• Chapter 14
    Clear River running Red
    Aster first started out by the river and there were rumors going about of a murderer living near Clear River. Soon enough the nearby tribe army, the Fear Tribe Army, began to scour the area, only to have their numbers lowered every time they searched. Soon enough the Fear Tribe Army gave up on finding the culprit and left the villagers to fend for themselves. This was the biggest mistake they could have ever made.
    Aster made his way into the village at midnight and found his way into the town’s newly constructed reservoir. Once in he began to creep up on the guard at the brim and swiftly cracked the guards back with his front tentacles. Letting the body fall into the water, he drank from the red water.
    Overhead, on the upper walkway from the flood seasons, another guard began to drop down to ambush Aster. Touching down lightly beside Aster’s tail, he lifted his axe above his head. Suddenly, Aster’s tail lifted up and batted the guard aside. He landed on his back and slowly stood up in pain from his broken ribs. The next thing he saw was Aster’s mouth gaping and his head going into it.
    Outside of the reservoir, people had started to stir and waken from the oddity of noises coming from inside the reservoir. Eventually three brave villagers, each baring long knives, investigated the noises. What they found was two of them being smashed against the wall and one of them thrown over the edge into the crowd below. Aster heaved himself onto the edge and gazed upon the population and simply stayed there.
    One of the villagers slowly made her way back into her home to grab her bow and arrows. She came back outside and, with amazing speed; she knocked and fired several arrows in a matter of seconds at Aster. They all hit him dead on but fell to the ground below without causing any wounds. Aster turned his gaze to the woman and lunged from his high perch. He landed with a sickening crunch on top of the woman.
    The villagers fled away in terror in hopes of getting out of the village and away from Aster. This attempt came to no avail for, surrounding the village, a great maw had appeared, taking some slow men and women and merely scaring the crap out of others. Above their heads an odd whining noise announced the arrival of a swarm of deadly Lezo Beetles. The Beetles came and ripped the villagers apart and the ground was soaked in their blood.
    Aster stalked about and ate the tattered, bloody corpses of the humans that the Lezo beetles did not already devour. One of the corpses had cross in its hand and Aster took it and threw it into the maw. A raven swooped down and snatched the cross before it was plunged fully into the darkness. The beast began to pursue the raven.

    Some of Asters were atheists that hated those who believed in any way in a higher power. They especially hated those who called themselves any form of a Christian. This hatred stems from the fact that the first Aster in existence was a Shadow Demon under the control of Satan.

































    Chapter 15
    Enough
    They came in the night. They would be the Fear Tribe Army. Their attack was focused on the Grass Tribe. The Tribe was put on high alert and the villagers who could ran to the safe haven of the woods, Orún Jur, High Tree. Hasäsh was not with them for she was leading the Grass Tribe Army against the invading Fear Tribe warriors. The first part they fortified was the beach area so the Fear Tribe was immensely slowed and hurt. They were hurt by small mines they had laid out that detonated when shot by arrows and blew up the ground and men around its blast area. But the warriors kept coming and the arrows kept hitting them.
    After several hours of continuous fighting the Grass Tribe defenders fell back to the nearby city of Atrodîn. There they entered the city walls and rested while that cities defenders kept an eye out for the Fear Tribe invaders. Kasäsh was talking strategy with the commander there and they soon found that the Fear Tribe completely ignored Atrodîn and continued on to Orún Jun. Kasäsh told her company to prepared for departure and at dawn they set out to hopefully save Orún Jun.
    By noon they had made and found that they were too late for the gates were smashed in and many of the houses set ablaze. Kasäsh could still hear fighting going on inside and her company quickly found the source of the fighting. In there was Aster Eroctîl. Bodies were scattered everywhere- ripped, shredded, or maimed. Men continued to try to kill Aster but were simply batted aside or ripped apart. Kasäsh’s men charged the blood covered Aster and managed to cover him but they were quickly tossed them off. A few were killed but the rest were merely stunned. Slowly Kasäsh advances on Aster and he simply stands there, glaring and dripping with rain. Sure enough the men were back on their feet and circling in on Aster. A spearman lunges at Aster and has his neck snapped faster than he thought the beast could move. In the blink of an eye all of Kasäsh’s men were killed and Kasäsh was the only one remaining.
    Above Aster appeared Death, this time his skeletal and rotten face revealed and a scythe in his left hand. He slowly pointed his right index finger at Kasäsh and brought down pointing at Aster.
    Finally he spoke, “Do it Kasäsh. Do it or suffer the same fate as your father does!” Kasäsh, completely confused, brings her blade up as Aster charges her with a mighty roar. In an instant Aster had her backing up and rapidly blocking his swings. Aster wraps a tentacle around Kasäsh’s blade and snaps it two. Kasäsh runs from Aster and runs into a survivor. The survivor was injured but the Samsk gave Kasäsh his sword to fight Aster with.
    Kasäsh runs at Aster and swings the sword at Aster, who blocks it with a chest tentacle only to see it fall limp to the ground. Aster backs away as more of his tentacles are chopped off until none remain. Immobile, Aster is finished by a final sweeping slice to his chest, gutting him.
    Kasäsh drops the sword and slowly walks away, unaware that Aster is slowly transforming back to his original humanoid form. The new Aster Eroctîl picks up the sword and slowly brings his gaze onto the limping Kasäsh. Beside his feet is the unconscious Heîrok with a small charm in his hand.
    Aster Eroctîl stalks after Kasäsh and talks to her a voice full of pride, “Where do you think you’re going? You have yet to truly finish me!” Kasäsh turns in time to see Aster swing the sword and barely dodges the swing. Flurries of swings come at Kasäsh and she manages to avoid some while taking minor cuts on some. Meanwhile, Heîrok is slowly gaining consciousness and soon awakens to see this one sided fight. He picks up his daughter’s shattered sword pieces and uses his charm to mend it.
    “Hey brother! Catch!” Yells Heîrok and throws the sword at his cursed brother. Aster turns towards him and feels the sword slide through his chest. Aster stumbled from the sword’s impalement and dropped his sword. He roughly wrenched the sword out of his chest and charged at Heîrok with a hole still gaping in his chest. Heîrok dodges the swing and kicks Aster’s head, dazing him.
    “Kasäsh, take that sword and finish him quickly!” Yelled Heîrok as he stunned Aster again with a hard kick to the head. Kasäsh does as her father tells her and takes the dropped sword and ran at Aster while he was grappling with Heîrok. Heîrok shoved Aster back and Kasäsh decapitated him with the Bane Sword. Aster’s body fell to the ground and the meat melted from the bones and all that remained was the skeleton of a damned being. The first Enemy had been defeated, but how many remained?

    The only reason a person became an Aster was because they were to become something great and they went into a metamorphic coma like state that made them appear dead to all by the sheer animosity waiting to be awoken inside of them.
    End Book One of The Enemy