Frostbite

The Myth of Creation

When the world was born, everything was coated in deep frost. There were no plants or animals, only a sun in the sky that offered no warmth or comfort. It was a barren tundra of ice and snow.

One day, when the planet was colder than ever before, a God emerged from that icy prison of a womb. This God became the sole resident of the planet that had birthed him.

He spent his endless days wandering the barren and empty land.

As the years wore on, the sun became bigger and bigger. At the peak of this growth, a new God was born.

The God of flames.

At first, neither of the Gods could meet. The clouds were too thick to see through, a constant snowstorm present that had been raging on since the day of the frost God's birth.

The birth of the flame God, however, caused the planet to start warming up. His presence alone began melting the snow within the clouds, replacing that frozen flurry with the very first delicate drops of rain.

The snow on the surface began to melt under this wet barrage, revealing grass and foliage as far as the eye could see.

These changes greatly confused the God of frost. He was born from the snow, and he couldn't grasp why it was suddenly disappearing.

That was when the two Gods finally met.

They were cautious, of course. Every creature is. The flame God was confined to the sky where he was born while the frost God was confined to the ground where he emerged.

They stared at one another, the God of flames hovering upside-down in front of the frost God.

"Who are you?"

The frost God did not answer.

How could he? He had been alone for millenia, and now a new God had just revealed himself.

Because of this, the frost God experienced his first emotion.

Curiosity.

Curiosity, unfortunately, is often a dangerous thing.

The frost God stretched his hand to the sky in offering, palm open and awaiting the flame God's response.

Amber hues reflected the frost God's reckless curiosity. A bronze hand reached for pale fingers in turn.

It couldn't have been longer than a moment. Their skin faintly touched, divine flesh barely grazing against divine flesh as fingers entwined, before the frost God yanked his arm away as a pained scream was ripped from his throat.

It felt as though he had grabbed the sun itself. The searing pain, the unbearable warmth eating its way up his forearm, was the punishment for his hubris.

The frost God could do nothing as his hand melted into a puddle of scarlet blood. The painful spectacle only ceased a few inches past his elbow.

Although the flame God hadn't meant to, he managed to harm another divine. Destroying the frost God's arm had been even easier than breathing.

The older God seemed to be as fragile as frost, small bits of jagged ice falling down his cheeks as he stared at his injured bicep.

Even his tears reflected the nature of his existence.

The flame God tried to apologize, but the frost God was in the midst of experiencing his second ever emotion.

Fear.

The older God slowly backed up. His eyes, pale as the snow itself, were filled with pain and anger.

He scrambled away from the God of flames before disappearing beyond the horizon.

From the place where the frost God's divine blood soaked into the grass, a plant sprouted.

The flame God watched over this flowering bud, thoroughly in love with the brightly colored petals, and the seeds of this precious flower birthed the first humans.

The flame God cared for them from his place in the sky. They gave him company in a world devoid of life, and he gave them a purpose in return.

The humans named him Bises, God of all.

These beloved mortals never learned that the frost God even existed. Bises saw no reason to tell them.

He wanted all of their worship to himself.

Bises took a human woman as his wife, and together they created the first Demi-Gods.

Of their many children, the four prophets were the most powerful.

The prophets were genderless beings who shared tales of the distant future with their fellow divine family and what few mortals were destined for greatness. Their names were Allos, Ovgen, Itais, and Cylin.

The prophets warned Bises of a calamity, one that would destroy all he had cultivated.

"The God of frost cannot fall in love. Tragedy has made itself his mistress, and his responding wrath will re-freeze this world."

Bises did not care to heed this warning. He'd driven that God away once, he could easily do it again.

If the frost God did not stay wherever he had off run to, Bises would finish what he had started all those years ago.

He'd melt the rest of that cowardly God just as the sun melts the snow.