Night of the Stormrider (Based on Iced Earth's concept album with the same name) This story is a myth about a nefarious archfiend turned righteous. Or, in layman terms, about a bad guy becoming a good guy. A man was running through a forest. Thoughts of hate and anger filled his soul. However, this was no ordinary man, and the forest was even less ordinary. The man was chosen by fate, though he did not know it at the time. And the forest was turned to a charred shadow of its former self thanks to the mob chasing after him with burning torches, pitchforks, and many more objects of sorts. The charred remains of the forest's holy rollers seem to scream repentance though it's far too late. He fought back a bark of laughter at what he saw as he ran. The religious fools chasing him were too funny for him not to; their leader -one of the healers- had made a "prophecy" about him betraying their religion... In reality, the two of them had been rivals, hating each other until the bitter end. And for such a trivial reason too: It had all begun when the mob's leader had challenged the man to a fight, back when they were both younger. The leader suffered so much from this loss, that he had declared himself the man's rival until the bitter end in the minute their fight had ended. And he's been suffering ever since. The very hour that this man's rival had been made the leader of his religion, he had made a "prophecy", stating that he would turn to evil and betray their religion, damning them all to an eternity in Hell. The man's did not think yesterday of the end of his life, nor of the brainwashed fools born again of a thousand lies. No, his thoughts got more into the anger he felt. 'If they think I'm going to damn them all to Hell, then I will make sure that it happens,' he angrily thought to himself. Suddenly, hate-filled screams break the silence, coming from the approaching mob. Terrifying dreams then filled up his head, and he thought 'What if they kill me before I get my revenge?'. He increased his pace, desperate to get the revenge he sought so dearly while he could feel the blasphemy thrusting out, in the masses of the mob where it reigned. The mask of hypocrisy would be slowly unveiled... Hours later, the man finally had the chance to collect his thoughts together. 'For the last time I've been betrayed!' he thought bitterly. 'Never again will I subject myself to this hypocrisy. Something is drawing me to the other side. Only time will tell my true destiny. So it shall be done, I swear upon my life!' As the man angrily continued on, a figure shrouded in shadow watched him from a nearby hill. The figure began thinking to itself as it watched the man. 'This man will make a useful servant.' the figure thought slowly 'I think I will recruit him to me, before he loses his anger, and starts to think about what will happen to him in the future,' As the figure turned, his back caught the light. On his back, a pair of skeletal wings caught the light, yet they seemed to absorb it at the same time. ******** The man finally made it out of the forest and into the plains. And a storm began to occur. Then, the shadowy figure watched him and chanted in an ancient language. The man felt his body dissipate, and he soon found himself on an area similar to the plains from before - but astral. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. As he walked on, he saw a break in the sky. As though the sky had burst in flames. Then, the mighty storm from before in the physical realm reached out to him, calling him to it. And in the dismal clouds of the storm, storming demons as majestic riders rode through them, traveling through the night, and called to the man to join them. Lightning broke across the sky once more as the man accepted their offer like a blackish blue at night. As the man watched, the riders wrapped him in a cloak of thick, sturdy steel. And inside, he felt the changes being wrought upon his body, and screamed from their pain at the heavens' light. As he screamed, he slowly began to feel the very power of the storm invoking into him, but the pain took away his strength as he fell down and laid in his jacket of steel. The riders had no sense of hearing, thus his scream... no one hears. The man felt the storm approaching, and knew the pain was its reality. He felt the death he breathed was in the air, but then he felt no more. And he no longer cared as a human. The riders in the sky sounded their trumpets as the man broke free of his shell. Yet the man was no longer a man; he had become the Stormrider, a human being transformed into a Demi-God, with control over all aspects of the raging tempest. However, the man was confused as he saw images in his mind of himself. 'This vision I see just can't be me!' he thought 'What is this that I have done? Why am I the chosen one?!' And yet, the figure cloaked in shadow continued to watch him, determining that the time was near to make his move. "Fight on, grab on! Stormrider!" the demons chanted in unison. As the figure watched, the Stormrider summoned a steed of wind to him and rode off through the night, while looking like he was battling some internal Hell. The figure snorted. It had been watching this man for quite some time, and it was beginning to think it could guess what the Stormrider was thinking 'He's probably thinking that his life's his own, and some crap about pride...' ******** During the last rays of the sacred moon, the Stormrider went deeper into the plains to find the one who had summoned him there. He had been traveling through the desolate terrain, cold and all alone shortly after having been transformed. He eventually saw a black tornado approaching him, a violent mass. He prepared himself for the worst, but as the tornado stood a few feet away from him, it transformed into a cloud of evil, which took on the form of a man completely cloaked in darkness. The figure smiled as it put out its hand. "I've got a deal for you." the mysterious figure said ominously. "I can give you all kinds of power, as long as you serve me for all time. You will gain the power to see the future. You'll get more power over the storm. And, you'll even get..." he reached into his pocket, "A rubber band!" The Stormrider rubbed his chin in thought. 'Mmm, tough choice. Get lots of power, but be a slave, or stay the way I am.' He then grinned to the figure. "Your deal it quite tempting. I'll do it!" he decided. The figure motioned for him to put his arm out, and the Stormrider did so. The figure then touched his arm, on which a mark slowly began forming. A very itchy mark. With the mark, the Stormrider felt a forced power besieged in him, showing visions of what will be. While the Stormrider began scratching, the mysterious figure spoke up. "You are now my chosen one to lead the pack. Go forth, chosen one. Lead my pack of followers to destroy God." It paused for a second. "He deserves it, that bastard." The Stormrider, now obsessed with his fate, was fired up from the figure's nonexistent speech and the boiling hate that has risen. "From the depths of my blackened heart, this madness is my destiny! I must go forth and conquer!" he yelled, eyes blazing with the fires of youth. The figure grinned to itself. "He's way too easy," it snickered quietly. ******** "Oh, God, am I going crazy?!" The Stormrider wonders "What is happening to me? I need some answers! I've been chosen by the darkest force in nature, but why, why me?" ******** "Go now, into the plain. Seek out, the answers you'll find. Visions will be shown to you. At night by the lit desert moon." a voice spoke to the Stormrider "Be strong, ride forth in pride. Our destiny, lies in your hands. Visions will be shown to you. You're truly my chosen one" The Stormrider nodded after hearing this prophecy, spoken by an old hag in front of an old fortuneteller's wagon. "Thanks, old lady!" he yelled once she had finished speaking. She immediately decked him. "Don't call me that!" The Stormrider laughed as he walked off, riding his steed of wind into the desert. On the plains of the desert, a murmur cry was heard. It came from the echoes of a wind song; singing of a word. The Stormrider put a hand to his ear to hear how far it had echoed, and cheered to himself when he heard it still echoing about a thousand miles away. The cry was the word of the land begotten, very seldom taught to natives of the desert which tribes of old have sought. He answered the word with a very loud "Who goes there?!" He then heard something falling out of the rocks behind him, and he whirled around to see a person standing up while putting their little finger in their ear and twisting it. "You know, I could have heard you if you didn't shout," he complained, while still trying to get the ringing out of his ears. "Oh, sorry," the Stormrider replied, not looking sorry at all. "Anyway, I assume you are looking for a desert native-" "Aye, I am. The desert keeps moving, and I don't know why!" The native groaned. "This was before I knew you had no sense of direction, obviously." "Hey!" "What? It's the truth, deal with it." The Stormrider growled to that, but decided to let it be. Then he thought 'It's obvious, even from talking to one of them; they're in danger.' The Stormrider was surprised nevertheless when the native fell to his knees, hands clasped in front of his face. "Please, oh mighty one, help us!" ******** On the day of the night things were always well, but on the night of the light, all night, things fell. "They're attacking!" the sentry on duty screamed loud enough for the entire village to hear. The residents began fortifying their defenses, supervised by the Stormrider, as the undead army came into distant view. When they finished, the villagers settled down to wait. They attacked at dawn. Way up in the sky the sun is burning bright, and all the natives were screaming to be free. Then out of the ground rose a horde of zombies, filled with the teachings of a wasted life and a darker death. The forces of the living and the dead clashed in a battle that seemed neverending to all natives who participated. For every zombie that fell to the ground, another would take its place, while the zombie on the ground would simply get back up. This continued -with the natives giving ground with every passing minute- until the burning sun suddenly turned pitch black, and the skies turned dark, even though it was the middle of the day. Both armies stopped fighting to look, including the Stormrider, who was fighting twenty undead creatures at once. As the moon faded away and the sun finally turned entirely black, the heavens opened With a colossal explosion to make way for three glittering chariots, which captured the attention of everything within several miles of the battle as they fell from the sky. The chariots landed near the Stormrider, and the three riders dismounted as one. Each went up to the Stormrider and took off their glowing helms, and all who could see gasped at what they saw: three panting dogs, prepared for their attack. 'THESE three are the Blessed Trinity members?' ran through every living creature's mind. The zombies just stared. The Stormrider, on the other hand, was more open with his thoughts. But he still roared. "You are the ones my master wants to be destroyed! And destroy you I shall!" He charged forward, a battle cry issuing from his lips, and in this new dawning hour, the doom and destruction began . "HALT!" one of the dog Gods called out, as at once the sun turned back and the battle stopped "Everyone's in grave danger, except for those of the dead. For the one who shall deceive us, is the one..." The dog teleported in front of the Stormrider, grabbed his arm, and teleported again. They landed in front of the pit, and the dog shoved the Stormrider. Hard. The Stormrider fell into the pit, hearing the natives screams, until he snapped his fingers. 'Of course, how could I forget about THAT?' he remembered the teachings of a wasted life and a darker death, summoned a horse made of wind, and mounted it, riding out of the pit to see a completely barren field where before there had been wraiths and humans frozen in battle. The dog Gods had erased them all from existence. The Stormrider sighed, and had his steed walk on, the legend living on in the Sun God's eye. 'The sympathy in my mind is growing cold.' he thought 'Life is like the burning sand so I'm told...' He then sighed again, and moves on to gather gathering soldiers to aid him in the fulfillment of the dog Gods' destruction. Raising one hand, he created another thunderstorm. As lightning cracked through the air, the roaring thunders woke up his entire camp - except for one young soldier, who was snoring loud enough to drown out the sound. When the Stormrider heard his snores, he stretched. As the Stormrider stretched, a completely elated aura surrounded everything and everyone around him. The look on his face was the most childish and idiotic expression you will ever see on a person's face. It was the face of a truly happy-go-lucky idiot. It creeped out all who saw it. They all turned so that they couldn't see him, and that's why they all missed what happened next. The big happy puppy dog eyes narrowed considerably as his hair cast them in shadow. The way his eyes glew gold added to the intended effect. Along with all this, his smile was of someone on the brink of insanity; if they haven't already pasted that brink. The final touch was the horrifyingly menacing aura. When they all turned back around, his face turned back to looking cuter than a puppy. "Someone go wake up the sleepyhead!" he ordered, still looking as cute as humanly possible. The soldiers jostled someone out of their ranks, who went and woke out the sleeper. "Ah, the sleeping beauty awakes," he announced as the soldier -rubbing his eyes tiredly- went to join the ranks. He cleared his throat. "The time is coming near when solitude appears! To take the chains of oppression away!! NOW... WHO'S WITH ME?" He ended his mini-speech with a roar. His soldiers cheered, banging the shields on their arms together. "Now, I've got a little game for training. If everyone would follow me, I'll show you what to do." the Stormrider suggests. They followed him as he went over to their training grounds, completely missing the way he said game. When they reached the grounds, he clapped his hands. "Now, I'm sure this game will be over very quickly. So, would everyone stand over there?" He pointed to a spot about ten meters behind him. The soldiers hustled over there, jostling each other for position. The Stormrider grinned manically. "So, what is this game called?" someone called out. The Stormrider wrapped both his hands as much around the tree he was standing in front of as much as he could. With a single yank, he ripped this tree out of the ground. "I am sure you will be able to figure out how this game works by its name." Their eyes widened when an evil aura surrounded him. One person later swore he could see evil spirits. "It is called, Dodge the Tree." ******** Three seconds later "I broke my toy," the Stormrider grinned with insanity and a hint of false sorrow in his voice while holding the broken tree. "But it was worth it." He cupped his hand to his ear so that he could hear the screams of his men. ******** After seven years' worth of training, the Stormrider finally declared his freed army of damned soldiers ready to take on the Gods. It was finally time to execute his master's vengeance. He looked around him at the area that had been transformed over seven years of training. Before, it had been a normal field, like any other field you'd see in the world. Now, it looked like Hell on earth. Through the sands of time the Stormrider marched on, as the blistering rays of hate strengthened him, thinking all the while. 'The violent mass has shown my destiny... does all of this justify the rage inside?' he thought slowly as a rain started to pour. He felt the desert rain changing him, calling on him to rise 'Is this world a world of hate and malice?' He sighed, then turned to his soldiers. "Know this: The hour glass is running out. But we shall rise and conquer, crushing all that's weak! And all that's light is burning out, for the serpent rides with me!" Then, a soldier appeared behind him. "Sir, we've sighted the entrance to Heaven. What are your orders?" The Stormrider didn't even think. "CHARGE!" As the army charged, they saw another army, made up of angels, instead of humans, coming towards them at the same time. "Fire the cannons!" the Stormrider roared, while his men complied and the cannons pounded into the night. The angels, on the other hand, simply soared into the sky to avoid their fire. The humans pulled out their weapons, which included axes, spears, swords, daggers, and bows, to name a few - all ready to execute their commander's unholy deliverance. The seeds of hate flew that night as good and evil lit the sky. But then, the Stormrider froze himself. Another vision came before him from inside. He somehow knew this was wrong, he couldn't deny it. 'Nay!' he thought to himself, as he rushed on 'For seven years I have reigned in this damned and desolate hell. Now I've lived the masters vengeance, it saved me from myself' The Stormrider's soldiers carried on to painting the night sky with their slain blood. Then, the Stormrider took a stand atop of a pile of corpses, and called out "Heaven! Hear the ghost of violence! Fear the God of detriment!" but there was no answer as the angels continued to protect their masters. Protecting their own commander, the Stormrider's soldiers used their axes, daggers, arrows and spears -the latter three flying through the air- ripping through all flesh in their sights, soaking the land on Earth with blood as the helpless ones screamed. The Stormrider was a force to be reckoned with, slicing through all who stood in his way in his quest to find the Gods, until suddenly, there they were. With a final cry he charged, taking them all by surprise. This would be the last thing any of them would do - as their surprise froze them, giving the Stormrider an easy opening to slice through them. The world seemed to end as -with a final cry- the dog Gods dissipated into nothingness. The Earth opened, flames shooting out as with a mighty groan, the ground became as hot as the flames of Hell. And that's exactly what the flames were. As everything except the Stormrider instantly turned to ashes, a figure came out of the chasm, wings skeletal, taking all light into a void. The Stormrider knelt in front of the figure as it removed its hood, revealing the Devil; the Whore of Babylon; the Beast of Revolution; the Antichrist; a cat. The cat grabbed the Stormrider, dragging him with it as it went back into the hell it had created; dancing in flames as the Stormrider completed the last quest he would ever go on. The end of the storm was near, and its Rider felt the pain from the jackal's wrath. The Stormrider was near death from the heat as he spoke his final words "Now I feel that I've reached the end, and the end of my quest is close at hand, what have I done? I've reached the end... And as my life slowly fades away, there's not one single thing that I'd change! What have I done? I've reached the end!" The Stormrider's final words were spoken with a gasp, as his spirit left his body, never to return. The Stormrider's body died with regret, as his spirit was led to the river Styx, for an eternity of torture. ****** Through the flames, the Devil cat watched the Stormrider plead on his knees in front of Death, while laughing its head off. The man's fate was sealed, it knew, since he had killed God. And, since there was only one other major deity for this planet, that automatically meant the Stormrider was forced to go to the Devil. "The ride that you take, through the lake of flames, Will decide your fate." It said "Was all of it worth eternal pain, the path you chose to live in vain? The river Styx is calling your number, the hot winds of Hell breathe your name. It's guaranteed you'll be coming with me." "Come on, Death. Since I killed God, doesn't that mean I take his place?" the Stormrider pleaded to Death, who was still impassive. Death held up a hand. The meaning was obvious. "NO!" the Stormrider screamed. "I've been through too much, killed too many, lost too much, just for you to stop me here!?!" The Reaper paused for a moment, lost in thought. It then sat, and beckoned for the Stormrider to tell his story. "On the night it came to me, it was like nothing I'd ever seen. A vision darker than death itself, a violent cloud straight from the depths of Hell! And that's when I saw my destiny. As it approached, I was frozen still. I couldn't move, couldn't scream for help. Out of the darkness it reached for me. And that's when it planted the evil seed... And that's when I saw my destiny!" At the end of his story, the Devil stepped forward. "My henchman awaits you. Come on. Yes that's right, step aboard the boat. We have a very long journey, and since you owe us, I think you should do the rowing." He announced. "You got what you wanted in your mortal life, now your soul is in our grasp!" he added in his thoughts. The Reaper suddenly held up his hand. "What?!" The Devil cried as Death nodded. "You can't!" Death folded its arms. "HIS SOUL IS MINE!" The Devil grabbed what remained of the Stormrider and teleported away, leaving a very angered Death behind. Riding on the hot winds of Hell, the Devil's own ship travelled in Stygian. The damned continued to scream the Stormrider's name. At the Devil's ship, the Stormrider was shackled to the mast, hot winds blowing upon him. and the crew members on the ship proceeded to whip him, beat him, torture him in any means necessary, even throwing him into an iron maiden for a period of time. Yet, throughout all this, he didn't cry out even once. As he was released from the maiden, he made a quick plan. 'I chose this fate, there's no turning back. Besides, the river Styx has called for me; I might as well answer it,' he thought. With a sudden cry, he broke away from the crew member escorting him back to the mast, and dove into the river of lava. While the crew watched him, stunned mouths wide open, the Stormrider broke away from the ship of so much pain, to many cheers from the other damned souls on the river shore. As the Stormrider pulled himself onto shore, he made a solemn promise to himself. "It's too late for repentance or remorse, but I can at least try to atone for what I've done. For when I have received this power, you have overseen one major obstacle!" he pointed to the Devil cat as he shouted these words "You gave me power! And only a God or Demi-God can swim through the river Styx and survive, and maybe even gain more power! And I will use this new power to become the new God, and I will rule better than him, better than any God that has been, or any God that will come. This I swear on my life!" Obviously the Devil cat tried to stop him, but the Stormrider's undying will for attonement left the cat powerless to do so. Thus, the man who was formerly the Stormrider made his way through the gates of Hell. Roaring at the watchdog Cerberus, he broke the gates from the world of the damned, into Earth and then into Heaven again. He soon managed to obtain the throne of Heaven, and recreated it as we know it today. ...And that's how God came to be.