Firestorm

Chapter 22

'In the fifth of the nine realms, the realm that would ultimately become the mortal realm. In a time, long before man took its first steps. Before the stars burned and the galaxies pirouetted through the universe, there was nothing. In the darkness, a celestial war raged between ethereal beings of light and darkness. The great One Goddess led her armies in a chaotic war against the mighty Greater Demon Kratesh's forces. To claim the realm for her own.

For ions, the war raged between the sides, with neither side relenting. Until the balance was tipped in the favor of the darkness. Kratesh unleashed a maddening sickness to strike the armies of light. In doing so, corrupting their nature and turning them to the darkness. The One Goddess herself was struck with the plague and though she fought to resist, it proved too much for her to bear.

To save her essence and that of her loyal followers from corruption, she split herself in two. The energy given off from this split destroyed corruption itself and cleanse all those afflicted by it. From her essence, two daughters were born. One, born with a heart full of compassion and mercy and the other, with a heart made for battle and conquest. Together, one mustering their forces and the other leading them into battle, the beings of light turned back the tide.

Through the wars, the warrior Goddess with her loyal lower god as her general, dispatched all that opposed them. Working in tandem as though they themselves were one. Soaked with the blood of the lesser demons they slew, the warrior Goddess battled Kratesh, rending his essence from him and banishing all creatures of darkness from the realm. Battle worn; the warrior Goddess returned to the ninth realm. The realm of her mother's birth. Expecting a hero's welcome, she instead bore witness to the coronation of her sister as the Queen of the gods, the leader of the forces of light. The warrior Goddess bit back her resentment. She was a warrior. A leader in times of war. But not in times of peace as was her sister's nature.

The warrior Goddess resigned herself to her role as lesser goddess. She had her general after all. Together they would guard and protect her sister goddess, so she could lead their people to prosperity and peace. Time passed, and unawares to the warrior Goddess, things changed, and love blossomed but not in the way she herself had hoped.

The warrior Goddess was in the seventh realm on a scouting mission when word reached her. It was then, that the remnants of the sickness passed on to her from her mother, began to take root corrupt her inner light. She raced to the celestial shining city that was her sister's kingdom, fueled by a rage greater than any force the nine realms had ever known. As she burst into the throne room, she locked eyes with her sister. Unable to look at her general, perched upon a throne beside her, for fear it would tear her essence apart.

"You!", she screeched at her sister's calm serene expression, the power of her voice quaking the realm itself. "How could you?! After all I've done. All you've taken from me. How could you take the only thing I hold dear?!".

"Dearest sister mine", the Queen of the Gods spoke with detached calmness. "You have served our people well that is true. I would never wish to hurt you. But love is strange and mysterious. An uncontrollable force even to beings such as us. We cannot help whom we love. That includes how he and I feel about each other".

"I have taken him as my consort. It is done and we are bound to one another for all time. Please sister, hold happiness, not hate in your heart for our love", the Queen finished with a pleading, yet pitying expression upon her face.

The warrior Goddess' rage burst forth. The darkness within changing her essence even more. She lunged towards her sister, intending to destroy her, just as she had done so to countless foes in battle. She was intercepted and pinned. She thrashed violently determined to break free. Finally, she looked up, and froze. The hardened angry expression, that showed in the amber eyes that she had once loved so much, wounded her more than any weapon ever could.

"Nathair", she whispered, her pain emanating from her very core. "Please don't do this. Don't leave me alone".

The lower god grimaced. The battle between the loyalty and care he felt for the Warrior and the love and longing her felt for the Queen clear to see within his eyes.

"I'm sorry", he said. "I cannot change who I truly love".

In pain, the Warrior wept. The darkness inside her flared and consumed all remaining light within her essence. Her form twisted and changed become flames. Her soul filled with the desire to consume and destroy, transforming her into a demonic goddess of uncontrollable wildfire. Her now ashen eyes turned to her sister's face, emanating hatred and disgust.

"I will destroy everything you have ever loved or cared for and make you watch. Then, as you beg for death, I will rip your essence apart with my bare hands", the demon goddess said, her voice warped and filled with malice.

The Queen of the Gods sadly shook her head, ashamed that her once strong sister had turned so easily from the light.

"You no longer have a place here. To protect the beings of light from your corruption. I banish you to the lowest realm for eternity. Be gone demon. Slither and rot with the rest of your kind in the darkness you have chosen", with a lift of the Queen's hand the demonic goddess was ripped from the realm of light.

Down she cascaded through the eight lower realms. Coming to rest in the final and lowest realm. As she wept, the flames of her tears fell to the ground as her heart broke, setting ablaze to the Lower Realm creating an unstoppable firestorm. The pitiful lower demons of the realm skittered and cowered away from this dark goddess' power. When no more tears would fall, her pain began to be replaced with hatred and a lust for vengeance. The goddess stood and studied her new home.

'Yes', she thought. 'If this is to be my new home, I will rule it as Queen'.

Swiftly she dispatched the Greater Demons that laid claim to the Lower Realm. Upon a throne of obsidian and bones, she sat and awaited the day she could exact her revenge.'

The vision faded to black. But a few moments later, new images flashed across Flynn's vision. A bone white barren island. A black skull. An icy mountain. A shard. Which glowed as bright as the sun. A jungle of pestilence and decay and lastly, a single fruit, unlike any other in existence. Flynn came back to sense with a gasp. He looked up, meeting Alba's patient and knowing gaze.

"Now you see Dreskat. You know, just how powerful the forces of darkness you face, truly are". "The Skull of Death. The Shard of Light and the Fruit of Life. All these relics you must retrieve in ordered for the Dragon to restore this Lilith. Only she can defeat the darkness lying in wait and save the world of Evrenaill from destruction", Alba said, her worry for Flynn clear to be seen within her eyes.

"I will not fail you grandmother", Flynn replied in Isht. "I promise you that".

"I have faith in you, my son. Time is short and you must go. Ashtú awaits you in the sands beyond the village. He will guide you to the Moon Gate so that you may continue your quest. Good luck my son. May the spirit of the Great Viper protect you in your travels", Alba's said, with sad smile.

Flynn bade Alba farewell and left to find Ashtú. Upon his large viper Ashtú and Flynn travelled through the night across the desert sands. Ashtú was as silent as they went. Hours later, he reached the Moon Gate. Flynn deftly dismounted and stared up at his silent teacher.

"Thank you Ashtú", Flynn said. "For everything. Without you, I never would have been able to do this".

Ashtú, as stoic as ever, gave Flynn one simple, brief nod before turning his sand viper. He turned and headed back into the blackness of the desert with looking back. Flynn strode with a heavy heart to the Moon Gate, he smiled fondly. His glass sword and snake mark would forever be proud reminders of his time with the Ishtí. With one last fleeting glance at the night cloaked desert, he had come to love Flynn strode confidently through the gateway, ready to face whatever challenges awaited him.