Хелус

Helus had a dream. On board a huge airship, he flew through clouds and fog, bypassed obstacles until he reached the mountain peaks where the gods settled. A radiant divine light illuminated his head, and he felt like a child who had received the undivided attention of his mother. He couldn't hold back his tears. Helus was born into a family of artisans. He was a frail boy and became very ill when he was only a year old. There was almost no hope that he would survive, and the grief-stricken father prayed to the gods that they would spare his son. He promised that if the child survived, he would serve them for the rest of his life. Perhaps the gods had heard his plea. Helus lay in oblivion for several more days, and then suddenly miraculously recovered. The child not only grew up healthy, but also showed a remarkable talent for mechanical engineering. Helus lived in a time known as the Era of the human gods. In that crazy era, everyone was overcome by various obsessions and manias. The buildings rose higher and higher, and people used divine magic as they pleased. Everywhere there was a craving for luxury, pomp and abundance. But despite the fact that people possessed powerful magic, they never stopped being human. Few of them were willing to devote their lives to it, studying step by step, and most did not understand the confusing and dry philosophical treatises. Helus' training was not smooth. Because of his innate isolation, he was disliked by his peers, and his unique talents generated a mixture of envy and fear, because his comrades could not understand him. Helus had few friends. One of them was a young man named Guy. When the envious ones knocked Helus to the ground, Guy stood up for him and saved him from further humiliation. They remained friends even when they grew up. Guy came from a rich and noble family, and he proposed to Helus to build an "Airship", which he had designed during his studies. An airship. Helus imagined a flying mechanism that could travel long distances, was not afraid of dragons and would be able to climb the peaks of distant mountains. Having received financial assistance and resources from Guy, Helus took care of the ship. He spent many days buried in papers, stacks of which towered to the ceiling. Helus personally watched how the finished creation appeared from the parts he designed. The dream that had haunted him since he was a teenager could soon become a reality. Ten long years later, the world's first man-made airship was ready. Such a success amazed the whole world, and Guy basked in the rays of glory. He became a very important person among people and gained enormous power. It was with him that the era of the people-gods began. Inch by inch Guy felt the hull of the airship: it seemed to him as if he was running his fingers over a sharpened blade. He said, "Helus, don't you want to be in charge of your own life? Don't you want Esperia's fate to belong to her? If the gods are ready to reveal to me the secret of eternal life, then my airship will be a worthy reward for them. Otherwise… We will load him with weapons." Hearing Guy's words, Helus became alarmed. Such plans made him uncomfortable, and for the first time in his life he objected to a friend: "This is blasphemy, and I don't like it. " "My dear friend, have you forgotten about those who once wiped their feet on you? Guy held out his hands to him. "The gods of Esperia are superior to all other creatures only because they are immortal. You understand that the Great Ones always have a choice: they can share their magic with people, or they can mix us with dirt." Guy continued to urge Helus to help him develop weapons and armor: "Human life is short, so of course the gods can ignore us. But why is that? After all, people have already been compared to the gods, so why not take the next step and just take their place? After all, no one can guarantee that the gods will not one day wish to deprive us of everything we have." Building an airship or fighting political opponents was all the same to Guy, as long as it led him to a single goal: to become a Higher Power. Helus could never understand this desire and did not want to put up with it. He refused to participate in Guy's further ventures. The pious father taught Helus to love the divine light and to honor the gods. Shortly after the quarrel, a powerful explosion occurred in Helus' workshop. Some said it was the work of Guy's political rivals who wanted to remove his top aide. Others believed that Guy himself had caused the explosion, because he didn't care about those whom he considered inferior. Anyway, Guy held an important position in the army, and this event was an excellent reason to start the war. The whole country has plunged into the abyss of violence. Heads flew, rivers of blood flowed, and Guy finally became an important military commander. The explosion tore Helus' body into small pieces. When he opened his eyes, he couldn't figure out where he was. He was far beyond the limited human mind, in a higher realm accessible only to the gods. Here he saw a time in which mortals created myriad things, and it itself created mortals. He saw how people build their own prison, obeying the laws of everyday life and their own weaknesses. It was their own fault that they could not break out of the limits available to them. A soft sigh reached his ears from an incomprehensible distance. The deity studied the drawings and notes of Helus page by page, and there was sincere admiration on his face. It said: "People are so insignificant, but their creativity is truly amazing. Wisdom and diligence have already brought you closer to understanding the essence of creation than any other inhabitant of this world. Creation will always be more meaningful than destruction. Intention is the golden rule of creation." As the deity finished speaking, Helus felt a colossal wave of energy pass through every piece of his shattered body, gathering them together. A light flashed, and the fog in front of his eyes began to dissipate… The gods themselves chose Helus, and now he has become one of them, a master architect. At that very moment, he understood the true essence of creation. "It was always there, but only now I saw it."