Rekindle The Light

Chapter 8: An Ancient War

Nagano had never seen Rhox so serious. Something much darker replaced his typical demeanor. He debated not admitting what he saw, but at this point, Nagano had nothing to lose by telling Rhox.

"To be honest, I'm not sure myself. However, something contacted me. It was pitch black, so I couldn't make out much, but I'm sure it had black scales and wings."

"Tsk." Rhox scowled as he leaned back in his chair. "That damn lizard..." he muttered.

"Lizard?" Nagano asked tentatively. Rhox was furious, and Nagano didn't want to make anything worse. Rhox looked up at Nagano, seemingly debating how much to reveal. Eventually, he continued.

"Based on your descriptions and seeing how my connection was cut from you when you encountered that thing, it seems you encountered Vulkher, The God of Darkness."

"God of Darkness?"

"Yes," Rhox affirmed. "I'm sure you can tell creating and running an entire world is nearly impossible. I didn't tell you before, but you should know this now. I am not the only god of Forseti. There are four of us, to be exact." Rhox rubbed his temples as if soothing a headache. "You see, I had been suspecting Vulkher had been doing something strange, but it seems worse than I expected..."

Nagano realized something. "Didn't you say Gods could not interfere with the world when I met you?"

Rhox nodded. "We're not supposed to. It's a rule we all agreed on, some more reluctantly than others."

"You mean it wasn't always like that?"

"Long ago, yes."

"Why did you all change it?" Nagano asked. Rhox grimaced at the question. It was clearly not something he was proud of.

"The Great War. It changed everything about Forseti, and we gods were responsible for it..."

____________________________________________________________

At the dawn of time, four gods existed: Rhox, The god of Earth; Iva, The Goddess of The Sea; Solaria, The Goddess of Light; and Vulkher, The God of Darkness.

Each god managed different sections of the world. Rhox was in charge of the earth, agriculture, and technology. Iva was in charge of trade and commerce, the weather, and the sea. Solaria was in charge of life, magic, and light. Vulkher was in charge of darkness, misfortune, and death.

Each god was necessary for the world to run. They would keep each other in check and live in harmony, or that's what most of them assumed.

It was a time when the gods lived among the ones they had created. As different races and creatures developed, each god was worshiped and praised–all but one.

Vulkher.

The people did not understand that the other gods' gifts would be nightmares without Vulkher. His darkness kept Solaria's light under control. His death kept Rhox's ecosystems adapting and thriving. His misfortunes kept Iva's economy in check. Though he was a necessary evil, the people did not get it.

However, the other Gods understood and appreciated his work. They attempted to console Vulkher, but it was not enough. Without the other gods knowing his true intent, he began developing new races: The elves and the beastmen. They looked up to him and worshiped him, but it was not long before he used them for his benefit. He deceived them, and soon enough, war broke out.

Two clear sides formed: the elves and beastmen with Vulkher and those with the other gods. Many races existed, but the other gods used humans and dwarves as their fighting force.