Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write about a god desperately trying to get their chosen hero to follow the path they set out for them.

Posted in Fantasy on May 5, 2023

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 61 stories

Morana's Mission

Submitted to Contest #197

It was a dark and lonely night. The peaceful, lush and beautiful city of Rolumique was fast asleep, and every thing was normal. But the gods were watching. Some of them were good. Some of them were evil. And the evil ones - known as the Devils - were setting up evil plans to cause a war between the two countries of Rolumbique and Carnia, causing massive deaths, starvation, hunger, loss, and pain and suffering. If either country lost, then other countries would also fall victim to this plan - for both of these countries held important supp...

15 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Untold Story of Caledon Hockley

Submitted to Contest #197

From the opulent confines of a grand estate in Pennsylvania, a thirty-year-old Caledon Hockley lamented his lack of a wife. Though he was blessed with wealth and good looks, his haughty demeanour had turned away many a potential suitor, leaving him alone and longing for companionship.Desperate for a solution, he turned to me in prayer, entreating me with all the sincerity of his heart. "Oh, divine Lord," he beseeched me, "guide me to the woman who will be my perfect match. I will cherish her always and provide for our children with all the r...

15 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Hercules Shrugged

Submitted to Contest #197

Hercules Shrugged“Are you coming to church, Wally?”“Yes, I have a special intention.”“No, Wally, you can’t do that.”“Why not, Gladys? If you can pray for your beast of a sister to recover from her big toe surgery, I can ask for a little nudge to get Junior headed in the right direction in life.”“Wally, you can’t ask God to get your kid to play football. Besides, it’s his life. You have to let him do what he wants to do, allow him to pursue his dreams.”“Gladys, the kid is 6’2’’, weighs 215 lbs., and runs like a freaking gazelle. And he’s just...

15 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

The Accuser

Submitted to Contest #197

“Archamirades!” said Jonus, standing on the high cliff of Mount Mapley as he looked over at the Mountain of the Gods over 50 miles away. The gods were so fickle – waiting for the perfect opportunity to reply, never wanting to seem too eager. Jonus stood there, his tattered rags soaked all the way through, his feet penetrated by spines and rock jelly. What could this mere mortal have that the gods would want? Or was it the other way around? “They’re not hearing you, my lad,” said Shella, Jonus’s wife and loyal companion. Jonus couldn’t help b...

14 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

The Redemption of the Cowardly Immortal

Submitted to Contest #197

It was the fifty ninth day of Tomryan’s immortality and the God of Life was still furious. Her golden orbs for eyes fixated on him as she moved in close, scowling so intensely that Tomryan thought that she might knock him backward with the force of her glare alone. For a split second, he contemplated dashing in the opposite direction, back out through the waterfall that concealed the entrance of the God’s magnificent chamber; but he stood his ground. ‘I assume you didn’t bring me here to lecture me on my choices again,’ He said with false br...

13 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Can You Say "No" to a God?

Submitted to Contest #197

“No? What do you mean, ‘no’?” I went back to my duties, ignoring the man whose face had just turned beet red. I picked up another twig, assessed its dryness, then added it to the bundle in my arm. “You do realize that I just offered you the chance of a lifetime, right?” The man was, admittedly, beautiful. I mean gorgeous. Long, dark hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and a face that might have been chiseled out of marble. Something about him repulsed me, though. Something familiar, as if he brought up old memories of someone I knew, like an ex-...

13 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Game

Submitted to Contest #197

Hillsdale, the otherworldly home of the Gods, boasted lush green trees, vibrant flowers and the brightest sun. The mountains, waters and gardens inspired the creation of the most majestic scenery on Earth. The Goddess Maeve was particularly proud of her contributions to humanity, encouraging the people on Earth to cultivate beauty and promote harmonious connections. She took her appointment as the God of Human Heroes very seriously and spent a great deal of her time imparting her infinite wisdom on her children, Angelina and Dante. Maeve kne...

12 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Olympics Gamed

Submitted to Contest #197

Mars, the god of war, clapped his hands and addressed the crowd. “Welcome! What a beautiful morning here on Mount Olympus.” The crowd cheered. Epimetheus suppressed an ironic smile. The god of afterthought and the father of excuses considered his lowly status amongst his peers. “Some gods get all the breaks. Why is the god of war presiding over the opening of the Olympic Games?” No one answered him. Sitting on his lonely cloud, the other gods considered his location ‘nosebleed’ territory. Mars continued, “Minotaur, Chimera and Cerberus wa...

12 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

Champion of Light

Submitted to Contest #197

Under the rising sun, concealed by the moon, a child was born. The Champion of light that the ancient prophecies foretold of. Far to the west: whole forests were cleared, rivers dammed, and animals driven to near extinction. The Commonwealth of Estaria was responsible. Smoke and soot filled the air above their cities, as they ignited new steam engines and factories whirred to life. For each tree felled, each bird choked by the smog, and every fish poisoned in the rivers, the god Arcanis wept. A scholar of the old gods, and a student of prop...

12 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Into the Looking Pool

Submitted to Contest #197

“By the Heavens, she’s eating again! Curse this lazy miscreant!” Darcinian shouted into the Looking Pool, grasping its marble frame. The shallow waters of divinity glimmered and gleamed along the edges, yet the center was clear, as were the projected images of the earthly world below.“Yes, sire. Would you prefer a plague of boils? Chased by hounds? Or, perhaps something more innovative, such as everything she drinks turning to blood?”“What? No! I was being hyperbolic, not literal!”“Ah, indeed. Apologies,” Marquis nodded, scratching out the r...

12 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Ye Gods!

Submitted to Contest #197

He filled the sink with water. This he did in the usual way. The painstakingly simple and boring way. He could have filled that sink in any number of ways, if he’d been feeling chipper, the sink would have been filled in an imaginatively miraculous way and there’d have been nerve strokingly lovely music accompanying this feat of his. But he just couldn’t be bothered. So he turned the taps on and watched the purest water imaginable fill the incredibly well fashioned stone sink, and not for the first time he wondered whether his spell of...

11 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Scars: A Legacy of Chaos Story

Submitted to Contest #197

Scars Axus Stormbringer, Prince of Illionian Merkander, Champion of the Arenas on the Coast of Jormungand, Royal Bard of the Kingdom of Cthohr, Defender of the Tower of the Continuum, and Champion of Necra sat flexing the scarred ruins of his sword hand. It had been nearly a season since the Battle of Everfrost but he was still nursing the injury. His forefinger traced the angry red scars along the dark skin on the back of his hand. He winced remembering the searing pain as the blade of his sword was liquified in his grip. He had been so...

11 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

The Great Beast

Submitted to Contest #197

Zacharia palmed the LSD tab while the other Disciples set theirs on their tongues. Eyes closed, no one noticed the dissenting sleight of hand. At this phase of the pledge it was all but certain no one would disobey commands. Multiple disciples had already broken their vows and had been disappeared for undesirable behavior: One vocalized logical fallacies in The Book of the Law. One wandered off of the compound and drunkenly revealed the happenings of The Order in the town pub. One refused to submit to the sexual desires of The Coven (the mor...

11 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Twists of Fate

Submitted to Contest #197

When my son was fourteen, one summer he fell into his first real crush with another fourteen-year-old visiting her cousins from another city far away. When he wasn’t at one of his summer jobs he was at the beach with them. On the morning in late August this girl left to go home, she gave him her scarf. A few months later he told me their letters had lasted as long as the scent of her hair in that scarf and he had to accept that there was no future with her. He was fourteen and she was 100 miles away. That may have been the summer her was no ...

11 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Twisting Fate

Submitted to Contest #197

“Unbelievable!” The shout startled several birds out of the shelter of the branches, and Hermes looked up from his scroll. A lock of blond hair fell into his bright green eyes, and he pushed it behind his ear as the birds began to settle down again. The cry had been Athena’s voice. The goddess of wisdom never raged unless it was against her brother Ares. Were the two of them fighting again? Hermes rolled his eyes and turned back to his scroll when Athena shouted again.  “I have given you every opportunity a mortal could hope for! Why ...

11 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about someone successfully — or unsuccessfully — escaping their fate.

Angst – 107 stories

Write a story that includes the phrase “I’m free!”

Dialogue – 60 stories

Write about somebody who wholeheartedly believes in fate, and views every little thing through the lens of predestiny.

Character – 22 stories

Set your story in a world where everyone’s decisions are made for them. One morning, your character wakes up, and chooses not to go to work. Wait…chooses?!

Thriller and Suspense – 18 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel