Chapter 8

On the morning of the final battle, the sky was clear above the mortal world. Ferona and her army of gods and worshippers arrived on the battlefield; a large plot of land that had once held a mortal city, now razed to the ground. The battlefield was quiet. She had expected to find Sakassen and Isaris leering down at them from some partially collapsed tower, but they were nowhere to be seen. Something was off. Were they planning something, some kind of secret attack? Without Lustra, Ferona feared for her team of lesser gods’ abilities against Sakassen and Isaris. All she could do now was wait, as the air hung still in anticipation, and hope that soon she could soon return to her forests in peace.

Gadolc and Varyssa huddled behind a chunk of rubble near the battlefield. They had discussed the plan. Varyssa’s newly ordained avatar was well-positioned to enter the fight at just the right moment. Gadolc would enter the battlefield when all hope seemed lost, when Sakassen and Isaris’s forces were poised to overtake Ferona. Varyssa knew the moment would come; despite the unity Ferona had been able to muster amongst the lesser gods, they would be nothing against the pair of them.

At that moment, Varyssa’s avatar would strike him from behind. Gadolc would die, and the gods would be terrified into flight. To showcase how a power of the mortal world could kill one of their own would leave the gods with no choice but to leave the mortal plane behind. That was Varyssa’s hope, anyway.

“This is goodbye then,” said Gadolc, back to his usual monotone. Varyssa had no words left for the old god. She had spent far too long preparing herself for his death, but now that it approached, she could not truly believe it.

“Perhaps my dreams were wrong! Maybe it is true that you cannot die, and the avatar will simply wound you.”

“The avatar is the embodied form of an ethereal being, a god made physical. Limited by the rules that govern the physical world, so less dangerous to humans, true, but with the right intention and the right god commanding them, they will be deadly to the divine being.”

“Have we made a mistake, Gadolc? Creating something that can be used against us?”

“The only way for the gods to protect themselves will be to ascend to the divine realm and leave the mortal world behind. They will have influence over their avatars, and the mortal realm will remain theirs through them. But the era of gods walking amongst men will finally be over. We have caused the imbalance, and it will require us to make a sacrifice to restore order.”

A thunderous roar erupted over the battlefield; Sakassen and Isaris had arrived. In their wake, clouds of billowing black smoke darkened the sky and swirled inward like a vortex. From the center of the spiral came shocks of lightning, a crackling static that twinged across the battlefield causing all of the mortals to feel their hair stand on end. Gadolc grasped Varyssa’s hand. This, they had not planned for.

“What is it, Gadolc?”

“I must go, Varyssa; these fools have opened my gate.” Before she could reply, Gadolc leaped out onto the battlefield.

“Sakassen! Isaris!” His voice boomed, and the ground beneath their feet rumbled. “You must stop this madness. Do not open the gate.” The two gods, initially stunned by Gadolc’s uncharacteristic fervor, leered down at him.

“Well, Gadolc, I think you’re just going to have to close it back up for us. But not until we’ve had a bit of fun!” said Sakassen in his slimy, sing-song tone. The spiraling clouds grew angrier still, the crackle of electricity sparking across the landscape, setting fire to nearby trees and bushes. Below them, Ferona and her gods cowered. She had not prepared for this. Nothing could have prepared her for this. Monsters began to spill from the maw of the gate. Thousands of beasts with many heads and even more limbs, toothed and jagged. These were ancient beings, the kinds of titans not seen in the mortal world since primordial times.

The earth churned as they charged across the battlefield, dirt and rubble and mortals caught beneath them completely obliterated as the very ground turned to hot magma. A wave of heat blasted upwards, sending even Sakassen and Isaris careening behind ruins for cover.

Facing the onslaught alone on the battlefield was Gadolc, his hair flitting in the hot breeze. He looked positively diminutive in the face of the horde. Yet he began to mumble under his breath, his hand outstretched towards the gate from which monsters continued to pour out in multitudes. The swirl of smoke slowed and the crackles of static electricity subsided. But still, the monsters kept coming.

It was at this moment that Varyssa’s plan came to fruition. Her avatar knew only that her job was to kill the ancient god. He was alone and distracted, now was the time to strike.

“No!” Varyssa screamed as she watched in horror from the sidelines; her deepest fears unfolding as her avatar crept upon Gadolc, her blade held in the air. She lunged, plunging the sword directly into his back. Gadolc stuttered, stumbling to one side. He gasped before collapsing, his body hitting the ground with a heavy thud.