CHAPTER 11: THE GODS' VENDETTA
The enchanted well of elegarii, into which the waterfall tumbled down with all its creatures of creativity and imagination, was located in a sacred forest in Halgard. A forest where for thousands of years all trees always grew in circle, from the largest circle about a kilometer in diameter, all the way in, to the smallest circle about five meter in diameter, and in the middle was the well of elegarii.
Specially-trained guards were on patrol at all times around the outermost perimeter of the forest to ensure noone could get in without permission.
Elegarii, the river of inspiration, as well as the well of elegarii became a treasure of Halgard.
But what happened to Ares?
Ares was punished, but with his charm to his mother Hera, he got the queen of Olympus to speak in his defense in front of Zeus.
Hera was persistent for a long time before finally Zeus relented.
Ares was freed from his punishment in a solitary jail under a mountain, and the god of war was darker, angrier, and hellbent on a revenge against the descendants of Metiocles – the one who had tricked him, humiliated him, and caused him to be captured and punished by Zeus.
Halgard and Apollo became the focus of his hatred.
The god of war planned his revenge carefully, he did not want to be on a direct collision course with Zeus to save himself from the humiliation that came with such encounter.
He had to use another means to bring Halgard down. Taking control of Halgard also meant taking elegarii, and taking elegarii meant he could slap Apollo real hard on the face, embarrassing him in front of all the gods in Olympus.
Ares decided that he had to use Myrana.
Kingdom of Myrana was the archnemesis of Halgard. Myrana kings and queens had tried to capture Halgard, to lay claim on the rich fertile lands and the profitable sea trading route that were part of Halgard, and of course, to capture elegarii. Wars had been waged between the two kingdoms for centuries.
Thus Ares secretly wooed beautiful Queen Leidra of Myrana, the sorceress-queen of the kingdom who practiced dark magic and known for her brutality and treacherous schemes.
The queen saw that the god of war was a much needed source of support, and agreed to be Ares' mistress.
The fact that the well of elegarii – with permission from the ruler of Halgard - could serve as a sort of a tunnel to send human from Halgard universe to other universes was what made it even more precious, even more important for Ares and Leidra.
This was something that Ares and Leidra had planned to do: To conquer Halgard, install Leidra as the queen in Halgard, and take possession of the sword of Zeus. Then the queen, as the ruler of Halgard, would give permission to their soldiers to jump into the well by stabbing the sacred sword into the elegarii, thus sending their brutal evil warriors down the well, spreading war and destruction in all universes, times and places, and dealing one, final, brutal blow to Zeus' pride.
For Ares specially, the throne of Olympus might even be his as the ultimate prize if Zeus was weakened enough and enough gods could be won to be on his side. Those petty, shallow, bickering gods whose loyalty was only to power, and self-preservation. Those gods that would for sure kneel before him if he could gain access to elegarii and embarrass Zeus for all eternity.
And he would take his revenge against Apollo by making him watch his river of inspiration became the river of death, the river where nothing swam in there. In Ares' plan, elegarii would become a symbol of death and nothingness, of creativity stuck and inspiration destroyed. All as an homage to his dominion as the god of war.
Ares and Leidra stroke a deal.
Ares would help Leidra conquer Halgard, if Leidra let him have the full control of the river of elegarii and the well when Halgard fell into Myrana's grip. Ares showered Leidra with promises that she could use elegarii too, no problem about that, and that Ares would marry Leidra in a lavish wedding both on Olympus, and in Myrana and Halgard, to formally elevate her to be the consort of the god of war.
Queen Leidra, whose heart had always been so dark, so callous, agreed.
Thus an alliance was formed between Ares and Queen Leidra.
Soon after, Halgard was under massive attack by Myrana. Halgard, under the command of King Rovan, fought bravely. His enchanted sword, the reward from Zeus to Metiocles, killed many Myranians by sending sharp, tiny, thunderbolts that exploded on their face.
But the sword was not enough because Ares helped Queen Leidra by sending vicious winged snakes, his pets, to attack the thunderbolts, dampening the effect of the enchanted sword on Myrana's forces.
The winged snakes, along with Leidra' black magic that made sure the sky was always dark like nighttime, and all the food supplies went bad, had pushed Halgard to the brink of defeat.
Apollo and Zeus knew what was happening of course. However, they also realized that getting involved in a direct confrontation with Leidra and Ares meant they opened a possibility of the gods' civil war.
At that time, the gods of Olympus had started taking sides, albeit quietly.
Most notably, Hera supported her son Ares, so did some other gods in Olympus who secretly believed the drunkard Ares would be a more "manageable" king if they put him on the throne of Olympus.
The ripple of the potential strife was felt far and wide, not just in Olympus. Hades, the brother of Zeus, who held dominion over the underworld, also took Ares' side because he had always hated Zeus for giving him the underworld as his dominion. He had always wanted the light and glory of Olympus.
Poseidon, Heracles, Athena had not made their decision yet and keenly watched the unfolding situation and made their own calculation.
Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, the goddess of the moon and hunt, clearly supported her brother, so did Hephaestus, the god of fire, volcanoes, and blacksmiths, who felt that he owed Apollo and the Halgardians some thankfulness because they helped salvage a shred of his dignity by helping in the capture of Ares, who had an affair with his wife Aphrodite.
Zeus and Apollo knew that seeds of mutiny had started to grow among the major gods all the way to the more minor deities – each with its own ambition and scheme. The bubbling trouble just beneath the surface threatened the precarious stability in Olympus, the stability that had endured since the gods' victory against the titans in the Battle of the Titans milennias before.
This need to maintain some semblance of peace and stability in Olympus, thus ensuring Zeus' grip in the throne, led Zeus and Apollo to the tough decision to let Halgard fend for themselves.
They only made sure no other god got involved in the human war, as they called the war between Halgard and Myrana."Let the human fight their wars. We stay out of this! We have given Halgardians their rewards for helping us catch Ares, now it is up to them to defend the rewards!" that was what they said.
So under the watchful eyes of Zeus, as well as the thin-veiled threats, and intense charm offensive from the Olympus' favourite Apollo, all of the gods maintained somewhat indifferent stance toward Halgard and Myrana war, The War of Elegarii, as they referred to it.
They pretended to be indifferent maybe a more accurate description, because they did keep an interest on what happened at the war, albeit discreetly, to ensure they did not come under Zeus' radar.
Thus, Halgard was alone and in a deep trouble.
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Xander sighed. His expression turned much more gloomy now. In the dim light of the living room, his blue eyes almost seemed to glow.
Airin struggled to pry her gaze away from the eyes of Xander. Such beautiful color. It must be electric blue, that is the name of that colour. Is he human? I just assume he is ... that was thought that went through Airin's mind.
Xander took a deep breath as his eyes fixed on something out there, out in the rain. The night had grown late, and Airin could not even begin to decide how she could make sense of Xander's story. Or how to close her mouth that now seemed to be in a permanent O shape.
"I really hope you are not lying to me, Xander ..." she finally whispered as her eyes glanced the thin, medium length sword sheathed in an all-black scabbard that was still laying on her coffee table.
Her worst fear might be coming true – Xander was a serial killer, which may also be a magician, with such elaborate plot to kidnap and kill her, a stranger and absolute noone. Her body shook by now as she took a couple steps back, closer to her apartment's door, getting ready to bolt.
Xander stared at her, and shook his head. "No, I do not lie to you, Airin. How could I lie to someone who has helped me and Lyanna?"
Xander took a deep breath, looked down to the floor, and took another deep breath. He was thinking hard about something.
Lyanna let out a gentle groan, turned around, and almost fell from the couch. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and started crying.
"I want my Father!" she sobbed, her thin shoulder heaved up and down as she struggled to contain herself. "I do not want to die in the war, Uncle. I am scared!" she wailed louder.
Xander looked at Airin with an expression of helplessness, and it became clear that he had not spent much time at all with children before.
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