The Rage of Izhari Part II

There was no goodness left. It was shattered. Whispers from shards of sanity spoke words of comfort that could not reach the festering beast that was now unshackled. Izhari’s rage had consumed her, and in that moment, her heart had turned to something darker than shadow. Wrath was all that moved her. Hate was all that understood her. Destruction was all that would come from her.

“EVISCERATE THEM ALL!!!” she screamed out as she threw her hands out in pure hate.

Claws snapped and extended into razor-like daggers that were as long as her once frail arms.

Where earlier her scarred eyes were incandescent and blue, now they emanated the very Void that called to her.

Maelstroms of swirling fury erupted from the heavens as she let out a cry of agony. Their contact with the ground caused the once proud white tiles to shatter and collapse. This was her homeland, yet now she wanted nothing more than to see it reduced to ash. No. Beyond ash. She wanted it reduced to nothing.

Behind her, Tomita was flinching over in agony, as the sorrow and hate that was consuming his master was now pouring into him with equal strain, but his human form had no way to control or release its torment. His knees buckled, and he fell to the ground as his hands dug into his stomach for survival.

“IZHARI!!!” he screamed out.

That voice. She knew that voice. That voice was kind. That voice did not harm her. Who was he? He was hers.

Izhari’s frenzied mind raced as she turned to face the call. Blind eyes scanned the world, and her ears flinched in desperation as she listened for the voice that had cried out.

Tomita saw and tried to scream, but the pain was too severe. Blood began to run from his eyes and lips as his body threatened to pull itself inside out.

Before he could react or speak, the smiths were near him. Confused shouts of terror echoed in the chaos and storms. A smith stopped beside Tomita and shouted something unheard to its comrades. Tomita tried to move, but it was too late. Rods of unformed metal shot from the workshop and stabbed into Tomita’s legs and shoulders. Now he screamed once more. Now his cries of agony rose above the storm. Now his voice reached Izhari once more.

“Tooooomitttttaaaaa……???” it growled as it turned to face the approaching smiths.

“Izhari kill them!!” Tomita screamed.

Izhari panicked, and her claws dug into her face in confused terror. She did not know how many or where they were. All she knew was violence.

“EVISCERATE UNTIL NOTHING REMAINS!!! KILL THEM ALL BUT HIM!!!” she roared.

The funnels of energy heeded their master and moved like hunters towards their prey. Within seconds, the smiths were screaming in terror as ravenous winds of blackened flame spun them into the air and hurled them in horrific rotations until their spines snapped and bones broke. The corpses hurled through the air and struck buildings with sickening red thuds.

Izhari did not help her familiar. Instead, she limped forward into the square, pulling her worthless leg like a chain.

“Eviscerate! Decimate!! ANNIHILATE!!!”

The living walls all began to shake and snap. Energy crackled and bent before bowing across the sediment. Screams from inside the walls told Izhari that there were more wretches within. That was enough. Tomita watched in rising terror as his master snarled and held out her hands.

“Stay within your walls forever! LET THEM BE YOUR PRISON FOR ALL TIME!!” commanded the broken voice that emanated from Izhari’s mouth like a horn.

As she screamed, the walls of the buildings in front of her locked and slammed into one another like a book being forcefully closed. The screams were brief, and when the thud happened, they were over. Horror flooded Tomita as he ripped the metal from his leg and crawled towards the being that had just recently been gently resting against his chest.

“Izhari! Izhari stop! You have to heal me!!” he begged.

His master heard her familiar crying for aid, and the voice did enough. The small monster before him stopped long enough to turn to him.

“Heal his broken form, make him new once more,” it whispered.

Only then could Tomita fully see the silver streaks of tears left on Izhari’s darkened face. Her expression was sorrowful in that moment. Her hate was not of cruelty. It was of disappointment and disgust. Tomita’s body burned white, and he felt searing relief as the wounds were cauterized and healed in seconds. White specks of fading consciousness danced in his vision as he tried to stand and move to his master.

But she was already moving forward. All around them, the maelstroms had grown in power. The ground was severing itself from its earthly binds, and entire buildings were snapping into ruins that were then hurled into oblivion. Creatures ran through the square in terror, but rays of energy exploded from Izhari’s body like sonar, and every time they struck one of her kin, they were immediately set aflame. Tomita struggled to cover his ears as the screams rose, but he knew where Izhari was moving towards.

“Wait! Izhari you have to stop!!” he screamed as he ran forward and grabbed her.

This hand.

She knew this touch.

It was not cruel.

She felt his concern.

He felt her despair.

She heard his gasps of desperation.

He saw her emptiness.

She felt his warmth.

He felt The Void.

Izhari paused.

“Izhari, you have to stop this!”

“DO NOT STOP ME TOMITA!!”

“Izhari there may be children here! INNOCENT CHILDREN! Who had no say in this world. Who were no different than you! YOU CANNOT KILL SUCH INNOCENCE! PLEASE STOP!!” he begged in absolute surrender.

To his shock and relief, the monster flickered. The blackened eyes glitched into white and blue for a moment as Izhari’s concern overpowered her rage. It was subtle, but it happened.

The monster let out a snarl and ripped its hands to its chest. From afar, a random creature flailed through the air with a scream before landing at Izhari’s feet.

“WHERE ARE YOUR CHILDREN?! WHERE ARE THEY?!!” roared Izhari.

The creature cowered with a whimper.

“W-w-we do not have any children!!! None of the recent years has given pure births. We have had only abominations for more than a decade!! They were all destroyed or sent away, I pro-”

The creature was ripped in two as Izhari growled, and the monster returned to full control. Even for Tomita, it was enough. His own disgust won, and he looked out at the kingdom of rot and felt nothing but condemnation.

“Izhari. Destroy this place and let us leave…” he conceded.

Fangs were bared, and Izhari let out a growl as she turned towards the last remaining building—the Great Hall.

By now, the maelstroms were enormous. The entirety of the sky seemed to be spinning in rage. All around them, memory star falls began to cascade through the sky. Tomita prayed it would be over soon. Before him, Izhari had reached the hall.

The maelstroms struck the walls of the old building and pulled them away like cupboard doors. Yet it was not enough to wake the wired occupants from their trance. Tomita saw the enormous memory totem and a wretched concept snuck into his mind.

Malware.

“Izhari! The memory totem is straight before you! Remember your drought of sorrow!!” he screamed.

She understood his recommendation immediately, and her staff aimed forward.

“Dream in filth and wallow in rot! Your memories are gone FOREVER! Now, feel my agony with your final thoughts!!!” she screamed as a bolt of black void tore itself from her staff and struck the memory totem with a thunderous clash. 

The black mass immediately snaked through the cables with diabolical haste and was into the captives’ minds instantly. Hundreds of half-dead bodies let out cries of absolute terror and suffering.

Fingers clawed at helmets, but they were burned to their heads. Limbs writhed and pulled to release themselves from their beds but they were now a part of them. Feeding tubes were ripped away but they were now draining substance instead of filling. Howling winds ripped stone and skin. Purple infernos turned the sky to desolate lilac.

It was a hell that Tomita could never have imagined.

Still, Izhari was not done. Now the helmets were removed. Now the bodies fell from the beds. Her hands twitched, and every being was pulled across the filthy floors and to her feet. Confused, lost eyes looked up at their damnation, who merely sneered in hate.

“YOU WORSHIPPED THIS WRETCHED KINGDOM WITH EVERY THOUGHT. NOW WEEP AND CURSE THIS DAY AS I ERASE YOU FROM HISTORY!!” she roared as the memory starfalls ceased and the sky began to turn black. 

The Void was here.

Tremors of sorrow shook Tomita’s body as he looked up at the expanding emptiness. It was a blackness he had never known. All light vanished and it was simultaneously flat and infinite. He did not know if it came from Izhari, or was another force entirely.

“This power…” he whispered as he watched The Void falling heavily down towards the hundreds of souls who were pleading for mercy or salvation.

The pleas went unheard. Some tried to stand, but Izhari cast them back to the excrement and rubble.

Her feet set and Tomita rushed to her side to brace her waist. He felt no remorse or pity. He only wanted to be rid of this place.

“SCREAM IN SORROW AS YOUR END BEGINS! FROM THIS DAY FORTH YOU WILL NEVER BE REMEMBERED! I WILL WIPE YOU FROM EVERY INSTANCE AND MEMORY AND STORY! YOUR KINGDOM SHALL BE LOST FOR ALL TIME!!! KNOW THAT IT WAS ONE OF YOUR OWN ABOMINATIONS WHO BROUGHT ABOUT YOUR END!!!”

The creatures' screams and howls seemed to create some measure of resistance, as The Void struggled to spread, but Izhari only gained power.

“ANNIHILATE! ANNIHILATE!! ANNIHILATE!!! FEEL YOUR WORLD COME CRASHING DOWN!!!!!!!” she bellowed as the sky snapped and The Void finally came rushing down like a tidal wave.

It struck the hall and the occupants and they were gone without a sound. The Void spread like a flash flood, striking every wall and pillar, erasing it from existence and leaving nothing but empty black in its place. The waves swirled and ripped and smashed, but Tomita and Izhari were never harmed.

The maelstroms began to dissipate and the fires subsided.

Winds calmed and the screams were gone. Tomita finally opened his eyes and found that he was alone with his master in a sea of black.

Currtasi was no more. Beyond he and Izhari, no one would ever remember them or recall them. Where once there were towers and monuments and wretched idols, now only The Void remained.