"From the union of Ayise and Shellar, the universe took form," the book continued. "The sea and the land, the trees and the grass, the birds and the fish, the moons and the stars, all were created by the will of the First Gods. They bent upon their task for many days, forming the land and the sky, the stars and the sun, and establising an order of nature that was the core of the purpose of the world. But the First Gods were not the Great Creator, and they found that the Balance which they had created the world to serve was easily threatened by random chance, as well as by the power known as Entropy, which sought to return the universe to the state of nothingness from which it had been formed. Ayise and Shellar found it needful to create others of their kind, to aid them in the orderly running of their universe.
"And so, man joined with woman, and the Elder Gods were brought forth in this holy joining. They numbered eight, and to each one, an aspect of the world was assigned, for him or her to watch over and protect. To Darrian, the eldest of the siblings, was given the task of watching over the land, to ensure it remained firm and strong, and supported the life which depended upon it. To Leia, the next eldest, the task of caring for nature was given, to ensure that the seasons rolled, the land renewed the life upon it, and all things were born, lived, and died in the great circle of life. To Saltemis, the next oldest, the task of caring for the seas was given, to ensure that they flowed with the tides, and that all things that lived within it thrived. To Niami, the next eldest, the task of caring for the power of magic was given, to care for and nurture the delicate balance of natural and unnatural energies that made up the power of magic. To T'Kya, the next eldest, the task of caring for the winds and weather was assigned, to ensure that the weather flowed in time with the seasons, to bring rain or sun or snow where needed, and to also create destruction to serve as a balance to life. To Ahiriya, the next eldest, the task of caring for the power of fire was given, to ensure that it both destroyed and created to renew and enrich the earth, carrying on with the cycle of life which was the Balance. To the youngest of the Elder Gods, who were twins, Dakki and Dakku, the task of death was given, to ensure that the cycle of life came to its proper and timely conclusion. The task of taking the life which Ayise granted was a difficult and somber task, and so it was separated in twain and given to the twins, so that their grim task did not weigh too heavily upon either one of them.
"The Elder Gods took up their tasks, and through their gentle ministration, the world thrived. But in time, the ten came together in displeasure, for caring for a world without direction seemed to go against the purpose for which it was created. After much debate and discussion, it was decided that what the world lacked was will, lacking life that was sentient and conscious. The Purpose of the universe was an aimless one if there did not exist those whose choices would bring about its need.
"And so, raising up as one, the ten Elder Gods decreed that there should be sentient life, and it was so. They were the First Ones, rising up from the progression of life to gain consciousness. They had no name for themselves, instead finding a place within the cycle of life and growing, becoming more intelligent and more learned with each generation, until they achieved true intelligence. But they were content with their progress, happy with their advancement, and stopped seeking to improve themselves. Though they pleased the Elder Gods with their success, the First Ones did not please the Elder Gods enough. They gathered again, and decided that through diversity, there would be greater purpose, and would serve the Balance. So they rose up once again and decreed it to be so, and it was.
"The next peoples to rise up from the non-sentient were energetic and ambitious. They called themselves Man, and quickly reached the same plateau upon which the First Ones had stagnated. But where the First Ones were happy to remain, Man sought to reach higher and higher, until they threatened to swarm under their neighboring peoples. But the creation of Man had had the desired effect upon the First Ones, who were renewed by the energy of their younger siblings, and again began to grow.
"The next peoples to rise up from the non-sentient were the Dwarves, stout, driven beings who began their journey more advanced than their two older siblings, but quickly found their niche in the great Balance which they unwittingly served.
"The last of the peoples to rise up from the non-sentient were the Goblins. They rose up to fulfill a need to retain Balance among the peoples of the world. Where the First Ones were peaceful and gentle, where Man was ambitious and opportunistic, where Dwarves were single-minded and determined, the Goblins were greedy and malicious. They served to balance out the First Races, creating the mixture of personalities that would interact with one another and cause all four to grow.
"The Elder Gods looked down upon their creation, and they were content. With the four races to compete with one another, help one another, and confront one another, the world knew fulfillment, and the Balance was upheld."
Tarrin lowered the book, his mind lost in thought. The Goddess had told him that there had been four races at the beginning, but he didn't realize that they were created for no other reason than to cause the world to grow. That the Elder Gods had created the world, and then found that they needed something else there to make it complete. But then again, wasn't that what life was all about? To grow and become wiser, to expand and thrive? He started reading again.
"The First Races were content with their lot, but the reclusion of the Elder Gods caused them to look elsewhere for spiritual fulfillment. It was from Man that the first of the Younger Gods appeared, a being of divine energy that was formed from the needs of the mortal men who sincerely believed in him. He was given the name Thrak, and bloomed into power, thrived, and then withered away and became nothing as those who believed in his power waxed and then waned. But the appearance of Thrak concerned the Elder Gods, who gathered together and discussed this grave issue. After much debate, it was decided that any new Younger Gods would be permitted to be, so long as they respected the Balance, and sought not to usurp the powers of the gods who had been before them. The Elder Gods decreed a set of laws governing the powers of the Younger Gods, primary among them being that no Younger God would hold power equal to the weakest of the Elder Gods."
Tarrin read that again, and then remembered what the Goddess had told him about the Firestaff. The god created from the Firestaff would be a god without constraint, she had told him. Was that why it was so dangerous? Would the Firestaff make someone a god equal in power to the Elder Gods? If that were so, why was Val, who was created by the power of the Firestaff, not destroyed by the other Elder Gods when he used the Firestaff to become a god?
Because Val was very clever, kitten, the Goddess answered. When he used the Firestaff to become a god, he became what we thought was a Younger God. Since we had nothing against Younger Gods, we permitted him to remain. We all regret that decision, she sighed. Had we destroyed him when we had the chance, the Blood War would not have happened.
"Hindsight is always perfect," he said aloud, a saying that had various versions in about a dozen different cultures. It was one of those strange universal observations. "What do you mean, you thought he was a Younger God?"
As I said, kitten, Val was very clever, she repeated. He was not entirely a Younger God, nor was he an Elder God, and we erred badly when we failed to realize this, because he wisely hid that aspect of his power from us. He wasn't as powerful as we were, but his power was formidable, almost equal to any one of us. But since he was weaker, we discounted him and his unusual state and allowed him to remain. When he got out of control, our mother, Ayise, attempted to destroy him by reclaming the life she had given to him, but she found that she could not. When that happened, we honestly weren't sure what would happen if we tried to destroy him in a direct confrontation, and we came to discover that the godhood granted by the Firestaff cannot be taken away, even by Ayise. Only the One God would have the power to strip the godhood away from Val, and in this, as in all things, he would not interfere. We had caused the circumstances of our own dilemma, so it was set upon us to fix it. About then, the Demons overran the world, and we needed Val's power to help turn them back. But we didn't forget that he was the reason they had come, and so we devised a suitable way to punish him for it. We granted our power to a mortal agent, Spyder, and it was she that turned our power against him, bound him into his icon, and stripped him of what made him on a level with us. We turned him into a true Younger God, whose power depended on the faith of the mortals who worshipped him. In that way, we removed the threat he posed to the Balance without breaking any of the rules we had set for ourselves, and avoiding a direct confrontation that would have put the world, or what was left of it, in great peril. The One God was very pleased with our solution, she said in a dreamy kind of voice that reminded him of the way he sounded or felt when he was in awe of her. Perhaps even a god worshipped a god. Or in this case, the God.