"Speech"
[Thoughts]
In a vast sea of green, giant trees shoot into the sky. Filled with a symphony of sounds, from chirping birds to the gentle whistle of leaves. However, one out-of-place sound can be heard among the forest noise.
"AAAH! 'Huff, huff, huff' "On the ground of the vast forest a young female teen wearing a blue shirt with teal shorts, can be seen on her knees as she clutches the stump of what's left of her left arm. Said arm withered and rotting, with exposed bone crumbling and falling in large chunks as it gives a blackish glow. Her eyes tightly shut, teeth clenched down as sweat drips down her brow. Moments before her arm completely rots away, the black glow starts to dim and shift into a warm, milky white colour. In mere moments her arm starts to regrow, bone reforming as muscle and skin knit together.
The only other person with the young teen in the seemingly endless forest is a young woman. With golden hair flowing down to her hips, emitting a warm almost divine glow. The woman stood there with a warm smile as she watches the teen's ordeal. Before the teen's arm can fully regrow the glow started to dim before completely disappearing. The woman approached the teen and gently placed a hand on her head.
"Good job Ana, it looks like your getting a hang of using your powers." The woman's hands start to release a greenish-white light, which soon flows down Ana's body towards her broken arm. Healing any wounds that remained. Ana's body relaxed as a warm, comforting feeling enveloped her. She found her eyes growing heavy, drained from hours of training. "It's ok my child, you can rest now. You worked hard today, you deserve a break." The woman said softly as the glow of her hand starts to dim.
"B-b-but mom, I still contin-." Ana tried to stand, however, her mom stopped her and gently guided her to rest against a nearby tree.
"Shush my child, rest is important. Just get some sleep, and if you want we can resume the training after your fully rested." A sleepy nod was the only response that Ana could give before falling asleep.
When the woman was sure Ana was asleep she crouched down to check if her wounds managed to heal without any complications. When she found nothing wrong she sat down next to Ana and looked up towards the clear blue sky, her lips curving up into a content smile.
The peace didn't last long as the woman sensed someone trying to enter her realm. She closed her eyes to get a better sense of who it was, she quickly relaxed after it became apparent who wanted to enter her realm. She weakens the resistance on the other person, allowing them to enter her realm. Soon after, a crack starts forming in the air, quickly growing in size allowing a figure to step out of it.
The figure whose appearance can only be described as a fantasy dwarf. He was short and stout with big bulging muscles and a large beard that almost touched that floor. His skin and hair are dark greys, almost like they were chiselled from stone. An assortment of tools ranging from hammers to chisels can be found on a belt he wore on his waist. His eyes were smiling along with his giant grin.
"AH, SPRING! So glad to see you!" His loud greeting caused Ana to stir, which was quickly stopped by Spring's gently soothing. She shot the man a sharp glare which quickly developed into a small giggle.
"Nice to see you too Erthor, but before you continue let's take this meeting somewhere that won't disturb my daughter." Erthor gave a quick nod. Spring stood up and along with Erthor walked to a nearby clearing, with a small structure. Walls made out of interlocking roots, a roof of branches and leaves. In the center, a table and set of chairs made out of roots. Spring gently sat down on one of the chairs, while Erthor fell on the other which was followed by a series of loud creaks.
"Ah! That's more like it, got to admit it, you make a pretty comfy chair for it being organic." Spring responded to the compliment with a small giggle.
"Thanks Erthor, coming from you that's a great compliment. However, despite how happy I am to have you visit, the only time you would enter my realm is if something important happened."
"Ah! Righty there Spring, I came bearing some important news." Erthor grabbed a water skin on his side and took a huge swig of it, before offering some to Spring, who kindly refused with an amused smile. "We just got some news that a huge batch of half-bloods has shown signs of awakening their domains."
"Oh, that sounds like great news! I can't wait to meet them!"
"Ah, it would have been great news, if it wasn't for the fact that some of them are kids of traitors and deceivers."
"Why would that be bad news? All gods agreed that the kids would be taken in by their parents and that both sides won't interfere with the process, including harming the children. So there shouldn't be any problems. "
"Yes that's normally the case, however, one of them is Torther and Odea's child."
Spring frowned after hearing the news, Torther was an early friend of hers. He was a peaceful god who stayed neutral in the war, even after falling in love and having a child with an old god. Despite that, many new gods would say Torther did a great service for his fellow gods. Odea was a feared and powerful goddess, who can single-handedly win countless battles. However, when Torther and Odea fell in love, Torther convinced Odea to stay out of the war until the child they conceived was old enough.
"I see why that could be a problem," Spring started tapping her fingers on the wooden table. "Does any of the old gods know any of this?"
"From the looks of it, the old gods still think Torther and Odea's child died in the massacre. The others are trying to make sure it stays like that too."
'Sigh,' "I really don't like what we might have to do when Torther's child domain does awaken. It doesn't sit well with me that we're going against Torther's last wishes for his child to stay out of the war. Especially when the others promised him that they would make sure that his child won't be part of the war as long as he convinced Odea to stay out of it too."
"I know Spring, but the others say it has to be done."
"It just doesn't feel right, Torther upheld his part of the deal. We should too, the least we can do is fulfill the wishes of our dead friend." Spring clenched her hands, crushing pieces of wood in her grip. The area around them darkens as clouds gather above them, partly covering the sun.
'Sigh,' "Spring you should know that either way this child is destined to be part of the war. I know it might sound callous of me to say, but the old gods lost more with the death of Odea than we did with Torther. They would definitely want to claim the child for their side, meaning one way or another this child will play a part in the war."
"Why are the others even spending this much effort in this anyway?! For all, we know this child might not even survive that long after awakening their domain. If they think this child will have such a powerful domain, they should also be aware of the dangers that the child is in. For all they know, the child might die before he can contribute to anything in the war, why can't we just let them be?"
"I agree with you Spring, what the others are doing is a huge gamble. But it's a gamble they think they will win, I'm not sure where they're getting their confidence from. But that doesn't matter anyway, at the end, the others are dead set on taking in Torther's child."
"Do you think a vision can be involved?"
"Not likely, if we had one on our side, the old gods would have had one too. And from what I can tell, they're not making any moves on the child."
Spring leaned back on her chair, closing her eyes as she lets out a deep sigh. "I hope the others won't come to regret what they're about to do. I also hope the child gets the peace that Torther was promised when all of this ends." 'Sigh' "Let's go, all this is really too much. I would like a break and my daughter should be awake by now. So how about we go there, and I introduce her to you?"
"Yea, that sounds like a great idea." Erthor and Spring got up and started to walk back towards the area they left Ana at. As they happily chatted away, the clouds above started to part revealing the sun once more.
