Falling to his knees, the Father of the Old Gods, Athair, finally accepts defeat, after a long and tiresome battle. His wife, sons and daughters all kneel next to him as well, each of them beaten by the New Gods. His daughter Adenah, Goddess of War and Fire, had tried to continue fighting, but eventually even she had been beaten down. The nine of them now knelt before the New Gods, awaiting the judgment that they would receive, for the crime of cruelty to their creations, the humans, who they had taken advantage over because of the devotion that the humans had given them. After a few minutes, the New Gods came towards them, and one of them moved to haul Athair to his feet. However, Athair still wanted to keep his pride, even if he was defeated, and so he shook the man's grip off, stood by himself, and stared directly in the face of the New Father of the Gods, Turvallinen, who stared right back at him. He then said in a formal tone," Athair, Father of the Gods, you and your kin have been found guilty of unlawful cruelty of your subjects, the humans, as well as resistance against the truthful rulers of Unsur." However, before he could continue talking, he was interrupted by a shout from Athair, "And who would that be? You had no part in the creation of this world, it was us had made it all. You have no right to rule it at all." Turvallinen suddenly hit Athair across the face, silencing him and almost knocking him to the ground. "The guilty will remain silent. Your actions have not made you worthy of a defence, and you will subject to our will. After reviewing your crimes, my brethren and I have concluded that the punishment will be exile to the realm of Death for all eternity."
The Old Gods sat in complete silence and horror. They had expected to be punished, but not as severely as this, to have to never set foot in the world of the living again, and to never be allowed to see their creations grow. However, this was not the worst of it. That was revealed as Turvallinen carried on talking. "To ensure that neither you nor any people that die in the future can escape death and return to life, we require the creation of a Gatekeeper. We have decided that the most suitable candidate for this role is your God of Death Kifo. Ianmo, if you will do the deed." Turvallinen then turned his back and started to walk away with the other New Gods, except for one, who reached forward to pull Kifo to his feet. As Athair watched his child struggling against the stronger god, he realised that he couldn't let any of his children suffer, so he shouted at Turvallinen's back, "Wait, let me take his place. I can't my let child suffer. Make me the Gatekeeper instead." Turvallinen stopped at these words, and then started walking back to the group, while calling to Ianmo to release Kifo, who fell to the floor in a heap. He then stared directly into Athair's eyes, "We are not unkind. If you wish to sacrifice yourself in the place of your son, then we will let you. Ianmo, the ritual if you please." Then for the second time, he turned and started to walk away with the others gods, leaving Ianmo again. But this time, he didn't turn around, but carried on walking until he was completely out of view.
Athair turned to look at his wife and told her that he was sorry, and then willingly let Ianmo grab his hair and pull his head back. Athair then tried to signal Inamo's attention by holding up his hand, "Wh-What will happen to me once I've become the Gatekeeper," for the first time in his life, fear spread into voice. Ianmo looked down at him, but no emotions were present on his face at all, "You'll forget everything you know about this life. You're physical appearance will be completely changed. And your only aim in life will be to ensure that no dead souls stay like that. Before it begins, I should warn you that the transformation will be painful." Athair tried to nod as best he could with his head held back, but inside the fear was increasing greatly. Ianmo then started to chant in the language of the gods, and a purple light started to creep down his arm. The light then began to gather and formed a small, dancing flame in the palm of his hand. The flame then descended and fell onto Athair's forehead, and as soon as it touched him, pain seared throughout his body, and he let out a scream that would have deafened any mortal. As he writhed in pain Athair could feel his life being erased as he forgot things like his wife's and children's names, his own name, and even who he was and what he was. He also felt his body start to change dramatically. His whole body was increasing in size, but also in strength but he could also feel large wings pushing themselves out of his back. However, the pain then became too unbearable, and his mind then fully shattered, causing him to lose any memories of his life, and to then fall unconscious.
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The Gatekeeper: Book 1- Death Opening
FantasíaAfter centuries of imprisonment in Death, the Old Gods have escaped, and are planning a full scale invasion of Unsur. However, they also managed to capture the Gatekeeper, who ensures that people's souls go into death when they die, so a group of he...
