The Night’s Sky

The altar of Zeus stood atop the hill in front of the city of Elis as if watching over the growing crowd of people, wandering and shuffling through the bustling market streets. The sun was still high in the sky, the night still many hours away as the rays hitting the altar illuminated the gold plated thunderbolt that was carved above the marble base. The gold was carefully crafted and finely framed, in hope of appeasing the capricious king of the gods and, so far, the city has been benefiting greatly from it.

Wealth had struck the impoverished, crops and grain had found themselves in what was previously thought as desolate land and miracles had been appearing as if from thin air. The people of Elis have been since singing the praises of the god of thunder to every passing traveler, hoping to keep the fruits of their efforts and stay within the good graces of Zeus.

When the summer was starting to give way to the fall, the leaves slowly starting to turn shades of orange and red, the people of Elis were quick to start organizing their yearly festival, held in honor of Zeus. Each year they would decorate the streets in blue and white ribbons and they would decorate the temple in preparation for the dancing, singing, and drinking that occurred during the festival. 

The energy in the air was palpable as the sun was starting to set and the festival was nearing it’s start. Travelers came from far and wide to participate in the festival, bringing all types of gifts to appease the thunder god. With the large crowd entering the city, he paused to take in the sight of the altar, a handful of candles placed upon it to keep the gold illuminated and keep the symbol in the minds of the people – of mortals.

People shoved past him, muttering a few cursed under their breath as they ignored the dark-haired man, dressed in travelers’ clothes. He looked like every single of one of them, a part of the herd that flocked to Zeus’ domain without a second thought. That would change tonight.

. . .

Music flooded the great halls of the temple, resonating from the marble walls and into his head. He procured a drink, taking an occasional sip as he kept his eyes to the group of people dancing in the middle of the hall. The festival had started an hour ago, but according to stories and legend, it doesn’t take long before something nonsensical happened. 

For this festival, it was within the first two hours.

“Another drink, my good man!” The man beside him yelled loudly, the smell of alcohol reeked off of him in waves as he handed the man behind the counter an empty glass. The dark-haired man silently rolled his eyes, keeping his comments on the smell to himself, against his better nature.

He pushed off the counter, placing his empty cup on the counter as he set off into the dance floor but was stopped when an arm wrapped around his wrist. He turned around, the dimmed lighting in the hall obscured most of his facial features but one thing that couldn’t be obscured was his obsidian eyes, twinkling against the lack of light as they peered into the drunken man’s eyes.

“You don’t look like you’re from here.” The drunken man asked with a slight slur of his words. 

“Astute observation,” his voice came out as low and dark, but there was a melody to it. It was silky and velvety, even as he raised his voice to be heard in the noisy hall.

The drunken man eyed him for a moment, scrutinizing the look of the traveler before letting out a hearty laugh and clasping him on the shoulder. “Praise be to Zeus, my friend. Do enjoy yourself tonight.”

He gave the drunk man a small smirk before nodding ever so slightly. He turned back to the large party, his eyes scanning for a particular person. 

“D-Don’t forget to place a gift at the altar to receive his blessings!”

“Go back to drinking.” He didn’t raise his voice too much, just enough to get the finality of his statement to the man, not even turning back around to look at him.

The drunk man scampered off, putting distance between himself and the rather aggressive figure. Already lost most of his patience, the figure stood from his previous position and decided to make his way down a hallway with less people. As he walked towards his destination, two figures appeared out of one of the many doors within the hallway, one of a large, hulking mass whilst the other was much smaller and petite. They walked with intention, speaking quietly to one another as they walked quickly.

He clung to the shadows, his expression was stone hard as his back pressed against the wall. His form blended in with the darkness, as if the darkness embraced him and granted him their protection. 

He treaded lightly, his eyes fixed on the retreating form of the blonde haired man as he led a woman by her hand. Both of them were less an a meter away from him and continuing on their path with haste, whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears as their laughs and chuckles bounced off the white walls.

The blonde man had his hand wrapped around hers tightly, his blue eyes staring intently into hers as they walked closer to the wide door before them. Their words were too hushed to make out, but he understood the general idea of what was being said and was glad he couldn’t hear too much of it.

Under the cover of dark, he followed suit, making sure that his steps made no noise and that there was no one else looking to enter after the two and no one would interrupt what would happen. Once he confirmed that the festival-goers were more concerned about where the drinks and fights were taking place, he continued after the pair, who were now slipping through the large, wooden door. 

Walking through behind the pair, he found himself in a darker room, lit only by the sparse bit of candles that were placed around the room. The candles flickered as he entered, the shade in the room provided him with more space to move without being noticed by the two. 

The room was circular and rather small, only a bed pushed into the middle of the room, surrounded by the lit candles and messy linen covers. He doubted that this woman was his first conquest of the night.

They continued to whisper into one another’s ears, the woman reaching the edge of the bed and lowering herself onto it. The blonde haired man, whose eyes were strikingly blue, grinned wolfishly as he towered on top of her, his hands landing on either side of her. 

He continued to watch from the shadows, a look of disgust starting to creep onto his features as he watched the scene before him unravel. He would allow another few moments of pleasure, out of a kindness that lied somewhere deep in his heart. 

He took another step towards the other side of the room, his hands at his side, somewhat leisurely as he took his time. By then, the pair were locked at the lips, both of their focus directly on one another and of nothing else. 

Lust really did blind him, the arrogant bastard.

Pausing once he was a fair distance from the blonde haired god, he crossed his arms over his chest. The blonde looked taken a back for a moment, he could sense something was amiss but his lust-filled brain was no help to discern what the threat was. He raised a brow as he slowly lifted himself up from the bed in the center and looking around the dark spots within the room.

“Who dares disturb me?” His voice was loud and boisterous, as expected. His blue eyes lit with intensity, trying to see into the darkness, see who was in the room with them but he couldn’t make out the figure that is but only a few feet away from him.

“I come bearing a message.” The shadows and darkness molded to his body as he slowly took a step outside of his cover, the gloom following his movements and covered him once again. 

“You best speak fast before I invoke my wrath upon you, boy.” Lightning starting to crackle from his fingers as he head snapped towards the origin of the voice. His eyes glowed a bright blue as the blue consumed the rest of his eye, leaving nothing by the lightning that bounced off of his fingers and around his body. 

Despite this obvious show of power, Zeus heard a chuckle. That made him immediately growl, the lightning starting to arc off of his body and much more outwardly, this unknown enemy starting to get under his skin.

“I come bearing the news of your demise, King of Gods.” He spoke his self-proclaimed title with disdain, spitting them as if they were acid upon his tongue. 

He took another step out of the shadows, but this time, the shadows allowed him out of their domain and trailed after him lazily. The smoke-like gloom ran down his arms and legs, allowing the light to hit against his features and body. It hugged the back of his body as it stayed there, awaiting his beck and call.

The blue eyed god furrowed his brows, his hand coming up to form a concentrated weapon of lightning, but he hesitated for a moment. His blue eyes were locked with the darkened figure as if trying to understand or look for something where he couldn’t find it.

“Who are you, interloper?” His boisterous voice still echoing off the walls of the chamber as the woman who previously had Zeus’ full attention was now wincing underneath the sheer volume and power he exuded.

The man in question only grinned as he took another step closer to the god of thunder, ignoring one of the lightning bolts that struck right beside his foot as he kept one of his hands within the darkness behind him, a thing that Zeus took notice of.

“Who I am doesn’t matter.” He took another step. “What matters is that you must die.”

Zeus let out a long laugh, but his expression remained hard, “you sound overconfident, child.”

“Nothing you can do will change that.” He walked forward, his eyes locked onto Zeus’s blue ones. “You could try to resist, but it will be to no avail. I will be your demise, but you were your own downfall. Remember that as I take your life.”

He lunged for the god of thunder, the darkness formed a crystalized weapon in his hand, a long and dark spear with jagged, irregular edges formed as he pulled his hand away from the darkness. He aimed his spear expertly, using his momentum to slice downwards as he ducked from Zeus’ oncoming attack. 

As he ducked, he ran the pitch-black sword across the god’s stomach and deftly moved to the other side. As he predicted, a thunderbolt struck in the exact direction where he previous was standing, precisely at his temple. A moment later and he would have been ash.

He heard a loud growl, the crackling of the thunder starting to become louder as he grew anger. Zeus’s stomach bled a sickly color, the deep crimson stained on the floor below him as felt another slice in the same area, this time reaching across the other direction.

Zeus yelled out in pain, one of his hands reaching over to his stomach whilst the other concentrated more and more bolts of lightning into a weapon of the wielders choice. 

The god clenched his jaw with ferocity, his eyes looking for his aggressor but found darkness in his stead. 

The darkness enveloped him, covering his entire body and providing cover from the wrathful god’s smite. He smiled ever so slightly as he saw the hint of understanding in Zeus’s eyes mixed in with the smallest bit of fear. 

The god held his stomach in his hand, the blood was profusely running down his lower body with no sign of stopping. Whatever attack his attacker had made, it was effective.

“Who sent you to kill me?” His voice was starting to strain slightly, a minor change from the booming, predatory tone moments before.

He moved through the shadows, slowly moving to the other side of Zeus as he observed him with curious eyes. He was starting to feel cornered and that’s when he would strike, so he needed to be careful with his approach. His blessing could only protect him so much.

“I sent myself. I seized the opportunity, placing myself in the position you see me in now.” His voice obscured and twisted by the manipulator of the shadows, making his voice even deeper and distant. It echoed around the room, making it hard to discern where the origin was.

Zeus gritted his teeth as he sent a thunderbolt crashing into the ground, the light from the strike illuminated the room, making the dark-clothed individual appear beside the god. Zeus grabbed the assassin, his lightning starting to crackle with energy across his body once more as the man struggled against the inhuman strength.

The light from the strike could only illuminate for so long as for when they started to dim, the edges of room started to fill with darkness once again, slowly inching towards the two fighting figures in the middle of the room.

“Only a coward strikes from the darkness.” Zeus gritted through his teeth as he gripped the attacker’s neck tighter.

The attacker continued to struggle, trying to force Zeus’s hands away but stopped momentarily. He placed his left hand on the god’s arm as a small light shone underneath the surface of the skin. 

A cocky smirk broke out on his face as the light grew brighter until it consumed the room, a shriek erupting a few feet away from the fighting figures as Zeus grunted loudly, letting his grip on his attacker slacken.

He took the opportunity and lunged for the god’s eyes, plunging both of his thumbs into Zeus’s eyes as the god screamed out in pain. He pressed his thumbs deeper and deeper, forcing the god’s world to be consumed by darkness, the one thing he truly feared.

Zeus’s hands wrapped around the wrist of his aggressor, blood starting to seep out of his eye sockets as he yelled out, his vision slowly fading to nothingness.

“S-stop this! Stop it this instant!” Zeus’s voice was thunderous, but the thumbs continued to gauge out his sockets. Zeus could swear that he felt the feather soft touch of smoke emanate from his hands as he pushed deeper into his skull. Zeus had felt that smoke, seen the way of the shadows only once and once was all it took for him to recognize and fear the one behind it.

The god gasped as he dropped his head, the attacker’s hand retracted from his skull as Zeus’s blood started to paint the pristine marble floor below their feet. He held his head in his hands, the white hot pain shooting through his entire body as he slowly rises his head to where he assumed his attacker remained.

“Y-you… you’re working with her?” His voice wavered, the blood pooling in his hands causing a ounce of fear to start to blossom in his stomach. 

There was no noise, no sound for moments. Zeus didn’t know if his assailant had vanished or deliberately remained silent. He clenched his jaw, slowly rising from the floor as the familiar sound of thunder crackling sounded in the room.

“ANSWER ME!”

The same feeling of smoke danced by his side.

“As a parting gift, I will tell you,” the man’s voice much lower and softer in Zeus’s ear as the god snapped his head in the direction of the voice, but even he knew that he wasn’t there. 

There was a pause, “yes. I am a servant of the mistress of the dark.”

Zeus roared, the lightning bolt forming in his hands as he placed them in front of him, hoping to hit anything despite his blindness. The crackling of the thunder echoed in the room as the sound of lightning hitting flesh made Zeus’s ears perk up.

A yell resonated throughout the room, followed by a low grunt and a spit before silence overtook the room again.

As the god turned to face the origin of the noise, a white hot pain shot through his chest and pulsed throughout his entire body. Zeus’s eyes widened in shock as he felt something corrupting his veins, taking over his body from the inside, something sick and sadistic.

He felt darkness creep into his blood as his heart was starting to slow down, the pumps echoing in his ears as Zeus could feel his life draining away.

“N…no…” The words fell out of his mouth, his eyes starting to close by themselves. 

He had been bested. The mighty Zeus has been defeated.

Not in combat or in wits as he had always assumed it would be, but by betrayal. 

By fear, he was over taken.

And with his death, every realm had been shaken to its core. 

When he left the room, leaving the King of the Gods in his final resting place, he had expected an army of soldiers or the seas to come and consume him, but nothing changed. Except one thing.

The clear night sky remained, but small droplets of water hit the ground below, sensing something was wrong in the world.

No one noticed the death, except for the sky. 

The sky wept for him.