Chapter 4: Ring of Truth

Southern Oklahoma. Navajo Indian reservation.

The two young boys sat near the campfire and listened to Uncle Standing Wolf tell his stories of the old times. “Then all the braves paused before the cloud-demon”, he continued in his slow, almost catching voice. “The sky went dark with arrows, many arrows, for all the tribes had united. There were Cree and Navajo and Sioux and Cherokee and Apache and other tribes all joined to fight the great cloud-demon. Arrow after arrow, spear after spear, all flew true to the beast… And the demon was as unaffected, as the tribes of long ago were by the life-giving spring rains. Then the demon, larger than ten buffalo, lifted up from the ground on great-feathered wings and flew over the warriors. So large was the demon that it blocked out the sun and many braves fell stunned”

“Great uncle, what happened next”, the younger of the boys asked in a timid voice, his eyes rapt with attention.

“Then, the Apache medicine man lifted up his voice and called onto the Great Spirit and asked that the cloud demon be banished from the world. Then he began to chant… Arumm shumba boolo hrakennn, Arumm shumba boolo hrakennn… And all the Navajo braves started chanting along with the medicine man. Even the lessor warriors from the other tribes joined in.”

“I know, I know great uncle”, the older boy interrupted, “the Great Spirit came down to the buffalo-hunting fields and lifted the cloud-demon with his own hand and placed him in the sky, far away from any Navajo.”

“Yes, Peter Walking Sparrow, you know the story… but do you know that we, we Navajo here, are descended from those valiant braves of so long ago. And that…”

“That you’re descended from the medicine man who stole the show. Yes, great uncle, I’ve heard the story a million-billion times.”

“Peter. Edward.” a mother’s voice called out from the rundown houses, ”Come in for bed now. Say goodnight to Standing Wolf and come in for bed.

As the two boys were walking away, the younger asked the older if the cloud-demon would ever return. The older replied that Richie from high school said that Standing Wolf got his stories out of a bottle of whiskey and that he heard Rocket Christopher use the same ‘chant’ on his HBO special last night, demonstrating how people on crack talk.

A suburb of Trondheim up in frigid Norway.

Old Oleg related the tales of the Vikings for his two grandchildren as bedtime stories. “Tell of their greatest battle, grand-papa”, young Nora asked, “You know the one with Thor and Odin in it.”

“Me too! Me too! I wanna hear it, too”, even younger Karls demanded.

“All right, then”, Oleg said with a chuckle. “Climb up here in my lap and keep these old bones warm and I’ll give you the tale, again.” The children were climbing into his lap when Oleg’s daughter, Svenarna, walked into the room.

“Now, children, be careful climbing in grand-papa’s lap. He’s had a many years on a fishing boat and he’s old an’ his bones are tired.”

“But mama, we just wanna hear ‘bout Thor, ‘gain”

“Tis OK, Svenarna. I’ll give the scampers the tale and tuck them in the straw for you. You can go to bed now… unless you’d like to hear the tale yourself.”

“C’mon mama, sit for the tale. Will you please? Grand-papa won’t make it as scary if you sit for the tale.”

“I’ve heard the tale many, many times while I was growing up, Karls. But, I suppose, I could sit for the tale one more time. Just don’t make it too scary for me, grand-papa,” she said with a wink as she sat in the rocker by the fire.

Oleg took another nip of his coffee and with a grin for his eldest daughter, set off on the tale of the Vikings and their encounter with the sea-demon. “As you remember, the Vikings had conquered most of the northern climes and were exploring ever outward, seeking new treasures.”

“And more towns to loot,” Karls injected with an impish grin.

“Maybe I should sit for the tale more often,” Svenarna announced with a mock scowl on her face. “The tell might not be right for such young ears.”

“Awww, mama. I was just helping grand-papa.”

“Well, you let grand-papa give the tell all by himself or I’ll tuck you in the straw, myself.”

“OK, mama. I won’t help anymore… But grand-papa always lets me say my part! Don’t you grand-papa? Tell her, grand-papa!”

“You let me give the tale and I’ll let you say your favorite part when the time comes.” Everyone settled down and Oleg began again. “Once, long ago, before the great wars and before Leif Erickson and before even Eric the Red himself, a crew of the Vikings explorers were set upon by a sea-demon. The brave crew fought the sea-demon in the water for many days before coming within sight of land. The land energized the creature and with a flip of its mighty tail, the Viking ship was dashed onto the shore. Many valiant warriors went to Valhalla in that moment.”

“We’ll see them someday, won’t we grand-papa?” asked Karls.

“Yes, young Karls. We’ll indeed meet the crew that fought the sea-demon when we get to Valhalla. But, hopefully not too soon! Now hush and let me give the rest of the tale.”

“OK, but I get my part.”

“Hush. The Vikings set about using the wood from the ship to build bonfires, the better to call down the gods, because they knew that they wouldn’t go to Valhalla if the gods didn’t favor them. They all threw their shirts into the fires, even though it was as cold as ice water, to let Lord Odin know of their dire need. Then they went to the shore, fires burning behind them, and waited for the sea-demon to come to them, swords and spears in hand. Soon, much too soon, the sea-demon was upon them and many, many more brave Vikings went to Valhalla that day. But, the blood from the fallen warriors had mixed with the fires calling for the gods and you know what? The gods answered!”

“With a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder!” Karls yelled out, waking Svenarna, who had dozed off in the rocker.

“Hush, now. You’ll wake papa and you’ll miss the rest of the tale.”

“Sorry, mama, but that’s my part. Grand-papa always lets me say my part.”

“OK, you’ve had your part. Now let grand-papa finish so we can get to bed. I have to get up in the morn.”

“C’mon, grand-papa, finish the tale. I’ve done my part. Now you can finish the tale.”

“With a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder, Lord Odin and Mighty Thor appeared behind the warriors! And not just the two greatest of Asgard, but the whole host of Asgard was there to fight the demon. Brave Heimdall and Strong Tyr, The sons of Thor, Magi and Modi, the twins Vidar and Vili, Peaceful Baldur… Even mischievous Loki was there, with sword in hand to fight the demon. Hela herself, with ten valkyries for every fallen Viking, was there to guide the destined to Valhalla. Lord Odin commanded the Vikings to step aside, this was a battle for the gods, and the gods alone. The battle raged for days and such was the sea-demons strength that many brave Asgardian warriors went to Valhalla that day as well. Then Mighty Thor rallied the warriors with a battle cry, and he threw Mjollnir at the same time as Lord Odin threw Gungir. Such was the sea-demon’s power that it was only knocked-out, not slain. Mighty Thor drew his sword and started to cleave at the demon but Lord Odin stayed his arm. ‘My son,’ Lord Odin said, ‘this sea-demon will never die. He feeds on the evil hearts of men and is therefore invincible.’ ‘But, Lord Odin,’ Mighty Thor asked, ‘If we can’t slay the sea-demon, what are we to do?’ Lord Odin told Mighty Thor that he would place the demon far from the reach of man and far from the sea. And saying so, he picked up the demon by the tail and swung him around, swung him around and threw him up into the stars. The sea-demon is now in the sky where I will watch over him, Lord Odin told the Vikings. And, if’n you look real hard, young Karls, you can still see the sea-demon’s red eye moving across the sky.”

“But I don’t wanna see him; what if he comes down to eat me?”

“He will never return as long as you stay pure of heart and clean of mind, young Karls.”

“I know, I know, grand-papa, that’s why we have to do good in school and be nice to everyone,” Karls said as he slid off his grand-papa’s lap and headed for his room. Oleg stood with a low groan and handed sleeping Nora to Svenarna.

“Hopefully, my tale will keep the young-uns on the main mast”, Oleg said to Svenarna with a grin.

“Now, if you’d come up with a tale that made them want to clean their rooms, I’d sit for the tale every night”, Svenarna answered with a chuckle.

Beijing, China, Not far from the Great Wall.

Two boys are playing at recess. “That’s not how my nana told me about it.”

“But teacher is right. That’s why he’s teacher!”

“NO. My nana is right. She said that the Great Wall was made to keep the serpent-demon out.”

“But, teacher said it was Mongols! He never said anything about serpents or demons.”

“Nana said that the serpent-demon was eating everyone and the emperor had the wall built to keep him out.”

“Couldn’t the serpent-demon just tunnel under the Great Wall?”

“No. My nana said that he was destroyed.”

“Destroyed?”

“My nana said that Buddha gave the monks on the hill a sword made of the light of the sun and the monks used the sword to kill the serpent-demon. And then Buddha picked up the serpent-demon and placed him in the sky.”

“A sword made of the light of the sun? Cool! Let’s play that game.”

“OK, but I get the sword first!”

Alexandria, Egypt. Site of the fabled Library at Alexandria.

“Sir, I’ve almost finished translating the new parchment. Seems that someone has a sense of the dramatic, even thousands of years ago.”

“What have you got so far? Give me the gist.”

“From what I’ve been able to make out, The parchment is a retelling of an even older story, kinda like a legend. It seems like a monster story in that it concerns a great demon, see that hieroglyph there? That represents the demon. And here, these represent the pyramids and this is the Sphinx.”

“What have you deduced about the story? Do you have enough translated to give a re-cap?”

“Well, it has to be a tall tale, because some of these things are far-fetched, even for an ancient story-teller.”

“Far-fetched? Like what?”

“Well, according to the parchment, the demon destroyed the great fields of the Sahara… apparently by drinking all the water from the Nile.”

“Heh heh. Fiction, even thousands of years ago.”

“And there’s more… Apparently the demon destroyed most of the Egyptian Empire and was on his way to kill the reigning Pharaoh when the Pharaoh commanded the Sphinx to rise up and fight the demon. The battle lasted for years before the Sphinx got the upper hand and pinned the demon to the ground. Then Atum-Re came down to Earth and picked the demon up and placed him in the sky. Apparently on Mars.”

“Mars! How did they know it was on Mars?”

“Wellll, here’s where it gets really weird… The Pyramids are in a rough triangle. If you take the total length of each of the sides and add it up, thenmultiply by the distance from the center of that triangle to the location of the Sphinx…”

“What’d you get?”

“It’s the distance from the Earth to Mars when Mars is at its closest point to Earth!”

“What? That’s crazy! You mean the Pyramids are laid out just like that? And how did they know to built the Sphinx at just that location?”

“According to the story… The Sphinx went to that location to rest after the battle and the King commanded him to keep an eye on the demon. That’s why the Sphinx faces the way he does. To watch out for the return of the demon.”

“Man, don’t let those conspiracy-theory nuts find out about this one… They’ll want to evacuate every one from Mars, just so we don’t disturb the demon.”

Pradesh, India

“And the demon lashed out at the villagers… In the temple, the holy man labored to make the sacrifice… For soon the demon would be upon them… Driving the sacred knife deep into the chest of the lamb… The blood ran over the holy man’s hands as he offered up the heart to the gods… And the gods answered his prayers… Shiva, Vishnu and Ganesh took over the bodies of the three strongest villagers… The bodies were transformed as the gods adapted them to serve… The avatar of Shiva grew six extra arms… The avatar of Vishnu, his eyes merged into one large eye… The avatar of Ganesh grew tall… And his skin became like that of an elephant… The demon paused when confronted by the sacred trio… But with a roar that shook the heavens, he charged… The trinity confronted the demon… A ray of light came out of Vishnu’s great eye and stopped the demon in his tracks… Shiva slashed with swords in all eight hands… Ganesh hurled large timbers at the demon… The demon was stopped but not for long… Shiva, Vishnu and Ganesh began to dance around the demon… The demon was paralyzed by the power of the dance… Each of the avatars reached in to pick up the demon… With a mighty heave, the avatars threw the demon high into the sky… The villagers cried for the dead… The avatars ascended into Heaven to guard the demon…”

Translated for the top 40 dance track in India: Shiva, Vishnu and Ganesh Know The Dance.

Eskimo fishing village, far into the Arctic Circle.

“… And Utvak pierced the snow-beast with his spear made of whale bone and using the spear as a lever, flung the snow-beast high into the sky…

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“… And Mohammed squeezed the great beast with all his strength until the beast submitted, then Mohammed placed him in the stars…”

The Vatican. Research room.

“Have you told the Holy See of this discovery?”

“I’m not sure that he’d want to know. I’m sure that he wouldn’t want it to be made public… The real reason for the Great Flood.”

“That God flooded the Earth just to kill one of the fallen angels?”

“I don’t think it was an angel… The Latin is hard to translate… And the Latin is a translation from an even earlier language. No, I don’t think it was an angel.”

“Well, what do you think it was?”

“As best I can make out… It was one of the elder demons… A beast of great strength and cunning… And hunger… God knew that the demon would destroy the world if given the chance so he had Noah built the ark and save the animals… Then he destroyed the world himself, partially… To keep the demon from destroying it utterly.”

“No, I don’t think the Holy See needs to know about that. And the rest of the Catholics as well… Let’s just keep them believing the regular stories… The ones that we’re made up long ago to keep them in line…”

“And to keep the money rolling into the Vatican…”

“That’s right. How do you think the Catholic Church rose to such prominence? No, keep this story under your shirt. Come on, we’ll go search for more references about this ‘demon’ of your…”

University of San Francisco, Seismic research room.

“Apparently, from the readings we’ve analyzed…”

“Come on, come on, spit it out!”

“Well, there actually WAS an Atlantis! There actually was a continent in the South Atlantic that was destroyed long ago in a great upheaval.”

“But what could cause a whole continent to sink to the bottom of the ocean?”

“I donno. A battle amongst gods, perhaps?”

Athens, Greece.

“And here the story differs… Apparently the Spartans paused in their attack of Athens and the gods came down to the planet.”

“That wasn’t in the Iliad!”

“I know. I said that the story differed and it’s in the battle that it differs. Apparently, Homer left that chapter on the table when he took his story to the publisher.”

“And how does this ‘lost’ chapter go?”

“Apparently the battle was interrupted be a demon…”

“A demon!”

“And the gods stopped the battle and decided to fight the demon, instead.”

“Let me guess… Hercules saved the day.”

“Actually, no. In this story, he was almost killed by the demon for his brash attack. Only the power of Athena could save him.”

“And how did the gods get rid of this ‘demon’?”

“According to the story, Hades joined Zeus in flinging the demon into the stars.”

“And let me guess, there’s a constellation named after the ‘demon’?”

“No. I don’t think so. I don’t think it made it all the way to the stars.”

“Maybe he hit the planet that was supposed to exist between Mars and Jupiter and destroyed it!"

“I donno. But that would explain why we have an asteroid belt now where the planet was supposed to be.”

“OK, say the demon destroyed the planet… Where is he now? Floating in space? On a meteor, waiting to come back to Earth? Chillin’ on Mars? Surfin’ the Red Eye on Jupiter? Huh, Where is he?”

“I donno. The story doesn’t get into that.”

“Great. Just great. Actually… I think I know where the demon is…”

“Yeah. Where?”

“He possessed my mother-in-law just to make my life hell!”

Tokyo, Japan. Shinto grade school.

“Priest-teacher, how did Japan get separated from the mainland?”

“Ahhh, good question, Amiko. How did Japan get separated from the mainland? I think the story of Susano-no-mikoto tells it very well. The story goes like this: A great Rasetsu-demon appeared before Amaterasu and demanded that she pay him much tribute or Rasetsu would eat village after village. Amaterasu rebuffed the demon’s challenge and was shocked when villages started disappearing from her land. Soon, the demon had eaten all the villages in such a way to cut Japan off from the mainland.”

“But, Priest-teacher, what happened to the demon?”

“Ahhh, the demon. Amaterasu realized that the demon would eat all of Japan if left unchecked, so she created a brother, Susano-no-mikoto and gave him a Katana made of sunlight and Kami-dana, a mirror-shield. Then Amaterasu sent Susano-no-mikoto down to Japan to destroy the demon. The demon laughed, ha ha ha, at Susano-no-mikoto and the battle was joined. The demon and Susano-no-mikoto battles for ages and ages until Susano-no-mikoto thought to strike Kami-dana with his Katana made of sunlight. The flash blinded the demon and Amaterasu asked Xix, the god of wind, to blow the demon off the planet, never to bother the Japanese people again. Next question, please.”

Continued in War of the Blood Gods #4

We hope you enjoyed this brand new original fiction series by Grim, writer of Cosmic Powers Unlimited's Drunk Thanos fan fiction stories.  Please send Grim your feedback at cpufeedback@yahoo.com and if you have an original story, e-mail cpufeedback@yahoo.com about having it published in our new Beyond Reality imprint at Cosmic Powers Unlimited.