[Mythological][Fantasy][Short Story] Guide of Death

The only truth in the universe is death. Extinction. Annihilation. In a highly fluid environment one must be prepared for change, extinction is the natures way of telling that land must be cleared for a new species to dominate. Nature is governed by a single law, Adapt or perish.

This holds true for a single individual, species, society or even a reality. Thus when Dinosaurs had fulfilled their time on earth, a meteoroid shower conveniently wiped them of their existence. The universe threw me into the liquid reality without any life support.... sink or swim, in the ancient prison of Kaladunga. I did, what I always do best, I survived. I was born in the dark cellar on the dungeon on the island of Kaladunga, and my childhood was spend getting whipped by the prison master for the sins I never committed.

For six years, after I learned to talk, I kept asking, what have I done? is being born a sin? The old priest used to visit the prison trying to teach me religion. I kept asking him, why, why did God choose me for this fate? Is God punishing me?

Every passing hour, my hatred for humanity and God increased. I had never seen the light of the day for most of my childhood. I saw only the dark cellar of my prison. The only living being in the room was a rat, which I brutally killed one day with bare hands... adapt or perish.

When I reached puberty, my security was lessened. I was allowed to mingle with other prison mates. Thus began my informal education. The prison mates told me about life, about other cultures that existed outside the prison. They didn't understand it but I understood the way society works from their stories.
From the prison guard I learned about my origin. My mother was a witch, he said, that put a spell on my father, a high ranking officer in the Church. My father used his influence to condemm by mother into the prison. I was born there to a dead mother in the same prison. My father refused to accept me and sentenced me to complete my mothers sentence.

As I grew older my arms grew stronger, when I was twently I had read all the books in the library of the prison. I was stuck in the walls of the prison but my mind had travelled the world. My favorite book was about 'Decoding the Universe' by a Prof. Columbus. Prof. Columbus talked about the law of nature and survival of the dominant species. He talked about planets, galaxies and many wonders still far away from humans. He wrote that the secret of the universe lay in the mythological scriptures. Many prison mates laughed at the idea but I knew somewhere my future lay in finding this Professor.

But to find this professor I had to break through the walls that bound me. I challenged the prison master for dominance. He came on me with all his weapons and whips while I defeated him with my bare hands. I killed most of the prison guards along with him for I had to prove my dominance, there was only one rule. Adapt or perish.

I still remember the day I walked out of the hell hole. For the first time in my life I saw sun in its magificent glory. I hated it, I prefered the darkness of my cell where I grew. I knew I had a challenger, if I had to be the most dominant, I had to dominate the bright sun. I was the devil unleashed on the planet. In the prison I had no name, just a number but in this real world, I chose the name of my favorite demon, I called myself, Kaal. To be honest, the world was not prepared for someone like me. The world was burderned with its own weight of guilt and its own shame. It didn't take me long to learn its ways, however broken they were.

Finding my father was easy task. It didn't take long to hunt him down. I had the pleasure of killing him myself. His institution was next which I inherited by force. For the untrained eye, it was mine to begin with. Power felt good, power of money and knowledge felt nice. But I had thirst for more. I had thirst for everything.

With my fathers vast property I found the were about of Prof. Columbus. He was termed heretic by the greatest clergy in the world. He headed a science unit that was hell bent on explore space. They had big ambitions of travelling through the universe in a anti-matter powered space ship. Their biggest problem was finding a suitable driver for this journey. Nobody had the guts to drive such a powerful spaceship. Once outside the earths orbit, this spaceship would be out of communication range. A simple phone call would take days or months.

All those humans who were taught by the system to lead a risk free life could not embark on this journey. But I was different, I volunteered. I was once again about to be confined into the souless darkness of the universe. They asked me if I was afraid, I was not, I was going home. I was going back into my darkness.

Floating aimlessly in the universe I learned many of its secret. This feat was not scientific but purely showcase on my enormous will power. I nearly died forty times in this uncharted territory of space but this story is not about Death, it is about life. Couple of decades ago, I mathematically proved the existence of center of universe. This was the massive pyre in which the universe burns. The central sun that fuels countless life form. The cosmic rays that could grant anyone the power to rule the universe. Perhaps there was a ruler, perhaps he was guarding the pyre.

It took me ten years to find something that could not be found. There have been attempts before me, I saw but the debris of countless ships along my path did not deter my ambition. I was going to meet God and challenge him.

I felt my destiny calling as I identified the cosmic patterns in a far off planet. Thus I had officially reached the center of the universe. It was a small asteroid with a lake in the middle filled with red liquid. It was hard to find a parking on this small rock and hence I had to crash my ship just on the edge of the lake. The moment I arrived, I felt a shiver inside the lake as if it was alive.

I knew I would be resisted but I could never believe as I saw different forms emerging out of the lake and walking towards me. The shape grew large and spoke,
"What are you doing here mortal?"
"Who are you?" I shouted.
"I am Karuna, the first Maharathi of the Kshatriya order, Son of warrior Prahasta, Grand-son of warrior Ravana and this region is under my protection. You are a mortal and are forbidden to enter the realms."
"I come from far away, I come to meet God. If you forbid me to enter the realm, I challenge you."
Karuna appeared in front of me, he was twice as large as a man and equally broad. His hand changed shape as a Axe appeared in his hand. It emited a greenish blue glow from its blade.

Karuna was definitely the biggest warrior of all times. His axe zoomed past me twice and through sheer luck I escaped. But I was also no less warrior, I had few tricks up my sleeve. One was a sword I had stolen back on earth, it was called Witch Blade, a sword crafted by the greatest warrior tribe called 'Aramis'. He could not kill a God but I definately let me defend myself against him.

A big battle followed. As the dust settled down, I survived, something I am good at. Karuna vanished in the same red lake he had appeared. Exhausted and tired I saw near the lake to take some rest. The water beneath my feet started glowing white and started rising around me. It bound me tight and I could not move. A woman dressed in white robes appeared from the lake and spoke,
"You wretched mortal," she shouted, "How care you step into the heavens? You may have defeated the Khatriya warrior, but you cannot escape from the power of Anumati and the Varunastra..."
I was totally helpless into the flexible water. Thus she carried me and condemned me to depth of the lake where I was thrown into the deep water trench...for life.

She threw me in a prison beneath the lake. But I did not worry, I was home.

She did not know, I was born into a trench like this. I have faced worst trenches than this. Hence I waited, slowly, carefully I made my way to the surface. I realized I cannot fight the weapons of God...hence the only weapon I had was stealth, something I was good at.

Shadows was my power, darkness my home. I crept past the lake, slowly, unseen, moving in the shadows and I explored. Finally, I found it, it was true, the energy was there...lying around.
I could not believe I was seeing it, from my eyes, purest form of energy, no emitting gases, no burning images....purest form of energy shaped into a cube hanging in the middle of the land. From this, sprang the millions species in the universe, from this came the countless planets, from this fueled the sun for many solar system. This was it, the cosmic energy.

To my shock and surprise, there was noone around. All those security measures, all those magical protection, everything was for nothing. There was NO GOD. There was no throne room, no ultimate. The cosmic power lay there unused, untouched for anyone to come and grab. The entire mankind in its countless battles for divinity were mistaken, there was no God, no alpha, no omega. There was no one, just a form of purest energy. As I stood there gasping at the biggest lie of humans, the protector arrived again.

"Halt," boomed Karuna again rushing from behind, "I cannot let you pass..."
"Stop him," Anumati starting waving her hands and I could hear splash of water from the lake.
Countless other faces came out of lake brandishing many weapons.
I had no moment to think. Adapt or perish. Such is the power of the brain, that before I saw the danger, a solution had formed.
It was a desperate ploy, how could I, a mere mortal tame such a vast energy? I was bound to burn into pyre, but I had no choice, the other option was...death.
I jumped into the pyre. God and I were about to become one. I plunged myself into the cosmic pyre and I felt...

Blank. Darkness. Nothing.

My soul was ripped apart, my body was burned down to ashes. Through sheer will I prevailed…adapt or perish.

For a million years, I felt nothing. I was floating in nothingness, the energy seeped in. It took me centuries to understand the power of my sneeze that can blow up the entire cosmos.
Slowly the universe started shaping in front of me and I became reality. I took form of a cluster of stars which slowly shaped up as me.

I could feel my hands and I could feel my legs and I could feel power in my fingertips.
As the universe proceeded into its own weird sense, it did notice something amiss. Something changed.
Adapt or perish. It was time the universe adopted their new ruler.

I became GOD.

(to be concluded...)