Aylen Elite

Prologue: Birth of Aylen

Cars and trucks filed into an already congested freeway. The heat of summer was beating down on the crusty dry earth making everyone crankier than usual. Drivers cursed everyone else except themselves for their own poor time management.
"Learn how to drive jack***!"
"Go f*** yourself dipsh**!"
"What f*** did you call me s***face?!"
The world was ugly and poisoned. Weather was always to the extreme now. Winters like an ice age and summers like hell. People claimed you could roast a whole pig in the heat.
Humans had used up most resources. Most plants and animals were extinct. Smog cloaked most of the earth covering the devastation done by mankind. Everything was brown. The green earth had become a long forgotten memory.
"This is outrageous." Kleos muttered. He pulled at the collar of his black tee and started to pull on it vigorously, "I can feel the heat from here and we're not even on the same plane." Kleos, Yule and Mara were gathered around a large circular table. Images of the life on earth flashed in short segments in a mist at the center of the table. No walls, no ceiling just a black space surrounded them. Kleos put both hands on the table. He leaned and pushed violently down on the table suddenly.

Mara hung her head in silence. A dried up water goddess. Her cheeks were sunken in and her once lush and vibrant skin was withered and dry. Mara's body was so small and frail that her blue robe barely hung onto her body. Her life blood had been used up by the selfish creations living on the planet they named earth. Yule coughed. Kleos snapped his head in Yule's direction. "You got something to say Yule?"
Yule sighed. "I think we need to wait for Her before we make any conclusions ourselves." Yule stroked one of the large antlers protruding from his head. Kleos snorted. "How can you not speak up on something like this? I should just cut off your antlers and not make any remarks about your mutilated appearance? Pretend it doesn't exist?" Kleos said sarcastically. "We created the ultimate beings to keep this planet alive and it's hanging by a thread. Everything is rotten!" Kleos punched his fist on the table making Mara jump. "Including humans." He said under his breath.

Kleos knocked a water glass off the table. He watched it disappear into the nothingness they all stood on. His bull tail whipping back and forth. "I can't even get the satisfaction of breaking something in this place." He muttered.
"Bull in the china shop." A deep voice teased from the shadows, "Did you mean to use a metaphor about yourself?"
Kleos faced Zevivr, the god of wolves.
Kleos' tail whipped harder. "Why don't you piss on a hydrant, dog."
Zevivr flashed his canines. "Bring it on heifer."

The bull god roared then charged at Zevivr. The wolf god dodged him easily before getting a swift kick in the stomach.

"Oof!"

Kleos grabbed Zevivr by the ear. Zevivr whined. "We are evenly matched dog... We are Gods after all." The bull smirked at him. Zevivr growled.

"Stop it you two." Mara interjected. "Where is Her? Aren't they coming?"
Zevivr wiggled out of Kleos' grip. Kleos snorted at him and started walking to his place around the table. Zevivr slapped him upside the head as he passed, scampering to his seat. Kleos grit his teeth and kept walking. The four gods all sat silently around the table as images of the humans horrible destruction flashed in the center of them over and over.
Famine.
Torture.
Rape.
Murder.
Greed.
Disease.
War.
Zevivr put his head between his hands. All of the gods waited for the wolf god to speak. "How did this happen?" He asked.
Kleos, Mara and Yule remained silent. None of them had an answer either. They had all contributed to the ultimate being. Every god had contributed and their collective creation had failed. Mara doubled over with a painful whimper. "Another ocean extinct..." she gasped. Yule reached over and put a hand on her shoulder gently trying to comfort her but there was nothing he could do to help with the pain. Mara leaned her head against his arm grateful for the comfort.
Greetings gods.
The gods and goddess stood up and faced the ageless creature entering their presence. Dressed in a white cloth, the creature Her, stepped from the nothingness enclosing the space around the gods. The clothing on Her seemed to always bellow like wind was always present. A white mask covered Her's true facial features with only two black slots resembling eyes. The only skin Her left uncovered was their hands. The left looked feminine with a golden ribbon tied around the wrist and the other masculine with a black ribbon.
You all look tired.
Kleos felt his body tense in anger. His tail flicked back and forth. Mara lightly took his hand in both of hers. She was dying and Kleos could feel her getting weaker. Kleos exhaled. "That's one way of looking at it." He barked at Her with resentment.
Her tilted their head to the side.
I do not understand your tone.
Yule cleared his throat. "This world we hoped to be self efficient is now close to extinction. Humans are about to use up everything natural, every resource. Many of our fellow gods and goddesses have taken to their death beds." Yule shifted uncomfortably.
Her straightened their head. They glided over to the table and stared at the images at the center. They watched it for several minutes in silence.
You are all suffering?
"Yes." Yule said.
All of us no matter how sick will meet in the Moment.
Her left without another word.
"Well that was greatly disappointing." Zevivr shrugged.
Kleos growled at him. "You wolves and your smart a** comments. No wonder all your children are extinct."
Zevivr cocked an eyebrow then smirked. "Back at ya brother."
Kleos snorted and stormed off.