The Savannah Devil
A Short Story
Blades of light pierce through the clouds over the savannah. The circle of magicians finish their ritual. Surrounded by dark cloaks, the creature tied to a granite slab in the middle of the ritual circle lays still. Exhausted it had spent hours struggling, screaming, squirming for freedom but the enchanted bindings had held firm.
“Konatu, throw some water on that thing. See if it wakes,” the senior most magician demanded from his young apprentice.
Splash. Splash. Two heaps of liquid slapped the creature. Eyes fluttering. Whimpering. Scream. A howl unlike any. Monster’s cry. The young apprentice tasked with waking the creature is sent flying back a hundred yards. Breaking his bones as he crunched onto the earth.
“Kondug! Is it ready now?” A shout asked the magician whose apprentice had just become a casualty.
The old man snarled a response, “Yes it is, the Kon clan’s formula never fails. A demon is born!”
“Release it then, those Murkaikis will face our wrath.”
“Tell the Dem clan to set the stone of thought on it, or else there will be no control over this creature once the bindings come off.”
“No way Kondug, we have but one stone left. Yours and the Dou clans foolish acts have caused this mess. We have lost everything. Our city, Parto, is burned. Our homes destroyed. Our families dead. Everything lost. For what!”
“Demaio, do not bring further shame on your cowardly clan, set the stone and let us conclude this war.”
A bolt of lightening shoots into the old magician. A haywire melee breaks out. Flames. Boulders. Vibrant beams of color. Flashes. A spark. A hit. A broken chain. Another hit. Another broken link. Bang another chain breaks. The beast snarls smelling freedom. The warring magicians ignorant to it until. Until the final link snaps. A flash. Crimson. A howl. Crimson. A strike. Crimson. Within minutes the battle ends. Lives end. The last of the great magicians lay finished. Consumed by their own creation. The Savannah Devil roams away after finishing its meal.
It will wonder for years, encounter and be encountered by strange powers. Its immortal life always hell. Born doomed, existing eternally in it. So ends the tale of the origins of the Savannah Devil and the magicians massacre.
