Battle raged within the Garden of the Gods, and the skies flashed as
Artemis and Vastar released a volley of lightning bolts toward their
enemies. Stepping before her allies, Indrani skilfully turned each bolt
away with swift strokes of her eight Qithain scimitars.

A cacophony of howls and shrieks rent the air, and what few clouds
remained above the Pillars of Heaven dispersed as a swarm of daemons
answered the call of Sartan, the Malevolent. Descending upon the battle,
the daemons surged forward, and six fearsome dreadlords alit from their
backs. Following closely behind, a dozen Dala'myrr slithered sinuously
through the firmament to circle above Bal'met.

Pressing forward with the Sabre of Dawn held aloft, Mithraea cut down a
swathe of daemons, leaving a carpet of crimson flesh in her wake.
Melantha whirled her sickle about, searing the carapace of a Dala'myrr
with a blast of verdant energy, sending it crashing to the ground.

Striking out with the Lash of Discipline, Keresis landed a well-timed
blow upon Lady Sol, who roared in outrage but continued onward. Arcs of
healing light streamed from Tarah's fingertips as she bolstered
Mithraea's strength. Without missing a beat, the Lady of Vundamere
raises a radiant shield around Aegis and Pandemonium, who move together
through the horde.

Giving a nod to the God of Strife, Vastar hurled a lightning bolt into a
thick pack of daemons that swarmed near the Goddess of Sin. The ground
exploded beneath them, sending them flailing through the air, landing
upon Sapience with savage screeches of ire. Caught off guard, Indrani
quickly recovered her footing, whirling about to face Pandemonium, who
had swiftly snuck up behind her.

~ ~ ~

"At last, the reckoning I have waited for since My birth," thundered
Pandemonium. "Many a time did I dream of this moment. For too long have
I been biding My time, watching You go unpunished for Your theft."

Malice gleamed in the eyes of the God of Strife as He drew the links of
a great chain through His hands, casually swinging the end, where a
massive, spiked ball exudes a fiery glow.

Narrowing her eyes in contempt, the many-armed Goddess of Sin answered
the God of Strife by brandishing her eight flashing scimitars, and the
two began to circle one other with deadly intent.

The God of Strife lets the head of His massive chain flail fall from its
chain to His feet, then begins to swing it in a slow circle above His
head.

"I will destroy you..." he growled.

Indrani cackled with confidence as she sliced away with her scimitars in
a dizzying display of scintillating blades. Bearing quickly down upon
Pandemonium, she lands the first strikes of Their deadly match, and the
God of Strife howled in pain.

Undaunted, Pandemonium danced out of the cloud of blades and struck out
with the heavy, spiked head of his flail, catching Indrani's blades in
the chain and abruptly halting her attack. With a massive heave,
Pandemonium wrenched the flail away, disarming the goddess completely as
her swords fell from the heavens.

"As Father taught, and as Mother would have wished..." he roared,
unleashing a mighty battle cry and whipping the flail in a swift upward
arc. Casting out with the spiked ball, he drove it into Indrani's
stomach and tore it away with a vicious snarl. A blaze of flames erupted
in its wake, searing Indrani from the inside out.

Staggering backward, Indrani clutched at her side with three hands and
raised a single arm to point toward Pandemonium.

"Look at how heavily the envy of my power sits upon your shoulders,
foolish child," she hissed. "Feel the weight of your avarice. Even now
you surrender to the wrath you have embraced in the name of strife, and
I grow more powerful yet.

Pandemonium slows, His eyes growing unfocused as the handle of the flail
fell from His grasp. As he swiped weakly at the empty sky, the Goddess
of Sin stalked her prey like a stealthy panther.

"See yourself for the sinner that you are. Tremble in terror of the
truth, godling!" Indrani quietly closed in, smirking at the confusion
that overwhelmed the God of Strife, and drew close behind him for the
killing blow. Unsheathing a uniquely curved blade, she tenderly traced
the tip of a serpentine kris along Pandemonium's jawline.

"You were but a babe when first You tasted this blade," she whispered in
his ear. "And now..."

Suddenly Pandemonium grabbed the wrist holding the kris, snapping it
with a powerful twist and causing Indrani to drop the dagger with a
shriek of rage. Snatching up the falling dagger from Indrani's broken
hand, Pandemonium swiftly turned and sliced through the Demon Queen's
neck with a single, smooth stroke, lopping off her head.

"I am Chaos and War!" roared Pandemonium in triumph. "I am Strife!"

Pandemonium looked on with a slowly growing smile as the lifeless
remains of the goddess fell to Sapience, erupting into scarlet flames.
Lifting her dead-eyed to his own, Pandemonium whispered a quiet word
that no mortal can hear before it, too, was overcome by fire.

Crimson light suffuses the skies as Keresis surges with strength, the
act of divine Vengeance bolstering Her power. Scowling, Pandemonium
takes up His mighty flail, swinging it above His head once more as He
turns back to the battle.

~ ~ ~

Havoc tore throughout the Garden, and the Goddesses of the Sun and Moon
battled beside one another, felling Dala'myrr and dreadlord alike.
Ourania's silvery arrows sailed through the air, matched by flashes of
gold as Mithraea's bright sabre sundered the attackers with searing
flame. For a brief, desperate moment, the moon eclipsed the sun,
cloaking the land in darkness. A second later the sun's shining corona
surged with fierce brilliance, rekindling the light of day, and the two
celestial bodies moved apart.

Ascending upon grey wings, the Skylord rose into the sky and
outstretched his hands to gather stormclouds from the far reaches of the
world. Below, the Goddess of the Cataclysm drew down the clouds,
stirring them about herself into a violent and lethal cyclone. As she
stood firm at the eye of the twisting gale, daemons around her were
lifted into the air and flung from the bounds of the Garden.

An ominous chuckle rumbled across the world, striking terror into even
the bravest of souls as, hurled from beyond the garden by an unknown
assailant, an ephemeral lance of pure flame flew unerringly at Vastar,
trailing sparks behind like a comet.

The projectile struck the God of the Sky in the shoulder, whistling out
his back and singeing his wings. Shocked, Vastar began to plummet like a
stone to the garden far below. The clouds thickened and frothed with the
Skylord's fall, and the battle faded from mortal view with the coming
storm.

Clashes of metal and screams of pain and triumph reverberated through
the heavens as the immortal battle raged back and forth, and a shout of
anger pierced the clouds, suddenly cut short. Lightning relentlessly
struck down upon the high places of the world, and the wind began to
whip through the whispering trees of the forests.

The storm began to lose strength for a moment, and again the forms of
the struggling deities became visible within the cloud-streaked
firmament. Thunder boomed mercilessly throughout the world, and
lightning scorched the heavens where the gods warred. Grim but resolved,
the gods closed in on Sartan and his allies, victory in sight against
the invaders who had violated the sanctity of their home.

Penned by My hand on the 10th of Chronos, in the year 611 AF.