Of Ice, Death & Monsters

Chapter 107 : For A World Is Made

20 Days Ago.

“Oh? We shall be the heralds of the gods?”

Both Derek and Topher stared at each other for a moment, nodding at the same time. “That’s wicked awesome.”

Dela, however, finally took a step forward. “Does this mean we shall return to the relationship which the Watchers had with the gods?”

“That would be correct, Fae Emissary. The one to whom you hold allegiance must soon face their betters. The gods are to return, and shall do so in full force

I could feel Delia’s eyes narrow in her mask, but she said nothing else, so I persisted. “How do we do that? Why haven’t you done such a task already? And what shall the gods do to this land?”

I had to know what plans they would have so that perhaps we could come to an agreement. Ah, I can imagine it now. If I were to gain their favor, perhaps when I return to Epithet, I can tell them of the many connections I have made, and they could soon even use Galfania as a mother station. Perhaps to gain resources and study more effectively on the different Arks.

The main thing holding Epithet back is that many of the other nations do not trust them. And while we do have growing connections, it’s not the same as actually being there. But here and now, we have a land where we have essentially the keys to the gate. The gods themselves.

Even if they could never trust us, we still had something so close to the heart of this land that we could do so much.

“The land above us is composed of two main regions. The inner of which is Arsen, which was the bustling center of Jawia. And its outer rim, which was Saunne, a swampland.” She sighed as if she was remembering it all fondly. 

“That was until the outsiders came. The Aetree Speakers and their ilk. They came and tried to take our people and our land. We were demonized, literally. Some of the gods who walked amongst the people then were made into horrific aberrations; they were made into monsters.”

Behind her, I saw the earthen wall take shape, forming figures within it that resembled people. Then, suddenly, several people with golden hair emerged, capturing and twisting them in what appeared to be a tree before it spat them back out, now disfigured.

Fascinating. Those from Balthalem were quite tight-lipped on how they could manage to even hold their own or even invade other nations. Many seemed to fear them, but now it made sense. Such a power in their hands… I wondered if they still had it.

“They began to turn our people against us, claiming that they were the ones with the greater power. That they could take care of them more than we ever could. Our people betrayed us, and so we fought back. We managed to win and drive the invaders from our land.”

The scene changed to show what appeared to be giants, possibly the gods, rising up holding weapons as they drove away the people with golden hair.

“However, our land was destroyed, left in ruins. Many of our avatars were demonized or destroyed. Our sacred sites vanished. Some fled to the north, and others tried to stay… My husband, Perun, the king of the gods, was going to reinstate order, and with my hand, he was going to help rebirth our worshippers. But then…”

Suddenly, the tallest giant, wielding a massive axe, was stabbed in the back by what appeared to be a woman.

“My husband was killed by Morana, the goddess of winter, and she plunged this land into her Eternal Storm. She went on a rampage and caused the Jawia to be barren, and that only Winter may rule.”

So that would mean she’s the reason why this place is terrible and barren. This Morana is someone to be rid of then. 

“I was forced underground; her own powers were far greater than mine at such a point. But alas, there is something she cannot truly overwhelm due to the nature of her own existence.”

She pointed at me. “The Caretaker. She is the spirit of life itself. The idea of living. Of course, her presence waned over the years, but as long as life exists, she shall as well. As long as even monsters existed, and as long as any soul exists, she shall, even in the darkest pits. Now you, being a carrier of her will, have that in you. But even more so, you hold the connection to the River of Souls.”

Her eyes glittered like gemstones as she stared into my soul. “You are one of the few who could ever truly stand up to her almighty strength. While the Watchers and the Leshy can live in their isolated bubbles, you can help us bring this land to its prime. What you would need to do is simple: help spread my domain across Arsen and across its outer rim of Saunne. Doing so will allow me to expand and help bring back the gods.”

If all of the gods are as informative, I think I could take a liking to them. Of course, they need me; they have to be informative.

“But first and foremost, to help with this task, you will need the Fern Flower.”

She then waved her hand as a flower emerged from the ground. It had crimson red petals and several I want to say… Stigmata? Ah, no, filaments sticking out of it, each of which had a glowing anther at the end.

“You will find it in the swamps, guarded not by a Leshy, but by the Spirits of Misfortune Likho. The Spirits of Disease, Chuma. The Spirits of Misery, Beda. And worst of all, the one who commanded them… The Vampir Vladimir.”

Derek immediately lit up and leaned in. “Like… A vampire? Like the blood suckers?”

Mokosh tilted her head curiously. “You know of the Vampir?”

“Ah, that’s right.” I muttered out loud as they both looked to me. "The stories of the War were legendary, and some of them were spread outwards to the other nations. Vampire, blood sucker, creature of the night. The empty vessels that need the life of others to fill them. Those who devour life.”

“That would be the one, yes. In fact, they have grown so powerful that they have absorbed the life of the Leshy. The Saunne used to be a verdant forest, filled with rivers and animals. However, after the Storm came, the Vampir rose to power enough that he was able to fight and drain the entirety of Saunne alongside its Leshy, feasting on their power to grow stronger and stronger. He plans soon to take me out, and even the best soldiers I send only empower him. In such a weakened form like this, I fear he could soon do what he pleases.”

The room went dark. But I went to clarify further. “Are we to face him?”

“Yes, indeed, you are to face him. He holds the Fern Flower. But, I believe that you all could stand a chance as long as you are all continually blessed by the Caretaker and most importantly, if you could find the body of the Leshy, or where they had passed, then you could use your power to connect to them with the Caretaker, giving you the chance to match and even defeat Vladimir and take back to Fern Flower before he could truly take over.

It was a big mission, but alas, that’s why we came by prepared. “A perfect testing run for what we could do, of course.” I turned around and gave the others a smile that they returned back as they then stared at the mechanized golems they were gonna pilot.  

“Wonderful, afterwards, when you finally are able to defeat Vladimir, what you need to do is locate the innermost temple of the city of Arsen. Then, find a statue that looks like me. If it’s damaged in any way, restore it, and place the flower by the feet of the statue. Then, breathe life into it. Afterwards, I shall begin the rituals for the other gods to manifest and begin my alliance with you.”

“How wonderful~ May we start now then?” 

Mokosh gave me a curious look as she tilted her head. “Oh? No more questions for me at all? How interesting.”

“Those shall be saved for later. We’re on a tight clock here, and the more we can do, the better, isn't that right? Especially with an extremely powerful vampire on the surface.”

The goddess of the earth smiled. “Wonderful, then, I shall send you all on your way then. May you all walk upon the earth in fervent hopes and dreams.” With that, she snapped her fingers, and I felt the earthen room we were in begin to fly upwards.

“You will all be there shortly. I’m going to channel as much power as I can to get you up, but once you’re on the surface, I cannot help any of you. And my people have already suffered enough, so they cannot help any of you either. Forgive me for this. You will need to rely on the Caretaker.”

“No forgiveness is needed. You’re doing your best, and now it’s time for those with the power to change the world… To do it.” I stared at the ceiling, preparing myself. I felt the claws extend out by my fingers… I was excited, I was hungry. There was a certain level of… Desire to try and test out all the new toys I have. 

Mmm, I could already imagine what Adrian would say. He always had this cute little face on him whenever I wanted to try something new. This will be no different. I was a Mage, and it would be fitting for me to try all this new Magick. The others are quite excited too, I could feel it!

As for Dela, well… I still couldn’t exactly read her. This shall be the perfect test run for what I shall do with that whore eheh. So many new toys to test out and yet so little time.

Luckily, it didn’t take long until we finally reached the surface, surfacing as if we were a bunch of moles. I looked around and found that we were in the middle of a swamp, with a putrid stench in the air, rotting trees strewn about, and some even floated across the fetid waters. It was disgusting, horrible, a place where one would drop bodies; in fact, there were dead bodies everywhere, and corpses of animals were abundant to make anybody here sick.

And it would be where we needed to adventure.

I turned to Mokesh, but already she had dissolved, her body turning into dirt and stone as she was submerged back into the earth. “Ah… Fare thee well then, oh goddess of the earth. Now then, we all have a job to do, and we all know how to do it right?”

Derek and Topher both stared at the Golems with their eyes glimmering with joy. “Can we?” They asked with excitement leaking from their throats.

“Well, this place is quite dangerous. It would be better to suit up.”

They high-fived each other before heading to the golems. They placed their hands on the back, and immediately it opened up, revealing a hollow interior which they hopped right into. 

The two golems’ bodies closed up, and suddenly, their eyes glowed red. It began to move quite articulately, as if it were a real humanoid.

It stretched itself, jumped up and down, one of them, the one that Derek went into, did a push-up, and two before getting up, speaking with a mechanized voice. “Wooo, this is amazing! Feel the rush! You can call me… Fire.”

The one with Topher cracked its knuckles. “Then call me Brimstone!”

I giggled at the boys playing with their giant action figures before I walked ahead. “Come on then… We have work to do, Fire and Brimstone.”