Short Story Competition Entries

Magic and Madness

We hear of winners of battles,
And little of the defeated.
Yet the greatest betrayal in
Millennia is different.

I was told by my mother,
Who was told by her own
And many before that,
That thousands of years ago
There was an inseparable due.
The Greek Goddess Hecate is the
Victim of this tale, although her
Powers are known through the land.
Lyssa, the Goddess of Rage and Fury
Is the victor in this battle, but
Remains almost unknown.

The two were close as can be,
And Lyssa could not be more supportive
Of her lover, when she earned
The title, Goddess of Magic.
The unpredictable Lyssa was
Vengeful and ruthless,
And was thought to become the
Goddess of Passion.
She was a powerful entity,
Although untrusted by the almighty.
Could she control
Her anger?
So the almighty waited, hoping
She would prove them wrong.

However, in many cases,
A true evil occurs.
Some find pleasure in testing
Those with power hidden within.
Those like Lyssa, with
Heightened emotions and
Unexplored power.
Those manipulated by beings
who enjoy chaos and betrayal.

One such being took Lyssa aside,
Feeding her lies of the one
She truly cared for.
He used that rage burning inside
Her for his own evil.
"It's for her own good." He would
Whisper, convincing Lyssa
Her lover had turned evil.

One dreadful day, the battle occurred.
The day Lyssa confronted her lover,
Screaming at her to speak the truth.
But Hecate's truth came too late.
Lyssa was too full of fury.
Full of fear and betrayal.
The pair fought, and as all battles
Throughout history have shown,
There could only be
One winner.

As the final blow had been struck,
Lyssa looked into the eyes of her
Beloved.
As Hecate's eyes fluttered shut,
Lyssa realised the truth.
Her passion was used against her
And the one who mattered most to her.
As Hecate's last breath escaped her,
An almighty scream
Ripped through the skies.

It was then that Lyssa won her battle.
A battle fought due to lies and deceit,
A battle which shouldn't have occurred.
A battle which lost her her
Closest companion,
But won her her status,
As those who defeat a Goddess,
Earn the power of those before them.

Hecate is the one known by all,
But Lyssa is known to those as a
Goddess you must never cross.
The Goddess of Rage,
Frenzy and Rabies.
What the world mistakes for evil,
Few know the truth.
Her anger and power,
Once used against her,
Is now used to punish the bad.
To prove that she is
Not to be messed with.
To seek vengeance
For the one
She was forced to kill.

Word Count: 499
Hey guys! This is my entry for the contest by KariRakitan . Whilst this prompt certainly interested me, as do the histories of Gods and Goddesses, yet I am not wholly familiar with them. As well as this, I have neglected writing for a while, and so I am a little rusty. However, I was fascinated by the prompt and so decided to have a go. I hope you all enjoyed reading it.