Zeus and the Wise Man

Submitted into Contest #83 in response to: Write a fantasy story about water gods or spirits.... view prompt

7 comments

Fiction Fantasy Adventure

There was once a baby. A newborn baby, that is. But this baby wasn’t normal. He was very strong. Like the universe gave him a special power. He was born, though, to some powerful gods. As he grew up, he got stronger and stronger. Then he left a note that he had a quest for him. He was a new adult at the time, so he wasn’t super responsible. He went on a long and hard quest, but because he was so strong nothing could stop him, or though he thought. It all seemed normal in the beginning, birds chirping, leaves swaying, until there was a man that attacked him. He used very skillful moves he had never seen before. He defeated him easily, but if he was an ordinary man he would have been outdone. He used them along the way if things like tigers and other vicious creatures came in his way. The animals were so surprised, they fled back to their dens and knew this man was very powerful. Another stop was a lady that was practicing medicine. He hid in the bushes and watched. The woman was using a mixing bowl and a long, thick rock to mash together the herbs she gathered. She was talking to herself about all of the plants. There was watermint, coltsfoot, marigold, chervil, and much much more stuffed in the back of his head. He remembered watermint is for bellyache, chervil is for infected wounds, and coltsfoot to ease hard breathing. He wondered if she was in a tribe, or some sort of place where she needed to heal many people. He knew he wouldn’t use it much, but it was useful he guessed. He liked learning all these things in secret. Before he left to go on his quest, he searched for some of the herbs for if he needed to heal anything along the way. Along a trail in the forest, he saw a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. The bird was crying out to his mama, that wasn't there at the moment. The bird's leg looked fractured, so he took a small stick and some leaves and wrapped the leg into a kind of cast. He then lifted the bird back into the nest, waited, and finally saw the mom come back. He felt proud that he saved a little bird's life that day. He has had some other encounters with healers along the way. They taught him very interesting things that he could never learn at any other medicine school. The most important thing he learned was that you have to comfort your patient, and help it through the way. As he was approaching a big tree, there was an old man. The old man was sitting on the big tree. This man called it the tree of wisdom. The guy asked him how the wisdom came. The old man told him the tree doesn’t give off wisdom, it gets wisdom from others. The old man asked him if he had gained wisdom. The guy thought, then remembered a couple things he saw on his quest. The guy told the man a guy attacked him. He had skillful and useful moves, so he used them on other attackers. He was successful and showed them who's boss. Then he saw a woman practicing medicine, and knew some simple useful things if anyone was hurt. He helped a baby bird with a broken leg. He learned that he needed to comfort the patient and be gentle with them. The old man just smiled and said,”That is what true wisdom is. People who come to me and say,’I went to school and got an education’ but that is not really wisdom. Wisdom is when you learn from mistakes, and from other people. You are capable of sharing and learning wisdom everyday, my son. I will give you this spear of wisdom.” The spear emerged from the wisdom tree, and the old man handed it to him. The old man continued.”It is your time to show people the real meaning of wisdom. You shall respect the people, and you may even learn from them, too.” The guy felt important. He felt he could use the world as his own, so that is what he was destined to do. He kept his mighty spear of wisdom and went along everyday. He watched over his people and hoped to teach some of them. He fought battles against people from the underworld, and protected his people. He visited the wisdom tree often, where the old man would sit everyday.  He thought about the old man everyday, and how much wisdom he taught from those words he said to him. These specific words he treasured the most,”You are capable of sharing and learning wisdom everyday, my son.” Everyone was able to learn and show wisdom, and that's what he taught his people. He will watch over them everyday and feel the sense of pride that very day he met the old man. When the old man had passed, he knew he must take the power and sit where the old man sat. He watched over the people like his children everyday. He knew that there was one person, however, who watched over him. The person that led him to this life he would have never imagined for himself. The life that took him here to sit at the wisdom tree, and gain more knowledge everyday. He also taught people wisdom. He held his mighty spear closer to him. He saw many people of wisdom, and many people not. People not of wisdom he would politely send away to try and come again. One of those people came back strong and wise. He let that person have a life like him. He was a god like him now, protecting his kingdom from harsh threats. Then for the other people of wisdom, he thought some of them would be just great rulers. Some of them did become rulers, while others stayed their lives just comfortable with all their wise self. He knew he would watch over all of them until he died and relived the cycle again. Zeus would watch over them everyday.

March 05, 2021 19:34

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7 comments

Iako Lomia
22:55 Mar 10, 2021

I love the idea of the story, I loved the beginning especially. I think your way of writing is really good, but it could develope lot more. I would like to recommend not using the same word in the same sentence a lot, I saw you using people several times in one sentence and it does not sound good, but overall I love your story and I am looking forward to read your future ones 💙 P.s I would also be happy if you could check out my vey first story on reedsy and hear your thoughts about it

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Nova Weyant
18:09 Mar 11, 2021

Oh thanks so much! I know, looking at the other stories, that mine wasn't the best. I am just a kid, by the way. Thanks for the tips, I really want to be a good writer one day. It means a lot that someone comments on my story. Thanks again!

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Iako Lomia
17:22 Mar 14, 2021

My pleasure 💙

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Iako Lomia
17:22 Mar 14, 2021

My pleasure 💙

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Iako Lomia
17:22 Mar 14, 2021

My pleasure 💙

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