Two Champions

Two opposing armies

incalculable in their numbers

drew first sight of one another

across a flat, empty plain

Here, was to be the final encounter

Though diametrically opposed

both sides were well reasoned

having gathered great wisdom

throughout the ages

of their mutual existence

Neither wanted casualties

upon the scale of this meeting

equal in number and equal in strength

they chose an alternative

to resolve their long standing conflict

Each side would send a champion

across the vast distance

to the exact center of the field

To carry their banner

and all of their hope

There would be a mighty duel

the kind of which

they had seen only once before

The people of the vanquished

would lay down their arms

The choice was simple

on each side of the field

Each people had a Titan

A physical embodiment of all that they were

and would ever hope to be

The peoples from the mountaintops

sent forth their hero

'Perpetual Light'

The mightiest among them

and the gatekeeper of their faith

The peoples from the canyons

sent forth their hero

'Eternal Dark'

The mightiest among them

and the gatekeeper of their faith

On each

their solitary journey

the pair had but one thought

'I cannot fail

or all will be lost'

When at last these two Titans

stood face to face

and toe to toe

their weapons

they did not draw

"I must destroy you utterly"

said the Light

to the Dark

"For it is the will of my people,

the righteous and the good"

"I cannot let you destroy me"

said the Dark

to the Light

"For it is the will of my people

the neutral and the silent"

"What claim do you have to this land?"

asked the Light

"It was made for my people

to propagate

and to flourish"

"What claim do you have to this land?

asked the Dark

"It was made for my people

to encompass

and embrace"

The pair then recognized

that they could extol

the virtue of one to the other

never swaying the balance

never compelling surrender

With this recognition

they placed their mighty hands

upon the hilts

of the marvelous swords

each carried upon their back

"My speed will defeat you"

said the Light

"Of all things known

nothing exceeds the velocity

of the swing of my blade"

"It will not"

said the Dark

"Reflect upon your journeys

to great and distant lands

who but I, is already there, waiting for you to catch me?"

"My form will defeat you"

said the Light

"For it is unique,

twofold in its onslaught

finding nothing yet impenetrable"

"It will not"

said the Dark

"For by my nature,

I am also unique

as I can absorb even the mightiest of strikes"

"My might will defeat you"

said the Light

"My strength is borne

in the foundries of power

that give each and every thing it's shape"

"It will not"

said the Dark

"Your foundries are indeed mighty

but my patience will outlast

the fuel by which they burn"

The Titans fell silent

they had reached the conclusion

there was but no longer

any use

for discourse between the two

Their alternatives exhausted

one option yet remained

Combat, fierce and brutal

to settle the dispute between their kin

Once... and for all

They drew their swords

The sword of Light

carried the brilliance of numberless stars

The sword of Dark

a void, a bladed hole in the fabric of existence.

Slowly

the two began to circle one another

each waiting for the other

to provide the opening

in which to cast the first blow

Their eyes locked upon the other

unblinking

unflinching

unwavering

defiant in their abhorrence of one another

Their circling slowly carried on for days turned into weeks

turned into months

turned into years

turned into millennia

turned into eons

They had not noticed that their armies

waited until they had turned to dust

and then continued

in endless processional

to refill their ranks

They would have been forever locked

in this deadly patient dance

until their gazes were each broken

by a singular voice

that of a small child

She had glided in between them

unnoticed until she spoke

"The war is over."

she said gracefully

"We have decided to unify once again."

The two champions stopped

and stared at this child

She peered upon them both

willingly,

and unafraid

With a gentle inhalation

she stirred upon the air

a breeze

even in its direction

yet increasing in its gale

The layers of dust

all that remained

of the long forgotten ancestors

of these now ancient foes

began to stir

This wind was drawing it in

and as they looked to one another

and then back to the child

they found to their dismay

that she was nowhere to be seen

The dust was gathering now

intermingling and swirling

upon

 and within

these two tired warriors

They were growing in size

as they consumed these motes

that were once

repulsive

each to the other

The force of the wind so mighty now

that the land itself was breaking inward upon them

The mountaintops of the Light

and the canyon floor of the Dark

were now hurtling toward them, and once again consumed

Every fragment

of every thing

great and small

absorbed into their beings

drawn by the breath of a child

The torrent continued

until nothing remained

but these two mortal enemies

Champions

of causes rendered irrelevant

Even they

the mightiest of all

could no longer resist

the unrelenting fury

of this wind

They embraced

the Light and the Dark

and held to each other

as this pitiless force began

to crush them under their own weight

They condensed in size

until the two had become one

a single point

in space

and in time

They had been here before

in this place

in this moment

it was the only memory

that either now retained

It had happened before

it will happen again

the event

that was about

to violently unfold

They thought it curious

that the moment after the last

would again become the first

They bade each other farewell

knowing that they would meet once again

The armies may be different

and so may the field of battle

but these two valiant Titans

would once again be sent forth

to set upon an end, to this a new beginning

 The sequel to "Two Champions" is now up, entitled "Two Champions Reawakened".