The Necromancer Pt. 1

She was my muse; my darling sanity amidst the destruction that I had wrought. I sought to unleash man’s salvation, but instead I breathed despair. I held the last vestige of my humanity, cradling her, embracing her before the last of her warmth disappeared forever. I had lost everything. Standing amongst the ruined utopia of Sanctuary, I peered into the destruction I had wrought. The glistening glass skyscrapers had been shattered, homes were razed, sky-ways flattened beneath my rage, and the life-sustaining dome that encompassed Sanctuary was annihilated. I felt no remorse. I was blessed from the creators with the gift of rebirth, but I had molded that gift into the curse of damnation; eternal servitude through death. She slipped from my grasp; her fall was the last of my humanity, slipping through my fingers, plummeting to its shallow grave in the Badlands; humanity’s wasteland.
My ebony cloak fluttered amongst the blustering winds of sand, revealing tight jet-black body armor, and my soulless black eyes. I only found comfort in the darkest of colors after my supernatural revelation. Hair white as snow rested on my shoulders. A lexicon of unimaginable horrors resided on my belt strap; it glowed red and had a rhythmic beating like a heart; the source of my powers. Images from the book of death were etched into my face. My unholy presence was a sight to behold. Alas, I was not always so disgusting.
I was once a graduate student at Sanctuary’s renowned Brighton University; the pinnacle of humanity’s intelligence. Excelling beyond the capabilities of normal man, my inquisitiveness was my ultimate downfall. I sought knowledge that I thought I could harness. My knowledge with mathematics, physics, chemistry, and other fields of practical study were extraordinary. I was accepted into the Society of Mechanization my junior year. It was here that I constructed the gateway to the beginning of time and space. I wanted to witness firsthand our creation and how man was forged. It was here, at this point of conception that I thought I could discover the key to preserving life.
Days I spent locked in the laboratory, constructing the perfect portal to transport a human being to the beginning of everything. Equipped with my life-sustaining ebony suit, I was prepared to make the leap into the unknown. My efforts finally paid off, and with the reinforcement of the metal argot the gateway would not break under pressure. The portal expanded from a minute size to an engulfing blue magical door. I shielded my eyes from its intensity. It made a whispering sound, as if it was attempting to communicate; I walked to the threshold.
I traversed through the gateway. Immediately I witnessed the reversal of time before my eyes: pivotal moments of history that were only in text books enveloped my surroundings. I was standing in an ethereal realm, suspended amongst a drop into infinite nothing. It was beautiful and terrifying to behold. I was mesmerized by the vast empty space; it went on for miles and consisted of tiny beacons of light. This is it, I’m at the beginning of creation; I am the first human to witness the birth of stars, planets- everything, I thought. “You are not alone with your thoughts, human,” whispered a soothing voice. I looked around, searching for a sign of life, but there was nothing, only a whisper. “Boldly you sought such a privilege as this, and you have it-you have it all.” The whisperings turned to normal volume, my ears began to ring incessantly. I could only hear this voice and nothing else. “I am Zalazzar, fifth titan of creation,” it said. “It all began here-at this moment. The four titans bestowed life and molded the shapes of beast and man, forged the planets, shaped the galaxies- we did it all, human.” Zalazzar materialized into sight, gravity began to draw my body to his massive form. I gazed up at his being; he was a menacing titan with giant tusks, a decorated tribal mask with foreign paintings all over, his shoulders were covered in wooden armor with spikes; a top those spikes were bodies of beast and man: replicas of life before their conception into the world. The titan was decorated in metal ornaments from the waist down; his skin a light blue. He was fierce, his demeanor was hostile and aggressive; he did not resemble a being of creation.
Several rifts opened around the titan and came forth four more heavenly beings. Their beauty was overwhelming, they resembled life incarnate, they were clad in golden armor that consisted of magical properties. Ethereal magic resonated from their armor. The apparent leader of the other four titans stepped forward with her trident drawn. “Begone, Zalazzar! You have failed the Council of Creation and have abused the gift of life to create these filthy beings!” she shouted. “What is this pawn that stands before you? Oh, no… the moment of reckoning is at hand, titans! STRIKE ZALAZZAR DOWN ONCE AND FOR ALL!” She charged at him, but the titan dispersed into nothing. “Mortal, your race has finally bested even the titans at the gamut of life; we have failed, but Zalazzar still must be stopped!” I was confused. I came to witness creation of everything and I was granted exactly that, but the titan’s mention of failure was baffling. These beings created me, how could they have failed? I thought. She knelt down with her trident standing upright in her giant hand, she peered into my eyes; her gaze was filled with sorrow and despair. “We knew the time would come when humanity would see us, but at this very moment we casted out the greatest evil this world has ever known from existence, but because of your meddling, Zalazzar- The Death God lives again!” I listened to her tale and further felt a dark shadow fall over the ethereal world around me.
A rift opened and Zalazzar stepped forth. The other titans formed an offensive stance, protecting their leader from harm. He laughed and formed a grimace of hatred. “My revenge has finally come. Billions of years later and I have been granted the chance to reign again. Mortal, creation of all living things took forever because I annihilated all life billions of years ago. These titans have locked me up for so long, but I will destroy them and I will destroy all life once again!” it bellowed, shaking the entirety of the realm. One of the titans, Orphus-God of the Skies charged forward with his towering great sword and let lose a shrieking fell swope. Zalazzar dispersed again and appeared behind their leader, she looked into my eyes and nodded, and I understood exactly what her next action would be. Zalazzar extended his arms towards my body and unleashed some unknown force into my being. “Together we shall be one. Together we will conquer worlds, galaxies and breathe despair across the realm of the living. I am outnumbered here, and I will die, but you will carry forth my legacy into your world and one day we will meet again-ally or foe, you will decide your own fate, mortal.” The leader firmly grasped her trident, twirled it backwards and thrusted it into the chest of the God of Death. He cackled madly and another blow followed suite from Orphus. His great sword swooped Zalazzar’s head clean off the spine and it laid there, suspended in the ethereal nothing. The Death God’s body swayed; it wobbled like a drunkard until it plummeted into the infinite nothingness.
I met the gaze of those wretched eyes; that horrible sight felt like a thousand daggers serrating my soul, my vision blurred and I saw horrific acts of violence and the destruction of innocence. Species from the past were tortured, slaughtered and sacrificed in the name of the Death God. I watched as beautiful creatures were swayed into his eternal servitude, committing acts of murder that brought ruin to entire civilizations. The last vision took place in the Cretaceous period, and I watched as primitive humanoids performed ceremonial rituals amongst an ancient volcano. They danced, slit the throats of beasts and drank their blood while chanting the name “Zalazzar, Zalazzar, Zalazzar!” and the volcano came alive. Amidst the burning crater of fire, the avatar of the Death God solidified into their world, bringing forth a raging firestorm that the whole planet could feel. From their imperial throne amongst the Moon, the titans condemned the ruin Zalazzar brought to earth. The planet was being engulfed in flame, species were dying out, the humans had been consumed by his awakening, and the earth began to crackle and break like a small stone. The leader of the titans, Valexia discussed a counter action to thwart the death god once and for all. Orphus approached her and firmly spoke, “Our work is undone yet again and Zalazzar is reveling in our wasted effort,” I continued to witness these visions as if I was actually there. “We must cast him out with the fire from whence he was created!” Orphus bowed and stepped back into the circle the titans had formed around their leader. It was a unanimous decision and so the titans promptly acted to save their dying world of Earth. Channeling their awesome powers of the divine, they unleashed their magic into the raging volcano; birthplace of Zalazzar. Upon impact the volcano exploded, flooding the world with fire and lava, consuming all life including the death god until there was nothing left but ash. The endless cycle had finally seized and life was free to begin again, uninterrupted by the curse of death. In his final moments, he cursed the world and all who inhabited it with death and decay. Even after his demise, new life still succumbed to the curse of death. . It was from this moment forward my vision was scarred and I was granted the vision of Zalazzar.
His head fell through the floor that bonded him to the ethereal realm; the fate of its location is unknown even to the titans. I looked upon my saviors-my creators, and they sighed, breathing heavily. “The cycle begins again and you, mortal-you bind him to this world, but you are also our only hope of destroying him,” Valexia stated. “Harness the powers of death and destruction and destroy him.” She kicked forward a lexicon, writhing with dark energies, to my feet. It must have belonged to Zalazzar, I thought. “Indeed, this was his greatest weapon and now it belongs to you,” she said. “When you return to your world, the timeline will not be the same, and humanity will once again be on the brink of extinction; beasts of sinister origins and fierce species will walk the earth, you must save your world.” Valexia and the titan council kneeled before my presence. “You are the Necromancer; the bringer of life and death.”