Enemy of the Gods Ch. 01

Hi,

This story can be read as a standalone, although it follows on from the story "Damien and Psychi". For those who have read the "prequel", the events here will complete that story. I plan to finish "Enemy of the Gods" in 3 installments. There are no explicit sexual scenes in this installment, although there will be tension and plenty of setting the stage.

V

Unnatural blackness swirled overhead. In the dimness, a repressive gloom permeated the air, so thick it was tangible, thinning the oxygen and bringing a foreboding uneasiness to his heart. It was hard to breathe, to think. Prince Damien felt his mind grow foggy. There was a vileness here, omnipresent, dreadful and choking.

From the corner of his eye, he caught a flicker of movement. He whipped his head around, breathing hard. There, in the distance, was the faint wisp of a black flag. Vios.

His heart rammed hard. Squinting, tension building in his head, he strained to focus on that flag. And then he saw it, that splash of red on black. Red on black, he repeated to himself. The sigal of the Dragon. Psychi had not succeeded in overthrowing the Dragon Emperor. She was dead. She must be.

She had begged him to come with her to Vios, but he had released her to her fate, knowing... knowing that this would have been the likely outcome. And now it had come to pass.

It was as if a knife pierced his heart. His tense body sagged with grief, knees buckling under him. He knew that she must be gone, yet he couldn't believe it. Wasn't she the Goddess? How could a Goddess die?

He remembered her when he had taken her as his bed slave, her cries and her tears when he had overpowered her small body. No, she was hardly the invulnerable being that they built her up to be, that she herself imagined herself to be. She was too sensitive, too sweet. She wasn't built for the harshness of war.

Her brother had ruled Vios for five hundred years before his murder by the Dragon Emperor. Psychi would have had at least that lifespan. Immortal, or at the very least, long-lived. And now she was dead, still a young, naïve girl who hadn't known better.

An immortal was dead, her years far too short. This shouldn't have been her fate. It wasn't right. There was a judgement in the air, vindictive, some karmic imbalance seeking blood. He should never have let her go.

Stumbling backward, he felt something touch his heel. He looked down to see what it was. Black tendrils of smoke curled eerily upward, the ashy hues in contrast to the murky darkness. The smoke danced aside, and he saw fingers.

He stooped down, groping along the earth, frantically fanning away at cool smoke. Summoning his magic, he found his powers useless here. Crawling on the ground, he moved closer to the body. If there was life here, he would at least try to save it.

He felt the outline of a face and, gently, turned it upward. The smoke moved lazily out of the way, revealing the cold skin of a corpse, its eyes caked in dried, coagulated blood.

Damien scrambled backward. The smoke thinned, revealing more bodies on the ground, all around him, an entire field of them. And their eyes, crusted over with dried blood, like black rims around their terror-stricken faces. Whatever had caused this was demonic, and beyond powerful.

He started hyperventilating, feeling his vision dim further. He was vaguely aware of some warm liquid trickling down his eyes. Was he crying? Strangely, he knew that his body was going into a panic, but he felt like he were merely an observer, his feelings so deadened that he couldn't feel himself, as if his spirit had disjointed from his mortal being. He was being gently led into sweet unconscious, his body collapsing under him, and he was going to let it happen. He didn't have the will to fight.

"Damien." A delicate, feminine voice called to him, melodic and tender. Something beautiful had come. It shouldn't be in this valley of death. He must tell it to go.

"A great evil... is in this place." He rasped with his last breath. Whatever had come, it must leave, now.

"Yes." The voice answered, unwavering, repeating the same thoughts he had. "Raiha should have protected you from this place. You would do well to discipline him after, Damien of Anderra."

Damien of Anderra. Psychi used to call him that. He had murdered so many during his time as Army commander, and oppressed many more as part of the Anderran royal family. But, she always just called him Damien of Anderra. Such a sweet, simple name, not spiteful at all, given what he had done to her. So befitting of her kind nature. Somehow, hearing it again gave him a measure of peace.

Gentle as it was, the presence flashed with unexpected power, cutting through the dense darkness. He felt as if he were being forcibly dragged from beneath the waters. His lungs drew in a deep breath of air as his stunned eyes flew open.

Through drowsy eyes, he saw Psychi's angelic face looking back at him. Only now, her pale, fair skin radiated light, the ephemeral glow around her in sharp relief to her black irises, large with black magic. Long lashes framed those powerful, sultry eyes.

She leaned forward, soft lips so close to him, whispering huskily with words that echoed in his mind.

"Light of Anderra... you face judgement."

"..." He wanted to speak but the words would not come. Still, he struggled for strength, her mere presence breathing life back into his dying spirit. She must leave this place. She had the same concern for him.

"You must leave this place, Damien of Anderra." She said.

Again, he struggled to speak, and again his mouth would not cooperate.

Her eyes swept pass all the dead bodies of the field, before looking into the distance at the flag of the Dragon Emperor. "Its sad, but none of these are my own. I cannot care about them when my own people die."

She turned back to him, and he saw sadness flash across her beautiful face. "I am grateful that you released me back to Vios, Damien, I am. I know why you walked away. It is as it should be, me in Vios and you in Anderra."

She pursed her lips. She looked like she wanted to cry. "I don't know why I thought of you after. Perhaps its all that talk of love, it plays with a woman's heart."

She looked down, avoiding his eyes, "I missed you. I worried about you these past days. But, I know that for someone like you, so disciplined and dedicated to Anderra... you probably don't wish to think of me any longer."

Eyes remaining downcast, she added wistfully. "I came here... because I was sentimental."

Damien wanted to reach out, but he could not. He saw her smiling sadly at him, her voice timid, "so, I guess, I just wanted to say, thank you. For helping me, Damien. But this is the extent of my debt to you, I hope you consider it repaid. You must go to your brother now. I know that you love him."

She locked eyes with him suddenly, an angry accusation there despite her kind words. And Damien, in his heart of hearts, knew why. He had told her that he loved her, yet he had abandoned her, choosing to stay in Anderra, with his brother King Graethe. Choosing loyalty to his country over her. She must believe his love to be a lie.

Damien struggled to say something, his spirit fighting for strength. Her irises turned into dark embers, burning with power. And betrayal.

"Descend into darkness." She commanded.

The words echoed, low and foreboding. A powerful force took hold of him as soon as the words left her lips, dragging his spirit out of his body. Terror rose in him as felt himself being pulled down, a rapid fall into nothingness.

Until he felt the breath expel from his lungs and his back slammed onto a soft surface.

Cracking open his eyes, he saw the curtains, familiar white marbled walls all around, and felt his fingers clawing at soft sheets beneath. He had landed back in his own body, back in the Palace of Light.

There was incessant knocking at his door.

"Psychi..." He called, rubbing his sweat stained face in the palm of his hand, calming himself for a moment. The knocking at his door grew louder. He took another moment to gather his breath, but as he came to his senses he noticed the frantic shouts that accompanied the knocking.

"Come in." He called, looking at the palms of his hands as he lifted his face off them. He noticed a faint smear of blood there. Gently, he wiped his nose, then the rims of his eyes. Black, crusted blood fell onto his fingers.

Two soldiers burst in. "Prince Damien, your brother, King Graethe."

Something was amiss. "What's happened?"

"King Graethe is unconscious on his bed and... there's blood pooling out of his eyes."

~~~

The hot afternoon sun beat down on the dusty earth. Below, massive crowds of people shoved in the square, shouting at the soldiers who lined the steps leading up to the great Temple. The soldiers, each powerfully built and dressed in dark, bronze-black armor, remained impassive.

They were forming a human wall, preventing all entry and exit from the Temple in the capital city of Vios.

Someone screamed, the high-pitched wail loud, animalistic. A stone flew out of nowhere and hit a soldier on the face. The soldier glared in the direction it had come from, smoke coming out of his nostrils even though he did not break formation.

Then, a dark shadow blocked out the sunlight, the smell of asphalt filling the air. Down in the square below, spectators scrambled out of the way as a group of giant creatures descended, their bronze-black bodies long and scaled, serpent-like. Each had four large, clawed legs with which they crashed into the dirt ground, sending plumes of dust clouds asunder. The dust swirled as steam seemed to radiate off the creatures' scales, darkening and engulfing the creatures in ever thicker miasma until the smoke dissipated, leaving, in place of the three creatures, three men dressed in shining military gear, gleaming the same iridescent bronze-black that their armor had been.

The man in front was larger than the others. The crowd fell into a hushed silence in his presence. A soldier who had been waiting in the square, at the foot of the Temple steps, ran forward toward him.

"Emperor Kai." The soldier greeted, his head slightly bowed.

A lone, plaintive cry broke through the still air. "Usurper!"

The Emperor's grey eyes snapped up, searching as the crowds cowered backward.

"We can find whoever said that and arrest him, Emperor." The soldier nervously offered, following the Emperor's seeking gaze.

"Leave it." Emperor Kai replied, frowning as he cocked his head back to the soldier, "has the crowd always been so disturbed?"

The soldier averted the Emperor's gaze, staring down at the earth. "Yes, many rebel clans have come to see the Goddess, ever since rumors of her appearance at the Temple. Perhaps they grow bold in numbers."

"No. This is something more... familiar. Pneuma had this effect on people, too."

The soldier's eyes widened with understanding, before he looked down, stammering, "my Lord, you think it's the Goddess... affecting their mood?"

Emperor Kai smiled grimly at the soldier. "They do call her the Psyche of Vios, don't they? That family... Sometimes their feelings leak out."

The soldier trembled. "Yes..."

"Sounds like the Goddess is about to have a fit with me, doesn't it?"

"When she was just a girl, she was prone to tantrums, Emperor."

Emperor Kai walked on. "Tantrums from someone so powerful and so revered... is dangerous"

The soldier took a deep breath, "the surviving members of that clan are bad tempered."

"Yes, Pneuma, when he was alive, was peaceful. Anima can be vindictive but he doesn't usually get involved with politics. Unlike his sister, who seems too willing to jump in despite her inexperience."

"Anima is protective of his sister, Emperor. There is the rumor that he has gone to Anderra."

"Yes, I hear that he has gone there to make them cry black tears."

"Anima is frightening, Emperor."

"Even if her brother had not attacked Anderra, we would have had to demand restitution."

"Emperor?"

"Psychi, whether she endorses my rule or not, is still a national treasure. A sister of Emperor Pneuma and a Goddess in her own right. We cannot let other nations desecrate our deities unpunished."

"Yes, Emperor. The Anderrans are barbarians."

The group walked to the steps of the Temple as the crowd looked on. Every once in awhile, someone would scream something insulting, but the group ignored it, making their way to the great doors of the Temple entrance.

Two soldiers stood waiting at the doors, reaching for the large brass knobs. The Emperor straightened

his spine, standing taller, one of his hands trembling slightly as he arranged his hair behind his ear. A small pebble whizzed past the Emperor's face, grazing his cheek before it fell to the ground. The soldiers stopped their movements, rooted to the spot as the Emperor turned to face the crowd.

"Dragon clan are cowards!" A loud male voice screamed in the distance.

"Afraid, aren't you?" Another voice boomed.

"What do you scum plan to do with the Goddess?"

Wisps of smoke started to emanate off the armor of some of the soldiers as their eyes flitted through the crowd, searching for the source of unrest. Emperor Kai put his hand up, signaling his men to stand back.

The Emperor turned around and took a step toward the crowd, surrendering both of his hands in supplication. "My people, why do you attack me so? I only seek what is best for Vios."

"Murderer!" Another voice screamed.

"How many lives did we lose to the death rituals? To grow your army!" A female voice screeched.

"And now Anderra attacks us. They would never have dared to do so under Emperor Pneuma."

"Pneuma preached peace!"

"He preached weakness!" Emperor Kai shouted, his voice booming loudly so that it seemed even the ground shook. At this, the crowds silenced.

"Vios used to be the center of magic in the world. The mere mention of our name used to cause our enemies to quake. Yet, under Pneuma's rule, our military lay dormant, our borders closed for fear of the outside world. The world has forgotten the dark magic of Vios."

"Meanwhile, the Light magic users of Anderra have plundered nation after nation, growing fat with resources, and more confident with their growing numbers and strength. Do you think that just the distant memory of our might would quench Anderra's blood lust for more power? It was only a matter of time before they came to enslave us."

"Do you think that they care about our Gods? The Goddess Psyche was captured and raped before escaping back home. Even the rebel clans will not dispute me on this. Should we hide when even our Goddess is humiliated this way?"

"Don't be naïve." The emperor warned. "It is our men, our military might, that protects our borders from that scourge. If we had not forced the death rituals to grow our army, the entire Vios, you and your children would now be enslaved by that evil nation. I don't like that so many of our people fail the death rituals, either, but we need to awaken our magic to protect our freedom."

"I served as General to Emperor Pneuma, as my father had and his father before him. My clan has always been singularly dedicated to Vios. And for that, we risked the wrath of the Gods. The Dragon clan has been anything but cowardly."

The Emperor took a deep breath, glaring at the crowds for emphasis, before stepping back to the Temple doors. Next to him, the soldier who had escorted him to the Temple doors smiled tightly.

"Emperor, you're so brave. I have been shaking ever since I was told that the girl who threw her slipper at the statue of Anima inside might be his sister. She's a small slip of a person, but that family frightens me."

Emperor Kai's arm reached out, his palm touching the soldier on the shoulder. The soldier's back jerked upright in surprise.

"You should be afraid. I have always trembled in the presence of that clan, ever since the day that my father brought me to kneel at Pneuma's feet."

As the great doors creaked open, Emperor Kai quickly turned to the soldier.

"How is my breath?"

The soldier wrinkled his nose, then knowingly reached into his pocket, extracting a pack of mints.

The Emperor grabbed it, peeling open the top and tossing out a handful of the breath-freshening sweets into his mouth, chewing them methodically as they plodded onward.

"Don't want to offend her further if I can help it. She's already quite irritated with me, I'm sure." The Emperor said.

"Have you met her before, Emperor?"

"No."

"Then why would she be offended already."

"I have that effect on women."

"Oh..." The soldier was about to say something, then shut his mouth.

"Speak your mind, soldier."

The soldier struggled to paraphrase his words, but he was under too much pressure. "I mean, I thought that since you're Emperor, and leader of us Dragons, and such a strong, um, handsome man, women would find you charming. You know. And besides... and you're... the Emperor."

Kai pursed his lips, swallowing the mints. "No. They don't find me charming. Especially the pretty ones. The prettier they are, the less charming they find me. You could draw a chart, yes, and it would be a linear, inverse relationship, of how my perceived charm correlates with how attractive a woman is."

The soldier trembled nervously, not knowing what to say to that. Thankfully, Emperor turned to him and smiled, canines white and gleaming, "confounding, isn't it?"

"It surely is, my Lord!" The soldier jumped in, adding, a little more lighthearted now, "no one can understand the minds of women."

Inside, the temple was cool despite being filled with people, a natural effect of the high domed ceilings. As it was outside, a pathway was cleared out by lines of soldiers on either side as Emperor Kai made his way into the room where the statue of the Vioian God of War, Anima, stood.

There, with a circle of soldiers kneeling at her feet, caging her in despite their subservient stance, was a small figure completely cloaked in black robes. The crowds here, as outside, stood behind lines of standing soldiers, craning their necks to see what the Emperor would do.

The petite figure spoke, her voice high and lilting, striking in its soft femininity.

"Kai, you surely kept me waiting."

~~~

Not wanting the Kai to see her face, Psychi looked down. She noticed that even in their kneeling positions, heads bowed in servitude, the soldiers surrounding her reached above her waist. They knew that they were physically stronger than her, and yet they intentionally intimidated her with their brawn by encroaching on her personal space. Such false subservience indeed.

She closed her eyes, reaching into her power and projecting it outward. As before, she couldn't touch any of the soldiers' minds. All she felt was Pneuma's essence around them, protecting them from her mind control. Dear, mild-mannered, peace-loving Pneuma. Murdered and his powers stolen by the madman Kai.

She clenched her fists.

"Welcome back, Goddess." Psychi, still staring at the ground, saw Kai's shadow approach, his footsteps close. "If you are, indeed, the Goddess."

She shuffled her feet, hating the man.

"Would I have the pleasure of seeing your face?"

Psychi huffed, sucking in a deep breath, remaining still. She had thrown one slipper at the statue of Anima, and she had one more slipper left to throw. Kai's voice, his tone, the mere presence of him riled her.

She heard him take another step forward, getting closer now. She could feel the crowd's eyes. They were all waiting for her to do something. She didn't know what it was, the audience or the event, but her nerves rattled. Probably her inexperience. She needed time to think, before he forced some reaction out of her.