THE LEVITICUS (The Wrath of Vaigus)
Season one episode 4
Copyright ©2021
THE VIADUCT OF THE UNDERWORLD
What can deny a man sleep? They are two things, the worries of his heart and the certainty of his tomorrow. In this case, the worries of king Byfer’s heart were Lady Levi’s sudden compliance to marrying him, his ardent conviction of his people accepting her with open arms. Being a kind and generous Lady and the daughter of lord Zamanni the creator, and the possibility of jeopardizing his people lives owing to Vaigus terrifying threat of destroying the earth at all cost. He was pondering his worries to confusion all through the night until, he fell asleep. The world was indeed pregnant.
It was morning already, and king Byfer was still asleep. As it was custom, his royal assistant came to wake him up, to prepare him for his royal council meeting. When Bajan, his royal assistant, a very skillful warrior, and a death-friend of the king walked in, he mildly tapped his hand, three consecutive times and he refused waking up. He then concluded that the king doesn't want to be disturbed, and was fast asleep. "Probably he had a bad day yesterday and was trying to resolve it all through the night.” Bajan thought. As he was about to leave, he discovered that the king was sweating profusely, yet unconscious, sooner he began mumbling words that were incoherent even when he tried to listening deeply. All he heard was, ‘she is mine and you can’t take her away from me,’ he kept on repeating those words in a very incoherent, and slightly hissing way. That was unusual of the king. “There were times the gods communed with the king but , not this way,” Bajan thought. So, he consecutively tried to appeal to the kings consciousness by applying pressure to the king’s hands and impinging his fingers with his sword to initiate a reflex action, but it blatantly failed. Bajan became scared for the king’s life, for this was beyond his sword or skills as it had to do with black magic and strong enchantment. So he quickly called for queen Ruhaman, Byfer’s mother to come to see for herself what was happening to his son. When she heard the news, she fled from her courtyard to the king’s chamber with the speed of light. When she arrived and examined him, she quickly comprehended that her son was trapped in the spirit realm by a powerful enchantment and it wasn’t for good. Been a witch from the twelfth tribe of Mazagog, the blessed of the messiah, who had twelve children that constituted the twelve tribes of the earth-- she tried to counteract the enchantment that bounded her son in the spirit realm but she couldn't, for it was too powerful for her own magic to handle.
She quickly instructed Bajan to summon the priest of Passover, to annihilate the enchantment against his son. Bajan immediately, left the king's chambers without any hesitations and headed for the priest. Byfer’s mother, the queen of Gonefar, was worried sick for her son. She loved her son beyond words because, he was the primary source of her happiness and the reason she smiles after her husband was murder by a sniveling sniper from the coast during a battle with a northern kingdom. Since then, she had vowed to protect her son with all she had, against, the enchantment and powers of rival kingdoms. The kingdom had consistently suffered attacks from people who had their hearts at their backs.
Byfer’s mother was a witch from the twelfth tribe of Mazagog, the friend of the messiah. It was written that Mazagog had obeyed and walked the commandments of the messiah to a point he attempted to offer his life and that of his family as a sign of his faithfulness and dedication to the precepts of the messiah. For that reason, the messiah blessed him with twelve sons that became the tribes of the earth. The messiah endowed every tribe with special gifts and a heart of love to control it and wield it for good. Contrary to the nature of man, his affinity for greed and quest for supremacy, constrained these gifts to be used for evil and utter animosity, and Byfer’s mother was a product of the messiah’s gift. She married Byfer’s father, who knew everything about her and also her special gift. He loved her so much and adored her until he died. He was the strength of the kingdom, although he had no special gift other than the skill of the battle and sword which he had passed down to his son.
The priest of Passover was living 322miles away from the imperial city and getting to him was a three-day journey including, the river crossing and the rocky path to the north. Embarking on such a journey was surely mounding a road for the call of yonder. For the king will be already dead before Bajan even got to the priest. To avoid such tragedies, Byfer’s mother had in time past, created a portal to the priest of Passover in the spirit realm that only her, his son, and Bajan knew about in preparation for obscurity and events like these. The book of Oglies was the key containing the enchantments required to unlock the spirit realms, and was hidden deep in the vaults of the imperial castle and that was where Bajan headed, to get the book.
The imperial vault was always heavily guarded with impenetrable enchantments and trusted blood guards with the best of martial skills and foresight, and by the authority of the king, only designated people are allowed into the vaults. There were himself, his mother and Bajan. Getting past all these hurdles without the authorization of the queen or king will require the best magical skills to do that. The keys to the vault were writhe in magic and respond only to a drop of blood as a sacrifice of amelioration, to grant it passer passage. When Bajan got through to all these things and found his way to the book treasury, He quickly recited the words of enchantment. “La! Hanga, le voic ma suhane, tava wingrash lutane , kilto men gara.” And for three consecutive times, he spoke the words to command the portal of the spirit world to open but to no avail. On the third time, it responded and a sudden nightly, dull amber-like, smoky curtained veil appeared with complete darkness in it and light rims lurking around its edges like the penumbra of annular eclipse. Screams of shadows and the voices of the dead were wailing from it enough to scare anyone to death. Before his eyes, a long white-bearded man wearing a sombrero hat, holding a staff with snotty tri- symbols of the headless snake god crested in it, and his eyes flaming with fire, cortically walked out of the flame veil. Bajan bowed to him as a sign of honor. The priest of Passover did not say a word, for he had perceived despair and trouble in the air along with the heavy heart of the queen who was busy praying to the spirits for the liberation of her sons' soul. Quickly, he took Bajan by the hand and vanquished into thin air along with all the doors of the vault, Bajan had opened earlier, magically closing down like no one ever used them. In a jiffy, they appeared in the king’s chambers, behind the queen and when she turned at Bajan’s call, she was delighted to see the priest of Passover. She had faith in the priest magic. He was one of the most powerful sorcerers across the twelve tribes of the universe. His love for humanity and beliefs in the lord Zamanni and quest to ensure good triumph over evil had been the reason for their friendship. Besides that, they were also childhood friends with the queen and at some point wanted to marry her before Byfer came into the picture. He could use his magic to transform and enter into the past and future of anybody as he pleases. His loathe for his kin and even those more powerful than he was, who dare to use their magic powers for evil was overwhelming. “My Lady, am so glad to see you. How are you?” the priest asked the queen meticulously. “Am not fine, my friend” the queen replied temporary contemptuous. “Can a mother be happy when his son is laying past the world of the living, about to step into the shadows?” The priest spoke presumptively. “What! You mean my son is going to die," she asked inquisitively with fear and fret in her eyes." He will sooner, if that which has to be done isn’t done on time. A viaduct had been created between him, the world of the living and the gates of the underworld and to break the magical viaduct preventing him from reentering life and regaining consciousness, a price must be paid,” he spoke in a rugged, yet passionate way to the queen and Bajan who was listening. ‘What price, priest?’ Bajan asked in an interruptedly solemn way. “The queen must be sacrificed to Vaigus, a fallen angel and the one who had reopened the underworld and broken the rift between good and evil. If the sacrifice is not done before sunset, the king will be trapped forever in the land of the dead and his soul will proceed to the judgment seat of lord Zamanni for questioning and his fate will determine where he spends his eternity.” The priest spoke.”No, my son cannot die, never,” the queen replied at once in an emotionally restless manner. “Then we must proceed with the sacrifice at once if you are ready,” the priest spoke with all temerity. “Is there no other way,? I mean, you can’t just sacrifice the queen like that knowing how much the king loves his mother,” Bajan spoke convincingly. “Only a living king can love not the dead, and there is no other way" the priest replied sarcastically as it is their nature to speak so. “You can’t do that, find another way” Bajan spoke ruggedly arrogant to the priest, “and who are you to question the judgment of the spirit, a royal guard? A friend of the king? A boy? Now stand out of my way.” The priest spoke deviously. “Never! You will have to kill me first,” Bajan replied drawing his sword. “Enough boy, le a tole Sum ida sum da” the priest used magical enchantment to deny him, his sword and to affix him to the spot where he stood. The queen was too engrossed with emotion to say a word or even stop the scuffle between the priest and Bajan but when she perceived that things were getting out of hands he ordered Bajan to be quiet and stay out of things.
Meanwhile, Lady Levi was eavesdropping on them and was fully aware of everything that was happening to the king. The rumor about the sudden unconsciousness of the king and anticipating death was already spreading the palace and imperial city like wildfire. She had to do something. First, the queen wasn't aware of her presence yet, and she is about to sacrifice herself in accordance with the priest's instruction, as the only way. The man who trusted her and gave her a chance to live was in-between death and life. She had to do something but what? She thought. She could remember that she had her necklace of golden revelation which her father had once given to her when she was still a child. The necklace was what whispered her father’s impending judgment against her even before she returned from the earth, the day she was to be banished. The necklace also could transform her into any person or thing i.e., offer her the appearance of any object or person. Only in times of her distress, that the necklace glows and responds to her attention. In the nick of time the necklace responded and revealed to her where she had dropped part of the elixir of salvation, she had used to counteract the Selket poison from king Byfer’s body days back. For it held the power to restore him and break the dark viaduct from the underworld campaigning for his life. When she saw the place in the mirror of prone, that the necklace had conjured for her, she discovered that it was in the woods of love 200miles away from the kingdom. That even with the fastest horse will take two or three days without rest. Going through the guards unseen is another trouble and according to the priest's words, the king had until sunset to live and her mother was already preparing to be sacrificed as a substitute for the life of her son to be spared. How will she deal with all that within a space of a given time?
The revelation from the necklace was as meaningless to her as trash from the dustbin. She had given up on the supposed, only solution she thought she had found. Then, the necklace suddenly, magically transformed her into one of the king’s guards. She was amazed that she had settled the guard’s issue. With that confidence, she came out of her quarters and bypassed the guards from her quarters up to the imperial gates uninterrupted. When she got outside the gates of the city which took her about 45minutes to do, the necklace quickly retransformed her back to her normal self and transformed a log which was by her side to BlackWind (a flying horse with the speed of wind). She quickly hopped onto it and off she spun into the air and in hours she arrived at the woods of love and at the spot where she had dropped the elixir. She got down from Blackwind and picked it up. She hugged it to her chest with tears of joy and heart of gratitude to her necklace of golden revelation and without wasting much time she hopped on Blackwind and headed for Gonefar. Meanwhile, at Gonefar, the queen was already preparing for the sacrifice, and a crematorium was already arranged for her. The was sorrow in the palace for it was no longer a secret or a rumor anymore, everyone was aware and was weeping, given to how good and generous she was to the people and her son. But the people couldn’t choose between a son and a mother for as much as they needed a king, they do not support suicide or a life for a life.
The wind was smoldering and skies’ leaping with clouds of urgencies as Lady Levi was touring the wild wind with Blackwind, her flying horse, and heading for the city. The day was slowly passing by and hours close to sunset. Her heart was beating fast while the procedure for the sacrifice was already on the go. Swiftwind kept flying fast and furiously. It was an hour to sunset. Byfer’s mother was already laid on the crematorium in the royal cemetery which was behind the royal castle. After the sacrifice, she will be cremated and her ashes buried along with her husband in the royal cemetery. The whole palace was gathered including the unconscious king who was shedding tears even in his unconscious state. The rounds of enchantment began and the procession indulged with all solemnity. The priest was almost done with the final procession and the life of the queen nearly snapped out of her when they were interrupted by the neighing from a flying horse. When everybody including the priest of Passover and the queen looked up, they saw the fairest and most beautiful woman riding a flying horse and holding silver magically crested bottle on her right hand and they thought of her as an angel and so paused the procession until she landed. She came down from the horse and ran to where the king was laid. The queen and the priest were behooved that an angel could run and not disappear yet, with such remarkable beauty and lightning expression on her face. The queen got up from the crematorium and politely asked Lady Levi who she was, using her position as queen, and she didn't say a word to her. The priest ordered her by virtue of his powers and stand in the universe of magic to speak and still she didn't say a word to him either. She then opened the bottle containing the elixir of salvation and gave it to king. When the liquid touched his mouth, he jerked and when he finally ingested it, he sneezed and regained consciousness and the first face he saw was Lady Levi’s. He was candidly surprised that again and again, she saved his life. He got up and sat upright. Both of them were starring at each other's eyes and lost in a twist of emotion along with the prelacy of love such that they were unconscious of anything around them. Then, he hugged her so tightly that he wasn’t willing to let go of her. His love for Lady Levi increased tremendously beyond bounds. The entire city that gathered where astonished. The queen and the priest of Passover were confused. They were trying so hard to fathom who this girl was and how and where the king knew her. Besides the priest of Passover, no one had ever helped them or their kingdom. For her to have done that, was legendary and surely, must be written in the pages of history. But they were determined to know more about her, her beauty, her identity and why she saved the life of the king, and at what price. Seeing that is neither an angel nor human. The king stood up and went to his mother who had cried out her tears in a short while, and embraced her lovingly after hesitating in a desire to make her mother yearn more for him. The priest of Passover was glad to see him back again and had a lot to be thankful to the unknown Lady. While everyone was happy to see the king restored to life again, there were eager to know who she was, what she wanted and why she saved the life of the kingdom, and how the king knew her, well enough to even hug her like that, contrary to all the ladies who are praying so had to the spirits to grant them the kings attention. Lady Levi just stood there with her eyes fully on the king, to the notice of the priest of Passover who had been discretely observing her gaze and countenance. She stood there hoping that the people will accept her and her love for the king. When a woman loves a man, sometimes it becomes difficult to express it in words but with every possible material, event, and even upon their life there will show how much there truly loved a person. The world is normal to all those who stand crossing their legs like the Philippines' in a humblest. But against the world and the horde, there is no time for love and against love, there is no love for a time.
The king finally spoke to his people.’ Brothers and sisters, friends, mothers and fathers, countrymen and women. Am most delighted knowing how much that you love me. In the eyes of the world I am your king but in my eyes you are all my friends, brothers, and companion. We fight the wars together, we enjoy the peace together, we farm together and we live and die together. When I laid lifeless on that bed moments ago fighting for my life about to be enclosed by the powers of the underworld, I understood how important your love was to me and how much I will miss you all. I grew up without a father and you were my fathers. I might have a mother who gave birth to me but you all are my mothers. I do not have a brother or a sister and you are all that I have. You have believed and stood by me all these years, therefore, I will like to thank you all from the depth of my heart and on the behalf of my mother and the royal house. Therefore I will need all of you to keep trusting in me but more so, trust in yourself for this is the requisite of true unity that fosters the spirit of solidarity. I believe you all are wondering who this fairest woman standing her, who literary saved my life is? Without wasting your time I will like to introduce her as Lady Levi, the daughter of lord Zamanni the creator. She had saved my life twice. I will long be dead if not for her love and support. Contrary to how you feel, she is not an angel but human now among us. Like us, she has all the qualities of a human being therefore; do not be afraid, she will not harm anyone. She is here in the interest of our kingdom. She is for us and not against us. She was banished from the heavens by her father because she broke the rules of the heavens to save my life days past and two days ago we met in the woods of love and she came with me yesterday. When I was trapped in the viaduct, I saw her coming to my rescue, therefore she is my soul mate and I love her with all my heart and I want to marry her, and am soliciting for all of your support, as you have always supported me. ’ the king spoke at length. Everywhere was silent for a while other than the salient whisperings among the people. Then one man screamed from behind "I support the king, long live the king," then two men from the side and slowly the entire crowd supported the king’s decision to marry Lady Levi. ”By the law of the corridors and ways of the gone path and in the name of the spirits I support you my king”, the priest of Passover commented. And you mom, wouldn’t you support me, the king asked her mother politely. His mom was quiet and everyone was as well eager to know what the queen’s opinion was. For she had the final say. For over ten minutes she refused to say a word while she kept on staring at the fairest Lady Levi. Then she broke the silence and spoke out loud “I support the king, long live the king,” the whole people screamed in joy and unity of faith in honor of the king’s decision and choice of spouse. “Prepare for their marriage people,” the queen commanded. Everyone was full of joy and gladness for the king and his newfound love. The kind had never loved any woman before and many times his mother had confronted him on his refusal to get married and he had always replied to his mother that he is still searching and the people that he is still preparing. As a king it was unethical to be without a wife for an heir must be produced to continue the lineage. Then, the priest of Passover, the queen, king Byfer, and Lady Levi proceeded to the king’s quarters while the people went home to prepare for the marriage.
When they arrived at the king’s quarters, the priest of Passover questioned the king on who trapped him in the viaduct and who the Lady he was mumbling was. Then the king began to narrate how Vaigus had initiated the viaduct as a way to trap his soul in the underworld and also intercept souls from the living heading for ascension to heaven to build an army against the world. “What army?”The priest asked inquisitively, “the armies of the dead,” the king replied fretfully.” I saw an army of the dead, wailing and chanting, their faces were deformed like wild cats and a touch of brashness. They were heartless, brutal, and unmerciful. Then I saw a beast among beasts considered their leader and the people bowed to him and called him Vaigus while he called them the “Namprees,” meaning the armies from the dead. He had forged them to run the earth down. Then he looked up to me and told me, here comes the one who had brought the daughter of my enemy to me, haha!!”