The Birth Of Balor.
Set watched blankly as the scramjet came apart around him.
There comes a point that sheer non stop terror and horror leaves even a Fomorii ,
Numb is not quite right, stunned?
A state of permanent CPTSD trauma replay?
An inability to feel anything other than shock, terror and horror.
The sound of supersonic winds, the tearing metals, the sharp snap and cracks of synthetic composites, ceramics, flotsam and jetsam of what seconds before had been Sets rescue flight.
Through all of the chaos, Nothing could drown out the sounds ringing out, replaying in memories.
The triune fiend Set had inadvertently created, devouring his wife and daughter alive. The screams, the spasms, the popping of joints, snap of bones, the sounds of ripping flesh. His daughters voice crying out for him.
The Trinity of fury knew he was watching over the net system. They, it, made sure to hold tasty tidbits up for the sensors to record. While they laughed.
The evac team had discovered Set, in foetal position, gasping, fighting for breath between inarticulate moans and gibberish. The team bundled him up and moved out.
Taking Set to the surface and the waiting evac craft. They had a slim window of time before AOS SIDHE drone sensors detected them.
The underground facility had been a closely guarded secret for more than a thousand years. When first built, the desert, had been a lush savannah. Criss crossed with rivers and lakes. The center of the Fomorii Dominance. Now after more than a Millenia of war's desolation. No rivers, lakes, grasses remained. Only bare stone and sand. Harsh winds had scoured away the dried powder of the once richly fertile loam.
The ejection pod enclosed Set, as his acceleration couch tumbled freely amidst the scattering wreckage. In the fragments of seconds bits and pieces had struck his body. Wounding him severely. A leg and arm had been torn away by debris and the supersonic slipstream. Set, felt none of it. Not even the pain of those terrible injuries could compete with the hell in his mind. The guilt, the shame, the sense of being responsible. Set had watched the complete destruction of nine hundred scientists, technicians, friends, colleagues. Five Centuries of security personnel, fourteen hundred slaughtered. Torn apart by bare hands and savage teeth. The immense savagery seared into his mind that the Fomorii had been right to rebel against their creators. The AOS SIDHE were the personification of death and destruction, of chaos.
Some, now unknown number of eons before the Fomorii had been created by the AOS SIDHE. Created to be servants, assistants, amusement. Set remembered those days. One of the handful that could.
In the beginning, Set had been a technician assisting Aos Sidhe research and development. When the Fomorii on the second planet had begun the rebellion, successfully seizing control there. Set had been on the team designing, building, testing the Weapons of the Aos SIDHE.
Before the rebellion, there had been no war. No weapons.
The initial success of the Fomorii had been due to the fact that the Aos Sidhe, had no idea how to respond, what to do.
The Aos Sidhe learned very quickly though. They had, a million years before, evolved from apex Predators on the Fifth planet. Five hundred thousand years of peace took only one generation to unlearn.
Several Millenia of war ,
Left a Solar system that once held ten planets, reduced to nine. Four inhabitable worlds , reduced to
One. One world reduced to orbital rubble.
The war continued on, the one habitable world for eons more.
Set had remembered all of that. Had.
Between Psychological damage to his created quantum entangled nano tech networked system, and sheer physical damage from the evac scramjet being shot down at mach seven , and the effects of phased array Maser on his nanite structure.
What survived was no longer Set.
His only intact memories being those days trapped in the facility while the Morrigna raged.
Set , became, Balor, one eye, one legged, one armed, a Fomorii monster composed of terror, horror, and rage.
The war continued. Now , the AOS Sidhe had new champions, new leaders.
Llew of the lightning spear, and his radiant sword of light, Fragarach, the Retaliator.
With, the Morrigna,
Three Identical quantum linked quantum clones. Badbh, Macha, And Nemain, Terror, Rage, and Fury.
The human cattle, scuttled about, sheltering in caves, canyon, mountains, deep jungles, remote islands. Seeking desperately to find refuge from the destruction wreaked by this war of the gods. Several times the Fomorii nearly succeeded in wiping out the human cattle.
The results being, that the Fomorii became in myth, The Titans, the forces of destruction and death.
While the AOS SIDHE became, the Gods, saviors, protectors. Gods that demanded blood , in return for protection.
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Dragons flew, leaving their fiery trails across the autumn skies. Catha knew, that they were not really dragons, that they were actually fragments left from a world killer that the Aos Sidhe had intercepted in the distant past. Long before she had been born.
True Dragons had once ruled the skies of the red planet. Once Aos Sidhe had ridden them, soaring in joyous exhilaration. Sadly that had been eons before her birth. Before the destruction of the sacred realm. The world's of wonder in the ages of glory. Before the deaths of worlds.
Catha often dreamed of the freedom of dragon flight. The closest she could find now was in wind riding. Flying with the wind driven body wings. Like, kites. Nearly as agile as birds, still limited by up drafts, wind and terrain which governed low altitude air flows.
The first Time Catha had seen Nodens, was on her fifteenth decalogue. Fifteen decades. Her coming out celebration, the formal introduction into Aos Sidhe society.
An Adolescent beauty to be sure.
Nodens, had been on the kings guard, part of an aerial insertion demonstration done in her honor. The guards had appeared, in the predawn skies as faint streaks of fire. Like, meteors they flew from low earth orbit.
Performing aerobatic maneuvers, leaving long shining trails of colorful plasma, interacting super sonic shock waves, complex artistic patterns as they flew, dancing in fire and the breaking dawn.
Catha was spellbound, it was spectacularly beautiful.
The team landed in the open central courtyard of the palace in ranked formation. Sweeping in, banking up suddenly and seeming to step lightly from the sky onto the ground.
The wing suits retracted into the glittering titanium ceramic armor the team wore. Twelve warriors stood, male and female, Their helms shaped as dragons.
The dragons Head and neck formed the nasal guard. The Body formed the bowl of the Helm, out stretched Claws formed cheek guards, the tail, segmented, flexible protected the neck. Out Stretched wings, swept up from the sides of the helm. The wings moved as the warriors moved giving the illusion of living dragons .
Swords were drawn in salute.
The Team knelt before Catha.
Her personal guard formally presented on her name day.
Oath was sworn, fealty made.
One by one the guards rose, approached Catha, knelt, laying sword at her feet swearing blood oath to her. Each guard cut their right hand, to bleed into the chalice Catha held. As she accepted their oath, Catha ritually tasted of their blood. Forming a bond, a knowing with each of her personal guard.
Nodens was the fourth to kneel and swear. Catha looked into his eyes and drew in a startled breath. Lightning swept sapphires blazed at her. Looking into her. When she took the ritual taste it was as if he marked her soul. As she knew him, he knew her.
Catha could not remember any of the other guards after that.
The rest of her name day existed only in her mind as the taste of Him, and the lightning fires of his eyes.
She knew him, Catha had dreamt him. Here had come her Dragon lord. It was an intensity forever etched into her soul, to forever shape her heart.
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Nodens, loved orbital inserts.
Falling, flying, it was an incredible rush of freedom and unadulterated joy. Stepping out of the hold in low earth orbit was, actually a bit terrifying the first time. Nodens had been unable to shit for a week afterwards.
The second time was worse.
Something happened on his third jump.
He knew what to expect, and that contrary to all his physical sensory input he was not going to die as an indistinct smear of burnt ash on the clouds or as a splash of unrecognizable ooze on the ground.
Nodens, enjoyed himself. By the time his feet grounded all he wanted was to jump again. He had found his purpose. The subsequent missions, strikes by the Kings Fianna against high value Fomorii targets was another purpose. The struggle between AOS Sidhe and the Fomorii was not a struggle of ideologies, it was the fight between life, and death.
Not a battle between good and evil, neither side could be in truth called either. Composed of a composite of both good and evil.
It was more a struggle between the messy chaos of life and the death, inherent in perfect order. Chaos brought both life and death. Pure order brought only, death. Nothing, stillness. Non existence.
The Aos Sidhe are chaos embodied.
The Fomorii are implacable death.
Of the two, it may be argued that the Fomorii, were the embodiment of evil. Because the Fomorii hated everything about their creators, the Aos Sidhe.
The Fomorii were especially jealous and hated anything created by the Aos Sidhe, including themselves.
That was the evil that Nodens had pledged himself to oppose and destroy. There could never be a peace between the Aos Sidhe and Fomorii. There could only be war. Until only one remained.
Thus, for ten decades, Nodens had found his purpose.
So he had reasoned. Until the day he had leapt out into the black of space and flew in plasma flames to earth, to kneel before, wonder. Red gold hair, Emerald flamed eyes, lips that cried out to be tasted, a smile of terrible promise. Her touch sent lightning through him. He desperately tried to drink her essence through the vision of her before him.
Nodens could remember nothing of the ceremony that day. Her eyes and smile would mark him, haunting him through the ages. That He had had the same effect on her, was obvious. Anyone watching when they met, could clearly see the interplay of their auras, their life's flames intertwining, dancing together. When Anam Croi met, it was plain for all to see.
Isis, noted the interchange. Osiris watched on , one eyebrow raised, considering. This one would have to be watched indeed!
The King and Queen exchanged looks. "Well, at least he is capable. No weak ones survive the training and becoming of the Fianna" Osiris murmured to his amused wife. " Yes, he may well be strong enough." Isis replied.
Unspoken was the knowledge that this pairing would have to be watched closely. Both young, powerful, capable, impetuous, self assured. Yes, parents nightmares manifest. Osiris laughed. " She was never going to be easy was she love."
Isis sighed in loving resignation, " She is our daughter after all.
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Badbh studied the kneeling man before her.
Memories of the first time seeing him flashed between her and Macha and Nemain. While they felt the reactions of young Catha, for the first time, Badbh was observing that this, Llew as he had named himself, burned even brighter than Nodens had. Something moved within her. Something began to smolder , then, burst into flame.
Macha and Nemain staggered as if struck. Then moved forward, the trio encircled the kneeling Llew. They reached out , collectively lifting him to his feet. " Do not kneel before us. We kneel to no one, to nothing. Let us finish the work. Let us end this. "
Smiling the four walked out of the hall of champions. The watching courtiers watched. A new thing had arose.
Debate began about how , who, the rituals,
It had been announced, before the taking, that the princess heir, Cathbadua, and Nodens were betrothed. That in time They would be King and Queen of the Aos Sidhe.
Now, Osiris and Isis were gone, destroyed by Fomorii treachery. Cathbadua had been, transformed into the Morrigna. Nodens had become Llew.
A new era of uncertainty lay before them.