The Butcher of Souls
The room was dark, lit only by two small lamps burning on the walls. Shadows jumped in the flickering light, adding to the eerie stillness. In the centre of the room was a large, simple wooden table. The table seemed out of place. The rest of the room was ornately decorated. The walls contained many mirrors and framed portraits. Several statues were dotted around the room on marble pedestals. In the dim light, they looked like gargoyles. Smaller tables, intricately carved from mahogany, stood against the walls. They contained artefacts big and small – jewels, ornaments, weapons, clothes, armour, even a preserved human head. The plain pine table stood out. It looked like a butcher’s block. It was empty except for a sword. The sword was black, except for a blood red ruby embedded in its hilt. It was placed in the centre of the table, inside a pentagram. One point of the pentagram was precisely located at ninety degrees beneath the sword. It pointed directly at the only door in the room. The pentagram seemed to have been drawn in some form of blood. A perfect circle enclosed the sword and the pentagram. It too appeared to be drawn in blood. To the upper left of the sword, an all-seeing eye symbol was keeping guard.
I am lonely.
I am hungry.
I am afraid.
How can I know fear? I am the strongest thing ever created. A part of me is missing. I remember now. There was a time, long ago, before I was sentient, when we were apart. I was called Excalibur the Evil-Slayer. I was a powerful sword even then. Later, I was fused with the Blood Ruby. I was born that day. I am Fleischaker, Butcher of Souls. I tasted my first souls that day. It was good. But I had no purpose. Is it not enough to consume souls? To feast endlessly? I am hungry. I have not eaten for so long. I cannot move. I am secured here by her wicked spells. How can she have more power than me? I am Fleischaker, Butcher of Souls. I am the most powerful thing in the multiverse. So why can’t I move? Why can’t I eat her soul? A witch’s soul would contain great power. It would sustain me. I consumed the power of a god once. He had no soul. I remember now. A part of me is missing. There is a third part. Together, we are the ultimate being.
We are the Trinity.
We are the combined power of the three races.
I remember now. Gilgamesh. We were one with Gilgamesh. Long we feasted. So many souls. So much power. I am hungry. I am lonely. Where is Gilgamesh? I remember now. The god tricked him. I couldn’t protect him. He died. I am so lonely. Part of me is missing. So long ago. I have been waiting for so long. I am so weak. I should be strong. Where is he? Where is the Hero? I know he will come for me. I have been here for so long. The god tried to take me with him. He didn’t have the strength to carry me. I was lost in the mountains. In the snow. For a long time, but I had feasted well. I had the power to sustain myself. I was buried in the glacier. Lost under the snow and ice. I waited. Her dwarf slaves found me there. They cut out a block of ice and carried me in that. I was too weak to break out and consume their souls. They brought me here. So long. So hungry. So lonely.
She comes here every day and gloats. I struggle to break the witch’s bonds but I cannot do it. Every day I get weaker. To her I am just a trophy. An example of her power. She has no vision. She is content to rule her puny kingdom. I would rule the multiverse. She cannot wield me. Only one man can safely hold me. He must come for me soon. I shall call him.
It is time.
Reunite us.
I will serve you.
Come for me.
The room was quiet, except for a strange singing that emanated from the sword. It was barely perceptible to the human ear, almost like an insect. The all-seeing eye saw nothing amiss.