The story of the gods

On the other side of the canyon, the march up the mountain continued on the next day. From the peak of the mountain, Veretta could see the tops of four more mountains and even a great mountain. The height of the central mountain was so tall, the tip was beyond the veil of clouds. All of the surrounding mountains dipped and rose in connection with each other. There truly was no way to reach the centre without first overtaking the wall that surrounded it. From the peak where they stood she could see the way to the base of the mountain below. It was a steep flat cliff face all around. Attempting to descend to the centre would be certain death.

The same thought occurred to Tomas as he stared down dubiously, "what now?"

Ace smiled a satisfied sort of grin that made Tomas feel anxious, "Now, we jump,"

"Jump," Tomas repeated. His eyes widened as a sudden realisation caught hold of him, "I can't...i'm afraid of heights,"

"That's a lie," Ace smiled.

"No, I mean..i didn't used to be..but now that i think about it. I must have forgotten to mention it. Sorry I'm actually really afraid of heights," Tomas blurted out in an unconvincing jumble.

"Then this can be a lesson," Ace patted him on the back, "for overcoming fear,"

"IF we're afraid it's usually because there's something we should be afraid of!" Tomas protested. "It's too far a jump. I can't bring us all. It's impossible!"

"Don't be a baby," Ace shrugged.

"Don't be so condescending!" Tomas returned sharply, "it's not your magic we're counting on. I know my limits! This is too much!"

"Tomas," Ace smiled undeterred,"you don't need to fly us over there. You just need to fly across yourself and pull the trigger on the other side. A bridge will be released,"

Tomas turned to the gaping hole between him and the ginormous mountain on the other side and swallowed, " I can't..."

"Tomas," Ace said in the same comforting yet merciless tone," Get your ass to the other side or i'm going to kick you off,"

Toma turned to Veretta anxiously.

"You can do this, Tomas. I know you can," she reassured. Tomas gave a tense nod and turned back to the gap pass. He inhaled sharply. With a strong burst of air, he flew up into the sky and began to gather speed.

"OH gods," he uttered, looking down, "why am I so unlucky?"

Below Tomas there was a massive expansive valley. He soared far above the top of a pine tree grove and a running river utterly untouched by man. Tomas flew to the central mountain. There was an indentation in the rock that formed a staircase carved in the stone. Among the carved stone there was a flourish of elaborate carving. He landed on the ridge staring up in wonder, at the carving. This was the kind of adventure he had imagined when he left home. Studying at the college he could only imagine such places in books. Now that it was before him, he felt his heart open to all the possibilities he had thought impossible for himself. As he placed his hand to the stone, he felt truly alive. The rippled carving drew up into spiralling animals. Above them humans were depicted prostrated before a heavenly throne.

Tomas continued to skim his hand along the mountain surface till he felt an unnatural dip. He began to inspect it carefully uncovering a latch in the groove. He pulled it down. It was stiff and rusted taking some effort. When the leaver finally cranked down into place, the mountain trembled. The stone face shook and the sound of chains rattling echoed through the canyon. Finally, a metal and wood drawbridge descended across the gap.

One by one, the rest traversed the drawbridge till they reached the otherside.

"You did it, Tomas!" Veretta beamed.

"I guess I did," Tomas replied still flustered. He could hardly believe himself.

Ace patted him on the back with a smirk, "Come on, kid. Give yourself some credit. You did good,"

"Perhaps, you should threaten me more often,"Tomas scoffed.

Ace laughed earnestly, "good idea,"

Tomas let out a sigh,"so what now?"

"We'll begin the ascent in the morning," Ace glanced over the length of the carving, " there's a cave a little below here where we can camp for the night,"

"But it's not night yet. Shouldn't we climb further?" Tomas questioned.

"It's better to wait till morning. There is a thick laid beyond. It's almost impossible to see through it at night," Ace explained.

"Mist?" Tomas gulped, "like a magical mist?"

"Don't worry," Ace smiled," I could attempt to dispel it. Though you might lose your footing in the process I could do it now if you want,"

"No!No!" Tomas protested, " wait until morning,"

"Hmm," Ace chuckled," that's what I thought. Well then to the caves,"

They travelled down the circumference of the mountain. The carvings spiralled around a passage in the stone. They followed the dark path into the heart of the cave. Ace lit up a lantern on the wall illuminating the interior of the cave. Inside the walls were painted in the same fashion as the carvings.

"What is this?" Veretta asked inspecting the wall.

"It's the story of the gods," Ace replied, setting down his things.

He turned back to the cave painting and pointed to the figure who was depicted in shades of yellow above grey clouds.

"That is the goddess of love, Lome," Ace explained.

"The one who gave humans holy magic?" Tomas recalled.

"Right," Ace pointed to the bottom of the painting, "and below...that is the god of the moon. They are mortal enemies,"

"The god the demons pray to?" Veretta asked curiously.

"The one they used to pray to," Ace corrected, "the god of the moon was cast into the demon world by the goddess of love. He created all demons as he plotted his rebirth,"

"You say they used to pray," Tomas questioned, "why do the demons not pray to the demon god anymore?"

"Because they can't," Ace turned away from the wall, "most demons were killed in the great war three hundred years ago. The Demon god could not be allowed to complete his rebirth. In order to stop him, the Empress of Rotan destroyed the demon world in its entirety,"

"I thought you said only another god can kill a god," Veretta cast a doubtful eye upon Ace.

Ace smiled knowingly, " The Empress was an emissary of the goddess. She faced great trials and was rewarded with divine power."

"You seem to know a lot about the gods," Veretta commented.

"You cannot be dragged to the depths of darkness and return without knowing salvation," Ace sat back against the rock thoughtfully, "There may be evil gods in this world. But there are also gods of light and truth. I am grateful to the goddess of Love and the Empress. Her compassion is what saved me from the darkness. I believe it is what saved everyone,"

"But you said the demon world was destroyed.." Tomas hesitated, "your home was destroyed?"

"That place was never a place anyone could call home," Ace replied in a low voice, "it was a place infested with darkness and unimaginable suffering. It was a blessing that it was destroyed,"

"The master is correct," Yona said solemnly. It was unusual for her to willingly join in the conversation. Yet the subject seemed to congeal in her, a resolution that Tomas had never seen before.

"Well," Ace smiled glancing at Yona, "for those of us that managed to escape, we have a freedom in this world that was impossible in the demon world. The demon god was not a god people willingly worshipped. They were forced to worship him, such was his power,"

"Yet the empress of Rotan managed to defeat him?" Veretta asked with some interest.

"Yes," Ace said slowly, "but not without great sacrifice..."

"Sacrifice?" Veretta stared at him feeling an uncomfortable heaviness in her chest.

"You see, gods, no matter their intention, their powers are contained in the realms of the ethereal plane. For humans to use their powers, there is usually a price. The darkness I told you of, granted me great powers. In exchange, I lost everything. Nature takes a strange balance in the world of humans. Fortune or fate, whatever you call it, is pulled along by a great spiralling causality. The Empress, what little I know of her, she faced the same. Yet, somehow she conquered it. Though the full extent of her suffering, there is only one person alive who still knows it,"

"Who?" Tomas questioned.

"Well," Ace smiled a sort of begrudging smile, "that would be the grand wizard of Rotan,"

"Michael?" Veretta faltered, "he knew the Empress?"

"Of course," Ace shrugged, "and the Emperor. He was a member of the royal court after all. Thus his insufferable arrogance. He was even worse back then, to tell the truth. He wasn't always like that though. He changed when the Empress died. His rage and vengeance overcame him. That's what I was told. You remember I was only a young man myself. I didn't take much time to understand Michael and all his faults. I only had time to resent them,"

"Michael told me about his revenge. His family was killed by the demon, Clover" Veretta said flatly, "but it sounds like there was more to it than you've let on. Will you tell us the full story this time?"

"Well, since he told you himself, there's hardly any point in hiding it," Ace sighed, "I told you there was a war between humans and demons. But in truth, the greater battle was between the goddess of love and the moon god. Humans and demons were only their mediums. Just as the Empress was the emissary of the Goddess. Clover was the emissary of the moon god. Clover was a demon with incredible powers. Yet they had little interest in the war.

Still, they had their own family to protect. The Empress and Michael killed Clover's mother and father, forcing them to become the demon lord. Clover killed Michael's family and friends who fought in the war. It wasn't exactly revenge but it had the same effect. Thus, the feud spanned over a decade. The Empress had been incapacitated by the demon god, thought to be dead, leaving Michael to continue the battle on his own.

His methods became crueller and more despicable as a result. It was proposed to simply destroy the demon world once and for all. But Michael didn't condone the destruction of the demon world as he knew it would affect the balance of nature in the human world. For this reason, he was kicked out of the emperor's court. After that...he went off on his own and made the mistake that got my friend killed, as you know. But I meant what I said before. It wasn't just Michael's fault. It was mine as well. In punishment, he died and I lost the love of my life. The justice of fate is real. At least that's what I believe," Ace concluded in a quiet reverie.

"How did you lose Clover, if you don't mind me asking?" Tomas hesitated.

Ace glanced up at him with a grave expression, "That is..." he swallowed uncomfortably, "When Michael died I thought things would be over. I told you Clover wasn't interested in the war and they weren't. I was the reason they got involved again. To protect me and the other humans; To seal the moon god in the demon world; Clover released the Empress from the moon god's grip. In retribution, the moon god consumed Clover. They were possessed. There was no way to free them...so the Empress killed the moon god in Clover's body and destroyed the demon world to prevent his rebirth,"

"But you said you looked for Clover in the human world?" Tomas frowned.

"I did," Ace said bitterly, "I thought that gods..that they would see what Clover did and give them back to me. That's what Michael doesn't understand!" Aces' voice rose uncharacteristically, "Clover did the right thing in the end! They deserve mercy. If Clover is in the ethereal plane, it's because the gods recognise their sacrifice. I just don't know why they won't return Clover to me! I just...I just want to see them one more time...just once more..."

"So that's what happened..." came a voice from the distance.