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GODS’ BATTLE
ELEVEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO
Mount Olympus, where the gods of the Greek pantheon resided. It was a peaceful and beautiful place, with majestic temples reflecting Apollo, the God of the Sun’s ray. But not today. Dark clouds hung low as lightning forked across the sky. Gale-force winds whipped around the place, bringing up sand and dust. Earth-shattering booms and crashes were heard as Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War, and Ares, the God of War continued to hurl mountains at each other, each of them wanting to obliterate the other.
With no more mountains to throw save for Mount Olympus, Ares resorted to using his battle axe, which was kicked aside by Athena when the goddess turned up unexpectedly to stop him from wiping out Athens, the city of which Athena was the patron goddess.
When she saw Ares picking up his axe, Athena’s whole body tensed – the God of War looked formidable and deadly with his heavy axe. Before Athena let the panic set in, she surveyed her opponent, from his proud, young face to his sandaled feet, trying to gauge how much danger the god posed. The axe was made by Hephaestus, which would be heavy even by gods’ standard!
Which means he’s going to be even slower than usual! Now there’s a surprise, Athena concluded sarcastically. She summoned a light, long sword and grasped its cool hilt tightly. The gods rushed at each other with a war cry.
Athena dodged Ares’ deadly attack and started her own onslaught. Just as Athena had anticipated, the god was slower than usual. With a twist of her sword, the Goddess of Wisdom and War slashed open Ares’ wrist and he dropped the axe with a yelp of pain before he stumbled back clumsily. Then with a swift movement, the goddess’ sword transformed into a bow and an arrow, its string already strung and ready to be used.
Athena let loose her arrow and it flew straight and true, heading for the stunned god’s forehead. She waited for the arrow to find its mark, but it never happened. The arrow was consumed in a flare of white fire instead before a blast of light flared into being, nearly blinding them. When the light faded away to be replaced by Zeus, the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus, Athena dropped her weapon. It was obvious that the leader of the Greek gods was furious, and Athena hated it when her father was angry.
“Apollo told me what happened,” Zeus’ voice was a mere whisper, but Ares detected the anger that roiled beneath these five simple words.
“Father, don’t be angry. Ares and I – ” Athena’s unfinished sentence was cut short when Zeus boomed -
“Be quiet, Athena! I am not angry, I am livid! Both of you should know that gods are not supposed to attack each other directly like this! Now go back to your respective rooms and stay in there for a solid decade! Don’t come out until the period of your punishment is over!”
“Are you grounding us?” asked Ares incredulously. Athena could see a muscle twitched in his jaw as the God of War struggled to rein in his anger. His golden eyes were dark with suppressed emotions as he looked at the King of Gods.
The look Zeus gave him was enough to turn the god into a giant shish kebab.
Athena flashed herself back into her room and changed her full suit of armour into a more comfortable gown with just her thought. She threw herself onto the bed and started thinking. I was never this rash, but I don’t regret fighting with the fool! I’ve defeated him twice now and I will do it again if the fool of a god ever crosses my path!
The barks of hounds interrupted Athena’s train of thought. That must be Hecate!
Athena got up from her bed and walked with her arms outstretched towards her best friend, Hecate, Queen of the Night and Ghosts, and also the Goddess of Witchcraft and Necromancy.
The two celestial beings hugged each other before Athena drew back to look at her friend. Three black hounds were running in circle around the goddesses, clambering for Athena’s attention. She knelt down and started playing with the hounds.
“I saw what happened,” Hecate’s sing-song voice never failed to soothe Athena’s agitated nerves.
“Then you must realize how I feel right now,” grumbled Athena. She gently but firmly pushed away the hound trying to lick her face.
“No, Gale!” Hecate reprimanded. The hound backed off with a pitiful whine. “You cannot attack him directly but have you ever thought of an indirect approach? Like using a vessel? Or two, to be exact.”
Athena realized the wisdom of Hecate’s words and she wondered if the Queen of the Night was hiding something.
Hecate’s face took on a black expression and her dark pupils dilated as power grew and rose inside the goddess.
Athena recognized the signs as her best friend looked into the future. With power to rival even Zeus, Athena was glad that she wasn’t the enemy of Hecate Witch-Queen.
“ I’ve just found two perfect mortals for you. Sin and his consort, Kestrel. With their impossibly strong metal prowess, you can imbue as much power as you want into them. They can help you take care of Ares’ evil minions!” said Hecate as her eyes glowed with excitement.
“Can you see the outcome of the battle?” asked Athena, in awe of her friend’s power. Clairvoyance wasn’t something easy to possess and control.
“You may be the Goddess of Wisdom, but you are so dim-witted sometimes!” said Hecate flatly. “You know I can’t see something as unpredictable as that!”
“No matter what happens, don’t die before me,” Sin whispered into Kestrel’s ear before giving her a peck on the cheek.
“You too!” Sin heard Kestrel’s reply and he laughed, a low, dangerous laugh as he surveyed the demons, creations of Ares and Eris, the Goddess of Discord.
Two knives appeared in Sin’s hands and he launched himself towards the demons.
“For Goddess Athena!” yelled Kestrel before she jumped into the fray as well, her own knives parrying the demons’ ferocious attacks.
A demon rushed towards Sin and he flipped her on her back before stabbing her with a knife. The demon dissolved into black dust. It always felt good to be Athena’s vessel, feeling the divine power flowing in his body along with his adrenaline.
Another demon ran mindlessly towards Sin, his mouth opened, baring small, pointed teeth. Sin gestured with his hand, blasting the demon into oblivion. The knives on his hand whistled shrilly as he moved them lightning-fast through the air to cut open exposed demon flesh. Luckily the street was deserted, or this whole place would be cordoned off by police and all of them would be arrested. Not that mere metal could hold them back!
Soon, it was just Kestrel and Sin again, both of them were doubled over as they struggled to regain their breath. They didn’t notice an impossibly good looking young man walking towards them, malice in his golden eyes and a sneer on his lips. It wasn’t until the man was standing directly behind the couple did they realize that they were not alone. But it was already too late.
Ares’ whole armwent through Sin’s body and both of them looked in shock at the man in front of them, not knowing that he was their goddess’ arch-enemy.
Kestrel’s whole body was cold as she saw the bloodied hand appearing from Sin’s back, fresh blood still dripping from the fingertips. Her mind was too shocked to register what had happened. Her heart seemed to have stopped beating and all she could do was to stand there with her mouth agape.
Ares laughed in triumph as he drew his arm out of Athena’s vessel and watched the man crumbled onto the ground, his eyes unseeing, his soul already leaving his corpse.
Kestrel stared at Sin’s broken body on the bloody ground, her mind still numbed from the shock. She thought she heard the barking of dogs down the street, coming closer and closer. Kestrel thought she smelled a light flowery fragrance in the air but she couldn’t be sure. She couldn’t be sure of anything anymore.
Ares screamed out in pain as Hecate’s hounds tore him apart. The God of War was helpless to save himself as his powers had been negated by the Goddess of Witchcraft.
Sin looked around him and he saw a grave marked with his name next to the woman, with two life-sized statues at its sides like guards. On closer inspection, Sin realized immediately that one of the statues was Athena, with her golden-tipped spear. The other statue looked exactly like the woman in front of him, only the statue was holding a torch while the woman had her empty hands clasped in front of her.
“I’m Hecate,” said the woman, introducing herself as the Queen of the Night. “Thank you for luring Ares out into the open and into human form. That was the only way I could obliterate him completely. I’m sorry that you have to die for my plan to be executed.”
Sin looked at the tall willow trees planted around the cemetery and how the leaves danced in the gentle breeze while the goddess talked. He didn’t care about all that!
“What about Kestrel?” Sin’s voice was quiet and hoarse, barely a whisper. At the mention of the woman, grief seized his heart and Sin raised his head to look at the starry sky, trying to stop the tears from spilling out.
“I’m not only the Goddess of Witchcraft and Ghosts, I’m also the Goddess of Crossroads, of Changes. Kestrel stands at a crossroad now. She has to make a vital decision that will change her life for the better, or for the worse. She can move on from your death and seek love elsewhere, or she can be a coward and hide from the world. I will help her let go of the past and all things safe to venture into a life without you by her side, but I cannot force her to choose,” said Hecate tiredly.
Sin couldn’t hold it back anymore. Tears trickled out of his eyes and down his cheeks as sobs raked through his throat. He couldn’t imagine a life without Kestrel, not having the chance to run his hands through her long brown hair, or hear her melodious laughter whenever she was happy.
“Because of your gallant act and huge sacrifice, you’ve earned a place in the Elysian Fields, where you’ll find eternal happiness while waiting for your consort,” the Queen of Ghosts said quietly. “It is time to go now…”
