Into the Fire

Prologue

         The large moon rose over the Great Sea casting ripples of soft blue light over the still waters. The weather on this night is rather pleasant, the Captain thought to himself as he stood on the surface of the vast ocean. There was no wind, not even a slight breeze; it left the waters smooth and mirror-like. Beneath him in the depths of the ocean, creatures stirred, jellyfish that glowed in the water floated beneath the surface. There were many of them in this area tonight. They must be attracted to the magic, he thought. The animals had a tendency to sense these things, they always had, even before everything changed, before the bloodshed, the greatest war in the history of the world weighed heavy on his mind. He shrugged off the thought and returned his gaze to the beautiful sight below him.

         The silence was broken by a soft female voice calling out.

"Oh Captain, I am glad to see you have come. I was worried you had not gotten my message."

"My lady, I will always come when you call," he replied politely, "What is it that you need to speak to me about?"

         From behind him he could feel the warmth that emanated from his goddess as she came closer. The soft blue of the ocean slowly began to brighten and turn white in her glowing presence as she gracefully strode across the surface of the water toward him. He turned to see her for the first time in over half a millennium. She was tall and elegant with long blonde hair that seemed to flow in the wind even though there was none. Her eyes were a deep golden color that glowed with warmth and she looked very young as well and gave the appearance of a beautiful woman in early adulthood. The light, sweet scent of vanilla filled the air and seemed to put the Captain at ease. It was his favorite scent, always had been, perhaps that was why it always made him feel comfortable. She often soaked her robes in the oil so that the scent was always present. The Captain chuckled at such a silly little ritual. She was always very ritualistic. She always had a schedule. But that didn't stop her from being late everywhere she went.

Her beauty would have stunned most men but he had grown used to it over the years. It had often won her many battles before they even began. A simple smile from her could bring almost any mortal man to his knees. The Captain, however, was not mortal. He was gifted with immortality at birth, or rather creation. Her beauty did not faze him in the slightest,at least not anymore. She slowly strode across the water and stopped beside him.



"I need to ask a favor of you." She said. "The humans are in danger. Tahrlak has found them and has begun preparations for an assault. They need our help, and we need yours." Her smile stayed the same. Always cheerful.

         Underneath the cowl that covered his mouth the Captain smirked. This would be his first task given to him by the goddess in almost six centuries. The thought of battle made his mind go crazy. But this would be a war won with brains, not brawn. This would be difficult. Tahrlak was powerful. Very powerful. He came from the time before. How he managed to survive into this world had been a mystery even to the gods. The Captain had fought him before, it was one of the most challenging battles he had ever faced, it stood second only to the battle with his brothers. The thought of killing him gave the Captain a strange pleasure. He had vowed to forever fight evil, and Tahrlak was the darkest of all. It would be a pleasure.

         The Captain bowed, "My Lady, for you I will do anything. I have felt the darkness growing. Gather the others. We need to have a meeting."

"The other Gods are waiting as we speak. Also, you will do well to remember your place." The Goddess said as she disappeared in a flash of white light.

          The Captain stood still for a moment mulling over the conversation that had just taken place and chuckled at the thought of killing Tahrlak. He dug into the magic of the ocean and began to shape the air around him. He could feel the power flooding his body. The vast ocean and all of it's creatures lending him their energy. He dug deeper and called upon the power of fire from the stars above him and began to heat the air making it want to rise. The power from the stars filled his body with warmth. He could feel his eyes glowing as his spirit began to supercharge with massive amounts of energy. He focused on the land. At the spot where he could sense the power of the gods.

         He released all of the energy in a sudden thrust downward and launched into the air in a brilliant flash of white-blue light. Through all of this not a ripple was made. The calm glassy surface of the sea revealed nothing of the event that had just taken place.

* * *

         The air sparked and crackled in the night around the group of people standing on the shore. Bolts of blue, red, violet, green and gold arced through the air as the magic of the gods reacted violently to each other. This much power in the world often created imbalances in the physical aspects of the earth. Many of the stones levitated a few feet off of the ground. Only the ocean and the wind seemed to be unaffected by the presence of powerful beings.

         The tallest among the group was Reyes, the god of knowledge and water. He stood silently with his eyes closed reading the timelines as he often did to pass the time. He was clothed in an elegant royal blue robe with gold trim that lined the bottom, the sleeves and the edge of the hood that covered his head, leaving nothing but darkness beneath it. He stood fully erect, with no slouch in his spine, perfect posture. Reyes was always about perfection. However, to Reyes, nothing was ever perfect. He was the first to break the silence.

"Our sister should be here soon with the Captain." He said, never looking up.

"Good. I get tired of waiting for them all the time. That pesky vampire is always lollygagging around. I don't know why Katiasa is so fond of him." Sefhrea spouted.

"Calm yourself Sefhrea. They may take as long as they please. It's nice to actually have some family time." Reyes replied with a chuckle.

         Sefhrea looked at Reyes mockingly and stuck her tongue out at him. Her red hair flared and sparked as she became agitated. The red sparks in the air began to violent shoot toward the blue ones as if the were trying to snuff them out with her rage. He was always so calm and collected, and that bothered her. Being the goddess of war and fire her temper usually got the better of her, she also thoroughly enjoyed bothering her brother. He often called her childish or little sister, and every time she would hurl a fireball at his face in anger. It never hurt him though as he was a master at deflecting her fiery rage. It had been centuries since they had last seen each other but the gods treated it as any other day by ignoring each other like usual. They never really agreed and rarely could spend more than a few minutes without being at each others throats. But these were desperate times and they would all make somewhat of an attempt to get along.

         Sefhrea sighed and was about to turn and walk away when she felt a surge of magical energy in the area. All of the others looked up and stared toward the sky where the source of power was. Reyes again broke the silence.

"Ah, the Captain is here." he said as he began walking toward the ocean.

         Up in the sky a small light was moving closer very quickly. It looked much like a shooting star aimed straight at the gods. As it came lower and closer to the ocean the glowing jellyfish, once again, began to rise to the surface in a way that looked as if they were forming a platform for the Captain to land on.

         As the Captain landed and the light suddenly went out he immediately began to walk toward Reyes, who was already halfway between him and the shore.

         "Hello Captain, it is a pleasure to see you again." Reyes called out to him as he strode across the water toward the Captain.

         A smile came across the Captain's face. . It had been a very long time since he and Reyes had last spoken. They had always talked about the Time Before because the Captain had lived in that time long before Reyes came into existence, and, being the god of knowledge, Reyes was always interested in learning about the way things were and of the single God that held power over the world. But today would not be a day for those things. There were much more important matters at hand.

         As Reyes neared, the Captain raised his left arm and stepped toward him to great Reyes with a handshake as was customary between the Gods and someone of his wisdom. It was a simple gesture but it conveyed respect.

"I have missed you, old friend." the Captain said softly.

         Reyes flashed a quick smile and turned to walk alongside the Captain to the shore. The walk was slow and silent as they calmed themselves for the verbal assault that was about to take place because none of the Gods ever agreed with one another. The other avatars, other immortals like the Captain, never joined in on the Gods' conversations because they were not interested in what was happening, only what they had to do was of concern to them. Only the Captain and one other avatar joined the gods tonight as they were the oldest and most trustworthy of the six.

         As they neared the shore Reyes called out to the other gods, "Let us begin now. We need to figure things out quickly."

         The other avatar that was standing with the gods looked up to make eye contact with the Captain. They were old friends in the Time Before and had always enjoyed each others company.

"It is nice to see you again Captain." he called out.

The Captain nodded and replied, "Always Abel. It is always a pleasure to see you." Abel was one of the first of the humans. The only elder to him in the entire group was the Captain. Aside from the Gods of course, but their age was relatively young compared to him since their rebirth. Many rebirths, and he had witnessed almost all of them.

"Now let us talk," Abel said to everyone. "First, I want to know what Gabriel thinks." he said as he pointed to the Captain.

All of the Gods turned to look at the Captain. He knew what they must do. What it would take to reach their goal in the end.

"We must go into the Fire. I will need to speak with my brother."

Reyes turned to him and spoke in a tone that betrayed his fear and anger at the same time.

"Lucifer?! Why would that devil help us? We imprisoned him in the Fire. Remember?"

The Captain gathered his thoughts for a moment. A flash of white to his left and the strong scent of vanilla made him aware of Katiasa's sudden appearance. Always late he thought to himself. "Lucifer is very powerful. He knows more about darkness and its ways than any of us ever could. He will help. I will make him."

"I know of someone who could help," Katiasa added in. " There is a boy who lives in the mountains stronghold. He holds a heart capable of great amounts of power. His spirit is very strong. Lady Noella has been watching over his family for a long time. We believe he is ready."

         None of the others had much to say about Katiasa's communication with one of the humans inside the mountain. They all had known of Noella's choice to stay behind. However, none of them knew that Katiasa, with the help of Reyes, had planned this. They knew the boy would come and now it was the time to set him free. To unleash him upon the darkness of the world.

"I know a way into the mountain through the ocean." The Captain said. "I designed it in the case that an event such as this would arise. I can be inside within a day. I go alone. My crew can post watch from the ship. But, after I do this, I will go pay a visit to my brother."

"Do as you wish Gabriel," Mesto , the god of earth and stubbornness, according to the Captain, said. "Just bring us the boy."

         None of the other Gods spoke as they all awaited for the Captains response. The silence lasted only a few seconds before the Captain replied. "It will be done. I can be inside the mountain within two days. I will contact you from there."

         Again he summoned the power of the world around him and launched away without any more words. Tomorrow he would begin his journey to the mountain. He needed to gather his crew and prepare the ship before the morning came. There was no more time for talking, only time to take action. It was time for humanity to reclaim its place in the world.