Chapter 1: A Family's Last Day

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting the small village of Athalos in a warm golden hue. It was a peaceful place, nestled between vast forests and rolling hills, far from the grand temples of the gods that stood like monolithic giants in the cities. Here, life was simple. A little too simple for Elias.

At 17 years old, Elias knew the weight of the world was outside his quiet home, where he lived with his mother, father, and younger sister, Liora. His mother, Seris, was a kind-hearted woman with a quiet strength. His father, Darius, had once been a warrior, though those days were long past. The memories of battles fought for coin, before the gods' dominance had grown too strong, were buried beneath the quiet life he now led as a farmer. And his sister, Liora—bright-eyed, with an unshakable optimism—was everything to him. He protected her with his life.

Elias always found himself caught between worlds. He was strong, but not strong enough. He had the will to fight, but there was no cause, no purpose beyond the day-to-day grind. His family would often talk about the great warriors of old—the heroes who had once fought in battles of myth and legend, but those tales were ancient. Now, only the gods fought. And the humans… they lived under their rule, trembling beneath the weight of divine beings who claimed dominion over their very existence.

That day, like every other, started simply. Elias worked the fields with his father, the two of them planting seeds and tending to the land. It was the kind of life that wore on a person, but it had its rewards—the smell of the earth, the cool breeze that whispered through the trees, and the laughter of his sister in the distance as she played by the riverbank.

In the evening, the family sat down to dinner, as they always did. Seris had prepared their usual meal: fresh bread, vegetables from the garden, and roasted meat. Liora was humming softly, her face full of joy, her innocence a balm to the quiet tension Elias felt within himself.

"How was the work today, Elias?" his father asked, looking up from his plate.

"Same as always," Elias replied, cracking a smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Just enough to keep things going."

"You're growing stronger every day," his father said, his tone proud. "You'll be ready to take over when I'm too old for this life."

Elias laughed. "I'm not sure I want to take over this life. There's nothing left here but dirt and dust."

His father's eyes softened. "Don't be too quick to judge, son. This life may not seem much, but it's ours. And the gods won't take that from us. Not unless we let them."

But Elias knew that was a lie. The gods had already taken everything from humanity. Their divine interference, their judgment, had left people like his father with little choice but to bow to them. Everyone knew it.

"Are you sure you want to spend your life here?" Liora asked, her voice sweet, but full of curiosity. "You're so strong. You could be a hero! Like the ones in the stories. You could go to the cities and fight the gods."

Elias chuckled, ruffling his sister's hair. "I'm no hero, Liora. I don't even know how to fight."

"You could learn," she insisted, looking at him with bright eyes that believed anything was possible. "You could be the one to stand up to the gods."

Her innocence was painful, a reminder of how small and powerless they were in this world. But Elias didn't have the heart to crush her dreams. So he smiled and said nothing, simply watching as she returned to her meal.

The rest of the evening passed quietly, with the family sharing stories, laughter, and comfort, their lives as ordinary as any other. But deep within Elias, something was stirring—something restless. The idea of being just another farmer, another insignificant mortal, gnawed at him. He wanted more.

That night, as Elias lay in bed, he stared out the window at the starry sky. In the distance, he could see the faint glow of the god's realm—tall, shining towers of gold and marble where the gods resided, untouched by the troubles of humanity. Their power was absolute, their will iron-clad. And humans like him had no place in their world.

But deep down, Elias felt something building inside him. A hunger for something more than this life. A hunger that, if left unchecked, could consume him.