Chapter 1
The origins Before the reign of man on earth, the gods were known to live in the same pantheon. All gods abode in the same place and then they decided to create man-division began then. It was the will of the gods that man should worship them all since the gods were gifting them the earth as their own, a place for them to live as a testament to the power of said gods. When men began to form opinions about who and who not to worship, causing division among themselves, this, in turn,n caused division among the gods, many of who complained that their powers were draining because the man would not worship them. It was then decided that more pantheons should be created so that some gods would gather their faithful worshippers, make lands for them and be the gods of their chosen people. Though this was a very good decision it caused jealousy among the gods because gods like humans are ruled by their emotions. Many gods with few worshippers rioted against those who had more worshipers and this caused a long war among the gods who went about destroying one another, destroying man and everything they created. It was a woeful sight.After the war between gods was settled with many god-lives lost and humans completely annihilated, the surviving gods were then told to make homes for themselves in any part of the world, to take the humans in their likeness and to keep these humans loyal to them. This was how different races were created and how the different pantheons came to be. After the separation, the gods made a pact never to have anything to do with the gods of other pantheons especially sexually. This law was made and sealed and the result of disobedience was that any child resulting from such union would bring an end to the god race entirely.For years the gods kept the pact and each kept to their own pantheons and people. Generations of men came and went, new gods were born and the pact was taught from one generation of gods to the next. Soon the pact was not mentioned again but there was a silent agreement among the gods to keep to themselves. Until Helena…Helena was born of the gods, beautiful, strong-willed, and proclaimed to be the wife of Robos when she came of age. Her red hair and startling blue eyes were what drew her to men. She was known among her peers as most beautiful. She was also known as a very strong young woman. The occupants of Mount Kpamos celebrated rituals and festivals just like men on earth. There were shooting events, where arrows were used by participants to either shoot a target or hunt for a prized animal, there were races with obstacles which gods were supposed to overcome without using their powers, there were beauty contests in which both males and females were to showcase their beauty in the presence of impartial judges- the god and goddess of justice. Helena was known to star in many of these events. She was unrivaled in the art of shooting, her beauty was unrivaled, her strength was unmatched and she quickly caught the attention of Robos who immediately asked her to be his wife and the queen of the gods. At first, Helena loved Robos wholeheartedly, she was pleased to have chosen from among many women to be the queen of the gods of Camelorn, it was an honor but one that was soon to bring her sadness. In the first year of their marriage Robos and Helena welcomed a child who was declared unfit to live. He was a sickly child and in his fifth year, he died. The death of her child brought many sorrows to Helena’s heart. She wanted very much to provide Robos a child, a child who would sit on his father’s throne when Robos decided to step down as king. In her sorrow and mourning for her lost child, she finally came to learn the truth about the god she called her husband. Robos was known to love many women, though he professed love for Helena he could barely keep his eyes and hands from other women. In his palace, Robos had many servants who worked for him, many of whom were women with who he had sexual relations. From his many illicit affairs, he had Nukis who was known as the god of thunder. Helena tried her best to love this child of Robos' affair but every time she looked at him she was reminded of the fact that her husband was unfaithful and that she was sharing him with many women. To other gods, she was lucky to be the queen of gods and whenever she was among them she assumed the arrogance befitting royalty but in the secret of her room, she was a bitter woman. She hoped every day that she was not barren and that one day she would eventually give Robos a child. Though Nukis was brought to live in the palace as a child of Robos he could not ascend the throne since he was not the legitimate child of both Robos and Helena.In the third month of her, fifteen years of reign as queen of Mount Kpamos Helena became pregnant with Ashterah who was a copy of her mother. Joy and gladness reigned on Kpamos as they welcomed the birth of the heir to the throne. Helena devoted her life to making Ashterah a happy child, she gave her everything. She called Ashterah a blessing to her to help her take her mind off Robos’ infidelities. But Ashterah soon grew up and became war goddess of Camelorn, she left her mother’s palace to become make a home for herself where she could entertain her numerous lovers much to Helena’s horror. She tried for years after that to have more children she could take care of, more children who would take her mind off her miserable life as the queen but none came. None until she met Demeus, god of the Eyrotians.Chapter 2For years before meeting Demeus Helena often wondered different life would have been if she had not married Robos. As a young child she often told her friends she would prefer the honor of choosing her own husband rather than having one chosen her but as years passed and her friends began to build homes on Mount Kpamos with their families she started to feel lonely. Some of her friends had even fallen in love with humans and had given up their god powers to live with them. It was forbidden for a god to fall in love with a human, a god could keep a human as a pet since they were mortals and could die but they were never to fall in love with them. In the case where a god realizes that he or she has fallen in love with a human, he would be expected to give up his powers to enjoy bliss with his lover.While all her friends found love she was the only one who couldn’t find any to love her. At a time there had been rumors that some gods were too scared of her strengt
“Who are you?” Helena stood rooted to the ground. The question was a deep growl that sounded like the grunt of an animal. Her lack of response caused the men to look at one another before one of them finally moved to approach her. Survival instincts suddenly caused her to take a step, two steps backward. She almost stumbled but soon she turned around and started to run but she had one gone a short distance before one of the men caught her hand and whirled her around. She struggled against his iron clamp on her wrist but soon realized that struggling was useless since it only hurt her the more. Her wrist was red and she feared it might be bruised. Seeing that there was no escape for her she turned her face away from the men, her heart beating heavily in her chest. “You’re hurting the woman,” someone said. Helena wanted to look. Much as she was scared of what the men would do to her she was still fascinated by the look of them. She was no fool though, s
Helena sat on the sand oblivious to the sweat that dropped from her forehead to her white tunic. She watched while the men worked and as she watched she questioned her decision to wait for the men to finish with what they were doing. What had possessed her to spend more time with them? Was it simply the novelty of meeting people who were so different from the Camelornians or was it the handsome stranger who made her feel things she shouldn’t be feeling? More than once he cast glances her way as though checking to see if she was still there and every time he did that she went weak in the knees. She was grateful to be sitting as she was, it wouldn’t do to let him know that he made her feel dizzy and feminine and foolish. What was it about him anyway, she thought in annoyance.Demeus directed the men on their work. Since the previous night they had sailed into the ocean to fish and to gather salt, the white crystals, from the shore to take back to the village. He cou
Helena once again began the question her decision to follow the men. The son was scorching and her skin itched, the hair on her forehead was wet and many times she had to move it from her face. Sweat poured down her chest and armpits wetting her clothes. She considered finding an excuse to leave the men so she could go back to Mount Kpamos but how was she to do that? Her sight was getting blurry and her head was getting some light she feared she would faint. Contrary to what she felt the men moved on like they could not feel the scorch of the sun and wind. They walked barefooted on the hot sand with quick steps that she was struggling to keep up with. Just when she thought she would faint from sheer exhaustion something cool was placed over her head and a hand was nudging something into hers. She looked up, craning her neck to have a better look, at the white-eyed man who nodded at her as an encouragement to take the canteen he was pressing in her palms. “It is cool
It amazed her that the people of the Eyrotian fisherman village did not treat her any different from them. According to what Ramus told her there were used to seeing merchants of various colors come to the village to trade for salt. The only special treatment she received was from the children who wanted to play with her hair. She let them braid her hair while the women worked all day until the sun began to set. As the sun was going down behind the clouds the smell of cooking filled the air. Spicy aromas filled the air making her mouth water. The men who had gone into their buildings to rest before came outside and sat in chairs made of cane. When the women were done cooking they brought the pots and bowls together and everyone say in a ring to eat. The harmony and communalism with which they lived were foreign to Helena. They dished food in every pot regardless of whose it was. Demeus selected a bowl for her and dished some spicy soup in it. She accepted it with a smile and
Demeus walked the length of the small man-made creek the fishermen used for their water source. Up until today he never had a reason to linger at that creek deep in thought but tonight he did have a reason and that reason was in form of a redheaded, hot-blooded woman that made the blood in his vein run hot. He sat at the bank of the creek with his back towards the village. Everyone was asleep by now and only the sound of the nocturnal insects pierced the night. Usually, he would make a quiet exit during the night whenever he was done assisting the fishermen but this night he didn’t want to leave. What was it about the free-spirited, fire-spitting Helena that made him feel like a young randy god again? For years he vowed never to be affected by any woman again since the one woman he loved gave herself to another god just before their wedding feast. That woman was the goddess of the waters, Oya, known for her full figure, beautiful smooth skin, and tall elegance. He had loved
The wave of teleporting faded slowly and once she could breathe again Helena made her way to her temple which was quiet and almost empty save from a few servants who she knew would be in their chambers or the temple of some other gods. She made her way to her room and realized that she was still holding the package Demeus had given her, heat suffused her cheeks at the thought of him. She started to open the package to see what he packed for her when she tensed. There was a change in the atmosphere. A god was coming. As fast as she could she hid the sack and concealed it with her powers. She had barely finished when the door to her chamber was blown open. Robos. He liked to make an entrance. He filled every corner of the entrance with his huge frame. She swallowed. She was scared of him but she was worried that he knew about her disappearance. “Helena, queen of the gods and the woman who has captured my heart,” he rumbled as he came close to he
Her happiness was short-lived. As soon as the race was over she leaned back in her seat to laugh over the sour defeat of the dragons but caught the sight of a familiar figure from the side of her eyes. It was the figure of Adna, the goddess of excess and as was natural to her, she held a jar of mead in one hand while the other dangled over the shoulder of a very beautiful male Aloni. Adna was a beautiful dark head goddess, willowy and tall but her elegance was destroyed by her love for the mead. She was laughing and staggering drunkenly. She caught sight of Helena and went over to meet her. The Aloni stood behind her as a show of submission as he bowed his head in Helena’s direction. “Your highness,” she spoke in a slur as she dipped to a drunken bow. “I never thought I would see you here Queen Helena.” She flicked something off the Aloni’s shoulder. “I am just coming from Robos’ temple where he…,” The Aloni must have pinched her as a warning because she jumped sligh