"Stop rushing towards the enemy lines!" Elysia yelled as she rode her chariot side by side with her husband, Aresius. "How many times do I have to stop you from doing something so harsh?" Elysia yelled at the woman that shared her husband. The goddess of the Sun and Light, Soliana. Who also happens to be Aresius's charioteer.
Soliana laughed as she rode at full speed.
"Our husband is the strongest of the Gods! Nothing will happen don't worry!"
Elysia gritted her teeth, restraining her urge to smack Soliana. "We don't even know the numbers of the enemy! How can you rush straight in? This is suicide!"
"It's my idea." A rough voice sounded and both Soliana and Elysia kept quiet.
Aresius seldom interrupt his wives' little quarrels. But if he interrupted, that means he was annoyed.
"The Cyclops are building a new fortress." Aresius pointed in front of them. Upon a hill a few thousand yards away, a team of Cyclops are gathering stones and wood, building a fortress. "I want a frontal assault on them. Wipe them out before they can finish their work."
Elysia and Soliana bowed. "Yes, my lord." They said in unison.
Elysia mumbled a little until Aresius noticed her. "Why are you still here." He said, anger forming in his voice. "Get my orders known Goddess of Valor and Strategy."
"My husband." Elysia gulped. "It's unwise."
Aresius summoned his Warhammer, Stormrend and said. "I will crush them before they notice. Now go."
Elysia bowed and flicked the reins of her chariot. Rushing backwards to deliver Aresius's orders to the other gods.
"Goddess of the Sun and light," Aresius said as they reached the enemy lines at top speed. "I want them blinded."
Soliana smiled and called over the reins. "Yes, my lord."
Raising her hand upwards, Soliana started channelling her energy and the sun became brighter and brighter. Just as they reached the fortress, the sunlight became bright enough to blind the cyclopes.
"Intruders!" The cyclopes yelled and started waving their weapons blindly. Aresius jumped out of the chariot and rushed into the enemy's ranks. "Carnage!" He yelled and smashed the crowd of Cyclops with Stormrend. The Cyclops didn't have much power, but they made it up with strengths in numbers and size.
Glancing at Soliana, Aresius found himself holding his breath.
As beautiful as ever, Soliana held her ground while slashing with her sword. Her long golden hair swung wildly as she danced between the cyclops. The ground rumbled and cracked. Fissures started to open, swallowing any Cyclops unfortunate enough to fall down.
Channelling his godly energy into his Warhammer, Aresius slammed Stormrend into the ground. Lava burst out from the fissures, burning the cyclops near it to death.
"Finish them off!" Aresius yelled as the other gods arrived at the battlefield.
"You're as awesome as ever!" Soliana laughed and planted a kiss on Aresius's cheek.
"SOLIANA!" Elysia screamed as she stormed towards Soliana. Grabbing her ear, she snarled. "I leave our husband alone with you for ten minutes and you break our promise? How dare you!"
Soliana laughed softly and said. "I can't help it. I got excited, I was doing the fighting not you."
Looking at the both of them quarrelling with each other, Aresius had a strange feeling in his heart. Born out of the maws of Chaos, unlike the other gods, Aresius inherited the most subtle part of Chaos. The hunger for bloodlust, granting him unfathomable strength and power in exchange, he lost a part of himself. He couldn't smile or cry. All he could do was anger or otherwise nothing.
"Storm the last gate." Aresius turned to a man with a bushy beard. It was Aquarius, God of the seas and water.
Aquarius nodded his head and set off with his wife, Geolyn, goddess of the land. Together, they brought earthquakes and disrupted the enemy lines. "Wipe them off. This is the final battle fellow Valaria!"
The remaining gods rushed forward alongside each other. A woman walked straight up beside Aresius. It was Seraphina, goddess of justice.
"What will you do to Cycloren?" she asked. Cycloren was the king of the Cyclops. After thousands of years of battle, they have finally pushed him to this last stand.
"I will give him a chance," Aresius said. Seraphina's eyes widened. She never thought that 'Giving a chance' would ever come out of her brother's mouth. But she got disappointed just as fast.
"If he can survive three strikes of Stormrend, I will let him live in the dungeons for eternity. If not, he can return to the maws of Chaos."
Seraphina studied her brother. Normally, they would always quarrel after 10 sentences but certainly Seraphina knew how to read her brother's emotions.
"The mortals are suffering. That's why they are praying to us for help and guidance. And they are why we are here. Even if one cyclops survive, you can't promise that they won't rise again." Aresius said. "The Cyclops are like bugs. Leve one unnoticed and the next thing you know they've reproduced so fast you can't even imagine."
Seraphina nodded her head. Unlike her brother, she could still listen to advice and change her mind.
Following the loud boom of an earthquake, the castle at the last gate fell into rubble. Aresius got up the chariot and sat down. Studying the chariot, it was as majestic as ever every time he rode it. The chariot was no ordinary chariot. It was Soliana's sun chariot. Armed to the teeth and bright as the sun when wanted.
Noticing her husband getting inside the chariot, Soliana jumped inside and retained her post as Aresius's charioteer.
"They can't face Cycloren. He is fated only to be killed by another king." Aresius said calmly and nodded at Soliana. Soliana flicked the reins of the chariot and the chariot started running. "Catch up sister, Elysia."
Reaching the dark palace, Aresius felt amazed at the Cyclops building technique. If it wasn't reduced to rubble, the dark palace was the most astonishing building in the whole universe.
"My lord." The gods bowed as Soliana drove the sun chariot into the palace with Aresius on board.
"You're hereā¦" a grave voice sounded as Aresius stepped out of the chariot.
Dragging his Warhammer across the floor, it emitted a screeching sound. Aresius did not answer Cycloren. Instead, he walked straight up at the crippled cyclops and raised Stormrend up above his head.
"So this is my fateā¦" Cycloren wheezed as he tried to sit still.
"Grant me a question God of War." He raised a hand to stop Aresius. "As celestials, do you think we possessā¦ souls?"
Aresius wanted to smash his hammer into Cycloren's skull but froze when he heard this question.
"No." he thought for a minute and answered. "Souls. For mortals."
Cycloren closed his eye and exhaled.
"Is that so." Then he started laughing hysterically. "Hear my words King of Astralium. From the moment you kill me onwards, you will never be the same you again. KILL ME IF YOU DARE."
Aresius paused for a second, and said "I dare." And smashed his Warhammer down.
With Cycloren's death, the ground started to tremble and a tiny golden tree started to sprout from the ground. "Geolyn?" Aresius asked.
"Not my doing, my lord. This is the planet's consciousness ready to be accepted as our domain." Geolyn shook her head and explained.
Aresius nodded his head and touched the golden tree.
He felt a zap through his fingers and the next instance, he could almost feel like he could notice everything inside this planet. Aresius took a deep breath. The sudden power surge inside his body started to make him dizzy.
"My husbandā¦ you okay?" Elysia asked as she held Aresius's hand to prevent him from falling down.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy that's all." Aresius muttered.
"My lord! Look out!" Aquarius yelled as he pointed at the top of Aresius. Just before he could react, a portion of the broken ceiling fell straight down and landed on Aresius's head.
"ARGH!" Aresius yelled and fell to the ground.
The gods started to rush forward to help their king up. Aresius's pounding head had already made him dizzy. Now a ceiling dropping on top of his head just managed to make things worse.
"Return... to the palace..." Aresius managed to utter one final order before everything went black.