Harqual: Mythology and History!

[Knightfall]

The Sword Strikes into Celestia
Kuil had heard the rumors of a planned invasion by the Sword Gods, but not even Cronn would have suspected this. Kuil watched in disbelief as dark soldiers, mercenaries, and fiends came through a portal from somewhere in the Outlands.

Jalivier had asked his son to find out as much as he could about the ‘rumored’ invasion and where it was to strike. The God of Rogues and Illusion had sent his followers to spy on the Sword Gods followers to gather as much information as possible.

There efforts, as well as the god’s own abilities had led Kuil to the first layer of Celestia, Lunia. Now, his primary Avatar watched from behind a powerful illusion, while another stood with Jalivier in the Citadel of Light.

“There are hundreds of thousands of them, father.” Kuil was worried about the many communities located on the edge of the shores of Lunia.

Many of the communities’ champions had rode out to meet the initial group of evil soldiers to come through the portal. Soon, thousands of mercenaries had poured through as well and some of Lunia’s greatest heroes, both mortal and petitioner, quickly fell to the hordes.

“Hiisi has been busy,” Jalivier stood next to Cull, Inanna, and Cronn in the Great Hall of the Citadel of Light, as well as his son’s Avatar. “This is sooner than expected. We will not have time to gather a united force.”

“We cannot just take the field like a bunch of chaotic sellswords.” Cull had been more than a little upset that Jalivier had attacked Gaoterlog without him. “No offense to you Great Cronn.”

“None taken, my friend.” Cronn was the de facto head of the pantheon but he knew the wisdom in allowing the more lawful members of the North Gods to do the strategic planning.

“Normally, I would agree with you.” Jalivier looked over the dimensional strategies floating between him, Cull and Inanna. “However, it seems we are needed on Lunia now, not later.”

“Jalivier is right, we must bring our own followers to the first layer of the Seven Heavens as soon as possible. We will work out strategies as we go.”

“Hmm,” Cull immediately saw the potential of more dynamic, yet well defined strategies. “This could be an interesting challenge indeed.”

“Always the optimist,” Kuil watched both the armies of the Sword Gods and the events in the Citadel, as easily as a mortal would walk the ground. “The armies seem to be in two camps. The fiends present are mainly demons but there are some daemons as well.”

“Yugoloths,” Inanna, with only a thought, added the daemon factor into the dimensional strategies Cull was developing. “We’re going to need everyone who can muster up their forces in this battle.”

“Agreed,” Jalivier opened a portal from his realm in the second layer of Celestia to Lunia. “I am taking my strongest followers with me. They will fight to the end.”

“Yes,” Cronn transferred his primary Avatar to Celestia next to the opening portal that the Defender of the Light had opened. “But whose end?”

Jalivier’s followers poured from the portal in the hundreds of thousands. Soon the other North Gods were given the word and a multitude of portals opened onto the first layer of Celestia. The opposing portal from the outlands opened again and more Sword followers strode out of the surf and onto the shore. The fiends gritted their teeth as the pure waters of Oceanus burned their bodies but still they came, in hope of blood and chaos.

The followers of both pantheons gathered opposite of each other, as more and more warriors and Outsiders came to the field of battle. The citizens of Lunia scrambled for safety as the dark followers of the Sword Gods advanced to lay claim to as much of the shore as they could possible hold.

“Kuil, help as many of them escape as you can.” Cronn would not let innocents be slaughtered if he could help it.

“I will do my best grandfather.” Kuil shifted away.
Cronn wondered if the other gods of Celestia would finally take notice of the threat, which the Pantheon of the Swords represented.

“Probably not,” Cronn called out to his followers on the mortal plane. “I will not force you to fight. I ask you to come and defend those that cannot.”

Cronn knew Kuil and his followers would need the help.
_________________________________________________
More later...

[Knightfall]

Moments Later…
The Hunting Princess arrived at the Citadel of Light with her children and Seraph to find only the God of Oaths and Contracts working at Oathtaker.

“Truce, where is everyone?” Hansa looked around at the empty citadel.

“They have gone to meet Hiisi’s army massing near Oceanus’s edge in Lunia.” The scholar god looked up from his desk.

“Already. Damn it, why wasn’t I informed of this.”

“I am not a God of Messengers, Hansa – besides why don’t you ask your mother why.”

“Mother?” Hansa looked at his mother.

“I’ve lost a husband and my eldest godson, did you expect me to just stand idly by while my last remaining godson runs off to war with his grandfather?” Tears welled up in the goddess’s eyes.

“I don’t believe it, you asked grandfather to leave me behind. How could you do that?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Let it go Hansa.” Seraph stepped between the two. “There’s nothing you can do about it now. We must go to Harqual at once and deal with Deltum and Enduma. Only we two can stop them now.”

“Hmm, what’s this you say?” Truce looked up from his writing.

Hansa slammed his hands down on Truce’s desk.

“Deltum and Enduma are causing havoc on Harqual. There are tornadoes and volcanic eruptions everywhere. The mortals, our friends, are dying. If you spent more time fighting and less time looking at scrolls you might feel something for the pain they are going through.”

“Hansa!” Hela was shocked by her brother’s word. “It is not your place to say such things. Truce cares just as much as the rest of us.”

“How was I suppose to know that?” Truce had his head down with his arms over his head. Hansa’s words had hurt him badly. He was still very young, even for a god.

“I’m sorry cousin. Hela’s right, you care just as much as the rest of us. I am a fool.”

“It’s all right, you simply care more than most. Truce looked up at his cousin, smiling with tears in his eyes. “You are truly our grandfather’s grandson. I on the other hand-”

“Enough.” Seraph couldn’t stand much more of this. “Hansa you are not a fool and Truce you are not a coward. As we speak, mortals are dying. I am going to Harqual, alone if I must.”

Seraph walked away from the rest, one thought on his mind – dealing with the Sword God twins. Hansa stepped in behind his uncle looking at his mother the whole way.

“Be careful.”

“I will mother, do not worry so. It’s just the twins. They may be evil but they're babies at heart.”

“I’m coming with you.” Everyone was shocked to see Truce get up from Oathtaker and walk to where his cousin was standing.

Truce never left his desk.

“Truce, you don’t have to do this.” Hansa was genuinely worried about his scholarly cousin.

“Don’t worry about me Hansa. I’m not going to fight. But I am going to help. The mortals that are suffering could use my help. I can heal those that need it. I can ease the minds of those I can’t. Ensuring them that they will find rest in Hade's Underrealm.”

“Very well,” Hansa was still not sure but if anything did happen, Truce would know to shift back to the Outer Planes immediately.

“I’m coming too.”

“Hela, no I won’t let you.” Larea's heart sank at her daughter’s words.

“Mother, I am a complete goddess now. I don’t need your permission and Truce will need my help. I am going, period.”

The Huntress backed away in horror, the thought of losing both her remaining children too much to bear. She shifted away without a word.

“Hela, for once I agree with mother. This is not a good idea.”

“You can’t protect me from the universe, Hansa. Anon is gone, there was nothing you could do to save him.”

Hansa remembered it well. Amand had surprised them, attacking from out of nowhere. No honor, no remorse. Hansa had tried to warn his older brother but Amand cut his elder brother down before he could speak, stealing Anon’s essence through the power of his blade. Amand had just stood there laughing at him. Then he shifted away when Hansa had challenged him. He could still hear the dark god laughing at him.

“All right, but stay safe.”

“Excuse me, mortals are dying, mortals are dying!” Seraph was not a patient god. His heritage made sure of that. Quick to react and even quicker to temper. Some said that Seraph was the Beastlands' incarnate.

The four barbarian gods shifted to the World of Kulan to meet the dark twins and Fate.

[Knightfall]

Lokun in Niflheim
“Where is she, Hel?” Lokun confronted his daughter in her realm. “And don’t lie to me, daughter. I’ll know if you do!”

“Father, I don’t know where she is. Stop accusing me of helping her do something you won’t even talk to me about!” Her father wasn’t a patient god, but she wasn’t about to give Lokun anything. Lokun! Even thinking the derogatory version of her father’s true name sickened her. He betrayed her with that name and the form he took as one of the gods of the backwater world he now called home.

“Father, Loki, please, you have to believe me.” Hel knew her foul mother was watching from a veiled portion of Niflheim. “Mother hasn’t done anything to deserve the words you use.”

“Really, you think so?” Lokun’s form shifted to that of the true vision of himself, that of Loki, Trickster of the Asgard. “I know you are here, mate. Why don’t you tell her what you have done? Are you afraid she will realize you have betrayed her as well as me!”

“This is my realm, father. You will not accuse my mother without real proof.” Hel, despite her inner torment and self-loathing, truly cared for her mother. She was one of the few who she could count on.

“The Dark Children of Hiisi are my proof.” The god Loki shifted back into his guise as the Sky Traveler of the North Gods. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out, wench!”

“W- what?” Hel looked through the veil at her mother. Angrboda, The Mother of Monsters and the mate of both Lokun and Hiisi smiled back at her daughter. “Mother, is this true?”

“I knew you were here, Angrboda.” Lokun broke through the weakening veil his daughter had raised to shield her mother. “I cannot tell you how displeased I am with what you have done. How could you mate with that bastard.”

“He offers true power.” Angrboda was an imposing figure, being an Asgardian giant, a race with the power of the divine. “Something you have forgotten as a member of Cronn’s brood. You talk of betrayal. What about how you betrayed me, betrayed your children!”

“I did not take another mate, wench.” Lokun moved to strike out at Angrboda. “And you are one to talk of betrayal. After all, you are not my wife, you were just my mistress. You betrayed you own kind to mate with me or don’t you remember how irate Surtur was when you first told him.”

“He came around eventually, my love.” Angrboda sidestepped his blow. “You and he have become great allies. Don’t throw that all away by continuing to consort with the enemy.”

“What have you done?” Lokun didn’t care what Surtur or the other Asgardian giants did now. The Asgard hate him and the giants only respect him for what he is supposed to bring to Ragnarök.

“The giants unanimously agreed. You must stop consorting with the North Gods or lose your place during the events unfolding in Asgard as we speak. Ragnarök is happening, Loki. It is beginning. Do not falter now.”

“No! Ragnarök is not my destiny anymore,” Lokun turned his back on his former mate. “I will not betray Lord Cronn. Tell your kin they can do what they like. I don’t care anymore. If Ragnarök is destined to begin now then I will stand with the Asgard, if they’ll have me, and fight with the North Gods against your brood.”

“You cannot be serious!” Angrboda was in shock. She had underestimated the Trickster’s loyalty. “You will be destroyed if you turn away from Ragnarök now.”

“Nay, wench.” Lokun approached his daughter and embraced her. “For I am a North God now. Even if the Asgard fall, a part of me will always live on as Lokun. I have seen to it.”

“Father, please don’t say goodbye. You’re all I have now.” Hel glared at her mother with a newfound hatred. Despite how much she wished her father hadn’t joined the North Gods of Kulan, she hated Hiisi and the Dark Children even more. They gave evil a bad name.

“Do not fret, Hel. This isn’t goodbye. You will always be my favorite child. You know where I am and you are welcome to visit.”

“Don’t you dare try to subvert her!” Angrboda screamed in rage. This wasn’t going as she’d planned.

“Do not listen to her, daughter. She is old and bitter. I must go. The North Gods will need my help in the final battle to come. This new war is my Ragnarök now.”

“I- I understand, father.”

“As for you,” Lokun turned his head back towards the Mother of Monsters. “I swear I will do everything in my power to ensure every Dark Child you have beget for Hiisi, or ever will, dies a horrible death!”

“You cannot win, North God.” Angrboda shifted away back to Hiisi’s realm.

“Father, can I help?” Hel couldn’t believe she was saying the words.

“No, this is not your war. You must decide upon your own destiny, dear daughter. However, do not let the legend of Ragnarök determine your future, Hel.” Lokun hugged his daughter tight shifting away to meet his fate on the shores of Oceanus in Lunia.

Hel felt him evaporate away from her, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time.

“He has changed so much,” The death goddess wondered what was so special about these North Gods. What was so great about this land known as Harqual. “I will go to Harqual to visit with him and see this barbaric land he loves so much. I swear it, by Niflheim. Perhaps my future belongs to me and not to the legend.”

[Knightfall]

The Savanna of the Rain
Rel’s realm in the Beastlands was like ordered chaos surrounded by untamed wilderness. Rakasta, both living and petitioners, moved from camp to camp, hunting antelope and even wilder game. It was always thus, except for today. No, today Rel’s people mourned the loss of his beautiful daughter by the hands of Xuar.

The Seelie Court had come to Rel’s realm the instant Titania and Oberon had learned the horrible news. Damh told Rel what happened and that Puck had tried to stop the Xuar from taking Euphoria.

Rel looked at Puck. Still battered and bruised, the little Sylvan had taken an awful beating. He looked terrible, but Rel could see that it was his heart that was hurting the most. They all felt this way; Euphoria had brought them all great joy. The pixies and sprites were weeping uncontrollably. He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.

“There was nothing you could have done Puck. Xuar is very strong.” Rel’s own torment was worse.

Both Titania and Oberon were dressed all in black, and the Seelie Court would have depressed a fiend in its current state. Rel was devastated. First Nessus, then Thorn and now this. All his children were gone. “Oh, by the Old Gods, how am I going to tell Ramara?”

“She may still be alive Rel, you must not lose hope!” Damh knew that the chances were slim, but he had refused to believe his beloved was dead. “We must tell Cronn, he’ll figure a way to get her back. I refuse to give up and neither should you.”

Rel admired Damh’s strength of heart. But then, Damh hadn’t watched Mussin rot away Rel’s two sons before his very eyes. But he refused to show weakness, as his people watched – he must remain dignified.

“Yes, there is always hope. Word has come to me that Cronn has gone to the shores of Oceanus on Lunia. Hiisi has acted quicker than we thought he would. You must go and tell him of this great tragedy. I must go to Arborea and tell Ramara.”

Without another word Rel shifted to Ramara’s realm to tell her of their daughter’s fate.

[Knightfall]

The Shores of Oceanus on Lunia
Cronn had hoped the pantheon would have more time to prepare. But when Kuil reported that an army of fiends was gathering on the shores of Lunia, he knew that Hiisi wouldn’t wait any longer. It was beyond anything he had imagined. Thousands upon thousands of demons, daemons, mercenaries, dark priests, bloodthirsty humanoids, and vile necromancers stretched further than even he could see.

The sight of an army of such size visibly terrified the army of petitioners and celestials brought together by the North Gods. Kuil and Sanh stood to either side of Cronn.

“By the Old Gods, there are so many of them.” The God of the Sky spoke to his brother.

“He sees Sanh you don’t have to point it out so bluntly. The soldiers might hear you and lose faith. You must remain strong at all times.”

“Yes, Father,” Sanh had a tendency to speak without thinking. Or as mortals might say, he had a tendency stick his boot in his mouth.

Corellon had not arrived yet and Cronn wondered if his friend would risk his people in the onslaught that was soon to follow. Cronn wouldn’t hold a grudge against his friend if he didn’t show, knowing that he had a duty to the elves before Cronn's pantheon.

No, Cronn would not hold it against his old friend. That was not his way.

Besides, Moradin and Garl were here. They had stayed with Jalivier during preparations and promised their armies of petitioners and mortals to the fight. Both of these armies were risking a lot, the gnomes more than the dwarves. Petitioners in Garl’s army would fade away into nothing if destroyed. Those in Moradin’s army would simply dissolve and merge with Celestia.

Even though the gnome army was small, most of those that once lived on Harqual were here. Of course, they didn’t remember that but something inside them told them this was important and so they had come. Garl never forced his petitioners to fight away from Bytopia.

Inanna rode a giant, ruddy celestial horse near the front of the gathering armies of the North Gods. As the Goddess of War in the pantheon it was her right to lead the first charge. He worried about her safety of course but she could always take care of herself. That’s what he loved about her.

Cronn had insisted that Issek stay in his realm with Tok. Cronn was afraid that if the God of Tortured Souls fell that Tok would return to madness and switch sides without realizing what he was doing. Issek didn’t mind. Fighting a war against fiends isn’t what he does best anyway. He did send his proxy Aragol, however, with a little extra of Issek’s power to help ease the suffering of the mortals that would be wounded. Aragol carried a mortal-sized version of Issek’s special jug and would use it to give dying soldiers a chance at least.

Cronn looked across the field for one god in particular. Of course, Jalivier was holding strategy meeting with Cull, Moradin, and Garl. Cronn’s warrior daughter Mayela was praying with a group of mortals. He was proud of the Goddess of Nobility; she was ferocious in battle like her mother, yet had his strong unbreakable ideals.

He saw his godson Zealot, the God of Barbarian Rage who had more of his mother in him then he’d ever admit. Zealot was working his followers into a wild frenzy, getting the barbarian-priests ready to rage. None of them would attack until their god told them, however. The first few of the Sword God’s soldiers on the front line were going to be in for a big surprise.

Surprisingly, Lokun had come and was preparing himself for battle. The Sky Traveler had appeared late in the preparations but was adamant that he be allowed to ‘destroy the spawn of Hiisi’ as he called them. He had even bowed before Cronn and re-sworn fealty for all time. Cronn had been more shocked than moved.

Lokun had not brought an army with him, however. He wouldn’t risk his petitioners so far away from his realm and probably would stay out of the main fray himself. But he would be useful all the same. He had a tendency to annoy both gods and mortals and would lead fiends into ambushes and death traps. Yes, Lokun would enjoy himself today.

Of course, Hades wasn’t here yet, as he was petitioning Zeus to let him raise an army of Olympian mortals to join the battle. Zeus wouldn’t allow it, of course, but it didn’t hurt to ask. He’d say no, and Hades would come by himself anyway. But probably not until more fiends had arrived from the other side of the portal.

Again Cronn scanned the army looking for his favorite godson. His other children knew he favored the God of Honor. But then again, he was everyone’s favorite. His siblings adored him and his mother too. Inanna had heaped praise on her godson, yet he always remained humble. Yes, Jaeger was a fine young god worth his power in love.

“Where is he?” It was not like him to be absent for something so important, and Cronn worried that something might have happened to him. His attention was pulled back to his surrounding as Hiisi’s dark horde roared surging forward. Inanna took the first line of celestials and mortals to meet them. The noise was louder that the surf pounding the shore of Lunia.

The Final Battle had begun.

[Knightfall]

Jaeger and the First One
As a boy, Jaeger hadn’t believed Lokun’s stories about where he was now. Only when the Sky Traveler had told him that the place really existed had Jaeger hoped he was right. If he was wrong, it could cost him everything.

Lokun had told him of the place where Old Gods went to sleep, not to die but to sleep for an eternity. It was said that these Old Gods knew most of the secrets of the universe, if not all of them. However, no one had ever been there and came back to tell about it.

Yes, if he was here then Jaeger had to find him. It could save his pantheon, his entire world.

Jaeger had entered Twilight Hall, to find a god older than the Mirella, Zeus, Odin, or even the Titans themselves. He risked everything.

He crept through the shadows, making sure not to wake the giant, sleeping Old Gods. Kuil would have been proud of him.

They were huge, these sleeping gods and they made no sound as they slept. Lokun didn't know how true the legend was to reality; the Hall was as large any realm and nearly as crowded.

Several ancient reclusive Old Gods were here as well. He didn’t know their names but recognized them from descriptions he had heard from such gods. Deities older than even the Chinese and Japanese Old Gods. Jaeger was in awe of their power and size. He felt like a mortal sneaking through a lair of giants.

He made his way past them, one by one, praying he wouldn’t accidentally bump into one of them, or worse, the Guardian of the Dead, the old God known as Anubis. That would not be good. The Hall was actually a cavern and dozens of chambers branched off in every direction. He picked his way along one then the other, trying to find the place he sought.

They’d be fighting by now. Of that, he was sure. His father would be wondering where he was. It would all be worth it if he was, indeed here like Lokun said. He just had to convince the Old God to tell him what he needed to know.

“I could get lost in here.” Jaeger felt like he was running around in circles.

His words echoed through the cavern even though he had only whispered them. He clamped his mouth shut with his hands and knew what fear was like for a mortal. Yet, none of the Old Gods stirred. ‘Don’t do that again’ he told himself and continued searching.

Just when he thought that Lokun might have been wrong, he came across it. A door as tall as a hundred Greater Gods and almost as wide. It was made out of wood, if you could call it that. It felt like steel or something similar but much older. ‘Great, just great, how am I supposed to get in?’ Jaeger thought the words but did not say them out loud.

Then he noticed a small opening near the middle of the door. ‘It couldn’t be that easy could it?’ Jaeger climbed up to a giant keyhole and found that he could walk through it without even having to bend over.

What he found was beyond his recognition. He came out into a room, not some monstrous cavern. But a small mortal proportioned room.

“Okay,” Jaeger looked around confused. The keyhole was the door. “This is so weird.”

“I don’t mind, it’s comfy.” Jaeger turned and looked to see where the voice came from. There wasn’t anyone there. “Down here you little whippersnapper.”

Jaeger looked towards the floor and standing there was – something. It didn’t look like anything he’d ever seen before. It had arms, legs, even a head but-

“Of course I have a head.”

Jaeger hadn’t spoke out loud; it could read his mind.

“Yes, you’re right but it isn’t polite for you to point that out. I must say you godlings these days are a strange bunch. Now when I was a New God, things were different. Everything was a little less chaotic, no, no, I don’t mean like that. Chaos today isn’t even the same anymore. No, I can’t explain it to you.”

“Uh-”

“My you are a talkative one. You mind is so full of questions, questions, and more questions. Yes, I’m the one you seek but if you call me the First One again in your mind, I’ll bop you on the head. Hmm, that’s better, more polite. Now what can I-”

The Old God stopped talking and looked at Jaeger.

“Oh, you want to know about the ritual. You do realize what your asking, don’t you? You’re asking me to give away their secret. The power you seek could destroy them all if used by the wrong god. Why should I trust you?”

“I give you my word as a God of Honor that I will only use it against Hiisi. If I am lying, you would know.”

“You are a bright young boy.” The Old God smiled. “Yes, I can see that your heart is pure. Now sit down over there young one and I will tell you what you wish to know.”

[Knightfall]

Love in Sorrow
While Cronn was wondering where Jaeger was and while Jaeger was in Twilight Hall, two goddesses sat in the Temple of Love on Arborea. Larea had come to find comfort with her sister, Ramara, the Goddess of Love and Beauty. She was sure that her children would not come back from Kulan.

Ramara tried to comfort her, saying it would be all right. But she too felt an odd feeling of dread. Something was not right, she could feel it. Only when Rel appeared before them with a look so long that it could have gone around the Great Ring twice, did she know she was right.

“Rel, oh no, please no.” Ramara had felt this twice before.

“I’m sorry my love, Euphoria is gone.” Rel had only heard Damh’s words. He could not take them to heart. His daughter was gone. He would not give his wife false hope.

“How?” Ramara was crying and Larea tried to comfort her sister like Ramara had done for her.

“Xuar took her.” Rel sat down beside his grieving wife and took her into his arms. “She was caught just outside the Seelie Court in the Beastlands. The fairy god Puck tried to save her but he was no match for Xuar.”

“Oh Ramara, I am so sorry.” Larea had never seen her like this. Even when her two godsons had been killed she had remained composed. But that had been different, Nessus and Thorn had died in battle. Euphoria wasn’t a warrior, it felt so wrong.

The Love Goddess wept for her fallen child and the flowers around the Temple of Love withered and died as the realm felt her pain.

[Knightfall]

Rage of the North God
The battle wasn’t going well. Fiends and celestials fought one another, as the Lord of the North waded through them. The Rage had not taken him yet as he pushed through the onslaught of the hordes of the Sword Gods. The Lord of Darkness was nowhere in sight. Not that Cronn was surprised; Hiisi would never lead the first charge. He was too much of a coward.

Zealot was gone. He thought the words again, not believing them.

Mussin, Emcey, and Teve had surrounded Inanna; Cronn had thought his wife would surely fall. But then Zealot had come out of nowhere and taken Emcey from behind. The dark god screaming as his essence was destroyed. Teve had spit foul epithets at Cronn’s young godson and charged into him. The two grappled together rolling through battled between the dark horde and Jalivier’s soldiers of light.

Inanna had regained herself and Mussin had retreated from her. He had known that going one on one with the Goddess of War would have destroyed him. He sent fiends after her, of course, but he might as well been sending sheep to the slaughter. She cut them down one by one, trying to get to her godson. She came upon them just as Teve put his sword through Zealot’s chest. Inanna’s scream echoed across the battlefield and Cronn had known Zealot was gone. She avenged her godson before Teve could move sending the dark god to join Emcey in the oblivion of Twilight.

“Receive my godson into your care, Anubis. Keep him safe from corruption.” Cronn grieved for his son he kept his mind on the battle at hand. There would be enough time to grieve later, if there was a later.

The second wave of the dark horde came through the portal from the Outlands sooner than expected. Hiisi was putting everything on the line. Cronn was sure of one thing, a pantheon would fall this day. Another portal opened and Cronn thought for a second that the day was lost.

Instead of dark soldiers, the strangest army Cronn had ever seen poured from the portal. Fairies! Cronn was sure he was seeing things. But then Titania and Oberon came through the portal. Fiends all over the battlefield howled as Titania’s powerful magic ran through them. The fiends scattered and a legion of dwarven petitioners took advantage of the distraction pushing them back.

The Sylvan Queen and her Consort walked towards Cronn. Their faces showed sadness and Cronn wondered what could have upset them so. Then Damh came between them and looked up at his barbarian friend with tears in his eyes. He handed the Lord of the North his granddaughter’s favorite shawl.

Cronn’s eyes grew wide as he felt the rage take hold of him. His cry of anguish thundered over the battlefield and the fiends knew fear. Inanna turned and saw a side of her husband that she had never seen before. He was larger, his eyes glowing with balefire. He thundered into the heaviest fighting and slaughter dozens of fiend with blow after blow of his huge greataxe, North Rage. The celestials parted and let the Great Lord of the North take the battle to the dark ones.

Only when Inanna saw Damh kneeling on the battlefield clutching a shawl did she realize her husband’s pain. Euphoria was gone. Cronn had loved her like his own godchild, as he did the entire pantheon. This was different then losing Zealot though, he had been a warrior and knew the risks, but Euphoria, she had only been a child – a joyful, beautiful, wonderful child.

Inanna felt her heart sink as the realization of what had happened. This was not right. Her temper started to take over and she rode into the fray to join her husband just as the third wave of the Sword Gods’ followers appeared from the Outlands.

[Knightfall]

The Northlands of Harqual
Seraph led the three lesser North Gods through the planes to the Material Plane. What they found was carnage beyond belief. Harqual was dying. Deltum and Enduma had done more damage then any of them had ever seen. Entire tracts of forest lay charred and broken, barbarian villages wiped out by disaster and floods. The land uprooted, laid to waste.

The four gods split up, as Truce and Hela went to help those they could, while Seraph and Hansa went to punish the dark duo for their crimes against the mortals.

Seraph and Hansa didn’t have to look too hard. The dark twins had moved further south to near the Greystone Mountains. The twins had conjured dozens of tornadoes and the mortals were scattering in fear.

The rage took Seraph almost immediately and he smashed into Deltum, knocking him out of the sky. Several of the tornadoes dissipated, as a result, and the two gods tumbled to the earth. Enduma turned in time to meet Hansa and the God of Suffering and the God of Soldiers grappled in the sky while the mortals of Harqual looked on.

On the ground, Seraph got the upper hand on Deltum skewering the dark god with his spear sending him to the Twilight in a flash of light. He looked up just in time to see Hansa and Enduma tumble down the mountains to the ground below. Seraph rushed to help his kin and found him down on the ground with Enduma about to take his essence. Seraph roared and Enduma looked up to see the Elf Barbarian God baring down on him. This allowed Hansa to kick the dark god off him.

Enduma saw that he was outmatched but still had enough power to shift back to the Outer Planes. He took to the skies and tried to out run the two gods. He didn’t even see it coming. A giant spear flashed through the air passing through the dark god like he was nothing but a nuisance. Neither Seraph nor Hansa had thrown it. They looked up in the sky to see a cat god hovering above them with the sun behind him.

“Rel?” Hansa wondered how the God of the Rakasta had learned about their plight.

“No, little god, I am not your grandfather’s pathetic servant. The God of the Tabaxi has come to claim the lands of Cronn.”

“Tu!” Seraph spat on the ground as Hansa said the name.

[Knightfall]

Violence against Peace
“Well, this development is most useful.” Thera watched as the God of the Tabaxi challenged the two North Gods on Harqual from the Pit of Violence on the 256th layer of the Abyss. She had not come when her father had ordered her to. He could burn in Hade’s Underrealm for all she cared.

Several dark creatures slithered past her feet as she looked for the prize she sought.

“Ah, there you are little one. You are going to regret leaving the safety of the Outer Planes.” Thera hated her more than any of them. She represented everything that Thera was not and she swore that she’d make the Goddess of Peace suffer. Thera drew her sword, Bloodhunter, and transferred her Avatar to the Prime Material Plane, arriving right behind the little goddess.

They were both there of course, her and the bookworm. The little Scholar God did even know what hit him. He was dead, his essence gone to the Twilight, before Thera had time to pull her sword out of him. She wouldn't consume such a weak, pathetic creature.

“Truce!” The Peace Goddess saw him evaporate but didn’t know what had killed him. She turned and looked in horror as the Goddess of Violence sheathed her sword.

“Hello Hela, do you want to come out and play?”

Half-dead mortals scrambled to protect their beloved goddess but Thera swatted them away like flies. She grabbed Hela by her hair and lifted her into the air with her.

“If you kill me my brother and Seraph will have your head.” Hela screamed as the two floated over the Sword Gulf.

“Actually, your kin are a little busy right now. Tu should make short work of them.”

“Oh no,” Hela’s fear grew and she began to struggle, trying to break free.

“You see little Hela, you are all alone now and I am going to make you suffer!” Thera tightened her grip and laughed as the Peace Goddess struggled.

The Goddess of Violence summoned the dark power passed down to her by Hiisi and began to draw out Hela's godsoul. The Peace Goddess tried to scream but her voice came out as a whimper. Her skin turned bone white and then her body faded from sight gone from existence. Thera held up the dead goddess’s godsoul, as a ball of pure fire, in her hand in triumph.

“Here me, Mother of Kulan! I have destroyed this goddess to prove that one day I will rule your world and bring darkness to this land. I entomb her godsoul to the waters so that you may share her pain!”

Thera held the godsoul in both hands her eyes glowing with evil darkness. She willed the energy contained in the godfire to transfer from her hand to the waters of the Sword Gulf below. The energy spread out along the surface merging with the water, trapping Hela’s essence there, not really alive, yet not dead either.

The All-Mother watched helplessly as Thera tortured Cronn’s granddaughter. As Hiisi’s influence and evil had spread throughout the land, her power over the dark, alien gods he spawned began to wane. She needed all her energy just to contain the dark pantheon to Harqual. But if Cronn’s pantheon fell, there would be no stopping them. Mirella watched as Thera shifted back to the Outer Planes laughing the whole time.

The waves began to thrash against the shores of Harqual, as Hela tired to escape her watery prison. Thera had done her dark deed well; Mirella could feel the trapped goddesses' pain.

[Knightfall]

Tu the Cat God
The two pantheon gods knew that Tu was more then a match for them. They had a choice – leave the Northlands to him or go down fighting.

“What do you think, Seraph?” Hansa readied himself for anything.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Seraph growled in response.
The two gods rose into the air slowly, eyeing the cat god and keeping their distance from him. They moved to flank the Feline God but he backed away, evading them.

“Ah, Cronn’s barbarian children. Now, to find out just how strong you really are.”

Tu raised his spear and two pantheon gods readied themselves to get out of the way. Tu did not see them smiling until it was too late.

“Look behind you.” Hansa mocked the cat god's pride.
“Oh please,” Tu started laughing at the two little barbarian gods’ supposed jest. He should have looked, as he brought his arm forward to strike a hand reached out grabbing the spear.

“Hello Tu, remember me.”

Rel pulled on the spear with all his might, flinging it and Tu over the range of the Greystone Mountains. Tu howled as he hit the hills on the other side.

“That is going to leave a mark.” Hansa was glad that Rel had arrived. Now maybe they had a chance. “I think the odds just got a little more even.”

“Rel, where did you come from? Not that I’m not glad to see you.” Hansa felt something odd about the whole situation.

“Larea told me what was going on here. Now, where are those two degenerates?”

“Probably lost on their way to the Twilight.” Seraph laughed.

“Well, you two have been busy. Cronn would be proud.” Rel looked at his nephews with admiration.

“Well, Tu did help I guess.” Hansa looked towards the Sword Gulf. Something was wrong he could sense it. “Where did he go?”

The three gods looked to see if Tu had regained his dignity. He was no where in sight.

“I don’t like this. Where is he?” Hansa felt it then, his sister’s pain. “Hela!”

Then he vicious cat god appeared out of nowhere striking Hansa from behind. The blow sent the young god spiraling out of control to the ground. The force of the impact left a huge crater with no sign of the God of Soldiers.

“Hansa!” Seraph called out to the fallen god hoping to receive an answer. He didn’t get one.

“Damn it, how’d he get over here without being spotted.” Things had gone from not too bad to horrible in mere seconds. “Seraph, do you know where Hela is? I can’t sense her or Hansa.”

“I can’t feel their presence either.” Seraph didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t leave Rel to face Tu alone. Yet, he felt something was wrong. “Rel, Truce has fallen. I can sense his journey to the Twilight beginning.”

“Not so arrogant now are you?” Tu laughed at the duo’s plight.

“Damn you to Baator, Tu!” They weren’t Rel’s words. The rage took Seraph once again and he attacked blindly without any sense or reasoning. He had lost another relative, perhaps three. All sense was gone in him. There was only rage now.

“Seraph, no wait!” Rel’s words could not snap his nephew out of his rage. All he could do was back the Elf Barbarian God up, and he hoped that they could hold out until Seraph’s rage ended.

Rel attacked Tu just as Seraph struck his first blow, his sword in one hand and his favorite weapon in the other, a Rakasta war claw he called Cat’s Paw. The three gods thundered through the sky. Tu used his spear like a staff, blocking blow after blow. Not even Rel’s sword could cut through it. The three gods fought across the mountain sky, striking at each other, looking for an opening. They passed over the Great Forest of Harqual, the Hather Plains, and the desert known as the Great Expanse.

Rel could tell that Seraph was tiring, as the rage left him, and Tu was gaining the advantage. Rel moved in and blocked the other cat god’s obvious attempts to deliver the final deathblow to the Elf Barbarian. His attempt was weak and Tu slammed his fist across Rel’s face sending him to the savannas below. Rel’s Avatar exploded as it hit the ground and it took several moments for him to transfer another one to the mortal plane.

That was all Tu needed. He speared Seraph in the midsection, sending the North God on his own journey to the Twilight, then turned to face Rel’s new Avatar as it formed.

“No!” Rel was shaken by what was happening, he had made an oath to protect Cronn’s kin. It had meant so much to him now that all his own were gone.

“Two down, one to go.” Tu’s laughter could be heard as far away as the Cold Barrens in the Northlands.

[Knightfall]

Mothers’ Love and Rage
Larea had known the instant that her daughter’s godsoul had been taken from her. She and Ramara had gone to Hunter’s Rest, to use Larea’s scrying mirror, in order to find out what had happened to the Peace Goddess. But they couldn't find any trace of her or the Scholar God, for that matter.

Then Bast had appeared in Larea's realm sobbing. She had felt her peaceful son die but didn’t understand why he had left the Upper Planes in the first place. Larea told her about the harsh words that were spoken and the apologies that followed. Bast had been mad, thinking Hansa had lead her son to death in the Twilight.

Only when they finally learned what had transpired between Hela and Thera did Bast regret her own harsh words. No one deserved to watch her daughter be tortured like that. Bast was sad that her son was gone but at least he had died quickly. Larea immediately began searching for Hansa but she could not find him either. Fearing the worst, she eventually came across Rel, Seraph, and Tu battling above the southern lands of Harqual.

They had not known that Tu had become involved. The three goddesses watched as Tu gained the upper hand, sending Rel’s Avatar crashing to the ground below, obliterated. Ramara cried out not knowing if her husband was gone. Then they watched Tu kill Seraph before Rel’s next Avatar could shift to the Material Plane.

Not being able to watch anymore, fearing her husband might be next, Ramara dropped down on the ground sobbing. Bast wrapped her arms around her adopted sister.

“I can’t take this anymore, this has to end.” Larea was beside herself with grief.

Not only was Hela gone and Hansa as well, but now all her sister’s and adopted sister’s children were gone as well. The pantheon was dying.

“Bast, stay here with Ramara. I must go to Celestia to tell Cronn what has happened and to do my duty.” Balefire burned in her eyes, as emotions that she thought she'd forgotten raged through her once more.

[Knightfall]

The Battlefield of Lunia
Jaeger and Larea appeared on Lunia at the same time at almost the same spot. Larea had been following the battle’s progress, as it had unfolded, and everyone kept asking ‘where is Jaeger?’

“Where in Hades Underrealm have you been!” Larea grabbed the God of Honor and shook him.

“I found something that can defeat Hiisi. I can’t say more than that but it could be the break we need.”

“Damn it Jaeger, it better be. While you’ve been traipsing around who knows where, we have been dying out here. Euphoria, Hansa, Hela, Truce, Seraph, and Zealot are all gone.”

“Euphoria…“ The God of Honor felt heart brake.

Larea let Cronn’s godson go, storming off into the fray to look for Cronn. Jaeger felt like he had betrayed everything he stood for. The God of Honor, how could he ever call himself that again?

“I make a new vow today, that I will avenge my fallen kin, even if it costs me everything that I am.” Jaeger’s entire body filled with an unearthly fire that he had never felt inside before. “Everything that I have ever aspired to be, that I’ve forgotten on this day. Honor demands this sacrifice!”

Jaeger drew his sword, Honorbound, and charged into the battle, looking for the Lord of Darkness.

Across the battlefield, the other North Gods were barely holding their own. Cronn and Mayela fought back to back killing fiend after fiend. Sanh and Garl fought side by side while Jalivier and Moradin did the same. Cronn had sent Kuil out of the battle and away from Celestia to find out how Hiisi seemed to know the North Gods every move. He had yet to return.

Hades had arrived just after the third wave of the horde had came. His dark form gliding over the battlefield slaying fiends was a disturbing sight to behold for the celestials. The fiends didn’t like it much either, as Hades decimated entire legions of both evil mortals and fiends.

‘Come to me dark ones and we shall dance the Dance of Death’ had been the only thing he said when he arrived.

Of course, Hades had been surprised to find Oberon and Titania fighting alongside the North gods but said nothing. Nothing distracted the Death God from claiming the lives of more fiends.

Corellon had not come. It was to be expected. The God of the North knew that the Elf Lord had to respect the wishes of his fellow gods in the Elven Court. They had never agreed with the two Patriarchs’ friendship.

More then likely it was Seraph that was the key problem. The Elven Court would not accept the Barbarian Elf God with two fathers and the Beastlands as his mother. Thinking of Seraph pulled his consciousness away from the attacking fiends in front of his of a second. He felt something. Then the fiends rushed him and he put his godson out of this mind. He swung North Rage four times and dozens of fiend died.

Cronn shift part of his consciousness towards another part of the battlefield. There, Lokun was wiping out several stands of evil mercenaries. Lokun was proving himself good in the battle and didn’t look like he was in any real trouble.

Lokun’s heroic behavior on the battlefield was something that Cronn hadn't expected. The Sky Traveler had helped hold the line just as the fourth wave of Sword God follower’s came though from the Outlands.

Yes, Cronn just might make a good barbarian god out of Lokun yet.

“Father,” Mayela’s inner voice was steady as it entered the barbarian god's mind and Cronn knew that nothing endangered her.

“Now is not a good time for a chat my dear.” Cronn decapitated a nalfeshnee that had made the mistake of charging him.

“I don’t want to chat, father. We need to switch places, you have to see something.”

“Can’t you just describe it to me.” The nalfeshnee fell and several dretch took its place. They were less eager to die.

“No. Seeing is believing.” Mayela’s thoughts had a feeling of hope in it.

The mental conversation had taken less than the heartbeat of a mortal. Dozens of fiends came at Mayela but she faced them calmly, stoically. The two deities shifted with only a thought.

Cronn though he was dreaming at first. But there she was chopping down fiends heading right for the Lord of the North. The Hunting Princess was unleashed from her sorrow.

“Something has happened, Mayela.” Cronn felt it again. The feeling he’d had when he’d thought of Seraph.

And then, in a flash of ancient elven magic, over the rise came Corellon with an army of elven mortals. The elf army swept a path through the fiends taken hundreds down for every dozen elves lost. Soon the fourth wave was pulling back. Larea joined the Elf Lord as they approached Cronn.

“Better late then never my friend.” Cronn greeted Corellon with the Warriors Greeting. “But I have this feeling you’re arrival isn’t all good.”

“After I heard what had happened on Kulan, I could stay my heart no longer.” Corellon looked torn apart. A feeling hard to judge in elves let along their gods.

“Tell me.” Cronn looked at Larea’s face and knew he’d been right about his uneasiness earlier. “Larea, what happened?”

She told him the terrible news that almost all of the young gods were gone. She also told him that Jaeger had joined the battle and about the strange secret that he refused to tell her about.

“I was a little rough on him, I hope it didn’t shake his confidence.”

“He can take care of himself.” Cronn took the death of Seraph hard. Two of his blood children were gone in the same mortal's day. “Mayela, go and find your mother. Tell her what has happened then try to find Jaeger.”

“But father, you just said Jaeger could take care of himself. I want to fight with you.”

The army of elves had pushed back the fiends to the edge of Oceanus’s shore. The celestials had reformed their lines and backed the elves up; taking out stragglers that tried to slip by. The North Gods in the area had gathered around their Lord to here the grim news.

“That will be kind of difficult since I won’t be here.” He had to go. He could feel Harqual calling to him. “I must go to Harqual and face Tu. I’ve put this off too long already.”

His announcement caused quite a stir amongst the gods. They all started questioning his decision or volunteered to go with him. Then the Soldier of Light stepped in front of Cronn.

“Father, you cannot leave the field!” Jalivier couldn’t believe it. “If you go, morale will suffer!”

“Damn it Jalivier, look around you! How will I help morale? The only one that provides morale around here is you. All the celestials here fight for you. All the mortals of Celestia that died here fought for you. To them, I am just your barbaric father who rages across the field every once in a while. No, this is your fight Jalivier. You, Inanna and Mayela are why we have yet to be overrun. I am needed elsewhere. Rel won’t last long against Tu. He needs my help. I must go. End of discussion!”

Before any of them could argue further, Cronn was gone. The celestials didn’t even notice that the Lord of the North had left. Mayela did as her father asked and went to find her mother. The other gods organized for the continuing wave of darkness that was destined to come next.

[Knightfall]

Rogue versus Assassin
Shortly after leaving Lunia, Kuil and his followers had discovered and dispersed a good portion of Hiisi’s information network, which had been keeping the Lord of Darkness one step ahead on the battlefield, as well as details regarding certain ambushes he had set up against the members of the North Gods.

This is why Aegir had not shown up for the battle when he had promised to be there. A strike force of aquatic mercenaries and godlings for hire had pinned down the Sea God’s forces in another region of the great river Oceanus. None of them had been able to reach the shores of Oceanus on Lunia.

Of course, Kuil knew that the Lord of Darkness would never have taken on such responsibilities himself. The most logical choice for such skullduggery was Vespin, the Sword God of Thieves and Assassins. Tracking The Assassin and his followers had not been easy. Vespin was good at what he did, however Kuil was better. After all, he was the North God of Rogues and Illusion.

He had found one of Vespin’s Avatars skulking around the edge of Ramara’s realm, obviously intending to go after the Goddess of Love. Vespin had probably thought that the news of the death of Euphoria would make her vulnerable. He had not expected to find the Hunting Princess there and had stayed his hand, waiting for the Goddess of the Wilderness to leave.

That’s when Kuil had grabbed The Assassin from behind shifting both of them to his realm in Elysium. Once there, he put his dagger, Shadowstealer, through the Vespin’s Avatar. The dark god flashed out of existence, and Kuil was sure that he wouldn’t risk losing his last Avatar by shifting back for vengeance.

Yet, he came back, spitting every blood oath and vile curse known.

“I’m going to eat your godsoul!” Vespin was mad, real mad.

“You always were a fool, Vespin,” the two gods had always opposed each other and competed for the same worshippers, except for assassins. Kuil didn’t accept assassins into his flock, considering them unpleasant mortals that didn’t understand the finesse of being truly roguish. Of course, Vespin had no such morality and relished each kill one of his assassins performed. “You’ll never stand a chance against me in my realm.”

“We shall see!” Vespin lunged at Kuil with bloodlust in his pitted eyes.

Kuil dodged him easily slapping The Assassin with the flat of Shadowstealer. Several of Kuil’s followers gathered around to watch the two deities duel. They remained quiet in respect for their god and many were mentally taking notes.

Kuil was enjoying himself, as Vespin fumed and raged. The Rogue knew that he could take Vespin without trying but toyed with him, like a cat playing with a mouse. Twice more did Vespin feel the flat of Shadowstealer, once against his back the other along his face.

Only when Vespin threatened a group of Kuil’s followers that had strayed to close to the fight did Kuil move in and destroy Vespin’s final Avatar with a swashbuckling flourish. Vespin screamed as Shadowstealer penetrated his back, sending the dark one on his journey to Twilight.

Kuil sheathed Shadowstealer turning towards his flock of followers that had gathered to witness the destruction of The Assassin.

“And that, my friends, is how you do it.”

[Knightfall]

The Last Battle, Hiisi Arrives!
Jaeger waded through the battling armies of darkness and light with one goal – find the Lord of Darkness. At times he became embroiled in localized fighting, aiding celestials that were being hard pressed by Hiisi’s dark horde.

“Where is he?” This was the question that plagued Jaeger, as he fought his way across the battlefield.

Jaeger was overwhelmed by the carnage being wrought by the dark horde of the Sword Gods. They claimed more and more celestials as the battle progressed. Only when things seemed lost did help arrive. Elves! Thousands of elves poured over the battlefield from every direction.

Jaeger knew that Corellon had come. Seraph, it had to be because of him. He was Corellon’s son as much as he was Cronn’s.

“Seraph,” Jaeger already missed his elven brother. “I will avenge you my brother and I will see you again soon, in the Twilight."

Then the rage took Jaeger and he charged into the fiend army with celestials and elves following in his stead. He decimated the evil hordes, pushing them back farther and farther, driving them against the shore of Oceanus. Dozens of fiends were destroyed by the purity of Oceanus’s waters while Jaeger fought one against hundreds of demons. The celestials and elves cheered as he destroyed several key daemon commanders by throwing himself against them, taking them deep into the pure waters.

The young god burst out of the water holding his godly sword, Honorbound, high in the air roaring in defiance at the evil of the Sword Gods. The sight of this untamed barbarian god destroying their commanders sent thousands of fiends into a scattered retreat from the North God.

It was then that a massive wave of fiends appeared from the portal leading from the Outlands. Lead by the Lord of Darkness himself.

“Hiisi!” It was all Jaeger could say before the dark hordes pressed anew and he was forced to retreat against the onslaught.

The horde of fiends came in the thousands and all seemed lost, as Hiisi played his final card in the gamble to destroy the Pantheon of the North. All thoughts of challenging Hiisi left Jaeger’s mind as he tried to survive.

On the other side of Lunia, the pantheon gods were in shock as the new wave of fiends destroyed all but the most powerful of the celestials and elves. Jalivier knew the day was lost without some sort of miracle. The fiends were too many and his forces were being decimated. His thoughts turned to Cronn and he knew that the Great Father had been right. The celestials would die for Jalivier but if he fell, they would not fight on for Cronn. Maybe for Inanna but not for his father.

“I must not fall,” Jalivier spoke the words to himself and no one else. The thought of dying without being with his wife Immotion, the Goddess of Magic, again made him all the more determined. “I will be with you again my love, I swear.”

Jalivier divided a small portion of his consciousness so he could sense her in her realm across the planes. There, Immotion fought her own battle, as she sat in her realm, the Soul of Magic in Elysium. She fought to keep her dark brother’s magic off the battlefield.

Xuar was the Sword God of Necromancy, as well as Jealousy, and was trying to use his powers to raise the fallen as undead under his command. However, Immotion had foreseen this and she was dedicating herself to keeping her brother’s power at bay. It was difficult but not impossible. Xuar and Immotion had about the same power level but Immotion had more access to a variety of magic. It was working; Xuar couldn’t gain access to the dead.

“We must keep to hope, my husband.” Immotion sensed Jalivier’s thoughts viewing her.

“Hope, it is all we ever need.” Jalivier focused his entire mind back onto the battlefield, rallied the elves and celestials to him, and pressed forward into the chaos to send the demons of the Sword Gods back to the Abyss.

[Knightfall]

On Olympus
Apollo felt like a helpless mortal. His beloved Hela had died a cruel vicious death and there had been nothing he could do to prevent it. The God of Prophecy had wept when he heard the news of her torture and demise. Not even he had seen this coming.

Hela had gone to see if the rumors about Gaoterlog being destroyed were true. That was the last time he had seen or heard from her. She had disappeared to visit her kin dozens of times before, being gone cycles at a time. But she had always returned and Apollo hadn’t given the war her pantheon was waging much thought. But now, now he watched as her pantheon crumbled.

“I feel like I am betraying her by not being down there.”

“You must not involve yourself in this conflict, Apollo.” Zeus understood his godson’s pain but remained defiant towards the Light-Bringer. “No matter how much you loved Hela, she was not one of us.”

“I don’t care,” Apollo walked away from his Father’s scrying pool, his back to the Thunderer. “Hades fights with them because they have become more like family to him than us. He fights with passion, with a belief in something beyond the Outer Planes. He believes Cronn and his kin can make a difference and so do I.”

The Thunderer was enraged by his godson’s open defiance of everything that Zeus had provided for him. Yet he was also oddly proud of him as well.

“If you go, you go alone. You may not take any of your followers with you and I will not intervene in this battle on your behalf.”

Apollo shifted out of Zeus’s temple without a word. He would avenge his beloved. He would destroy the evil witch Thera for her crime, even if it cost him everything on Olympus.

[Knightfall]

On the Material Plane
Rel was in trouble. One Avatar left, fighting a Greater God on his home plane, and no one to help him. Yes, he was definitely in trouble.

Tu knew it too.

The God of the Tabaxi was toying with the rival cat god now. Letting Rel find his feet and his strength, just so Tu could knock him down again. Rel didn’t stand a chance from the moment the fight had become just the two of them. Yet he refused to yield to the wicked patron of the Tabaxi. He would not surrender; he would die fighting for his people and for Cronn.

“Well Rel, had enough?” Tu was so smug. “Do you yield?”

“Never!” Rel rushed in against Tu once more and was slammed to ground of the Savanna of the Sun, as a reward for his bravery.

The cat god was near his end. He could feel himself drifting towards the Twilight, his power draining away. Tu was laughing at him, as the other cat god hovered in the air above the broken God of the Rakasta.

“Cronn-”

The word was a personal farewell to his liege, not a request
for the Lord of the North to come to his aid. Yet, there he was. He appeared some distance behind the two cat gods. Rel knew there was no need to play Tu for a fool a second time. Cronn would announce his presence in a moment.

The Lord of the North roared a barbaric battle cry charging towards the God of the Tabaxi. Tu turned to meet the new challenger not realizing it was Cronn until it was too late to get out of the way. Cronn split Tu’s Avatar in half with North Rage. It blinked out of existence.

The vile cat god’s next Avatar appeared near the two pantheon members growling at the barbarian god. Cronn beckoned the God of the Tabaxi to continue the fight. Tu howled coming at the Lord of the North with his spear in hand. The two rose into the sky, thundering across horizon.
The next thing Rel knew the God of Rogues and Illusion was at his side.

“You look terrible.”

“Thanks a lot Kuil.” Rel felt weak and broken.

“Cronn sent an Avatar to find me so that I could get you out of here.”

“But we can’t just leave him here alone. He needs our help.” Rel wouldn’t just pick up and leave his Lord to face the God of the Tabaxi alone.

“Don’t worry,” Kuil smiled at his fellow pantheon member. “Grandfather can take care of himself.”

“But-”

Kuil picked up the cat god shifting to Ramara’s realm. Kuil was right of course; Cronn could take care of himself. Ramara embraced the fallen cat god and her love made him glad to be alive.

[Knightfall]

The Tides of War
The battle was turning into a rout.

Jalivier knew he’d lost the day, as fiend after fiend poured from the Outlands portal controlled by the Sword Gods. The portals had not closed since it last opened and his forces were being overrun. Without help the pantheon would die in its infancy.

Hiisi had turned loose a horde not even the Lord of Darkness could control. The fiends ravaged the first layer of Mount Celestia and those gods with realms on the layer closed their borders, cutting off the fiend’s ability to access them, as well as the rest of the Seven Heavens. This also cut Jalivier off from his realm and his followers had rallied behind their Lord to protect him from the fiends. He was losing so many close friends and allies.

Fortunately, none of the other pantheon members had fallen during the initial onslaught of Hiisi’s latest horde. Corellon, Damh, Garl, Hades, Inanna, Jaeger, Larea, Lokun, Mayela, Moradin and Sanh were all fighting the good fight. Jaeger’s initial absence had been forgotten by all and he seemed possessed on the battlefield. He led charge after charge and Jalivier was worried that Cronn’s godson was actually trying to martyr himself.

Lokun was also obsessed for some reason. He fought so hard that Jalivier thought Lokun was channeling Odin. He had refused to discuss the reason for his passion driving him. All he would say was ‘I swear I will always fight by your side against the Sword Gods’. Jalivier had been speechless.

But none of that mattered now, Hiisi was winning – slaughtering, really.

Druaga, Mussin, Nether, and Thera had joined their Dark Lord on the battlefield and the five dark gods had the advantage.

Had.

Just when Jalivier was sure that Hiisi would steal his godsoul, two things happened. The first was a huge shock. The Olympian Apollo appeared on the battlefield riding a giant Pegasus steed. He flew over the battlefield and started gutting fiends left and right.

Jalivier heard him call out a challenge to the Goddess of Violence. “Here me Thera! You have violated the one person I loved most, my beloved Hela! I have come to send you to the Twilight where you shall remain for all eternity!”

Thera rose to meet the Old God against the wishes of her Dark Father. Apollo’s winged steed sped towards the dark goddess and the two clashed above the battlefield. Again and again the two gods swords met. But the Old God was too strong for the goddess.

“For Hela!” Apollo cried out as he delivered the deathblow.
This event gave hope to the Army of Jalivier’s Light, as it was now being called across the Outer Planes. They fought more inspired at the presence of another Old God on the battlefield. But it was the second event that truly gave hope to the pantheon’s forces.

From the Great River Oceanus, an aquatic army of Asgardian petitioners and mortals rose from the water and took the fiends from behind. Aegir’s forces had broken the blockade sent by Hiisi to prevent his involvement in the Final Battle. The Old Man of the Sea rose from the billowing depths, his voice echoed over the land as he roared in defiance at Hiisi’s plan.

“Ha, you thought to keep an Old God down, did you Dark One. You will feel the wrath of the waves and it children! This I swear today before all present!”

Aegir conjured hundreds of water elementals from the depths of Oceanus itself. The water elementals fell upon the fiends, carrying with them the purity of Oceanus. The demons screamed in pain as the pure water burned their skins off.

Soon the hordes of the Sword Gods were in disarray and the Army of Jalivier’s Light was sweeping across the battlefield. And one lone, young god renewed his search for the Lord of Darkness.

[Knightfall]

Cronn versus Tu
The two Greater Gods raged across the sky, matching the others speed and intensity. They fought from the Savanna of the Sun to the peaks of the Greystone Mountains. Cronn knew that Tu was a formidable foe and used all his strength against the vile cat god.

Cronn was starting to feel the rage flow through his godsoul again but suppressed it concentrating all his energy on keeping Tu’s great spear at bay. His great axe, North Rage, wasn’t the most effective weapon against the cat god’s spear but he wouldn’t fight with anything else. North Rage was part of him, like an extension of his essence. Tu never showed any sort of emotion during the battle, except to hurl insults at the barbarian god.

“You pantheon is collapsing, Great Cronn.” His words mocking Cronn’s heritage and kin. “Soon I will send you to the Twilight as I did Seraph!”

That did it.

The rage took Cronn in a way he had never experienced and he roared a thunderous barbarian war cry and charged the cat god. Tu had never seen anything like it and actually wondered if he was afraid. Cronn’s Avatar grew to twice its normal size. He towered over the cat god, as North Rage smashed into Tu’s great spear, splitting it in half like a mortal weapon.

Yes, Tu was sure that what he was feeling was fear. He fled before the onslaught of the Lord of the North. Heading for the city of his people, Tattenger. There he would be at his strongest; there he could face Cronn on his own terms.

The cat god quickly outdistanced the raging barbarian god reaching Tattenger far enough ahead of Cronn to summon all his divine power. Tu’s great spear reformed in the presence of his greatest power, and when Cronn finally arrived, Tu’s Avatar was almost the same size as the raging barbarian’s.

The two clashed above the streets of Tattenger. Each gaining the upper hand and then losing it almost as quickly. Tu’s essence began to dwindle while Cronn’s rage sapped his strength as well. Soon the two gods fought like mortals in the streets of Tattenger, brawling like two rivals for the same wench.

“Enough, I’ve had enough of this nonsense! I have no time for this!” Cronn swung North Rage sending Tu’s Avatar into a nearby building, destroying it completely.

Tu pulled himself from the wreckage of the building only to be pinned to the ground by the barbarian god. Cronn held Tu’s Avatar down with all his strength calling out to the sky.

“Here me Mirella, I have defeated the God of the Tabaxi and petition you to grant me a request.”

“What is your request, Great Cronn?” The All-Mother appeared before the two gods and Tu’s people bowed down to the Great Mother of Kulan, awed by her presence.

“I request that Tu and his people be banished from Kulan for his crimes against my kin.”

“Why do you not just destroy him?”

Cronn shook his head looking at the Tabaxi God. “I did not start this quarrel and will not destroy one who has yet to gain the wisdom to realize why his actions are wrong. If I destroy him, I would be no better then Hiisi.”

“Indeed you have become wise through the ages, Great Cronn.” Mirella smiled at the barbarian god. “I will grant your request.”

“You cannot do this! It is my destiny to rule!” The cat god snarled and spat at the All-Mother but could not break free of Cronn’s grip.

“Perhaps,” Mirella stood above the howling cat god. “But not yet. I banish you, and your people as well, from the lands of Harqual for a 1,001 years. Hopefully by then you will have matured a little.”

Mirella looked to Cronn and he nodded that he was satisfied. Then Mirella reached through time to find a place where Tu and his people could not escape. There she sent the cat god and his people to languish. Thus it was that the city of Tattenger left the mortal plane, forgotten in time.

“Thank you All-Mother.” Cronn dropped to one knee and paid homage to the Mother of Kulan as he had done all those ages ago.

“Now is not the time, Great Cronn. One of your kin is risking everything he is to break Hiisi’s power over Harqual.”

“Who?”

“Jaeger.”

“No!”

[Knightfall]

The Challenge
Hiisi knew the battle was over, he had lost almost as much as Cronn’s pantheon. All the Dark Children were gone, there power with them. Hiisi had had to beg Thera to come to Lunia and add her power to the battle. But then the God of Prophecy had arrived and sent her to the Twilight.

His blockade had fallen as Aegir had surprised everyone by rising out of the Great River with a battle ready army of followers. If Hiisi had received word of the event like he was suppose to then he wouldn’t have been caught between Jalivier & Aegir’s armies. Vespin was dead, he knew his godson would never have let this slip by.

His pantheon was broken but he refused to surrender. Better to retreat and regain his power then die needlessly in savage battle. Hiisi motioned to Mussin to call the retreat. The vile god laughed at Hiisi’s plight, and he, Druaga, and Nether shifted away from the shores of Lunia.

“Damn you to the Abyss, Mussin, you will suffer for this!”

“No!” A voice rang out behind the Lord of Darkness.

Hiisi wondered who would dare contradict him turning to see Cronn’s godson Jaeger walking towards him. “Well, this is an unexpected pleasure. I feel like taking my frustration out on someone. It might as well be you, little god child.”

“You’ll have your chance.” The young god smiled as if he had already won. Jaeger raised his voice calling out to the sky in the ancient tongue of the Old Gods. “I invoke the ancient tradition of the Finnish Pantheon. I call for Haastekehä!”

“What, no, you can’t…“ Hiisi did not have time to finish his sentence. Eight Avatars of the Finnish gods appeared around Hiisi and Jaeger. Ahto, Ilmatar, Loviatar, Mielikki, Tuonetar, Ukko and Untamo.

“The challenge has been made Hiisi; do you accept or forfeit your station to the challenger?” It was Ahto that spoke the words.

“You can’t be serious, he isn’t one of us.” Hiisi was furious. As long as he was within the circle of Haastekehä, he could not shift away from Lunia.

“It doesn’t matter if the challenge comes from outside of the pantheon, you know that. Or do you forget how you came by your station amongst the Finns?” The Mistress of the Forest spoke in rebuttal.

“Don’t patronize me Mielikki. And yes, I will accept the challenge.” Hiisi looked at Jaeger laughing. “You little fool, you can’t defeat me. No one has ever defeated me in Haastekehä.”

“I don’t have to defeat you, I just have to trap you here long enough for the rest of my pantheon to finish destroying your army.” Jaeger looked passed the circle of Finnish gods noting that a growing number of celestials had seen the Finnish Gods appear and riders were already on their way to tell the rest of the pantheon. They would come eventually but not soon enough to save him. Not that they could, no god may interfere in this challenge. Not even his father could pass through the circle of Finnish Gods.

Jaeger’s words enraged Hiisi and the Lord of Darkness made the first move. Jaeger evaded him easily, as the Dark One was not thinking rationally. Jaeger tried to keep his foe off balance by mentioning that Hiisi’s allies seemed to have abandoned him. That really ticked him off and he almost caught Jaeger flatfooted. The God of Honor wouldn’t last long against these odds, even with Hiisi on Jaeger’s turf. Not that Celestia was his home plane, the Prime Material was. But to Jaeger, the Seven Mounting Heavens were like a second home.

Instead of dodging Hiisi’s next attack, he surprised the Lord of Darkness by meeting him head on, striking out with Honorbound against Hiisi’s torso. The first hit was his, which enraged the Dark One even more.

Hiisi tore into Jaeger, gaining four straight cuts with his sword. A great cheer rose up from one side of the circle, as a group of fiends had gathered to watch the spectacle. Jaeger blocked the next blow and noticed that a group of celestials cheered him on from the other side of the circle. Law versus Chaos, Good versus Evil. This was what it was all about on the Planes. Jaeger did not care; this was for Harqual – for all the mortals that he had grown up with, fought beside, and watched die. That was what this was all about!

The rage took Jaeger and he fought with no regard for his own essence. He took the fight to the Dark One, beating him back to the edge of the circle. Hiisi was battered by the time Jaeger's rage had subsided. Yet his strength was still greater than the young god's determination. He slammed into Jaeger, sending him sprawling to the ground. Jaeger was hurt badly by the blow barely getting up to his knees. The rage had sapped his strength and he could feel himself slipping away towards the Twilight.

“You are beaten, young one.” Hiisi stood over Jaeger and raised his fist in triumph. The fiends roared at the sight while several of Jaeger’s pantheon members looked on, helpless to do anything.

Jaeger looked to see his sister Mayela standing outside the circle with his mother Inanna. Cronn was not there yet. It didn’t matter, he had lied to Hiisi – he wasn’t stalling. It was time for phase two of his plan. Something that the First One in the Halls of Twilight hadn't suspected he knew. Jaeger was not even sure it would work.

“I have fallen Hiisi but I am not beaten.” Jaeger’s words echoed across the shores of Lunia, as Jaeger grasped Honorbound at both ends. “Here me Old Gods of all the Planes of Existence, I convey my essence to the Outer Planes wishing only one thing in return. That Hiisi be banished to Carceri for as long as my Great Father watches over the lands and people of Harqual. This I do freely with no tricks or illusions.”

Hiisi’s eyes widened with fear and he reached out towards the young god in desperation.

“No!” Cronn appeared just as Jaeger snapped Honorbound with all his strength.

Balefire erupted within the circle consuming Jaeger’s essence. The Old Gods of the Planes saw the young god's sacrifice and invoked the ancient Banishing that would trap Hiisi in Carceri for as long a Cronn watched over Harqual.

“Jaeger!” Cronn watched helplessly as his godson gave his life in the Banishing of the Lord of Darkness. A mist swirled around Hiisi and the Dark One screamed as his essence was transferred to Carceri.

Silence echoed across Lunia, even amongst the pantheon's enemies. The war was over.