Elementals

by Parodox

Chapter 10: The face of God (Part 1)

"I have seen God's true face. Never before have I felt such tears of sorrow dripping down my cheeks."

Forthum, The Heritic.

---

Home; a place where we feel safe, a place where our friends and family are within arms reach, a place that we know will always be there for us when we our in times of strife.

Forester was deprived the gift of a home. Labeled as evil in the ways of his god and painted as a pagan in the eyes of the Deer. Was this right? Was this the correct course that Forester had to take? These thoughts coursed through Forester's mind as he stared at Redwood Forest. It would be the last time he ever saw it, all the friends he had made, all the memories they shared, he was walking away from it all.

"Forester. I can feel your sorrow. May I offer you some comfort with reasoning?"

"I have lost my home," Forester began, "I have lost those who I called friends, and worst of all, I have lost my faith." Forester had to hold back his tears when he said that last part. "And I have you to blame for it."

Please, Forester, let me help you."

A turmoil of emotions swirled inside of Forester. But one stuck out among the others.

Hate.

Hatred for the Element of Life, hatred that he lost everything he once held dear, hatred in himself that he allowed this to happen. That he willingly allowed this to happen. His heart began to race, his breathing became hard and violent, and his blood began to boil. It was all the Element's fault, if it had never come to him it would never had put the transgressing thoughts in his head. He would still have a home, his friends, his loved ones.

His Faith.

"Calm yourself Forester-"

Forester cut the Element of Life off as he plunged his hoof into his chest. Dripping blood pooled beneath his hind legs as his hoof pulled the Element of Life from his chest and threw it far away from him.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Forester roared as the Element of Life bounced a couple times against the ground before coming to a stop. "YOU DID THIS! YOU COST ME MY FAITH! YOU ARE THE WICKED THAT TEMPED ME AND I FELL FROM GRACE BECAUSE OF YOU!" Forester yelled, his chest rose and fell before he turned his back to the Element and began walking away.

"Do you renounce the Elemental of Life?"

Forester stopped, droplets of blood still running down his chest and staining the green blades of grass red. He turned back to the Element of Life and answered, "I will never become the Elemental of Life, nor will I allow you to corrupt any other kind soul to your evil ways. You will stay where you are forever, never to seek out another host so long as you continue to exist."

The Element did not respond. Forester assumed that the Element would obey the orders he gave it and started walking away once more. Once Forester was no longer in sight, the Element started to glow.

"Scanning for suitable host..."

"Scanning..."

"Error...no suitable host detected. Life is in extreme danger."

---

The Griffon Empire was in chaos. With the declaration of war on Equestria now official, the entire Empire was preparing for battle. The Empire was experiencing first hand the benefits of war; jobs had been made for producing weapons, drafts had been posted for Griffons to sign up as soldiers, and the entire Empire was filled with something that it hadn't felt in a long time.

Promise. Promise that there would be victory, promise that there would be something better waiting for them when the dust settled. It was laughable to see two species killing one another for something as pointless as 'respect'.

Aurora found amusement in watching Griffons sign their names so that they would march off into battle. Foolishly signing away their very lives, the only promise that would be fulfilled was the promise of death. Death would haunt the battlefields like a phantom, plunking every living thing that came onto the field and devouring their souls.

They would all die, and for what? For peace? For respect? For the worthless dirt? No, it wasn't fair to associate dirt with respect. You could get a claw-full of bits for a nice patch of soil.

Aurora was oddly cheery, she felt like a birthday girl with a mountain of presents all filled with everything she ever desired.

"Can you feel it Aurora? Can you feel the dread looming in the air?"

"Something has happened hasn't it?" Aurora assumed, a smile still on her face. "It's not the war, something far greater has happened. Don't leave me in suspense, tell me!" Aurora demanded like a giddy schoolgirl.

"Excited aren't we? I know better than to leave you in anticipation, so I'll tell you why you are so happy.

"The Elemental of Life has fallen."

Aurora's smile lowered a few centimeters. "Who?" She asked, her tone slightly disappointed to the answer she had been given.

"Oh that's right, you don't know the history that the Element of Death and the Element of Life share. Well then, allow me to educate you my host."

A black dot appeared in front of Aurora, the dot then stretched out and became a line, then the line stretched upwards and created a square which the Element of Death used as a screen to project the history between life and death.

"In the beginning there was nothing. Then there was magic." The screen lit up with an explosion of all kinds of color. "The first magic was raw and pure, unfiltered by anything. But then the magic began to cool and parts of it took shape." A picture of a simple white circle appeared on the screen and it morphed into the shape of a pony. "The first Elemental of Life was known as 'The Being' with the Element of Life created several forms of life so that it could no longer feel alone." Other white forms appeared on the screen next to The Being. "But magic demands balance. Where there was life, there must be death." The white forms next to The Being vanished, replaced with a new form completely dark grey so that it was visible. "The first Elemental of Death came into existence. His name was 'The Outsider'." The screen showed both The Being and The Outsider standing beside one another.“The Being and The Outsider did not face off against each other like the soon to be Elementals of Life and Death. The Outsider became the warden of the Void and The Being disappeared. The Being and The Outsider vanished from the screen only to be replaced with multiple forms of white and black figures. The only thing the pictures had in common was that the Elementals of Life and Death were all fighting. ”It was only the first Elementals that did not fight one another, but the next generations were always fighting. For you see, the Elemental of Life is capable of creating new life out of thin air and capable of bringing back the dead. Whereas the Elemental of Death has the power to kill anything it touches and their soul is unable to be sent to the Void.”

The black screen faded away. With its disappearance Aurora asked, “So what you’re telling me, is that the Elemental of Life is no longer a threat, right?”

”Precisely, with the Elemental of Life gone you no longer have any competition. All living things are at your mercy my host. They will tremble beneath-...someone is here.”

“I am with you forever until the day you die.” A voice spoke behind Aurora, causing her to spin around. “I have made your bed where you shall lie.” A hooded figure stepped out from the shadows and made herself known to Aurora. “Your time has come, your demise is nigh.” The hooded figure looked to Aurora with a face that could not be seen. “I come for your soul to put you to rest, who am I?”

Aurora used her newfound magic and created a black sword with the picture of a skull on the cross guard. As she aimed the black at the hooded figure she answered the hooded figure’s riddle.

“The Grim Reaper.” She answered as she lunged towards the hooded figure.

---

Inferthous. A fiery molten land populated by only bipedal demons. The land is constantly in a war of struggle as demons fight against other demons for anything that had any sort of value. Even dirt was fought over by demons and their blood was shed over it. There was no order, there was no peace, there was only a cesspool of death and fighting. But there was a simple rule to this land. Whoever was the strongest, cruelest, most wicked demon was the ruler. Currently, the ruler of Inferthous was a male demon by the name Cathen.

His throne sits on a mountain of skulls, his throne is made from the bones of previous demon kings who had passed away, slain by future demon rulers. Cathen was a massive demon with goat legs, red skin, yellow eyes with the back of them pitch black, razor sharp teeth, and horns sticking out of his forehead. His head also looked really good on that stick.

...

Wait.

Oh wait, he's dead. Cathen is dead guys, his body is ripped open, several bones are missing, and his head is sticking out of a stake. The one responsible for this deed is none other than Mercellous. A female demon with goat legs, orange skin, red eyes with the back part pitch black, and nubs coming out of her forehead. She was currently placing bones she plucked from Cathen's corpse and placing them on the throne. Which now belonged solely to her.

She took her rightful seat on the throne, looking over all of Inferthous were she saw several holes lit up with a yellow glow. In these holes, groups of demons were fighting each other. These pits were filled with cheering, roaring, and demons dying left and right. This sight brought Mercellous a smile of pure joy, her cruelty would give her a long rule over all of Inferthous.

"Mercellous."

Upon hearing her name, Mercellous looked to the sky to see a purple gem descending towards her. She couldn't speak, mainly because all demons never learned how, but she could understand the gem like it was speaking to her through her thoughts.

"You are in great need of Compassion. YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!"

Before Mercellous could do anything, the gem closed the distance between itself and Mercellous and attached itself to Mercellous' forehead. Her eyes turned completely bright purple and a symbol appeared where her pupils once were. In mere seconds she felt herself filled with new emotions. She felt...pain, and suffering.

She could feel the demons dying. Their lives being snuffed out by one another for no reason or meaning. The gem filled Mercellous' mind with language and comprehension. In her mind the gem spoke.

"Compassion is with you now Mercellous. A crisis is coming to this world, one that we cannot defeat alone. Spread your compassion and give to those in need."

Mercellous became engulfed in purple magic, dressing her in purple robes and a wooden walking stick appeared with an orb on the top with the symbol of the gem on it. She flew into the air and purple mist escaped from her body. The mist spread to most of the pits and circled around the demons. Instantly the demons all stopped fighting and stood there, infused by the purple mist. Confused as to how to act.

"We have done all that we can Mercellous. Compassion must be accepted, not forced. It is they who must embrace compassion. We must go, a great crisis must be answered."

And with that, Mercellous vanished in the blink of an eye

Author's Note:

Well that was a while. Sorry for the wait I've been doing stuff for some time now. But you know something that would really help. Some feedback! Tell me what you thought and how I could improve. What you say could help motivate me to write more and continue the story.

Comments

[Blaze the draconic mage]

This is amazing I can't wait for more

[Marauder15]

Why kill off life?

[Flame Heart]

8550237
life isn't dead it just needs new host that could take some time though

[edrodriguez]

Finally the next chapter came.