The Old Gods rise

As if steeling herself for an unwelcome task, the Seer straightened her back and sat stiffly. She reached to a table next to her and opened a small, ornate box. She pulled out a dull, gray rock and placed it on her lap. It was aerilum, rare and a source of great power. The aerilum was about the size and shape of a drinking mug. The Seer was blind, her eyes covered with a milky film. She did not need them, she saw with a sight beyond sight.

Even her visions needed assistance at times. She placed a small diamond on top of the aerilum. Her servant, a formerly homeless lad eager for room and board approached the Seer and knelt before her. The aerilum began to glow, the Seer picked up the diamond and held it a few inches above the rock. The diamond captured the glow and enhanced it, sparkling with the colors of a rainbow. The blind Seer placed it back on the aerilum. As her servant’s eyes fell on the rock the Light seemed to slow down in his mind, he could feel the power emanating from that grayish metal ore.

"Look into the rock, let it enter your open mind and show me what I need to See." The Seer commanded in a fierce voice. The Light trapped his mind, he could not look away if he wanted to.

The Seer placed her hands on his temples and aimed his gaze at the strange ore. The power of the strange rock flowed into him. His mind cried out as the Light was swept away in a Vision.

Like pages in a book, she saw the years roll back to a time when the world was still young. Myrmadon was bleak and empty then, vast oceans dotted with smaller land masses, mostly volcanoes and mountain ranges. Many volcanoes still heaved and spewed their toxic gases into the sky as the planet recovered from the recent upheaval. In the night sky, the Seer could still see the Emissaries as small specks in the sky. Idly, she wondered if the Emissaries ever found others like the Visitor, but a disturbance on the horizon grabbed her attention.

The vision drifted towards the disturbance, pulling the Seer’s awareness towards it. It was a mountain, a large one in the middle of a chain of volcanoes. It reached miles into the air and a huge hole had been torn in its side from some sort of explosion, there was a bright light, brilliantly white, emanating from a massive diamond exposed by the hole. It was unlike any other diamond, size notwithstanding, for inside the diamond were fragments of aerilum, their power melding with the properties of the precious rock, creating something new.

Lightning struck from a cloud full of dust and ash, hitting the diamond and causing it to glow brighter. More lightning bolts hit the diamond, and soon electricity surged around it. White lightning split, red and blue lightning arcing out, splitting again and again, new colors joining them until the entire mountain appeared surrounded by a rainbow of jagged streaks of color. The light seemed to pulse and grow, encompassing the entire mountain and consuming the lightning, the glare became so bright the Seer was forced to turn away from its brilliance.

Finally, the light began to dim, and the Seer could see again. The mountain was gone, leaving a gap between the volcanoes, and in its place a huge diamond floated above the ocean. No, not a diamond, it seemed to change and shift into a variety of forms. The Seer realized her mind was struggling to grasp something beyond her comprehension. Finally, the image seemed to settle on a woman, a pale beautiful woman with sharp contours, and who shimmered like a sun hitting an actual diamond with every move.

The Seer could only call her a Goddess. And from somewhere a word was whispered into her ear, DanaZule, God-Queen of the Firmament. True to her name, DanaZule raised Her glittering arms and a brilliant bright light flowed from Her into the sky above. It spread like a giant dome over the sky from horizon to horizon, and the Seer knew it covered the entire world. The sky shone; the stars above magnified as their lights streaked down like brilliant rays onto the world. The moons seemed to pause in homage, and even the Sun acknowledged Her. The shining dome faded as DanaZule rose into the sky. The Firmament was Hers, and She would contemplate both the world and the Universe around her.

The vision shifted and the Seer found herself on the other side of the planet. It looked the same as before except for the active super volcano approaching. It wasn’t tall like the last mountain she saw, it was squat and broad, spanning miles. Smoke rose from its massive vent, and she could tell it was close to bursting. Somehow, she could see into the mountain, and there found a giant ruby, pulsing and beating like a heart. The rage and power of the planet’s core surged and filled the ruby, and its captivity in the rock enraged it. With a heave the ruby shook, and the super volcano exploded.

A brilliant flash filled the sky as the crust burst, a shockwave emanated from the explosion, followed quickly by a wall of superheated flames. Suddenly the flames stopped, and began to be pulled back towards the volcano, even the shockwave fell back into it. As before. the super volcano was gone. and a giant ruby floated in its place. The image seemed to twist and shift before the Seer’s struggling mind, becoming a man of flame. Rage and violence emanated from Him, reflecting his birth. The voice whispered in her ear, Ometaklon, God of Violence.

Where DanaZule seemed to rise above the violence of her creation, Ometaklon embraced it. With a roar He landed on the closest volcano and swung his mighty fists into its side. This volcano exploded, great waves of destruction spreading outwards letting the world know Ometaklon had arrived.

The sky shook briefly, DanaZule had indeed noticed His arrival, and His actions did not please Her. From a distance they contemplated each other, DanaZule knew one day he would try to tear her from the sky. He would fail.

Others rose from Myrmadon to join them. Lauris, the Sapphire filled with Life and Love. Similar in appearance to DanaZule, shimmering with a soft blue glow but with angelic wings straight from the myths of old. From the opposite direction came the Black Opal of Death, Enma Izanami. A being of shadow without form, it did not feel the need for one.

Two more joined them. Prima Celestia, Goddess of the Nebula, a spinning green amethyst that shone with the wisdom of creation. Time itself seemed to dance around her, the past, present, and future in a dance beyond comprehension. The Seer could almost see the patterns in the dance, so seductive were those visions within her Vision she may have become lost, but Prima Celestia’s brother came in view distracting her and restoring her to the “present”. Primus the Unknowable, God of Knowledge and Keeper of the Number. The Seer didn’t know what that meant, and she realized no mortal could know. He was different from the others, where they were born of crystals; he was born of rock, it looked like gold but filled with power and a simmering heat. He glowed yellow with streaks of blue and gray, and the power emanating from Him would be poison to any living being, had there been any.

All six of the Old Gods stood in a circle, silently contemplating each other. Her senses assaulted even in this vision, the Seer turned away and covered her eyes with an illusory hand. Even then the light shone through and for the briefest moment she felt terrified at the thought of being blinded again. Suddenly the light dimmed, becoming bearable and Seer slowly looked towards the gathering.

The Old Gods still shone as brightly as before, but the light seemed to dim and be drawn into Enma Izanami. His darkness consumed their light, and she realized it was deliberate, to keep these various powers in balance, for the world had difficulty bearing their weight in one spot. Prima Celestia, Goddess of Wisdom, looked at her sisters and brothers in turn, and finally spoke the first words in the history of Myrmadon.

“So now what?”

The others looked at Prima Celestia and did not answer. It struck them that they were alive, they were aware, and they had power, so now what indeed? DanaZule finally shook her head and smiled, “I think that will always be the question. I know we have a Purpose, but I do not know what that Purpose is. Primus, my brother, do you know?”

For a moment, Primus felt a hot flash of emotion race through Him, and He knew it was annoyance. Of course, the first question asked of the God of Knowledge would be a question to which He did not know the answer. “No, there are many things I do know, but there will always be questions with answers waiting to be discovered. This is one of them.”

“Yes, it is an answer we must find together.” His sister added.

Ometaklon seemed to shake in place and his voice lashed out “Why must there be an answer? Why must there be a Purpose? We are here! This is our world to do with as we please! That is our Purpose!”

DanaZule looked at him patiently, “No, brother, there is more. There must be more. We are more.”

Enma Izanami spoke in a whisper reminiscent of dead leaves rustling in the wind, “If this is so, dear sister, how would you suggest we find this Purpose?”

“No! Why should She lead us! We do not need to be led! I will not allow this” Ometaklon screamed, and without warning he struck at DanaZule. A brilliant beam of red sliced directly into DanaZule, piercing her with a bizarre ripping sound. DanaZule screamed in pain and rage as Her energy exploded outwards.

The others were pushed away from the explosion and their divine senses were briefly scattered. Recovering first, Lauris saw the energy raging around Ometaklon and DanaZule, She had struck back and he roared with a pain of his own. Their energies were expanding outwards, and Lauris knew their conflict would consume the world. She screamed her denial and raised her arms, using Her own power to try to contain their conflict. There was too much for just Her, but Primus joined her and Prima Celestia seconds later.

The battle between Ometaklon and DanaZule took place on so many levels of reality all that could be seen was a swirling ball of energy that sent rays of destruction in all directions. Wherever these rays struck, rocks exploded, and oceans boiled. The sky shook as clouds formed, adding lighting storms to the chaos. Enma Izanami joined his sister, raising his arms and forming a funnel of darkness above the battle, trying to draw the energies into it. Lauris took his hand and joined her power to his, the funnel grew thicker and drew more of the power in. Prima and Primus also joined hands, and their combined power added to the others, and finally they were beginning to contain it.

Despite her wound, DanaZule was proving the superior in this battle, and in his rage Ometaklon struck one final blow. DanaZule met it with a blow of her own and in her anger laid Ometaklon low. He struck the ground violently and their energies burst outwards, overwhelming the others struggling to contain it.

“No!” Lauris screamed in denial and threw everything into the battle. Using all her strength she pushed the energy into the funnel, guiding it so the others could contain it. Then she joined that chaos, drawing all that energy into Herself. Growing to enormous proportions as she attempted to contain the combined energies of life, death, knowledge, wisdom, rage, and love. Her brother refused to let her go, and the others held onto Him as He held onto Lauris.

It was becoming too much. Lauris screamed as the energy began to tear her apart. At that moment DanaZule recovered enough to join her remaining energies and Ometaklon’s with the others and Lauris recovered. The raging energies contained within her seem to slow slightly and it changed color to become a solid blue. Lauris had converted the energy, and it was no longer a threat, but it could also no longer be contained. With a smile Lauris let go of her brother's hand, and caressed Enma Izanami’s cheek, wiping away the one tear Death ever shed, and rose into the sky.

She shone like the sun, a brilliant ball of blue life that grew and swelled larger, throwing her arms wide she seemed to burst into brilliant stars of energy. It rose into the sky then spread out and covered the whole sky from horizon to horizon, and eventually the whole planet. The energy floated for a time, then began to fall and drift down onto the world like snowflakes. Everywhere these stars landed glowed with a soft light that was absorbed into every inch of the Myrmadon.

Where the battle has taken place, nothing remained. Only a great crater in the earth. There was no sign of the Old Gods. At the last their weakened forms returned to their places of birth, and they slept, restoring themselves. Their brief time awake having shaken the very pillars of heaven and planting the seeds of what we call life into Myrmadon.

“Everything is different now.” The Seer muttered, rubbing her temples. That was the most powerful Vision she had ever experienced, and she couldn’t shake the feeling there was someone, or something, behind that vision. Who? For the first time in centuries, the Seer felt fear.

She looked at rock in her lap, it had been dull before, but now the grey has become almost black. “It’s power it gone.”

The Seer heard a soft moan, and looked up to see her servant still kneeling, drool running from his mouth. She peered closer “And so is his mind. Damn, I needed him.”

Still, she could make use of what was left. She pressed the tip of her finger against his forehead. The mindless young man gasped as energy gathered around his head, then flowed into the Seer’s finger. Had anyone been watching, they would have seen her grey hair turn a lustrous black and her skin become as smooth as the day she was born. Her servant became a kneeling of statue of dust, and even that fell to a mound on the floor and disappeared as if it had never been.

The Seer laughed as youthful energy invigorated her. She felt better than she felt in ages. Looking through bright blue eyes, she tossed the now worthless aerilum onto the floor with a thud. She stood up and danced in circle, still laughing. There was more to be seen, another Vision to be had, and she would need another chunk of aerilum to do it. One was or another, she would see everything.