Great Wyrm Chronicles: Giganton

Chapter 8: The Rebellion

"Construction on the first wall and posts are going well," Ataxia told Exoia, tracing his finger along the map on the table. "We're almost ready to start construction on the second." Despite being allies, Exoia feared Ataxia, whose power was unmatched by any God; however, he was invincible to death, making him a very valuable ally. Exoia sat apparently relaxed on a wooden chair, but he was stressed.

"Wonderful," Exoia said with relief as Ataxia informed him of the good progress. "Once we're done building the first wall, we'll protect it with the Gods and Mortals, until we have the next wall built," Exoia said, stepping closer to the table, watching Ataxia's finger moving along the map.

"Synysia, the nature Goddess, has said the front lines are holding. Not one Monster has made it through the Mortals," Ataxia said, bringing his hand off the map. Exoia's shoulders relaxed at this. Taking and holding any amount of land was very stressful, putting a burden on his shoulders, but knowing that things were going well was reassuring. Synysia was a dryad with bark skin, her hair of mossy leaves that grew out like a tree. She had no legs, instead having roots that delved into the ground.

"Any news on Chaos?" Exoia asked Ataxia, hoping for any information.

"None yet, he's been inactive to the public eye," Ataxia responded.

"He's definitely plotting something. It's not in his nature to sit back and watch everything unfold. He's always dead center in the conflict," Exoia said, more to himself than to Ataxia, tapping his foot on the metallic floor impatiently, thinking of possible things Chaos might be plotting.

"We can only speculate, for no one close enough to Chaos is willing to betray him," Ataxia told Orios as he brought his head back, as if he were laying it on a pillow, looking up at the metal ceiling, which was cluttered with bright headache-inducingly lights.

"Speculate we must. We must plan for any and every scenario Chaos could have in store," Exoia said, relaxing slightly in his chair as he began to brainstorm ideas on what Chaos' evil plan could be.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

It had been a long time since Ah-Tallo had the honor of fighting again. He was cutting through the onslaught of Monsters; oh, how it brought him back to his golden age as the God of Blood, back when Turmaton was still living. Despite Exoia being the king of all Gods, many considered Ah-Tallo to be more powerful, because he controlled the blood in all living things, including the golden ichor of Gods and Gigantons.

Despite many thinking he was stronger, Ah-Tallo was modest; he considered himself weaker than Exoia. In fact, he considered himself the weakest of 'The Reigning Gods', a term granted to the three most powerful Gods, Exoia, Ah-Tallo, and Synysia, who was the Goddess of nature.

Long before the Gods had first rebelled, Turmaton had Ah-Tallo's spot on the list of 'The Reigning Gods'. Being a God of Insects proved to be quite powerful, with him having complete and utter control of every insect in Chaoctin. However, Turmaton had lost his title as a Reigning God, due to his death and to Ah-Tallo's rapid growth in power.

Despite being one of The Reigning Gods to most, Ah-Tallo saw himself as always ready for improvement, and even saw other Gods as more powerful, especially Turmaton. As he was thinking this, he was chopping through the Monsters who were attempting to attack the wall that was being built. He took a dagger out of his poncho pocket. It felt good to be back in his uniform, a blood red poncho and a porcelain mask etched with his signature symbol–a night-black ink line split the mask from the crown to his chin.

Using the dagger, he cut open his wrist. It always hurt when he did this, despite his having withstood much worse. As the golden ichor flowed, it morphed Ah-Tallo's palm into a scythe, with a blade sharper than a needle point. He slashed the scythe, cutting through a hopeless Monster.

The Monster's blood, a neon green, traveled down the scythe and into Ah-Tallo's wounded wrist. As it did, he felt himself heal and grow stronger. The open self-inflicted wound now repaired itself, the flesh bringing itself together in a gruesome and bloody fashion. Then, in no longer than a minute, the wound had completely disappeared, without the hint of a scar.

Whenever Ah-Tallo absorbed blood, he healed all wounds, and if the wounds weren't too severe, he got a temporary strength boost, which helped him gather more blood. He cut through more Monsters with the blood scythe, harvesting more complementary green that traveled down the handle of the scythe.

All was going well, until he saw Chaos approaching in the distance.