Degei

Degei lives in the darkened pools within the ancient cave, Degei feels forgotten and only the village elders do ever whisper his name.

Degei feels alone, he has been abandoned by all. But Degei now awakens, called forth by the flames.

Degei is my name. Degei is who I am. Degei is and Degei was the judgement of all man.

Degei rises slowly, hissing and uncoiling. The lake churns and splutters, disturbed at his sudden rage. The world may have left him behind, no longer needing his gifts, but Degei knows and Degei is patient, and in darkness Degei waits.

Feeling his scales ripple with power, he glides through the lake with ease. Degei shakes his head and recalls his memories.

Sacrifice. Sacrifice. Give yourself to me. I will show you wonders, and deliver your soul safely.

Degei lurks in the shadows of his underwater cave. His eyes now watching with caution as the sun lazily waves.

In the early hours before dawn, a sacrifice indeed was made. Was this for him? Was this why he woke from his sleep? Degei muses at the body now sinking into the deep.

There are rocks tied to its feet, the body is slashed and chained. There are sigils and there are signs, that a sinister plot took place.

Degei does remember, some of these sigils carved into the flesh. He was only a young serpent then but still revered all the same.

But oh, look over there! Near the surface, there is a girl. She sends flowers across the lake as a putrid stench fills the air.

The villagers are burning bodies, ever greedy for greater things. Degei chuckles throatily, realizing now why he had to wake.

They have all succumbed to evil, chanting verses with empty prayer. Degei hisses at the audacity and the pain he had to bear.

Degei is my name. Degei is who I am. Degei is and Degei was the judgement of all man.

*******

The sirens blared loud and hostile, puncturing the silence of early dawn. This small town in the outskirts of the city was of no interest to anyone. Society is predictable in that way. It is always willing to ostracize what it cannot understand, and reject that which lives on its fringes.

Society will dismiss anyone who has not embraced the changes of time or the advances of modern expectations. Here in this town, left to its own devices on the edge of an unyielding lake, there are backwards traditions and a starving crowd of people who live day to day, believing there is nothing more to reality than the stories of fear they were raised on. At least, that’s what most believed.

Well admittedly, they had always done things a bit differently, and so naturally the stories would float into neighboring areas. Stories involving shrines of pagan gods and worship of giant serpents. Stories of rituals conducted in the dead of night involving the occasional missing tourist. Rumors that the locals were immortal, and lost their humanity in an ever-growing greed for greater powers still.

There was never any evidence of course, but the ambience of grim occurrences coupled with mythical speculations meant the town was regularly visited by throngs of various enforcement agencies. Uncountable investigations were held on reported missing persons and allegations of depravity and occult practice. Yet no one seemed to get very far and often returned from the town dazed, confused and a little empty on the inside.

Perhaps this time however, the town took it too far. A passing truck driver had alerted emergency services when the plume of black smoke rose over the lake and towards the sky. It was accompanied by the foul stench of what was unmistakably charring human flesh. So now, there was a flurry of police cars and fire brigades making its way over to the site of the most heinous, alleged mass self-immolation event ever seen in the history of the city.

** *****

Once upon a time and oh so long ago,

Degei fell in love and that was the start of his sorrow.

He thought that she had loved him, he thought that they all did. So, against the wishes of the gods, he struck with them a deal.

Whenever a soul passed on, he promised to bring them back, and all he asked in return was the promise of her hand.

That when it was her time to die, she would join him at his side. She would take the form of a serpent and become his bride.

But humans should not be trusted, he knew this as a hatchling. Love had made him blind, hopeful and willing.

She set a trap for him one night, with the villagers following in boats. Then thirty held him down while seven slashed at his throat.

Broken with betrayal and with a curdling scream, Degei gave them what they wanted, but cursed them for their schemes.

The people of this land would become immortal and immune,

To any disease and any threat that came close to their home.

Then with a ritual of fire and blood, Degei was put to sleep,. For they could only live forever while Degei remained unconscious in the deep.

** *****

“Detectives I have given you all the information I have”, said the young woman. She was found collapsed right at the edge of the lake and was now wrapped in a blanket and sitting cross-legged on the shore. According to her, she was a journalist and not a local resident. She was largely cooperative but it was evident she was exhausted and becoming irritated at having to answer the same questions for different interviewers for nearly an hour. There was nothing overly remarkable about her, but she carried an undeniable charisma. Not to mention the beautiful golden-brown skin colour that allowed her to blend in with the locals, and earnest eyes of molten honey that inspired you to believe every word she spoke.

The group of detectives took pity on her. She had given them much more information than the locals they were wasting their time on, and she was clearly processing the trauma of having witnessed what she did. All but one thanked her and left. The lead detective remained behind, resolutely unconvinced of the mass self-immolation concoction everyone else bought so readily.

“You came to Negazind as an investigative journalist, correct?”, asked Neil Gandar.

He was young, with a carved jawline that served to accentuate his features and draw you in to his sharp, green eyes. Neil was the envy of all his colleagues. With a proven track record of investigative genius, he had climbed the ladder to lead detective in a span of 2 years. He had a muscular build, an analytical mind and a zero-bullshit policy.

“Yes, little over a year ago. My mother was actually from here but she, erm, moved when she was young”, Delia replied.

‘Moved’ was a bit understated she thought as she chuckled to herself. ‘Escaped’ would have been the more truthful word. But now, there’s almost a guarantee that she would come back. She had to. Delia was sure of it.

“She used to tell me stories, and I guess the fascination pulled me here to check it out myself. Much like the tourists that you’ll find burnt over there”. Delia pointed to the pyre.

Firemen had swarmed the area and had already extinguished the flames. The bodies, what was left of them, were now being bagged. Delia wondered if the ashes would need to be swept away with a broom or if it would be left to the wind deities to clear up Negazinde mess. She then turned away from the pyre, horrified at her thoughts. The Negazinde had really got inside her mind. She was as flippant about death as any of them now.

Neil frowned. He was watching Delia’s expressions closely. Clearly the mother ran away from the batshittery of Negazind. Bit unusual, he thought. Negazinde were people that wouldn’t dream of leaving their sacred confines even if threatened by natural disasters or gods themselves. Neil paused his pen over his small notepad to review his scrawling.

• 36/37 yankees accounted for. 1 missing.
• Delia Serevi. 1 year. Journalist. Mother ran, but coming back soon?
• Execution? Burnt themselves?
• Ritual practice, potential suspects for murder.

Thirty-seven pagan thirsty New York tourists arrived in Negazind two nights ago. They had set themselves up in the camping ground, perched on a little hill overlooking the lake. The Negazinde were not strangers to visitors interested in their histories or traditions. It was customary to welcome guests and have them attend prayers for “purification reasons”.

According to the town elders, the entire tourist party thoroughly enjoyed a welcoming ritual on their first day, and participated in small prayers by the lake with locals yesterday. Neil knew the welcoming ritual was actually a massive catered feast to celebrate the American money coming in for the local small businesses. Negazinde hospitality was quite well-known in these parts.

Now here is the part where it all gets stupidly strange. As per Delia's recollections, around 11pm last night one of the tourists built a massive funeral pyre in the center of the town and then, chanting madly, he threw himself into the flames. He was promptly followed by thirty-five of his fellow travellers.

Senim maja rekim ne ve. Senim ma ndolo rekim. Se vena ndolo ne ve.

“What?”. Neil snapped his eyes back to Delia, his thoughts interrupted. “What did you just say?”.

“I didn’t say anything”, said Delia. She looked at him with curiosity. “Are you hearing voices too? The first guy that jumped in was hearing voices”.

Neil stared at her, hard. He could feel the hairs on his nape prickle with sudden warning as water seeped through his shoes into his socks. When did he walk into the lake? He didn’t remember moving. Delia now stood in front of him, ankle deep in water. The blanket she was clutching only moments ago lay forgotten on the shore.

“How is it that neither you, nor anyone else present, tried to stop a single person from burning themselves to death?”

Neil could feel it in his gut. They knew more, they were involved somehow. The mass self-immolation story Delia and the rest of the locals were trying to feed him was obviously a home-brew. But Delia isn’t from here, why would she be backing the locals? She was clearly motivated by something, Neil just had to find out what that was.

The sky was clear and the sun danced on the surface of the lake, sparkling with innocence. Heat was building in the air as morning drew on. Delia sighed and drew patterns with her toe in the sand beneath the water.

“I don’t know why people don’t stop other people from doing bad things”, Delia said slowly. “I should have, but couldn’t help. It couldn’t be helped. I don’t understand why it had to - “

She was speaking faster now, the words tripping over each other. Her hair whipped in the sudden wind. Neil was briefly distracted by flower petals floating nearby.

“You don’t get it, you wouldn’t- things had to happen the way it did”. Delia clenched her jaw, she was firm in her choices.

“Pardon, but did just say had to happen the way it did?” Neil felt the elation. He had found it, the little extra bedazzle to the story that Delia had omitted. The soon to be heard details that would paint the horrific picture of what actually happened. How the townspeople were involved. Who they were, their outdated cult beliefs, and what brought them to mass execution of unsuspecting tourists. Imagine that, Neil Gandar, being the first to finally have evidence against Negazinde.

He could be the one to expose them, show them for the sick bastards that they were and out them as actual murderers. He would arrest all of them, the entire god damn town. Negazind could become one of those deserted horror attractions. Neil could be promoted. Sergeant Gandar. That had a nice ring to it. Neil looked at Delia eagerly, waiting for her to divulge the very details needed for him to climb the wet, slippery, rope of ambition.

SE VENA NDOLO NE VE.

Neil clutched his head as a wave of pain gripped his mind, his notepad and pen falling into the lake. It was like the steady, high- pitched, ringing you often hear but amplified to a level that threatens to overwhelm your senses.

SENIM MA NDOLO

REKIM. REKIM. REKIM

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?” Neil shouted at Delia as he fell to his knees. His clothes now soaking wet, his head burning, he pounded his skull with his fists. The pain was building, all he saw was fire. Fire was all around him, within him, and fire was what he needed. Delia was crying.

“Please don’t resist it”, she said. “You don’t have to fight it, just let go and it’ll be over”.

Neil wondered why no one, not his colleagues or the remaining firemen or even the locals, came to help. Why could no one see that he was on his knees in the water, the lake clearly visible, his pain even more excruciatingly visible.

“They’re all gone. They leave when we are satisfied they wouldn’t ask more questions. They accepted what we told them and they just left. Neil, they will always leave”. Delia was now holding him in the water, stroking his head like a child.

“Why did you have to keep asking questions?” She sobbed and pulled herself closer to him, his head resting just below her chest.

“This is only way, I have to free them all. Before they hurt more people, before they make me part of the bargain”.

What bargain? Neil could barely process her words let alone form the thought. He was hallucinating now. He could feel a steady vibration underneath him. The lakebed groaned at the weight of movement within it and gurgled as it opened up from its center. Behind Delia, Neil could see the ripples of a whirlpool forming, casting rough waves like one would expect on the high seas.

How was that even possible? But wait, no, that’s not right. It wasn’t a whirlpool. It was a head, and any sane person would recognize the head of a gargantuan serpent. But Neil wasn’t sane, he was in pain and his mind conjured images to protect him from the truth that he was dying. Please just let the fire out of me. Let it burn outside of me. Rekim se ve senim ndholo yurigem. Anything Delia, please just get put the fire out. Rekim se ve.

“Degei”, sighed Delia looking over at the serpent gliding gracefully through the water to her. She gave a small, sad laugh. “That’s right, just keep chanting. It’ll be over soon Neil”.

** *****

“You woke me”

Delia marvelled at the glossy black scales. “Yes, I did”, she replied.

“How”

Delia shrugged. There would be time enough for that later.

“They need to die. All of them. They lived a thousand lives, even before they took your immortality”.

You would kill your mother too?

Delia shrugged once more. Her mother was the main culprit.

Degei drew close to Delia. He cocked his head to one side as he wondered at the uncanny resemblance Delia had to her mother. Then opening his mouth wide, fangs dripping with venom, he cautiously waited for a reaction.

Delia smiled a knowing smile and moved away from Neil’s body.

Degei was hopeful for the second time in his long life. He bowed his head and felt his fangs pierce still warm flesh. Closing his mouth, he swallowed the body whole.

You should have been my daughter.

Delia’s smile grew wider. Degei would have his revenge, she would make sure of it.

Degei is my name, Degei now has a plan. Degei will once again become the judgment of all man.

** *****