Love & War 1 (complete)

    I usually live in peace at my temple. I grant my blessing to the poor mortals who come to me and lay their offerings before me. I have watched from afar as the world has gone by, but I am not bothered. I prefer my solitude and keep, it is better than the life I knew when I was young.

    I was born from the union of a god and a mortal woman. My mother was a bright and fiery artist who attracted my deity father with her passion and talent. When I was conceived, my father had disappeared without warning. He didn’t even know about me. My mother gave birth to me alone, nearly dying from the labor of birthing a demigoddess. 

    My mother never recovered completely, but she raised me alone, showing me all the love and support a strange child like myself would need. I was still very young when my father returned. I had never been told of my lineage or who my father was. So when he came down, I was filled with fear and awe. 

    He took me away from my mother, from my life I loved. I was taken and placed at my father’s side, raised to use my powers on the mortals below. I was supposed to punish the mortals on earth with my powers. My father was a cruel man, and not many liked him. His wife, my stepmother, took pity on me. Unable to have children of her own, she took all her husband’s accidents, raising my siblings and I like her own. It was she who taught me love and patience, something my mother had already bestowed upon me.

    As my siblings and I grew older, we rose up and overthrew our father. We took our freedom and saved the mortals we had all come to pity and adore. My sister, Garla, took the throne and the rest of us went our separate ways.

    I went to find my mother, but I didn’t realize how much time had passed. She was long gone, so I built my temple around her grave. That way, I could keep showing her that all the love she had given me had not gone to waste. It was a lesson both my mothers taught me with grace and beauty. I stayed in my temple, happy and content with the life I was leading.

    I was called the Living Love by the mortals. They brought me offerings in hopes I could grant to them the love they needed in their lives. I helped couples conceive, I blessed new marriages, and I granted gifts to the newborns. I did not, however, force people to love one another. It was something I could not make myself do. It was against nature to force one’s heart to beat for another.

    One of the oracles who lived in my temple, Maya, was a good friend to me. She had grown up with her mother there, and I had known her since she was a baby. Maya was now the elder of the temple and had watched me work, sometimes from my lap, and even to this day, she has her questions.

    “Do you never love, Amorette?” She asks me.

    “I love all the time. I am loving you now, Maya,” I smile at her. I remember the days when she had skin so golden and bright, and hair as dark as onyx. Her hair is now grayed and peppered, but still as curly and unruly as the day she was born. Her skin is still golden and bright, but some fine lines and freckles hadn’t always been there.

    “No,” Maya gives me a wry look. “I mean, do you not want romance for yourself? Perhaps a strapping framer with calloused palms and strong hips?”

     I smirk and turn my head away.

    “Or what about a poet with sweet words and skilled fingers?” Maya wiggles her fingers in the air and I let out a laugh.

    “It is not something I had considered,” I admit. “I am happy with what I do and where I am. I have company with my Oracles and the children of the village. I do not need romance for myself.”

    “A goddess of love and yet she does not want it herself. Sounds so odd.” Maya smirks at me. 

    “And what of you?” I ask her. “You have more lovers than hairs on your head.”

    Maya throws her head back and laughs. “I would not say that many. And so what if I have multiple lovers? Is that not the job of your oracles? We heal with our bodies and touch.”

    “You enjoy your job far too much,” I tap the tip of her nose and walk up the altar to where my bed is. I lay down and lounge back in bed. “I’m going to rest for a moment, Maya. Please, wake me if it seems I won’t.”

    “As always,” Maya says as she returns to her duties.

    I sigh and close my eyes, hoping to dream of my mother once more. As I am drifting, I hear screaming and panic from below. I rise up from my bed, seeing fire and smoke billowing from the horizon. 

    “Amorette!” Maya yells for me. “We have company!”

    I rise up and descend from the altar. I ready myself, having not fought since my father was overthrown, but I know I can still protect my temple.

    I then see the massive steed outside, a horse of pitch black bones and wild hair. The creature on his back is burly and terrifying. Clad in horrible jagged armor and carrying a giant sword on their back, they look ready for war. What shocks me most is their missing head. Instead, there is just a neck with thick black smoke billowing from it. All around them, there is ash and fire. Each step the skeletal horse takes, it ruins the earth beneath it.

    “Help...please-” the figure on the horse’s back collapses to the ground, shaking the very earth and causing a quaking all around.

    “Amorette,” Maya races up to me. “What do we do?”

    I walk over to the figure on the ground, soot and fire in my throat the closer I get. The strange horse snorts and scuffs its hooves in the dirt, anxiously prancing as its master lays on the ground.

    “It’s ok,” I whisper as I kneel down beside the headless figure. I touch the shoulder, and I hear a low moan.

    “Amorette!” Maya calls out to me as the other oracles gather behind her.

    “He’s hurt,” I call back to them, seeing pitch black blood cover the ground.

    “But what is he?” Maya shouts. “That is no man!”

    I sigh. “Obviously,” he sighs as I look him over. I manage to roll him over, and the black smoke from his neck spills along the ground like thick fog. On his chest, there is a symbol I recognize very well.

    I get him into the temple, taking him to the very back, where we usually house the elderly and sick. Luckily, the room is empty at the moment, and we’re able to house him. He’s big, barely fits in a bed, and when I lay him down, the bed crushes under his massive weight. 

    “Why did you bring them in here?” Maya scolds at me. “Who are they?”

    I turn to her and sigh. “He was once a knight for my father.”

    Maya’s eyes bug and I can tell she’s about at wits end with me. “Then why the hell did you bring him here? Doesn’t he want you dead? Which knight? What does he do?”

    “War,” I reply cooly and walk away.

    “War?” Maya chases after me and grabs my hand. “We are a temple of love and peace! We cannot house war within our walls!”

    I remove her hand from me. “He is injured. I doubt he would come here unless he had to. I will see he gets well and after that, I will send him away.”

    “You trust like that?” Maya scolds me.

    “It is what I feel is right in my heart, Maya,” I tell her sternly. “Do not question me on this any further.”

    Valery, the war knight’s name, was someone I had known while with my father. He was a terrifying specter who carried out my father’s wishes to thin out the humans with his siblings. I had met him maybe once or twice, but I distinctly remember him having a head in those days. He always had such a smug smirk on his lips. It was one of the few things that made me angry.

    I tend to Valery’s horse. I take the creature over to our bonfire where I had it lit. The skeletal creature drinks from the fire and nuzzles to my cheek.

    “Your master will be cared for,” I assure it. “Then, once he is able, you two will go far away and leave us be.”

    “No promises,” the steed says.

    I flinch then sigh. “Of course you can talk.”

    “Your oracles were annoying before,” he says with a dark voice. “So I kept my mouth shut in case they started screaming again.”

    “They are unused to the darkness in the world,” I tell him. “Seeing something like you would give them cause for alarm.”

    “Amorette,” he says. “My master has been looking for you.”

    I frown and glance up towards the horse, seeing dark red orbs in the sockets. “What do you mean?”

    He laughs. “I would much rather have him tell you. I wouldn’t dare release my master’s secrets. It is not my place.”

    I scoff. “It isn’t kind to tease like that.”

    “Who said I was kind?”

    I sigh and leave him, going back into the temple. My oracles are gathered around, standing away from the door where Valery is. I walk through them and return to the room where Valery is laying on the ground. All around him the black smoke forms a dark pool. I go to his side and start removing the armor. I strip him down and find the wound in his stomach. 

    I wipe away the black blood and feel something sharp sticking from his gut. I reach in and pull out the broken sword there. As it is removed from his gut, he sits up, and fire blares from his neck as he screams.

    “Silence!” I command him, standing and placing my hands on his shoulders. “Be still! Silence!” 

    He snarls, and the fire dies down. He grabs hold of my waist, one hand is able to wrap around me. He pulls me in close and tilts to the side. 

    “As I live and breathe,” he murmurs. His voice is deep and harsh like steel dragging on stone. “The little love doll.”

    I push away from him and escape his grasp. “Do not call me that.”

    Valery chuckles. “Long time no see.”

    He may not have lips to smirk, but I can hear it. I scowl at him. “Why are you here, Valery?” I ask. 

    He places his hand over his stomach. “I was just looking for a gentle and loving touch,” he chuckles. “Someone to take care of me and kiss my boo-boos.”

    I sniff and toss my hair off my shoulder. “What made you think this would be the right place?”

    Valery grunts as he leans, so his back rests against the wall. He keeps his hand covering his stomach wound. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

    I look away from him and cross my arms against my chest. “Once you’re able, I want you to leave.”

    “Why so cold?” He laughs.

    I tilt my chin up, and Valery laughs.

    “I have no more connections to your father, lovey,” he huffs. “I’ve actually hated him since then.” he runs his fingers along the rim of his neck. “He was not so forgiving that we could not save his neck.”

    I grimace. “He did that?”

    “None of us have our heads anymore,” he growls. “Your father’s last action in this world was the same as his first. Punishment.”

    I look down at the ground. It isn’t too far fetched to believe, my father was neither kind nor forgiving. If his final act were to punish his knights, it wouldn’t be a hard story to believe. 

    Valery huffs and lifts his hand from his gut. “What the fuck got me?”

    I pick up the broken sword, seeing old runes and charms carved into the steel. “Someone was looking to finish you off.”

    “Get that thing away from me,” he snarls. “It hurts to look at.”

    “I may keep it,” I warn him. “Just in case.”

    Valery scoffs and laughs. “Whatever you say, lovey. I have no wish to harm a pretty hair on your head.”

    “Get some rest,” I huff as I leave the room.

    “Mind if I dream of you?” Valery chuckles. “Specifically your ass?”

    I could cut him quite easily with this blade, I might actually enjoy it too. But I quiet those hateful thoughts and leave the room without a word. I know he is merely trying to get the best of me. He wants me to react so I will give him nothing.

    Maya walks up to me as the other oracles hold their breath. I present Maya the sword and tell her we will keep it for our own safety. I also explain I will be the only one to deal with Valery so the others don’t need to worry and can continue about their business.

    One evening, as I take to Valery his food, I find myself watching him. His body is hard and strong. Even without a head, he towers over me. I know I have a thick body, soft rolls, plump thighs, and a curvy shape, but his hands can wrap around me easily. His skin is dark and ashen, but it feels velvety to the touch. His nipples have thick metal bars pierced through them, it seems unpleasant, but at the same time, I find it strangely nice to look at.

    “Why don’t you come closer, then?” Valery asks and snaps me from my thoughts. “You can touch me all you want. You don’t have to just use your eyes.”

    I bite back my desire to scowl and take his empty bowls and plates.

    “Hey, lovey,” he reaches out and catches my chin before I can look away. “Don’t ignore me now.”

    I yank my head back and step away from him. “I am here to make sure you are healing, I am not here to keep you company.”

    “You were always cold to me,” he breathes. “I liked it, even back then when I had my looks,” he chuckles. He then lays his hand over his wound, which doesn’t seem to be healing. “It was always a treat to see your scowling face.”

    I glance towards him in shock.

    “Why so surprised?” He laughs. “You and I are two of a kind? Love and war,” he whispers. “Aren’t we pretty much the same passion?”

    “I don’t hurt anyone,” I scoff at him.

    “Love hurts,” he wheezes. “I know people who would much rather take a blade than have their heart broken.” He then winces, and his flames shoot out from his neck. “Fuck! Me!” he cries.

    I gasp and stand up. “What’s wrong?”

    “It still hurts.” Valery lifts his hand, showing me that his blood has turned red. “It is agony,” he wheezes.

    I go to his side, wiping up the now red blood with the hem of my gown.

    “Don’t ruin your pretty clothes,” Valery scoffs.

    “Shut up,” I hiss at him. “Stay still.” I hold my hand over his gut, and my palm begins to glow. Out from the wound, dark green smoke rises and swirls. I collect it in my palms until it forms an orb.

    “Poison,” I say. “I should have known.”

    “It hurts,” he whimpers, clutching his stomach. “It still hurts.”

    I lock the poison into an urn and turn my attention back to him. “You’re healing now,” I tell him. “There’s going to be some discomfort.”

    “Please,” he whimpers. “Stay with me.”

    I look towards his flame and cup my palm around his neck. “You’re talking crazy, Valery. Calm down, this is a good thing.”

    “I’ve been wanting to see you,” he cries. “All these centuries, I keep thinking about you.” He leans into my palm touching him. “If I die, I’m glad it’s here.”

    I’m getting flustered and bothered. “You aren’t going to die, you big baby!” I snap at him. “For some supposed god of war, you really can’t take a simple cut!”

    Valery chuckles then whimpers. “Women are better with pain,” he replies. “You have no idea how badly this feels.”

    I place my palm over Valery’s on his stomach. “You shut up now and rest. We found the cause and now you’ll be fine in no time.”

    “I have always loved you,” he moans as he starts to drift off.

    I suck in my breath and bite down on my cheek.

    “From the first moment I saw you, I loved you,” he murmurs dreamily. “How could I ever love?” He leans into my chest. “Your father certainly didn’t want that.”

    “You’re babbling, Valery,” I whisper to him as I rub his back.

    “I love you,” he says again. “I just...wanted to see…” he passes out, laying against me.

    I sigh and lay him back in bed, or the mat on the ground serving as his bed. I look down at him, watching him sleep as the wound starts to knit back together. His skin starts to look less ashen and more pale. The tips of his fingers go bright red, and his nails look like rubies.

    I sigh and leave the room, clutching my chest as I lean against the door.

    “Amorette?” Maya gasps when she sees me. “What happened? All that blood!”

    “I need a bath,” I sigh.

    Maya stares at me as flowers start to fall from my hair freely. The petals follow me as I walk away from Valery’s room. There are so many, they start to coat the ground like a carpet. Even in the bath, the flowers float around like a blanket on the surface.

    I clutch one of the flowers, and it smells like Valery.