She shook her head as she watched Arcturus' tirade within the hall, his voice just another one to add to the constant bickering of the assembly. Why she even bothered to turn up was beyond her, as had always been the case she simple toiled away for eternity till her skills were requested by one of her brethren. Sighing and clicking her tongue slowly, she ran her fingers through her wild and unkempt hair which caused a cloud of dust and soot to be disturbed and discarded.
She jumped down from her throne and wandered towards the map of the world below, readjusting the leather straps of her overalls across her shoulders as she did so. She examined the simple design of the device, one of her early works, an overlay of the planet shaped and carved with every detail that mortal and immortal hands had placed upon it. She lightly traced her fingers across the surface in an attempt to examine the destruction more closely, however it appeared to be moving slower than it should for a device designed to mirror the vision of a god. She knelt beside it and had a look underneath, muttering to herself as she did so. Typically the mechanism had been dented by one of the gods during one of the countless disagreements these meetings provoked. She pulled out a small set of tools from her belt, flipped them through the air and caught them again before lying down on her back so that she could get to work with this mechanism. She softly whistled to herself as she did, clicking her tongue again whenever she encountered something requiring more focus and thought.
Finally satisfied that the machinery was working again she pulled herself out from beneath to notice that Arcturus appeared to have left and the
'Trinity' had made their presence known, most likely the latter had had some hand in the formers departure. But it was of little concern to Nuri, for the real reason they were here was to discuss the future of the mortal realm and if it was to be destroyed then it would allow her children to reclaim a home for themselves in the world below. She had no great dislike nor love for humans, but their purge of the giants back during the so called mythological age of mankind had irked her greatly.
She stood up and began to lightly juggle a small wrench in her right hand while she lightly traced the fingers of her left across the smooth surface of the world, smiling as it responded instantly to her touch. At last she found what it was she'd been looking for, something which they would most likely require in the time to come, after all the recreation of a world needs the influence of its gods. She began to focus upon what she'd found, to make sure it was the exact thing she sought.
A small mountain region.
Focus.A small town left in ruins.
Focus.A small mine near the top of one of the nearby mountains.
Focus, focus, focus.A man standing alone.
Perfect.
He sat on an old wooden crate, looking down at the pickaxe held in his hands. He was shaking slightly. The wind from the mountain top was cold and deadly, but he couldn't feel it. His skin was worn and weary, and so was his heart and soul. His breath was short and strained as he fought down the urge to vomit. He raised his gloved hand to the head of his tool, and lightly brushed the slowly congealing blood from the metal; some of it dripped onto the earth but most of it simply turned the sheen of the metal a dull red.
A voice echoed from the darkness leading down into the mine behind him
"Is it safe?"He turned and moved suddenly towards the voice, calling out in answer "Keep the children back, it's safe. But don't come out." He looked on with slightly hollow eyes as a pale face appeared at the edge of the mine, her eyes were scared but her stance was strong. She saw his wounds, saw his
weapon and saw the churned earth and bodies beyond.
"Thank you..." She half whispered before she vanished again, leaving him alone with his actions.
When the world had turned upon itself, humanity leading the charge all concept of honour and comradery vanished in the twilight. At first they'd stood as a town against the madmen from beyond but in time that all melted away. He'd seen friends and family kill each other for the last drop of water or a morsel of food. He'd taken his family away from that, up into the mine that he'd worked with his friends for years, as had his father and his father before him. He'd made sure they'd survive but the town had came for them, madness had overtaken their senses. The choice had been the innocents or the corrupted, and he'd chosen the innocents. Him and his sister had taken the children of the town away, kept them safe and alive for a few weeks while him and a handful of others defended the mine. In the end they had been overrun because some of them had decided the children weren't worth it. He'd put them down, and become the monster he'd fought against. But the children were worth it and they were safe now.
He lay in the dust and the blood soaked ground, his pickaxe falling from his hands as he cried. The world around him began to burn as the lowlands were ignited in fire and death. The cloud of ash billowing out began to engulf the world. His life ended as a new fire surrounded him, and his final moments were the sound of hammer and anvil ringing out.
Garviel had been given another chance.
Nuri smiled to herself as she withdrew the maps viewpoint back to that of the entire planet below.
"So when do we start the reshaping of the world, and by 'we' I mean when are you going to ask me to start work as usual?" She chuckled darkly as she hopped back up onto her throne, her head now level with many of her kin, rather than having to force them to look down at her. As she'd usually speak to their torso rather than strain her neck looking upwards all the time.
"Or is this going to be one of those times when we all pitch in and get a hard days work under wor belts?" she looked around those assembled as she twirled her wrench again before lightly throwing and catching it as she awaited a response
