Punished by the Eternals

THE SOUNDS OF clashing swords could be heard from 10 miles out as the two countries fought savagely in a large plain land.

The ground has been drenched in blood, and the bodies of dead men littered the whole war ground. The two countries were Welsh and Dumstrand. They were both fighting a war started by Dumstrand and although Dumstrand was the faulty party, they were the ones winning.

More and more Welsh soldiers dropped to the floor dead; this was mainly because of one particular Dumstrand soldier.

This soldier did not wear any helmet; his brown-golden hair was flying in the wind. He wielded two broad swords in each hand, cutting down the Welsh soldiers savagely.

He seemed to enjoy the blood flow and feeling of killing because a huge smile was plastered on his face.

Blood was splattered on his face and neck, but it was not his blood. On careful inspection, it would he noticed that there was no injury or cut on this soldier's body. Even the arrows that sailed and blindly struck his head and face shattered on impact.

This soldier is a demi-god called Kamizoel, and he does not care about any human's life. In fact, he enjoyed the feeling of being superior to the lesser beings and taking their lives. He was in this war, not because he liked Dumstrand, but because he was bored and wanted to entertain himself, and now, he is leading Dumstrand to glory.

Immediately after the war had been won, Kamizoel would be nowhere to be found by the Dumstrand soldiers and commanders, who had thought that he was just a great warrior. None of them knew that Kamizoel did not belong with them in the human world.

After the war, Kamizoel had gone to Ethereal. That was the realm of gods and demigods like himself. He was relaxing in his quarters, soaking in the liberating river when he felt an energy change and immediately knew that his uncle, Marzurk, was with him.

"Kamizoel!" The thick voice boomed.

Kamizoel rolled his eyes and ignored it. His uncle was one of the weakest and lesser gods in Ethereal, but he was still an Eternal.

"Kamizoel!" Marzurk called again.

"I'm in here," He replied.

Marzurk walked into the room where Kamizoel was. It was not really a room, it had only three walls instead of the fourth wall, and the room was opened into a sparkling flowing stream. That was the waters that flowed all through the Ethereal realm and even into the human world too. These waters contained several magical properties.

"Hmm," Marzurk said, stroking his long beard. He was a young god, but the beard made him seem old. "I see you are, uh, doing human things like resting."

Kamizoel chuckled and stood up from the banks of the river. Water dripped from his naked body, but that did not bother him or his uncle as he walked past and took a long robe. "Resting is a thing I do when I have worked out my muscles," He said. "Not like you would understand, you don't do anything like that. You remain in the Ethereal realm and keep on being the errand boy of the other big guys."

Marzurk pursed his lips in silent anger and followed Kamizoel through the open doorway.

"What do you want, uncle?" Kamizoel asked. He walked to a table and plucked a fruit.

"Tanis wants to see you," Marzurk said.

That made Kamizoel stop in his tracks. His hand hung midair with the grape and his face turned white as he turned. "You are kidding, aren't you?" He asked. There was a little shaking to his voice.

"I am not," Marzurk said. "Tanis wants to see you in the golden chambers. Now!" With that, he walked out of the door, leaving Kamizoel to shake in fear.

Without wasting any time – Nobody in his right senses would waste Tanis's time – Kamizoel dressed up in his godly wear that consisted of strap-up leather sandals, a silver torso plate, and a large sword strapped to his waist. He looked like a warrior. He was a warrior.

He walked to a smaller room in his quarters and pressed a block.

When there was a meeting, that button would open a portal directly to the Golden Chambers. Every god and goddess had that portal in their chambers. The bricks rearranged mechanically until they formed a high archway.

Kamizoel took a deep breath before he walked through.

There was a tight feeling in his chest as he was transported into the Golden Chambers.

As the name sounded, the Golden Chambers was a very large hall, made entirely of gold. The seats of gods and goddesses floated in the air by the side. At the top and in front of the hall, was the throne of Tanis. He was the king of the gods and most powerful. He commanded respect from every eternal in the hall.

There was also a floating podium. It hung lower than the chairs of the gods, and it was not designed in any way. It was just a floating slab of rock, with two heavy chains coiled on it.

It was on this floating podium that Kamizoel appeared.

A ripple of murmuring went around the crowd as Kamizoel appeared.

He looked around slowly. Noting all the Eternals that were present.

"Silence!" Tanis's voice boomed out and the hall went eerily silent. Then he continued, "We have before us, Kamizoel. A demi-god." He looked down at Kamizoel. "Bow!"

Kamizoel went down on one knee and bowed his head deeply.

"Do you know why you are here?" Tanis asked.

Kamizoel shook his head. "No, Tanis," He said.

"You intentionally got yourself involved with human affairs," Tanis said.

Another ripple of murmurs went through the crowd. For a god to get involved with human matters was an abomination and it came with serious consequences.

Kamizoel did not say anything to that.

"Do you know why we do not get involved in human things?" Tanis asked the crowd. Kamizoel knew the answer, but he remained quiet. When Tanis was like this, it was best to let him talk, any wrong word from the culprit and Tanis could blast him to dust.

Tanis leaned forward from his golden throne and said, "It is because those things are going to shape them according to fate."

There were nods of approval from some gods.

"And not only that," Tanis continued. "You aided the guilty party. You helped the bad side to win."

"Lord –" Kamizoel started to stand up and speak.

"Silence!" Tanis boomed again. He flicked his wrist and the chains near Kamizoel sprung to life and wrapped around his arms, holding him down. "What you have done is punishable by death."

A sharp gasp from the cloud.

"But no," Tanis said. "You will not die. It is not your fate!"

Kamizoel looked up forlornly.

"You will spend the next millenia in The void!" Tanis commanded in a strong voice. "During which, I will think of what to do with you as purgatory for your offenses."

Kamizoel was helpless as he was stripped of his weapons and clothes.

Suddenly, a portal, similar to a back hold opened.

"The meeting is dismissed!" Tanis said.

The portal widened and sucked Kamizoel in. It should have been an extremely painful experience, but he took it with a closed mouth and cold, defiant angry eyes, focused on Tanis and Marzurk.

THE VOID.

It is just how it sounds. It is a dark infinite space of pure darkness where monsters and culprits are locked away.

Time does not exist in the void. And so Kamizoel had no idea of how much time had passed when he was called out.

He fell at the feet of Vanya, a top-tier goddess who was nice.

"I spoke to Tanis," Vanya said in a soft voice.

Kamizoel wheezed and coughed weakly. His hair was all scattered and had lost the right golden sheen. His skin was emaciated, he looked like a skeleton. His eyes were sunken deep in their sockets, making him look even scarier.

"How long was I in there?" His voice was no higher than a croak.

"700 years," Vanya said.

Kamizoel remained on the floor, not having the strength to stand up.

"Tanis obliged with my plea to go easy on you," Vanya said. "But as a compromise, I have to give out the punishment from him to you."

"What is it?" Kamizoel asked.

"You are going to spend the next years of your life as a human, suffering like the mortals and working hard. You shall continue to do this until Tanis has a change of mind." Vanya said.

"What? What?" Kamizoel could not believe his ears. With surprising energy, he scrambled to his feet and begged. "Send me back to the void! I beg you!"

"It has been confirmed already," Vanya said.

"Please!"

"Your punishment starts now!" There was a bright flash of light from Vanya's fingers and Kamizoel was gone.