The Tales of Mara Prosperine: A Short Story

PART FOUR

PART FOUR: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD

The people of this Kingdom do believe that gods existed, they still do. There was the Sun God, the Water Goddess, the Fire God, the God of War, the Goddess of Death and many more, they do not walk among mortals—at some point in their history the gods have but now, the gods have completely subtracted themselves from the mortal realm. All those gods are praised and worshiped to this day and age, they were great deities who grants gifts and prayers to men, all of them but one— this god is feared by every mortal on earth, kings and soldiers cower at the mention of his name. He is not regarded as an equal to the other gods, no— the Blood God is regarded as a force to be reckoned with. He is an unstoppable storm, capable of wiping life from existence.

Legend has it that the Blood God is a vicious being, hungry for blood and chaos. He shows no mercy nor hesitation. He could not be killed. With all the armies in the mortal world combined, still they would not have a chance at defeating the Blood God.

It took all the gods every ounce of teamwork to put the Blood God to sleep. He was unkillable, but they were able to put him to sleep. And now, he has awakened, once again. To wreak havoc and advocate war among the people of the realm— most of all, he is hungry for blood.

"I heard news from the other Kingdoms" Alastair said breathlessly, he was running to his friends who are at the cottage "The Red Army is on the move, apparently the Blood God has awakened" he continued, fear was evident on his face as those words escaped his mouth

"You're bluffing Alastair" Keahi said

"Why would I lie about such thing" Fear arose from Alastair's face, and the rest of the group were convinced he was telling the truth

"In that case, we must inform my father. To the castle!" With Keahi's words they journeyed to the castle. They ran like their lives depended on it.

They went straight for the King's study, undermining all the warning given by the royal guard.

"Father! The Red Army is on the move" Keahi said once the door burst open— it revealed the King with his wise advisers and the other generals

"I've heard" the King said, "Now will you please close the door behind you" he added, and Keahi obeyed

"The Western Kingdoms sent me an owl saying that they have been breached by the Red Army" the King began, "They also said that the Blood God's chambers were empty" Fear was the only thing seen from the King's face

Mara had heard about the legends of the Blood God, but she had no idea that his name brought so much fear to mortals.

"Kingdoms across the realm are declaring war against each other and the Red Army is already on the move, we must construct a battle tactic if we wish to survive this war" One of the generals said, all off the people within the room nodded in agreement, "General Colin, we need you to fabricate a plan for us" all eyes were on Colin now, all he could do was agree— but then again he is the best at planning battle tactics, just like his mother.

"Keahi, you help the General" Instructed the King, Keahi obeyed, "Alastair, you tell the scholars that the King demands all the information you have about the Blood God, at once" with that, Alastair made his way to the academy to inform the scholars. "And for the rest of you, follow the young General's lead" he added

"In that case your majesty, we must draft soldiers for the coming war. Everybody in the kingdom who is of age and can fight, we will train them. We will make them soldiers fit to lead this kingdom to victory" Colin began

"Whatever you need young General, make your mother proud" The King replied

And so they began, everyone in the kingdom who was able to fight was drafted for the war. The other generals would help with training them, as well as Mara and Azalea. Mara would teach them swordsmanship and Azalea would teach them archery.