Eight Gods on a Windowsill

Rammel met us outside of Ashe'gard. A worried look was on his face. When the five of us stepped through the threshold of the city into the bailey, his uneasiness seemed to grow. His entire body looked twitchy like he was about to run at any moment.

"Lord Rammel," Abryi started, and before he had the chance to say anything else, I felt the old familiar pull of teleportation. "What brings you here?" He finished as our sight came back to our eyes.

Once more we were on the planet Malakia. Except, my father, in his infinite wisdom, also brought along Hagnr and Zoldya. Rammel didn't even bother speaking. His edgy nervousness took over instead.

I looked about to see if something had changed. The army raised by Rammel and Nesbeth had assembled, each polishing their weapons and readying themselves for battle. Sorem, Sethyr, and Lousfrith sat by the lake. The place was oddly tranquil considering how fidgety Rammel was. It was then I saw Yrh'danyr. She was pacing and mumbling to herself. She seemed off kilter as if something had shell-shocked her.

"What is going on here?" I asked. "Why is it two of the Minor Ones are visibly shaken and the rest of you are sitting around like nothing is happening?" I figured it was best to get to the point.

Yrh'danyr suddenly stopped moving altogether. She looked at Rammel. She looked around at everyone else. Finally, her eyes landed on me. "A'grappa has gone on a rampage. He has destroyed The Hovel and caused chaos on Franc. Now, he is headed towards the Mizokath homeworld."

Harvey's face went white.

"So, what are we doing here?" I queried. "Shouldn't we be going after him?"

Rammel finally spoke. "He's going to be a lot stronger than he was when we first faced him. Guaranteed he's taken in quite a large amount of mana. We need a plan. But, we also need to hurry before anyone else is left to suffer at his whim."

I thought for a moment. Many of the Minor Ones were here, gathered for a single cause, and yet, not one had taken control of the situation. They all seemed to be waiting for me. Was it always like this, Lillith? Were the Minor Ones always so indecisive and cowardly? Unwilling to do anything that meant interfering with the mortal races, yet trying to control their destiny?

You have no idea how much effort it took to gather all the Minor Ones just to seal away the Great Ones. Came Lillith's response. It was very easy to flex my will and gain control over all of them. If I hadn't created order among the Minor Ones, you would not exist.

Do you really think that we were so cowardly, Lillith? Kaddyr sounded hurt.

I had to cajole, lie, cheat, and steal to convince all of you to create a body of governance for us all. In the name of creating order, I needed to play like I was one of the Great Ones myself, hiding my true intentions before all of you.

Now, I really feel cheated. Yog remarked. You made a bet with me and when I found out you cheated, you said that you never declared that cheating was off the table.

That explains a lot. Grammel's booming voice came resounding through my head.

Whatever Rammel did to erase you from our memories, made us forget why we came together. Whisper suddenly remarked. You had guided all of us and ruled as our queen with your brother Argos at your side. Until the two of you had a falling out. Argos secluded himself inside a mountain and you were defeated by Rammel, Kaddyr, and Nesbeth. Then, summarily erased from our minds. All because you foresaw the folly of Gilgahlad's sealing.

Makes me wonder why Grammel was never erased from our minds. Ban'iel argued.

Probably because his goal was to destroy the Fractions altogether, which was not what Lillith had in mind. Grammel was tired of Fractions doing as they pleased and sowing discord throughout the stars that he decided they were better off gone and only the mortals should remain. Kaddyr remarked. Isn't that right, Grammel?

Grammel just scoffed.

So, what exactly was the purpose given to the Minor Ones? I questioned. I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere by asking about the Great Ones. Either they really didn't know much about what their forefathers were attempting to prove or they decided that it wasn't best for me to know. Either way, I was going to get some answers. I wasn't made different from the other Fractions for nothing.

The planets are not what they seem. Tiamat answered. While the Minor Ones do not inherently bear enough mana on their own individual levels to create as the Great Ones had, we were given the task of providing mana to the machine. We could not create life, planets, stars, or any of the various wonders our forefathers had wrought upon the multiverse. What we could do was make lineages of heroes, imparting bits of our own selves into the machine. We were to make sure that life kept going without interfering as much as possible. We made our Fractions to allow for the protection of the worlds and creatures that our forefathers breathed into life. That was our goal.

Ultimately, we saw the Great Ones as threats to the very cause they left us with. Ban'iel added. How were we supposed to keep the cause if their very actions were counter to what they left us with? The Great Ones created chaos as much as they created life. They chose to destroy and eradicate. They created life only to destroy it or have it destroy others. There was no balance.

Everything we did was in the name of balance, Mara. Everything. Lillith's plea made it to my ears. She and her brethren, who lay dormant inside me, sounded just as worried as my father. When our heroes, we created, turned to destruction rather than protection, we were tasked with culling them. We often allowed tragedy to beset them in order to either awaken the desire to protect or hone their abilities to do so. But, when they chose to destroy, we became that very tragedy.

So, what exactly is my role? I get that you want me to either seal away the Great Ones or end them, but why?

You are the great protector. Kaddyr explained. You were our ace. Nesbeth didn't exactly do you any favors by hiding your parentage and your abilities. But, perhaps he thought we wouldn't have to rely on you after all. We never wanted it to come to this. We were perfectly content with the Great Ones never having reappeared at all. You were born to be the counter if they had. That is why you were supposed to be trained. You were to protect the entire multiverse. Something only Gilgahlad had achieved before you. Even he could not have done it on his own. He may have been one of the Great Ones' Fractions, but even he needed mana from all of the Minor Ones to wield enough power to seal them away.

We had been biding our time, gathering our power since then. Grammel continued Kaddyr's point. The goal had always been to make you strong enough to decide what needed to be done. If you think resealing them is the way to go, then so be it. If you see fit for their destruction, then do so. You have all the Minor Ones at your back.

I was relieved to finally have it spelled out for me. While I had agreed to do what needed to be done. I desperately wanted to know why it was that I was chosen. Why it hadn't been someone else? I took a deep breath. I glanced everyone over. By now, everyone was at attention, waiting for me to say something. Anything. I had stood in silence for quite some time. "What I am about to say may sound very crazy." I definitely had everyone's attention now. "We are going to let A'grappa land on Mawry. At that moment, I want each Minor One here to take a contingent of mortals and Fractions. If A'grappa want to sow chaos, if he wants a war, we shall give him war." I paused a moment. "I have a plan, which I have absolutely no idea if it will work. We may very well be headed to our deaths. I cannot guarantee that all of us will return from this mission. But, I do have a plan." I began drawing what I knew about Mawry on the ground with a nearby stick. I did my best to think of something that incorporated all of the abilities of the Fractions and Minor Ones. Not all would be front-line fighters. I knew as much. But, I had an idea of how to utilize their abilities as well as my own. "A'grappa will be looking forward to facing me. I will bear the brunt of most of his attacks. But, this is what we will do." I began to go over the plan with everyone.