Requiem for a Death God - Chapter 3: Introit (3rd movement)
By Whitepython.


It was close to 8 in the morning during his first day of homelessness when Varabol reached the gymnasium. Varabol felt he was able to drag both his plastic bags and his wounded self on such a long trip thanks to the bit of hope that Sbinoa the wolf gave him.

Varabol stood at the top of the staircase access to the gymnasium whose entrance had a large, metallic sign that read ‘Fitland Gym’. He had no other plan here but to hook up his battery charger in a socket at the reception and to beg for his money. His guts spun in all directions because he knew that failure was very likely to happen. And failure would lead to a dark outcome before he could rendezvous with Sbinoa.

But he had no more options here.

Not yet having the courage to enter and be rejected, Varabol stood at the top of the staircase to look around. From above the staircase, he had a vantage point that gave him a view of the gymnasium’s parking lot and to another sector of the town which extended far and wide: Imperial Hills.

Imperial Hills was one of the most modern and luxurious sectors in all of Riverstone City. It was home to some of the richest and most influential families in town. This gym shared the fancy and modern style of the sector, for it was set at its entrance. Both Visandro and Varabol came here because this gym had specialized machines that they both needed to stay in shape as elite members of the clan.

Talking about Visandro, the dragon wished so badly to bump into him and return that knife to him- by stabbing him right in the gut with it!

Remembering that the gym owner could leave at any minute, Varabol decided to quit being both angry and a coward and to take a seat at the reception.

As soon as he dragged his beaten self and his bags into the reception, he reached a familiar area that consisted of two rows of seats. One faced a large, glass wall giving him a similar view of what he had at the staircase, and another faced the gymnasium itself.

Varabol chose the one facing the city before pulling out his charger from one of the bags, then plugged everything into a nearby socket. With that set, he walked to the reception where a tiger and a gray dragon stood. He knew these anthros quite well because they had worked at the gym for as long as he had worked out there. Instead of approaching to greet them as usual today, his thoughts tripped over each other as his feet became almost welded to the floor. He was sure he wouldn’t get help here, but he had no more option but to cry for his money if he had to.

“Hey, Vara,” the gray dragon spoke from behind the reception. The tiger nodded to Varabol before returning his attention to a computer placed at the reception desk. Both gym employees wore their usual uniforms of white shirts and navy blue sport shorts. The only difference in their clothing was that the gray dragon wore his own heating vest on the outside.

“Odd seeing you here today,” the gray dragon continued. “Today is your rest day, isn't it?”

“I- yeah, but,” Varabol said, hesitating about what he was going to ask.

“Is everything okay, Vara? You look terrible. Do you need me to call for a medic?” the gray dragon inquired. He slid himself behind the desk counter where Varabol could only see him from the waist up.

“Actually not,” Varabol said.

“Are you sure? You have several cuts on one of your arms.”

“I- uhm.” Varabol tried to cover his wounded arm with his right hand. “I had a small accident, don’t worry about it.”

“Anything else we can do for you then? Or do you need an ear?” The receptionist dragon asked as he browsed a stack of folders before putting a section of them away.

“I-” Varabol hesitated again. The anticipation of being rejected and being ultimately forced to sleep on a park bench made progress crippling. However, he knew he had to go forward with this.

“I, uhm, it's my- it’s my family. There is someone really sick and we need money for an emergency surgery. I- They, the doctors, said that it is quite an urgent one. So I'd like to, umh, like, ask for a refund on the last payment I made.”

Varabol squeezed his jaws tight after losing his breath. He was ready to sleep on the streets, with the knife that he took from Visandro as his only defense from a robbery at 3 in the morning.

“I see,” the gray dragon said as he browsed more folders before he piled everything up. “You know we have a strict, no refund policy, Vara,” the receptionist dragon said, as he tucked his selection of folders under his arm while Varabol was debating whether to drop on his knees and burst into tears or resign himself to the cold iron of a public bench at Bluewater park.

“But, you are well known here and you have never caused any trouble. So, I will talk to the boss about your request. If you’re lucky and if he’s in a good mood, maybe we can do something for you. But don’t keep your hopes too high.”

The gray dragon walked away, disappearing behind a glass door set a couple steps away from this reception. Varabol knew that the man in charge of the gym had his office there.

Varabol walked back to the bench at the reception, with his legs shaking after the experience. The reptile double-checked his charger to be sure the thing was still feeding itself before sitting down. Varabol wasn't sure if his fellow dragon was trying to decline him politely or if he would try to help him out.

In any case, his future was now in the hands of the gym staff.

Varabol knew that if he were to get his money, there was only one place in all of Riverstone City where he could take shelter from this problem: Mawridge Motel.

It was an old, run-down building that was barely any different from an abandoned warehouse. While it stood within the city limits, it was far away enough for the local police to pretend that all of the constant shady deals and criminal activities that took place there were none of their business.

Regardless of the dangers, he was familiar with the area because his father had used it previously to ambush demon worshippers or to hold confidential meetings with foreign demon hunters. It would be a cheap hideout to heal and to secure enough power to keep his heating vest running, and his vital functions with it, until he could have his meeting with Sbinoa.

All he had to do was to lock himself in early and ignore the bone chilling screams that were always heard in the distance. Since the very first time he was there, Varabol wanted to believe that those screams came from wild animals roaming the dry valley and not from other anthros.

Varabol dismissed all of that out of his mind. Instead, he allowed his gaze to get lost in the distance where he tried to enjoy the view for one last time. After all, he wouldn’t be back to this gym ever again. Unless a miracle were to happen.

This cityview wasn’t the only thing he was going to miss. The wolf Montekausko jumped into his mind too. He had met that handsome and muscled black wolf here and enjoyed hanging out with him so much.

He couldn’t remember the wolf’s first name, it was something exotic that the canine himself never liked. So he only used his last name, Montekausko, to introduce himself. But he always asked everybody to shorten it to “Kau”.

It was after the dragon was promoted to the Tailbones rank that Visandro brought him to this gym to work out. Since the horse worked out here in the evenings, Varabol took the morning shift. It was during one of those mornings when he first spotted Kau, who was struggling to lift on his own.

Amazed to see such a big and muscled canine in trouble, he offered to help. But the wolf was reluctant to accept it. Perhaps it was the fact that the reptile himself was no different from a stick. Eventually, the wolf changed his mind and that opened the door for the dragon to become his spotting partner.

From there, the wolf and the dragon spent their time chatting and getting to know each other. The dragon learned that the wolf was a junior executive for a company called ‘Riscorp’, a company that managed stock portfolios and helped growing companies to enter the stock market.

The more time he spent with the wolf, the more he felt like he belonged somewhere else aside from the ruthless demon hunting world. A world where his life was worth only how many unholy aberrations he could take down for the sake of earning the next paycheck for his father to enjoy it.

The friendship between them grew until Kau became his main motivation to hit the gym religiously. Kau became his sole interaction with life outside the Ghost Soldiers.

According to Kau, the dragon also became his only interaction outside of the world of crunching numbers and long meetings. Aside from the gym, they usually hung out at bars for drinking and to watch fetching ball matches together. They both always cheered up for the local teams whenever they got a common day off.

As a matter of fact, they were supposed to drink and have snacks last night. But the wolf had to cancel at the last minute for a work meeting. And that was the event that ultimately doomed Varabol to stay home, and to witness the mess that destroyed his life.

This gym had always been a place for happiness for the demon hunter. But this time, sitting here to say goodbye brought a bitter flavor. Being here to retire from the gym life was like quitting life itself. It was like accepting the change from being a highly trained and important demon hunter into becoming an outcast, hated by all the anthros he loved.

Varabol wished for the wolf to be around because Kau knew how to make him feel better and to encourage him to continue when things were rough.

An example of that was a picture that hung at the reception. It was a picture that commemorated a victory earned by both himself and another member of the gym, a muscled tiger.

Six months ago, the titles of ‘Mr. Muscle’ and ‘Mr. Endurance’ were up for grabs at the gym. Kau jumped right in at the opportunity to earn himself the title of ‘Mr. Muscle’ while he pushed the dragon to go for the ‘Mr. Endurance’ one.

While Varabol refused to participate because he knew that he would never be good enough to earn anything like that, Kau insisted that he at least give it a try.

When the day of the event arrived, Kau surprisingly lost the title in the finals against the tiger in the picture. Varabol hoped that this would discourage the wolf and he would be able to pry himself from the competition. However, the wolf remained positive about the whole ordeal and focused instead on helping Varabol.

After a tiring and long day, the challenge had closed down between himself and a fox. And because the two were pretty much tied, the gym owner decided to break up the tie with an extra event.

Even if Vara was already sore and tired from the whole competition, the wolf encouraged him to give out his best and demonstrate to everyone what he was capable of.

Knowing that Montekausko believed in him was enough motivation for Varabol to beat the fox in the last competition by a large margin.

The beaten-up dragon smiled wide as he remembered how proud and happy Kau was about his victory, and the countless congratulations he got from everyone at the gym during the days after, including Visandro.

For Varabol, it was like getting a sample of what it would be like to earn the rank of ‘Ribcage’ at the clan, and be recognized as a strong and capable leader by his family.

The only one who wasn’t impressed by his triumph was Zantazar. He said that it was the least he expected from the dragon after paying for such an expensive gym membership. For his adoptive father, doing so was not an achievement, but a bare minimum.

Remembering all that made Varabol want to say goodbye to Kau before disappearing. But Varabol knew that he shouldn’t bother the wolf with something like that. After all, the dragon knew he wasn’t worthy of it. His consolation was that the wolf would always remember him in his former days of glory before his life went downhill.

Now that he would never return to the gym, he and the wolf wouldn’t have anything else in common. Thus, the wolf had no reason to still be friends with him. Like his family, he would probably also turn his back on him.

As his gaze was lost in the distance, he saw a familiar, white car of recent model enter the gym parking lot. The vehicle moved slowly in the parking lot until it made a complete stop once it was next to the access staircase.

It was a familiar, pearly white, shiny and curved metallic beast. It had two red stripes running from hood to trunk, and an emblem on the grill of the stylized profile of the equine who happened to be the founder of that luxurious brand of cars.

Varabol rose from his seat and took a glance through the glass when from this familiar car descended a familiar black wolf carrying a gym bag:

He was a tall, masculine ball of black fur who wore metallic gray sport pants and a matching metallic gray track jacket.

It was nobody else but Motekausko!

What was he doing here? Today he was supposed to rest!

Varabol paced in circles along the reception as he resisted the urge to escape from the gym by jumping through the large glass towards the back of the parking lot. Moments later, he sprung behind a water dispenser and pretended he was someone busy drinking water.

Varabol feared the wolf’s indifference would confirm how worthless to this world he was! Kau didn’t owe him anything and even if he did, he wasn’t worth it. Zantazar was always right about those kinds of things.

As Varabol held his breath and remained hidden, he could hear the wolf greeting the tiger at the reception before his voice disappeared in the distance.

It was with shaky legs and a tense stomach that Varabol poked his snout from behind the water dispenser to scan the reception. Fortunately, there was no wolf on the horizon. The reptile returned to the seat at the reception to inspect his charging station while hoping that the gray dragon could hurry up with either a negative answer or with his money.

Once again, doubt made him wonder if disappearing like a coward was the right thing to do. Was it right to leave his beloved friend behind without saying goodbye? Perhaps in a couple of days, the wolf would ask about him or try to phone him until the dragon at the reception would repeat the lie he just said. Perhaps the wolf might wonder what happened until he ultimately forgot about him altogether. But was this the right way to do things after all the nice memories he forged with the wolf?

Varabol was pulled from his doubts when his fellow dragon came out from the private office and made his way to the reception.

“There you are, look,” the gray dragon said, as Varabol held his breath. He was ready to hear the polite explanation on why he couldn’t get his money back. He was also ready to escape from the gym without seeing Kau ever again.

“The boss has decided that because you’re well known around here, we can break the rules this once and refund you 70% of what you paid.”

A sea of possibilities flooded the dragon’s mind as tingles ran from the top of his head down to his toes as he suppressed the urge to hug the gray reptile and squeeze him with all his might.

“Ye- yes! Thank you very much! You have no idea how much this means to me. This has to be the only good thing to have happened to me in years!” Varabol almost shouted in excitement.

“Alright, wait here. I'll call you into the boss’s office when he’s ready with your money.” The gray dragon offered a smile and a polite nod before returning into the office.

Varabol looked around, wanting to make sure that Kau wasn't nearby before collapsing over his seat. He was ready to take the coward’s way and flee without being seen.

Varabol took a deep breath before sighing in resignation as his eyes now focused on the closed glass office door. His priority became fetching his money and running towards Mawridge Motel until he could meet with Sbinoa.

As soon as the blurred glass door opened slightly, Varabol sprinted towards the office, but the door was closed again a second later, with nobody in sight.

Varabol stood a few steps away from the glass door, confused for a moment before realizing how foolish he was about rushing up for nothing. A second later, he pretended he was stretching his sore body out in order to feel less awkward.

As he did this, he kept his eyes on the door and his back turned away from the gym, waiting for the door to be opened again. He tried to make out the silhouette of the gray dragon moving inside the office through the blurred glass. But all of a sudden, Varabol felt a weight pulling on his wounded shoulder. Varabol hissed in pain as a jolt of pain ran down from his arm, all the way to clawed fingertips. This forced Varabol to shove away whatever caused the pain.

“Va- Vara! Wh- what’s wrong?”

Before him stood the black wolf Montekausko, whose imposing chest and pelted pectorals were at the same height as Varabol’s face.

His large chest and biceps were always straining against the limits of whatever the canine was wearing. Montekausko had removed his gray sport jacket to reveal a red, tank top shirt with the brand of one of the local sport teams.

Kau’s deep, piercing yellow eyes were expressing concern as they were highlighted by the black fur on the wolf’s face. The canine’s maw was wide open in shock, exposing a pair of top canine fangs. His ears were bent down and buried under his abundant, black mane.

“What in the name of the ancient forefathers is happening!?” Kau’s voice was bent under confusion and worry while one of his arms was stretched halfway.

Varabol knew that everything was over for him.


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Here is the third chapter of my novel 'Requiem for a Death God'.

Chapter four should be out in around 3 weeks or so. Thanks a lot to  utunu for editing and helping me get a better grasp of the story.
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