Chapter 7 - The grey one

A grey-robed man sat cross-legged in the darkness, deep within a distant mountain cave. His features were lean and gentle, with dark grey hair, which grew out to the base of his neck, unkempt and parted down the middle. A staff was resting nearby, and all around him flickered orbs of cyan light that danced like fireflies. The elder’s eyes were tightly shut, but his chest rose and fell with a steady rhythm. For a moment he scowled, and then with a racking cough he spat forth a mouthful of blood.

The man in grey wiped his mouth, paying little mind to the streak of crimson across the back of his hand. His eyes opened. “Approach.”

A young man in a heavy black cloak entered the cave. He had a severe countenance, yet despite this his face softened like that of a child looking at a beloved parent when he gazed upon the man in grey. His voice was gentle when he spoke. “Your injuries…”

“Those children are no threat to me. These are mostly the old wounds stirring anew.” A contemplative light flashed through the Grey One’s eyes. “Battling against the heavens was no easy feat. It came at a price.”

This illness was an old devil his father struggled with, and it was not something could fix. Lord Geras would need to struggle with that battle on his own.

The Grey One greeted him with a question. “Why have you come?”

The corner of Ayanmo’s eyes twitched. It’d been several years since the two men last met, but his father didn’t offer the sweet warmth of rekindled family. Instead, the Grey One gave him the impression of an old friend who had fallen out of touch after a lengthy separation.

He didn’t used to be this way.

“Thunderflame has established contact” Ayanmo's face hardened. “Lady Janaina commands it herself. There’s no skirting around it now, she wants us to come for her.”

The grey one finally opened his eyes "Then we shall start our preparations...we finally have another chance to right our wrongs"

Ayanmo hesitated for a moment, but eventually replied. “What happens if we fail?”

“We’ve already accomplished the impossible, and the course we’ve set for the world cannot be undone. Even the likes of Oodua will have to bend to reality. When we are gone, there will a successor to carry our torch; stronger in ability, talent and spirit. It is history that makes heroes, and we have made history.”

Was there really such a person? Where were they now?

Ayanmo thought for a time and then nodded. “I understand.”

The Grey One looked at his son with a note of melancholy on his face. That boy was simultaneously his greatest achievement and deepest regret. Ayanmo had the potential to be an high god. If things had been different, he would have been a god admired and adored by millions.

He was just born in the wrong generation. Born in the wrong place. In the end, he was sent down a dark road there was no coming back from.

What did Ayanmo think about his fate? Did he consider himself blessed by destiny or cursed by it?

They shared some small talk for a few minutes before Ayanmo felt it was time for him to go. He still had a very important mission to undertake, one that would influence not just the entire course but the fate of his father as well.

“Father.” Ayanmo walked to the mouth of the cave before stopping. When he said the word he felt his heart flutter, and for a reason he didn’t understand there was a sudden pang of sadness that washed over him. “No matter what comes, I believe in you. This world needs your strength and wisdom. Please take care of yourself.”

This was the ingrained sentiment between a father and son.

After Ayanmo departed, another man in orange bearing a furled standard entered. Lieutenant to the grey one. He had a name but it had been abandoned the day the heavens abandoned him. These days he went by the name J. He stood awaiting commands from his master.

"It is time, prepare the gateway"

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Several months have passed and Rhema had been shuffling between training with the war god, learning with his teacher and visiting lady Janaina. His training had become even more difficult than he could imagine, his teacher rarely smiled anymore but lady Janaina was different, she seemed to engage him like a little boy and spoiled him however she could.

It was different from what he heard about her, her appellation was the thunderflame yet she seemed gentle like a mother advancing in age. Even with all her honesty, she spoke a lot but never revealed much about herself. He had also gotten used to the ever present gaurds around her. They never spoke or seemed to be alive. They just stood like statues or silently followed when She took him for a walk.

The night was still young when she sent Rhema back to his teacher. She was sat in her chambers. No one ever spoke in her house and she preferred it that way. What could they possibly say that the prideful primordial would listen to?

Lady Janaina was not herself. She hadn't been for many years, if she were telling the complete truth of things, but she could feel it now more than ever.

The instability in her thoughts. The erratic emotions that gripped her. Anxiety. Sorrow. But perhaps most of all, fear.

Fear of what? She could hardly tell anymore. Of everything, perhaps. Of all outcomes. All possibilities.

Ochala, her consort for many years, was gone. Consumed by chaos he swore to destroy. Rhema, his creation and one she took as her darling son, had no memory of her. Taken by the philosopher, Imila.

Her two greatest ties to this world. Severed.

She knew she was broken now. She had known it for some time. Tonights even will only make it much more clear to her. She took a few breaths and her cold demeanor was regained. The Thunderflame was a name gotten through her penchant for destruction. Tonight, Orundun nla will be reminded of a force not even the fates can change.

Suddenly, without warning…

A blinding light shattered the encroaching night, far in the distance. The starry sky was bright as day again for an instant, as though the sun had clawed its way back from sleep. It was several minutes later that the sound of a blast reached her.

Even at such a great distance Janaina still felt the earth tremble beneath her feet.

As the light faded from blinding white to angry red, it illuminated the mushroom-shaped cloud rising from the earth. When the sound finally reached them it was like a hundred thousand stampeding horses. The intensity of it was almost deafening. She couldn’t imagine what it was like closer to...

Janaina watched as that thin golden light vanished within the red glare. The explosion’s epicenter was the heart of Orundun nla, where the former godkings palace stood. Every patrol god and seraph who were station withing a hundred kilometers from there felt nothing, because their bodies were incinerated by atomic fire instantly.

For over a hundred years it had stood as the reminder of the former godkings glory and power. Now it was gone. This moment… this glorious moment heralded the birth of a new era.

Janaina stood up and she vanished in a flash of lightning