Legacy of the Divine and the Demonic: A Tale of Love and War.

1. In the Shadow of Devastation

Gritting my teeth, I murmured, 'just a little more'. I heaved the well bucket up. 'Almost there'.  I finally placed it on the ground with a sense of triumph. 'Now papa can have a drink! All that is left, is firewood.'

I clutched the bucket tightly with both my hands and navigated through the remains of the village. I heard faint whispers lingering in the air. Among them, was a soldier's, "Why us, dear God? What have we done to be stuck babysitting them? It's all their fault!" She stooped, picking something up from the rubble, her arm moving in a half-moon-arc. Without warning, a searing pain erupted on the side of my head, catching me completely off guard. I staggered, the bucket slipping from my grasp, its murky green-brown contents spilling across the cracked ground. With one eye turning reddish, I managed to save a bit. I strained a smile toward the soldier and continued to walk.

The soldiers weren't here a year ago. It all started with a few injured soldiers arriving at our village. They told us they were attacked by the Demons. The villagers welcomed them, despite the extra mouths we had to feed. Little did we know that these soldiers would come back later with more of them. They demanded more, seized our lands, ravaged our olive groves and slaughtered our kind. 

When we dared to stand against their tyranny, the kingdom branded us as rebels. Their army came, penning us within a confined camp. A place where entry was allowed, but escape was forbidden.

My gaze drifted upwards, not focussed on the flag - a blue star in the middle and two blue stripes - but on the sky. The sky was serene and blue before our land was israeled. Now it glowed with an unsettling hue. I might have been young now, but I could sense in the air that something big was to happen. I had to get my father healthier. We needed to escape this place.

"Goddess... Demi-god" An old-man's muttering caught my attention, drawing nearer to me.

"What did you say?" I blurted out. He clutched his weather cane with determined strength as if warding off unseen dangers. His dark eyes fixed on mine, seeming to flicker with a peculiar gleam.

"Our Goddess!" his low voice sliced through the atmosphere.

"Goddess?!" I said in confusion. About whom is he talking? "No, not that, sir Saadi. What you had said after it."

"Our Goddess will free us from the curse her father unleashed," he murmured, as he reached out to stroke my hair. Attempting to retreat, I accidentally knocked the bucket over and found myself caught in his surprisingly strong grip. 'Great... Now my father has nothing to drink' 

"She'll have hair as radiant as yours, blazing like a fiery ember." Despite his warm, toothless smile, a sense of uneasy crept over me.

I glanced around, hoping no one had overheard our conversation, only to be met by the haunting laughter of a woman—the soldier from before. Her scornful tone pierced the air, heavy with contempt. "Why should any god care for you? You're the evil that must be eradicated."

Behind her, a few more soldiers were attracted by the sound. They began to laugh. "Ariel, let's kill him," someone shouted. "and her," he looked at me. "Let's do her!" He licked his lips., "It is a long time ago when I had someone this young". 

'Is that your type, Levi?' - Ariel said mockingly. The crowd began to laugh.

Saadi moved between the crowd and me. I looked at him, silently pleading for a resolution that wouldn't lead to violence. We couldn't afford another confrontation; our men had been systematically eliminated so that we could never revolt.

"You are right," he began, his voice steady and filled with conviction. "The Gods did abandon us, but this God is special. She is not just any god. She belongs to all three tribes... HOWEVER..." The crowd fell into stunned silence,