A Son’s Betrayal (3)

He sprung towards his father knowing that he had to take him by surprise. Orhóvihir knew that he was weaker than the Great Father. Although he was the offspring of the Great Father and Mother, Orhóvihir was no match for the father of creation. His father had just told him that he came into being through sheer force of will. Orhóvihir would need to try and replicate his father’s sheer force of will if he wanted to prevail. It was that simple. Summoning all his strength and desires, Orhóvihir called unto the great white star he had wielded when they faced the great darkness.
Orhóvihir could feel the burning heat of his ancient weapon as it started to form around his outstretched hand. His fingers felt the intricately designed hilt made of the strongest earth in the Great Realm. His hands gripped the hilt just below the cross guard that was made from a white comet his brother Anil had gathered before the last battle against the darkness. The bright jewel on the pommel of the star was a gift from his mother. Orhóvihir had had Aethor forge the weapon for him.
The star was long and thin. It was harder than most weapons in all the realms. Aethor had once told Orhóvihir that the great white star was his greatest creation. For one split moment, Orhóvihir looked at the thin blade. There was nothing on it. No markings. No engravings. Nothing to dull the brightness of the star. Orhóvihir turned his gaze to his father who was taken aback by Orhóvihir’s actions.
In one swift movement, Orhóvihir brought blade down on the Great Father’s Head. Orhóvihir summoned all the arts his mother had once taught him. He started to manipulate the air around his father’s head. The silver particles formed along the edges of his star as he connected with the skin on his father’s head. Orhóvihir smiled evilly as he saw the golden hue of his father’s blood forming around his blade.
But the Great Father was not the great father for nothing. Orhóvihir found himself being flung backwards by a strange force. Orhóvihir held onto the great white star as the force sent him downwards through Ear-el. He winced in pain as his back dragged along the stone floor which had not been there. He dragged his hands forward to block a blow he knew was coming. Orhóvihir was surprised to find his father looking down at him.
The Great Father was in all his glory. His long overflowing golden robes were replaced by the godly armour he had last worn when leading the Great Realm in its war against the darkness. Over his helm was a great helm shaped like a dragon’s open mouth. The face guard was lifted revealing his father’s blazing eyes. The large squared plates were shaped like the razor-sharp teeth of the mighty steeds in the great cloud.
The Great Father’s shinning breast plate was radiating with the light of the hundred stars which were inlaid into it. The intricate patterns etched on the plate shone as the anger in the Great Father’s eyes seemed to increase the longer, he hovered over Orhóvihir. There was no opening in the breast plate as far as Orhóvihir could see. The armour protected the Great Father’s chest.
Dread filled Orhóvihir. He had missed his chance to dispatch the Great Father. Although he could see the golden blood of his father slowly trickling along the sides of the breast plate, Orhóvihir knew that he could not defeat him. He was afraid as he saw the great winds form around his father’s hands. Orhóvihir knew what his father was summoning at that point.
Orhóvihir had not seen Israfel and Eiael since the darkness had been defeated and imprisoned. The two blades of the Great Father shone brighter than even the great white star of Aethor. Orhóvihir had heard that the two blades of the Great Father were forged in the heart of the darkness with the eyes of the great Mother. The two blades were filled with the power of the Great Mother who had sacrificed herself to the darkness to save the Great Realm.
“Do you dare to challenge me Orhóvihir?” the Great Father asked in a menacing voice.
“Will you see the truth of my vision?” Orhóvihir shot back knowing there was no going back.
“Your vision is one of darkness boy,” the Great Father roared. “If we of the Great Realm enlighten the way for those in Sedralours, the darkness will return to this world one day.”
“Then let it return,” Orhóvihir screamed. Are you afraid that you cannot defeat it? “Last time we fought it alone, but now we can fight it with the men in Sedralours.”
“I see now that I was wrong to believe you would ever learn to succeed me,” the Great Father said as he summoned the stars in the heavens to his back.
Orhóvihir believed in his vision. He knew it was the only way for creation to evolve. There was no going back. Even if the threat of the darkness returning would hang over their heads, Orhóvihir would not let his vision go. He had to believe in what would come next. The Great Realm would lead the men in Sedralours against the darkness. He would lead them in that war when the time came.
“I too see, father,” Orhóvihir whispered.
“You see with the eyes of a child Orhóvihir.” The Great Father pointed Israfel at Orhóvihir. “The world you want with us as gods and the men in Sedralours as our devout followers, will lead to envy and desire. The difference between you, your siblings, and the rest of the Great Realm, and the men in Sedralours lies in your hearts. Desire for what cannot be attained was never in your beings. You were the true jewels in the creations I made with your mother. You are the only ones filled with my hopes and ambitions. You were the only being filled with the desires and wishes of your mother.”
“You speak of hopes and ambitions like I am supposed to fall in line with what you want,” Orhóvihir snapped.
“I see it now. I was wrong to believe that you, Orhóvihir, could be the true leader of creation.” The Great Father raised his eyes to the heavens. A great crackling and white light filled the air around them. The roaring thunder soon followed it as the Israfel and Eiael crackled with lightening. “You might be more like the men I wished into being. Your heart has capacity for darkness just like the men I created.”
“You created them and yet you say they have capacity for darkness,” Orhóvihir remarked.
“You do not understand anything,” the Great Father said.
“All I understand is that you are unwilling to guide them because you fear the darkness in them,” Orhóvihir spat.
“You are a fool, my child and I see that you are lost to the desires of the darkness,” the Great Father roared.
“You defeated the darkness father,” Orhóvihir shouted. “I was there when our armies crashed the darkness. I was there when you imprisoned the darkness.”
“And yet you do not understand.”
“What is there to understand father?” Orhóvihir demanded.
“You are too young to remember that battle and how we defeated the darkness,” the Great Father said.
“All I know is that you led us to victory and the darkness has been sealed away,” Orhóvihir said. “And after years of being surrounded by the emptiness left by the dark, you created this magnificent world that is full of so much potential.”
“And in that very potential,” the Great Father narrowed his eyes at Orhóvihir. “You have decided to only see the potential in men that you want.”
“If I do not see it, you will not,” Orhóvihir argued.
“You are blind to the hearts of men,” the Great Father whispered.
There was nothing for Orhóvihir to see. He did not need to try and see his father’s perspective because it was wrong. He neither wanted or needed to understand anything that his father was trying to say about men. As far as he knew his father saw darkness in the hearts of his creation. He was the one to lead the defeat of the darkness and then he says men have darkness in their hearts. The Great Father was wrong and he had to be defeated.
If you do not wish to fight for men, then I will.