Power Vs Nature

The air smelt heavily of pine wood, a strangely relaxing scent Ares had not expected to smell in this place, but he still had much to get accustomed to about this world, everything was far different than Eradonia had ever been, more pungent and less chaotic.

Looking back, Eradonia was a tenfold more chaotic than even the Sahara desert, the badlands of Nostramos had been as chaotic as it got, the realm even worse. Now the realm was within him, the disadvantage about being so powerful was that it was difficult to find someone to match him in skills and power.

Murder simply wasn't the same anymore, it lost some of its beauty when you could murder without speaking a word or raising the sword, without the act of having one's hands around another's throat, murder had dulled greatly.

Looking into the forest he grinned largely, sharp rows of teeth exposed in the sun he could hear some activity from within, tearing a leaf off it simply began to fly toward the ground in a swinging fashion, no gold coins or golden forest.

Focusing more he could hear people chattering in some unknown language, he was fluent in English and the dark language of magic, but whatever they spoke seemed to have a more serene sound to it, more nature than actual human.

Walking into the forest he knew he was heading right for an ambush, he had heard the rustling leaves as the natives got into their ambush spot, arrows notched in their bows, another line of natives with knives and whatever weapon they used ready to rush in.

Not even thinking of reaching for his swords he yelled in a challenging voice, “ Where are you woman of evil! You disrupt the peace and ruin the synchronism of these people, your chaos in perfection. I am chaos in perfection as well, so why don't you come out here or I'll have to take your hiding spot away.”

There was no response, but he could sense the power of the curse nearby, she was probably amongst the native ambushers. Sighing with annoyed pleasure he lifted his hands and yelled, “ Leviticus!” Lifting his arms the trees began to pull upward toward the sky.

At first there was resistance but Ares simply upped the power, trees uprooting from the ground with an explosion of dirt and rock he smiled with amusement as an entire section of the forest was now floating in the air, leaving the ambushers dumbfounded, looking around at where their forest had gone.

***

What was going on here, ever since the sun had risen in the red sky she had felt like change was very close. Her tribe never respected her, ever since her gift from the stranger she had been more powerful, perhaps to powerful for their liking.

With the power was born an insatiable thirst for violence, and so she became the most hated woman but the most valued warrior, when they fought which was growing rarer by the year, she was right in the front swords in action.

The trees floated in the sky, she had felt power and even done some things herself that were deemed impossible, but this was far beyond her power. That left only one answer, whoever the stranger was must be the one responsible for all of this, he must have been very powerful indeed.

Looking at him the ambushers reformed into a line, arrows notched in their bows they shook with fear, sweating exasperatedly like they had never done before. They had faced tribes ten times their size without even an inkling of fear, even upon witnessing dark clouds of arrows coming toward them.

And yet now they cowered in fear, walking ahead of them she yelled in response, “ I am out, what do you want from me! How can I possibly help one of your immense power!” She did not fear him surprisingly enough, without warning she had both her swords out, thrown with full force right at the stranger.

She was known for her perfect aim and she had gotten her target once more, both short swords digging deep in his chest, no blade to show for it had gone all the way to the hilt. And yet despite this the stranger simply stood there, “ Is that it!? I hope you got more than that in store, now my turn.”

She seen him mumble something into the air and without warning the trees began to shred into nothing but a powder, raining down on them she looked with concealed awe at how this stranger had destroyed an entire section of this old forest with as much ease as one who was tearing paper.

The other tribesmen were petrified now, giving up any pretense of fighting or courage they had run away as quickly as they could, tossing away their weapons in fear they would hinder their escape. She now stood alone, pulling a knife out of her belt she smiled bemusedly, “ Why don't you come over here so we can try something new!”

***

He could see why she had been chosen, she had a fiery personality to match his own and with some training, she might prove very powerful. Pulling the swords out of his chest he smiled, looking at the strangely colored blood that was now his own he began to walk toward her.

As they met half way she looked in his chaotic yellow eyes with her very own oak brown eyes, brushing her long black hair out of her face she said, “ So, you've established your mastery over magic. Now lets see your skills with the sword, that is, if you can handle it.”

Smiling at this Ares handed her swords back, pulling out his own falcata blades they began to circle themselves, looking each other right in the eyes, “ Let me guess, you would like me to refrain from use of magic right?”

Without warning she moved into action, however even as she began her attack he was already gone. Swords hitting nothing but air she looked around surprised, hearing a clapping sound behind her she turned quickly to find Ares standing there, broad smile on his face.

A little infuriated by this she swung in quickly for another attack, never had she met one who could match her in swordsmanship, and yet once again he was already gone without even leaving a wisp of smoke. Enough toying around, it was time he went into action.

Moving in quickly on her she hardly had enough time to raise her swords as he began attacking her viciously, moving so quickly the most she could do was parry and back away defensively. She didn't stand a chance in hell, metal clashing against metal she found it harder and harder to ward off his attacks, the strength in his strikes increasing with each blow.

He could tell by the expression in her face that she knew he was toying with her, then she invoked a bit of magic of her own. Using a technique that had taken years to master she muttered a spell with her mind, as his swords descended she was gone in a wisp of blue smoke.

Smiling amusedly Ares looked behind him to see her, arrow notched in her bow she said with an arrogant smile, “ It was fun” Letting loose the arrow he was surprised as the arrow transformed into a flurry of angry bees.

Activating his shield he watched as the bees crashed against him, dying upon impact she was no running in the forest, walking after her he raised his arms and yelled, “ Forclinka Wavios” As she ran the trees behind her began to bend, some breaking under the pressure.

***

This was crazy dangerous now, she ran furiously as the trees crashed down and bent all around her, diving quickly to dodge a falling tree by merely a fraction of an inch she did not even stop to look back as the powerful attacker walked after her, and despite the heavy usage of magic not even a sign of tiredness showed.

She cursed as the branch from a falling tree cut her face deeply, forming a large gash across her cheek she ignored the stinging pain and kept running, then she seen it, the black crow, perhaps this mysterious attacker would meet someone of his power after all.

***

Something new was in play now, having stopped his attack he looked around for the new presence. A small whirlwind of black leaves came toward him, he placed his swords back in place as the leaves began to take form into an exotically dressed man of dark complexion.

His face was covered in lines of old age, eyes as deep as bottomless pits he stared right at Ares without even an inkling of fear, “ You are formidable Ares, your power is indeed incredible but this is my element, I suggest you leave now before I am forced to hurt you.”

The old man pulled out two exotic looking swords from his belt, made of pure gold, blade in a gentle curve. Ares smiled, raising his falcata blades, “ I am my own element, I hope your actions are as strong as your words old god, you'll need skill if you wish to defeat me.”

With this they moved into action, powerful blades coming in impact with each other they both moved as quickly as the wind. Weaving in complex patterns they were of equal match and power, Ares teleported to dodge a potential death blow only to have to parry the second he had rematerialized.

Summoning magic his blades began to burn red in power, he smiled with amusement as the old god's blades began to emanate a black aura. Backing away from each other the old god smiled, emanating respect, “ You fight well Ares, but alas I no longer have time to play this game, so now you die.”

A sudden strange feeling began to take him over, feeling the essence drain out of him he looked up with a strain look, “ Like hell your gonna do that!” And in retaliation he fired an intense burst of realm energy through the link connecting him to the old forest god.

Grimacing in pain Ares smiled ruefully, the hold on him gone he increased the dosage of realm energy. The old god's skin changing from its dark tanned color to a cold blue he bulged out his essence, coming out as a vapor mixed with the dark energy of the realm Ares breathed it all in.

As the old forest god struggled to regain power Ares said, “ You were a fool to even consider messing with me old god, with you dies your forest and with your forest dies your people, its been a long time since I committed mass murder, well not so long, but a long time since it actually felt good.”

Looking around the forest was indeed dying, as the forest god was losing his life the forest began to shrivel away into nothing but dried grasses and dead wood. Stopping when there was not but an inkling of life left Ares smiled, grabbing his swords he smiled, “ Beautiful blades, the blades of a god.”

Placing both blades on his neck his arms moved in one quick motion, decapitating him with great ease his body evaporated into ash. Kneeling down Ares collected the ash into a little pile, muttering over it the pile transformed into a vial filled with a black liquid.

***

How could this be, Ares had killed her creator. The god of the forest, the first of the ancients who had his hand in everything was now dead, how could a god even die. Pushing aside the dead log she was hiding behind she looked upon Ares, who was still shuddering with the renewed energy.

She watched as the forest began to transform into something much more sinister, the trees disintegrated completely until they found themselves in a complete wasteland. Nothing was left but the cold barren ground, turning to face her Ares smiled, “ Look over there, your people are freaking out, probably wondering what has happened to the forest.”

Turning around she did indeed see her tribe, panicking they were packing up their clothes and supplies, if they did not leave they would die. The animals were already gone, either they had escaped or they had been killed. Turning back to Ares he finished with a wink, “ But it gets better.”

The ground began to transform into a swirling blue matter, seeming more like water than hard soil. The blue matter quickly spread everywhere, moving at an incredible speed until everything was not but a swirling blue mass. Large towers began to grow from the ground, pillars of the same mass taking forms of trees.

It was done, the world she now looked upon was more like a nightmare than anything, as far as her eyes could tell the blue swirling mass had spread. Turning back to Ares she couldn't help but respect his power, “ I severely underestimated you Ares, but how can one of my level help one of your immense power?”

Smiling Ares replied coolly, “ The curse you bear, or the gift, whatever perspective you hold. I have it as well, you can become as powerful as me... in a thousand years. Or we can fast forward and go right to the creator of the curse, so the question is not what you can do for me, but what I can do for you?”

Handing over his falcata blades he said, “ A gift of acceptance for joining us, I have more appropriate swords now anyway. Its incredible, your god has the ability to create life and yet he has not done so since he created your forest. He was truly a merciful god.”

Accepting the swords she marveled at their perfection, she had never seen this type of metal anywhere, as light as dry wood but tougher than steel. The blades were now a tempered red color, having an eternal sharpness she sheathed her new falcatas.

Looking at Ares she said, “ You came here, killed a god, created a wasteland out of a forest and gave me your perfect weapons just to convince me to join you and your group? Are all people where you come from as devoted as you?”

Smiling playfully at this he sheathed his own weapons, “ Even more so, but never make the mistake of trusting me or anyone else. We are all gods, dark gods gathered together to take down the current gods, you assemble too much power together and they are sure to clash. Stay on your toes and use those swords well, and remember what I can do.”