Of Gods & Champions: Book I: Fate

Prologue

THE WIND WHISTLED LOUD AND SHRILL AS IT WHIPPED THE SAVAGE FALLING snow sharply across the white-covered land.

Humans and animals alike huddled for warmth, their thick furs holding in body heat and keeping them as toasty as possible.

It was no weather for anyone to be out, yet a dark shadow flashed in the night as a lone figure dashed towards a cave in the side of the snow blasted mountain.

The shadow slithered into a crack, and seeped into the stone built room, and materialized in the form of a tall man, hair wild, beard bushy, and eyebrows standing out. A firm grimace was on his face, as he approached the person at the roaring fire that had been built, and warmed his hands.

"Some nerve you have, calling me out on a night like this," he muttered in a unfriendly way, reaching out his frozen fingers.

The coiled figure next to fire ignored the malice in his voice, and instead quickly stood.

"Now is the time, is it not? To rise up against our brother Wild, and bring about destruction!" the raspy, sickening voice proclaimed.

The other God looked skeptical, brushing his hair from his eyes. "Even if it is time, Fate, where would we find a champion able enough to take down the Wild? All of my followers, dear as they are, are complete numbskulls! They'd bungle everything."

Fate quickly took the shape of an old Crone, who waved her hand toward him. "You don't honestly think I would go into this without a plan, do you?"

Fate began to pace. "No, my Brother, we must plan every second... calculate every single move. The Wild is too strong for us to take down without a champion."

"And even if we find one, the Wild will never fall unless he's outmatched," the other God objected loudly.

"Very clever. I, in my infinite wisdom, already realized this. Which is why I have called you here, to present to you my plan for finding a perfect champion."

The God rose from the fire, turning to face Fate fully. "One of Wild's obscene animal followers? Shall we steal one away?"

Fate grinned craftily. "I think quite another species will do quite nicely."

"Surely you aren't referring to-" he gasped. "You are! You want me to take a human as a champion? You know they're all devotees of Order's."

"Shh!" Fate hissed, shifting into a cold wind that blew out the fire in a flash.

As the God shivered, Fate's voice dripped out of thin air and into his ears.

"You silly God! I don't intend for you to have a human champion!"

He grumbled as he scrambled to get close to the fast-cooling hot coals. "Then whom do you intend it for?"

Fate's voice boomed, "For myself! For the first time in the millennia I've existed, I will take a champion! And when I do, Wild will fall, and Chaos shall reign!"