Page 9 of Dominion
Eloy tossed the towel to the floor, then walked into his lavish master bedroom. The large four poster bed that sat in the middle of the room on a raised dais had seen its fair share of sweaty, male flesh and Eloy was determined to add more between the sheets. If there was one thing he loved about being inside a human’s encasement, it was the pleasure that body yielded.
Even something as simple as a caress or kiss could send him spiraling into a vortex of ecstasy. He could see why humans had succumbed to their whims so easily. Not that he could forgive them for taking advantage of the paradise they’d been given. But he could understand why one had so many desires.
As for the paradise, well, that belonged to them now. Him, Kijani, Simeon, and Odessa. The humans needed more guidance only they could provide. If anyone was to rule the masses, the four gods decided it should be them. Everything was much better now, as far as they were concerned.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Simeon, who’d been on board with their plan in the beginning, had grown to see things differently over the decades. Oftentimes, he’d chastised the other gods for their cruelty and tried to reason with them to show more mercy to their worshippers, but because he stood alone, he was always outvoted, so to speak.
Still, and for their own survival, he stood with them as a show of unity and, after the ten year Godwar, they were never challenged. As they knew they wouldn’t be. Humans feared real power and they instinctually bowed down to it. Gone were the days of the past where they prayed to unseen forces.
Now, they knew who they prayed to and why. Faith was replaced with reality and fear. The humans hoped that the gods would continue to bless them. Only a few humans, too few for the gods to concern themselves with, refused to conform. They lived far away from what was considered civilized society and the blessed lands of the cities.
Certain areas within each city contained these “badlands”. Desolate areas the gods did not consider sacred, but in spite of that, seemed to thrive in other ways. Sure, the people had to venture far for resources and somehow managed to survive off of self-made ones, but those lands were hellish as they lacked a sufficient water source and didn’t receive very much rain.
The earth under their feet wasn’t rich enough to grow fruits or vegetables. The air was dry and could be very hot in the day and cold at night. Fire was something that was also hard to come by, as Eloy didn’t always allow it, but to appease Simeon, the other three gods would grant little mercies, if you will, to the people in the badlands. Perhaps that was why they were able to survive over the many decades since the gods had taken control.
In any case, Eloy was intrigued by the people of the badlands. His interest remained that of one who watches as ants go about their day carrying out their duties, nothing more. Every so often, like that casual observer watching the ants going to and from their ant hill, he had the urge to crush it under foot. The wicked glee he’d get from that would be entertaining, but promises were made to Simeon, so he and the others were forced to let the people of the badlands be.
However, those people were not protected under their edict. So, whatever the humans did to their own didn’t concern them. Not every human wanted to sacrifice themselves in the arena or be trained in the many bordellos that littered the four cities, each boasting their own particular fleshy delights to appease the gods. With that in mind, the gods knew that slavery was a necessity, and one that gave them what they wanted. So no, they did not interfere.
Eloy crawled into his bed with its extremely comfortable, handwoven sheets and blanket. He settled in and closed his eyes, then drifted off to sleep with the thoughts of tomorrow’s Games at the front of his mind. He hoped the humans could produce something he hadn’t seen, or at least something that would be exciting.
