Hunter of The Red Plains

Sha Nagba Imuru: Kur Kagal Irkala; Chapter IV

It flew away as fast as it could. From the dark water. From the shadow that was brought along with the wave. From the hideous creature that wished to devour it. But it was of no use, the spiritual body of the ghost was not that powerful, since he was simply a farmer who was to find peace in his afterlife, and the gap between the creature and it was closing rapidly. In no time after, the front leg of the four legs of the creature which had a piercing point thrusted through the ghost's chest, and then took the motionless spirit's form to its mouth. The mouth of the said creature was on its torso as it had no head, and it was as big as the whole front of its body, which was jet black and had wavy lines on it. 

The creature was happily feasting on the soul it had caught, with the giant wave of dark water following behind. There was no sight upon the wave, as there was a strong shadow that concealed what beneath was there. All that was seenable was a pair of crimson glitters 15-20 meters in the air, which moved so freely yet always together that one would think of them as eyes.

"What... Is this..?" Archer asked with his eyes widened with some emotion he had not felt for a very long time. What was it, he wondered, terror? Shock? Despair? Maybe all of them were present. As he gazed directly at the gigantic crimson eyes,he once again understood how powerless he was. He who could not save anything was still here, hoping that he could change a thing or two. However, he himself, more than anyone else, knew that he wasn't worth anything and was not capable of accomplishing anything. That is why, until the very last moment, he did not move out of the way of the crimson beam heading towards him. It was fine. A powerless fool indeed should be killed, he thought. Those thoughts of despair remained until a certain scream was heard.

"Archer!" The scream pulled Archer out of his thoughts and ordered his legs and body to twist, dodging the incoming doom the last second. When he could turn to his side to face the goddess who rised her spear in front of herself, building a shield around her palace as more of those beams followed through. "What are you doing, you idiot? Who the hell looks directly into the eyes of her anyway!?" Ereshkigal asked as she blocked countless blasts hitting the shield of hers.

"My apologies, Goddess Ereshkigal. I lost the track of myself a bit there." Archer replied after he got a grip on himself. "So, what is this powerful beast and the muddy filth following behind?"

"This is Tiamat, the Earthmother herself. The creatures you see down there, feasting on souls, are called Lahmu. The magical energy they consume is transported the their mother, Tiamat, to help her ressurection. Have you heard of The Legend of Creation?" Ereshkigal asked, with droplings of sweat on her forehead. As it showed, keeping up the barrier was no simple task even for her. 

Archer nodded once, and quickly projected his bow and an arrow, shooting it towards the Lahmu chasing ghost after charging it with magical energy, resulting it to shatter to many other arrows and rain upon the monsters as explosive raindrops.

Enuma Elish, The Legend of Creation. According to the Sumerrian myths, the children of Tiamat herself fought against their father and mother, acclaiming victory and using Tiamat's body parts to create the earth. To think that the earthmother herself would be able to stand up once again...

"Wasn't she in pieces?" Archer asked, but got no reply from Ereshkigal as her face seemed troubled and sweating cold drops from maintaining the shield. Archer took a deep breath after he analyzed Ereshkigal's barrier, and chanted "I am the bone of my sword." Then, he stood in front of the goddess and raised his arm, calling out a name: "Rho Aias." 

As a flower of purple took shape in front of her, Ereshkigal understood the intent of her companion and let go of her shield. The moment she did so, all the energy she was holding back was now shouldered by Archer, but he didn't seem to be troubled that much by the force he was facing.