Short Stories

Nature's Demise

       Flames were dancing around her like a ritual once performed in her honor, though now they seemed to be more of a taunt. The humans were mocking her, flaunting their victory in this terrible war. The leaves crackled and popped, blinding her with smoke and sending her back to the beginning of this wretched affair.
       She once had a name. In fact, she had many over the years. The Greeks knew her as Artemis, Romans called her Diana, and the Slavic people named her Devana. No matter the name, she was always wild and free, running beneath the stars and uniting with nature, and while she was once worshipped for that power, the humans came to resent her for the very traits they had once admired.
       It had started with the dragons. They used to fly freely, and she would soar with them. Then the humans became jealous of their wings, and began to hunt them down, stealing the dragons' freedom and livelihood. After many years of this cruel hunting, the dragons were no more, and she could no longer fly for fear of being shot down.
       Once the dragons had been decimated, the humans turned on one another. War and strife was a universal constant, and death was more common than birth. She had made the mistake of befriending one of the humans in this era, a young girl. As the girl aged, she was prepared for the inevitable time when she would be forced into the war. When that time came, she was sent away to the battlefield with the parting phrase of "Don't die." The girl had never returned from that or any battle.
       The final nail in the deity's coffin was her attempt to fix this world. She had finally revealed herself to the humans in a last-ditch effort to save humanity from its demise, but was met with incredulity and disbelief. After all, who would believe in nature or a higher power in this time? That's how she ended up where she was now.
      She was taken in by the government. She had tried to spread peace and love, had revealed her secret to cries of disbelief, and apparently these acts could be considered treason. Her sentence was harsh. In a manner reminiscent of the Salem Witch Trials, she was to be burned at the stake. It was considered fitting after her 'absurd' claims of being a deity, and after being weakened to such a degree by the destruction caused by humanity, she couldn't save herself. As a last flicker of flames obstructed her vision, she looked sadly over the ruins of the world, she hoped the next one would follow a better path. Darkness welcomed her with open arms, leading her to that next world.