The Winds and The Rain

A cold breeze brushed her skin causing a million goose bumps to appear on her arms. She ran so much into the depths of the forest that she was definitely lost now. Mayra looked up to the sky and prayed to the ancient Gods to find her way back to her father's house. She was sure HE followed her here; there was only a mere second until he would pop out of a bush. The beast was sure taking its time while Mayra found a place to hide, keeping her breath and trying desperately to be quiet. She exhaled quietly one more time at the sound of silence, but then she felt a warm breath on her cheek. Ares, the Great Lord of the Winds was before her in his creature form. He quickly transformed in human form and took her by the arm before she would sprint her way into the forest.

"Where do you think you're going, Mayra? You really wish to end up dead tonight?"

"How... how do you know my name?" she asked the Great Lord.

"Mayra, remember what you wished for in your prayer that night?" the Great Lord asked the trembling girl.

"I... I asked for help, I asked the Winds for help." she said quietly, her lips shivering.

"I came here to help you, I apologize for scaring you."

"Who are you? Why did you chase me? Please let me go!" , she screamed.

"Shh shh, stop screaming. I am the Great Lord of the Winds. I heard you screaming that night and your request, so I started searching for you." He explained.

Mayra's eyes popped out of her head as she gasped for air. She kneeled before him and asked: “How is it possible? I am just an insignificant mortal…“ the girl said, a single tear slipping down her cheek.

“The Great Goddess guided me to you, Mayra. You’re now safe, I promise”, he said softly, brushing her cheek and wiping her tears. 

Mayra has lived all her live in terror. She has been grown by her despotic father, after her mother has been killed 10 years ago, when she was only seven years old.

There has been the Great War in which one million human women have been killed by Hades, the God of Hell. For a long time humans have been haunted by the Greek Gods because Eve, Hades’ partner and wife, ran with a human man and left Hades bleeding after she stabbed him with the immortal knife of death, taking half of his powers. Hades started hating women since then and he started The Great War. The Great Lord of the Winds and his army had the mission of protecting humans, especially women, after the Great War when Hades ended up dead, killed guess by whom? Ares, The Great Lord of the Winds.

Ares was half God, half human. A bastard. An “offspring” they called him. But The Great Goddess took him under her care and made him become a Lord, gave him the power of controlling the Winds, as humans called them. The Winds were in fact all the souls that ever existed. People believed that when someone dies, they go in the sky and transform in stars, but in fact they transformed in “winds”. They felt like warm breezes in summer and icy winds in winter, storming the lands.

The night Ares heard Mayra scream and praying to Gods for help, her father was molesting her, beating her and burning her skin with a red hot scolding iron. He has always hated Mayra because she looked exactly like her mother. After his wife has been killed, the pain took his sanity and he completely turned emotionless. The Great Goddess addressed Ares the first time after the War was over and Hades was gone: “Ares, you have to save this girl. Find her and protect her with your life!”

Ares didn’t waste any time and started to follow the Great Goddess’ directions in search of the crying girl.

He had to transform in his creature form so he could fly and have a better view of the mortals’ lands. He soon arrived to a small cottage near the forest, and with a great force he threw the door on a side just in time to save Mayra from death. Her father was holding a knife at his daughter’s throat, ready to take her life, without an ounce of emotion in his lifeless eyes. Ares blew his winds and threw the knife on the floor, Mayra’s father freezing when he saw the enormous creature standing behind him. Ares yelled at Mayra, saying:”Leave, run to the forest and don’t stop!”

Mayra’s eyes were filled with tears as she tried to carry her feet and run to the forest. Behind her, her father’s screams echoed through the entire forest, and for a moment she wanted to turn back around to the house, but the image of that creature, that terrifying creature made her run faster, until she find a place to hide.

Now, after she managed to calm down and hearing Ares’ story, she started crying again and said: “I have no place to go now, I am alone”, she cried.

“You’ll be safe with me, I will take you somewhere safe”, said the Great Lord of the Winds.

He took her hands and asked her to close her eyes, as he then teleported them up in the sky to the Realm of the Winds, where Great Goddess was waiting for them.

“Come child, come closer”, said the Great Goddess. Ares lead Mayra to the Goddess’ throne, and Mayra remained silenced by the Goddess’ beauty, admiring her gold locks of hair and her sparkling blue eyes that looked so unreal.

“I am the Great Goddess, the Creator of your kind and your lands. I know your father has been putting you through great pain and hurt. I sent the Great Lord of the Winds to save you and bring you to me. You’ll live here from now on, away from that horrible man. Ares will be your protector”, said the Goddess firmly but with a gentle smile.

Mayra then looked at Ares and she fainted, falling into his arms.

Mayra woke up with the sensation of falling, bolting from her bed at the sound of the alarm. She took her phone and checked the time, gasping: “I am late for work!!!”           

What a dream she had… Later at the office, the Principal calls everyone in the conference room for an announcement. Taking her seat, she opened her notebook and waited for the news.

“Thank you everyone for being here, I have a quick announcement to make. As you all have noticed, I am getting a bit old to keep this firm on the heights of the market, so I decided to leave my son, Ares to take the reins here”. At the sound of that name, Mayra looked up from her laptop and glanced at the new comer, her mouth going agape: the man in front of her was the man she dreamed last night, The Great Lord of the Winds!! She almost fell off her chair when he said: “Hello, everyone… Mayra.”

To be continued…