The Demon of the Three Rivers – Chapter 02

This is the 2nd Chapter of “The Demon of the Three Rivers”. To find the whole chapter list click here.

Also, do remember, this is a prequel to “The House in the Lake”, so, if you haven’t read “The House in the Lake”, there will be some spoilers.

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Having a god on their side, no matter how unknown this god was, would secure the victory against the demons and the beasts. That’s what the humans thought. That’s what the heroes thought, as well.

And, indeed, Velek’s party was victorious in every fight. And soon enough, all heroes and their parties had joined Velek’s, to form an unbeatable army.

Velek and his army were fighting in the western lands. Far away from an insignificant land with three rivers, somewhere in the east. The very same land where, five thousand years in the future, Lugh would appear, creating the Sacred Lake.

Victory, after victory, after victory; you would expect the lands where Velek was fighting to have been freed from the demons and the beasts. But that’s not what happened.

It is true Velek’s army hadn’t lost a battle, but they had only killed beasts. The demons? Although they would have lost the fight, they would have run away. Velek, god or not, hadn’t managed to kill a single one!

But it was the demons who created the beasts. At least, most of them. Thus, Velek’s victories were futile. Well… not completely, as the humans wouldn’t die, and the villages and towns nearby wouldn’t perish, but still, peace and freedom wouldn’t come. And therefore, Velek’s army, the only power fighting the beasts, could not advance. And other than the west, the whole world had nobody to protect it. Neither a hero, nor a god.

And so, despair returned, back in the hearts of the humans all over the world, in just a few months. The news of the victories were not enough to sustain the hope. And with some delay – true – the despair finally reached the west, where Velek was.

By then, the humans had forgotten the day and the night. It was always dark. The plants were dying. Most were dead, already. The animals had gone crazy. Both the nocturnal and the diurnal ones would range the earth and the sky together, fighting each other to secure any remaining food. The carnivorous would attack even the humans, in every chance.

It wasn’t just the beasts and the demons anymore. It was the whole world which humans had to be afraid of. So, how could they keep their hopes?

In the beginning, they were afraid of opposing Velek out in the open, so only behind his back would they talk against his words and promises about the return of the Sun God. But then, finally, this fear had gone. Or, at least, it had become more insignificant than all the rest.

So, at a time when Velek was standing up, next to an altar, offering food, incense and prayers to the Sun God, they gathered under the altar yelling and demanding for him not to waste the food for a God who couldn’t receive it.

Velek turned to the crowd to tell them to keep their hopes strong, but they wouldn’t listen to him.

“The Sun God is dead!”

They needed no reason. They would listen to no explanation. No encouragement would help them, no victory would reassure them. They were sure that if, indeed, the Sun God hadn’t abandoned them, he must already have been dead.

Velek looked at the crowd in despair, not knowing what more to say to them, to convince them. But then something changed. Not in the crowd, not in the land, but up in the sky. He smiled happily. He raised his hand and pointed towards the west, about twenty degrees higher than the horizon.

“You, humans, are blind to the light. The Sun God has returned, but you keep on seeing the darkness. The full moon is ready to set and the sun is ready to raise. Yet, you still despair?”

But the humans were really blind, by then. “Shut your crazy mouth! The Sun God is dead!”

But a kid, much too young to know reason, turned around to see what Velek was pointing to.

“The full moon! The full moon is up in the sky!”

Only then did the people turn their heads around to see; to see the full moon shining brightly. The Sun God had really returned!

Hope and joy sparkled in their hearts and the yelling and dancing reinforced it. And long before their enthusiasm had calmed down, the sun had risen. A new day had started. The dark year had ended. The time for the beasts to fall in despair had come.

But the beasts didn’t know that, yet.