章 2: A Priestess and a Gnome
"Prayers?" Razaranje asked as he stepped over to the woman, looming over her from her prostrated position. "What are you talking about, who even are you?"
"My name is Oakina, My Lord, and I am a priestess that serves the Temple of Destruction," the purple-glad mortal replied, her arms nearly trembling as she stated this. "For years I have led worship at the temple, giving thanks and praise to the mighty god of destruction…and now here you are, right in front of me!"
"Temple? The mortals still worship us?" the long-haired immortal chuckled as he crossed his arms. "I hate to break it to you, but we don't really take heed to what happens in the mortal world anymore. Your prayers continuously fall on deaf ears."
"E-even still, My Lord, you fell from the sky when I prayed for your assistance," the voluptuous brunette called Oakina stammered excitedly. "Surely you've come to save us."
"I didn't ask to be here, and I'm still not sure how this even happened," the god answered as he took a second look around at his surroundings, the leaves of the nearby trees shaking gently in the breeze while the afternoon sun shone high overhead. "And what do you mean 'prayed for my assistance'? Assistance with what?"
"It's a bit of a long story, but the continent that you're standing on here has been embroiled in war for decades now," Oakina began, slowly rising to her feet as she nervously rubbed her bare arm. "On top of being a priestess, I'm also a talented healing mage. I serve as a medic officer in the Cloudian 4th army, and our opponents, the Grove Republic, have pushed us back to our nation's borders. They've decimated us, and the Grovan legion chasing us has managed to encircle what remains!"
Scratching his head, Razaranje took this new information with about as much care as a child who is unenthusiastic about math being told random quadratic functions. The mortals were always scrambling about with their petty conflicts and ludicrous desires, to the point where the gods and goddess that held domain over them eventually stopped caring.
"Cloudian? Grovan?" he asked.
"The Grand Duchy of Cloud, that's my homeland that I'm serving out here," Oakina explained earnestly. "The Republic of Grove is who we're fighting. They're a vicious enemy who have pushed us this far back. The Cloudian 4th army has suffered a huge number of setbacks, so with our backs to the wall, I prayed and I prayed…and now you've come to save us!"
"Your country is called 'Cloud'?" Raz smirked as he turned around with his back to the woman, before beginning to pace the small clearing that they were in. "I really don't care for your meaningless wars. I didn't ask to be here, and I still don't understand how it happened. So you prayed for me, the god of destruction, to vanquish your enemies? Is that it?"
"You don't have to outright destroy them, my lord," the priestess insisted while nodding her head. "But at the war's current state, Cloud is in danger of a full scale invasion. Our 4th army was guarding the rear flank, but it was mostly made up of under-equipped light infantry. We're getting demolished, so if there was any way that you could stall the Grovan advance—
"I don't answer to humans, as pretty as you may be," the god interrupted, before turning his head as the sound of footsteps stumbling through the forest caught his attention.
"Lady Oakina, are you alright?" a man asked as he and a second man burst out of the tree line, a crescent-shaped tin shield in one hand and a long iron spear in the other. "We heard an explosion and—hold on, who the hell is this?"
The two men broadened their stance as they held their shields close to their bodies and raised their spears to point them at Razaranje. Their arms and legs were armored in brown leather chaps, while an iron breastplate was worn over their abdomens and a pointed tin helmet sat atop their heads. Worn out brown boots covered their feet, the both men looked haggard to a degree. A pair of soldiers, evidently, but their insolence immediately angered the deity.
"You dare point a weapon at the god of destruction?" Raz frowned as he raised a hand and aimed a palm at the two men. "Foolish mortals. Prepare for obliteration."
"W-wait! No, no its okay!" Oakina yelled as she swung in to stand between the god and the two soldiers. "G-guys, stand down and get on your hands and knees! This is the real god of destruction, and he's answered my prayers and come down to us!"
"No way," the first soldier stated as he raised an eyebrow. "No offence, Lady Oakina, but the gods don't give a crap about us."
"True," Razaranje agreed. "But your priestess is right, I'm the actual god of destruction, and you're about to be reduced to primordial matter."
"W-wait, lord, please spare them!" Oakina stammered as she stepped closer to the god. "They don't know what they're saying, if you could maybe prove that you're a god in some way then I'm sure they'll fall to their knees immediately."
"I don't have to prove anything to anyone," Raz reiterated as he prepared to reduce the soldiers into atoms. "Goodbye, insolent fools."
"Oakina! Oakina, dear, why haven't you evacuated!" another voice yelled as a quick blur of motion entered the clearing between the two soldiers.
"Huh? What the hell?" Raz grinned upon seeing the third figure. "Does this 'Grand Duchy of Cloud' enlist children into its ranks?"
Standing at a mere 3 feet tall was what appeared to be a third soldier, who wore the same armor and wielded the same weapons as his comrades, only down-sized to meet his shorter stature. Glaring up at Raz through deep brown eyes, the diminutive man had a thick white beard that curled down over his chest.
"I'm not a child, I'm a gnome," the small soldier growled, before turning to the priestess. "Lady Oakina, who is this ill-dressed stranger?"
"Lord Razaranje, the god of destruction, has answered my prayers and come down," the priestess repeated, before putting her hand to the god's bare chest. "He's the real thing, I watched him fall from the sky right before me."
Blushing as she realized that she'd laid hands on Raz's muscular body, Oakina promptly returned her hands to her sides in embarrassment.
"Well I'm Corporal Silverbell, and as the highest-ranking soldier in what remains of the Cloudian 4th army, I'm in charge now," the gnome stated, introducing himself to the god. "I'm not sure what you've done to convince our high priestess and chief medic that you're a 'god', but it doesn't concern me right now. We need to evacuate her and other key personnel immediately."
"Why, Silverbell? What's happening?" Oakina asked.
"Our scouts just spotted a Grovan detachment marching this way now," the short man explained with a sigh. "At least 2500 of them. The men and I will try to hold them off for as long as possible so you and the wounded can evacuate across the river. This will have to be our last stand."
"N-no! Corporal, isn't there a way for all of us to flee?" the priestess cried. "We've lost so many, do more have to die?"
"It's the end of the road, my dear," the gnome sighed again. "Come board the raft, it'll get you and those who are still recovering to safety."
As the mortals tended to their talks of meaningless war, Razaranje lowered his hand away from the soldiers while reality began to set in for him. Typically, the deities were able to freely choose when or where they came to the mortal realm, but something was wrong. He hadn't chosen to come to Earth, and nor did he seem to have the ability to return to the Realm of the Gods on his own whim. Worse yet, he'd finally proposed to Luavida, yet here he was, cruelly ripped away from his beloved at the apparent request of a priestess who served a temple in his honor. Thinking back to what Oakina claimed to have prayed for, Raz wondered if he could return home if he answered the request of the young priestess.
"I don't know how a mortal's prayer got me stuck down here, but maybe all I have to do is fulfill this request and I can leave this world," the god thought to himself. "I am the god of destruction. Maybe my essence is needed."
As the soldiers returned their weapons to their sides, with the tiny man called Silverbell trying to convince the priestess to go with them, Razaranje stepped forward and brushed past her long brown hair to put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, you said you wanted me to help your country with the war, right?" the topless deity asked. "Well c'mon then, I'll stop the Grove people and your pitiful 4th army can live to fight another day."
"Y-yes, my lord," Oakina replied in an almost-whimper, her face going red at the god touching her, before turning to the gnome. "Can you take us to the front?"
"Hey, if grey locks over there wants to fight the Grovans, then I'm not complaining," Silverbell answered. "But we need to hurry, they're marching upon this forest now."
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