Toki's Tale

"Where are we going?" Toki asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," replied Rel.
"Soon," muttered Toki, "is not soon enough."

They were climbing a tall plateau, though only Rel was using the steps carved in the side. Toki was scaling the sheer rock face itself, digging in with her claws.
The plateau was tall, like a huge tower of stone. Even though they had been going for hours now, the top was still a long way off.

Toki reached the top first, pulling herself over the edge with as much strength as she could muster. She rested on a large rock to get her breath back and looked around.
The top of the plateau was almost completely flat. Apart from a few small boulders, there was nothing else.
But arranged in a semicircle on one side of the plateau were thirteen crude chairs, carved from the rock itself. Opposite to these chairs was a crumbling rock archway, and leaning against it was Rel, wheezing.
"I... ran... the... last... bit..." he said between breaths.
"Sure," Toki grinned. "Anyway, what is this place?"
Rel said nothing, moving in front of the chairs and holding his sword above his head.
"COUNCIL!" he yelled, striking the ground in front of him with his sword.

Suddenly a powerful gale hit the plateau, and Toki dug her claws into the ground to stop herself getting blown away. A bolt of lightning hit one of the chairs and suddenly a large Norn was sitting there, three times Toki's size.
She immediately recognised him as Seraf, the God of Storms. His fur was dark, storm blue and his eyes almost black.
"Her again!" Seraf boomed, pointing at Toki. "I saved her pathetic mortal life!"
Toki stepped back in fear, but a warm and gentle voice echoed from above.
"Calm down, Seraf. You'll scare the girl."
A blinding light enveloped the centre chair, and another was sitting there. She was a shining gold in colour and had dazzling orange eyes, like Toki's, but much brighter.
"I am Jyann, Sun Goddess," she said, smiling.
The chair at the far right glowed a dark, malevolent blue for a second before a third God joined those already there. Toki didn't even have to look to know who it was.
"Well, well, well. It's the old warrior..." said a dry voice, full of ancient evil. Surprisingly, Rel turned and beamed happily.
"Hey, Maki! Still mad?"
Maki growled and turned to scowl malaevolently into space.
Suddenly the ground before one chair erupted like a miniature volcano, and a figure dripping with magma clambered out, holding a half-full obsidian wine glass.
"Rel!" Fai exclaimed, taking a large sip from the glass. "Thought it was you, old chap!"
The Fire God sat down heavily on his chair, which promptly melted into a more comfortable shape. Beside him the Desert Goddess, Frinnae, somersaulted into her seat with godly agility.
"Who called?" she asked.
"Rel," said a voice in the chair between her and Jyann. Toki turned to look as well, and the God of Light, Laex, was sitting comfortably. He waved politely at Toki, his eyes glowing a brilliant white.
There was a sudden blast of cold, icy air, and a few snowflakes fell through the air. Arantol, the God of Ice, was striding across to his seat next to Seraf.
Just then someone tapped Toki on the shoulder, and she turned to see a grinning green Norn, her size, with a blue mark on his chest.
"Ouy era woh? Olleh dais I!"
"Pardon?"
"Olleh!"
The Norn walked backwards to a seat and sat down, growing larger until he was the same size as the other Gods. Jyann sighed.
"Sey?"
"Vadaeus?" Jyann said.
"Yrros. Spoo."
"You're going backwards again."
"Oops. Sorry."
A small sapling, growing on the side of the plateau, suddenly grew into very large oak tree. Out of the dense foliage stepped Rela, God of the Forests.
"Rel!" he said cheerfully, pulling a grumpy squirrel from his hair. "Come for a rematch?"
"Naah. I thought the girl here could use the experience."
Maki chuckled, a disturbing sound which chilled Toki to the bone.
"Against such as we? We could kill her in an instant!"
"Quiet, Maki!" Jyann snapped. "You know the rules. The girl gets a fair duel."
The Chaos God slumped back in his chair and scowled at Toki.

The moon discreetly passed in front of the sun, an event apparently not noticed by the rest of the world, and two figures materialised in their chairs. They were Laeynn, Goddess of Shadows, and Aelin, Goddess of the Moon. The last empty chair split in half and Korag, God of Rock, climbed out, the chair sealing up as he emerged.

"These are the Gods?" Toki whispered to Rel.
"Oh, yes. Maki's a bit grumpy in the mornings, though."
"He's the pure embodiment of evil!" Toki hissed.
"Naah, he's just a big softy at heart."
Maki half-stood up in his chair.
"Hey! Someone's forgetting I'm omniscient!" he snarled.
Rel waved cheerily back.
"Just good hearing, I think!"
Maki sat back down again, grumbling.

Jyann coughed gently to silence the chatter of the Gods, and when that didn't work she clicked her fingers, and the sky rumbled with otherworldly thunder.
All the Gods stopped talking except for Vadaeus, who was in a little world of his own.
"Lucy in the sky with diamonds..." he sung under his breath.
"He's singing that song again! The insect one!" Maki screamed, pounding his head on his chair, splitting the solid rock.
Jyann ignored him with the ease that could only come from centuries of practice.
"Now, do you know why you're here?"
Toki glowered at Rel.
"No."
"You are obviously a great warrior," Jyann said. "Especially since Rel is one of the most egocentric mortals I know."
"Hey!"
"You see," the Goddess continued, "to prove your strength and skill, you may duel with any of the Gods."
"I thought you were immortal?"
"We are, you aren't. That's why there are rules."
"Like 'No-one kill the mortal'?'"
Fai roared with laughter, spilling his drink, which smoked when it hit the rock.
"Done this before, girl?" He said, his voice booming in the manner of a likeable uncle.
"Erm, no."
"Ironically, that is one of the rules," said Laex, rubbing his chin. "So," Jyann said, "who do you wish to battle first?"

Toki sighed. Thirteen Gods, each one with power beyond belief. She looked at them all, and decided on the best course of action.
"Eeny-meeny-miny-mo," she muttered under her breath, eyes moving from one chair to the next.
Her eyes stopped on Fai, who was lying on his chair, his feet on the armrests.
"Fai," she said out loud, and pulled her sword from her belt.

The Fire God got up from his chair, stretched and picked up a sizeable rock from the ground. It melted like clay in his hands, and he sculpted a rough sword shape with it. It glowed again, faintly, before cooling to solid rock. He punched it and it shattered, leaving behind a black, obsidian sword.
"Want to go first?" he asked, finished his drink and threw the glass off the side of the plateau. Rel watched it go with interest, and took a long swig from his hip flask.
"I'm not sure what to do." Toki replied.
"Alright then, I'll begin," Fai said. He held out a hand, which burst into flame. He threw it at Toki, who opened her wings as wide as she could.

The thermal wave hit her first, and she rose into the air, dragged up by the hot air under her wings. However, the fireball was far hotter than she had expected, and she kept going. The plateau dwindled below her, but she could still hear Fai as he rolled around with laughter.

The air up her was cooler, and Toki began to fall. She turned the fall into a dive, tucking her wings in and baring her claws. She plummeted directly at the plateau, gathering speed.

Fai, who seemed oblivious to Toki barrelling towards him at high speed, suddenly stopped laughing and rolled out of the way, letting Toki hit the rock.
Any other creature would have suddenly become very flat and very dead. Toki, however, went through the stone like a bullet. She shot out of the side of the plateau, dark granite raining down on the plains below.

She pulled up and arced back to the top of the plateau, hitting Fai in the back as he stared worriedly down the hole she had left. He fell down it, leaving red-hot grooves as he scrabbled to get back up.

He plummeted out the other side, but pointed his fists at the rapidly-approaching ground and shot out a huge jet of flame, propelling himself up and barbecuing a hapless goose. He landed on the edge of the plateau and bowed.
"Nice move, if I do say so mysel-"
He was cut off mid-sentence as Toki kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him off the plateau again. He propelled himself back up again, turning the goose from medium-rare to well-done.

He dropped onto the cliff edge again, only to be hit full-force in the face with a large boulder. It had melted as it approached him, and the hot lava stuck to his face like mud.
He stumbled backwards, and fell off the cliff edge again.

Fai arose on a huge fountain of magma, riding on a block of granite in the centre. His cheerful smile had gone, and he leaned wearily on his sword.
"I give up. You win."
Toki burst into a big grin and hugged Rel.
"I did it!"
"Whoopee," said Rel unenthusiastically, and took another long swig from his hip flask.
"I've beat 'em all, girl. Fai's easiest, mostly because he's drunk all the time."
Fai gave a happy burp, and a small volcano erupted in the distance. "Guilty as charged," he said, and produced a wine glass from behind a rock and drained it.
"Fai is now bound to give you help whenever you request it," Rel continued, stony faced. "Whatever it is, he will do it without question."
Jyann stood up and cleared her throat gently.
"Another duel, perhaps?"
Toki shook her head. The power of the Fire God would be power enough... for now...

Chapter 4

Chapter 6