Mars, First Son of Heaven, had spent a long existence waging endless war.
But one day, war for its own sake had no longer been enough to satisfy his desires. For the first time in his ageless days, the god of war had began to question to what ends he swung his glorious spear.
He had thought about what to do with his newfound restlessness and had diced he had to at last lay claim to the mantle of leadership that was his birth right. For the time had come to burn down the pantheon of the old age and build a new empire atop the ashes of his kin.
Easier said than done, as the First Son of Heaven had to find out the hard way. Allies were found without problems, there being enough creatures who hated the old gods, including the Lord of Heaven.
But the gods were stronger than Mars had expected. And they were not as easily taken by surprise as he had predicted. It seemed they were the old gods for a reason.
Frustrated by his lack of progress, he joined a few battles that were mindless and without a challenge. Just a little something to pass time and regroup. A town war.
Before the fight between the two opposing towns began, Mars stood in a safe area where he could buy some stuff from a merchant. Preparation time. Next to him was a knight in full plate armour with a giant sword. He wasn't as tall as Mars but he was definitely a warrior. By his side was an undead skeletal creature, floating in the air. Its eyes glowed dark red in the skull and chains were shackled around his legs. As if it had died with them and now they were stuck to the body. The third participant in the battle was the Gorgon, a female with snakes instead of hair and the lower body of a snake. She was an accomplished archer and as she passed Mars, she snarled at him while her hair hissed. She wasn't very social and she didn't care about it at all.
Mars grinned at the assembled fighters, confident that this would be easy.
Just when he realized that one ally was missing (they were supposed to be a team of five), he heard a chirpy voice at his back. "Hello everyone! What a lovely day to win a war!"
The Gorgon sighed and curled her lip in obvious distaste, as if she knew whom the voice belonged to. Or maybe she just hated when someone talked. Mars could totally relate to that, because he was annoyed after only this one sentence and he hadn't even looked at the creature who had spoken, yet.
"Indeed a fine day. With you in our team this will be over in no time at all." The knight bowed but Mars wanted to finish his shopping before he turned his attention towards the newcomer.
A shield was good. An axe for the start was important. Maybe something edible to heal possible wounds. Satisfied he then thumped his spear onto the ground, ready to leave for the battle that would soon begin.
A laugh, so bright and clear it pierced the air, made him jerk. This was a war zone, no a fun park.
With a frown that had chased countless opponents away and had made armies surrender before him, the First Son of Heaven turned towards the creature with the annoying voice and even more annoying laugh.
Of course he hadn't thought beforehand about what kind of creature could sound like that, or he wouldn't have been this surprised. But as it was, all he could do was stand there and stare.
The knight hadn't yet left the area around the merchant, and the skeleton hadn't either. Only the Gorgon was on her way to her designated place. The two were talking to the female creature. Who just then laughed again.
That in itself wasn't a problem. Creatures fighting together often talked, some of them were even friends and fought together. What was the problem, though, was the female herself, grinning from ear to ear, completely relaxed and seemingly carefree.
It was a human female. A small human female. With a staff in one hand that was taller than she was, which wasn't that hard because she was tiny. A tiny human female without any armour, only a short blue dress and soft white fur boots. Her blond hair almost shone in the sun and her dress was coloured in such a bright blue, she would be visible everywhere. Like a beacon.
She didn't look as if she belonged here, onto a battlefield. She wasn't a warrior and with her wide smile she didn't appear to use the fighting in this town war as some kind of outlet or stress relief.
Mars couldn't help it, he stared at the human with disbelief. He couldn't fathom what she'd be good for here.
It got even worse, because the knight and the floating skeleton creature headed out together, which left the human to go with him. He'd be stuck with this soft creature by his side. In a battle. This could only end in a disaster.
The First Son of Heaven had stopped very early trying to protect others in a war. If someone was too weak to survive on their own they'd die anyway, sooner or later. If he put effort into protecting someone weak he only hindered himself. He wouldn't begin now.
The tiny human female would have to take care of herself. He only hoped she wouldn't be in his way.
Though he tried to ignore her, his eyes drifted to her from time to time, even after the battle had begun. He expected her to die within the first few minutes of the battle, but so far she was doing fine. She obviously wasn't stupid and knew that her body was too soft and unprotected and that she had to stay as far away from the actual fighting as possible. When she moved forward to cast a spell (she was a mage, who would've thought, with the staff), she was careful and always fell back again. She seemed to be aware of their surroundings and of the general flow of the battle.
She was tiny but she appeared to know her job here.
Impressive was that she helped him of her own accord. Mars was wounded, of course he was, he was in the middle of the fighting, as always. He didn't think too much about it, but then the human moved past him. In one second, when he wasn't attacked by anyone, she pushed something to eat into his hand.
Mars grinned (he recognized what it was without having to look at it), which made at least one of his opponents falter for a second, and one actually take a step backwards. He just liked to have competent allies. It made everything so much easier.
The battle moved on and it got harder. The First Son of Heaven was looking forward to some challenges. His life was too boring at times.
By now he had grown used to the presence of the tiny human and he didn't pay her much attention anymore. Therefore, he was totally taken by surprise when the enemy appeared at their backs and they took her out within seconds. She was just as surprised by their appearance as he was and she wasn't able to give them much resistance. It was a good move of the enemy, something he hadn't anticipated and he wasn't even mad at the human that she had died in the attack. To tell the truth, he was even a little sad when he saw her fall.
She had supported him exceptionally well so far and she had done nothing dumb to warrant a death. Only with luck was Mars able to break through the lines of the enemy and save himself behind one of their towers. That was where the human met with him again.
"I'm sorry, I saw them too late." She frowned at him, then gave him something to eat again. "Here, I got this for you." The smile that followed was brilliant and way to cheerful for her having just died. "Let's try this again. They won't be able to surprise me like that a second time." With a little bounce in her steps she stalked past him towards the front lines.
Mars grinned as he followed her. This war was more fun than he had thought it would be after he had seen the tiny human. She definitely had hidden potential and she stood to her words. When the enemy tried to sneak up on them again, she saw them extremely early and the two were able to circle away from them through the woods into their backs.
"What a pleasure it is to fight by your side." He slapped her on the back lightly, very lightly, but the human staggered nonetheless.
She didn't seem to mind. She grinned up at him after she had regained her balance. "I'm glad. I only ever fight here out of fun, you know?"
Fighting for fun, that was a concept he could relate to. Though for him most fun was the winning. To see the defeat in the eyes of his opponents, the despair when they realized it was over, when they had to acknowledge that the First Son of Heaven had bested them.
The battle shifted a while later. Until then it had been relatively straight forward, with few surprises. But it was bound to change because bluntly attacking the enemy, one on one, always in the same way, wasn't very useful in a war. Someone was bound to develop a tactic and think about which moves might be useful. It got more difficult from that moment on, everyone had to use their brains as well instead of only their weapons. It was often the moment where a physically weaker creature outperformed the until then better team. It was critical to pay attention to the flow of the battle, which wasn't Mars' strongest trait.
To his delight it was something the human mage was good at. She was aware of her surroundings in a way Mars never was. He supposed it was because of her being physically weak so she had to pay more attention to someone creeping up on her. Mars didn't need that awareness, when someone appeared at his back or his side, he simply crushed them.
He also didn't pay attention to his allies. There was no reason to. He wouldn't help them if they were in danger anyway and he didn't need them to help him.
At least that had always been the case. This time, however, when they were attacked by the enemy in a surprise assault, he took a second to find the tiny human in the fray. He wasn't sure why or what he intended to do with the information of her whereabouts, but it was an unintentional act.
Seeing how she was doing fine, the First Son of Heaven charged the first enemy in his line of sight. He didn't use tactics, just blunt force. Which worked fine most times, and today it was even better because he felt the human using her magic to cast ice all around them. They were in the middle of a snowstorm, but only the enemy felt the impact of the ice and the cold.
Mars laughed while he slaughtered the enemy in front of him with his spear. This was amazing, this was how a war should be.
The mood of the team was good, probably due to the human talking with and smiling at everyone. Winning a fight didn't necessarily lead to such a light atmosphere. It had to be her and it was rather fascinating to watch. Mars seldom cared about things like motivation or the mood of his allies. Even if he did, he wouldn't be the one to try and motivate anyone.
He had to admit that it made a difference, though. It was like they were closer, like they worked with each other instead of everyone for themself. It was a fascinating concept. He wondered if it might help him in his plan to burn down the pantheon. It could just be that this was what had been missing: the motivation. He mulled over it as he fought on, killing his enemies without trouble even while he was absent-minded.
What brought him back to the here and now was when he heard the human cry out behind him. They had ventured forward quite a bit, but the female had stayed by his side, even knowing how dangerous it was to be this deep in enemy territory. And even when their other allies had fallen back. Mars really had to admire her for her courage.
But now she was under attack. They came from the side and the back, leaving her no way to get out.
Usually the First Son of Heaven would estimate at least roughly how high his chances of winning were before he'd charge. He loved to fight and he was never afraid, but one had to be realistic. They were in enemy territory, there were only the two of them and there could be up to five opponents that were worth counting. Five against two wasn't the best of odds.
Today it wouldn't be too bad if he lost a fight, in this war he couldn't really die. Nonetheless he avoided it if he could. There was no use in dying for no reason. Besides, it was dishonourable to get defeated.
This situation right now, it was different from anything he had ever experienced. This tiny female had done much for him, she had supported and helped him and she only was in a fight she couldn't win because she had followed him, because she had stood by him. But not only that, she was what held the team together. She was what motivated the others, what made them all stick together and fight like a unit. She was, no matter how physically weak, the most important creature in this team. And, to top it all off, Mars liked her.
All of these things made him behave rather stupidly. He gripped his spear tighter and took aim. And while his weapon was still in the air, flying towards the closest enemy, the First Son of Heaven was already running forward, into the middle of the battle, where the human stood. She was casting an icy spell but it would only buy them a little time. She wasn't able to use all of her abilities quite yet, since she had used them recently and hadn't regenerated enough to be bale to cast the most powerful of her spells. Still she didn't show fear. She was highly concentrated, a tiny frown between her brows as she swung her staff. She might be tiny and weak, but she was determined and fierce.
Mars grinned, proud to have such a formidable fighter by his side. This wouldn't be a dishonourable death and it would totally be worth it.
They stood over the smoking remains of the enemy town. "Crystal Maiden." It was the first time Mars referred to the human not as 'female', 'human' or 'tiny human'. It was his way to show respect. He seldom referred to anyone with their name or rank. It was always 'archer' or 'knight' or 'you'. He didn't bother with anything else, he was a god after all, what did he care about anyone. The Crystal Maiden had earned his respect. "Would you mind joining me in my war against the Lord of Heaven with his pantheon? I could use someone like you by my side."
"The Lord of Heaven?" The Maiden pursed her lips. "I don't care much for him, he is too arrogant." She seemed to be thinking about it. Then she shrugged. "Might be fun. It has been rather boring the last months." With a wide grin she tilted her head back as she tried to look into Mars eyes. "Well, First Son of Heaven, you've just gotten the most powerful ice sorcerer on your side, me, the Queen of Ice. And just because you've saved my life more than once during this war and I appreciate things like that."
Mars laughed, a booming and wild sound, especially as it floated over the ruins of the town, the signs of their victory all around them. "You are amazing."
"So I've been told." She winked at him. "Together we will be even more amazing."
"Together we will burn down the pantheon of the old age and build a new empire atop the ashes of my kin." His grin was as wild as his laugh had been before. The First Son of Heaven was looking forward to it with anticipation.
The Crystal Maiden answered with a grin almost as wild as his. It appeared she was a little crazy underneath her soft shell and her easy-going manner. Mars liked it. Crazy was good when dealing with gods.