A KINGDOM OF DEAD HEARTS [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 11: THE GODS' VENDETTA

The enchanted well of elegarii, into which the waterfall tumbled down with all its creatures of creativity and imagination, was located in a sacred forest in Halgard. A forest where for thousands of years all trees always grew in circle, from the largest circle about a kilometer in diameter, all the way in, to the smallest circle about five meter in diameter, and in the middle was the well of elegarii.

Specially-trained guards were on patrol at all times around the outermost perimeter of the forest to ensure noone could get in without permission.

Elegarii, the river of inspiration, as well as the well of elegarii became a treasure of Halgard.

But what happened to Ares?

Ares was punished, but with his charm to his mother Hera, he got the queen of Olympus to speak in his defense in front of Zeus.

Hera was persistent for a long time before finally Zeus relented.

Ares was freed from his punishment in a solitary jail under a mountain, and the god of war was darker, angrier, and hellbent on a revenge against the descendants of Metiocles – the one who had tricked him, humiliated him, and caused him to be captured and punished by Zeus.

Halgard and Apollo became the focus of his hatred.

The god of war planned his revenge carefully, he did not want to be on a direct collision course with Zeus to save himself from the humiliation that came with such encounter.

He had to use another means to bring Halgard down. Taking control of Halgard also meant taking elegarii, and taking elegarii meant he could slap Apollo real hard on the face, embarrassing him in front of all the gods in Olympus.

Ares decided that he had to use Myrana.

Kingdom of Myrana was the archnemesis of Halgard. Myrana kings and queens had tried to capture Halgard, to lay claim on the rich fertile lands and the profitable sea trading route that were part of Halgard, and of course, to capture elegarii. Wars had been waged between the two kingdoms for centuries.

Thus Ares secretly wooed beautiful Queen Leidra of Myrana, the sorceress-queen of the kingdom who practiced dark magic and known for her brutality and treacherous schemes.

The queen saw that the god of war was a much needed source of support, and agreed to be Ares' mistress.

The fact that the well of elegarii – with permission from the ruler of Halgard - could serve as a sort of a tunnel to send human from Halgard universe to other universes was what made it even more precious, even more important for Ares and Leidra.

This was something that Ares and Leidra had planned to do: To conquer Halgard, install Leidra as the queen in Halgard, and take possession of the sword of Zeus. Then the queen, as the ruler of Halgard, would give permission to their soldiers to jump into the well by stabbing the sacred sword into the elegarii, thus sending their brutal evil warriors down the well, spreading war and destruction in all universes, times and places, and dealing one, final, brutal blow to Zeus' pride.

For Ares specially, the throne of Olympus might even be his as the ultimate prize if Zeus was weakened enough and enough gods could be won to be on his side. Those petty, shallow, bickering gods whose loyalty was only to power, and self-preservation. Those gods that would for sure kneel before him if he could gain access to elegarii and embarrass Zeus for all eternity.

And he would take his revenge against Apollo by making him watch his river of inspiration became the river of death, the river where nothing swam in there. In Ares' plan, elegarii would become a symbol of death and nothingness, of creativity stuck and inspiration destroyed. All as an homage to his dominion as the god of war.