to me and come to my service, and I might not kill you for your attempt!”

He was punctured. I drove my sword right through, and he was in the middle. Any normal man would be dead, but I wasn’t sent here to kill normal men. Death has to come to all.

So Omnicron was bluffing? Was he hurt by the blow? It just seems like from being invincible he suddenly gets wrecked all of a sudden. You might want to explain that better.

[Meeks]

I did under-explain this piece, mostly because I wasn't trying to make it stand alone without accompanying explanations and a lot of worldbuilding. Which, of course, I didn't bother writing down because I'm not even supposed to be working on this. :)

Thanks for the review. Might look back to this once I finish with something else, especially because all the errors come out after you click the 'publish' button.