#mazra

Upon meeting Mazra, you would never expect that you had come face to face with the Goddess of War and Hate. A sort of serene beauty lies on her outer surface, but the calm waters hide something much more dangerous underneath, and being the one to unleash that monster is the last thing you want to do. Mazra could wait decades before snapping, letting her anger and hatred build up inside her until she is ready to explode or she could snap at the slightest disagreement. It is impossible to guess which straw will break the camel’s back, and if you ever get the absurd idea that this goddess loves you in your head, then you’re already doomed. Mazra has only ever loved one being, mortal and immortal, and things did not end well for him.

Bazias, Mazra’s twin brother, on the other hand, has had many mortal lovers and his been deeply in love with all of them. One in particular stands out for her beauty as well as her foolishness. Kasadis was the daughter of the Emperor of Hayamui, a wise man with a short temper and a big mouth, traits he had passed down to his daughter.

While Hayamui had lived in a state of peace with its neighbors for over a hundred years, Mazra’s importance slowly faded and Bazias’s only grew. The people praised the God of Peace and Love and decorated his temples with gifts; though, Mazra’s temples remained empty except for a few devoted followers. This did not bother Mazra for she knew her time would come and she would plunge Hayamui back into warfare, painting the sand red with blood.

Kasadis was known to be the high priestess of Bazias, few knowing about the affair, and the people equally praised her for her good works. It was true that she had earned the blessing of Bazias through her devotion, but she and the rest of Hayamui had ignored his sister. Though, Kasadis was the only one to scorn the wrathful goddess.

At a council of all of the high priests and priestesses, she stood up before her peers and proclaimed, “War will never strike Hayamui again for I have gained us all the favor of Bazias, God of Peace and Love, and kept the wretched Mazra, Goddess of War and Hate, at bay with my devotion. Today should be proclaimed a national holiday to celebrate the vanquishing of Mazra, who would not dare to strike us now.”

Mazra, of course, took this as a challenge and when an ambassador from the Olyrian Empire came to visit, she filled him with such rage towards Kasadis that he killed her as soon as he met her. The man was promptly killed by the priestess’s guards but it was too late. The high priestess if Bazias and heir to Hayamuin throne was dead.

A war broke out between Hayamui and Olyria that went on for ten years. All of the people who had once flooded Bazias’s temples turned to Mazra and flooded her with gifts and sacrifices, but the scorned goddess was unimpressed and aided the enemy in encroaching on the Hayamuin territory, slowly making their way to the capital Diaphon.

Bazias mourned the loss of Kasadis for years on end, never able to look past his own grief to see what was happening in the world outside. He had turned her body into the kasadis flower that we now use to decorate graves and hang in our doorways when a loved one has past, but no amount of flowers could ever replace her.

It was only when the Emperor himself came to one of Bazias’s temple and prayed to him for three days straight that Bazias began to come to his senses again. The Emperor filled the temple with kasadis flowers that had taken over the royal gardens when his daughter died and begged Bazias to take them as an offering to help end the war. He told Bazias in his prayers about the ambassador, a man once known for his honor and good heart, and how he went mad and killed Kasadis with his two hands. He did not want revenge for his daughter, only an end to the war because that is what she would have wanted.

Bazias, acutely aware of his sister’s tendencies, knew immediately what she had done and was filled with a rage that he had never experienced before. The Emperor did not want revenge, but Bazias would have it. He would end the war and make Mazra hurt the way he did.

In the Olyrian army there was a charioteer named Akipor. He was renowned for his skill with the spear and the ease with which he handled his horses. The Hayamuin army feared him more than they feared an entire legion of soldiers. Everything about him suggested that he had been blessed by Mazra herself; though, he did not believe in foreign gods.

To possess Mazra and Akipir with an insatiable love for each other, Bazias snuck into his sister’s chambers in their mother’s heavenly palace and stole one of her most beloved spears. Placing a love spell upon it, he took it to the Olyrian camp where Akipor was patrolling the perimeter.

“Come take this spear,” Bazias beckoned the young soldier from the darkness, posing as a hermit. “Take this spear and you will never lose another battle. Take his spear and you will become the greatest warrior Olyria has ever known.”

Akipor was neither arrogant nor a fool, but he could feel the power radiating off of the spear, the kind of power that could have only come from a god. He reached for the spear, but Bazias withheld it.

“Careful,” Bazias warned, unwilling to lie even now, “if you accept this spear, you will become a warrior of unmatched strength, even this land’s goddess of war will give you her blessing, then one year from today you will have to repay the blood you spill with this spear with your own blood.”

Hesitating, Akipor stared into the strange eyes of the hermit and for a second thought he felt power radiating from him as well before dismissing the idea. He took the spear in his hand and sealed his fate.

When Mazra awoke and found her favorite spear missing, she took off across the desert in her chariot to track it down. It did not take the furious goddess long to track down Akipor at the Olyrian camp. If not for all of the witnesses, she might have killed him right then and there, but she was instead forced to pose as a fellow Olyrian soldier.

“I do believe that is my spear,” Mazra said after shifting into the form of one of the Olyrian generals.

“No, sir,” Akipor said, “this spear was gifted to me.’

Mazra growled under her breath. “That is my spear, and you will give it to me.”

“No,” he said, gripping the shaft so tight that his knuckled turned white.

She yanked on the spear, pulling it out of Akipor’s hands with ease, but Bazias’s magic hit with all of that strength and then some. In a moment she had gone from being intent on killing Akipor to being madly in love with him, and before anyone else could see, she whisked him away on her chariot.

In the middle of the desert she revealed her true form to him, and if Bazias’s spell hadn’t already taken Akipor’s heart prisoner, then it certainly did in that moment. The two embraced, and Mazra made the soldier a promise: as long as they were together, no man or woman would ever be able to defeat Akipor in battle.

A year passed, and Mazra held true to her word. Akipor became such a legend among the Olyrians and so feared among the Haymuins that he was promoted to general in the army. His strategies never failed, his men never lost a battle. The Olyrian army was mere days from taking Diaphon as they prepared to siege its infamous walls.

However, Akipor had forgotten about his deal with Bazias, so when he went to meet Mazra in their usual place, he did not find his lover but her twin instead. Bazias was neither man nor woman and Akipor had agreed to his price, so there was nothing Mazra could do when Bazias impaled the young man on his own spear and left him for dead.

When Mazra found Akipor, he was barely clinging to life, forced to lay on the ground with the spear still piercing his body. If he left it there, he would die. If he removed it, he would die faster.

Mazra cried over the soldier, using all of her godly powers to try and heal him, but she was too late. He was in Aznades’s hands now. The God of Death would come for Akipor as he did with all humans in the bounds of Hayamui.

As Akipor clung to the goddess, unable to speak as blood filled his mouth, she had an idea. Aznades would only come to collect a human soul. If Akipor was anything other than human, then Aznades could not take him to the underworld.

Mustering as much strength and focus as she could, Mazra placed her hands on Akipor’s human body one last time and allowed his human form to slip away in exchange for a new body for his soul.

In front of her lay a tan dog much like the ones brought from northern countries, but this one was more muscular and had razor sharp teeth. A true wild dog.

The dog got up with a whimper and nuzzled his head under Mazra’s chin. He was alive, but he was no longer the Akipor she loved. She held him close and allowed herself weep for the very first time.

Without Akipor to lead the army, the Olyrian army fell into chaos, and the Haymuins pushed them back to the border, bringing the eleven year war to an end. Mazra, wallowing in the same grief that she had caused her brother, did not seem to care. All her spite and anger had been forgotten, and she could only cling to what remained of her beloved Akipor.