Today, Erik was much richer than he was the day before. More people had suddenly taken an interest in his fruit. Apparently, when they had arisen the day before from bowing, they had not seen the creature that Erik was happy to sell to. Even though, they only stopped bowing once the dark thing left. Though, the moment they did, he suddenly became a magnet. One lady was so engrossed in a cantaloupe that she wanted to sell her newborn baby for it.
If this was a blessing from Ah Pwash, it was welcomed. Except for the newborn baby, that lady was probably just insane. So, he tried bartering with her in a whisper, so nobody caught a wind of the deal. Eventually, she coughed up a one coin for a six-coin fruit. Though it might not be profit, Erik was just a bit dazed from all these instant sales. Now, he was charging full price thanks to all the sudden success, because even if he turned away a few people he knew he could still make a profit.
"Daddy, there he is! The ungodly man who wouldn't bow to me!" A familiar voice shouted over the murmuring crowd in front of Erik's wagon, which he had to restock ever few hours.
The people turned around, and instantly bowed their foreheads to the ground for the two monarchs and their party of armed soldiers in shiny suits.
"WHERE'S YOUR MONSTER NOW!?" Mallory screamed. Honestly, to Erik, she had to have been the same age as him, twenty-two. How could she be this…dramatic?
"You refused to bow before my daughter. Why?" King Herold Wushington said as he rested his hands on his broadsword's hilt, the blade facing the ground.
Erik looked towards the sword, still not bowing, and got a bit nervous. Though, he caught himself at that moment and then looked the King dead in the eye. "Because, we are all human."
"You dolt! We are descended from God himself!" The Princess squealed.
"Aren't we all?" An also familiar voice echoed. Then, he said his next sentence with a bit of drama, "Isn't that right, glorious King?"
The Princess suddenly jumped behind her now cautious father, "There it is! The monster…"
Out of the shadows behind a house beside the merchant's wagon, Ah Pwash glided out into the open. The god stood beside Erik, hands covered within the folds of his robe.
"Sweetheart, it's just an old man in a mask. How difficult can it be to slay?" The King said, his golden crown shimmering atop a head of gray and gold. His eyes of many shades of green narrowed, focusing on the two in front of him. "Arrest them both. They do not bow to their rulers."
The soldiers then walked forward, spears pointed. More of them focusing on the merchant who was sweating with fear.
"Poor boy, so scared to die. If only I felt your fear like I did so long ago." Ah Pwash muttered.
"What?" Honestly, Erik had no idea if this old man was lying or not. Though, his decayed flesh, was tribute to the tale. His talons…no idea where that came from.
The sound of dripping water echoed from behind the house Ah Pwash had come from.
"The Bloody Christmas is my art. Thus, I want them to dance for me."
From out of the shadows, a hand reached forward. Though, this hand was mutilated beyond immediate comprehension. Its fingers were sewn together, and then seemed to have been beaten on all sides with a mallet, so to make it seem like it was flat and rounded. Blood dripped from the knuckles that were bashed inward, but more blood came out of the arm that was flattened as well. Eventually, when the thing came out of the shadows, it was like a gingerbread man. However, its head was smashed in with a mallet so much that its eyes and teeth had popped out, the nose squished and broken. Pieces of skull and brain inched their way out of its eye sockets with every step it took.
Its stomach was split open, some organs seemingly taken out to make the body flat as there were stitches where it was split. The ribcage did not protrude outward, as if that too was flattened with a mallet.
Though, the feet were especially gruesome. They were folded backward, so that the toes touched the ankles and were sewn there, and then beaten until they looked like balls at the end of flat, thin yet wide legs.
The crowd, royals, and soldiers all took one look at the thing, and instantly began screaming in absolute horror. The screams were so loud, Erik believed he could go deaf as they all started to run away in a frenzy. Soldiers pushed brave soldiers to the side, and then practically stepping over their own citizens. The Princess squealed with fear as she ran away from her father, who stood headstrong.
Three soldiers and the King remained after the panic vanished.
Erik stared at the creature as it limped along. He was frozen with either fear or intrigue. Or else a twisted borderline of the two.
"You'll be hanging thanks to your foul magic, witch!" One of the three soldiers said as they charged at the monster.
Behind him, the King beheaded the two other guards from behind in one fatal slash of his broadsword.
The soldier turned around to see his comrades' fall limp upon the ground, their helmets clanging against the ground.
As he stared in bewilderment, the creature took him from behind and bit into the soldier's neck, his screams echoing throughout the city as his throat was chewed into relentlessly.
The soldier twisted and turned, trying to escape, but to no avail as he vocal cords were ripped out, and then the rest of his throat was munched on.
"Hmm…the treacherous king. What a fascinating set of tales…" The old thing whispered with a cooing croak.
The blood of the corpses began to spill, seeping in between the cobblestones and spreading.
"You seemed powerful, so I want you to join my court." The King stood tall, shoulders relaxed and jaw steady, so to look as calm as the monster he was dealing with.
"Hmm…you wish to have a necromancer in your…deathtrap called royal politics?" The creature seemed amused.
"Yes, and if you'd like, I'll let the peasant join!" Now, he was seeming anxious. Erik imaged his was thinking, if only I hadn't killed my guards, now I'm screwed.
"What a tempting offer." He'd begin to walk closer to the king.
And as he got closer to the corpses of the king's guard, a green hellfire bloomed from the bottom of the necromancer's robes like the tentacles of a great octopus grabbing for its food. Though, eventually these tentacles broke off, becoming snakes of fire as they filled the decapitated corpses, and slowly made them rise from the ground.
Erik watched as the king's Adam's apple move in a nervous way.
The necromancer stopped right in front of the king, and slowly tilted his head upward so they made eye contact.
"You don't think of the consequences that will bring? The great amounts of…panic?"
"I imagine your power can conquer such a fate."
"And you'd be correct."
"Then join me!" He now seemed distressed.
The creature stared at the king, and honestly, to Erik, it seemed that the king was willing to get on his knees and plead.
"On one condition."
The king's eyes lit up, and a grin spread across his face as he said, "Anything."
"HAH! Child are you listening to this man?" The necromancer looked over his shoulder at the merchant. "Anything…ah, anyways, I want you both to see my gallery."
Both Erik and the king's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I have two questions, before we see your gallery." The king said.
Ah Pwash made a cold groan, and then said, "Out with it."
"One, why did you say my title with such surety when we first laid eyes upon each other, but then said it in such a dull manner the second time, under a new brand? Two, will this gallery be full of art?"
The necromancer began to laugh; however it was quite a wretched thing. It sounded like he took his ten raven claws, and slowly scratched them down a chalk board, the screeching echoing for blocks. "How observant of you. It is because when I spoke your title a second time, your power was meaningless after killing your own slaves. And yes, it is completely packed with the most beautiful, glorious art in the entire world."
Erik gulped, but slid off his cart and stalked towards the two, stepping around the slumped, headless soldiers that now stood. Each had a soft flame flickering out of their wounds. Delightful.
The merchant took up his place beside the monster and watched as the necromancer waved his finger through the air in a circle above the space between the trio.
The cobblestones exploded into blood and guts, the organs flying into the air like a fountain. Erik squeaked in fright as he put his hands over his face. Though, when he opened them again the blood had gone straight through their bodies like a bunch of phantasms.
"Hehe, gotcha. Come now and be ready to be reborn." He then jumped down into the hole of blood that now descended to the depths of the world. The sound of nails upon a chalk board echoed up from below.
"Ladies first." The king said softly to Erik.
The merchant's cheeks went as red as the blood patch in the ground, but jumped down in complete, utter confusion of what was going on.
Everything went completely pitch black.