Beginning of the End

Synthara slowly opened her eyes, the sensations of the velvet cushions beneath her body, the warm air, and the piercing light of torches melting away the numbness of the sleep. She slowly rose upright, and saw at the top of her rise, a woman with pink hair reaching past her shoulders and unnaturally pale skin in a dark cloak with purple symbols on them kneeling before her. Around her was a group of little green and red creatures also kneeling. The woman with pink hair slowly rose to her feet, revealing her amber eyes.

“Lady Synthara, finally, after 500 years…you’ve finally awakened.” Her amber eyes looked upon Synthara’s form until they practically glowed and tears streamed down her face.

“Eeeeek! I finally get to see my beautiful, sexy, powerful dream goddess open her eyes! Your ruby red eyes are like world consuming flames that light the hearts of all those who gaze upon them with uncontrollable passion! Consuuumme meeee!” The woman with pink hair launched herself forward like a pouncing feline, intending to sink herself into the object of her overwhelming affection and let loose 500 years of pent-up devotion.

Synthara’s survival instinct reflexively extended her hand and restrained the would-be assailant with a spray of almost too-thin to see string and restrained her suggestively with her arms splayed out, making her yelp lewdly.

“What kind of spell is this!? As expected of Lady Synthara, she wields forbidden spells that not even the strongest mages know with such ease! And to use them in such a manner on a humble servant…” The lady looked as if she was about to faint from happiness.

Synthara did not know herself, all she knew was that she did not want to feel the brunt of this person’s…affection? She turned towards the small creatures that were kneeling around her with surprise

“Are those real Goblins and Kobolds?”

“Yes, they lived in this cave before I came and made it my, I mean, your dungeon. Now they worship you, Lady Synthara! I took a bit of time to make them behave but I managed to beat the fear of you into them my lady. They will be decent soldiers for when Ragnarok comes.”

“Ragnarok?” The Goblins and Kobolds bowed before her, trembling in fear as she came closer to them. She took one of the Kobold's faces and felt them with her hands. They felt almost like a lizard but more scaly and hard, their faces were those of dragons but smaller and with a humanoid form. Synthara smiled as she petted the Kobold and began to hold it as if it were a pet. The Kobold looked terrified and didn't dare move.

The pink haired lady pouted in jealousy. “The final battle in which you descend from the halls of Valhalla with legions upon legions of Einjerjar, save the people of Ragna and destroy all of the other gods.”

The gods, does she mean the other three she fought in that whole rainbow mess?

The pink lady continued with a thin slash of a smile. “Of course, as your high priest and your longest serving servant, I know that Valhalla is just something we tell the masses to keep them happy and loyal. As your most faithful, I know the truth. Your army does not come from the heavens above, but rather from the earth below.”

Synthara felt her blood rise in excitement as she looked back at the restrained woman dangling in the air. Ever since she was little she found the sight of blood flying in the air, screams of men dying, and gore staining the ground in red and gray ecstatic. Awakening her powers only solidified her love for violence. Moreso if it was magical violence. She craved more, particularly against the white-haired bitch she fought.

“What do you mean by that, dear…what was your name?”

“Morgan my lady, I'll happily show you the army I've been building for you!” Morgan struggled against the rainbow thread, unable to break free.

“As expected of one who wields forbidden magic, your strings even account for teleportation magic! I cannot break free at all!” Morgan said happily.

“Uh, of course you can't! Obviously I would not fail to account for such an obvious method of escape, only those with the power of a god can break those strings! Muhahahaha!” Synthara laughed as if she knew exactly how those strings were worked. It felt decadently good to let Morgan’s praise wash over her uncritically.

Unfortunately she did not know how to untie her, she had to stall Morgan while she thought of a way to release her without looking foolish, so she kept laughing. Morgan happily played along. The Kobold in her arms joined in and croaked out a sound resembling a laugh.

She thought about how she activated her ability the first time. She merely thought about stopping her and the strings just came out of her fingers and bound itself to the walls like a spider web. Spider webs cannot be retracted once it's been released, so she cannot just untie them. Perhaps burning them would help…

Morgan suddenly screamed out in pain as the web suddenly burst into flames.

‘Oh shit! I'm about to roast one of my high priests alive! It's gonna be hard to replace her if she dies! I need to free her fast!’ Synthara thought about casting a water or cold spell to help.

“I see now! In order to prove that I am worthy of joining your glorious crusade, I must have power surpassing that of a god! If I cannot pass such a simple test, then I am not worthy of standing at your side Lady Synthara! Witness me!” Morgan cried out as she tried to mutter all sorts of spells to break free. She tried shapeshifting into a bear, a bat and a cloud of mist to no avail. She then let out a burst of cold air that extinguished the fire and froze the strings. Then with a telekinesis spell she levitated large rocks from within the cavern and launched them at the strings, shattering them apart. She dusted herself off as if she didn't just nearly burn to death and kneeled before Synthara.

“I hope that I have proven my capabilities to you, my goddess. It would be an honor to stand by your side as your highest servant.”

“Uh…yes! You passed with flying colors my capable underling.” Synthara said sinisterly, she found herself oddly enjoying this roleplay. In the real world the only one who would entertain her delusions was herself. Having someone to bounce off of made it infinitely more enjoyable. Conquering the world just doesn't seem as fun without the necessary evil queen dialogue.

“Now, if you will let me, I will show you the army I have been building for you my lady.”

“Lead the way.” Synthara said as she continued to carry the Kobold in her arms, it was rather cute and not too heavy.

Morgan led Synthara past the Kobold and Goblins who were all kneeling in some sort of large chamber that could fill hundreds of soldiers. When she looked back, she realized her bed was the center of a large altar with four torches at each edge, stone carvings and paintings of herself covered the walls. At the very top adorning her shrine was a red flame vaguely appearing like a female human head with long hair flowing upwards with the bottom in a sort of black mesh. It was similar to her own dress’s neck crest.

As Morgan led Synthara down across winding stone hallways and cave corridors, Synthara spoke.

“You mentioned three other gods, tell me about them.”

“Testing my knowledge now? Fear not, you will not find a more knowledgeable person in the land than I, Morgan Malefia.” Morgan said with pride.

“One of the gods is named Zhang Jue, a sage preaching what he calls ‘The Way of Peace.’ He united the Bolotnyy tribes about 800 years ago. Given that the Bolotnyy marsh is filled with nothing but lizardmen, monsters, and a small settlement of human tribes, it’s a miracle that he managed to unite them all. His force is the smallest of the four realms but the Bolotnyy marshlands are said to be unconquerable from the hostile terrain and wildlife. He’s been oddly quiet. The tribes have not made a single concerted military action since the battle of the Cradle 500 years ago. His men are identified by their yellow turbans. Why yellow? It's such an ugly color, but I suppose it doesn't mean much given the creatures that wear them.” Morgan sneered in disgust.

Zhang Jue, the man who can summon an entire army of soldiers anytime he wishes. From her time spent practicing magic, she could also tell that this man was a bona fide magician.

“Next we have Qin Shi Huang, the Steel Emperor of the Qin Empire. He unified the Centauri hordes and used them to conquer the Dwarven and Drow kingdoms 800 years ago. He rules all three races with an iron fist and they are practically his slaves. Which is a mean feat given that the Centauri stick to the plains and deserts and loathe any that would impugn on their freedom. While the Dwarves and Drow despise each other and constantly fight in their underground and mountain kingdoms. His force is the second largest and the most disciplined and his land is a logistical nightmare to invade. Yet with all that he’s only the second strongest force.”

Synthara could feel in her bones who was next.

“Lastly, we have the Ultimatum of the Holy Ougon Empire. The land of Ougon is the most prosperous and largest of the four realms. Despite its abundance in resources, the various human duchies and elven kingdoms were at constant war with each other. One elf named Enzo Augustus was on the verge of unifying Ougon until the Ultimatum came. Enzo was made to kneel before the Ultimatum emperor and acknowledge that he only has the right to rule through them. With Ougon unified they easily have the largest army.

“Where do we stand in all of this?” Synthara said as they passed by some kobold guards.

“The Ragna Kingdom…founded by the Ragna dynasty who received your blessing to conquer and rule this land. Humans and Orcs rule this land together through human knowledge and magic and Orcish wrath and steel.”

Synthara thought back through her visions. She remembered seeing a few muscular, grey-skinned humanoids with tusks reverently bowing before her.

“It was through their alliance that they managed to repel attacks from the other three realms for centuries despite being led personally by their gods. It speaks of your superior creation that their alliance managed to hold for so long without your intervention my lady.” Morgan said with reverence in her voice.”

Synthara smiled smugly. “I created them, of course they would be superior specimens.”

Morgan approached a large stone door guarded by two pale humans in plate armor that was covered in so much blood that it was permanently red. “Which is why it's such a monumental disgrace that the humans converted to the Ultimatum! To have forsaken their creator so shamelessly! Even slandered your name! They have brought shame to the word ‘human!” Morgan caused the stone around her to crack from the sheer magical energy burst she released in her tirade, sending the guards to the ground.

‘Apes will always be apes no matter where they are I suppose.’  Synthara thought cynically as the guards scrambled up and opened the stone door for them by forcibly shoving their fingers into the crevice of the two halves of the stone door and pulling them open, spilling blood down the door.

“As a human myself, I am deeply ashamed that I could not stop my foolish brethren from going on the wrong path. But now that you, my goddess, are here, we can finally set things right.” Morgan said as she seethed in rage, stopping before a balcony overlooking a large room lit with blue flame. At the bottom lay hundreds of thousands of corpses standing at attention.

“Behold, the Einjerjar.”