We Gods

I stood upon the grand balcony of our sanctuary, gazing out at the realm we now commanded. Two thousand years had passed since we claimed the Primordials' power, yet only now did the land show signs of recovery. Mastering our Mantles had consumed twenty centuries… twenty centuries while the world beyond our walls shattered and reformed, like quicksilver constantly hardening and melting in an endless cycle.

The sky shifted before my eyes, azure bleeding into violet as distant peaks soared to impossible heights before crumbling like waves upon a shore. This earthen tide, this constant flux; it was slowing. Order was returning, breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat.

Perhaps in another millennium, humanity might venture from this haven and reclaim the world once more. The earth would resemble what came before, but superior in every way. With our Mantles finally under control, we would craft the paradise we had envisioned when we first took up arms against the Primordials so many eons past.

I felt the two others arrive long before their physical bodies formed in front of me. The air thickened, reality bending as ancient powers approached my sanctuary.

Kanis Rael materialized first; not all at once, but in fragments of time. Her outline flickered like an old memory struggling to remain relevant, her edges blurring as she phased in and out of the present moment. Even now, fully manifested, she appeared unstable, her form disjointed and shifting as the world recalibrated around her presence. Such was the burden of the Mantle of Principium: to exist simultaneously in all beginnings, to hold dominion over law and the foundations of existence.

"Vardin," she acknowledged, her voice echoing from both past and present.

The air crackled next, mana condensing into brilliant light before coalescing into Ayen's form. My chest tightened at the sight of her. Once, she had been the most captivating queen among us mortals: quick-witted, sharp-tongued, and devastatingly beautiful. Now, where her face should have been, an enormous eye stared back at me, its deep blue iris reflecting my own transformed visage. Her fingers had long since twisted into writhing tendrils that sparked with uncontrolled magic.

"It's been centuries, old friends," I said, my voice steady despite the unease their unexpected visit stirred within me.

We rarely sought each other's company anymore. The Mantles had changed us too profoundly, made us too alien even to one another. Each of us struggled daily with powers never meant for human vessels. Our interactions had grown strained, uncomfortable. They were reminders of what we'd sacrificed.

Vardin, Ayen's voice resonated directly in my mind rather than disturbing the air. We bring matters of consequence.

I inclined my head respectfully to both of them, observing as they returned the gesture with formal bows. The fact that two of the Twelve would come to me together spoke volumes. Something significant had shifted in the delicate balance we maintained.

"What brings the architect of order and the mistress of magic to my door?" I asked, gesturing them inside with my human hand. "It must be urgent indeed."

We entered my private sanctuary, a grand chamber filled with opulent furnishings I hadn't truly used in centuries. Despite abandoning mortal comforts long ago, I maintained this charade of humanity. These velvet chairs, ornate tables, and silk tapestries, I kept them in pristine condition. It was as if some fragment of the king I once was still clung to such trappings of power.

None of us moved toward the seating. We stood in perfect triangulation at the room's center, our inhuman forms casting strange shadows across the marble floor.

"Have you felt it?" Kanis Rael asked, her form flickering between moments of time, leaving ghostly afterimages with each slight movement.

I nodded slowly. The alien limb that sprouted from my back twitched beneath its concealment, responding to my unease before I could master it.

"The deaths. Yes, I felt them. Three voids where once burned familiar flames." I studied their expressions, searching for confirmation. "Though I couldn't discern which of us had fallen."

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Ayen's massive eye blinked slowly, its surface rippling with unspoken emotion. Her tendrils coiled and uncoiled in agitation.

Humans, she projected directly into my mind, the word dripping with venom. Three mortals penetrated our sanctums and slaughtered our kin. Fors, bearer of Dissolution. Binar, bearer of Ataxia.

She paused, her eye fixed upon me with uncomfortable intensity.

And Mulmin, bearer of Enmity.

Something stirred within me at the mention of his name. It was not quite grief, nothing so human as that. We had grown distant over the millennia, as all the Twelve had. The man I'd fought beside, shared warmth with during cold campaign nights, laughed with over cups of ale; that man had ceased to exist centuries ago, replaced by something as alien as I had become.

Yet I felt... hollowness. An absence where once had been connection.

I dismissed the sensation. Such mortal sentiments were beneath me now.

"What became of these killers?" I asked, my voice carefully neutral.

Kanis Rael's form stabilized momentarily, her expression grave. "They are contained, for now. But they bear the Mantles. Their imprisonment cannot last."

"Curious," I noted. "They control their new powers already? It took us decades to master even the simplest aspects of our Mantles."

Ayen's tendrils sparked with magical energy. The memories, she projected. The essence of our fallen companions must have transferred along with their powers. These humans have inherited not just the Mantles, but the knowledge of how to wield them.

I considered this, my mind racing through implications. If the Mantles passed so completely, with control intact...

"Then there is no immediate crisis," I concluded. "If these humans can maintain control of their new powers, the world will not suffer the chaos we feared might come from our passing."

Neither Kanis nor Ayen appeared reassured by my assessment.

"You misunderstand the gravity of this situation," Kanis said, time fracturing around her agitated form. "These mortals have proven something we thought impossible."

They've proven, Ayen's mental voice thundered, that we can be killed.

"Everything dies," I told them, my voice steady despite the weight of those words. "Even the Primordials were not immune to death. We demonstrated that truth ourselves."

I turned toward the window, where reality still wavered like heat over distant sands. The alien arm concealed along my spine twitched in agitation, sensing my disquiet.

Ayen's massive eye narrowed, her writhing tendrils crackling with arcane energy. I will not suffer death when my work remains unfinished, she projected directly into our minds, her mental voice bitter with resentment.

The elves. Always the elves with her. Centuries of obsession, trying to undo what could never be undone.

Kanis Rael flickered between moments of time, her form solidifying as she stepped forward. "Humans have grown too powerful for their own good. By killing us, they risk destroying everything we've labored to accomplish." Her voice echoed from both past and present simultaneously. "And for what? A simple lust for power."

I studied the two of them, these beings who had once been mortal queens, now transformed beyond recognition. "What does it matter who holds the Mantles, so long as the work to rebuild our world continues?"

Ayen's tendrils lashed outward, scorching the marble floor where they struck. Is your mind as mechanical as your creations? she projected, the thought burning with contempt.

I ignored her barb. Ayen hadn't been right since her foolish and catastrophic experiment with the elves. Her guilt had twisted her mind as surely as the Mantle had transformed her body.

"Do you truly trust another to bear your Mantle with the same honesty and humility you've demonstrated?" Kanis asked, her form momentarily stabilizing. "Would you entrust your sacred duty to one who murdered for power?"

I fell silent, considering her question with genuine reflection. The world outside still needed centuries of careful guidance. Could I trust my work, my purpose, to someone who seized power through violence?

"No," I finally answered. "I cannot leave my work to the whims of another, especially one willing to kill for simple personal gain."

Kanis nodded, her ghostly afterimages following the motion seconds later. "I have developed a solution. With your help and Ayen's, we can create a network of magic and technology that limits humanity's growth potential."

I narrowed my eyes at that.

"Not enough to leave our people vulnerable," she continued, "but sufficient to ensure they pose no threat to us or our work."

I frowned deeply. "You're proposing we alter the fundamental reality encompassing all human beings." I turned toward Ayen. "The last time one of us attempted such a thing..."

Ayen's massive eye swiveled away in shame, her tendrils curling inward.

"There are risks," Kanis acknowledged. "But with the three of us working in concert, those risks diminish considerably."

I walked to the window, gazing out at the chaotic landscape. After millennia of careful work, we stood on the precipice of creating paradise for our people. Could I jeopardize that for the sake of preserving humanity's unlimited potential?

"I will help," I said finally, turning back to Kanis. "But this 'System' of yours must be disabled once our work rebuilding the world is complete."

Kanis Rael nodded, her form momentarily solid. "Agreed. There will be no need for the System once we've created a true haven for humanity."

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