The Eleventh Hour

[rix_scaedu]

I wrote this to aldersprig's Thimbleful Thursday prompt "eleventh hour".

The pieces were in position, and the die was cast. No-one expected the last of the gods to survive the night. The aljur of the lands beyond the chaos fence, numbering in thousands, had them surrounded in the last sacred grove of the divine immortal home. The gods themselves were down to a dozen, half of them injured, and none of them major divinities. They knew their enemies were enjoying this.

They were preparing for the end, when Emuthain, the trickster lost to Akkardy for the last century, strolled out of a tree, flicking a coin around with one hand, and asked, “What’s up, and where is everyone?”

Comments

[aldersprig]

*ears perk*

[kelkyag]

Unless Emuthain is a (very) major divinity and somehow capable of bringing back (some of) the others or creating new ones, I think this is a bit beyond the eleventh hour. Emuthain might pull some survivors out of this situation, but the pantheon has fallen. Mmmaaaaybe there will be a new one.

[rix_scaedu]

Thirteen might be a good number for a reset....

[kelkyag]

Perhaps that is a thing a trickster diety can pull off, even on short notice ... or if that's been in the job description / prophecy from early on.

[rix_scaedu]

You know how it is, you get caught up in somdthing for a century, and you turn around to find everything's fallen apart behind your back.

[kelkyag]

I suppose I have to have some sympathy for distractability. :)

[sauergeek]

Emuthain may have returned only to be obliterated with the others. I presume their enemies have taken down all of the major divinities already. Even if Emuthain is a major deity — like Raven, who in several Native American pantheons is both creator and trickster — that may not be enough for an opponent which has already eliminated the remaining majors.

Or perhaps this is a trick of Emuthain's gone horribly wrong. Or one to turn Emuthain into a hero as well as trickster, after saving the day.

[rix_scaedu]

They can hope to be in a positionm to hold a review of what went wrong.