Black Lord
Ethan Wood
Unlike other living creatures, no part of a demon decomposes until the host is dead. When any portion of a demon’s body is severed, the living flame inside of it burns scorching hot and the intense heat turns the severed portion into stone. Once the host body dies, every part of the body crumbles and is carried away by the wind. Due to our natural bloodlust and obscene amount of arms and legs, us demons tend to lose limbs quite often. Naturally, this leaves us with a problem: what do we do with the excess limbs while their hosts are still alive? To fix that problem, long ago, one of the underworld’s largest mountains was hollowed out and all of our organic waste was dumped inside. That mountain has since been dubbed “The Pit”. Because our “waste” naturally disappears, we’ve been able to use The Pit for many generations, but recently the pile of waste in the mountain is in danger of growing too big for its shell. After the fall of the demon council, there have been no laws to keep the violent nature of our species in check. Consequently, the new generation of demons is the most bloodthirsty in centuries. At the beginning of this wave of violence, many were quick to speak out against it, but as the red wave of aggression washed over our society, only the brave few still stand in opposition. One such demon, who also just so happens to be the reason I have been knee deep in The Pit recently, is a Fel Orc who goes by the name of “Black Lord”.
When I first met him, I was wandering the hellscape aimlessly. He was just standing there in the middle of nowhere. He looked as if he had been waiting for someone who was never coming. Regardless, I approached him. “What are you doing this far out from civilization.”
In a deep booming voice, behind a masked face he answered me. “Order is all about humility, because humbling oneself is the true path to equality. I am the Black Lord. Humble yourself, become my subordinate, and I will remake this world by my hand.”
A little confused I said, “are you talking to me?”
“Of course, I extend the offer to be a part of my new reality of order to any who are willing. You can stay with me, and help me make achieve this.”
“Why would anyone ever accept that offer.”
“Most people won’t, but you will.”
So, out of curiosity, or maybe boredom, I joined the Black Lord in his childish delusions. The first thing he told me to do was collect waste from The Pit. When I asked him why, he told me, “Efficiency is the essence of order, a perfect system leaves no waste, everything has a use in a perfect system.” So, I did what I was told, and every day I delved into The Pit and collected all kinds of limbs and other extremities. The first haul I brought back was refused by the Black Lord.
“What is the meaning of this? All of these are the same color!” he exclaimed.
“Why would you want the colored skin of lesser species? The black rock of the fel demons is far superior for all purposes,” I responded.
“Diversity signifies order. This is not because it provides multiple perspectives or experiences or any trivial reason like that. Diversity shows the order of nature. For a system to still function with many different moving parts, that is order. Order does not utilize diversity, it operates despite it. Any system that is strong enough to facilitate diversity without collapsing has the strength for anything. That is why you must give me anything you find, be it the red skin of an imp or the green skin of a goblin. If I cannot operate with these, then I will never achieve true order.”
So, from that day on I made sure to collect all waste I came across, regardless of race. Every time I brought back a load of waste, the Black Lord would dismiss me and go back to whatever he was working on. Occasionally he would send me to town to collect various magical supplies and potions, but most days I was in the pit. At first, I was happy to have some kind of purpose, but as the months went by, the work grew monotonous, and I grew frustrated. One day, the Black Lord asked me to accompany him down to a shopkeeper in the east.
“What we are doing today is very important,” he said in his deep voice. “Today I will collect the final part for the project I have been pouring much time into.” He spoke as if I knew what he was doing by himself in his dark room. To be honest, this infuriated me, while I was out doing petty errands he was lounging in the comfort of his chambers, and he had the gall to take credit for my work.
On our way to the shopkeeper, we came across a Fel Brute beating the hell out of a small imp. Usually, I would just ignore things like these, but the Black Lord decided to intervene.
He approached the Fel Brutes. “Mongrels, do you understand nothing of order? You are blessed with such power, and you squander it like this. In a perfect system, those with power are the most important, therefore, you are unfit to live in my new world.”
“Get outta here punk, unless you want to end up in The Pit,” the brute responded.
Without another word, Black Lord pulled a small vial of green liquid out of his robe and shattered it on the brute. The brute didn’t even have a chance to scream, he was vaporized in seconds.
“Now, lets continue on our way my disciple,” Black Lord said, walking back up to the road.
We got to the shopkeeper, Black Lord bought some runes of binding, and we made our way back home. The whole walk back, I was planning on how I was going to get rid of the insane Fel Orc who somehow became my master. At that time, I was not just frustrated with him, I was furious. The way he acted so self righteous with nothing to show for it pissed me off.
When we got back to his building he disappeared back into his chambers. The whole night, I waited outside of his door. When morning came, I jumped him. I tackled him with all of my might, and surprisingly he fell. Actually, he didn’t resist at all. It wasn’t until I had him on the ground that he did something. Black Lord snapped his fingers. Almost immediately I heard a rumble coming from his chambers. Out of his doors walked an army of hulking figures. As they got closer, it became apparent what they were. Each one of them was a mass of flesh of all colors. Arms, legs, and eyes were sticking out of them at random. One of them stomped towards me and threw me across the room.
“They’re beautiful, aren’t they? They are symbols of order, all of them. Humility, diversity, power, they embody it all. This world will change, it will have to,” the Black Lord said, standing up. I stared at these bastard children of ambition and delusion, and, in a way, they were beautiful.
When I first met him, I was wandering the hellscape aimlessly. He was just standing there in the middle of nowhere. He looked as if he had been waiting for someone who was never coming. Regardless, I approached him. “What are you doing this far out from civilization.”
In a deep booming voice, behind a masked face he answered me. “Order is all about humility, because humbling oneself is the true path to equality. I am the Black Lord. Humble yourself, become my subordinate, and I will remake this world by my hand.”
A little confused I said, “are you talking to me?”
“Of course, I extend the offer to be a part of my new reality of order to any who are willing. You can stay with me, and help me make achieve this.”
“Why would anyone ever accept that offer.”
“Most people won’t, but you will.”
So, out of curiosity, or maybe boredom, I joined the Black Lord in his childish delusions. The first thing he told me to do was collect waste from The Pit. When I asked him why, he told me, “Efficiency is the essence of order, a perfect system leaves no waste, everything has a use in a perfect system.” So, I did what I was told, and every day I delved into The Pit and collected all kinds of limbs and other extremities. The first haul I brought back was refused by the Black Lord.
“What is the meaning of this? All of these are the same color!” he exclaimed.
“Why would you want the colored skin of lesser species? The black rock of the fel demons is far superior for all purposes,” I responded.
“Diversity signifies order. This is not because it provides multiple perspectives or experiences or any trivial reason like that. Diversity shows the order of nature. For a system to still function with many different moving parts, that is order. Order does not utilize diversity, it operates despite it. Any system that is strong enough to facilitate diversity without collapsing has the strength for anything. That is why you must give me anything you find, be it the red skin of an imp or the green skin of a goblin. If I cannot operate with these, then I will never achieve true order.”
So, from that day on I made sure to collect all waste I came across, regardless of race. Every time I brought back a load of waste, the Black Lord would dismiss me and go back to whatever he was working on. Occasionally he would send me to town to collect various magical supplies and potions, but most days I was in the pit. At first, I was happy to have some kind of purpose, but as the months went by, the work grew monotonous, and I grew frustrated. One day, the Black Lord asked me to accompany him down to a shopkeeper in the east.
“What we are doing today is very important,” he said in his deep voice. “Today I will collect the final part for the project I have been pouring much time into.” He spoke as if I knew what he was doing by himself in his dark room. To be honest, this infuriated me, while I was out doing petty errands he was lounging in the comfort of his chambers, and he had the gall to take credit for my work.
On our way to the shopkeeper, we came across a Fel Brute beating the hell out of a small imp. Usually, I would just ignore things like these, but the Black Lord decided to intervene.
He approached the Fel Brutes. “Mongrels, do you understand nothing of order? You are blessed with such power, and you squander it like this. In a perfect system, those with power are the most important, therefore, you are unfit to live in my new world.”
“Get outta here punk, unless you want to end up in The Pit,” the brute responded.
Without another word, Black Lord pulled a small vial of green liquid out of his robe and shattered it on the brute. The brute didn’t even have a chance to scream, he was vaporized in seconds.
“Now, lets continue on our way my disciple,” Black Lord said, walking back up to the road.
We got to the shopkeeper, Black Lord bought some runes of binding, and we made our way back home. The whole walk back, I was planning on how I was going to get rid of the insane Fel Orc who somehow became my master. At that time, I was not just frustrated with him, I was furious. The way he acted so self righteous with nothing to show for it pissed me off.
When we got back to his building he disappeared back into his chambers. The whole night, I waited outside of his door. When morning came, I jumped him. I tackled him with all of my might, and surprisingly he fell. Actually, he didn’t resist at all. It wasn’t until I had him on the ground that he did something. Black Lord snapped his fingers. Almost immediately I heard a rumble coming from his chambers. Out of his doors walked an army of hulking figures. As they got closer, it became apparent what they were. Each one of them was a mass of flesh of all colors. Arms, legs, and eyes were sticking out of them at random. One of them stomped towards me and threw me across the room.
“They’re beautiful, aren’t they? They are symbols of order, all of them. Humility, diversity, power, they embody it all. This world will change, it will have to,” the Black Lord said, standing up. I stared at these bastard children of ambition and delusion, and, in a way, they were beautiful.
Ethan Wood does not condone underage drinking in any context.