The Archon
A war of the gods caused catastrophic damage to the world and not a single continent was left unscathed. Storms raged as magic wielding gods clashed, land torn asunder where titans brawled and cities levelled where warriors battled. Whilst many gods thrived on the monumental conflict as the war went on, as was the case with the gods of war Ares and Bellona whom lived for war, there was one above all else who was reaping the rewards of unbridled death and destruction. The hand of death: Thanatos.
Initially content to sit back and tend to his duties whilst the pantheons sundered the world, the larger than normal stream of souls empowered the primordial. However he soon realised that the death rate would inevitable lead to the end of mankind and make him therefore obsolete. This could not be allowed to happen. It was at this moment that Thanatos, the entity tasked with the capturing of mortal souls to be taken to the afterlife, cast aside his Angel of Death guise and rose as the Archon. He would slay all those that threatened the continued existence of mankind. He will never be obsolete.
The continent that took the brunt of the war was the European continent, being that it was so close to the Egyptian and Norse pantheons and that the Roman and Greek pantheons began there. Gods from all pantheons split from one another to form two separate sides of a war. One side allied to conquer and enslave humanity, and another to defend it. However, as with all battles of gods, collateral damage always occurs and many lives are lost in the crossfire.
One such area that encountered such destruction was the British Isles. A country that had been home to multiple religions over the years, with various pantheons laying claim to the island. One such pantheon is the Roman pantheon, when the Roman Empire had conquered England years past claiming they owned the land, and the Norse pantheon claiming as a result of their Viking followers pillaging the land during the middle ages.
Whilst these gods tried to claim it, either for their protection or their subjugation, the ensuing battles laid waste to the cities and population. Being the Capital of England and centre of government, London took the initially attack, being laid waste to in the process. The Thames River, despite the barrier, had overflowed and flooded the streets. Multiple tall buildings being reduced to rubble in a matter of days and the palace crushed beneath the might of Cabrakan.
The Archon walked through the devastation, his form hooded and in his weakest state in order to hide his aura, even his wings were hidden from view. His silver armour gleamed in the morning sun reflecting off of the water in the streets that he was wading through up to his shins. Before he may have looked out of place in his medieval armour, but more and more of the mortals are forgoing modern protection in favour of enchanted metals that have become more common as the revealing of the gods has increased magical potency that had previously been to declining.
Thanatos could feel the aura of death that lingered in the streets, only ever so potent in areas where such massive quantities of death had occurred. The last time he had felt such an abundance of lost souls crying out, that he had physically needed to intervene, he had been in Japan. Too many souls so confused, so broken and astray it had almost overwhelmed him. It was not something he had experienced for a long time, where war was a steady stream of death, disasters like that left a mark. This mark is not visible to mortals, or even most gods. It is visible to those that are attuned to death, for it lingers in the plane between the mortal realm and that of the dead.
As he was walking he heard a noise. He turned his head, listening. It was a chewing sound, chomping. The sound of something being devoured. He followed the noise, feet quietly sloshing through the water. As he neared, the sound stopped and he could hear nothing yet he continued on regardless. He rounded the corner and came upon a gruesome sight. Corpses, piled high like a mountain, were lying in the middle of a junction with many being partially eaten, as if something had begun eating from them and gotten bored, moving onto another. He heard a deep, rumbling chuckle come from above him to his left and he turned his head to the noise.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The creature said. "A lonely mortal walking the streets. What are you doing here mortal? Are you here to sacrifice yourself to me?" Its grin was savage, it's eyes glowing beneath it's red hood.
"Bakasura." Thanatos said simply, face betraying as little emotion as his mask did before. The devourer grinned wider, dropping down from his perch up above. He has been feeding. His strength will be great.
"You know of me, mortal. Though I suspect my reputation precedes me by now. My…such a tasty looking meal delivered straight to me, so fresh, so…alive…" He prowled closer, savouring the look of his prey. "It isn't often I get live food anymore, it will be a delight in piercing your flesh…drawing out your screams…and tasting your fear." He neared the archon wit every word, drawing in close to scent Thanatos' neck.
As soon as he was within reaching distance Thanatos reached out and grasped the abomination by the neck, lightly at first so as not to give away his divinity. Bakasura grinned viciously.
"I love it when they fight. Makes you mortal taste all the better." Thanatos raised his gaze so that his glowing gold eyes were visible beneath the rim of his hood.
"You are mistaken, Devourer. I am neither prey, nor am I mortal." With the word mortal, the archon loosed his aura, ascending his form to his red armoured body, unleashing four wings from his back and his aura of golden light emanating from his body. The eyes of the great devourer widened and he fought back against the grip, trying to distance himself from this mistaken threat.
Thanatos drew back his arm and hurled the Hindu god down the street, watching him skim across the water once before he righted himself mid-air, landing back on his feet. "My isn't this a surprise! Here I thought I found a small appetiser and instead a full three course meal. But how could I not know? After all, you smelt…divine!" The god launched himself forward on all fours, charging at the glowing archon, who in return widened his stance and brought his hands out to his sides, waiting. When he came close enough, Bakasura leapt at Thanatos, fully intent on impaling him on his arm spikes, but instead met nothing but air. He turned with a snarl only to find hid opponent had not moved from his pose but was still facing him.
He roared out, attempting to throw up his devoured corpses onto the archon but one again found nothing but air, but this time, the god of death took to the air briefly only to land a few metres away behind the devourer. The Hindu god turned and charged, slashing wildly whilst the angel dodge and weaved out of the way of the spikes, leaning this way and that has he back slowly through the water until Thanatos found himself backed up against a vehicle. Bakasura grinned in triumph, thrusting his spiked arm forwards for the killing blow only to find that the god he intended to kill had instead grasped his arm with his and was stopping the blow from landing. The devourer was shocked.
"Impossible. How could you possible match my strength after I have devoured this entire city of its meat? I should be stronger than any other god there is!" Thanatos stared at the monster impassively.
"You presume much, abomination. Whilst you may gain strength from the corpses you devour, every mortal you kill increases my strength. For every soul that lingers in this place my power grows. And there are many." Thanatos wrenched the arm he was grasping clean from its socket, causing decay to pour from the wound. Bakasura roared in pain, recoiling away from him dodging just quickly enough to avoid a fatal wound as the archon reversed the arm and thrust the spike into the god's stomach instead of its heart. The beast staggered backwards as the archon slowly advanced.
"Who are you?! Never have I heard of such a god before!" Thanatos grinned, the action purposefully twisted to look intimidating on his face.
"You have heard of me before, and it is a name many have forgotten to fear. Allow me to educate you." He arched his back, ascending to his greatest form, his hood disappearing revealing his pure white hair and glowing golden halo over his head. His wings growing and expanding to their widest span and he rose up out of the water, his golden white armoured robes flowing out beneath him and he looked down on Bakasura.
"My name…is Thanatos." The devourers glowing eyes widened in fear and he turned and ran, trying to get away from the primordial of death. Thanatos grinned villainously and bent down, extending out his wings. The last words the god would hear echoing behind him in a chilling voice. "I'm coming for you!"
A/N: Wrote this because I saw the Thanatos skin that can't be unlocked anymore, and it is just so awesome and so unique I thought it needed a little something. Just a one shot for now, and I rarely feel the need to write something.