• Battle raged in the Aket town square. The stalls and buildings that had lined the cobble-stoned roads were now scattered piles of burning and charred wood and stone debris. The great white holy statue that the Geyr had erected of the Nameless One only a few weeks ago was now dirty and broken, scorched by the Aketi. The trees that closely bordered Aket were invisible now, hidden by the too-thick smoke disgorged by the burning buildings of the town. Smoke distorted and obscured the sunlight, throwing the village into a pseudo-darkness distorted by fire, which gave the crumbling village an eerie hellish look. The pale-faced Geyr were strong, but they were in foreign territory and had underestimated the power of the Aketi. The natives were united again, and they outnumbered the Geyr.

    A young native woman, wearing ill-fitting chain armor and wielding a sword she had no idea how to use, stumbled out of a building just before it collapsed, with a dumbfounded and horrified expression on her face. She stopped suddenly turned to watch the crumbling building, her jaw dropping as realization struck her.     This is my fault! “You led me to battle!” she cried in shock.

    Milae. It had to be done, Memo, replied silently, speaking only to the woman, the person she wanted to speak with. The cat that seemed to be the goddess's favorite animal shape nimbly climbed from the building unscathed. Her too-intelligent scanned the scene quickly, before Memo lept forward, forcing the woman to follow.

    “What do you mean, it had to be done? You’re a goddess! You couldn’t find some other way to make the Geyr leave?”

    A god is only as powerful as her peoples’ belief, Memo reminded Milae. The Geyr stripped away the greatest of my strengths, but once they are gone I will regain them again.

    “But your people –” Milae stopped mid sentence and shrieked as rubble fell behind her, where she had been moments ago. “The Aketi believe in you now!” she continued, gasping.

    It’s not enough, the cat said simply.

    “You made me cause this fight! People are dying because of me!”

    Oh well.

    Horror-struck and frightened, Milae felt completely out of place. The girl didn’t belong in battle, she wasn’t meant to wear these chains and weapons. She was scared and horrified. How did she managed to do this? Why would Memo have tricked her into starting a war? How could a goddess treat her people this way?

    Some people believed in magic, but Milae had not been one of them. So how did she get here now, guided by a goddess, in an impossible situation like this? She played a part in a war of gods, but she was merely human. How had this happened?

    Suddenly, Memo was human in front of the girl. Milae gaped: instead of the goddess's usual autumn-colored attire of copper, red, and yellow, Memo wore heavy chain armor. Instead of her usual long braids, Memo’s hair was short and tucked underneath a helmet with an open face, which boasted her supernatural gold eyes. The goddess wanted the Geyr to know who they were up against when they fought her. Just the sight of her frightened even Milae, who suddenly felt very fortunate to be on the side of this woman.

    “Why are you human?” Milae asked, momentarily removed from the battle in her surprise.

    “Because it is time for me to fight. Once he realizes that I am killing his people, he will come to fight me.”

    “Who?”

    “Their Nameless God.” With that, Memo strode forward. The Geyr seemed to know what they were up against before the goddess even made a move, and begged for mercy. Memo was not merciful.

    “Memo! Don’t leave me!” Milae cried in horror. She wasn’t built for battle; Memo had only guided her through the basics, and this was the first time her skills would be put to the test. "Oh Gods," she said aloud, "please help me."

    Milae turned to look for cover and squealed when she saw a Geyr behind her, sword raised for what would have undoubtedly been a killing blow. She barely managed to parry in time.

    “Hello, little girl, didn’t your parents ever tell you not to pick a fight with strangers? You're quite a cutie though...” he said, lowering his sword for a moment, "perhaps I should take you home for some fun, eh?" He winked and grinned wickedly.

    Milae didn’t reply – she didn’t even think – she only took advantage at his underestimation of her and thrust her sword as hard as she could into the man.

    “Memo help me,” she gasped, pulling the sword out of her first kill. She revised then, for she had a feeling Memo wouldn't answer this prayer: “Oh Gods, please forgive me! Guide me to safety!” Milae quickly drew a symbol of protection in the air in front of her, and then turned again to try to find Memo – staying with her would most likely ensure Milae's survival. She saw the goddess striding in her direction, sword and armor covered in blood. Milae knew without a doubt that that blood didn’t belong to Memo.

    “Oh thank goodness, Memo–” the girl began, but her words were cut off in shock and pain. She stared unthinkingly at the sword that had sprouted from her chest before looking at Memo and crying out wordlessly, pleadingly, in her last moments of life. The goddess, however, paid no attention to her - only to her target, the Nameless God, who shucked Milae's body from his shining, blood-soaked sword and turned his attention to his opponent.

    “Let’s finish this,” Memo said to her opponent with a ferocious growl, lifting her weapon. It was the first sign of emotion Memo had shown in days. She didn’t spare a second glance at the girl who had given her this chance. “You will regret trying to sway my people.”

    _______________________________________________________________________


    A woman blinked, coming back to the present time. Disoriented, she looked around, trying to remember what she had been doing before her subconscious had decided to sneak a peak into the future. She stood on the very edge of a gathering of people and a little removed, as though she didn't really belong there. The crowd large crowd was mixed of two races and, she noted rather disdainfully, very blandly dressed, as opposed to the more custom bright colors that the natives generally wore.

    The woman was clearly of Aketi origin. She had chocolate-colored skin and black hair that was braided "hunter-style" - or in many, many small braids - though her eyes, instead of the normal deep brown color that most natives had, were abnormally gold in color, a gold that put jewelry to shame. She dressed conspicuously in a wrap of bright copper, red, and yellow colors. Like many of the natives, she wore metal bangles and necklaces, and had metal hairpieces in her hair, which was pulled up into a pony tail as most women wore it. She looked fierce – a wild animal in human skin – and, as she remembered where she was, angry. She growled, a menacing sound in the back of her throat, but no one heard her. No one saw her. No one would, unless she wanted them to.

    “Praise the Nameless One!” a pale-skinned man cried to the public.

    “Praise He who created us!” the crowd shouted back. Some sounded enthusiastic, others only sounded obedient. There was, of course, nothing the pale-skinned Geyr could do about that; the natives would just have to get used to their new religion over time.

    The sun shone over the island of Aket, illuminating even the darkest of corners and making the day as clear as it was bright. Its intensity scared the clouds, which were scattered on the fringes of the sky in a distorted circle, planning a rebellion in the form of a thunderstorm. But, for now, nothing was spared from the brightness and clarity offered by the sun. For now, the weather was perfect for erecting the enormous, pure-white statue of the Nameless One in the Aketi square.

    The bright white figure was proud and majestic, standing with a scepter in one hand and his creation, the earth, in his other, which he held high above him. He was crowned, of course; the Nameless God ruled all. He wore little clothing, other than his draped robes, for why would he have a need for modesty? The pedestal on which he stood bore the phrase “All praise the Nameless One, Lord of all!” Underneath that was the date of erection: the nineteenth day of year 1017.

    There was a huge crowd surrounding the holy statue, and it was easy to tell who was native and who was not. The Aketi, or the natives of the island, had smooth brown skin, eyes that were such a deep, dark brown that they were almost black, and black hair and generally braided in the "hunter-style" fashion. They were generally tall and thin and dressed vibrantly - although the Geyr had, apparently, changed that. The Geyr, the newcomers, had pale skin and eyes and hair that varied in color. They came in all shapes and sizes. Their clothing was modest and dull in comparison to the Aketi, but all of their clothing looked the same today.

    Many of the Aketi were unhappy with the changes the Geyr had brought, but some embraced them. Before this, the Aketi had been a strong group. They had had a tight-knit community with little in the way of social-hierarchy, and worked together to battle threats. This new division of the normally united people of Aket made them weak and easily conquered, and the Geyr people took advantage of that. The vibrantly-dressed woman growled at this tactic.

    “People of Aket!” a pale-faced religious figure cried, “Where are your gods? You say you have many, but why don’t they speak up?” The question brought uneasy murmuring from the crowd. Where were their gods? Why weren't they intervening?

    Memo felt her power waning...people were losing faith in her, and there was nothing she could do about it. Yet.

    “Here we have erected a statue of our Nameless God and we have not heard, seen, or felt any act against us. If you still believe that our God is not the one and only God of the lands, then why don’t your supposed deities intervene?”

    “My people will not forget me,” the woman said in a smooth, bell-like voice. Though no one could hear her, they seemed to have felt her calm threat. Her words caused a shiver that rippled throughout the gathering; even the Geyr felt as though they were being watched.

    “How can we worship an unnamed god?” someone – one of the Aketi – said.

    “Your god may exist, but he does not rule these lands. You have made Memo angry,” said another through a thick accent.

    “Memo?” one of the Geyr inquired.

    “Memo is the goddess of Aket. She is one of many who watch over us here.”

    The woman, Memo, looked to see other angry, golden-eyed people on the fringes of the gathering. Their appearance was reassuring - it meant that these lesser gods had grown enough in power to show themselves again - however, they were not what she was looking for. Memo kept scanning the crowd until she found the person of interest.

    “The gods are all around us,” a young woman said, not realizing how true her words were at that moment. She was not extraordinary in comparison to other Aketi people; tall, dark-skinned, with long, hunter-braided hair with copper caps on the end of each braid, just like many of the other Aketi. Though she was dressed modestly, the girl still had some color in her clothes.

    Milae.

    “Yes,” the woman continued, “they’re all around us. And you have made them angry.”

    As if to accentuate Milae’s statement, lightning flashed and a roll of thunder followed. The clouds had managed to brave the sun and make their rebellion. Rain began to fall.

    Memo smiled. She would follow Milae now, and make contact with her when the human was alone. The first step in the plan to rid Aket of the Geyr had been put into action.

    She jumped high, seeming to defy gravity. As she rose, her shape smoothly shifted from human to a gorgeous bird whose feathers were brightly colored in copper, red, and yellow. Memo flew over and away from the dissipating crowd, singing a tune that no one would hear. Just like the clouds, the gods would have their rebellion.