Trophy

The temple was big. The land where a small village could reside comfortably was taken by one temple alone. Of course, it was big. Beyond the gate, it was like a different place altogether. The land was tainted with red color and many temples were around. It was known as the temple of goddess Kali but it had temples of many other gods too. Those gods were probably Kali's followers in the legend but David was not knowledgeable about such things.

He was an atheist and didn't follow any gods. His mother was a great devotee of Ganesh and used to pray everyday, do rituals in special days but for David, gods didn't exist or else why wasn't their life any better than what they had. He was from a middle class family. He studied in an average school and he had no pocket money. I mean extra money to spend with friends. Surely, if gods existed, his life would be better.

That was what David always thought but the temple he was at was truly special. The moment he went inside the temple, he was under a special pressure. He didn't know where the pressure was coming from but everything felt different from a moment ago. He felt like he was being monitored.

He looked around vigilantly. He was feeling uncomfortable in that place. It was just a temple. He had been to many temples in his life with his mother but he never felt like this. He was feeling like a criminal about to be judged in the court. That was truly uncomfortable. He looked around and behind him at the gate.

At the gate, the big bells were no longer there. Instead, Seven heads were hanged there by their hair. Blood was still flowing down from their necks and the blood was dripping down drop by drop to the ground below.

"Drip Drip"

He looked around him but started shivering. The people who were entering the temple were no longer there. Only David and the girl who has holding his hand were the only living beings standing before the gate. Everywhere his eyes could reach, there was blood and corpses. He wanted to vomit but he couldn't even do that.

"Amon. What is happening to you today? Why are you acting so strange? Are you fine?" It was the voice of the girl that awakened him from the trance. Unexpectedly, the girl's voice was calm. It was as if she couldn't see the corpses around them or she simply didn't care. But by the way she was acting, it was likely to be the second case.

"Wh- Where is this? Where did the temple go? Did I die? Is this hell?" David blurted at once. He was too scared to even pretend being someone else. "And who are you?" He finally asked the question he wanted the answer to the most.

"What? Are you okay? Why are you shivering like that?" She asked.

Why am i shivering? Can't you see the romantic scene around us? David was agitated. He just repeated his previous question."Who are you?"

"You don't remember me? I am Zosia. Your lover. What happened to you now. Please stop if this is a prank." Zosia said in a small voice.

Zosia, what a strange name. David thought but considering he was Amon he didn't say anything about that name. "Where is this place? We were at the temple a moment ago why are we here now?"

"You.... " Zosia stared at him and said. " How can you say that? How can you forget the very reason you are here?"

The reason I am here? I don't even know where this is. David wanted to cry but he wanted to live even more so he swallowed all of the little pride he had and said gently," I am sorry. Please tell me where this is. Please."

Zosia stared at him and sighed. " This is the place one of the dimensions Goddess Kali rules over. This place was attacked some hundreds years ago by the demons and a great war erupted over here. Those are the corpses of gods and demons we see all around us. You are the one who wanted to come here to prove your worth to the goddess and work for her. Why are you playing dumb with me now?" She said angrily.

Demons? Gods? Really? all the things that was happening around him was strange and unexpected for him. But the prize for the most shocking information went to that sentence. Gods really exist? If someone said that before today, he would be probably be arguing with that person and scolding him saying that person was delusional but on this place. He had no such comments. Maybe they exist. That was his thought. Those scary heads at the gates were one of the reasons for that.

Those big heads could never belong to a human. And the corpses around him, some them looked like human corpses but many of them were different. Some had wings, tails and many more deformities in their body. And most importantly, those bodies were huge. The smell of blood was overflowing.

David looked at Zosia and said," How do I prove my worth?"

Warrior of a goddess, that sounds cool. Haha, this must be my opportunity to be a great person. I will work for the goddess and eventually reach her level becoming a god myself or maybe even above that. God David. That sounds cool. Hahah My days are coming. He was experiencing the delusion of grandeur when Zosia shattered it.

"The war on this land is over. But there are still some remnants of demons roaming this land. We just need to kill one of the strong ones and bring the head to this gate as our trophy. Every 50 years, the goddess chooses one person. The person who manages to hang their trophy in the gate gets selected."

Just hanging the trophy in the gate. Sounds easy enough if i am fast . David thought and looked at the gate only to see the giant heads.

"Did you just say those heads are the trophies?" David stuttered.

"Yes. Giants are known as one of the strongest demons. Even if we somehow manage to hang the head of a weaker demon in the gate, you might not get chosen as the goddess simply wants the strongest and smartest candidate. We need something like a giant or something even stronger than that. We don't have much time."

"But the one to kill something weak is smart too."

"No. Kali is the goddess of war. Her soldiers will have to fight a lot and a weakling will just die with her. So we can do anything but the one who brings the head of the strongest demon wins. We can't argue against a goddess. Choose one: Giant, Chimera or Basilisk. Those are the strongest creatures in this land."

But can we even slay such a thing , was what David was thinking but he had no chance to express his thought.

"Let's go or we will lose." Zosia said without caring about how she was crushing his hope. She was just irritated that her Amon was pulling pranks at such time. She pulled David and started moving towards the depth of the ancient battlefield.