The Wrath of Gods and Men

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. But the people needed more than the treacherous mountains surrounding them for protection, so I bartered with another lower god to bring dragons to the nearby mountaintops.

The people were resourceful and it didn’t take long to domesticate the creatures. Within a few generations, every home had its own vigilant serpent.

There weren’t always spirits granting blessings across the valley. But the people needed more resources to grow and prosper, so I encouraged lesser beings to watch over their farms and forests.

There weren't always glittering cities spread across the valley. But the people valued knowledge, so they sought to preserve it as best they could.

Centuries passed and their cities grew. Despite their growth, my people stayed within the boundaries that had always protected them.

The other gods watched with a playful bemusement as my small valley progressed. They offered their opinions and criticisms, but I had observed for millennia, the workings of the other gods as they propped up civilizations. I was certain that I could avoid repeating their failures.

My priority was to keep myself a secret from the people. I never let them know who I was. As the god of the Valley, I had a near-limitless power to alter the land that I was charged with. I could have given them anything and everything they ever asked for.

But I had seen civilizations rise and fall on the worship of their gods, and, more importantly, I had seen what mortals would do with such beliefs without proper supervision.

The other gods constantly reminded me that my people lacked the strength or experience to defend themselves. I disregarded their criticisms. My people experienced hardships just like any other group of mortals, they were more than capable.

I was wrong. Their hardships were not enough, and when the invaders came, my people were woefully unprepared.

The invaders wielded power unlike anything mortals had used before. They brandished the elements of nature as naturally as any weapon, and wrought destruction, without a second thought. The first city was left decimated before I even realized the danger they were in.

An elder god, charged with the care of a neighboring kingdom, had gifted magic to the people of his lands. The power that defined us as greater than the mortal races; he had diluted and simplified it to a form they could wield for themselves. And in their infinite and awe-inspiring ingenuity, people had created weapons of war unseen in eons.

My people, despite their best efforts, weren’t prepared for war.

The invaders blasted through the mountains, making short work of the natural barriers of the valley. Their magic struck the serpent defenders from the skies. And when they reached a new city, they looted and burned it to the ground.

I desperately wanted to reach out to my people. I wanted to open up the ground beneath the attackers and swallow them whole. I wanted to strike out at the god that had sent these conquerors. And as they approached the final bastion of my valley, I did.

Their armies marched towards the capital and I appeared before the invaders. I released my power, but before I could strike down their forces, I was pulled from the valley by forces greater than me.

The other gods put me on trial. The divine are bound by complex rules, and my attack was a violation of them. They found me guilty, stripped me of my power, and locked me away.

I wasn’t sorry about what I had done, and I wished I had been able to do more.

I had watched these people for four millennia, guiding them through hardships. Seeing them destroyed, piece by piece, filled me with rage I hadn’t felt before. I thought that saving even just a few of them was the least I could do.

There was no way to mark the passing of days in my prison, but time hardly matters when you’re immortal.

All that matters is that, eventually, I received a sympathetic visitor; a minor god fond of bargains and games.

She told me everything that happened following my imprisonment.

My people were destroyed. Anyone who survived was taken and enslaved. The cities they had built were gone, only ruins remained.

She offered me a deal. She would help me to take revenge on the gods and mortals that had conspired to kill my people, and in return, she asked for my power.

I would give my control of the valley to her. While the others had stopped me from using my power, no one could really take that divine magic for themselves unless I allowed it. Requests like these were common enough. Most gods craved power, regardless of where it came from.

I was more than happy to sacrifice what I had, especially since I didn’t expect to survive my quest for vengeance.

I agreed and the bargain was struck. Within seconds, I felt the divine power leave my body. It was strange to feel myself become weaker. Divine power and strength slipped away from me.

It was stranger still to feel my memories pulled from my head. For the first time in my time as a god, I was afraid. But a mortal body wouldn’t contain a divine mind. I wouldn’t survive like that.

She promised to leave the important memories. The anger. The quest for vengeance. Anything I would need to survive in the mortal world.

Then, I found myself lying in the center of my people’s capital, with the ruins of demolished buildings, surrounding me. In the distance, far off mountains

Beside me, sunlight sparkled off of the crystalline shell of a dragon egg. The last native dragon of my valley.

There weren’t any dragons left in the Valley, but when my quest was done, I would make sure that there would be again.