The Quest For The Elementals

Part One: The Genesis Of The End

At that time, the World was ruled by gods. Hadir was the supreme god and one of the brothers that ruled the Elementals. His was the Earth and that was the largest portion of the World. The other parts were the Fire, the Water and the Air but it was reported that no one had been seen in the Air perhaps they were invisible to the other gods that ruled in the other elementals or they had gone extinct. Hadir was erased from existence but his body still remained but no one knew where it was. His erasure had many mysteries behind it. Like how did he die? How was the god that created the other gods able to suffer death and where was his body? These questions had been left unanswered for many years probably a millennium and it seemed that his death would not only be the thing that would cause so much confusion.
Polus had many titles. Let me start by saying, he was the King of the gods who ruled with an iron fist. He was the god of strength and he was the personification of Hadir. It was surprising to the gods when he told them that before Hadir ceased to exist, he shared his life and powers with him. That made him a suspect but after all this time had passed, those feelings of suspicion had vanished. Everyone respected him besides no one could go to his face and tell him that he killed Hadir. The death of that god would be next. Hadir had a weapon that he till that the very last day he was alive never knew where it came from. That weapon was so powerful that it could send a god away from the World with a strike and the gods thought that Polus had used it on Hadir but he was much too powerful for that. Since he was the one that found the weapon, he must have found a means to prevent the weapon from affecting him if not he would have been very foolish.
All the gods were in the hall of the castle of the gods. Each and every god had a seat that was made to their taste by the humans. Many gods had been erased ever since Hadir and therefore many seats were empty. Polus made sure that only some gods that had reasonable functions would still have life on the Earth but the gods were sure that that was not the reason as he wiped out many reasonable gods who were Borus, the god of birth and life, Dipanus, the god of time and even the one that was in charge of all the angels whose name was Zarus. This irked many powerful gods. It seemed his decision was to wipe out the ones he could easily defeat in a duel and not the aforementioned one. Three seats were in front of the King and one was empty. The other two were occupied by the god of death, Ugustus and the god of war, Garius. These were the ones that gave Polus tough time when he tested them. Garius was swift and agile but his life was spared because he impressed Polus with a powerful kick that sent him to the ground and he couldn't stand for a very long time. Ugustus was different. Very different. He was supposed to have been the King and not Polus but because he wasn't nearer to Hadir in terms of relationship and wasn't in the highest office before Hadir died, he just couldn't be the King because that would spark conflict between the gods and none of them would ever want that.
He took a deep breath in and looked at all of them. "Venuh betrayed us and I think it is high time, she redeemed herself."
"How can she redeem herself? She lives large in her abode and it seems your attempt to make her suffer just continues to enrich her life. Let us focus on other important things and not Venuh, she has been long forgotten." Ugustus said.
"You are not the King, I am and therefore you have to listen to my opinion before you judge it." Ugustus stood up. Garius held his hand, Ugustus looked at him and he told him to calm down then he sat down back.
Polus who had been giving him a glowering look turned his face to the gathering of the gods and sat erect. "Does anyone here have an opinion on how Venuh can redeem herself from the wretched place she stays?"
The goddess of knowledge, Garetta stood and everyone looked at her, listening with rapt attention. "She can redeem herself only if she helps us with our grand plan."
"That is why you are the goddess of knowledge. I'm so impressed. Ugustus, only if you had been like her I would have shown you a little bit of respect. Tell us, how can she help us?"
"We want to conquer the World, yes? The gods are very few and the humans don't have the strength we need but there is one person that can solve our problem and that is Venuh. She is the goddess of evil, we all know that but before she was called that, she was the goddess of creation. Some gods had said that her creation was outstanding and the monsters, spectacular. I think she is the key to finally achieving our goals. Thank you." She said and sat down.
"That is beautiful. That is outstanding. Oraq was a good god and apparently a good husband, it's too bad that he is not here today to witness his wife give a master class solution to our problem. That is good. That is good. But I'll say that Venuh is stubborn and there is a strong probability that she won't comply. She has always been like that. So arrogant and full of evil. Full of vice. Her character is the worse thing that I've witnessed throughout my life. Even if all humans could die for her sins, her sins would still overflow. So stupid and lazy. Her death would have prompted a glorious celebrations in the heavens but it is too bad that a god helped her and that god will have to pray to Hadir to save him or her if I find out who had betrayed me." He paused and looked down at Ugustus. "I pray it was not you as when we fight, the very foundations of this castle shake to the ground and that kind of destruction is not something to joke about." He looked up at the gods. "So what then shall we do to her if she doesn't comply, who here can give me a very good and beautiful answer?" No god replied. Some of them were looking down, some thinking and some just staring at Polus. He waited and waited for answer but none came then he stood up and shouted. "I said, who here can give me a good answer?" The walls and the ground shook a little. Then Garetta stood up and was shaking in fear as she answered the question. When she finished, Polus sat down back on his throne.
"If she does not comply with your demands, then you'll have to erase her from this World. As far as I have known her, she was never useful for anything so make her be useful now. Make her create monsters perhaps to the size of the great monsters and with them you can have anything you want." She sat down and the fear in her went away gradually.
"I like that. I like that. Just like all the gods were killed because they were not useful. I think I'll adopt your method henceforth. Any god that is a burden of any sort will suffer the pain of not having to continue leaving on the Earth and in the World at large. Does it make sense to you Ugustus? You could be the first one on my mind when I want to execute any god."
"Why did you say that?" He stood up and walked slowly towards Polus. Garius was shouting at him to return but he refused to listen and that was a sure sign that he was angry and when he was, good things never happened. What followed was destruction upon destruction. "Do you know what angers me? Do you want to know what makes me hot, what makes my mind unstable?"
Polus stood and walked down the steps to meet Ugustus as he had reached the beginning of the golden stairs. "What? What makes my subject angry? What makes my servant angry? What makes my pet angry?"
Ugustus didn't say a word. That surprised everyone but especially Polus. He gave him a cool stare and backed him. "Why did you kill all those gods that are supposed to be filling those seats now?"
"They were weak. They were stupid. They were slow. They were inefficient. I believe Hadir made a mistake, giving birth to many gods. Some were useless and I think you are one of them."
Ugustus faced him and gave him a more serious look. "Why did you kill Borus, were you afraid that he would beat you and take his share of the kingdom one day?"
"Come on, I beat him as if he were a human. That god was far too weak. I think it's an irony that he has a meaningful power."
"Alright. You killed Dipanus because you are a coward and you thought he was going to use his power against you one day, am I right?"
"No now shut up. I feel like I'm being interrogated by one of the humans. Sit down now and shut up."
"You killed Zarus, why? You thought that the angels feared and revered him and that one day, he would use that to his advantage, right? My point is, you're weak and your weakness has driven you to the point of even killing your own kind."
"What did you say? Did you just insult me? Did you just say that I am weak? I'm the King of the gods. I'm Polus, Hadir himself and you open your mouth to say that I'm weak?"
"Who made you the King? Who made you Hadir? All those things are blatant lies." He turned back and looked at the gods. "Listen to me! This god right here is a weak god. He carries a false meaning of Kingship. His weakness and cowardice have blinded him so that he cannot see that he tries hard everyday to get us all erased! Listen to me! Let us fight. Let us fight and remove him as he doesn't deserve it. He cannot be the King. He is much too weak and inexperienced to wield that kind of authority." Polus gave him a powerful blow to the head. It seemed that the punch didn't have much effect as he had thought it would have on Ugustus, in no time, he stood up. As he stood, fear gripped him as he knew that he couldn't escape the fight. As far as Ugustus knew, it had begun.
"Have you forgotten that I am the god of all strength. All strength comes from me now that Hadir is dead. I can make you weak and at the same time, make you strong." He said trying to send some fear into Ugustus.
He rubbed the part of his head that Polus had hit and glowered at him. "Why don't you make me weak, aren't you weak? If you are weak, how do you want to me weak?" Curved blades began to grow out of his skin. Two sprung out each from the knuckles of his middle and ring fingers and then from his wrists and then from the middle of each of his lower arms and from the middle of his upper arms and then from his shoulders. His eyes grew redder and some parts around his face became red. He then stretched out his arms and a golden rope began to come out in a snake like manner from his palms. It continued until it was about than twelve feet long. Then at the edge, very long blades grew out of the ropes and all together, they had a star shape but the blades were six. They were so sharp that even a mild contact with the human skin could tear open the veins it had touched but for a god, it could do lesser but very serious damages. Two short blades grew out at the far edge of the six blades and the whole radii was majestic in its own form as it was made of gold. He walked towards Polus and dragged the radii as they sparked when being rubbed with the ground. "Are you ready to join Borus and the rest, let me prepare the things you need for your departure. I really hope I will miss you." He jumped and when he reached the ground, he stretched out the radii and made them land around Polus but he was deft enough to miss all of the blades except one that just injured his arm and visible air began to gush out from it as if it were blood.
"So, you really want to fight?" He stretched out his arms and two long swords came out of his palms. Like the radii, they were all covered in gold. He held them separately and turned the weapons in his hands as he told Ugustus to continue fighting. Ugustus began to swing the radii. They made swishing sounds as they moved very fast in the air. Then he threw them into the air and the six blades became firm so that they landed on the far edges and the ropes began to elevate and elevate and Ugustus caught the handle and was lifted up and remained in the mid air. He began to emit dark substances that were as black as the shadow. Some of the gods who had seen him use that substance to make gods and humans and angels to fade away retreated and the other gods seeing that they were moving back slowly joined them as that was new. Ugustus wasn't known to always use that substance he had named the black shadows. They was so lethal that anyone that who was within a good range would be poisoned by them and that would automatically lead to their death. When he was emitting them, it was as if people perhaps ghosts were flying around him. The black shadows looked as if they had life. Then he made he ropes go down slowly and his gaze was on Polus the entire time until he reached the ground.
"Why did you kill Auforea? Why did you kill her?"
"Because she was weak." There was a hint of fear in his voice and it was detected by some of the gods. "She was the weakest person I have ever known and as the god of strength, it's my duty to eradicate anyone that is weak." Ugustus dropped the weapons and they began to fade away. The black shadows still continued to come out of him and it was increasing in the flow as he approached Polus. Polus grunted and jumped and almost landed on Ugustus, attempting to cut him with his swords but he missed and before he could look up at him, Ugustus gave him a mighty slap that sent him flying to one corner of the hall. He picked up his swords and before the very eyes of Polus, they began to vanish. His weapons were not like Ugustus's, now that they were vanishing, they were for good. Polus stood and anger began to flow like water inside of him and it was flowing in torrents. He groaned as he ran towards Ugustus. He slid, bent and swept him off his feet. He jumped on Ugustus and began to pummel his head. "You have really angered me." He gave him another punch and as he did, the ground where Ugustus's head was cracked. He continued giving him series of punches and then Garius threw a sword to him. Ugustus was weak but not injured at all. After seeing it, he stood and walked to the sword and grabbed it and hesitated then he jumped and groaned and landed on Ugustus but the sword was caught in Ugustus's hands. Polus with all his efforts tried pushing the sword into his eyes but it seemed that his efforts were in vain. The more he tried, the more Ugustus appeared to get stronger. As he was trying, Ugustus began to get up and up until he was on his feet and then the two of them stood facing each other.
"Do you know why I let you beat me?" Polus was scared. He tried hard to not let it show but the gods knew that he would be scared because Ugustus had never shown that kind of strength or power and resilience before. Usually their fights ended up with no winner but this one, this one was different. That one was far too different. Ugustus didn't look like a god anymore. Even his powers could not be compared to Hadir's or any of the supreme gods of the elementals. Like that, he could even go ahead and conquer the World on his own. The gods were panicking. They just stayed there thinking of how they could help Polus but going near Ugustus was plainly suicidal then a god just had an idea and he didn't think twice before executing it, he held the spear firmly in his hand, looked at it then at Ugustus and at it again and threw it at him. The spear hit his leg but it fell and began to fade. Ugustus gave him a long and terrible stare and then shifted his focus back to Polus. "I am more powerful than you and all the gods. I am the god of death, how did you expect me to die?" As the edge of the sword was facing him, it began to fade away and like that, in no time there was nothing in Polus's hand anymore. He then slowly began to fade. He fell on Ugustus and begged him to stop emitting the black shadows as they became very painful and it made him weak and he didn't like to be like that. His eyes that were green began to dull in colour. They became brownish and looked so disgusting as the tear like substance that came from his eyes were of that colour. Slowly, as he was begging parts of him began to vanish. His body parts began to open and the air proceeded and all the gods were sad as they couldn't see Polus again. The black shadows consumed everything. The crown, his clothes, his entire body. Ugustus then looked at the ground that Polus was standing on and something just crossed his mind. He turned his head to the god that had stupidly tried to weaken him with a spear. The other gods cleared the way as they didn't want to end up like Polus. Ugustus walked very fast towards the god and as the god shrinking, he fell and Ugustus met up with him. Ugustus grabbed his neck and started strangling him as he lifted him. The back of the god was being rubbed against the wall as he dragged him upwards then Ugustus stopped strangling him and then pressed his throat and no matter how the god groaned and struggled, he couldn't set himself free and it didn't take long for his struggles to end. He faded just like that and Ugustus looked down and back. Something caught his eyes. Something very serious. He turned his face in the direction to have a better look at it. It was the crown that Polus was wearing. It had vanished but somehow it had returned. He stopped emitting the black shadows and walked over to the crown. He stooped, watched and took it and observed it. It was shining brighter and newer. He was surprised. He raised it and slowly lowered it onto his head. When it was so near to his head, it gummed. He tried to remove it but it was stuck. It was as if that crown was now a part of him. He lowered his hands and looked at everyone as the black shadows were almost cleared out. He looked glorious. It felt like he was supposed to have been the King all this while not Polus. He turned and looked at the throne and smiled. He went to it and gazed on the patterns engraved on it. Then all the gods bowed to him as he sat down. He felt elated. What he had lusted for for so long was finally his. Garius came to the beginning of the stairs and knelt down on one knee.
"My King, is there anything you wish for so that we don't die?"
Ugustus's eyes were much brighter. They were so red and they gave them the jitters. He looked at all the gods. Knowing that they were at his disposal made him feel big. "In order that I don't kill all of you, you especially have to do something for me."
"My King, I'll do anything to protect the King. I'll do anything that he wishes. I'll be his servant."
"The one thing that I'll never need is your protection. If I wanted to kill you now, you would have already been extinct but I have decided to spare all of your lives. I'll spare your lives and don't make me regret that decision."
"Thank you, my King." Garius said and all the other gods praised him and he felt very superior.
"I want to do what Polus could never do. I want to do the thing that that weak god could never attempt to do and win while he was here. I want to conquer the World. I want the World to bow at my feet and I'll be the King of all the gods. Maybe I'll stop being just a god, perhaps I'll be the God. Perhaps, I'll be the God of the gods and I can already imagine that already happening. Prepare the humans, we'll wage a war soon. Prepare the angels, prepare everyone, Harah will be hearing from us soon." Garius nodded and stood and left the hall. All the gods followed him and he smiled as he looked at the empty hall. "The entire World is mine. It's mine. It's completely mine." He began to guffaw and guffaw and the walls and ground began to shake.