Chapter 1: Before The Gods

The Void gave birth to the first Primordials and from them heralded the mightiest beings ever known to man. These creatures whimsically played with the laws of nature and forged the world in their image. This is where our story begins, Eons before the birth of Zeus where Titans roamed unchallenged.

Life during this great era of myth was so chaotic that men of today could never survive the extreme environment. With landscapes separated by rivers of molten fire, smoulderingly barren mountains, obscured by the putrid gust of this planet's tyrannical sky. And the toxic sulphuric oceans barely covered a third of the world and thus making flora impossible to grow, the planet was just too fierce for frail plants to exist.

The night blankets the world in shadow, only the glow of thunderous skies and pools of lava can omit the darkness. Gale force winds blew and shifted the sky, herding the clouds towards a particular direction, this began to give the scenery an ominous feeling of foreboding.

Clouds above merging closer and closer together, as the sound of mischievous laughter drifted through this airy space. Only when the sky fully congealed atop a singular mountain did the laughter cease and an astral figure descended.

The lustful grin of this being could make any woman feel uncomfortable, it's the look of a wild beast hunting its next prey.

The mountain was known in legends as Mount Othrys, birthplace of Mother Gaia's mighty children and home to The Tyrant Uranus who saw his ilk as nothing but abominations. Feeling this way about his own children, he ripped open his brother Tartarus's creation and sealed them deep in the earth, far from his worldly gaze. Although unknown to him, within the far corners of this hollow earth one titan waits among his siblings, waiting with scornful patience for his opportunity to usurp the throne.

.....Sometime later.....

A deathly still night beneath the mountain, foul air whistled through the barren wasteland that is totally devoid of life. The putrid stench of sulphur from the molten magma seeping out of the ground and covered the surface in smog.

This scene depicted the worlds accursed torment and the unspeakable pain that Mother Gaia must bare in order for her children to live.

" AHHAAHHHHAAAAAAAAAHH !!!"

Suddenly the wind gusted violently as a deafening scream shook everything under heaven causing a minor earthquake.

The night sky electrified as lightning arced with crimson and struck the summit as rain slowly trickled down. Each drop fell with so much force that it could crack stone and its pigment wore a deep crimson hue, which made it appear like blood. But the golden sediment and blistering heat of this viscous liquid resembled something akin to lava.

Even after this rain of fire completely coated the land in a thick layer of blood it still continued to drench the whole mountain. It's as if this huge mass of stone will be whittled down by the sheer weight of this Primordial blood.

Atop the mountains peak an epic battle for succession is taking place between father and son, a clash so fierce that mortals of today can only shatter under the sheer force. The heart retching clang of metal reverberated across the world as the shock waves produced strong winds in all directions.

Every intelligent being on the planet could sense it, {A New Ruler Will Be Decided}.

.....Meanwhile.....

The blood pooled into cracks that were opened by the quake, this transcendent blood flowed with purpose surrounding any stone with unique properties. After encasing the stone completely it flashed white, raising the temperature to meltingly hot.

The lava folded and twisted constantly tempering whatever stone it swallowed up, further fusing different rocks together. Their shape started to deform into limb like structures, sometimes seeing claws and fangs float to the surface, this lava seems to forge creatures from something as common as stone.

Movement within slowly settled, the lava began to solidify around the stone like a shell, finally all of the smouldering and tempered stones burst forth thousands upon thousands of monstrous creatures. Each creature appeared to be a complete variant of the others, changes differ with sizes, gender and weaponry but one thing remains the same, they are all made from stone.

Everything that was born from stone embodied its properties, one stone in particular was deemed too brittle that even with the Primordial blood's life bearing ability couldn't produce a noteworthy creature. The stone itself was huge, around the size of a four-wheeler which did not matter in the face of the crimson lava that melted it like water on a hot pan. But the odd thing about this stone was that it absorbed more lava than expected, greedily robbing a majority of benefits from its unborn siblings.

As the sound of crackling stone deepened, a small and frail lifeform emerged, he stood rather short in stature no taller than 3ft. His own skin looked like cracked cobblestone stacked together so thinly that it barely formed into a seemingly humanoid appearance.

He playfully moved his arms and legs as he tried to discern his surroundings, this cave he's in is the original spot of his birth stone, which was rather spacious in his eyes. The small creature looked around accompanied by multiple sounds, from there he saw a few incomplete creatures like himself fused into the wall.

Small creature "What are you doing?"

He was confused, (Weren't they like me, then why aren't they moving?)

Questions he could not answer at the moment, so he left it at the back of his mind and continued to find his way out.

Unlike his monstrous brethren adorned in tough scales and poised with sharp claws that completely dwarfed his own arsenal, he could not jump out as effortlessly as his siblings.

Following a sloped path up he saw light shining at the end of the trench, joyfully he walked up to the entrance so he can climb out of the ditch that was no taller than your average man. By gritting his teeth he attempts to jump for the edge and pull himself up only to fall back down in an embarrassing fashion.

A frustrated Small creature "..."

The more he attempted to escape, the more flustered he became and so the faster he fell. The little creature felt vexed at his short disposition, but what he lacked in stature was made up for with intuition.

Gathering various spikes and claws of his incomplete brethren he proceeded to stab them into the earth in order to create foot holds for himself.

Having just barely enough materials to poke his head out of the ditch, instantly his world view became terrifying.

Monstrous beings far greater then himself assaulted his vision too numerous to count, (These are my kin) he thought whilst scrutinising himself.

Not even a minute since their birth his brothers and sisters all attacked one another in an attempt to decide which of them is the strongest among our generation. Truly a survival of the fittest, curiously the eyes of this small creature looked on with fear and caution. Trembling at the sight, but somewhere deep within him the fire of anger and jealousy yearned for the sheer might of his kin. Determined to find his own path he watched and learned how his siblings fought each other, if it was a dodge here or a stab there, the small creature absorbed it all with his intuitive eyes.

Not far from the tiny creature's position one of his brothers was blissfully consuming another, but this is not enough to satisfy it so he searched for his next meal. Unfortunately if it wasn't for his brittle exoskeleton this creature would have gone and attacked all the others that are currently fighting under the mountain. Luckily it spotted this lesser creature that was moving its tiny head around in the sanctity of a trench, seemingly weak looking he lunged at its location with an insatiable hunger in his eyes.

Lesson after lesson the little one observed his siblings combat as the immense battle raged onwards before him. Whether they were thin, fat or covered in spikes he noted down the various methods of which they fought in his mind. It was then that he noticed one of his brothers made a sudden change in direction, immediately decreasing the distance between them.

"Why is he coming this way? I'm nowhere close to being a worthy opponent." he pondered, but looking at his brothers monstrous face he knew that it's not coming here to fight.

The creature's mind screamed [DANGER!!!] he quickly scrambled and ducked into the trench as a sickled claw slashed above him, dodging death by a hair. It is as he thought, speed is a key factor when delivering an attack or evading one, although being fast helped him this time he realised that agility means nothing if you don't notice the attack first, he made quick note of this experience.

Sensing that it's claw had missed his prey, this monster crept down the trench and stood 7ft tall with long sickle claws, a glass like exoskeleton with six legs that resembled something akin to a praying mantis. This insectoid creature was borderline mindless only living off instinct and acquired an insatiable hunger for Primordial flesh (earthly skin). It appears that by consuming others of our likeness we can gain the life blood of our prey, no wonder the small creature's brothers and sisters killed each other so vigorously. But that goes without saying, he also desired this power so dying now is definitely not an option that the small creature can afford to pay.

The little creature found it doubtful that he could slay a monster almost three times bigger than himself although one thing is certain, he was not going to runaway.

By sizing up his opponent it thought of the best possible way to kill him. The insectoid believed that this tiny thing was just a weakling and he only needed a single swipe of his claw to end its life.

The monster stepped forward overconfidently slashing sideways from the right to which the tiny creature responds by leaning to the left and turned to lay flat on his back. What was 3ft became 0ft instantly, this angered the insect but this did not last long for his attack followed through and embedded itself into the side of the trench. Frustrated, the insectoid tried to pull its claw out of the rock although clearly not having any success besides making a crunching noise in-between it's joints.

As the monster struggled to get its claw free, underneath the appendage lays a little creature analysing his opponents movements, especially the crunching sound of its joint.

(Hmm that's the same sound of a crackling shell, maybe I could break it??) he thought.

Well in reality it was a little deeper in tone but we'll give it to him.

Thinking that a little bit more pressure will break its joint, he brought one knee close to his chest and the other foot planted deep into the ground. Exerting all its power he kicked his lower back off the ground and stabilised himself with his hands unleashing a fierce kick to the elbow. The crunch deepened as splintered stone fell to the ground, the small creature took this chance to flip over, using the elbow joint as a secondary platform. It's momentum propelled his legs around, hands still stationary he squated in a frog position and prepared for the next counter.

.....Crackle.... crack... Chrunch.....

The insectoid monstrosity attempted to free it's claw only to lose it, bewildered by the fact that he underestimated this little demon and trapped itself in this cramped space. Unlike him it was difficult for the insect to attack without making a significantly big opening and with only one claw it would be impossible if he can't catch him. The entrance is behind him, so awkwardly reversing out would leave his backside vulnerable to its siblings above, and turning around was out of the question.

[Authors Note: Hahaha I'm not trapped in here with you, you're trapped in here with me!!]

Likewise the little one was surveying its options too but with a lot more intelligence, it wondered why his brother came after him.

(Why does he want to feed on me? Look at me, my power will grant you nothing so why do you do this despite having so much?... why?... why?... WHY!??) He did not understand and this puzzled him so much. As he glanced at the insects broken arm he came to the realisation.

"Is it because your shell is weak!?"he asked, but this question fell on a unintelligent creature that flinched at the unknown sounds of this little creature.

After coming to this conclusion the small creature felt enraged at the thought of this brother attacking him simply because he was far weaker than the others. This dang insect was so afraid of our brothers and sisters that are only slightly stronger than itself, a coward that fears death so much should do everything in their power to get the upper hand in combat.

Responding to his enraged state the condensed amount of life blood within started to boil, accompanied by a crimson glow that can be seen through the cracks of his skin. Primordial blood so full of energy swelled up into his head and dyed the small creature's eyes a deep crimson, which made the previously cute creature look very intimidating.

Just when things were getting interesting a loud BOOM!! came from the sky followed closely by an earth shattering scream that surprised the creatures bellow.

"RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"

The earth shook ominously as the once frightening insect ceased its stand-off and then began prostrating in fear like scum begging for mercy.

The shaking cave loosened the embedded claw that fell next to the tiny ones feet as it snapped in half. Noticing this the small creature took the opportunity to grasp the sharpest end of the claw and sent a glance to this pitiful insect.

This former monstrous insectoid creature became terrified and submissive, completely due to a misunderstanding. In his eyes that little demon appeared to have cast a spell that made him glow red and shout a booming scream that shook the very earth.

But just because it's prostrating doesn't mean that it deserves mercy, without a second delay the little one cleaved its head clean off. He acted swiftly so it was painless and he made sure to control the claw so it went in-between the armour.

"If you have the resolve to kill, then you yourself must be ready to die trying" he concurred

Looking closely at its appearance the sense of envy assaulted him once more. It's dexterous legs can traverse any steep cliff, the streamline figure made it very fast and this sickle claw did quite a number on the cavern wall.

(If my brother had this much power then why did he not use them properly. It's frustrating that he took his gifts for granted and died so pitifully, if it were me I would have....) he thought deeply of what he would have done but none the less he still won.

Triumphant the small creature revelled in his victory whilst gazing up at the sky above. Justly so... for he was curious of what had caused the abrupt screaming he heard, it sounded close but it was actually far away. The little one popped its head out of the trench again, this time no one was fighting anymore, they all looked up with the same worried expression.

.....Then suddenly.....

The flow of air whistled as an ethereal colossus of a man was falling from the mountain, his appearance was as if he were the personification of the sky itself although he was too far away from them to discern his proper appearance.

Adorned in lush robes and a chiselled figure, with a rather picturesque face followed by a set of long ivory hair that arced with lightning, he truly is the definition of Primordial. Still something looked amiss for he was riddled with wounds and seemed determined to escape from whatever is chasing him down from the mountain. Closer and closer he fell as his figure became bigger, so big that he could easily crush our little battlefield with a mere palm. But before that could happen he made a grabbing motion in the air and pulled it across his body, the air manifested a tornado that enveloped the colossus.

Clouds parted as this Primordial deity soared across the sky whilst shedding blood throughout the land, curiously both the small creature and his brethren had an inborn filial understanding, that this deity was most likely their father. For his blood is what gave them life so being the new born of this titan, the connection between them was still as they say fresh out the oven.

His fathers blood reacted fiercely when it came in contact with any substance so having it further melding into the creatures earthly exterior only benefits can be seen in their future. The same can be said for the little one, the blood itself was so heavy that it knocked him back down the trench and fell on top of the insect's corpse. As wave after wave repeatedly pinned him down he started changing as he absorbed both the Primordial blood and the energy that's still within the insect's carcass.

Awakened from his euphoric transformation he analysed the improvements to his body and heightened intellect, almost satisfied with the result. Sadly his height remained the same but its skin was tinted with a red hue and accompanied by a slight metallic lustre. When he was admiring the new colour wondering what kind of magical properties it had, the mountain in front of him rumbled immensely.

The mountain permeated its surroundings with a thick cloud of dust as it quaked over and over again in a almost rhythmic pattern that sounded a lot like running. The dust cleared as the creature capable of making a mountain quiver stood a mighty 150 metres tall and unlike his elegant looking father, he appeared as a more fearsome existence.