The Forgotten God

Chapter 21

The deluge had receded. The drains bloated with the copious liquid they had swallowed. Puddles lingered, the lasting remains that they couldn't digest.

Kyle stayed some way behind Babi as they ascended out on the streets, feeling strangely self-conscious at the possibility of being seen with the dwarfish, misshapen brute.

His own fair-weather friends had always pulled the eyes with their numerous tattoos and piercings, not the mention the coarse vocabulary they weren't afraid of using. But he had always blended well, it was a way of life and none of them were strange enough to belong to a sideshow, whatever his grandmother might have said.

The humiliation of being put down was still strong also, slowing his step as he seethed.

Babi didn't notice. His slaves always remained behind him on at his feet, the latter he made some allowances for considering his diminutive size. To tell someone they were not to be higher would mean them crawling on their bellies like the worms they were.

As appealing as that thought was, it wasn't functional.

Nor was the towel wrapped about the bulk of his waist, covering his lower regions. It was thicker than the clothes worn in the old days and not as easy to move in, especially as the hem became saturated with water. He put up with it, it was a small irritant at the end of the day.

He gazed around, enraptured by the destruction and his grin widened every time he saw the shade of a human, living or deceased, stiff in the shadows.

Pausing by the drain he ran his finger through the slick fluid that clung to the kerbside, beaming in delight at the blood trickling over his beige pads.

"Glorious," he drawled, rolling his tongue to capture the droplets, shuddering at the metallic tang that followed. "I taste the essence of beasts know only to Gods and heroic mortals. And fear. The wonderful, wonderful fear you exude when you see the end of your life before you."

"There were strange things when the road was flooded," Kyle confirmed sullenly. "Snake like things from what little I saw. I wasn't going to get up close to them."

"The children of Apep," Babi said "I am sure he aids the turmoil here well."

Kyle had no clue as to who Babi referred to and didn't feel inclined to ask. The God, if that was what he was, didn't seem inclined to elaborate either.

A sudden quake caused the street to convulse, sending sprays of broken stone and dust up in waves. For a moment the road was the image of a concrete sea, rolling and roiling as if a whirlpool churned beneath it.

Kyle dropped to his knees and moved as far as he dared away from the building. There was no safety here, either risking the offices and homes falling or being consumed and swallowed by the living earth itself. Situated on the edge of the kerb he was at risk of the abandoned cars also.

Flattening himself down, he covered his ears against the roar, resigning himself to whatever happened. There was no point in panicking, in running. One thing he did believe in was fate, the end of which he couldn't exhort.

Babi's screeching laughter joined the crescendo as he clambered onto the shell of a rusty pick-up truck to survey the event further. The owner still lay within, killed when some of his load was flung forward, breaking his neck. The girders and bricks were a fine playground for the apish deity but that could wait.

"You humans are so foolish," Babi crowed, jumping heavily on the already dented hood. "Yet, it works in my favour this time." He froze and turned back to Kyle. "You will find me other followers. By your looks, you must have unsavoury acquaintances. I can offer them much, but I expect them to work for it."