Epilogue

The God formerly known as Efstany stood once again on the hills of Matrikai, observing the royal palace. Only, this time, he had no need for Falconeyes to grant him sight. The Void and the Aether did that for him.

My, my. He thought to himself with a smile. The chosen have certainly done well for themselves.

King Gestarin sat at his dining hall and laughed with Riina, Inalla, and friends, celebrating numerous good occasions. Food and drink flowed along with good cheer. The Crown Prince and his wife Ilyira had announced that she was with child, and a feast had been thrown to celebrate. Not only that, a new Harvester King had been proclaimed, and Highking Vixin had been immediately invited to the royal palace to dine with the King. Aio fully agreed with Gestarin’s assessment that there would be none better for the leader of the Diradis- he himself had made sure of that. A few well timed revelatory dreams and even a few divine appearances had quickly caused the Harvesters to see his view. Vixin had been coronated a week later, although some of the populace still remembered Highking Yrit, and wondered where he had gone off to.

Aio smiled as he thought of the disgraced Highking. Yrit was evil, truly, but at least he now served a purpose. Being a chaplain on the Barabak wall was a fulfilling sort of prospect, though he now had a new god to proclaim. For some strange reason, Yrit had been the hardest one to convince of Aio’s existence. The fire and brimstone certainly helped.

Aio smiled again and turned away from the city, clasping his hands behind his back. He began to descend the hill leisurely, marveling at the wonders of the world. A few yards away, a family of rabbits was just about to go to sleep for the night, resting in their den under the ground. Fireflies twinkled in the darkness, obscured when they flew against the light of the setting sun as morning approached.

Ah, yes. That was the greatest conundrum of this world. Why would the sky be aflame with radiance and yet not a single bit of it reached the ground? And, by the same token, why would the sky be dark as light rolled over the earth?

Perhaps Jiriinii would know. She and Nyrin had grown much wiser and closer through their marriage, officiated by Aio himself. Jiriinii may have never truly gotten over Ventoros, but she knew how to love. And she loved Nyrin. She had said so herself, many times, on that happy day. Since then, she had become a powerful leader of the Jods, taking a more direct role in the lives of men. It was almost daily that the Jods flew forth to protect the weak and assist the needy. One could scarcely look up and miss the flutter of white wings.

In his reverie, Aio almost tripped over a large rock that was in his way. He smiled as he kept himself from falling and gingerly stepped over it. He was glad there was no one around to see him- it would be strange to see God nearly fall flat on his face. Aio may have been much less dignified than one would think a god should be, but he needed to at least not seem like a bumbling fool.

Bumbling fool. He laughed to himself. That’s almost certainly something Vilkanai would call me.

It was true. Vilkanai had called him worse things. The Jod almost made it seem like Aio was Efstany again. He didn’t bow at his god’s every passing, didn’t scrape his knees along the floor as he walked. Vilkanai treated him like another person, and he was grateful for it. Being a god was hard enough with everyone treating him like he was different.

He sighed. Nobody really understood what it was like to be God. No one could, really. It was impossible to understand what it was like without being one. If he did try to compare it… He would say it was like a man who tried to carry the world along a path of spikes. He had the strength to do it, and he knew the path he had to take to avoid the pain, but that didn’t make the task any easier. And it didn’t help that everyone was too busy bowing and scraping to try and help him carry it.

It’s alright, young one. Aia said in his head. Have faith. You are more than able.

I am inclined to agree. Oio said gruffly. We have trusted you with a great burden and a great privilege, and we have chosen well.

Aio smiled at his master’s encouragement, even though he knew that no one could understand the task that he had been given. He had barely understood it when Aia and Oio had first told him of it. The Void was pure matter, yes. But it was already difficult enough to think of the Void without imagining a whole new world of his own making inside of it. And the normal people didn’t have to be the ones to create it and watch over it.

There’s no point in worrying. He thought to himself. You’ve already started the process.

Indeed, this was true. Efstany the Flen had broken the barriers between Void and Aether, and as such he had made it possible to create a new world within the Void. A man, Harvested unjustly by a future Jod, was the perfect bridge between two opposing forces. It was the perfect marriage between the justice of Oio and the mercy of Aia.

Aio absentmindedly conjured Aether and Void in his hands, folding them into each other until they ran red from the mixture. Blood ran down his fingers for a moment before he separated the Void from the Aether and started the process again. This was the thing that humans so painfully misunderstood. This was the doctrine that the Diradis hated and sought to expunge. This was also the principle that had created the humans in the first place.

Aia’s division proved that no light or good can exist without the dark. It was impossible. It was like a man bound in chains- he could not move one arm without moving the other. To do so would cause immense pain and harm. As such, it was impossible to create a perfectly good or perfectly malevolent being. Aia had tried, and he had failed. His efforts split him in two.

It was ironic, really, that by doing so he found the perfect mix of good and evil. Aether and Void, in the right quantities, created blood. It was with this blood that Aia created the humans.

Light, dark. Aio thought. Two aspects of the same thing. Light will always shine in darkness, and shadows will always accompany light.

You have learned much. Aia said proudly. And now, it is time for your final task, before you depart into your creations.

Are you ready? Oio asked.

Always. Aio nodded, and raised his head to the sky. The brilliant, blazing sun stared back at him, and none of the light reached his eyes.

That was going to have to change.

Raising his hands in a gesture that would make the bards and singers weep, he sundered the skin of his hands. Black Void flowed from the gash in his right even as pure Aether spilled forth from his left. They twirled in the air at his command, humming with power. With a nod, they began to spin around him, undulating back and forth with the intensity of their task. They began to mix, white and black flowing together until they had turned to blood. Aio smiled. With a wave of his hand, the pillar of crimson liquid shot into the air, rushing into the heavens at an exhilarating pace. Barely a second later, an explosion of red rocked across the world, and for a moment, the world was bathed in blood. That moment passed quickly, however, to be replaced with a soft light as night ended. Aio looked to the west, and the pain in his eyes from a blinding light confirmed that he had done well.

A glowing orb of pure radiance was becoming visible on the horizon, and it’s soft light was edging across the landscape.

For the first time, the sun rose on Oaiao, and so began the dawn.