"huh... who am I? ...Nobody"
-the wanderer
After losing the villagers in the woods we finally took a breath, I looked at Hera and the lance she held in her hands. I sighed and asked
"Do you need that?" she looked at me
"Yes, we do... it's important..." She replied she adjusted her back to look more confident.
"hmm...fine," I responded, not wanting to make another argument. I look around, nothing but forest all around.
I looked up at the sky, the sun was about to set. I think we need to set up camp soon.
"We need to find, the direction of the capital," Rose spoke.
"I'll fly" Hera responded, She did so and took a minute before descending.
"If we walk that way we should be able to make it to the path" Hera explained, she handed me the lance.
"Here, My weapons are bound to my soul so I can't properly store them, I know you have it so could do it please?" she asked.
"Yeah, uh sure..." I said a bit surprised, I haven't gotten completely used to her sudden niceness. I grabbed the lance carefully, scanned it, and then stored it inside my pocket dimension.
We then headed toward the direction Hera pointed to.
After a couple of minutes, we reached the road, the two suns already went down, and the faint sunlight touches the 6mountaintop for a few moments before disappearing. The forest was dark and the night has finally come, I grabbed tried to grab some firewood but Rose stopped me, grabbing my shoulder
"Nah, we should try to get as much distance as possible now," she told me.
I sighed "alright then" I pulled out another light bulb.
Tron looked a bit confused "I thought you traded it?" he asked
"Nah, I gave him the spare.", I grabbed and switched the lightbulb settings to torch. The path in front of us was now illuminated with light.
We walked for a few minutes in quietness only hearing the small insects chirp and make noises around us.
"Hey Hera can you tell us about the Gods, you know about them more than any of us," Rose asked curiously
"oh? Well, I suppose a great angel like me shall tell you then" she smiled.
"During the beginning, there was nothing, and before nothing existed sentients. It was Dark too dark for one certain being, She made light and it shone the darkness away. This Darkness was taken aback by this sudden appearance of light. These Gods were known as Ophelia the goddess of light and life and Baros the God of darkness and destiny.
These two were the first, Ophelia wanted to create life while Baros wanted to sleep, this light bothered him more than most.
Ophelia created beings to help her with this, Other gods.
The God of space Astros, he created the cosmos and the stars.
The two gods later fell in love, they later made the twin gods of the suns, Sol and Solana. The more light bothered the sleeping Baros, In an irritation he made changed the fates slightly, their next child will be someone who won't be bright as their two siblings. This was the birth of Luna the moon goddess. Ophelia and Astros were somewhat shocked that their child didn't turn out to be what they wanted, this led to them isolating her in the moon. This led to both of them being estranged, Ophelia no longer feeling the same love for Astros and Astros for his disappointment in his new daughter.
Baros was taken aback by their reaction so he decided to be a father figure to his niece, her light wasn't as bright as her two siblings but it was beautiful and comforting which pleased Baros.
The goddess wasn't satisfied with making that much and created the earth. This led to her creating the Goddess of nature Verdantia who created trees, grass, and a luscious green kingdom for those who can call it home. She wanted more, She created the Goddess of the skies Celestia, and the Water God Marinus. This led to Oceans and lakes while The Celestia created the atmosphere and the clouds. She creates the God of love Amoreus, so her creations can find happiness in their lives.
The Goddess created life-like orcs and elves, but not to make things so stagnant they made the Goddess of time so life can progress.
Baros watched this unfold, he didn't want things to last like this, he wanted to make consequences, unlike the goddess.
He created the Goddess of death Mortessa, a being that allows the once immortal creations to become mortals, he then created another, the god of rot Necrosius, a bringer of disease and plague.
He added the God of Chaos Erebos and the Goddess of Trickery Mystara.
Erobos caused Chaos amongst the mortals, causing destruction and pain, Mystara brought in lies, deceit, and distrust.
Mystara cause lies and anger that eventually led to the first war. She spread lies and heresy while Erobos cause chaos to run rampant.
Ophelia was horrified seeing her creations suffer, she hated her brother for doing this. She tried to seal him away but before she did this he created a new head, the God of war Aresius the role of war.
After Boros was sealed into a different realm, a realm of darkness He created something new to spite his sister, He created the demons, sins, and monsters.
Eventually, a demon king arose in this new realm called the underworld.
To combat this she made the angels the protector of the heavens. The angel fought back against them, making it a brutal ongoing war for years to come.
In the mortal realm the lies and heresy about who god was the greater cause of chaos amongst the races. This led to the great holy war.
The war was devastating on each side, a stalemate happened, and an uneasy peace lasted for a while. A new goddess who was the descendant of Nature and love created a new race called the humans and the rest is history" She finished her lengthy talk.
That entire explanation lasted an hour at least.
"There's of course demi gods but there's too many to count. Deities are pretty crazy when It comes to their love lives" she spoke
"What happened to Baros is he still in the underworld?" I asked
"Yes, he still stays sealed in the world" she responded
We emerged in a clearing, with no trees around us for miles. Hera put her to the side blocking us.
"Something isn't right," she said, her serious voice becoming even more serious. I was getting pretty tired, I wasn't able to get a good sleep this entire time.
The air grows heavy, something that makes me feel a tense sense of dread, it grew colder somehow.
In the distance we see someone approaching us. He gets closer, and I can make out some details from him, He hands an entire worn Knights armor, but spears are sticking out of him. When he gets close his armor seemed like it went through battles, some parts look like it was burning.
He got close and we prepare for a battle but he passed us, the spears that pierce his chest through his back looked painful and I wanted to ask him questions but Hera pulled us away.
"Why? Who was that? what's with his back?" I asked
"A man we shouldn't bother" she simply responded.
We continued walking, his presence was still there, we walked for a few hours after that.
"We should be close to the last village near the capital city, Red Wood," Rose said
I was getting pretty tired... "hey could we get a place to sleep there... I'm kinda... sleepy" I said drowsily
"yeah, I man like me needs to maintain a handsome face for his fans!" Tron said
"You have fans? last time I remember you had a ghost audience back in Willowbrook" Hera replied
"I simply forgot to advertise, you should see me on a busy day," he said confidently smiling
"what like a good 8 people" she laughed
"Exactly!" he said smiling, he's either too stupid or way too ignorant for that insult.
With tired eyes I looked around us, it was beautiful, with many trees, grasslands, and mountains. I spotted a town in the distance, it was big, bigger than the other three places we had been to.
We approached, and the streets were made with stone instead of the dirt roads we had been on, The houses had clean white stones with red wooden roofs. This place looked way nicer than the others, it was more sophisticated and sense of tidiness.
We get to a tavern, Tron paid for the rooms for each of us with his remaining coins and decided to stay for a drink.
I walk up and head toward my room.
The room wasn't that fancy but it had a somewhat cosey vibe to it, Probably better than the mattress back at home...
I sat down, my eyes are getting heavy, I'd been up for quite a while, and too many things happened today. I yawned and lay against the soft bed and snuggled in the warm blankets.
_____________________________________
Tron Pov
I left the Tavern a while ago, I wasn't tired, not tired at all.
I had one goal in mind, to visit someone.
I got to a good place outside of town where no one could see, I snapped my fingers and in an instant, I was inside a grand library.
Bookshelves stretch towards the roof making it look endless, magic was rampant in here, seeing some books moving around the entire room.
I moved past rows and rows of them, following the directions of the flying books until they led me to him.
A man in flowing robes bearing intricate patterns, depicting celestial constellations and swirling mystical energy. His garments shimmer with pure magic essence.
"Rowan, you old bastard" I spoke
He turned around surprised, his old age catching up to him despite the countless tries with magic, His once golden hair was now white, and a grand beard stretched down to his chest. He smiled seeing me
"Alrdic! My good friend! how are you?" he asked, warmth in his voice.
"Not too bad my friend, wow... I never thought we would see each other since that day." I spoke.
We stood there for a bit in an awkward silence, I broke the silence with a question.
"How did you escape?" I asked
He didn't look surprised, he was expecting it.
"I managed to hide myself with my cloak of invisibility, I traveled far to Drakonia and fortunately for me their rulers allowed me to stay safe from my pursuers."
He looked at me.
"How about you?" he asked
"You know during that night I always had an emergency item just in case and managed to teleport into the fields of nowhere Drakonia. To hide myself I acted as a stage magician" I pointed to my clothes.
"Hmm... seems tacky but what happened to your old clothing?" He asked
"Somewhere out there, maybe someone bought it at a second-hand shop" I sighed.
He looked at me and laugh
"well it doesn't matter those robes were just for show" he chuckles.
He then looks serious
"So why are you here, you probably knew I was here this entire time, so why now?" he asked
"I... well I joined a small group of adventurers, they are in redwood as we speak. One of them is looking for a Life Crystal. I need you to tell give them the wrong direction on where to find it" I tell him.
He looks surprised
"Why would you lie to them?" He asks curiously
"You know why! life crystals are dangerous, besides you already know one of the key things is a sacrifice to power the crystal right!?" I somewhat yell.
"...Fine, I will." He says.
"Thank you, my old friend. I am in your debt" I responded gratefully
I walk off and snap my fingers, teleporting back into the woods.
The walk back to the tavern was silent, my thoughts plaguing my mind. What if he doesn't listen to my favor?...
When I get back, I took a seat at a nearby booth, the tavern was almost empty. The group was asleep in their rooms.
I ordered a drink and decided to stay there until morning.
After all, I'm not even tired.
________________________________
Short tales
The Blade of Arvandor.
A monster they call him, the executioner others say, but to all he's known as the Blade of Arvandor.
A boy that grew up in wars, his home nation was always in constant battles, instead of hating the constant conflicts his home was put in he fell in love with it.
He joined the army at a very young age, and continue to train and grow from a common foot soldier to a general very quickly at the young age of 19.
By his late 20s, he conquered many smaller towns and other nations that feared him.
This was until the 7 great mages were declared heretics and betrayers of Arvandor and were to be executed on sight.
He killed two of the great mages while suffering great injuries such as losing his left arm and having burn wounds on the right side of his face.
He survived and replaced his arm with a metal prosthetic, for his actions he was awarded with being an heir to the king's throne.
He stays in constant battles, killing all and conquering until the Arvandor nation-state becomes the one true Empire.