by Jesse Wilson
“In the time of our darkest days, the gods will strike down this evil as they have promised,” he said through the microphone. Honestly, he'd been at this for hours now and he was running out of verses, things to say and hope. Father Elrond never expected to be the one to weather the end of the world. The blades had shown up, but the Gods had not.
He was beginning to lose faith in something he barely believed in himself. As leader of the Taroian sect, he had a lot of responsibility.
The sky lit up as if it were on fire. Bright green lightning appeared but there was no cloud in the sky Elrond's breath got stuck in his throat, he jumped when the light appeared above him. Looking up at once he was as shocked as anyone, and afraid.
“The Gods have heard us, they are coming to save us, rejoice,” the high priest said at the top of his lungs, there was a hint of terror in his voice, Father Elrond never truly believed in the Gods, and wasn't sure if anyone did anymore.
The churches and branches of religion had become charity organizations and they really didn't have much to do with faith anymore. The Gods were about as real as any other fairy tale. The only threats in the world were real ones that could be seen. Unicorns, Golems, Necromancers and stuff like that. Gods and their toys were nonsense fairy tales, until now.
The church had some really dark secrets and Father Elrond was afraid. He had covered up so much and was now worried that judgement would come upon him from on high. Then, the lights in the sky stopped and Elrond made a sigh of relief, midway through it a hand that was so cold that it burned fell on his left shoulder.
He pulled away from it as soon as he could and turned around with wide eyes. There was a man there that was dressed in a silver suit, like one would expect a businessman to be wearing. It sparkled in the night as it reflected the moonlight.
“Now, we wouldn't want all of that getting out to the public, would we?” he said in a voice that for reasons he couldn't explain made Elrond shake to his core.
“No, no never, what do you need me to do, guide me Lord,” he replied to him. “I need you to burn,” the shining man said and Elrond's green elven eyes grew wide. A woman dressed in a red dress that almost left nothing to the imagination was on the other side of him. He wasn't sure how he missed her. She pointed at him and Elrond began to burn, the flames erupted from his mouth, eyes and chest.
He didn't even have time to scream. The man in the shining suit walked through Elrond's ashen remains, they scattered into the air.
“We have heard your prayers, we have come to deliver you unto salvation from the darkness that threatens to consume your world for I am Elrox,” he said in a loud voice. The others stood at his side.
As he did this everyone in attendance immediately fell to their knees, their Gods had returned, but not the one most of them here were praying for showed up first.
Everyone but one person it was a child of thirteen years old with pale blue eyes.
“What happened to Father Elrond, why did he glow and disappear?” she asked in the silence, no one else thought to ask or considered themselves worthy to say anything, but this girl, she was fearless. Elrox was irritated at such arrogance and began to raise his arm to answer her question when a hand quickly stopped him.
“Let me handle this, it requires words, if we want the mortals to be complacent we can't kill all of them,” Prolexa said with a smile. “I don't see why not, but for now we'll play it your way,” he replied with a glare. Prolexa fazed through the balcony rail, wings appeared from her back. She began to glow with a soft white and blue light as she floated down to the child.
“You're old enough to know the truth. Elrond was a corrupt man who used his power to cover up great evil inflicted upon your kind. We came for you, to fix this world. We will start with the blades then we will cleanse the darkness from the hearts of all races,” she said to her in the kindest voice she could use.
The girl narrowed her eyes.
“So, you're the judges of the world. What will be left of it when you're done?” she asked her in an almost defiant voice.
Prolexa was now getting annoyed with all these questions. “Pray that you remain long enough to see it, now, bow before your creators before we decide you're the next one on our list of evil hearts that must be purged,” Prolexa said to her in a slightly more direct voice.
“Yes, of course,” she said, swallowed and got to her knees. “That's better,” the goddess said to herself and floated back into the air, turned her back.
“The silver knight will stop you, she's stopped at least three of the blades on her own, we don't need your help,” the girl said to the Goddess and she stopped and was about to ask what she meant when the crowd began to stir and go into a panic.
Elrox looked into the sky and saw Brule flying towards him.
“This wasn't in the script,” Loa said as her thin dress began to glow red hot.
“No, it wasn't,” Elrox said and wondered what was going on.
“Master, I am glad to see you. I was worried you had abandoned me in the void after I was resealed,” Brule said, trying to sound sincere as he could. Elrox and the others were confused.
“You dare try and deceive the mortals by playing on their emotions, no, I think not. You will be destroyed along with the rest of them,” Elrox said and had to stick to the plan.
His hands lit up with electricity and he unleashed two bright green bolts in his direction. At the last second Lumic flew across the square grabbing Brule's hilt and pulled him out of the way, Elrox's blasts sailed off into the distance, disappearing into the night.
“Well look at that. You were right on both accounts but how did you know they wouldn't know we were hiding up here in the dark?” Ventrix asked Pen.
“Simple, video game logic. Gods are so arrogant and sure of themselves that they don't care about their surroundings, they only deal with one thing at a time. Just like us lowly mortals they never bothered to look up,” he replied.
“Good call, so now that we know they want to kill us what do we do about it?” Zolar asked them. “We kill them all or die trying, you heard them. They don't want to just kill you, they want to kill everything they consider evil, everything that ever replaced them and my guess science is pretty high on that list and that includes everyone,” Pen replied to him.
“First, we need to get all the people out of here,” Shane said as he looked down at the massive crowd. “Yes, using bystanders as a shield is a cowardly thing to do. Let's get them all out of here,” Sholtan agreed with him.
“I'll handle that part, the rest of you find Brule a body and prepare for the fight of your lives,” Tinea said and they floated down to the crowd.
“Alright people you're all going to die if you stand here. The blades will kill anyone who gets in the way, so this is your chance to leave,” Tinea said to all of them, but the people didn't react like she thought they would.
“Damn it I said now,” Tinea shouted as she stomped the ground hard enough to make it feel like a small tremor. This is when the crowd started to run away screaming. “That's more like it,” she said and Pen smiled.
“Tinea, you've made a commotion. We never did trust you. Taro was always the one who had a soft spot for these mortals. It'll be a pleasure to shatter you and whoever you're using as host,” Elrox said to her, his voice quiet, but angry. Pen turned around to see the seven gods standing there behind him.
“Oh I'll make you work for it. I brought back up, too,” Pen said to them as the rest of the blades landed behind him, he was feeling a little scared right now, he'd never stood this close to a god before but wasn't sure if anyone really ever had.
“Right, our creations, how could we ever forget about them,” Torax said as he stepped forward in a grey cloak that hid most of him, holding a long golden staff. “Yes, how could you ever forget about me, I'll break that staff of yours in half and ram it right up your—“ Ventrix stopped Zolar before he could finish.
“Now, don't let your temper get the best
of you, that's Arket's role, you're more the cool and collected type, remember,” he said to his friend. “Right sorry, Sister would you please convey my anger towards my creator in the correct manner?” Zolar asked her.
“I'll let my fists do the talking, we all should do the same,” Arket replied. “Seven against six, it seems like the odds are almost evenly matched,” Sholtan said. “Wait, no we are missing a blade, did anyone ever find where Yalen went too?” Lumic asked then. Tinea looked down, she'd forgotten the story the knight told them in the castle.
“Did is the right word, so accurate, you've got no idea how much,” Nolber said and walked up out of the dark, threw a hilt on the ground that was made out of dark blue ice. The blade had been broken.
“Yalen was too weak to exist, the second he was unsealed I sent a charge from the void and destroyed him as I urged the others to do, but they refused,” he said, he was dressed in similar dark blue ice armor like the hilt he just tossed to the ground.
“No, he was my friend. How could you do that, didn't even give him a chance to exist in the world,” Sholtan said as he rushed forward and picked up the hilt carefully. Shane felt his misery, too. “What, would you expect a god as cold as I to actually do, show mercy?” Nolber asked him.
“Enough talk, I am ending this now,” Loa said and raised her left hand. An invisible wave of power erupted and knocked all of the blades back off of their feet and into the ground.
“Yes, did you forget that we are in fact actual Gods, each one of us can wipe you out with a mere thought, all we have to do is look at you wrong and you're toast,” Loa said as her eyes burned with blue flames.
They all hit the ground and slid backwards creating sparks. “I guess this is where we all die, it was great getting to know all of you,” Pen said to them and continued, “and thanks Tinea for being my friend,” Pen finished. “Oh you know me, always the friendly one. It was a fun ride,” she replied with a slight groan.
“Well met, friend, at least we died trying to fight instead of running away,” Sholtan was, as always, ready to die. “Do you always have to talk like that, that's going to get annoying really fast,” Shane replied to him. “Yes, it's more dramatic,” Sholtan replied to him and Shane just groaned.
“Look on the bright side, at least we can say we were killed by a god because we pissed it off personally, I am sure not too many people can say that,” Melissa said after hitting the ground. “Hey, that is pretty good. Way to go, always staying positive. Way to be,” Lumic replied to her. Melissa just rolled her eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I did expect some compassion from you, as I did from all of you,” a voice said as another green bolt of lightning struck the ground. The eighth god had arrived. He was wearing a long dark green duster with a black hat and a dark red suit underneath.
“Taro, nice of you to join us, your creation has turned all of ours against us,” Xy finally spoke up, she was wearing a slender black dress with bone white skin to contrast it, her hair was yellow.
“I know, I figured after a few thousands of years you'd all change your mind about the plan but just in case you didn't I had a plan of my own,” Taro said to them and smiled. “You dare defy the seven of us, really?” Elrox said and sighed. “Yes, I suppose I do but being gods and all, you should all be open for a little game, a test, think you can handle it?” Taro asked them all.
“What sort of test is this?” Prolexa asked him. “Simple, I am going to give the blades a boost that'll save them from the higher limits of our powers, so you can fight them as equals. I mean surely you're not afraid of your own creations no matter what the conditions are, right?” Taro asked them and kept smiling.
“We are not going to play your stupid game, these blades are going to be broken and that's the end of it,” Torax said, seeing through his games, but Brolox, the god who forged Sholtan stepped from the line.
“Maybe the clown has a valid point after all, I mean, what point is there if we can't even beat our own creations in a fair fight,” he said through his suit of red armor. “No, stop being stupid, we are Gods. We don't have to do fair, we don't need to do fair. That is our right, we are the deciders of reality,” Loa said angrily to him.
“Well you know, if you can't do it I guess I'll understand. I'll just go ahead and make sure everyone knows the truth of this place before you go ahead and kill everyone,” Taro said and started to walk off towards the others.
“No, wait, we'll do your stupid test so just leave the past out of it,” Elrox said at once, almost sounding worried. “We have our differences but you don't need to go that far, friend,” Elrox said, his whole personality and demeanor changing in an instant. “I know we're friends, I knew you'd come around one way or another,” Taro said with a thin smile.
Elrox breathed a sigh of relief.
“Excellent, we have a fight on our hands. I haven't had a good fight since I fought Roht,” Brolox said as he clapped his massive hands together, it sounded like thunder.
“Yes, and you've never shut up about it since, maybe this will give you a new story at least,” Xy said as she sighed with annoyance and rolled her pitch black eyes. “Yes, new stories are always a plus in my book,” Prolexa said in agreement. “Good,” Taro said to them and smiled.
“Blades, stand up please because break time is over,” he said to them. “Yes, it is,” Pen agreed with him as they all began to stand up, the strange power holding them down disappeared. “What's the plan boss?” Tinea asked Taro.
“I am glad you asked, since a battle royal would likely wipe out everything here and you're out numbered. I have to even the odds,” Taro held his hand out to the hilt of the ice blade and it flew to his hand, he caught it.
“And now what was, will be again,” Taro said as the ice blade began to reform in his hand as his eyes began to glow white. “What, how dare you undo what I did,” Nolber said with fury in his voice. “Yeah, I know, I've violated or offended you deeply, now get over it,” Taro said as the blade was whole once more.
“Now don't kill one another while I am gone. I will be right back, remember you promised,” Taro said and glared at Elrox before he disappeared with the blade.
“So, does anyone have anything they want to say?” Pen asked the gods. “Yes, I am going to use your blood for my smoothies when I'm done with you,” Prolexa replied to him. “Okay, someone's got issues for being a goddess of light, no forget that, whole volumes,” Tinea said but wasn't exactly shocked. Xy gave her a slight glance, she could have sworn that blood drinking was part of her profile, and not Prolexa's.
Arket flew past them with no warning.
“I'll kill all of you all at the same time right now,” she screamed, losing her temper. “Melissa, get her,” Pen said as fast as he could. Before Arket could even get a few feet from the rest of them Lumic held her back by grabbing her around her neck and waist.
“Sister now is not the time. We need to wait for the right time so we don't act at the wrong time, see?” Lumic said to her, but Arket continued to struggle in her arms, but Lumic held her tight. “I'd hate to lose you, please calm down before we both do something stupid,” Lumic pleaded with her.
“Yeah, you heard your sister, cool your jets before I have to hit you really hard, I wouldn't mind doing that, though so just give me a reason,” Melissa said as she could feel Arket's heat burning through the armor, “Save it for the real fight,” Melissa finished with that and Arket calmed down.
“Fine, I will, but I'm going first,” she said as Melissa let her go. Arket floated backwards towards the others but never took her burning eyes off the ones who had betrayed her and the rest of them.
“She takes after you. I'll almost regret having to kill your creation now,” Elrox said to Loa, but she didn't respond to him.
Taro appeared in Vasaria, but there wasn't anyone around. “Oh, come on, now isn't the time to be alone, I just need one person,” Taro said to himself, then he heard some people talking amongst themselves b
ehind a house. “Weird, why aren't they inside?” he asked himself.
Taro walked in that direction and turned a corner and found a group of six teenagers sitting around a fire. “Hello there, kids, how are you doing tonight?” Taro asked, and his sudden appearance from nowhere startled them all. “Uh, were fine, how are you mysterious and weirdly dressed stranger?” one of the girls asked him back. “I'm good, listen do any of you know how to say, you know, fight at all? I need your help,” Taro asked them.
“Dude, this is your moment,” the boy dressed in red said to the other one wearing green. “Moment, what are you talking about?” he asked, not sure what was going on. “Don't you know who this is, this is Lord Taro, look at the clothes, it's exactly like in the book I have, right down to the hat,” the one in red said to him. “Well he's right. I am a god and whatever, but right now I really need to know if one of you can fight, it's very important,” Taro asked them all again, kind of in a hurry.
