Edda felt small as she looked upon the naked Kolotian standing on the back of the Telinete Rhino. His eyes glowed amber from the irises to the sclera and the voice coming out of him wasn't what she'd heard during her time in the dungeons with him. His voice scrambled her thoughts and flung her very being into a state of disorder. She felt her reality tear and the very concept of order scramble and reform in a cacophony that was guaranteed to make her ears bleed. She crawled away from the wall she'd leaned on thus far and headed towards the Kolotian, she did not know why she sought to inch closer to him, maybe it was...... Another voice spoke from behind her.
The voice was both male and female but the female tone resonated beyond reason. It wasn't loud neither was it strained yet Edda felt like the sound emerged from her mind after having been forged in her soul. It coalesced with the feeling Ishar's words had brought, taking the cacophony and smoothening it into a euphony that made a moan escape her lips. The whole of Binorian bowed in the direction of the second voice and Edda turned her head to see Vayin Vigon. The King stood close to the wall, she could briefly see the crest of his children's heads obscured by the wall as they repeatedly bowed.
Edda rose to her knees while fully turning to face where the King stood. She was about to follow the Binorians' lead in paying subservience to the power that was the Binorian King but a figure to the King's left who remained standing amidst the sea of prostrated Binorians broke her irrational chain of thought brought about by proximity to godly potency. The large man with a scar trailing the left of his cheek wore black armor and he stood as if oblivious of Vayin Vigon beside him with his eyes glued on Ishar.
Rehny did not give a flying fuck about the preternatural entity standing next to him. He'd heard the feminine voice emerging from Vayin Vigon that had caused everyone else to drop to the ground including the man's own children. He could hear Dahli weeping and worshiping at her father's feet and the very air out of the corner of his eye warped from proximity to Vayin Vigon as he channeled the Goddess Meena Herself into his being. Normally he would have dropped to the ground as everyone else, heck, he would have even wept as Dahli was doing but for some reason he could not turn his eyes from the naked Kolotian standing on the Telinete Rhino. The Kolotian whose eyes glowed amber, not red but amber. The Gods are not dead. He thought.
Orgeeg half bowed and half squatted. His attention was on the Kolotian and the King. His head moved from side to side between them as he struggled to piece together what was going on. He watched as the Kolotian stepped across the beast's back to its head easily as the Telinete Rhino stood immobile as if made of stone. The Kolotian leaned down and unhooked his red robe from over the beast's horn and face revealing that the Rhino's eye color had turned from red to the similar amber shade of the Kolotian's eyes.
Edda watched as Ishar wrapped the red robe around his waist with his amber eyes fixed on Vayin Vigon. The Telinete Rhino started moving slowly in the direction of the King, it's steady steps ensured Ishar held his balance upon its back and Edda trembled as the pair made their way past her kneeling form. In her entire life she never thought she'd see something as spectacular as a man riding a Telinete Rhino. She'd heard stories of Selarch but seeing the young man stand tall on the beast's back was a whole different matter. A quick glance around showed numerous Binorians had broken their sequence of bows to gawk at the Kolotian.
The Rhino neared the wall and raised its head high. Ishar stepped carefully over its head and between its eyes while heading for the longest horn upon its snout that he held as he peered into the glowing reds of Vayin Vigon. The Telinete's height boosted him to be just about level with the wall. "Meena, you have broken the pact." Ishar said. The words just came to him, emerging from a blank place within him where something once was, something that had been taken away, something he'd given away. His voice resulted in more screams from the Binorians and few could be seen running towards the Juckwa Arena exits.
Vayin Vigon smiled. "I have done no such thing." He said in that feminine voice that brought a deep longing to Ishar, a longing for a sweet lover's touch he couldn't have for the love had gone sour. Beside Vayin, the Commander of the Legions leaned into the wall's edge and lowered his head with sweat drenched upon his face, he certainly looked strained under proximity to the divine but his eyes never left Ishar's face. Curiosity stirred within Ishar as he spared the Commander a glance.
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"The pact ensured we each had a role to play, Meena, a role to play to ensure that the bringer of the endless night remained incarcerated and you have failed your part." The Kolotian said and Leba Vigon broke from his bow, rising to observe the man standing on the Telinete Rhino who had addressed his father in that divine voice. Ovek! His father had called the Kolotian in Meena's unmistakable voice. Leba could not believe it and the annoyance brought about by Dahli's current weeping while worshiping at her father's feet was buried under the weight of excitement. I'm on the right path. Leba thought. The beads were not wrong.
"Ovek darling, how did I break the pact? Surely, it must have been the others who've done so." A coy smile broke upon Vayin's face as he spoke.
"Alietsi is in the depths of the sea where light cannot reach, She ensures He does not emerge from the dark depths and in so doing He hasn't. Nielda is in the furthest reaches of the sky, overlooking the endless darkness where stars dot the expanse of space. Nielda stands vigilant to ensure He doesn't emerge from above. I forged the gates of Oblivion and stood guard with the whole of Tabrimas behind me. I stood at the door of the gates and peered into His purest form, for millennia I stood at the edge of madness for only I was capable of doing so. I held Him back and He did not prevail." Ishar said while meeting Vayin's gaze. The smile on the King's face faded to a straight line.
**"I stood upon the land,"** Vayin said. "I observed the depths of the hearts of men where his dark seed squirms and lashes out with need to break forth and I succeeded in holding him in His fourth prison."
"You favored a mortal champion, wiped out the Kolotian race and diverted all worship to yourself hence weakening the rest of us and strengthening yourself." Ishar said while spreading his hands in the direction of the Binorians who bowed while trembling under the might of the divinities' altercation. "I was at the gates of oblivion, Meena, hearing His voice urge me towards the abyss for millennia but He has recently stopped using words. Meena, He whistles. He started whistling an endless tune that he could only have gotten from the mortal realm, which only means that you have broken the pact."
"Selarch danced for me beneath the moon as you once did, better even than you did." Vayin replied while leaning forward with his elbows propped onto the wall's top with his head tilted in an oddly feminine way. Anger flared within Ishar at Vayin's words, "The Kolotians had to be mitigated, they were after all stained with Nyawe's essence and that made them a scourge upon my land. I-"
"Nyawe was twice the Goddess you'll ever be." Ishar interrupted and watched with satisfaction as Vayin's face scrunched up with hate.
"Yes, well, you all loved Her, didn't you? She was after all the Goddess of Love, there is no order to love and I know you all found it profoundly exciting. Pity what Locha did-."
"DO NOT SPEAK HIS NAME!" Ishar shouted and was answered by numerous screams from the
Binorians. Vayin took a step back and away from Ishar, his red eyes lost their vibrant ruddy hue and faded to grey, the King swayed in place and almost collapsed if it wasn't for his daughter rushing to his side. Channeling Meena must have taken a toll on him and as Ishar observed the King he felt himself weakening too. A thought suddenly emerged from close by, a thought so loud and charged with emotion that yanked his head in its direction.
Leba met the eyes of The Kolotian, he couldn't help the smile spreading across his face. He'd gotten what he'd needed the most in the least likely place. Leba watched as the Kolotian's amber eyes faded to violet and closed shut. The Kolotian, weakened from channeling a God, collapsed off the Telinete Rhino and landed on the ground with a sickening thud.
Vayin Vigon pointed at the large man who was Rank three of the Royal Black Guard. The Rank three knelt at the edge of the small stairs while facing the King. "Kill the Kolotian." Vayin said before collapsing after having fully exerted himself to issue the command. The Royal Black Guard complied and stood up while drawing a sword from his scabbard. He stepped onto the top of the wall and hesitated as he took in the Telinete Rhino standing beside the unconscious Kolotian. He aimed his sword at the Kolotian, willing to die under the foot of the beast than disobey his king. But before he could jump into the Arena a body of black armor barreled into him and together they fell into the Arena.