Chapter 8

'Welcome one, welcome all to the first-ever gods battle royale where the most prominent, worst and greatest gods will battle for our future, both human and gods alike. The battle is going to run for fifty rising and setting suns with the fights happening on what the humans call the beginning of the 'week'. Five matches in the preliminary round and three battles in the deciding series before the last two which will seal our fate.

Here comes the line-up:

Laiithu vs Malaiwu

Anthuina vs Jacilis

Bathra vs 'She'

Lovina vs Kasali'

      

Kiluaroth vs Zadra

You could almost smell it in the air, the feelings of all gods; those participating and watching. The particular planes of those engaged in fighting for the ideals superimposed on the other gods were dangerous to cross. A full moon cycle filled with training for them and me, and though I still had more time than a moon to prepare, I had tasked myself with more practice. Though the truth would be that Arthy had gone overboard during this time teaching me skills above skills about all of them. Even though we knew that it would be only one god against me, he thought it wise to train me for all of them due to the fact we had no idea who would win.

All the gods had taken it upon themselves to train their followers to step in should they meet their end. By the end of this match; 9 gods would have been permanently destroyed, and maybe I would emerge the winner.

Zadra had begun putting his knowledge into writing. Everything from creation to the time we were at, he had given it all to his followers while still telling them how great he was. Though as a god of both past and future knowledge, he did say he knew the winner of the final match, when it came to telling the rest, he couldn't speak up. Even writing became difficult. It was a limit not everyone was aware he had, but a limit a lot were not happy existed.

For gods like Laiithu, Malaiwu and Kiluaroth whose powers controlled the seasons, work was harder than usual training lesser beings whose skills were specific to one aspect of theirs. They had formed what seemed like a council which would call on more gods should they perish. The other gods adopted their way of reasoning, and this period wasn't only spent with training but with preparing for a future. Instead of one god controlling ten different actions, we had ten gods doing the jobs. And as more gods were created, there was less space for each of them.

Laiithu and Malaiwu were even more different than their powers would suggest since Lai was of the human plane, and Mala was a gift bestowed to them. This caused a collision of fists, people and forces rather than just words. Their personalities were more chaotic than their powers would lead you to believe. Because of this, nobody without a death wish would get in the middle of them. There had never been a time of peace between them or their followers since the dawn of time until the unfortunate incident that we must never speak of.

Anyways, the point was that they were ready, had been prepared since whenever they came to be, and either one of them was prepared to terminate the other's life force.

Fingers crossed and hope not to die but today is not about me, it's about the first match between Laiithu and Malaiwu; Water versus Fire. The area consecrated for the games was a full patch of land which had each of its points in every God'sgod's plane; all 500 of them. It had been a land nobody had sovereignty over and was perfect for deciding the faith. A barren land of which nothing grew, flew or thrived and was chosen for that exact reason. Because it was so desolate an area, it posed no advantage to any god. So, whoever would win had to be smart and take advantage of whatsoever you had in your arsenal.

Moving on, the gods had gathered, the human was seated in the middle, music was playing, the other gods had rallied at the sides, and yet, they had not arrived. We were waiting, but as the sun changed position twice, the human grew weary and requested a timeout. She was only to be disturbed when the 'guests of honour arrived'. Lo and behold, as she stood up from her seat, in their regular fashion, they came hurtling from the sky to the ground. The force with which they landed pushed us far, and without waiting for our words, the fight had commenced.

No one knowing who was going to win was a lie. From the wars they had waged on mankind, the gods were sure it was going to be a simple battle. Water would win, but as the fight continued, their thoughts changed. Mal, upon reaching the ground, set everything on fire and donned her fiery armour with her sword almost reaching 5 feet high. With the ground burning; fire wisps mid-flight and fire so dangerously close to him, Lai was stuck keeping his armour intact and so for the first few minutes was kept on the defending.

The gods had gotten off their seats chanting both names and screaming their own words of advice when the dynamic of the game shifter. Lai had steadily been draining water to the ground, and her fireballs had steadily reduced until the ring of fire was only around both of them. 'I wish this was not our final battle, but I'm happy that once again, I am victorious.' The girl had been watching with rapt attention, and it was at this moment that she realized how foolish she was to have ever agreed to be the saviour. I couldn't hear her thoughts, but I could guess they went like this: 'How am I supposed to beat the winner when I am sure I wouldn't have beaten the loser?' 'If every fight should go like this, then humanity can kiss their sorry behind goodbye because I wouldn't and can't win.'

As her thoughts grew darker and darker, the fight became one-sided once more with Lai leading and wiping the floor with Mal's face and body. She could no longer conjure her sword or her fireballs, neither her fiery armour nor bow and arrows. All she was left to doing was defending and hoping that he slipped off. It didn't dawn on her, or she couldn't anticipate the final blow, a slice to her neck and ultimately her death as she watched him lift her head in celebration. It was unfortunate for her, but the battle had ended not in her favour.

As we moved on to the next battle, the gods had complained that if fighting physically was all they were expected to view, then they could have their bellies full with the humans below. Humans were very creative with their battles; a game of certain words could change the battlefield, and not every war was fought with swords and fists. The feelings the last second in fighting invoked were powerful, and they got off on it. Because of this, both gods had to select their terrain and confirm to it. There were no rules on the fights, nothing constituted as dirty fighting, and so everyone went all out. The human was using what was happening as a means to learn and prepare.