What exists when power is lost?

What exists in a space where power is lost? I used to have people kneeling at my name with their tender breaths shaking at the slightest mention of my ill will.

It’s all I’ve ever known. From the moment the thousand specks of bright white fire lit the sky, to the last sound of horde (orda) stomping in the hail for my name, it is all I have ever understood.

The only truth I have ever known in this existence is - their devotion.

“What is happening now, mother?” a child in the midst of my remaining followers questions in a frail voice. I now have their faces in mind, unlike the times where I only used to hear their voices. After almost all my followers were defeated and killed, or taken to another god, I reached closer to those who still believe despite everything.

“The gods have been famous for their fury at the wrong whisper in the wind, yet I wonder if their absence now means something.”

No! This means nothing! The only words running through me these last three winters. I could feel every one of them fighting for their trust in me; however, their belief takes them as far as the deity that they worship protects them.

“You must know this is insanity. They are soiling our blessed grounds, Mother. They are demanding we kneel.” The child continues, slowly raising her voice in desperate plea. The fight in her voice grows stronger with each word, before the mother ushers to her side to silence it.

I could see now that they are as afraid of the foreigner’s god as they were of me. Maybe even more so. The child, still eight winters away from her first fight to honor my blessings, was always a promising choice for future batyr* (warrior). Only, now that there were changes in place, her destiny may very well change from the one envisioned for her by the fates.

“There is simply nothing to do….” At her mother’s answer, the young one let go of the anger holding her stoic, releasing a heavy breath.

“Gods have strength when people believe in them. It is why we fought wars hailing in their name, devoted our tribe to their strength and kneeled to them. This was our duty. It pleased them to see this.” The mother said in a hushed voice to her daughter, embracing her child with a gentle hand sifting through her hair, “Right now, no one is kneeling.”

I have never known a hushed voice to hold me captive before, not even amidst the most intriguing prayers.

“It has made them angry, perhaps. Or weak.” At those words, the fire illuminating the room sparked higher. Only, it did not reach the height it usually did, despite the fury her words ignited.

“But I thought gods are more powerful than any. How could a simple thing such as forgetting could rid of them?” The child seemed to bury herself further into her mother’s chest, seeking comfort from the very person that was scaring her.

“Their power is vast, child. But power needs to be ignited and supported. They will wither otherwise, maybe not entirely but the nature will never find its true strength again.” The mother lifted her head at that, looking at the direction I was watching them from, as if she can sense me here. Her next words held a dark promise. “This man made belief, will rid the world of its own power.”

There was a stretch of silence when the dread was the only true powerful entity in this chamber. Before a force like the wind in a storm kicked the door open, putting an end to the embrace between mother and daughter.

“Witch, come with us!” The man in silver armor commanded hunched in the doorway too small for his frame. He followed his words by invading the chamber further and ripping the mother away from her child. The daughter, scared to fight, was still trying to cling to her mother’s arm. Yet the man three times the size of her, easily shook the child away from the woman.

The woman, like any other of this tribe, was no small feat to handle. Her flailing body and shrieking voice was a bargain the silver man was close to losing. She managed to tumble the man to the ground, but he overpowered soon enough. Before their fight took hold of my total attention, I sensed the child moving in the chamber.

I could only watch as the child reached for the knife her father had left for her (before he was taken by other men in silver one winter ago), and held it over my fire. It was in a move as quick as the lightning strike that she ran toward the man in silver and plunged the now brown knife into the only part of his armor left exposed. His neck.

Before the mother was able to get from under the man, another one of the silver soldiers entered. Upon seeing the blood covering the limp state of his friend, the silver soldier charged to the girl with more finesse than a man in such heavy armor should possess.

The fear in her gaze called out to me more than any prayer could, and, before I could comprehend it, I found myself standing guard before the girl.

I know not of how I presented it, but the fire was everywhere. One last surge of it came from me, and I reached every bit of the chamber through it. The wood, from the ground to the ceiling was covered in roaring fire. Like the embrace I witnessed moments ago, I wanted to bring the calm to the child and her mother through one of my own. Sensing the only ground not covered in flames to be the one surrounding the mother and the girl, this was enough to scare the man in silver along with the other soldiers rushing to help.

My only sight was their fear as they stumbled away from the chamber. The fire came to life around me and then died down as fast as it had come.

Before I could look behind me at the girl, I realized that I was no longer in the chamber with them. I was now in darkness. Thousands of specks of light were shining through. They were closer than ever before, yet seemed so far away, just like the first time I had opened my eyes. In it, I could feel fire seeping out of me, much like humans used to put out fires at daytime. I always wondered what it must feel like to quench the flame completely, yet I never imagined it to be so painful, biting almost. This must be the cold they fear so much.

That woman was right.

So even gods are not eternal, once their power has gone.