by Asher, Yarid
GODS OF ASEROTH:
THE PRODIGAL SON
BY: YARID ASHER
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” John Emereich Edward- Dalberg Acton
CHAPTER 1
The dawn of time was spectacular. When time began, there was nothing except a being known as Saulus, and time itself. Saulus was a god floating around in nothingness. There was darkness all around but all that soon changed when Saulus created the Universe. He forged the entire universe with his own hands. He created light and separated it from darkness. He created stars and planets; He created galaxies and created 8 realms. These 8 realms were home to the only living beings in the entire universe. Saulus created all the species and handed them the realm to live on, but Saulus was wise, for he knew that the lust of power was imminent. He knew he could not tend to all the realms, at the same time and give all the equal amount of attention therefore he created deities to rule over the realms. He created heavens for all the deities to reside in and underworlds for the dead who were troublesome. The dead who were good simply reincarnated as another being but some lucky ones escaped the system and made it into the heavens of the realm.
After he was done giving the realms what they needed, he rested but soon, he felt lonely therefore he created two more gods but this time, with his own blood and flesh. He created a female named Asurot and a male named Dadurot. Both were immortal, beautiful creatures but Dadurot was cunning. Though Dadurot was cunning, Asurot was wiser and therefore, had control over him. Though both were born at the same moment, Asurot, because she was wiser, acted as the older sister.
Saulus gave them everything. They had freedom of doing anything, including, visiting other realms and the liberty to befriend anyone the desired to be friends with. They loved everything for a few thousand years, until they began realizing, they were not recognized as one of the main gods of any of the realms. This was heart-breaking for both but they decided to change it. As they floated in the void of the universe, they discussed:
“Brother Dadurot,” said she, “We shall create our own realm, and make it the best out of all of the realms.”
“You are right sister, we shall create a realm and I shall rule over it.”
Asurot smiled “We shall see about that.”
Soon, they both visited their father. Saulus, who was now a happy lord of the universe, tried to be funny, but this was a serious matter, for the two gods were still in their prime. Although he was worried, he permitted them to forge another realm for he wanted to know how capable they were.
“My children, I hold you dear to my heart, therefore, I shall grant you the ability to forge your own realm, but remember, you shall only forge one and no more.”
“Thank you father,” Dadurot said happily in his hoarse voice “We shall create a realm even better than the ones you created.”
Saulus laughed, for he knew there was no possibility of his children to be better than him, at anything. He was also worried that they would not be able to handle a responsibility of such proportions.
“But remember my children you will not receive another chance. Creating a realm and ruling over it rightly and justly without abusing one’s power is nearly impossible. And if you do so, the consequences will be immense, for you would be putting lives at risk.”
Asurot knew that her brother, Dadurot, might do such a thing but she had a plan in her head, therefore she agreed and both left to forge their own realm. They picked the best galaxy out of the ocean of galaxies for their realm. It was a place where no stars ever crossed, which would hit and destroy realms, but still it was surrounded by enough stars to make the sky look beautiful at night. They chose a huge rock and chose it to be their realm and named it Thraenus and gave it two Suns and a moon.
In the beginning, Thraenus was nothing but a massive rubble. The ground was not strong, the sea was not water and the air was not soft and transparent but it all changed when Asurot and Dadurot forged it. They gave it purpose. They both made life on Thraenus and it came in all different shapes, sizes and types but out of all the hundreds and thousands of species, Humans were the most prized. Though there were many other species that had the power to rule over humans, Asurot liked humans.
After the siblings were done forging Thraenus, they rested and slept for 100 years, but when they woke up from their slumber, they saw that their creation had gone bad. There was chaos on Thraenus, everyone, trying to take over the other. Brother was killing brother, father was killing family, and innocent blood was being shed. Asurot was angered by these actions of Thraeniuns, but Dadurot saw it as a chance of coming in and ruling the world but Asurot knew it was to be a bad decision and she knew Saulus would not be pleased by loss of life at such a magnitude.
Both decided to give Thraenus a ruler, a ruler that would be just like them, a god. Dadurot elected himself but Asurot chose a simple, humble, old human man and made him a god. Since she was the direct descendant of Saulus, she had the authority to do so. Dadurot was not given the authority, for Saulus knew he would abuse it. Asurot herself became the goddess of the Heavens and Aseroth, a part of the heavens where she resided and Dadurot became the god of the underworld. Though he did not like being the ruler of dead people who were as good as a hay stack, he took the responsibility anyways, for he knew this was his only chance to rule over something. Shamaun, who was the chosen one, became the god of Thraenus.
After this god was appointed, Thraenus finally found order. The spilling of blood stopped and everyone found peace but still, there were those who did not accept Shamaun as the king and god of Thraenus, and revolted against him.
Dadurot, knowing his sister did not like bloodshed and the fact that underworld was slowly filling up, created a prison in the core of the Thraenus called Ratarus which held live individuals, for eternity, and created three guardians to protect and guard the prison. They were also given the task to maintain peace in Ratarus and kill the ones who dared escape Ratarus. Thousands, who revolted, were imprisoned and finally, all the massacres stopped.
Asurot, happy with the ingenuity of her brother, congratulated him and both went to a long, peaceful slumber in their own residences, Aseroth and Underworld; But, Shamaun had other plans. He married a woman named Erinna, an orc who he had a son with. She pushed him to a point where he was no longer humble and simple, for he longed for more power, power over Aseroth, Heavens and the Underworld. To make sure he got what he craved for, he forged the sword of chaos, the strongest dark energy weapon, and turned himself into a seven headed, fire breathing dragon. He was the strongest being in all of Thraenus, and he was filled with dark energy. Even Asurot and Dadurot couldn’t stop him. He also assembled an entire army of the strongest and filled them with evil energy and turned them into cruel creatures and called them the Shamuns, his forces. He prepared for battle with the gods. Dadurot, seeing that if he lost this battle he would never be able to gain control again, asked Asurot to create more gods to help them, and she did. She made 73 gods, and made all of them to rule one specific thing and gave them room in Aseroth to live in.
Shamaun was intimidated by the gods but he did not stop and continued following his plan to fight the gods. People on Thraenus were not happy with this decision and resisted against Shamaun too. The leader of the resistance was Shamaun’s own son, Samael, along with three of his friends, Katos, Colossus and Geluna.
Samael stole the sword of chaos, forged in Mount Dabaccan, the highest mountain on the planet the mountain in whose bosom laid the gate of Ratarus, and imprisoned his 7 headed dragon-like father and his entire army, alive, into the darkest and deepest corners of R
atarus. During the process, there was a massive genocide. There was one simple mistake that Samael had made, which was that he had entered Ratarus to imprison his father and came back out which angered the Guardians. Though Samael’s reasoning was right, his way was wrong because anyone who entered Ratarus and wasn’t a god, wasn’t allowed to come out. After the imprisonment of Shamaun, Samael was the new king of Thraenus but he could not rule, for the guardians were after him.
After all was done, the great battle was over, Asurot slumbered and the new gods were looking over the creations but soon, they went to sleep too. Everything in the realm was peaceful but Samael was not at peace. Because he had wielded the sword of chaos, even if it were for just some moments, just for the sole purpose of locking it away in mount Dabbacan, he became evil. The dark energy from the sword had entered his heart and he had started treating the citizens of Thraenus badly. He knew that the guardians might find him, therefore he divided Thraenus into three parts and gave it to his friends.
Since Samael was now filled with dark energy, he forced his friends and gave them dark energy as well.
Strinthius was Colossus’s kingdom, Agnithius was Katos’s kingdom and Gelus was Geluna’s kingdom. Strinthius was known for its wealth and giant structures, Agnithius was known for its immensely strong army and Gelus was known for its queen’s beauty and the harsh conditions its people lived in. The witch of Gelus, Geluna, had the power to manipulate plants and trees as well.
Samael, after he had divided Thraenus, ran into the mountains and built himself a cave in which he slumbered for two millennia alongside his wife, Temuna. Both hoped that the guardians would die of old age but little did they know, in order for the guardians to die, they had to be killed and they were very strong, so his chances against them were very weak, especially without the sword of chaos. But Samael was a clever man and he knew that eventually, he would come up with a way to kill the Guardians; therefore he put weaknesses in the rulers. When he made them immortal with his dark energy, he created three weapons, a gauntlet, a spear and a gladius to kill them.
These were the only ways to kill them but he had to make sure that no one else knew about these, therefore he hid these on a hidden valley in the big sea and put the only dragon in existence, as a guard there whose name was Ezhak. He also put a magical being there, called Lutman. While he was doing all this, one of the 73 gods, Remases, woke up from his slumber and saw him do so. Since Remases, the god of the sea, was too weak to do anything against him, he learned the way to kill the rulers and the place where Samael hid the weapons and waited for Asurot to wake up from her slumber.
After two millennia, the three rulers still lived, and their cruel reign still continued but now, the gods had awakened from their slumber and Remases had told them the entire story. The gods finally had realized what was going on Thraenus and decided to act up against it.
Asurot, angered that everyone had gone corrupt with absolute power, decided to call a council with all the gods and the Guardians present. The council was held in Aseroth. Aseroth was a beautiful place. The streets were made of gold and the columns were silver. The floor was clouds and the roof was a vast void filled with stars. The gods sat around a gold table, encrusted with diamonds and sat on chairs made of clouds and a great debate occurred. At the end of the debate, Asurot told them that she would create and send her son, the would-be prince of gods, to defeat all of the rulers and restore peace on Thraenus, because she knew Saulus would not be happy with all the hatred on the realm. The guardians, knowing the potential threat, warned her,
“Beware, Asurot” said the head Guardian “If he grows up and has foul desires such as revenge, hatred or mischief, he shall perish. And if he grows corrupt, like the rest did, we will have to kill him.”
Asurot was still firm in her decision.
“Sister, if your son fails and perishes” Dadurot told Asurot with a smirk on his face, as a sign that he knew her son was to fail “I will have no choice but to rule the realm that you do not wish me to rule.”
Asurot was worried a little bit because she knew the potential danger, because all those who received power would grow evil and try to take over Aseroth, but she had faith in her would-be son “I will accept the consequences, whatever they shall be” Asurot said with firmness in her voice “I have faith, besides, he will be our only hope. He is the only way for us to dodge the wrath of father.”
She dismissed the council and got ready. She cut the smallest finger on her pale right hand and dropped it on the ground. The blood immediately stopped and another finger took the old finger’s place. She put her hand over the finger and out of the blood and flesh and bone, a child was born. She forged her son herself, and a new god was born; a god, with special purposes to fulfill.
She picked him up and threw him out of the heavens, onto Thraenus. The mystical child, the majestic being, was brown in color with black eyes. He cried while he fell through the skies but a giant raven caught him in its beak and took him to the frozen lake in Gelus. The raven was sent by Asurot and was given the orders to take the child to the outskirts of Gelus. It dropped the child in a peasant woman and her son’s hands and flew away.
Asurot, still wanting to protect her baby, told the woman the whole purpose of this and the woman decided to help the Goddess and raised the baby boy as her own. Now, the woman had two sons, one was her own, and one was a god, a god that would bring the world to peace, once again.
CHAPTER 2
“Get up, lazy bums” said Mrs. Adne Poppins, the mother of Leosher and Virgil, while smiling and pulling the rags off of them “You both have work to do.”
Virgil was the first one to get up “Mother, it is dawn, why are you waking us up so early?”
Mrs. Adne smiled and walked over to her older son “We are all out of wood. You have to go cut down trees and get the wood for our burrow and to sell it in the market as well.”
Leosher woke up too “Mother, let me sleep a little more.”
“No Leosher, get up.”
“Do you have the bread ready for me to take to the market to sell?”
“Yes son, and your brother will join you after he sells all the wood.”
Leosher nodded and both brothers got out of their stone hard beds and used water from a stream running besides their house, a burrow rather, to wash their faces and their beards. Though the youngest, Leosher, was only 18 years old, he had a thick black beard.
Then the older brother, Virgil went on to cut down trees in the jungle and the younger brother, Leosher went on to sell the bread, as his mother wanted him to.
He walked on the grassy plains, in the cold, with his rags and a buffalo skin coat on, towards the town center, where the markets were. When he got to the market, he chose a place next to his beloved, Meagon, who was the daughter of Buntius, a low class wizard and the leader of the Union. She was rich but she sold potions just to so she could spend some time with Leosher. She was an excellent potion maker and a great warrior, undoubtedly the best female one in the town.
At dawn, both would pack up their stalls and go to the frozen lake that was right beside the town. They would sit at the bank and spend time talking. But this day, the routine was disturbed. The Gelun soldiers came in the market for the tributes. Geluna took children and forced them to work for her and join her army. She also forcefully took money from the already poor people.
All were scared, so everyone in the market gave their shares to the leading horseman of the convoy, but Leosher did not. He stood up against them and stood for what was right. He tried to make the soldiers stop taking the tributes but a fight broke out.
It was all unfair. The fight was against young Leosher and two dozen of the heavily armed Gelun soldiers but soon after his brother Virgil joined him, they odds became even. Both were very strong, Virgil, because he was a wood cutter and had a keen interest in bounty hunting, but nobody knew why Leosher was strong. He was the strongest in the entire town but he was the most caring one in the entire
town as well. When the soldiers had left because the brothers were too much for them, they started packing up the left overs and left for their burrows but little did they know, the soldiers had held a grudge and shot an arrow from far away. The arrow pierced through Leosher’s back and into his stomach but luckily, he was the most favorite young man in the town and help arrived immediately. His brother immediately took him back to their burrow where his mother and the town’s doctor cleaned the wound and put him to sleep.
On the other hand, the Gelun soldiers came back, with reinforcements. They were wearing heavy armor with a mark on them. The mark was a tiara made of vines. This was the mark of Geluna, the queen and witch of Gelus, the kingdom in whose outskirts, Leosher and the others lived. She was an evil witch who could control plants and trees. She put life in them and made those pure beings do terrible tasks. The Gelun soldiers destroyed the entire market and took prisoners with them. Nobody was able to help, for the brothers were in their burrow. The town was devastated once again but it was habitual and the residents were accustomed to it….
At dusk, evening, Mr. Buntius and his daughter came to the burrow to meet and congratulate Leosher for his bravery.
“Oh, Buntius, my old friend, I was not expecting to see you right now, at this time of the day” said Mrs. Adne, trying to hide all the dirt from the chairs near the fire place.
“It is not of problem” replied Buntius, while smiling “We are old friends Adne, there have to be no formalities between us.”
He sat down on the chair and sent his daughter to help Adne with the tea. Meanwhile, Virgil woke up Leosher and brought him out.
“Son, what happened? Tell me the entire story.”
“It was not a big deal. The Gelun soldiers were taking tributes and I tried to stop them” replied Leosher, and then he looked at Virgil “if it weren’t for my brother, I would have been dead.”