strangers in fate

How one-sided this all was to him. We consumed as well… all that we built, we destroyed in one way or another. And here, here Mythal felt a strange pang of sadness. It was not hidden, this sudden influx of grief, and with a sigh, she showed it to him, and she did not know if she felt better or worse for it. The stones remember, the ground we walked on, and yet no one else does, save us. Does that make you sad as well, All-father?

Did he even feel sadness? She was curious.

Mythal tilted her face further up towards the sky, letting the rays of the sun warm her. Would that he could learn to temper his rage, his fire… but the time had long passed since he’d let her make the attempt. To soothe him, to calm him… surely, there was new purpose to their lives now? To try something different, to do differently than they had so that they would not repeat the mistakes of the past. And yet, still, he waged war, bloody conquest, believing that he and he alone was superior enough to guide the world through what would be its reawakening. But he did not see… razing the entirety of the world, all worlds, to ash would not awaken anything. Without life to nourish and sustain, he would rule over nothing but ashen wastelands, barren of any flowering things.

Was his rage still so great?

He countered her offer with one of his own, and she smiled faintly, even going so far as to chuckle. So that there will be peace, Elgar'nan. But even as she spoke, she knew, there would be no peace between them. There would never be. Their views were too fundamentally different. There was a time when we could align our beliefs. But it was obvious now that such a thing was no longer possible. No longer even conceivable. Peace. Somehow, I do not think that we will ever come to an agreement as to what constitutes peace for each other. The faint smile stayed on her face though, Mythal taking in a slow, deep breath before letting it out just as slowly.

So. We are to war with one another as we did. I will not be defeated easily, you know this All-father. I know you will not be defeated easily, and so in that regard, we shall not be disappointed, hmm? Promise me you will leave my daughter out of this, and when the time comes, I will meet you, face to face, on the battlefield.