Chapter 5 Part 1

OCEANS OF ICE AND WATER

Ragnera stood in a gully watching the blood of wounded foot soldiers soak into the ground. The odor of death hung heavy in the air and he found that smell very sweet. With each cut of a sword he felt his body grow stronger. With each crushing blow from a mace he felt more energetic. With the release of each arrow or spear his power increased. Battle and blood lust fueled the fire in his soul.

He found himself being amused by petty squabbles such as this feud between families in the southern marshlands near Vermouth. But just like an addict, he needed more and more bloodshed to sate his own desires.

Ragnera had taken to the game of divine politics like a fish to water. The games he played in his mortal existence as Serpent Blackheart paled in comparison to the ones he took part in now. Each of the gods had a series of immediate and long term goals. Ragnera's immediate goals were to generate as much discord and bloodshed as possible.
His followers among the mortal realm were increasing in numbers daily. The former god of war had allowed his power to weaken as a result of the peace and nobility he had nurtured. Ragnera was not about to make that mistake. He cared not if he was considered a god of evil or a god of good. He was consumed by his hunger for power. His ambition knew no bounds and he wondered if it would really surprise his father, the Godking, that Ragnera had even considered patricide on occasion.

He had already been hailed as the Godprince by the Dukes of Hell. He had not forgotten them. Though he openly paid them their due respect as they were technically lesser gods themselves, he covertly viewed them as nothing more than tools for his use.

Ragnera reveled in the glory of his plan. He conspired with the other gods and his father to breed prejudice and hatred among the races. Then at the appointed time when their prison sentence drew to a close, he would call upon his ultimate power as the god of war, a power that none other than the former god of war knew about, he would command the world to do battle and instigate the apocalypse.

The raw power of the apocalypse would furnish him with the strength he would need to turn against his fellow gods and with the life-draining power of Reaper in his hand, he would systematically absorb the powers and lives of the other gods until at last he would stick the ebony blade into his father, and become a power greater than even the Overlords had been.

The key to the plan lay in the mica pages of the Tome of Creation. The spell of Evolution would provide the Creator's own magic to his victory. Then when the blue star was no more, he would leave this world and assess one last possibility. He may dwell throughout the multiverse forever, a god to all he encountered and everything a plaything to him, or if he deemed it within his grasp, he would turn and consume the Creator, Himself. But first he had to conspire and deal to set this magnificent chain of events into action. His first obstacle was a god named Woeden.

Woeden was the god of vision and more than capable of detecting Ragnera's actions and their purpose and ultimate conclusion. It was said among the gods that Woeden could look down the avenues of time and see the future and the past. He was also the god of hermits and oracles. In fact the Oracle of the Twilight Dragon was said to have the voice of Woeden when it prophesied.

Ragnera theorized that Woeden would not reveal the future to anyone unless they specifically asked, and then only if he desired it so. The fact that those travelers had gained entry and had been directed to the Well of Time last year told Ragnera that Woeden was not sympathetic to his personal cause, and that he had acted to prevent his ascendancy. But because Woeden had not warned the old god of war of his upcoming demise, Ragnera suspected that Woeden also played the game of divine politics and had his own agenda to follow.

Ragnera reflected on his plans as the battle about him drew to a close. Only a few of the combatants remained and they were far too weary and hurt to be of much danger to each other. Ragnera strode forward and blessed each one in turn with a gift. In doing so he cultivated the idea that good battle reaped favor in his eyes. That too would serve him at the appropriate time. He passed out his blessings then took to the air once more. There were other places to go and other battles to visit.