Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Talk

Mimed and battered, Lenart kept fighting, high in spirit. He forbade rest in his search for Ronan, his only brother. If anything had happened to his innocent younger brother he'd surely lose it.

When he found his brother, crushed under the weight of this cruel world, he had done just that, lost it. He moved recklessly, exerting too much strength. He fell apart, as emotion and helplessness embraced the young hero.

By the time Howard arrived Lenart was barely awake, succumbing to the pain and exhaustion was only seconds away. The last thing he heard was his sister in law screaming his brother's name. Then everything went dark.

…

Howard observed in silence, as Fiona, Jasmine's mother ran up to Ronan. She cared naught for dignity or appearance, as she slumped down next to her husband and mourned. Forty-eight years, that's how long they had been together, childhood lovers. They'd grown up together, learned the mysteries of adulthood with each other. The prospect of Ronan dying had never crossed her mind.

Yet here she was, her dead husband, the love of her life in her arms. His eyes missing the warm gaze it once possessed. Now they were lifeless, cold as steel.

Hours went by, soon night fell onto the world and the rain stopped. The world kept moving around them, as people ran back and forth. Fiona was not the only one who had lost something. It would be hard to find one person in the village spared from the fight.

…

~Pov Jantyr~ (First Person)

Fifty-five percent of the men had died, a staggering amount. Many left alive were injured. This means that for the moment, we're crippled. The women will be forced to do heavy work, which I personally have no problem with, as long as they're not in danger things should be fine!

The problem is the Falkens, they, like many other primitive races in this stage of development, frown upon women doing manual labor, which could be dangerous.

Sighing over the foreseeable future I steeled myself and walked towards the edge of my domain. I could feel the presence of several gods on a platform-like mountain not so far away.

With a leap of faith I stepped outside my domain and felt a sense of dread. It felt like I was dipped in cold water, after living in the warmth my whole life. But I'm no coward, such things won't keep me idle!

Floating came like a second nature to me; thankfully. Instead of falling towards the abyss below me, I steadily floated towards the gathering of gods.

"Emperor of Shifao Dynasty, Qurgars the third, has declared war on Rimetalg." I overheard, as I neared. Their words carried a certain excitement and worry.

"What's your thoughts on this, Catara?" a male like god asked. He had pointy ears, like elves and like all other gods had no facial features. He was made out of wood and dirt, with some flowers growing here and there, mostly on his shoulders. If I had to guess, I'd say he's a god of nature worshiped by elves.

"What that foolish emperor does is not my problem, he's long since stopped worshiping me, his royal bloodline should be dethroned for their hearsay!" a woman said. She, just like me had Falken features, just one tiny difference, she actually looked like a Falken.

Unlike most, she had facial features and even hair, something I lacked for the moment. She had brown hair, greenish eyes and a young look. Not a single flaw, or wrinkle could be found on her face. For some reason she held a book in her hand, folded and tightly gripped.

They noticed my approach and decided to push the conversation to a later date, awaiting my arrival. There were three of them in total, a nature elf guy, Catara and a humanoid creature, glowing bright. It had no definable feature to any race I was aware of, simply humanoid, no other trait.

"Who might you be?" Catara asked, her voice and expression neutral.

"I'm Jantyr, a god of weather and I'm your new neighbor." I said, pointing towards the mountain peak I came from.

"Oh, a new god ay, now that's rare, only happens once every two years." the one I knew nothing off said and gave me a friendly smile.

"My name is Sluncezon, the elfish god next to me is Natravox." he said, pointing at the wood, earth man.

"Nice to meet you three, but may I ask, what is this war you speak of?" I asked, not really great at being social.

"Ah, yes, great question young one. About a year and a half ago, the country known as Shifaos Dynasty, a relatively small and weak country, was covered in snow. The emperor proclaimed it was the work of enemy mages and used it as an excuse to cause friction and perhaps war.

"Safe to say he succeeded, you see, as of recently they've started collecting war tax, fifty percent of your harvest and gold for the year. No village, town or city is safe. They've sent out knights, together with carriages to carry the riches. Soon a full blown war will take place.

"The poor country is Rimetalg, a peaceful country. But don't think they're weak due to peace, isn't that right Catara?" Sluncezon said and put the rest in Catara's hands. With a sigh she continued.

"Shifao Dynasty will fall, they lack the strength and allies to win this war. But Qurgars the third will not go down peacefully and will drag his subjects with him!" Catara said with a hint of frustration.

"Not to mention, he's recruiting men from each city, town and village, to be meat shields at the frontline. Sometimes I wish we could influence the world directly and just kill these people!" she exclaimed with passion, but caught herself in the act.

"Sorry, I got a bit heated in the end." she apologized.

"That's worrying, my worshipers live in the Shifao Dynasty, I can't have them thrown into the war of a madman!" I said with a sigh

"Wait, you have your religion in Shifao Dynasty?"

(AN: Last Chapter I wrote Harold, instead of Howard, which is wrong, I've corrected it, but I might have some other places where I've spelled it wrong, so that's fun, I will of course llok into it.

(More important stuff, no more chapters this week, but next one there will be more than three at least :) Author out)

PS write a review if you haven't :)