Shadows of the Future

Plans of Gods

Disclaimer: I do not own any art involved in this story unless it was directly commissioned for it, all other art belongs to their respective artists.

Hurokna Forteess: Present Time

  Aleks was sitting across from Urlock as they were on their second round of the game, many of the wolves and his own men were watching. Primarily because of how well Aleks was doing as a beginner, the game had rules similar to chess but was slightly different and more aggressive. Which definitely suit Aleks style, as the man already had a small pile of silver coins sitting next to his bag of riches. One rule about the game that Aleks liked was that when money or riches of any kind was on the line, no drinking of wine or anything else was allowed. Primarily because of how easily such games could turn into a blood bath, as losing money over such a game could easily take away from someone's own pack and pups. Moving one of the pieces, Urlock sat silently and waited for Aleks to make his move. He hoped that he would be able to win some of his earnings back, but he was quickly learning that Aleks could be a fairly decent tactician when he wanted to be. Which was proven once more as Aleks moved a piece, leaving Urlock to groan in frustration to himself as he handed over two more silver pieces.

  "I believe that will be enough, Urlock. This is the second round and I have nearly twenty silver coins on my side of the table, I think that's enough." Aleks remarks, taking half of the twenty silver coins and pushing them back over to Urlock.

  "Beginners luck." Urlock grumbles as he takes back the silver that he lost to Aleks, fortunately he wasn't prideful enough to try and win it back or fight for it.
  "Yulestara knows I need all the coin I can get." His response makes Aleks chuckle, as the human vividly remembered meeting the goddess.

  "I never believed in such things until coming to this world, it is insane to believe they're real." Urlock raises a brow at Aleks, wondering what he could mean by that statement.

  "You never believed in the divine? In gods and such?" A chuckle escapes Aleks at his words, but he knows it's not in mocking or malice manner.

"No, I did not. To speak plainly, I actually abhorred the idea of such things being real." The man says, noticing a lot of the wolves leaning back at his words or listening intently. Taking a cigarette from his case and lighting it, he'd breath out the smoke before continuing.
"Because how dare any divine creature think they are the judge of us, those creature's detached from any form of reality." Many of the wolves talk amongst themselves at his words, Urlock raises a brow at him.

"The gods have their powers for a reason, because leaving such powers to us mortals could prove very dangerous. Even you must admit that, Aleks, you're a walking example of that." Aleks sighs at his words, running his free hand over his face.

"So much power, yet they did nothing to stop me. They did nothing to stop me from nearly starting a war, and they will think they have the right to judge me for doing what I thought was just. I am lucky that they gave me another chance, even when I don't deserve it." A heavy sigh leaves him, along with the smoke from his cigarette. Stubbing out the cigarette, he would remain silent as he thought to himself for a moment.
"The gods of this world truly are real, and it is a struggle in itself to understand their motives." Urlock nods his head at his friends words, understanding that Aleks cannot comprehend that such things as the gods really exist.

"Being mortals, it is not for us to understand the gods or predict what they will do. All we can do is hope that their actions favor us, and that our praises and sacrifices will bear fruit." Nodding at his words, Aleks thinks to himself for a moment before slowly getting up from the table. Urlock doesn't stop him or say anything, allowing the human to step away.