In the world of Balhiam, in the Great Desert there lived a deity by the name of Eish. The God Eish was a lone dweller, who walked through the enormous desert with naught around him to give him neither pleasure nor suffering. He called the desert the sands of time, because to him the passing of days was an ineffective unit for the measure of time, as each day the sun came up exactly the same and then went down exactly the same to be replaced by the moon and it happened as such each day for as many days as he knew. The sand changed, however. The sand changed and sometimes in the night a wind would come to visit Eish and it would rearrange the sands to equalize all that needed to be made just in the desert. So, one day dunes would be dunes and then just the next day they would be blown over by the wind and flattened, while other parts of the landscape would be gifted with the sand so that they could exist as dunes as well for a time, before being changed by the wind again. The God Eish saw this to be fair and good and the measure of time through space appropriate and when he would pass a familiar-looking dune he would put his hand over it and nod in silent satisfaction. Eish saw the world change before his eyes, and he wondered if he himself changed. If the sun came up during the day and disappeared during the night and wind blew during the night but during the day it was nowhere to be found and sand collected into dunes, sometimes to be made into bigger dunes and sometimes to be flattened, he wondered how he himself changed. He sat in the desert and studied his body and came to the conclusion that indeed he did change, for he remembered his skin being elastic and firm once, but now it was saggy and tender, and he understood himself to have been changed. Then the God Eish tried to recall how many dunes he saw that were raised and fell and how many days he saw emerge and then end and he wondered how much time has passed or how much space has he put behind him. He could not tell. It could have been centuries. Must have been. He could feel an aching within him. He spent centuries walking the desert all alone and all that he could do was wonder. He would ponder the possibilities of the world, wonder about the shape and size of it, he was curious whether there were things other than sand that fell on the earth, and feelings other than idleness and calm that could haunt the body and creatures to see other than those that walked the desert floor and if perhaps there existed other Gods in this world and if they did, Eish wondered if they felt as lonely as he did. There was no answer, at least none that was definitive. He decided that of all that which he knew he had to introduce order, and so in the night the God Eish would sit on the desert floor and gaze into the sky and stars and look upon the desert creatures and during the day he would walk, always making sure his shadow was the same length so that he was surrounding the sun at all times. This was just and this was wise, for in the day he would circle, just like the sun did and in the night, he would hang in space just like the moon and stars did. The God Eish saw reason in his peculiar endeavor of achieving order in his life. He strongly upheld the belief that all things should be orderly above anything else. He saw that the fundamental rule of life was equilibrium and that it was his duty to maintain it. For this reason, Eish thought himself as a God of the desert. But the desert could not be ruled. He saw it was obvious that the sun was the God of the desert and so the God Eish thought to himself what he was actually a God of, if there was nobody in sight to sign his praises or to think to in prayer. In his wisdom, he decided on the creation of other beings, someone to keep him company, who he could bestow his knowledge upon or share ignorance with. He knelt down on the sand and put his hands together to the creation of the first man out of the sand of the desert, and as he molded the frame of man, he could see that it was indeed a form of life, and so he considered that to be the first man and he called him Erys and he molded more in his image. The God Eish was happy with his creation but soon he noticed that what he brought to life were actually weak, blind and frail beings and when he led them forward they only ever stepped across the desert with him until the nightfall when the ground became cold and the wind, which Eish considered to be his friend turned out to be so strong that the Erys were blown back into the raw sand from which they were formed and the God Eish was eternally sad that despite his great powers and great knowledge, the sole man that he could create was so fragile and inept, that though he spoke onto him, he did not speak back and although he looked at him, he did not look back at him. And although he was there, clearly present, the truth of life eluded him, for he could not experience it in its entire beauty. And so, The God Eish wept, for everyday that he created new man, each night they would perish. And in his wisdom, the God Eish thought to himself:

  “Where must the man of yesterday be? They have fallen to the ground, that is true, but they have not disappeared completely. They have been swept over by the great winds and have become buried underneath new man. Have I been so foolish to build over that which could be built again?” And so, God Eish decided to find the first man, the very first of Erys, from the first day that he thought him up. And the God Eish began to dig in the ground, in the search of that common sand that was the first of Erys, and he dug day and night, and the hole he dug became greater still every day, and yet, he could not find back that old familiar sand. The God Eish so thought to himself:

  “I must be foolish to seek that old sand again, it has been swept over by the great winds, and moved on further. I shall never see my sons again”. He said so and wept again in the hole he dug, which was now so wide and so deep he could not climb out of it. Perhaps that was true. The hole Eish dug was indeed deep and indeed wide, but perhaps it was also true that Eish did not want to dig himself out of the hole. Perhaps it was also true that Eish remained in the hole because he saw that if he was to climb out of it, he would return into the same nothingness that surrounded him for centuries until now. It was possible that Eish saw himself buried in the sand and saw it fitting that if he could not bring into the world life that could persevere that he should simply remain in the hole he dug in shame. If that was true, the God Eish did not remain in his despair for long, as he said to himself:

  “If I must be stuck here, I shall dig further, and although unlikely, peradventure I will find familiar sand yet still”. Once again, Eish spoke as such and perhaps it was true that he had hopes of fighting the first Erys again, that was possible. It was however also possible that in his helplessness the God Eish decided to bury himself underneath the desert so that he may lay among his fallen sons. Either one could have been true or perhaps both. And so, the God Eish dug further, and although he dug for long and he dug deep he did not find that familiar sand again. He dug so long that he saw his fingernails turn to black and he noticed that the sand he dug out was not sand at all, but clay. And so, God Eish thought to himself, let my first creation Erys lay in peace forever in the sands of time, and from this clay, may a new race be built, whose name shall be Erystu, the new man. And the first Erystu arrived from the clay and they were more solid than their predecessors and more conscious. They were capable perfectly of traversing the land, and of looking and speaking and the God Eish rejoiced for he now had true legacy, a creature that although was lesser, was still akin to him. Most importantly, when the God Eish rested in the night and saw the sun emerging in the morning, he saw there his sons of yesterday, still standing bare under the desert’s sun, and when God Eish saw his sons of yesterday he rejoiced greatly and spoke onto them as such:

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Go Erystu and crawl out of this hole that I have dug in my misery and my search for the before-man, go out of this hole and seek out the edge of this desert that I have not seen yet, for I am the creator and wisdomer and you the strength and power” Such the God Eish spoke onto the Erystu, and such the man did. They crawled out of the ditch in toil and then traversed the land, and for many days the God Eish did not see his sons, and only laid in the ditch he dug alone in the scorching sun. And in the scorching sun the God Eish thought to himself as such:

  “I am he who is above the breathing man, and I must behold him and judge him and be as ruler to them, that must be. But whoever might watch over me? Should the dawn of man end, and I fall into death, who would bury me? And now as I am laying and putting my children to work, who beholds me? Who will watch over me as I toil in the scorching sun?” And so, the God Eish took it upon himself, to create God even above himself, so that there will always be the three, one who is below, he who is equal and the one above. And so, confident in his power, the God Eish took the strands of the sun and the light of the moon and meshed them into one, such creating Iragur, the one above, and Eish said to him:

  “You are the one above and you must behold me, let me be a servant to you as my children are to me, let you judge and act as my creator and I will serve thee” And from the strands and light of those that were in the sky, a great eye emerged, merging sun and moon together, so that there was always only one time of day, which was light enough to work but dark enough so that man and the God Eish could rest in the cool breeze. And Eish looked at the great eye called Iragur, who did not speak but only watched as the God Eish toiled in the desert, and he was finally content. Eish could not tell how much time passed exactly, but he waited long for the return of his sons, and they were so greatly built and so perfected that at first, he thought they were killers coming to take his life, until they spoke and revealed themselves to be the Erystu, the first six who first came out of the soil and traversed the land. They helped the old man out of the ditch of his own creation and sat him down on the dunes where he looked at them and observed how the mass of their bodies has become chiseled and muscular, and how their faces grew features distinct such as were his own, and how their voices sounded melodically in their throats and their eyes fixed upon their creator. And the God Eish grabbed the first out of them and said:

  “You are the oldest of my sons, who I created first and I can see now that you are wise and graceful so let your name be Nessar” and the son bowed before him. Then he embraced his second son and said:

  “You are the second of my sons and I can see now that you are the strongest amongst them so let your name be Yiwu” and the son bowed before him. Then he embraced his third and fourth sons and said:

  “You have been created at the same time, in my powers midst, let your names be Rahul and Gohola” and so they bowed before him. Then he embraced his fifth son and said:

  “You are my fifth son, and I can see in your eyes a fiery storm that cannot be contained, let your name then be Taum” and the son bowed before him. Finally, he embraced the sixth son and said onto him:

  “You are the youngest and also the smallest of my sons, I can see however from your smile and your wide eyes that you have kindness and curiosity that far supersedes your brothers, so let your name be Liryas” and the last son bowed before him. Then all of the sons of Eish stood up before him, having sworn their forever undying fealty, a bond which has been made sacred by him as he tied them all forever in spirit and they spoke to him as such:

  “When you set us forth onto the frontier, we had no comprehension of the surrounding world, and in our shape, we were still inchoate, until the sun welcomed sight into our eyes unlike before, and as we walked forward we have made sense of the desert and its dunes and knew our sense was to walk until we found that which it was no longer, and so we walked day and night until we found the flowing water, and the water molded and shaped our insides, so that now we may serve you. And for twenty-five days and twenty-five nights we wandered the desert, strutting forward with no sign of the sands ever stopping, until finally we reached land, and not land such as this, but land plentiful, where flowers bloom and water flows in rivers constantly. There we stayed for five days and we set ourselves on the warm grass, and in the nights the climate was milder, and the ground produced fruits and vast foods that we divided between each other, and we saw wilder beasts roaming the land and peaceful ones and we feared them and could not stay much longer from fear of losing our way back, but when we put our backs towards the way we came from, the sun suddenly disappeared and in the sky there emerged a great monster, whose eye fixed upon us as we wandered the desert. The night we saw there was no more, but we walked on for a time that must have been twice the length we ventured before”. Such spoke the sons of Eish, and when they spoke as such the God Eish laughed and said onto them:

  “You have seen the birth of a god even greater than myself, whose name is the one above, may you not fear him, for he is to me a god as much as I am to you. Be not afraid but rather rejoice for now we may be truly content.” The sons of Eish rejoiced as such and celebrated with their God and father and stayed with him on the dunes and they did not trouble him with the journey to the greener lands yet but rather let his heart first smile with joy at the sight of his legacy in full power. Once Eish was finally content with his creation and having celebrated the emergence of a new era of life, in which after centuries spent roaming, the God has finally seen a time where no longer did his heart freeze in solitude, but indeed smiled and rejoiced, the Erystu set out on their journey towards the land of plenty that had nature blooming wilder than even the Eish could imagine. As they went on Eish looked at the wide backs of his sons and nodded in satisfaction but wondered to himself, with so much time spent alone in the desert and with no prior mentorship, were his sons still pure of other influences, or were they perhaps now something other than what Eish first molded out of clay. As they went on Eish allowed his thoughts to quiet down and walked with his gaze fixed upon the horizon. Every now and then the sons of Eish would look around the landscape and either inhale in contentment or exhale in nervousness. Every now and then their eyes would wander, and they would turn their gaze towards the one above in mystical wonder and with clear unease, such spoke the son of Eish, Rahul to his brother Nessar:

  “Perhaps the God Iragur is a good God to the good God Eish, but does he look with love upon the children of Eish? Should we cherish his name also?” Such spoke Rahul but Nessar in his wisdom spoke such onto his brother:

  “My dearest, do you not have love for me?” His brother nodded.

  “And do you have love for your brother Gohola?” His brother nodded.

  “And do you not have love for your brother Yiwu?” His brother nodded. “And Taum and Liryas too?” Rahul nodded again.

  “And for our father the good God Eish?” And his brother replied:

  “But of course, I hold love for all of you, but why do you ask?” And Nessar replied to his brother:

  “All this world knows is love, and the God Eish also holds love for the God Iragur, as well as the God Iragur does for Eish, where would a feeling of else stem if all encompassing is only love?” His brother nodded and walked forward, his brow no longer tense, but before Nessar matched his stride, he too looked behind him at the terrifying glory of the God Iragur and he as well fell into wonder.