Chapter 4 - The Rebellion

After Te`ara was created, Craos rested. Not because of the strain of creation; but to give Tu`il a model which he could follow easily. However, as often happens, bad things happened during his absence. 

Four Helpers, three of the leaders and one of the fire subordinates, met in one of the quiet rooms in the Endless Palace. The meeting was not to discuss their Maker and His greatness, but for a far more sinister purpose. 

Zortun spoke first. His resonant voice filled the chamber. "I trust that we all know why we are here."

Silent agreement followed. 

Nodding, Zortun continued. "We know that Craos, be He divine does not allow us power to command men. Tu`il, the First man, serves only Craos, not us. I am of the opinion that we can defeat Craos and take his place."

A long silence followed. Then, the only one who was not a leader of an Element, Fildor, spoke. "There is no way to defeat Craos. We would need to strike Him, all at once. And that doesn't even factor in the Angels or the other Helpers." 

The clever Beruyl spoke. "True. And the only way to strike as one... is to be One."

Raiton, after a swift deliberation, added, "We need the Angels on our side first."

Zortun walked to the door. "Already ahead of you, brother."

Opening the door, he let in a flood of Angels, all looking suspiciously around them. Once the throng- roughly a third of the Heavenly Host- had entered the room and stood, awaiting orders, Zortun shut the door. 

"Welcome, Messengers. Do be seated." The Angels looked around, and seeing nothing but the floor, sat there. "You all know why we are here," continued Zortun. "We are about to start a... a.... We'll call it a war. A War to end Craos' rule. He doesn't give us what we need. Power. We all want power. And you - pointing at the Angels - need us as much as we need you. We will assault Heaven and will sit on the Throne of Craos."

An angel raised their hand. "Yes?" 

"Which one of you will sit on the Throne? There are four of you."

"The One will."

The angels shifted, confused and suspicious. "Clear a space in the center of the room." ordered Zortun. The Four walked to the center of the room through the Angelic throng. There, they stood for a moment. "What we are about to do will allow us to break free from Craos' heavy yoke! We will face everything and rise! We will gain ultimate power!" So saying, Zortun, Beruyl, Fildor, and Raiton joined hands. 

A shockwave rocked the Endless Palace. The Angels in the crowded room pushed against the walls, confused as to what would emerge from the billowing black smoke. Flames, waves, stones, and fierce winds came from the center of that room. For almost ten minutes, the shockwaves and the smoke were all that the Angels could feel. 

Then, the shaking slowed and ceased. The noise of raging wind, the freezing water, blazing fire, and deadly stones stopped. The smoke began to drift away. 

In the center of the room, there was a single Being. Standing in the center of a crater that certainly hadn't been there before was Someone, twenty feet tall, almost double the Angels' height. He was strongly built, with the look of a boxer or a weightlifter. His body was a mixture of the Elements. He was built of Earth. His voice was the Wind. His eyes were fire. His Blade, which was his right arm, was made of Dark Ice. He wore only a loincloth wrapped around his waist. His eyes surveyed the throng silently. 

Then, a smile broke on the black face. It looked like a volcanic gash, but the Angels understood the meaning. They began to cheer, first a babble of voices, but the Being stilled them with his left hand. 

"Down. With. CRAOS!"

His voice shook the heavens. However, as the Angels mimicked his roars, he didn't realize that Someone else was listening. 

Craos had awoken at the sound of the turmoil, and had summoned Shutan, his right hand, to the Throne Room. All the Eight were summoned moments later. The Angels descended from the beams of the structure at Craos' command. There, weapons drawn, the waited. 

For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then, the light of the stars began to dim as the Smoke rolling off the Evil One began to penetrate the Palace walls. As the Host began to shift, the Doors of the Throne Room shook. After a few minutes of the thunderous hammering, Craos had had enough. He spoke a Word and the Doors opened.

In came the Horde of the Evil One. Instead of the white-clad Angels that had entered the room an hour earlier, black-clad beings raced into the room. Instead of bird-like wings, their wings now resembled those of bats. They had black armor with red Orbs of Life instead of the clear blue the angels possessed. 

The first Demon made the mistake of going straight for Shutan. The Mighty, as he was aptly named, swung his massive mace on high and brought it crashing down on the Demon's head. Nothing remained but a pool of blood and two crushed wings. Another came after- Shutan whipped out a knife and sliced off its wings as he dove away from its grasp. The Mace followed. Crunch. Whirling, Shutan saw that Icarilius wasn't doing so well.

The smaller wind Helper had been grabbed from behind, and his bow was useless at that range. However, Shutan was wrong in thinking that Icarilius was in need of aid. 

Dropping the bow, the quick Wind Helper drew his knives and began his work in a different way. Firstly, he stabbed both into the eye sockets of the Demon that was clawing his back. Then, he spun, slicing two more Demons' heads. He saw Shutan and nodded to him. 

Yulik was wielding his spear with deadly power. Not a single Demon got a finger on him the entire battle. He fought his way to Porakin, sometimes called the Small, who was being dragged down. Yulik cleared the Demons with half a dozen swift strokes. Back to back, Porakin with his gladius, Yulik with his spear, they faced the Horde. 

Narcoi was carrying javelins, and carrying them well. Despite an early wound from an arrow in his left shoulder, he was sprinting all over the battlefield, throwing his javelins through Demons, pulling them out through the Demon, and casting them once more. 

Tyren was using a pair of lightsteel knuckles. True, nothing fancy, but effective. His massive biceps propelled the Holy Metal into Demons' faces and chests, causing them to crumple like paper dolls. 

Fildor was next to Tyren, cleaning up the Earth Helper's leftovers with a katana. Swift death awaited all within his reach. 

Ramil had two katars, daggers with horizontal instead of vertical grips. Something like Tyren's knuckles, but with knife blades on them. He was close to the Throne, taking down all Demons that approached Craos. 

Vira`il the Brave was battling the Evil One himself. The Icy Blade cut deep several times, but the rash Vira`il battled on. His Hammer made several dents in the Darksteel Armor the Evil One now wore, but never did it bite flesh. Finally, Vira`il missed a hit, overswung, and the Evil One, seeing his chance, gave him a open-handed slap to the face. Vira`il went flying to the feet of the Throne, where Craos still sat, watching his servants fight for Him. 

However, the time for sitting past, Craos rose. He walked down the steps and picked up Vira`il, touching each would with his hand. The Life fluttered back into him, and his eyes opened. 

By now, most of the Demons had been crushed, slashed, hacked, or speared to death, and all was silent. The rest of the Horde fell back behind the Evil One, awaiting his commandment. 

The Smoke surged forward, towards Craos. 

"Fear me, Creator. I will strike you down, here where you stand." The cracks in his skin, where the licking flames emanated from, sent forth hotter and darker flames. 

"That didn't work so well for your Demons, ... What is it you call yourself?"

"You are Craos. I will destroy you. I am Chaos."

"Chaos, eh? And what makes you more powerful than I am, Chaos?"

"THIS!"

A fist made of shadow shot out of the smoke, straight toward Craos. However, before the Maker moved to retaliate, Shutan stepped in. His mace, as he swung, morphed into a hammer, which disintegrated the fist like a snowball. 

Chaos laughed. The evil sound reverberated through the massive room. "You can't best me, Shutan, Lord of Flame. I will defeat you with the power of-"

Shutan rushed forward, spinning, and brought his hammer down with all his strength on the marble floor. A shockwave blasted Chaos off his feet and to the floor. The black figure tried to rise, but Shutan was on top of him, fiery fist pounding into his dark face. Chaos tried to rise, but Shutan, with his armor on, was too heavy. Chaos punched back, but Shutan burned with a heated vengeance. 

Finally, when Chaos was stunned temporarily, Shutan and the other 7 Helpers dragged him to the center of the Throne Room, directly in front of the Throne. There, in the carved Runes that adorned the floor, a circle opened. The Runes shoved each other to form a circle that was about forty feet around. Shutan threw Chaos into the Circle of Runes. Craos, who had walked quietly back to his throne, observed in silence. Vira`il and Icarilius came, carrying smoking chains. They tied Chaos to the ground, attaching the chains to the hooks that rose out of the floor at Shutan's command. 

"My lord, wilt pass judgement on this rogue?"

"Yes, Shutan. Thank you." Turning to Chaos, the Maker said, "You have disrupted My Perfect Creation. For that, there is but one punishment. Eternity way from the light." So saying, Craos said a Word, the hooks disappeared, leaving Craos wrapped like a cocoon. Another Word and the Circle of Runes opened, letting him fall like a leaf, down into the Abyss.