The Archangel Danika
Even in the ages before the Divine War, all was not perfect in concordance among the gods. Perhaps the tale that best illustrates this, and, indeed, would prove to hold the most far-reaching implications, is that of the Archangel Danika.
In days long past, Danika was among the foremost servants of Athkos, a shining example of the heavenly host who oft served as His voice in the courts of the other Divines. It was she who settled the dispute over the lands of Srittalia to the benefit of Athkos. It was her words that stopped Xergoth's anger from boiling over at the slights of the more impetuous Archangel Gershon. It was she who brought news of the Concord of Life to her Lord's kin. And it was she who was, eventually, cast out of the light, and into the clutches of darkness.
In the course of her duties, Danika came into frequent contact with the goddess Korhane, daughter of Yrasqa and Xergoth. Had an outside observer existed at the time, they may have noted that, in fact, she came into the presence of Korhane far more than her duties might have required. For Danika held a secret. She was indifferent to the attentions of males, but decidedly more receptive to the attentions of her own gender. And she had fallen in love with Korhane.
She hadn't meant to. But then, these things rarely happen in the way one means them to. It had just ... happened. She had long known of her own orientation, of course, and had taken great pains to obscure it from the knowledge of her Lord, who, she was sure, would not be understanding in the least. And then she had put it out of her mind, or tried to. She had resigned herself to solitude, claiming her duty to her Lord left time for nothing else. But then that duty took her to the realm of the Lady of Seeking. It was not love at first sight, certainly. Among mortals it may have never blossomed at all. But Danika had plenty of time to watch Korhane, and to talk with Her, and she slowly came to realise that she loved this always moving, precocious, puzzling goddess. But again, there was a complication.
And His name was Musit.
It is unknown what Korhane's reaction may have been had Danika revealed her feelings to Her. Being a goddess, for whom mortal rules certainly do not apply, She may have been willing to change Her own proclivities for the benefit of Danika. But Danika never broached the subject. Korhane already had a lover: Musit, the god of hope and the son of Athkos. And while Danika's heart denied the sensibilities of her Lord, her actions would not. She could not bring herself to say anything that may result in relationship difficulties among the Divines.
Perhaps she could have eventually overcome her reluctance, in the long eons she had. But then Xergoth discovered her secret. This was after the return of Euchton to the material world, and thus could not have come at a worse time -- both for Danika and for all those involved in the matter.
Xergoth was angered at Danika's lust for His daughter, and immediately revealed it to Athkos. If Xergoth was angry, Athkos was furious. To think that His trusted agent, one of the greatest among His host, harboured such perversity! He was disgusted. In a thunderous rage, He tore Danika’s powers from her, and cast her out.
It should, perhaps, be revealed at this time that at no point was any of this revealed to Korhane.
It might have ended there, but it did not. For the Divine War had begun, and Euchton is ever alert for anything that might give It an advantage. It came to Danika as she lay, scarcely caring what went on, on one of the Lower Planes. Though initially It was ignored by Danika, Euchton slowly drew out her feelings of betrayal and anger at Athkos, and stoked them as a fire. Its insidious words gave her new purpose, and she finally agreed to join with Euchton's army in opposition to the Divines. By this time, she hated Athkos with a vengeance for what he had done to her undeservedly. When next the battle was met, Danika was at the head of the Euchtoi, in a new guise and wielding more power than she had ever had under Athkos. So great was her fury, and so strange her countenance that none recognised her for what she had once been, and great was the consternation of the Divines when they realised Euchton was able to conjure forth such powerful minions seemingly from nowhere. The Divine War raged on for many cycles, its length not on a mortal scale at all. Some battles between mighty armies occurred in the blink of an eye, whilst others, duels between solitary champions of their patrons, raged for decades. Finally, Euchton saw the chance for a mighty blow to be struck against his enemies. And It had just the minion to strike it. After one battle that had seen a slim victory for Its Euchtoi, Euchton came to Danika, now known more often as Lilith, after a minor power she had defeated and subsumed some time past. It told her of Its great plan, and offered her a chance to spearhead the attack that was to come. She leapt on the opportunity eagerly. The planned target was the Sphere of Musit, the god's home and His greatest stronghold. The objective: kill the Sphere's lord, and shatter His home.
When the day came for the Euchtoi to attack Musit, a distraction was arranged. A task force of Euchtoi moved against one of Athkos' holdings on the Prime Material Plane. When the Divines detected this attack, Their armies moved to the defence of their leader's base, neatly moving them out of their carefully-held positions. It was the culmination of much planning on the part of Euchton, Its wily cunning making up for the great numbers arrayed against It. Meanwhile, Danika led the main body of the hosts of Euchton through the void, towards Musit's home. They descended upon it like a black tide, breaking against the few defenders left, and circling round to attack again. Because of how Euchton had arranged things, Musit was unable to call to His friends and family for help, nor was He able to recall his own hosts from the defence of His Father's fortress. He had to defend Himself with what He had at hand, and hope for the best. He did what he had to, and took to the field. Musit was a sight to see that day, carving His way across the battlefield, laying low the Euchtoi in His path. His appearance caused a cheer to rise up from His warriors, and they fell into battle with renewed energy. Musit fought with sword, and He fought with magic, and He fought with His bare hands. He was a god, in His home, and He was unstoppable. Unstoppable, that is, until Danika made her way through the battle to Him. With the subsumed power of Lilith, Danika was, herself, divine, and the clash of gods was a mighty thing to behold. The two were evenly matched. While Musit was an older, more primal deity, having more influence and power at His command, Danika was still a warrior angel, created and trained for battle. The peaceful Musit could never match her in sheer combat prowess. He summoned the great fires of creation, called up the earth beneath them, and drew upon the very fabric of creation to rend Danika apart, but to no avail. She fought through all that He set against her, and laughingly shrugged off His attempts to grasp her being: she had shed that, cast off any identifying core of herself, when she joined with Euchton. At her core, she was as the void. When Musit saw this, He was frightened. Not for Himself, or not entirely. He was frightened for her, though in this form He did not know who she was, and He was frightened for all of existence. For if Euchton could do this for the greatest of Its servants, who was to say It could not do this to all of creation? In that moment of fear, when Musit realised just what Euchton was capable of, Danika struck. She pierced His defences, plunging her sword into His chest. As the sword pierced His breast, Musit knew that it was not enough to kill Him. However, knowing what He now did of Euchton, He also knew that the sword was not the only attack levelled against Him. With His blood falling to the ground, the final component of the Euchtoi incantation was complete. Great energies whelmed from the void, and from within the Sphere. They built to the bursting point, held there for a moment, and then exploded into the physical world.
The Euchtoi who had been sent to cause a distraction were badly overmatched by this time. They had lost may of their number, and it was clear they could not win. Rather than fight to the death, the remaining Euchtoi decided to run. While they risked their Lord's ire, to stay would be sure destruction. They magically teleported themselves to the place they knew they would be safest: in the middle of the host attacking Musit’s Sphere. Their cowardly action was very nearly the undoing of all of Euchton's plans. The hosts of the Divines, wanting to finish the Euchtoi party, traced their flight, and followed. Thus they arrived above Musit's Sphere at the moment of last life for the Sphere’s master. The hosts of the Divines watched in horror as the Sphere of Musit burst asunder.
Danika had been aware of the possibility that she would die on this mission. She was aware that Euchton fully expected her to. When she subsumed Lilith, she had become the perfect agent for it -- and yet, she had also become far too dangerous to leave alive. Danika, however, fully intended to foil Euchton’s expectations. She would live, and succeed, and return to Euchton. She would prove her loyalty, while retaining her power. Musit, however, had other ideas. He was dying. He knew it. His world was dying. He knew that, too. And yet... He could not be angry at Danika, could not hate her. He could only pity this poor creature without anything in the core of her being, and wonder what it was that made her so hateful. Danika felt His pity, and His curiosity, and did not understand them. She hated Him all the more for them, for daring to take pity on her, for wanting to know her better. But, perhaps, some of these feelings took root in her. Something of Musit leaked between the two, creating, for even the briefest of instants, a bond. And so, when the final, telling explosion rocked the world, and Musit and His Sphere were sent to oblivion, Danika was distracted just long enough that she did not remove herself in time. Musit's pity had been the end of her. She met the same fate as her most hated enemy.
The shards of Musit's Sphere, after a transition period, came to rest in a stable orbit around the Sphere of Athkos. Over time, they spread themselves evenly through this orbit, drifting very far from one another. Neither Musit nor Danika were ever heard from again.
It might have ended there, but it did not. For the Divine War had begun, and Euchton is ever alert for anything that might give It an advantage. It came to Danika as she lay, scarcely caring what went on, on one of the Lower Planes. Though initially It was ignored by Danika, Euchton slowly drew out her feelings of betrayal and anger at Athkos, and stoked them as a fire. Its insidious words gave her new purpose, and she finally agreed to join with Euchton's army in opposition to the Divines. By this time, she hated Athkos with a vengeance for what he had done to her undeservedly. When next the battle was met, Danika was at the head of the Euchtoi, in a new guise and wielding more power than she had ever had under Athkos. So great was her fury, and so strange her countenance that none recognised her for what she had once been, and great was the consternation of the Divines when they realised Euchton was able to conjure forth such powerful minions seemingly from nowhere. The Divine War raged on for many cycles, its length not on a mortal scale at all. Some battles between mighty armies occurred in the blink of an eye, whilst others, duels between solitary champions of their patrons, raged for decades. Finally, Euchton saw the chance for a mighty blow to be struck against his enemies. And It had just the minion to strike it. After one battle that had seen a slim victory for Its Euchtoi, Euchton came to Danika, now known more often as Lilith, after a minor power she had defeated and subsumed some time past. It told her of Its great plan, and offered her a chance to spearhead the attack that was to come. She leapt on the opportunity eagerly. The planned target was the Sphere of Musit, the god's home and His greatest stronghold. The objective: kill the Sphere's lord, and shatter His home.
When the day came for the Euchtoi to attack Musit, a distraction was arranged. A task force of Euchtoi moved against one of Athkos' holdings on the Prime Material Plane. When the Divines detected this attack, Their armies moved to the defence of their leader's base, neatly moving them out of their carefully-held positions. It was the culmination of much planning on the part of Euchton, Its wily cunning making up for the great numbers arrayed against It. Meanwhile, Danika led the main body of the hosts of Euchton through the void, towards Musit's home. They descended upon it like a black tide, breaking against the few defenders left, and circling round to attack again. Because of how Euchton had arranged things, Musit was unable to call to His friends and family for help, nor was He able to recall his own hosts from the defence of His Father's fortress. He had to defend Himself with what He had at hand, and hope for the best. He did what he had to, and took to the field. Musit was a sight to see that day, carving His way across the battlefield, laying low the Euchtoi in His path. His appearance caused a cheer to rise up from His warriors, and they fell into battle with renewed energy. Musit fought with sword, and He fought with magic, and He fought with His bare hands. He was a god, in His home, and He was unstoppable. Unstoppable, that is, until Danika made her way through the battle to Him. With the subsumed power of Lilith, Danika was, herself, divine, and the clash of gods was a mighty thing to behold. The two were evenly matched. While Musit was an older, more primal deity, having more influence and power at His command, Danika was still a warrior angel, created and trained for battle. The peaceful Musit could never match her in sheer combat prowess. He summoned the great fires of creation, called up the earth beneath them, and drew upon the very fabric of creation to rend Danika apart, but to no avail. She fought through all that He set against her, and laughingly shrugged off His attempts to grasp her being: she had shed that, cast off any identifying core of herself, when she joined with Euchton. At her core, she was as the void. When Musit saw this, He was frightened. Not for Himself, or not entirely. He was frightened for her, though in this form He did not know who she was, and He was frightened for all of existence. For if Euchton could do this for the greatest of Its servants, who was to say It could not do this to all of creation? In that moment of fear, when Musit realised just what Euchton was capable of, Danika struck. She pierced His defences, plunging her sword into His chest. As the sword pierced His breast, Musit knew that it was not enough to kill Him. However, knowing what He now did of Euchton, He also knew that the sword was not the only attack levelled against Him. With His blood falling to the ground, the final component of the Euchtoi incantation was complete. Great energies whelmed from the void, and from within the Sphere. They built to the bursting point, held there for a moment, and then exploded into the physical world.
The Euchtoi who had been sent to cause a distraction were badly overmatched by this time. They had lost may of their number, and it was clear they could not win. Rather than fight to the death, the remaining Euchtoi decided to run. While they risked their Lord's ire, to stay would be sure destruction. They magically teleported themselves to the place they knew they would be safest: in the middle of the host attacking Musit’s Sphere. Their cowardly action was very nearly the undoing of all of Euchton's plans. The hosts of the Divines, wanting to finish the Euchtoi party, traced their flight, and followed. Thus they arrived above Musit's Sphere at the moment of last life for the Sphere’s master. The hosts of the Divines watched in horror as the Sphere of Musit burst asunder.
Danika had been aware of the possibility that she would die on this mission. She was aware that Euchton fully expected her to. When she subsumed Lilith, she had become the perfect agent for it -- and yet, she had also become far too dangerous to leave alive. Danika, however, fully intended to foil Euchton’s expectations. She would live, and succeed, and return to Euchton. She would prove her loyalty, while retaining her power. Musit, however, had other ideas. He was dying. He knew it. His world was dying. He knew that, too. And yet... He could not be angry at Danika, could not hate her. He could only pity this poor creature without anything in the core of her being, and wonder what it was that made her so hateful. Danika felt His pity, and His curiosity, and did not understand them. She hated Him all the more for them, for daring to take pity on her, for wanting to know her better. But, perhaps, some of these feelings took root in her. Something of Musit leaked between the two, creating, for even the briefest of instants, a bond. And so, when the final, telling explosion rocked the world, and Musit and His Sphere were sent to oblivion, Danika was distracted just long enough that she did not remove herself in time. Musit's pity had been the end of her. She met the same fate as her most hated enemy.
The shards of Musit's Sphere, after a transition period, came to rest in a stable orbit around the Sphere of Athkos. Over time, they spread themselves evenly through this orbit, drifting very far from one another. Neither Musit nor Danika were ever heard from again.
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