Ruins

[Estanov]

Ruins, A short story.

Gods.. What can I say?
What is a God? That should be the question to begin with. Gods are creatures of incredible power. Gods are the creators of worlds, of entire races, or their doom. A God can be weak or strong, amass power or lose it, just like mortals can. The biggest difference is, there is no limit to what a God can become. Divinity is a dangerous thing..

High in the mountains of Azor-Estil lies a ruined city. Once it's walls were so high that the sun was unable to shine it's light on the city less than an hour after dawn and before dusk. The only light at those times came from the pinnacle that stood in the centre of it. A huge crystal creation, dawning from the beginning of time itself, now nothing more than shards and debris. A remnant to a lost civilization..

Gods..
There have always been Gods. Some more powerfull and important than others. Some who changed our history forever and others who'se name even the Gods themselves cannot remember. A long time ago, there were a few Gods who did change the world forever. They joined their followers and belief together, in one Pantheon of Power to destroy another alliance of gods, the 'Council of Nine'. Five there where in the beginning, then four, then four again.

If there was someone to look from the sharp and rugged top of the largest remnant of the pinnacle they could see beyond the mountains. If there was someone to look, they could see from ocean to ocean. If there was someone to look, they would see a ruined world, a dead world. All is burnt, the forests are gone, fire rains from the sky and flows over the land like a river. The world has ended. It is gone. It is all over.

Gods..
It is the fault of the Gods that our world is dead. They fought each other. Joined in Pantheons and Alliances, commanding armies of Angels, Divine Beasts, priests and mortals. Slowly but surely, they killed each other off. Each dead God contributing to the Power of the others. Each speck of Power used to kill more. An endless orgy of violence and destruction.

The sky is black. Great clouds of fog and pestilence whirl overhead, blocking the red rays of the dying sun. The seas are mud now. The underground caverns nothing more than breeding pits for the Abyssal creatures. The hills of the world now no more than tombs.

Gods..
Eventually, their war came to an end. Eventually, the remaining Gods of the Pantheon of Power destroyed Erythnull and his Council. But in that final battle, that moment of glory, something terrible happened. The Gods died, taking the world with them. They had been their own downcast. And we mortals only trembled and watched as our world was put to the torch.

Strangely enough, a small speck of light can be seen moving between the ruins of the ancient city. The light of a torch reflected upon the shards of crystal. The sound of heavy breathing, panting even. Something may yet be alive. That is, if the Ghouls don't get to it first..

Gods..
Never have we lived so much in fear as we do now. They made us this way. After taking away that which gave us life and love they left us in ruin. Who now can truly feel hope? Who now can say that he cares for another? Who can still speak at all?

In the middle of a wrecked market square, a young boy wakes up from a deep slumber. He looks around him, seeing naught but death. As he examines himself, he sees that he is dressed in a loincloth. To his left lies a dead man, a man clutching some kind of tube. A tube holding some kind of liquid.

Gods..
When the last of them died, I thought it was over. I was glad to have seen the end of these beings. I was mistaken. Without life, without worshippers there can be no Gods. It appears that without Gods there can be no life. How I was mistaken.



The boy stands up. Slowly he walks towards the dead man. Kneeling at his side, he examines the body. “Where am I?” He says softly. “Why am I here?” After searching through the market square, a process taking several hours, the boy lights a torch he discovered in a crate and makes his way towards the pillar in the centre of the city.

Gods..
How I hated them. How I despised them. Night after night, I wished for their destruction. Night after night, I wished for the violence to stop. Night after night, I hoped. Never did I pray.

It took him a day to get to the pillar. It took him a day to walkt hrough the destroyed streets. For a day he wondered at his existence, his past. He knows nothing of himself. He does not know his past. He does not know his future. He can barely understand his present. He does not know his name. If his parents were here, they would tell him what his name is. They would tell him that they love him and that everything will be allright. But they are not here. Their lifeless corpses still lie on the wrecked market square. Nothing is allright.

Gods..
I was wrong. I was so very wrong.

The boy knows what do do know. He sees the world around him. He sees that the only variation in the landscape is himself. All lies eternally silent. All is dead. Only he lives. An error that can be easily fixed. He climbs the stair of the pinnacle. He moves towards the largest broken shard, still clutching the torch, his last light. There his sight is improved. He sees the world now. He sees its doom. The pinnacle is tall. Falling is fatal. He jumps. He falls. The end. Death. Silence.

Gods..

[Planet Mugger]

PM<----shows up and plants a new seed...nothing is ever erased