The snow fell gently on my hair as the ice shone brightly beneath my feet. Every step made the comfortable cold travel from the frozen lake to my entire body, filling me with comfort.
As I walked towards the ice throne, the altar and seat of our god, I took notice of my skin. Its bluish hue had become paler than normal, resembling white more than blue, thankfully the royal robe made of white cloth and ice hid most of my skin, so it wasn't as noticeable.
My father, clad in frozen armor, stood at the shore of the lake with over forty men, all of them tense and noticeably sleep deprived. The forest which was usually devoid of any scent was now drenched in the smell of blood, both the pale one of my kin as well as the crimson one from the beasts that have been sieging us. I could see the uneasiness in my father's diamond-like eyes, it's glint practically inexistent.
My kin is fighting the invaders and dying by the second and our god is impotent to the threat. A vessel is needed for him to communicate with us and the other beings that equal his might, and it is my duty to fulfill that role.
As I walked up the stairs to the throne and sat on it, a sudden snowstorm covered the entire lake, and the howls of the ice wolves that inhabit the woods echoed all around me. At the same time that this is occurring, other god's vessels must be experiencing something similar in their respective floors.
The snow covered the entire lake and soon I could see nothing but white, before the snow started to turn black and everything around me, including the ice throne, disappeared. The only thing surrounding me was pure, pitch black darkness, much darker than the night could make.
There, in the middle of the void, I remained seated upon a throne that wasn't there, with a body that though mine, wasn't under my control anymore. I'm a vessel, once the mighty one enters my body, I'm allowed to do nothing but watch helplessly through eyes that are no longer mine.
Some time must have passed, though how much I cannot tell. Eventually other entities began to appear in this void as well. A long centipede clad in a lustrous black exoskeleton with human lips and slim human arms for legs appeared right beside me, coiled around something that I couldn't see, just like I was seated on an invisible throne.
The centipede, easily as long and thick as my entire torso, looked at me with an amused smile, but no words came from its mouth, nor did the god inside me react to it. Soon after the centipede made its entrance, a corroded skull emerged from unseen waters, the bottom half was not visible and the upper half was covered in seaweed-like hair and cracks.
The skull brought a sense of dread along with it that probably only affected me and maybe the centipede vessel, the god inhabiting my body was completely undeterred by it, meanwhile I was feeling as if I was drowning at the bottom of the sea.
Those weren't the only vessels present here though. A giant headless armor, made of some kind of dark metal and holding a sword double it's size followed the skull, and later on some kind of deformed being similar to a human appeared too.
The armor didn't catch my attention, despite it's hulking size it didn't give the sense of dread that skull did, that deformed creature was different though. Skin reminiscing dried meat, a head devoid of any feature except for two hollow eye sockets and so many deformities and mutations that were hard to count or describe...it was a repulsive being.
Lastly, a small statue fell from above. The statue had the body of and old man and two heads, a young maiden and a knight. The statue was barely the size of my forearm but it had much more presence than any other vessel, which was proof of it's god power.
"It appears, in the moments yet to unfold, that two among us shall be absent from the foretold."
The statue spoke with both of it's heads, male and female voice merged into one. The floating skull rotated itself to look at the statue, before a harsh and dry voice came from it.
"The god of questions, a hermit bound to its chamber, never reaching beyond. The Rotten One, consumed by fear of the god of blood, dares not provoke its wrath. Joining us risks invoking its fury."
The god of questions and the Rotten one, gods of the 19th and 23th floors respectively. I don't know their real names, only their titles, unlike my own god whose name is in my knowledge.
Based on the appearance of the vessels and the information that my god, Varglaris the god of winter provided me, I could guess the identity of the gods inhabiting the vessels. In order of appearance, it should be the goddess of pests, the drowned one, the colosseum god, the god of humanity and lastly the Abstract Monolith, god of prophecies. All of them rank higher than the god of winter, but none of them is more respectable than him.
"Let those fools craving death do as they please; they're not the reason we gather here today!"
The headless armor, vessel of the colosseum god, spoke with anger on his voice. The armor creaked as some kind of red energy sepped from the crevices, making the agitated state of the divine being obvious.
The other god's seemed to agree with the colosseum god, as even my god nodded his head, which meant that I did too. Naturally, as the highest ranked lower god, the Abstract Monolith took the leading position in the meeting and started speaking.
"The Colosseum God speaks truth; our purpose today is not to ponder the whereabouts of the absent gods, but to chart our response to the invading forces of the God of Blood."
Though unmoving, the god of prophecies voice and overall presence demanded respect. It exuded grace like those of sages and saints, not just the natural might of a god but the presence of its character. Even though it can't possibly hold a candle to the god of winter in my eyes, it's greatness was palpable just by hearing it talk.
The god of humanity vessel was the next one to talk, even though its voice was collected and seemed full of rationality, it gave a sense of unease every time it spoke.
"We must discern the cause of this assault. We cannot hope to vanquish the god of blood, even while it remains sealed. However, we can attempt to appease him"
"The god of blood's intent remains shrouded in mist, to grasp its logic is to pursue a shadowed list. Like counting corpses in the tower high, such endeavors are destined to die."
Although my knowledge about gods is almost null, I understand that the beings known as old gods are entities whose no one can ever dream of comprehend nor defy, hence the answer of the monolith didn't come as a surprise to me, neither did it to my god. Though it seems like my opinion wasn't shared by some of the gods present. The centipede squirmed disgustingly as it uncoiled from the invisible thing it was on and extended its body, approaching the statue.
"You call yourself the god of prophecies, yet you had no vision, no prophecy about this? Pathetic,If you're so powerful how come you're also so damn useless!
The centipede squirmed and cursed with a viper's tongue, the words harsh but the lips rose in an amused smile. She clearly found enjoyment in the irony of the statue's words, and even more in the opportunity to badmouth the higher ranking god. I could feel my face harden at the sight of the behavior of the insect but it wasn't me who showed such emotion, but the god residing within me who did.
I could clearly feel his disgust not only at the actions of the other godly entity, but at the goddess of pests herself. Such emotion showed itself around me as the temperature lowered to such a degree that now I, a creature designed by the god of winter, couldn't withstand comfortably. The centipede wriggled uncomfortably as its carapace started freezing, yet the goddess itself didn't seem bothered by it.
"What kind of behavior is this? You are a god—speak and act with dignity befitting your station!"
My mouth opened and my voice came out with a tone and pressure I couldn't hope to replicate by myself. Despite my high pitched voice being girly by normal standards, it still came out as a wild snowstorm when the god of winter spoke through me, not the voice of the princess of the winter elphides.
The centipede looked at me with obvious anger. Even though it's impossible for me to read the facial expressions of an insect I could clearly feel the killing intent that seeped from it, I could swear that it would spit venom at me the moment I looked away. The air around me lowered even more according to my god's will, and my own face hardened even more, but before the goddess of pests or the god of winter could muster another word they were halted by the words of another being.
"Cease your prattle, both of you. Our vessels cannot endure the weight of our consciousness for long. We must keep this brief."
The cracked skull spoke with the voice of an old and tired man. Its words were carried by invisible waves of the unseen water it hid in, not heard by one's ears but felt through one's touch, a surreal experience that was oddly scary.
"We must devise a method to appease the God of Blood. It's difficult to imagine such a being attempting to communicate with us, and even more so to reach out to it. However, it surely perceives the events within our domains. If we offer power, artifacts, or other valuable items through our followers and creations, we may be able to placate its wrath."
The god of humanity was decided on placating the anger of the god of blood, also know as the god of life, but his intentions didn't seemed to be shared by the others.
"Understanding the mind of such an entity eludes you. Rather than hoping for the best, it is wiser to prepare for the worst."
Given their natures, the god of prophecies, humanity and the drowned god would normally be in agreement, at least to my vague understanding of them, but instead they were on completely opposite sides.
"I will not oppose the one who bestows life."
Those words suddenly came out of my mouth and left me in utter disbelief. We were being attacked left and right from the monsters sent by that entity, and our god didn't wish to confront it?
"Challenging him invites certain demise. I will not scheme against him; instead, I will focus on the survival of my creations and myself."
The centipede and the armor looked at me with an oppressive aura that made me shiver internally, but instead of showing fear I looked back at them with an icy glare. Before they could utter a word of hate and anger towards my god, snow started to appear around me, blocking the view of the maddened gods.
"Any challenge leads to death, and if he wills it, there's naught I can do to halt it. Discuss your foolish plans amongst yourselves."
The snow consumed everything and soon enough I was back again at the frozen lake, sitting in the ice throne. A feeling of dread feel upon when I saw bloody eyes flying above me, looking intently at me, but soon enough these froze to death in an instant, falling and breaking into a million pieces.
"May god have mercy on us..."