New Era Part 2 – War of the Gods

When the tale was over – a tale that for hours had drawn a great crowd of Derdian’s citizens and warriors into the sovereign’s fortress – Troghlor had to leave for Naxar, a small town that had by now become a province of Derdian. He had been summoned in person to decide how to govern that little town which, thanks to farming and livestock, brought in a considerable income, part of which, of course, went straight into Derdian’s coffers.

Troghlor had to stay in Naxar for a long time, and it was there that, like a bolt from the blue, messengers arrived from Derdian bearing bad news for the great sovereign: in the city, the priest of the goddess Khali, who had escaped the crackdown, was once again gaining followers in an attempt to undermine Mohzer’s reign and establish a rival cult, in order to revive an ancient sect, the “Servants of the Goddess”. Troghlor obviously could not allow any of this, because he, Mohzer’s servant, bound to him by a pact, would be annihilated by the god’s wrath if the “plot” of Khali’s priest succeeded.

And so, having gathered a handful of loyal warriors, he immediately set off again, postponing all his business in Naxar (he could deal with it later) and hurrying towards his fortress to annihilate the priest and to make it clear, if there was ever any need, that in Derdian he was the sovereign and that their only god must be Mohzer.

Adria

Meanwhile Golstar, at the head of the part of the army that Troghlor had entrusted to him, was travelling towards the lands of Anubi. The goal was clear: Mohzer wanted to limit Anubi’s power by any means, and to do so Golstar and his army had to find Raighon at all costs (the priest who in the past had managed to awaken the god), defeat him, thereby send Anubi back to his sleep, and establish the cult of Mohzer in those distant lands of the East as well. Mohzer’s design was to eliminate every possible rival, so as to hold absolute power and have every man under his command.

But Golstar’s task was far from easy: Raighon was known to be in Adria, but his castle stood in a place lost beyond space and time. No one knew how to find it, and no one had ever managed to reach it without his consent, now that he had become much more than a simple priest: he was now the king of the lands of Anubi. Heedless of all this, the army marched on…

They crossed the Forest of the Trolls and found the camp of the army that had stayed there awaiting news after the battle of the frozen lake. They joined them, and Golstar addressed the warriors, who knew nothing of what had happened. He introduced himself as the leader of the army Troghlor had entrusted to him and explained the mission that awaited them. In his speech he spoke of Troghlor and of the task he had been given, stressing that he regarded Troghlor as an idol for all he had achieved: he admired him as a leader and wanted to become as skilled a commander as he was. The army approved and seemed to welcome him warmly, partly because Golstar had already distinguished himself in battle many times and was regarded by all as a skilled warrior. They rested a few more days and then set off again for Adria. Raighon’s defeat and the capture of the capital would mean, for Derdian and its sovereign, total control of the East and of the land of Anubi: a huge milestone in the expansion of Troghlor’s and Mohzer’s power.

After a few days’ march they found themselves before the walls of the small fortified town: Adria had by now become the capital of the land of Anubi. There they decided to stop, and they camped in a hidden spot so as not to attract attention: the town probably already knew of their arrival, and Raighon had probably already taken refuge in his “unfindable hiding place”, a small castle magically concealed inside the town. But how could they find it?

Some time before, an old and experienced warrior of the army had told Golstar that, according to ancient legends, in a small town called Joenas there lived an old sage known as “the Oracle”, who could grant anyone a secret, a wish. The other side of the coin was that the same sage was also nicknamed “the Cursed One”, because it was said that every revelation he made brought misfortune upon whoever had questioned him. Having no choice but to believe and trust in the ancient legend, and since Joenas was not far from their camp, Golstar and four guards went there, while the others waited for them, hidden outside Adria.

Without much difficulty, asking the old sages around town, they found the Oracle, also known as the Immortal. Golstar asked him how he could find Raighon’s “lair”, and the Oracle, looking him in the eye, replied that he would reveal it to him, but that in exchange he would take away from him forever something he held very dear. On the spot, with the spirit of the greatest warriors and heedless of any fear, Golstar recalled the ancient legends he had been told, but he paid them little heed and decided to take the risk, accepting the pact. The Oracle granted Golstar’s wish and revealed to him how to track down Raighon: they would find the “door” to the priest’s lair in a small wood outside the town of Adria, right near the spot where the warriors had camped. Hidden in that wood, impossible to find, was a passage to a magical world where Raighon dwelt. Before letting him go, the Immortal reminded Golstar that he was about to take something away from him and that he would suffer; Golstar, puffing out his chest, replied that his destiny was that of a valiant warrior, and that great warriors know no fear.

Back at the gates of Adria, the men rejoined their general and at once ventured into the wood. They managed to find the passage, which in the blink of an eye brought them before Raighon’s small castle. The priest, probably through some magic eye, knew of their arrival, which he could no longer prevent, and was waiting for them with a host of guardians: the servants of Anubi. They were creatures with human bodies and animal-like muzzles resembling a dog’s, not too frightening in appearance, but on the battlefield they proved to be extremely ferocious, led by their god.

The fight was fierce, but Golstar’s army somehow managed to defeat them, and soon Raighon too had to bow before Golstar, who killed him. At that moment the spell that kept Anubi alive vanished, and the god returned to the deep sleep from which he had been awakened. From then on Adria became a province of Derdian, and the cult of Mohzer was established forever throughout the region. It was the end of the land of Anubi.

Meanwhile, in Derdian…

Once in Derdian, Troghlor decided not to waste any time: he gathered about twenty trusted men in his fortress and held a meeting to decide how to stop the priest of the goddess Khali. He resolved that, once found, he would bring him before the whole people, kill him, and make it clear once again that in Derdian he was the sovereign and that Mohzer was the only god to be worshipped. The matter did not worry him much, because over time he had ceased to be a man: Mohzer had by now turned him into a diabolical creature with almost divine powers. He immediately had the priest tracked down and captured; the priest offered no resistance and let himself be taken to the fortress of Derdian. Troghlor then organised a sort of ceremony in the square, brought him there and, after giving a speech before the crowd, annihilated him without even touching him. He then proclaimed that the name of the goddess Khali must never again be spoken in Derdian, and that anyone who wished to oppose him and his god Mohzer would have to leave the city, or else be killed in the square. But no one dared; on the contrary, even those few who had “converted” and followed the priest’s teachings pretended nothing had happened, disowned him and, mingling with the crowd, swore eternal love to Troghlor. The sovereign was back.

A particularly peaceful period followed, during which an air of greatness filled Derdian. Expansion was in full swing and the city’s name had become a symbol of wealth and power; the conquered territory was vast and included several provinces that were now part of the kingdom. Derdian’s coffers were truly full, its riches and treasures immense. Everything was going wonderfully, but no one could foresee the small internal catastrophe that was about to strike the city.

In the city, in fact, disturbing rumours about Golstar were spreading more and more often: it was said that he had forged a bond with the new king of Astar, Exenthar, son of King Rodon. After Troghlor’s passage, Astar had slowly been trying to rebuild its future and, fortunately for it, had remained independent and had not yet become a province of Derdian: perhaps because it was not yet of interest, or perhaps because Troghlor had not yet had time to organise a campaign of conquest against that city, which to him meant the memory of his imprisonment, but also the place of his pact with Mohzer, the beginning of his greatness. And so there was talk of a possible conspiracy between Golstar and Exenthar to overthrow Troghlor…

Even though they were only rumours, they had become so insistent that the sovereign could no longer ignore them: he had to find out at all costs where they came from and get to the bottom of the matter. So he sent some envoys to Astar who, posing as Golstar’s servants, were to approach Exenthar, the king of the city, with cunning, and find out how much truth there was in the conspiracy so widely talked about in Derdian and in the provinces.

Troghlor did not know it, but before being appointed general of his army, Golstar often went to Astar, where he was said to have relatives and business to attend to; but no one knew exactly what he went there for.

And so Troghlor’s men arrived in Astar and presented themselves to King Exenthar as “servants” sent by Golstar. At first the king was suspicious, but over time his mistrust was overcome by the flawless performance of the men of Derdian, who managed to win his full trust. Indeed, one day he even received them in his castle for a talk.

During the talk with Exenthar, it was not hard for Troghlor’s men to realise that the conspiracy everyone was talking about was real: Golstar and the king of Astar had long been planning an attack on Troghlor. They studied the situation, because their orders were clear: if the rumours were confirmed, they were to try to kill the king at once and return to Derdian. But King Exenthar’s guards and defences were too many even for them, who after all were only three guardians of Derdian. So they decided to play along and keep up the act; they did nothing and, on the night after the talk, they left for Derdian without attracting attention. Before leaving they sent Troghlor a messenger eagle carrying a message that read: “The conspiracy is real! Exenthar is still alive!”

Of course, the eagle arrived before the men of Derdian. Troghlor took the message, read it and started. His eyes turned crimson, his chest and his whole body seemed to swell: rage had devoured him. He decided at once that Golstar must pay. Killing him would have been the simplest thing, but Golstar was far away now, and Troghlor wanted to see him suffer. He swore revenge on him, summoned two guardians and ordered them to kidnap Lady Loren, Golstar’s woman, and imprison her in one of the cells of the fortress of Derdian. He told them to do it at night.

And so it happened: Lady Loren was now locked in a cell in Derdian. Shocked, incredulous and unaware of why she found herself in such a state, the woman could find no peace, and in her heart she hoped that Golstar would soon return to free her. Loren did not know that she would never see her man again, that her life would end there, in that cell, and that shortly one of the most atrocious deaths a human being could suffer awaited her. And she despaired…

(The debt to the Oracle was about to be paid…)

Troghlor also decided to set out for Astar, to wipe out its king, subjugate the city and make it a province of Derdian forever. But first he had to decide the fate of Golstar and his beloved.

After a few days of imprisonment, he decided that the day of Lady Loren’s sentence had come. During the night they took her out of the fortress, near the entrance to the city, and after brutally abusing her they tied her to a stake. They wounded her mortally, but in such a way as to let her die little by little, tied to the stake. After her death they cut off her head and left it beside her body; Troghlor left some guards near the stake to keep watch all day, so that no one would touch that scene. His intention was to leave that horror untouched until Golstar arrived, for at the sight of what remained of his beloved he would surely die of a broken heart. It was pure cruelty. Troghlor’s revenge was complete. Now he only had to conquer Astar and do away with Exenthar, but what had hurt him most was Golstar’s betrayal, because he had entrusted him with part of his command and had come to trust him, considering him his right-hand man.

That very night he sent four messengers to meet Golstar, for two reasons: the first, of course, was to inform him of his woman’s death; the second, to arrest him for “conspiracy against the sovereign”.

Back to Derdian…

Meanwhile Golstar, unaware of what was happening in Derdian, was beginning the journey back from Adria with part of the army Troghlor had entrusted to him. Other men, instead, stayed in Adria to reorganise the city, now a province of Derdian, and to guard it until further orders. They set off again, heading up from Adria towards the Forest of the Trolls. They had to retrace their steps, because the passage over the crystal lake was the only one men could travel: the area was in fact surrounded by impassable rocky mountains. They followed the river of Anubi northwards, a route that would lead them straight to the forest.

From a raised area, a sort of small hill near the river, the army saw some men on horseback coming towards them. They were warriors of Derdian: they had recognised the coat of arms. They were probably bringing news. They were a few hours’ march away, and Golstar wondered what could have happened that was so urgent as to send men all that way to inform him. He began to imagine what might have happened in Derdian in his absence.

Perhaps news of some victorious war, or something that concerned him closely.

As they marched, during those hours, his mind and his thoughts turned forcefully to his Loren. He dreamt of having her by his side, of embracing her again and holding her close, and he thought that, after all, the worst was over: the wars that had taken him far from home were finished and had ended for the best; he was alive and could go home.

After so many battles and journeys far from home, Golstar hoped, upon his return, to enjoy a long period of reward by his woman’s side, richly deserved on the battlefield. Unfortunately, though, he did not know that his return to Derdian would be, for him, a descent into the hell of the human soul…

When they reached the surface of the ancient lake, still covered with the remains of the decomposing corpses from two months before, Troghlor’s messengers informed Golstar that Lady Loren had been killed, that her body was hanging from a stake at the entrance to Derdian and that his conspiracy had been discovered. But that was not all: they also declared him under arrest. Troghlor’s order was precisely to arrest him and bring him back to Derdian as a traitor.

For a moment Golstar’s heart stopped beating and he stood motionless as he heard those words of death about his beloved. The blood froze in his veins with grief. He could not react: he just stood there, listening. He could not and would not believe it. In an instant all his dreams were shattered, and his life no longer had any meaning. Then his soldiers stepped between him and the guardians of Derdian who were to put him in chains, and lined up to protect their leader. The guardians tried to arrest him, but Golstar’s army formed a wall and prevented the arrest. A brief battle followed, and the men of Derdian were all killed except one. Golstar cut off the head of Troghlor’s spokesman, handed it to the sole survivor and ordered him to gallop back to Derdian, deliver it to Troghlor and tell him: “I’m coming to take back what you tore from me, you dog! Wait for me…”

It was the beginning of the war between Golstar and Troghlor. Derdian was about to split and was preparing for the clash between the sovereign and his second-in-command. Over time Golstar had probably changed: his pure feelings had given way to a hunger for glory and conquest, which had led him to conspire against the man who had been his idol, and which was now dragging him into the darkest abyss of human suffering.

Devastated, Golstar could find no peace and kept asking himself the reason for that terrible horror. He absolutely refused to believe it and hoped that, once in Derdian, he would discover that his Loren was still alive and that it had all been a trick devised by Troghlor to plunge him into despair and stop him from thinking clearly about the internal clash that was about to break out. In any case, he could not bring himself to consider the possibility that his woman was really dead.

They set off for Derdian at once, without preparations and without a plan and, along the way, in Golstar’s heart grief and despair gradually gave way to an immense desire for revenge against Troghlor. Images of death made their way into his mind, ever more numerous and pressing, and now Golstar’s only wish was to annihilate the sovereign and destroy his kingdom. Deep down, however, he knew that the undertaking he was about to attempt was far from simple: not only had Troghlor acquired inhuman powers over time, but he always had on his side his alliance with Mohzer, an evil god, while he, however valiant a warrior, was only a man!

The journey was slow and exhausting, and Golstar’s state of mind made everything terribly difficult. After a few days’ march the troop reached Derdian.

When they reached the entrance to the city, a terrifying image took shape before Golstar’s eyes: Loren’s lifeless body was tied to a stake, headless, her head laid down beside it. The body was torn apart and bleeding, and a handful of Troghlor’s soldiers was guarding the area: no one could get near. Golstar’s heart stopped beating for a few moments; he could not feel anything, he was as if turned to stone, he had already shed every tear, real or imagined. An immense rage seized him and, looking at that horror, he swore revenge and justice.

It was night. Golstar and his men had decided to keep away from the body, out of sight, to decide what to do without being noticed by the guards. Meanwhile Golstar brooded and plotted revenge. In despair, he tried to invoke the goddess Khali, goddess of revenge, with a prayer he had learned in Derdian from an old man who claimed to be a follower of an ancient sect devoted to the goddess. After a few attempts a glow appeared to him in the sky, in the dead of night; the warriors beside him, seeing his reaction but unable to see what he saw, thought he was in the grip of a frenzy brought on by his suffering. And yet she was there: Khali appeared to him in the form of a light in the sky, and he could make out the figure of a woman, ethereal and celestial, yet at the same time with a proud, piercing, almost unsettling gaze. Golstar tried to speak to her and, stretching out his arms to her in veneration, asked her for help. She made a gesture of welcome and answered that she wanted to help him – indeed, she was glad to – because Troghlor had driven out and killed a priest who wanted to bring back to light a sect devoted to her. She told Golstar that, to seal the pact, that very night he had to kill the warriors guarding Loren’s body, cut their throats, drink some of their blood and, invoking her name, swear revenge against Troghlor.

And so they did. During the night they attacked Troghlor’s warriors, who were not expecting a surprise attack, cut their throats and did what the goddess had commanded. A bolt of lightning struck not far away and the sky opened for an instant. The pact was sealed. In that instant the goddess granted Golstar powers that made him a demigod: now the war against Troghlor could begin, and at last it could be fought as equals.

At the gates of Derdian, Golstar and his men tried to draw Troghlor’s attention for what promised to be a titanic battle. It was not hard, because Troghlor was already prepared and knew of their imminent arrival. Everything was ready: the battle could begin.

On one side Troghlor and his army, backed by Mohzer; on the other Golstar and part of the army (which in the meantime had recognised in him the only one worthy to rule and had sworn eternal loyalty to him!), backed by the goddess Khali. Army, leader, god. The two sides now stood face to face, in a truly immense and titanic scene, and two divine figures could be glimpsed in the sky. The gods were there. The battle began.

The War of the Gods

After long days of fighting and of deaths on the field, the hour of the final duel came: Troghlor against Golstar. The gods decreed that the god of the loser would become the servant of the winner’s god. The duel began: one against one. The fight was bloody, although it was clear from the start that the power Troghlor had gained over time was perhaps still too great for Golstar. Yet the duel remained balanced for a long time, until, after many hours, Golstar fell to the ground exhausted. All of a sudden he could go on no longer: he no longer felt any strength or any kind of power, and he watched Troghlor coming ever closer to finish him off with the final blow. At that moment Golstar’s whole life came back to him, and his beautiful Loren seemed so close. His hour had come. Troghlor seemed to have won. But Mohzer ordered him not to kill Golstar yet and to give him one more chance to live. According to the pact between the two gods, Khali would become Mohzer’s servant and Troghlor would ascend to the heavens and become a god, Mohzer’s right hand; but Derdian still needed a cruel leader. Golstar could go on ruling Derdian, but he had to undergo a sort of spell that would strip him of every good feeling left in him; otherwise he would die.

Thinking of Loren, who was gone, Golstar was seized by the fear of death and accepted the role that had been designed for him: to carry on Troghlor’s deeds. A glow appeared in the sky and Golstar lost consciousness for a few moments. He woke up in Derdian: his eyes had turned dark and a cruel expression now furrowed his face. He was sitting on the throne of Derdian. He was the sovereign.

Troghlor was now his god, what Mohzer had been for him. Golstar walked up to a balcony of the palace and looked out: the sky was dark, and among the grey clouds he thought he could make out the figure of Mohzer and, beside him, that of Troghlor, looking down on him with an ambiguous grin. Beneath them Khali seemed to be there, their “servant”. Evil had triumphed.