Chapter 92: Gods

When the stairs appeared, everyone paused for a moment—except for Noir and Aster, who were more than happy to enter whatever lay at the end; after all, one was a dragon, at the top of the food chain, and the other was an immortal—what was there to fear?

So, without further ado, the group began to descend.

Each step was covered with dust, moss, and small roots that had grown between the stones. As they moved forward, the light from outside slowly faded behind them, and the air grew colder and colder.

Noir extended his draconic senses as he walked, but he detected no living creatures. There were no monsters, no animals, not even small insects. However, the mana continued to grow around him, and the deeper they descended, the more evident it became that this energy was coming from somewhere far below.

After several minutes, the staircase finally came to an end.

A massive stone door stood before them. It had no lock, nor did it appear to have any visible mechanism for opening it. Its surface was covered with ancient symbols, and in the center were four different figures.

The little squirrel approached the door and rested one of its paws on the stone.

The four symbols began to glow.

A faint blue glow spread across the surface of the monolith, and after a few seconds, the enormous door began to move.

Grrrrrrr...

A chill breeze wafted out from inside.

Noir moved slowly alongside the rest of the group and crossed the threshold.

What he found on the other side made him stop in his tracks.

It was a mausoleum.

But there was something strange about its structure.

It seemed to be upside down.

Huge columns stretched down from the ceiling into the depths, while the walls extended in directions that made it difficult to tell where the floor ended and the ceiling began. In the center of the enormous circular chamber stood four stone statues.

The first depicted an imposing man holding a huge hammer. Lightning bolts were carved around his body, and his expression was stern, almost as if he were watching over the entire mausoleum.

The second figure had long horns and a much wilder appearance. At its feet were depictions of animals and trees, along with several symbols Noir did not recognize. Something felt different about the statue—a feeling that evoked darkness and a place far below the world they knew.

The third statue held a blacksmith’s tool in its hands. Flames of stone surrounded its body, and above its head was a huge circle representing the Sun. Even after so many centuries, that figure conveyed a strange sense of power and creation.

The last statue was the only one of a woman. Plants, ears of grain, and symbols associated with the earth surrounded it. Her face was serene, but there was a solemnity in her features that set her apart from the other three figures.

Noir stood there watching them for a few seconds. He didn’t know who they were. However, the four statues seemed to represent different concepts.

Thunder.

Underworld.

Fire.

Earth.

Were they depictions of gods? He had just stumbled upon something related to the gods! The young dragon couldn’t believe what he had just discovered.

Aster walked slowly among them. For the first time since Noir had known him, the man seemed genuinely surprised.

"It can’t be..."

Noir immediately turned his head toward him.

"Do you know them?"

Aster didn’t answer.

His gaze remained fixed on the four statues as he took a few more steps forward. He seemed to be trying to remember something that had been buried for far too long.

The little squirrel sat down in the center of the chamber and slowly wagged its enormous blue tail.

Then the golden sphere appeared behind Noir.

It began to spin.

But this time, it didn’t spin as usual. Its movements were much faster, and tiny golden particles began to escape from its surface before returning to it.

Noir frowned.

"Do you know what’s going on, too?"

The sphere didn’t answer. It kept spinning while the four statues stood motionless before them.

Noir looked back at Aster.

The man finally looked up.

For a few seconds, neither of them said a word.

Then Aster spoke.

"I think we’ve just entered the tomb of the four gods."

Noir remained silent for a few seconds, staring at the four enormous statues towering before them. The idea of being inside the tomb of the four gods seemed absurd, but...

"Four gods?"

Aster nodded slowly.

"Four."

Noir looked back at the statues.

"Who were they?"

Aster walked slowly toward the first statue. He looked up and studied its stone face for several seconds before answering.

"The first was known as Varkhan, the Lord of Thunder. He was considered the god of war, lightning, and justice. The ancient peoples believed that he protected the world from creatures that sought to destroy the established order."

Noir looked at the enormous hammer the statue was holding.

"What about the one with the horns?"

Aster walked over to the second figure.

"Morzak, the Guardian of the Threshold. He was the god of the underworld, magic, animals, and forests. Unlike Varkhan, he was not considered a wholly benevolent god. Some stories described him as a protector of nature, while others portrayed him as the lord of all that existed beneath the world."

Noir narrowed his eyes; his hunch wasn’t all that far off. It seemed this place had different realms, and he said,

"That sounds pretty suspicious."

Aster let out a little laugh.

"Old stories are rarely simple."

Then he approached the third statue.

"The third was Avaros, the Lord of the Celestial Forge. He was the god of fire, blacksmithing, and creation. According to ancient tales, he was the one who created the Sun and taught the first races to master fire and work with metal."

Noir looked up at the enormous circle carved into the statue.

"So, this must be the sun god."

"In part. The Sun was one of his greatest creations, but he was not considered the god of the Sun. His domain was related to celestial fire and to whatever could be created from it."

Finally, Aster stopped in front of the fourth statue.

"And she was Melyra, the Mother of the Earth."

The female statue looked different from the others. She wasn’t holding any weapons, and she didn’t have a stern expression. The plants carved around her body gave her an almost serene appearance.

"She was the goddess of the earth, fertility, and life. She was also considered the protector of women, families, and those who worked the land. Of the four, she was probably the most revered by ordinary people."

Noir looked at the four figures again.

"So they really did exist."

Aster remained silent. That silent response made Noir frown.

"What?"

"The stories say they existed."

"That’s not the same thing."

"No."

Aster slowly ran his fingers over the surface of the statue of Melyra.

"But now that I’ve seen this place, I find it much harder to believe that all those stories were just tall tales."

Arlene had remained silent since they entered the mausoleum. However, she finally took a step toward them.

"Wait."

Everyone looked at her.

"Four gods?"

Aster nodded.

Arlene frowned.

"But that doesn’t make sense. Currently, there is only one god recognized by all the major religions: Khalid."

Noir turned his head toward her and asked, confused:

"Khalid?"

"Yes."

Arlene pointed to the four statues.

"Khalid, the God of All Things, is considered the creator of the world and the father of all races. That’s what we’re taught from a young age. Humans, demons, elves, beasts—except for dragons—we are all descended from his creation. Even the ancient scriptures say that before Khalid, nothing existed."

Aster shook his head.

"No."

The answer came so quickly that Arlene was taken aback.

"No?"

"There wasn’t just one god from the beginning."

Aster looked at the four statues again.

"Before Khalid, there were four."

Silence fell over the mausoleum.

Noir looked at Aster intently.

"What happened to them?"

It took Aster a few seconds to answer.

"I don’t know for sure."

"But you said all four disappeared."

"Because that’s what the stories say."

Aster began to walk slowly among the statues.

"Varkhan disappeared after a war that no one remembers clearly. Morzak ceased to appear in later accounts, and over time his name came to be associated with monsters and legends. Avaros disappeared from the writings shortly after the first peoples began to master metallurgy. And Melyra..."

Aster stopped in front of her.

"No one knows what happened to her."

Arlene seemed increasingly confused.

"So what happened to the world?"

Aster looked up at the ceiling of the mausoleum.

"According to the stories that have survived, after the four of them disappeared, the world was left without gods for a time."

Noir felt a strange chill.

"And then Khalid showed up?"

"Yes."

Aster turned to look at him.

"And that’s the strange part."

"What’s so strange about it?"

"The early stories about Khalid don’t say he created the world."

Arlene’s eyes widened.

"What?"

Aster looked straight at her.

"The older versions describe him as someone who came later. Not as the creator of all things, but as the god who took the place left vacant by the other four."

Arlene slowly shook her head.

"That can’t be true."

"Stories change."

"But..."

"Names disappear. Events are forgotten. People turn the ancient gods into myths and then create new stories to explain what they no longer understand."

Aster looked at the four statues again.

"And after thousands of years, no one remembers that there were ever four."

Noir sensed that something wasn’t right.

There was another question.

One that Aster hadn’t answered yet.

"What about the dragons?"

Aster froze.

Noir stared at him intently.

"If these gods existed before Khalid... what do the dragons have to do with them?"

For a few seconds, Aster didn’t answer.

Finally, she looked up at an inscription behind the four statues. Several figures were carved into that wall. Among them was a huge creature with outstretched wings.

A dragon.