Lost Gods

The Death Of Hope

Deep in the forest, where men dare not venture, is a city. A city of peace, a city without crime, or greed or hunger. A perfect utopia. This is the home of the gods, untouched by the evil of man. The creation of the gods they cannot look upon anymore, a creature corrupted by the darkness within his own heart. The monster they created in their own image, with the traits that are most powerful in each of themselves, a monster they cannot bring themselves to destroy. They looked upon man's actions and shook their heads in disgust. Man had forgotten the gods they once worshiped, so the gods made themselves disappear. They went to a part of the forest no creature tainted by man's darkness could not enter and have stayed there since. The City of The Lost Gods.

I shake myself out of my childish reminiscing. Its an old story, a fairy tale parents tell their kids, nothing more.So why does it keep coming into my mind. Now is hardly the time to be distracted. The world is at war, and nowhere is safe in this godless hell. Then, as I walk along the path, I see a woman bleeding out, near death. I run up to her as she collapses. I bring her to the place I've been hiding out these last few months. I take a look at the wound in her chest and grimace. She probably won't make it, but I have to try. As I apply pressure to stop the bleeding, the woman wakes.

"Who are you? What are you doing to me?" she asks

"Sshhh! I'm helping you, now be quiet! Do you want whoever did this to you to find us?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"In this world, everybody needs all the help they can get, no matter who they are. People are too involved in themselves to see that they're destroying everything. If they could stop hating each other, things would be so much better. I'm Maliah, by the way."

"Maliah? Well Maliah, you cannot help me, and your kind is responsible for my death, and the death of my comrades."

"What? Mankind? Who are you?"

"I am Isabel," she says while struggling to breathe

"Cool, like the goddess"

"You know of me?"

"Yes, but I can't remember what she's the goddess of- wait you said I knew of you..."

"Yes, I am the goddess of peace. Without me your people will fight, maim, and kill each other until there's nobody left. You must take my place among the others. They may not have faith in your kind, but I do."

"Why me? You just met me, I could be a psychopath for all you know."

"Because you can see the truth about the world, but you don't despair, you carry on and try make it better when you can."

"Isn't that what's supposed to happen? Most people are just too selfish and lazy to do it. They just ignore the problem and hope somebody else will fix it."

"Maliah, I don't have much time. Take this amulet and put it on; it will protect you. Then, go west, to the desert, this amulet and the stars will show you the way."

"What? I-I can't!"

"Go Maliah... Don't... let... hope die..." she coughs out before releasing a final,shuddering breath and falling limp. Then, right before my eyes, her body crumbles and turns into a glittering dust that catches the breeze and goes into the sky. It swirls higher and higher,until I can no longer see it. Then, I saw something I'd never seen before. White, glowing things in the night sky. Stars, I think they're called. You used to be able to see them every night before the fourth world war. Back before the New Colchans set the world ablaze.

So, this is what Mom and Dad talked about. No wonder Grandmother and Grandfather loved the stars so much, they're beautiful.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I have no idea where I'm going, what my destination looks like, or what awaits me when I finally get there.