The Deathbringer

The Deathbringer came from the east and scorched the wasteland as he walked. He festooned himself with hues of yellow and orange and was flanked by obelisks of gore, slime, filth, depravity. Cadavers of the unworthy impaled on spires made of diseased flesh and bone.

The Deathbringer spoke of the things he could do for the wretched souls languishing in the barren wastes, and they listened. He promised them riches, to rule over the wastes as they had before The All God had destroyed the once pristine land. He brought the derelicts to his bosom, let them drink rancid black milk from his tumorous fetid teat. The black ichor dripped from their mouths as they lapped and gnashed their teeth at his malevolent bust. The Deathbringer smiled at his newly born virulent children.

He commanded then, to the twisted creatures, to go, seek out their fellow man, kill them, destroy them, annihilate the weak, for these cancerous children of destruction were the most powerful, the most godlike, the most like The Deathbringer, in all his malignant glory.

This, of course, was simply not the case. The Deathbringer only needed them to use as pawns to make his pogrom of destruction easier, simpler. He was nothing without them, just a shell of butchery and virulent hate. He lifted his children up to use them, with every intention of discarding them when they were no longer useful. Those that knew this didn't care though, as they were also shells of butchery and hate, but even more soulless, pathetic and weak than their captor.

So across the wasteland they went, destroying everyone in their path, while The Deathbringer burned the world alive. Those who had not been turned cried out to The All God to come and put a stop to this madness. Restore order. And The All God listened.

The All God came on a white steed, wielding a sword of flame. He battled The Deathbringer in mortal combat. It was a fearsome battle, but in the end The All God won. Those whose souls had not been blackened rejoiced, things were back the way they were. And the soulless slunk back into the shadows to wait for a new Deathbringer to give them the power they so crave.

The All God smiled and got back to what he does best, destroying the planet little by little, making it unlivable. But still the people rejoiced. For they were used to the wasteland, it was home. And they would fight tooth and nail against anyone who would suggest that The All God was not good, that they could live in the immaculate lands they once did, that they could easily defeat The All God if they worked together.

Nay, the majority chose to live in shackles, damning the world to an eventual apocalypse.

Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil’s pawn. Alone among God’s primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother’s land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death.

-The Lawgiver, as spoken by Cornelius in Planet of the Apes