Pazuzu's Child IV
Enter Pazuzu
The blond figure walked slowly through the blasted and burned remain of the hairy ape like Graham . Bending over carefully so as not to smear dirt or blood on his off white suit he slowly picked up the head of a fallen Trajan.
"You are one ugly creature" he held the ape like head at arms length and examined the head as though he were admiring it. He squinted his eyes and scrunched his face in disgust as he noted the extra long canine teeth of the creature jutting up from its lower jaw. Much like fangs but placed on the wrong part of the jaw. The rest of the face was much like a cross between a gorilla and a chimpanzee. " Truly an ugly creature" he said quietly enough for only himself and the decapitated head he held in his hand. Shuddering at the ugly creatures head in disgust he threw it back in the ground, where it rolled until it gently hit a tree. There was a hollow thunk sound as though one were knocking a watermelon.
Casually he walked over to some of the human remains. He kicked the carcass of a bearded thug going stiff with rigor mortis. " Evil doer" he whispered with an devilish undertone "too Bad It Was Not I Or one Of My servants who did you in, I could have fed off your soul" He chuckled to Himself and then walked on toward the Vortex. How convenient he Thought to himself, the fog suppresses all sound coming from the tiny little glen. And so he walked through the vortex whispering to himself quietly. " Dam trajan" he was shaking his head " one day I shall words with that dwarf king Oid"
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The Usurper King
The court of Uruk was bedecked in opulent splendor with craftsmanship never viewed before by the Viking king. If one could get used to the heat the desert realms of Sumeria were not half bad. Still despite the opulence and wealth, the King Ragnar much preferred his homeland, the kingdom of the Danes. Ragnar knew that was not an option. Death had opened her doorway and was devouring literally everything in sight. The sailing from Norseland to the realm of the Phoenicians had been smooth enough and the Phoenicians themselves were not warrior types but rather merchants who quite ,quick and ready to engage in commerce of any sort. The main cargo the Vikings were interested in was slave. In a world based on need a mug of mead in the midst of the desert sun was of more value than all the gold in the world. Death was reaching out into his world , his people with an evil of her gnarled claw like hand. The slaves were not for labor or any other uses people had for them. They were used for sacrifices.
Perhaps it was 10 years ago when the dark goddess of death reached her bony hand into the realms of the northern lands. Plagues started to attack and decimate the land and it's people. The dark goddess of death had sent her minions to feed upon the souls of the living. By day she would grow stronger, her power would was like the increased light of the moon. Death wanted to over come the living. She would feed off the souls of human sacrifices.
There was sorrow in the Viking kings eyes when he purchased is group of slave. The warlike Akkadians had over taken villages and enslaved entire populations.
"You will enjoy these slaves" the Akkadian had declared with a belly laugh while pointing to the enslaved women and children. They were poor unfortunate creature chained in a cage like defeated animals.
" I am afraid my procurement of slaves is not for enjoyment or labor. " whispered back the Viking king ,his saddened face portraying his shame. He shook his head and then continued "they are to be sacrificed to the dark goddess of death"
"Ereshkigal" spat the Akkadian chief. "The dead have no business with the living"
"Tell that to her and her demons that come from the underworld devouring everyone in sight." Answered the Viking scornfully. " in our corner of the world we call her Hela"
The Akkadian chieftain shrugged "maybe that is what you call her in your snow covered lands , I do not know or maybe the land of the dead is divided up into regions and cities like the land of the living and the two we are talking about are different queens of different land in the realm of the dead."
The Viking king sighed and took a deep breath. " your gods out here in the desert h realm have the same stories and everything yet they have different names. "
The Akkadian chief laughed heartily. " perhaps we are all the same" he said. " maybe The Gods walk among us In Disguise taking a different name with every different place. "
" perchance" muttered the Viking , hand slowly stroking his beard. " This death goddess is devastating plague upon my land"
The chieftain smiled clapping the Viking king upon his shoulder. " she will take and take and when you can give her no more then she will launch her war up on the living" the chieftain paused . He was looking at the Vikings face making sure his words were sinking in. " Many gods and goddesses have challenged death and lost but there is a magician who can help "
" who can challenge death ? " the Viking asked in amazement " not even Odin could rescue his son Baldur from the clutches of death.. "
"Death can be beaten" laughed the Akkadian " I think there are two goddesses who have defeated death . Anatu and Ishtar but they have not been seen gracing the desert sands for a long time. Which is why you must go see the magician . "
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Lair of the Magician
" The Northern Goddess of death " chuckled the gap toothed magician " an emaciated lady the spawn of demons. " the cloaked magicians tone became serious. " She is one who has never tasted defeat she will not be easily defeated. " the Viking kings face was crestfallen.
"Must my people be constantly sacrificed to this soul hungry goddess" lamented Ragnar.
" God's and goddesses feed on human souls " countered the old magician. " so do demons ,especially those of the under world . They wait like predators hoping to pounce upon a hapless victim. "
The angry Viking slammed his two fists into the old stone table. The magicians tools that were laying upon the table shook and rattled. The stone table itself became cracked. " Must I allow this evil demon free reign to slaughter my people? " bellowed the enraged viking
" relax" the magician said with a reassuring smile. "There is one who can defeat this decrepit queen of the dead."
" who is this warrior that can lay this demon to rest once and for all ? " demanded Ragnar .
" he is a warrior demon of utmost strength. " explained the gap toothed magician with another reassuring smile.
" a demon? " screamed the Viking leader with rage. " A demon? "
"Demons and gods do feed off of human souls" whispered the magician "some will feed off on other deities and demons, pazuzu is one such spirit." The Viking day enraptured by the magician . " pazuzu, son of Hanbi, is one such demon. He is evil against evil. He is a demon that feeds off of other demons"
" is he dangerous to humans ? " the Viking king asked cautiously.
" Only evil doers" the gap toothed magician laugh back. "Only evil doers"
"How do I reach Pazuzu? "Rather queried eagerly.
" I conjure him" the magician said with a glint in his eye.
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Conjuring pazuzu
A light knocking sound had some him up. Pazuzu questioned himself as the fog was lifted slowly from his mind. How long had it been since a human had last summoned him. The sleep had been long. Milenia, centuries of years? Pazuzu opened his mind's eye and gazed upon an old darkened Arabian magician calling his name inside a circle of salt. At the circles East end was a large triangle abutting the circle. There is where they would trap him!
"Think today I will take a human form" he said to himself. His minds eye surveyed the temple. Solid walks and floors of ancient limestone. The chamber itself must have underground judging by the look of things. The smoke coming from the censers had nowhere to go, so the room was filled with the smoke from the burned frankincense and myrrh. To go there would suffocate him.
"Decisions, decisions" pazuzu muttered to himself, wondering what his next move would be. No one in Earth one ever bothered with the old ones. Earth two it was still alive. Still no one summoned demons and even fewer people even bothered summoning pazuzu. He stopped and paused again. "Guess I can check out earth two or stay trapped in this nether realm forever," the old demon thought to himself . "Freedom is freedom so here goes nothing" and so Pazuzu descended to Earth 2.
The triangle protected him from offensive odors of the frankincense and myrrh and so he appeared before the cowled magician. Dressed in his creme colored suit with black alligator skin shoes. His hair was a light blind cut one side shorter than the other. His eyes were hazel and he flashed a smile so delicious he could charm just about anyone.
"Well it has been heaven knows how long since those Christian looneys banished me to some realm where I have been forced to sleep." Pazuzu said quite gratefully flashing his oh so delicious smile.
" our task is the goddess of death, she is escaping her realm and claiming the souls of the living. " the magician informed of he demon in a tone of severity.
"Well I will tell you" the demon explained with a chuckle under his breathe . " I brook no quarrel with Ereshkigal , and I am not so keen to have one . Pazuzu's tone became more serious and his delicious smile began to fade.
"She has a different name" said the magician " in the north where the snow drifts cover the earth, she is called Hela"
Pazuzu paced around the salt lined triangle , his thoughts racing to his head. What seemed like an endless river of minutes. From his silent musings one would here the words freedom, war and fighting. Finally he stopped and fixed his hazel eyes on the magician who summoned him and he smiled a devilish smile. "There is a way but it is 10 years in the making and as luck would have it, this coincides with my plan." The Viking and the Sorcerer turned and gave each other a puzzled look/ " Oh come on why the puzzles looks " he yelled outva, loud laugh. In fact he laughed so hard that his face turned red. Sitting on what would seem like an invisible chair he began to explain what his plan would entail.
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Pazuzu's Plan
" I think it was around the year 1972 on Earth one or there about, I am not totally sure" began the blond demon still sitting aloft on his invisible chair. "Maybe the dates don't matter" he continued " You are not familiar with that any way.but I did see a young child possessing all that righteous fury that would make him the perfect avatar. " the magician and the Viking listened on with the appearance of awe engraved upon their face. " he had berserker blood running in veins and he had been adopted by a family just days after he had been born.. As you know family member can change their mind and some how convince themselves that they have the right to reverse a situation and relative today as before do not always mind their own business, like they should. So an Aunt and her children tried to take the little boy back. This young boy had no idea of anything. First they tried to talking to him in a church. Mind you I saw all this imprisoned in the realm the Christians locked me away in. Might I tell you that to do such a thing to a child is a horrid thing to do. The little boy was not scared like most little boys his age would be, he was angry, he was enraged, he was ready to wreak havoc. That little boy what I was looking for , a rager. Oh how I loved it.
I Digress unfortunately, back to this young boys story and why I liked him so much. The courts do not always dispense justice. They forced the boy to meet the aunt and her children. Thinking his adoptive parents were his real parents he was , of course, repelled by them. In his mind they were repulsive creatures. Then a couple of days later they came in a van to take him back to his biological family. His adoptive mother had a different story to tell. She has told him that they wanted to adopt him back in the city of his birth but that she had changed his mind. The boy was sad as anyone his age would be going through such an ordeal. The young one was no one to bow down to the wicked savageness of sorrow no he was plotting his escape or his return to home. No sooner had they parked the can and gotten into the house the young boy flew into a rage. The furniture was smashed into pieces. He ran around the house like a lunatic evading capture from the larger adults and locked himself in a room with a younger girl. This poor girl was duly afraid of this raging monster of a boy who stood before her. The girl was deathly frightened and the little boy with glowing red hair wanted to go home to his mother and father . A funny deal was struck, she would feign injury from the knife he held in his hand and in exchange he would do her no harm. Needless to say the deal fell through. The adults in the room opened the door, detained the boy, plopped him back into the can and drove him back home. Parent and child were reunited and I knew then that I had found my avatar. "
The Viking and the magician understood most of the story, yet there were concepts and words they did not understand. Pazuzu patiently explained what a van was, what a court was and what adoption was among other things.
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Pazuzu' Return to Uruk.
Through the vortex he had walked. Glancing down at the ground covered with puddles of blood, the old demon chuckled. He kicked the severed law and then thought about it. Pick it up he thought to himself and put it in a purple velvet bag. It would come in useful later he thought to himself again. " Earth 2 a world free of religious domination " he said to himself out loud with a smile. Taking in a deep breath ,he decided to look around. " One day both worlds shall be mine"
In the midst of the dark woods he walked to an open space and resumed his true form. From out of his back a multiple colored plumage of wings emerged. His face was that of a mad dog or hyena , perhaps a combination of the two. Hands and feet turned to pass and claws. Off into the air he flew. Pazuzu knew where the Viking king was, and he knew how to get there.
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The winds from the West blew hot that day, bringing with them got burning sands. Fear over took the residents of Uruk. Many ran in doors and his for the fear was so great. The more superstitious would seek refuge in the temples of various deities. Those who were brave or felt they had not a trace of sin walked through the streets openly and brazenly. Yet there those who regarded Pazuzu as friend. Midwives had pendants dedicated to Pazuzu for despite how evil the from appeared to be he was the one who protected children from wicked goddess Lamashtu. The demoness was the queen of a class of demons who killed children and seduced men in the night. The union between these delineates and men produced children who were half demon and half human.
Along with the wind often came plague and disease. No one was protected from the plagues that came with wind. Many died with sores covering their bodies. Their Skin Would Melt Off Their Face. Pazuzu landed, his form so hideous that even the one with bravest of hearts felt their souls melt in fear. Those brave ones who did not die, fled. Once Pazuzu appeared as the blond boy in a creme colored suit the plague stopped. People still fled. The bazaar was lined with abandoned stalls and shops. Still no one who was about would steal because the dread Lord Pazuzu loved to sla wrong doers.
The numerous Viking guards moved aside as the familiar stranger in a creme colored suit walked with a swagger towards Ragnnar.
" By Thor's beard you have returned, is it that time already! " the bearded Viking king exclaimed a loud.
The demon gave a mild chuckle then said quietly his tone almost a whisper. "Well two things old friend, if I may so call you that. First this is the desert land and Thor has no sway here and second yes my avatAr has arrived"I
Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz
