'Here I stand! Proud-me Prem, son of the wise Ankit. My sole purpose is to take care of the king since my youngest days. I obey blindingly and compel to all of his whims. My brainless obedience has led me to my now fructuous lifestyle.
I have a bed and food to share! What can I ask more? ..... Money you say? I don't need such trivial thing! I have the king and I already feel blessed by the sun.
Today, I was tasked to follow this unfinished child that serves as a guard. Oh dear he lacks brain but his stature compensates much! Nonetheless it changes my everyday. My arms are dead tired, waving this gigantic fan to blow off dust and sand from his mount's face is sure exhausting. Some little action can't hurt.
They all believe I am but a servant, a good-for-nothing! If this rumour reveals to be true, I'll be the one that finds the monster. My will is put to the test, I must prove them my worth. I'll get more responsibilities within this palace, and I will gain his trust. I'll be an accessory no more.
Darn it! I walked so much today my feet hurts.'
"Guard and royal emissary here, open up!"
The big guy shouted while the one wearing a robe put his hand in front of his hear.
A woman opened the door and let them enter.
'What a beautiful woman, what is she doing in a so poor area? She could make a fortune prostituting. What a loss.' Prem thought. Then he spoke.
"We have questions to ask, peasant."
Two men sitting on a table next to them cleared their throats. They looked alike the woman, probably siblings. Their muscles were the first thing Prem could see though.
'I stand corrected, peasants. So, have you heard disappearances in the area, do you know someone who has evaporated into thin air? Or perhaps have you seen the monster'
'This is so boring to do it's becoming frustrating.'
"No? Then let the guard search your living space."
While the guard kept looking for something unclear to himself, Prem continued thinking.
'Why did the king not precise as much points as the priest? If it is of a kid's shape, we must look for parents, and most importantly for a kid or a little weirdo. There's nothing to be found here but woman that fit my taste. I mean.. His taste. Nevertheless if it allows us to establish one's authority and avoid child paranoia, I can carry on.'
A woman's scream drew all of their attention.
'What's this? A cry from afar! A woman in distress! Is that my one opportunity? To hell with my manners, I'm coming! I run!'
The first to be out of the house was him of course, holding his hat to not have it touch the ground by accident.
But soon his run stopped.
"Is there anyone here?"
'What kind of farce is that? Who dares to make me lose my time! As if we had spare time for this! And those two! Where does they think they are going!'
Prem was looking at two boys, with a size difference of almost one meter. They blend with the running crowd that wanted to see where was that screaming woman and soon were out of his sight.
"Enough! There's nothing to see here! Shoo!"
Once he managed to dispatch everyone, he heaved a sigh. The other working pairs weren't much violent with the population. Just some doors to intimidate the most reluctant ones.
He wanted to search in the deserted house. Taking goods if they found any. So he pointed out their next destination and the guard spoke.
"We go there."
'Yes Brutus.' He nodded while looking kindly at the giant.
The house's first room was the messiest Prem had ever seen. The smell made him vomit his delicate dinner all over the place. While Brutus seemed to be more immunised to the smell, he could hear... The planks creaking. And this kind of loud breath, one with little voice in it. Voices.
'Laments?'
"AAAAAAH!"
Never could he had thought Brutus' yell could be this high pitched. Yet the man did not come back from the inside of the stinky house.
Boum. Crack. Rrrrrrrrrr. Something being dragged on the floor.
'If I can't save a damsel, I'll save the guard for god's sake!'
When he entered it, he felt the planks bending, shaking with every noise that resounded. It was dark. Not easy to see inside. The number of loud step noises increased but it wasn't much regular.
In the dark, Prem could distinguish a gigantic shape in the rear room. In its struggle to pass through the door, the thing broke the thick curtains and revealed what stood in front of Prem.
A mass of human flesh, sewn together. Each movement made the mass deflate and inflate, its many throat sang their chorus altogether. Any rapid movement let out guts vibrations that sounded like a wild animal's roars.
"By the thirty three deities. Wha.."
Clink.
He noticed the 'plates' we had stepped were Brutus' armour shattered parts. The man that once stood inside was half spread on the floor, half held by the monstrosity.
All of the heads of the monster were tightly merged with the main mass, its eyes were devoid of light but Prem couldn't surely think it was blind. He could barely remember it was no breathable atmosphere. Before he could do any move, the monster ran through the entrance, pushing him violently against a wall, breaking his arm while he fell.
The horrible thing rampaged outside. Killing the crowd that the ruckus drew nearby. Many screamed. Many fell on their knees in a praying position just to be squashed by its weight and many hands. By the time the guards gathered around it and began hitting it with their weapons, it had killed over thirty people.
Its rapid movement added more noise to the disorder.
The thing that revealed to be efficient against it was fire. Two guards arrived, one with oil vase, the other with a bucket of ember.
The creature did not screech, as if it couldn't feel pain. It retracted on itself and stopped moving soon. Three houses were lit on fire on its path, starting panic in the eastern district of Varanasi.
Carnage, terror. Fear in everyone's eyes.
Even in a nearby boy's eyes. Keith. He saw the whole scene.
He knew the plan. First a bait to lure them out. Just for them to exit the house discretely. Then big scene! Something that makes them believe they no longer need to hunt the devil. Show's plan to take the meat suit to have them believe.
The massacre was too much. And someone else was deeply affected by what he saw, Lorbe for sure. It begun with finding his long lost son, hearing his wife's voice for a second, and finally a monster he created became alive and destroyed his new found home. That without him asking the monster to cure his mental illness.
"Father, I know a place to go, follow me."
Keith rejoiced when his shirt's temperature dropped from a few degrees. He wasn't certain Mister Show could move around at daytime.
They both ran to Devdas' house. Where the last corpse still awaited.
Lorbe had no question. He wasn't willing to give out his opinion any soon. It took the city two hours to put out the fire, and a third to report the total damage the thing and done.
They moved around the carbonised lump of meat they'd taken as dead to the king. A special carriage and six buffaloes were enough to move it. The king was listening to one of the many reports while sitting on his throne.
"...but here I stand my king! I survived its assault, braved its strength and..."
"ENOUGH!"
The king cut his servant short, slamming his fist like a hammer on an anvil.
"You join the wounded section. That's it. Incident is closed. You'll be compensated for your efforts when you would have served the palace as much as your predecessor. I won't give preferential treatment because other servants will act as foolish as your said demeanour."
'My king...'
"Dismissed."
He said while gesturing his commandant to enter.
'He did not even ask my name.'
The king had taken a backlash. How come this happened? It came from an errant's blabbering. His city knew chaos from the incident.
"Did the ashura eat any of the corpse?"
"No sir, just destruction and killing."
While the thing was still staining his crimson carpet with its ashes, the king asked his servants to bring Moore.
"By my mother!"
The man exclaimed.
"That's nothing like the devil I've spoken about."
And the king nodded. He knew things weren't over. He was at war against the forces of evil. Priest were about to know some raise in their wages.
---
The next day, about two hundred person departed from the city. Those wanted to be away from the malevolence. All of them moving away probably forever. They crossed the road of the three outsiders, Randi, Yotoh and Picco at the city's gates. They questioned the travellers and were all flabbergasted by the news.