The Zalera’s folly!

Joc clenched and unclenched his right fist. "For as fucking weak this body feels, it sure as shit heals at an ridiculous rate." Joc mused to himself as he examined his hand that up until a few days ago, he had managed to fracture multiple finger bones. But it wasn't just the healing that was strange about this new body of his; it also appeared to not need any sleep. He tried sleeping yet, was seemingly incapable of doing so. At first he thought it was just insomnia, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that much like how he can't blink, neither could he sleep.

Another thing very strange about the body was that didn't have any way of disposing waste; so luckily it appeared as if he didn't need to anyways. What's more is that it didn't even appear as if he needed to drink or eat at all.

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Joc turned his head to look towards the goatherd drinking from a reddish brown stream. […why the fuck… do I not need water… it doesn't fucking make a lick of sense… Far as I know every living thing needs water… but it's been three days… haven't felt even… the slightest fucking tingle of thirst… Food makes sense… Boar bear's can survive 3 months without food…. But not three days without water… Reapers kiss… Damnable weeds can survive… 4 months without a drop… Those shitty plants store water in themselves…. Prickly as the fucking helllands too… but this body is NOT a fucking plant!.. Pretty sure it isn't…] Joc thought to himself as he stared at the various goats men quenching their thirst.

One particular goat caught his attention mostly due to the fact that it was not cupping its hand when it was trying to bring the water to its mouth; the results were a very inefficient way of drinking. "…haa… I would call a fucking idiot with shit for brains, but father always drink that way too…. Wait." Joc mumbled to himself as he started to realize something.

"…oh….OH….YOU GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME! IS THE WORLD TRYING TO MAKE A FUCKING FOOL OUT OF THE GOD DAMN ZAlERAS!? Or MAYBE WE ARE JUST FUCKING CURSED; FUCK YOU ZALERA, YOU MAD CUNT ALL YOU HAD TO DO IS FUCKING DIFFERENTIATE! WE COULD OF PUT A FUCKING CLOSE ON THE DAMN WARS IF YOU JUST FUCKING EXPLAINED YOURSELF BETTER, YOU SHITTY MONGER CUNT!!" Joc threw his hands in the air and screamed at the heavens, more specifically at his long dead ancestor Zalera; The very man who was the namesake of the house of Zalera.

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55 years ago at the Zaleras residence in the fortress city of mulgar.

A young 15 year old Joc laid sprawled out in the courtyard grass, sleeping in a very particularly undignified manner. The tall shadow of a middle-aged man loomed over joc. "Brat wake up… I will give you to the count of three" The man's voice was gruff and harsh"… one….two…three…" The man promptly rose his foot and kicked it straight into joc's gut.

Joc woke up with a grunt of pain and coughs, he Turned his blurry vision to see his dad." Dad… what… the… fuck" Joc had trouble speaking between his wheezing breaths and coughs. "I gave you to the count of three, what you want from me." Joc's father said as he simply shrugged. "I was…sleeping… you fucking cunt…what I want is to not get…kicked." Joc responded as he started to get his coughing under control.

"Well we can't always get what we want, can we… Maybe if you were such a foul mouthed brat, calling your own father a 'cunt' maybe I wouldn't kick you" joc's father started to lecture joc, his tone as harsh it ever is.

Joc rolled over and pushed himself off the ground standing as upright as he can, staring down his father. "Well maybe if you didn't act like a CUNT I wouldn't call you one, father." Joc trying to best emulate the harsh tone of his father.

"Well it seems like were at impasse. Buutt I will give you that… Your aren't completely wrong" joc's father said as his voice started to soften and he started to softly chuckled. Conversations like this have become common between the two in the past few years. They may have both started to develop issues with each other, but it didn't mean they hate each other. In the end they were still family and having some roughness around the edges was a quality to be expected out of any proper roughlander.

Joc's eyes twitched in irritation at his chuckling father. "If I'm not wrong, then why did you kick me?" joc asked his eyes narrowed on his father. "Well it's because you're a damn naïve brat that's why." Joc's father responded, his face plastered with a shit eating grin. Joc's eyes start twitch even more as he clenched his fists, he would really badly wanted to bash that grin off his father face.

"Brat I know what you're thinking, but now's not the time for me to give you an ass kicking. I didn't wake you up just to be a quote unquote 'cunt'. There's actually something I need to show you." Joc's father said as he turned and started to walk away. For even as annoyed as joc was by that 'ass kicking' comment, when his father says that something he needs to see it usually is pretty important. So as such joc followed after his father.

They simply walked in silence not speaking a word to each other, until finally they reached the gate to the Zaleras family crypt. "Not sure exactly what you possibly need to show me here." Joc stated as he looked incredulously at his father. "ANNND that why I need to show you because you don't know yet." Joc's father simply responded as he started to make a quick series of hand motions "light ball"

A ball of light promptly materialized in his left hand and with his right hand he grabbed some keys that hung on his hip. He unlocked the gate, than with a heavy pull he swung open the heavy iron doors. With a quick look and soft jerk of his head at Joc, he descended down into the crypt. Joc just took one quick look at the heavy gates before following his father. He always did questioning why in the helllands they need such heavy security for a bunch of old bones.

The place was creepy, cramped and extremely dusty; there wasn't even a single cobweb. It was just how tight of security they put on this crypt when they built it; there simply is no way for spiders to survive down there. Joc turned his head and spotted a small stone statuette of a baby being carried in the arms of skeleton. Inscribed on a plaque just below statuette was the names of 20 people; the names of jocs 20 stillborn and miscarried siblings.

Joc put his hands together and offered up a small prayer. "…there is no need to pray… They never had actually lived." Joc's father said quietly as he ushered one of his two surviving children forward. Joc didn't respond to his father's comment even though he didn't agree with it. He simply took his time to complete his silent prayer before moving on.

As Joc looked around the crypt there was one very noticeable thing, there were very few actual full graves. But there were a lot of those baby carrying skeleton statuettes all over the place. The zeleras had a distinct problem of being unable to sire or bearing viable offspring; most of the dead Zeleras filling the crypt were that of miscarried and stillborn children.

After a good five minutes of silent walking they finally reached the very bottom of the crypt and there lay a large reinforced iron door. Joc knew about the door but he never knew what was on the other side. "So let me guess you going to show me what the fuck is on the other side of this door." Joc stated as he looked towards his father. "… Pretty much, brat just so you know only the head and future head of the family of Zelera is allowed to see what's on the other side of this door. So don't go telling anybody the Zeleras family secret like an idiot." Joc's father warned as he unlocked the door with a very strange looking key.

He put away the key and with both his hands wrenched open the door which let out a loud metal screeched. "go in" joc's father said as he flicked his wrist commanding the light ball to go into the room. joc tentatively stepped into the room, his face then promptly started to frown. "ok…what the FUCK IS THIS!?" joc exclaimed as snapped his head to look at his father.

Lying in the center of a fairly large room was a large statue of a man wearing a simple robe, sitting cross legged. The man had long hair that reached his waist, hands and feet that looked almost clawed and 2 tiny nubs of horns sprouting out from his head. Holding in his right hand was a skull of a demon and in left was the skull of a human. Statute didn't look quite human nor do look quite demon it was something of a in between.

"…haaa…this is the Zelera family secret…that statue there" joc's said as he pointing towards the statue."… is of zelera the namesake of our family, as well as your ancestor…." Before he could continue joc interjected "ANCESTOR!? ARE YOU SAYING THAT WE ARE FUCKING DESCENDENTS OF A FUCKING DEMON!? " Joc exclaimed as his face showed his disbelief.

Joc's father didn't say anything at first but after a good minute of silence. "Joc first of all yes, he as far as our family is aware he is our ancestor as well as being, albeit not the founder of the noble house… The founder of the dynasty, and the one who brought family into a position of power… again albeit not that of a noble house. Second of all he isn't a demon but a half blood, his father was a demon's and his mother was a human." Joc's father said his voice betraying the fact that he wasn't particularly happy about that fact he's descended from a demon either.

Joc just quietly stared at the statue for some time occasionally taking a look at his father. "How?" Joc uttered a simple question. "Well humans and demons can have children together, you just never seen half breeds because we're always killing each other. But I'm guessing that wasn't actually your question. Zelera mother was a slave captured by a demon chieftain, back during the times when the vile things still wanted to enslave us, so it wasn't some happy union." Joc's father explained as he stared up at the statue.

He took a sharp breath before he continued " Zelera is actually the one who gave us the mission to exterminate the demons. It's actually in his writings over there…" He pointed towards a small bookshelf holding multiple books one of them looking extremely ancient.

"You're going to have to read it… Because simply explaining doesn't do it justice but I'll try nonetheless; Zeleras writings although appearing to be the ravings of a madman. Explains why the demons are so vile and need to be exterminated. He explains how the demon inside him makes him violently bloodthirsty, that which manifests as a maddening hunger. It goes over the sadistic glee the demons would take as they perform their vile acts… How they would use dark magics to keep people alive as they mutilated their flesh again and again and again, before finally devouring them alive. It also explains how the only way to stop their vile acts was to contain then exterminate them.

As there is no possible way of reasoning or compromising with them, they are sadistic beings of hunger and madness. The only reason why the occasionally appear like actual people is because they're trying to deceive you. But it's all one big deception; they are in reality just vile beasts… No there worse than beasts, they are intelligent enough to comprehend the concept of right and wrong."joc's father took in a long breath before finally exhaling. "Here's the key don't take the books out from the crypt, don't tell anybody about the books or this room not a single thing, got it." Joc's father warned as he handed joc the keychain.

"…got it…" joc responded quietly, his face and quiet voice betraying his disturbed mind. "Good…I am going to get something to drink make sure to lock up and keep a good eye on those keys…" joc's father said as he exited the room, bringing the light ball with him, Leaving joc in the cold darkness of the Zeleras family crypt.