HiveComb

A God of Light, oddly allied with Mistress Dark for they knew she was not, in fact, a dark god but a god of balance and was of the few truly neutral ones, went to the isle where a dark god dredged from the sea resided. Through sheer effort they stole power away from the dark god through one command. "No longer give children's hearts. Starve the dark one, I will show you how to protect yourselves, properly." -- Anon Guest

AN: May be in reference to [https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04785-m036-the-price-of-paradise ]

Thalsom followed the dawning sun because of a dream he had once he was out of sight of his island home. He prayed to the moons when they formed an eye staring down at him. He refused to pray to Sanguicordus.

The vision led him to a boat. One of the large ones that the Outsiders used, but these were friendly outsiders. With a little effort and a lot of pantomime, Thalsom explained his woes. The sacrifices, the promise of the once-sunken god. The guilt. And the desperate, burning need to be able to kill a god.

"The Hostess of All will be pissed," said one of the Outsider sailors. "Best to beg her mercy first." Of course understanding had to filter through, but Thalsom knew what he had to do at the next island.

He marched, head high, to the temple of the Goddess of Death. Fearless, he put his hand into the hand of her statue and said, "I have come in need of death. The death of a god."

Cold washed over him. The world slipped away from his feet, and Thalsom was holding the hand of a goddess. She was joined on either side by the shining Lord of the Dawn, and by the lightning-crowned god of seas and storms.

"You have found and fed the vile one," said Intra, lightning coruscating around his head and through his flowing hair.

"You have come to us in need," said the shining Dawn Lord. "Seeking redemption for a grave mistake."

"It is a great effort to kill a god," said the Dread Goddess. "We know this vile one disobeys our laws. We tried Hir and found Hir guilty millennia past."

"We thought that time alone in the dark of the ocean would make Hir think about Hir sins and reform Hir ways," said Intra. "We were wrong. The god of blood and bloodletting must end."

"You who rose Hir up... must kill Hir," said Aurorus.

"How?" said Thalsom. "I'm an old man with no weapons and know knowledge of how to fight. I'm weak and my years weigh heavy on me. My heart may well stop by how much guilt has stabbed it. I have only lifted a knife to feed others. How could I kill a god?"

"We will come with you," said the gods as one. "We will gift you what you need. We cannot tread the soil any more, but we can act through you."

"There's a price, of course," said Thalsom. "Whatever it is, I shall pay it in full."

"Done and done," said Mistress Dark.

Thalsom opened his eyes, and found himself flying on raven's wings over the oceans between the temple he'd entered and the island that was his home. He could see the world in patterns of light. A mesh of magic. Wells of worship. Little stars on the surface that were the people. Little stars within the skin of the world that were also people. All aglow with their own light.

He could feel a fishing spear in his hand. A special one that only a god could wield. Shining with its own light.

There. The oozing dark dot that was the presence of Sanguicordus. Obscuring the lights of the people. Creating a cloud of misery. Warping the web of life around the island.

It had taken Hir thousands of years to creep close enough to somewhere destined to become a haven for life. Thousands more to have influence over it, to make disasters come there.

Thalsom arrived just as a babe was wrest from their weeping, begging mother. He landed between the priest and the temple. "Give that child back," he ordered. "The vile one starves this day."

The people barely recognised him. "Thalsom? You were the one who brought us the great god Sanguicordus. You told us to sacrifice hearts to Hir."

"I was wrong to do that," said Thalsom. "I was fooled by the vile one's lies. Ze made the disasters that made us desperate. Hir protection is merely stopping what Ze was doing to us the entire time! I have begged the gods to help me end the tyranny, and they have blessed me with their presence."

They'd seen him fly in on raven wings. They could see him shining with the light of the Dawn Lord. They could also see the weapon of Intra in his hand.

The priest with the newborn baby handed the infant back to their mother. "What must we do?" he asked.

"Shelter in the caverns that protected us in the time of disasters. Wait there for three days. It should be done by then."

Just like the years of disaster, they went into the caverns with preserved supplies and what cattle they could herd within.

Thalsom waited for them all to be secure before he turned and aimed at the temple his people had built. The fishing spear struck it in half and exposed the idol to the full, concentrated power of the sun.

Thalsom balled up his fists and struck the head of the idol, shocked that he had the strength to crush the odd material that was the idol's eyes. Mistress Dark helped him tear the idol into unrecognisable shreds.

What happens when a god dies?

All that power of faith has to go somewhere.

What happens when a mortal kills a god?

The world still needed a god of blood and bloodletting. Sanguicordus was dead, and Hir power flowed into the nearest body. One already seen to wield the power of the gods. Tears spilled for the children already sacrificed, true, but they spilled as blood.

When a god dies, something has to take that god's place. When a mortal kills a god, that mortal is most likely to become the replacement. He still insists that none lift a knife to kill, only to help others.

Give praise to Thalsom, the god of butchers, barbers, and surgeons.

[Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash]

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