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The Balance of the Gods Part 1

By Cimmaron Spirit

Commission for Xilimyth

WARNING: this story contains nudity, macro growth, muscle growth, breast growth, violence and implied death. If none of this suits you, then go away and find something else to entertain you. Otherwise enjoy!

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I sense a great upheaval in the heavens and other worlds.

I have felt it too.

The Balance of Gods is being tested for weakness. If one God weakens, another will take its place.

That cannot be allowed to stand. The Balance is sacred. The Balance is everything. Upsetting the Balance will cause chaos and misery for all the mortals.

These mortals that are attacking the Balance care not for what is sacred. They follow dark urges and the quest of power.

They cannot succeed. The Balance is sacred. The Balance is everything.

We cannot intervene directly. This is not our fight.

Then we shall go to those that are involved, and can intervene.

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The sun was rising on it's daily voyage through the sky over the limestone buildings that sprawled all around the temple complex. In the distance, great glittering pyramids rose, wonders of the world for their size and beauty. The many people's of the city below were emerging from their homes to partake in the business of the day: the market, the courtyards, the fields were filling up with workers, traders, priests, soldiers, men, women and children of all kinds.

From a high perch, one could see the bountiful Nile river to the right, and the vast stretches of desert to the left. The one gave life and nourished it, while the other guarded it, but could as easily take it away.

Kiya watched it all from above, a far distance above the city. The sun glittered off the gold rings that pierced her large ears, the bands that hung on her arms, and made the white cotton robe she wore shine all the brighter. The sphynx cat allowed herself a smile of pride and accomplishment as the city, her city, roused and prepared for the day. Just the one, however.

Tt wasn't her city, per say. Kiya was the head priestess of the largest temple of the city, the Pharaoh of the lands that stretched for miles up and down the river. The city itself was built around the temple over generations, and she was just the current leader of the city. She didn't own in, but she cared for it as if it was her own.

"My lady?" a voice asked. Kiya glanced behind her.

"Xilimyth," Kiya said in greeting. Her head guard was standing in the darker, cooler bed chamber. The cheetah with the wings was clad in armor, hand crafted with bronze and gold to show her powerful strength and body to intimidate any would be attacker. A long spear was strapped to her back, a sharp iron sword hanging from her waist, and a shield of leather, wood and gold on her arms.

"The ceremony will begin soon. You must prepare," Xilimyth said.

Kiya nodded solemnly, turning to her bed chambers to light incense and place the heavy golden headpiece on her head. It was uncomfortable, a reminder of the weight of responsibility that she had to bear to protect the town, safeguard the people, and honor the gods. But she wore it proudly.

She took the staff of her office, of wood and iron, and nodded to Xilimyth. "Then we shall begin."

The cheetah walked ahead of her, opening the large double doors that lead from Kiya's bed chamber to the temple complex itself. Two dozen guards in armor similar to Xilimyth's, but not as ornate or expensive, stood in two rows, and as Xilimyth and Kiya passed, they turned on their heel and marched, forming a protective cordon around the priestess.

Down the stairs and through one courtyard, then another, and into the temple proper itself. From there, they arrived at the gates of the inner sanctum, where two priests, bowing to Kiya, waited.

Now, it was to Kiya herself to complete the morning ritual. The gates swung open, and she walked in, alone. The gates closed behind her.

Once inside, the feline went through the rituals. Each ritual required a specific incantation that she had long since memorized, to all the gods that looked over her nation. Ma'an, the God of Water; Nar, the God of Fire; Ard, the Goddess of Earth, Riah, the Goddess of Wind; Mut, the God of Death; and Kiya, the Goddess of Life. The Balance of Gods.

She had been named after the Goddess of Life when she became the head priestess of the city, and it was to her that the priestess gave the longest, most important incantation too, for she was a servant of all the gods, but to Kiya most of all. They were all equal, but each of the cities of the kingdom were protected by one of the gods.

She gave her whispered prayer, asking Kiya the Goddess to bless the people of the great city around the temple, and to ensure they will continue to live a long, prosperous life.

With her morning prayers complete, she then proceeded to a large water bowl, clear and still. Now Kiya had to finish the ritual, to see if the God's accepted her prayer, and tell her if the city and her people were blessed. She took a gold ring from her finger, and dropped it into the bowl. She waited for the ripples to cascade out, and the displaced water to spill through a small hole and onto the ground below. The water splashed onto the smooth sand at the bottom, and made a shape.

Kiya studied the shape, but found herself nervous and afraid. It had formed in the shape of a sword, the symbol of death and destruction. The symbol of Mut, the arch nemesis of the Goddess Kiya. She had only seen the symbol once before, before a respected leader of the city drowned in the Nile.

"This... this is a bad omen," she murmured to herself.

But, the reading concluded, she used a small metal hook to fish the ring from the water, slipped it on her hand, and used sand to brush away the omen, and leave the sand flat to prepare for tomorrow's ritual.

Kiya took a deep breath, and walked to the gates of the temple. Xilimyth stood guard, like she always did, and two soldiers opened the gates to allow her out.

"How is the readings today, my lady?" Xilimyth asked.

"Unpleasant," Kiya softly said. "A great tragedy may occur today."

"What do you wish for us to do about it?" the cheetah asked. "We can summon more guards, order the markets closed..."

"No," Kiya shook her head. "No. It is the will of the Gods that, whatever happens today must happen. Interfering with them may upset the Balance of Gods, and that cannot be allowed to-"

There was a silent woosh that went past Kiya's sensitive ears, followed by a crack as an arrow struck the wall of the temple behind her, piercing the stone.

Kiya ducked reflexively, while Xilimyth and her guards drew swords. "An attack!"

From the pillars around the courtyard, thirty figures in black and red robes appeared, half with bows and arrows, half with swords and shields.

"For Mut!" they called as one, and the swordsmen charged the priestess and her guards.

Kiya's guards had very little time to prepare, and several were struck down by arrows or swords. Xilimyth was unharmed, and with a roar, tackled the closest enemy with her shield, and forced the black cloaked attacker to the ground. She pulled out her sword to block an enemy swing, and spun around and kicked another figure with her leg.

"My lady! Get back into the temple!" Xilimyth bellowed.

"I cannot go back until-"

"This is for your life! Sacred rules or no, do you not wish to make the ritual tomorrow?"

Kiya, her arms and legs trembling, ran to the doors to the temple. One guard, his shield over Kiya's lithe body, reached up to pull the door open. She slipped in, then turned around.

"Keep safe, my lady-" the guard said before three arrows struck his body in quick succession, and he slumped against the door, forcing it closed and locking her in. Only through a small crack between the two double doors could she see what was happening outside.

Xilimyth was more than holding her own, using sword and shield to deflect enemy attacks. But the rest of the guards had been cut down, having taken only a few of the deranged followers of the God of Death Mut with them. Now it was Xilimyth against twenty.

Please, Goddess Kiya, protect Xilimyth. She has done no wrong, Kiya silently prayed.

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The Balance is under attack. The Priestess of Kiya is threatened. The Goddess of Life Kiya is suffering and in pain as her loyal followers are massacred.

And what shall I do about it?

They are your followers, God of Death Mut. Call them off!

I cannot. They listen not to me. They believe they have been ordered by me to do this heinous crime, when I gave no such instruction.

But you will prosper if the Priestess of Kiya dies.

I don't see how.

The Priestess is a mortal demigod of the Goddess of Life Kiya herself.

Oh? I knew not of this.

Her death will weaken the influence of the Goddess Kiya, your rival. Your power will grow stronger. The Balance of the Gods will be upset, tilted in your favor.

So why should I care what happens to this little Priestess? I gave no such order, but I will prosper if they succeed.

I do not believe that you are so innocent.

That is for you to believe. The Balance has always been in her favor anyway: there is always more life than death in the world. I have abided by it since the Dawn of All Things, the Creation of the Gods. I have not agreed with it, but I have vowed to uphold it.

Then prove your intentions.

Very well. I shall allow the Goddess of Life Kiya's greatest warrior to grow stronger, and use some of my power to do so. If the warrior can defeat my wayward followers, then they are unworthy. But if they can still succeed, then the Balance of the Gods must be shifted anyway, and I will lose the power I gave to the warrior. Does that suit you?

It is unorthodox, and does interfere in the mortal realm, but very well.

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Xilimyth panted and sweated as she continued to fight. Her fellow guards had all been slain to a man, and she was the only thing standing between these murderers and the Priestess.

Xilimyth was not going to allow them to get to Kiya so easily.

Her shield was full of arrows and marks where swords had struck. Her blade was coated in red, having dispatched many of the attackers. Cuts and wounds on her arms, legs and chests, where enemy swords had nicked her, ached as sand and sweat dripped into them.

But she wasn't going down so easily.

She took a deep breath. Her aches were pushed to the side, her flagging strength was renewed.

Xilimyth felt her blood boil, her muscles tense, her whole body surging with anger and strength and fury.

"You picked the wrong temple to attack!" she growled as she plunged the sword into an attacker, who with a cry of agony fell backwards on the ground. She unfurled her wings and jumped up as another arrow flew through the air where she was a moment before, before coming down and landing on another swordsman, crushing him under her weight.

"You will be forever condemned by the Gods!" Xilimyth snarled as she threw her shield at two archers, striking one and making him fall down, his notched arrow letting loose and striking the other archer in the shoulder and pinning him to a pillar.

"You assassins will not win!" she bellowed and with a mighty roar grabbed a spear sticking in the ground beside her, and hurled it. It struck one man so hard it went through his body, and the black and red robed man was lifted off his feet and flew backwards, the spear impaling an archer that stood behind him.

"You will all be sent to your God of Death and Treachery!"

Xilimyth grabbed her sword again, leaping to her shield where it lay and grabbing it as a foolhardy attacker took another swing. The cheetah guard swung her sword with such force that the enemy's iron blade was cleft in two.

She felt an arrow strike her in the back, but it didn't hurt. All she could feel was anger and rage. Xilimyth swung around, and threw her sword like a dagger, and it struck the archer in the chest.

With another roar that made the whole temple shake, Xilimyth got to all fours and pounced, unfolding her wings to allow her to momentarily fly and glide, her sharp claws appeared on her fingertips, and she started clawing and mauling the few followers of Mut that remained. They were powerless to stop the rampaging monster that Xilimyth had become: their swords and arrows and spears did nothing to stop her.

Only a handful managed to flee out onto the streets. The last one that tried to get away was snatched up in the cheetah's paw.

"Who sent you?" she snarled, squeezing the assassin in her grip.

"I-It... was..." the black robed figure gasped. "It was - a holy command... from... the God Mut... himself. The priestess... must... die!"

Xilimyth growled, and threw the hapless, injured assassin into a stone column with such force that the pillar broke in two, and stones from the roof held up by that pillar came crashing down.

The cheetah panted heavily, her eyes darting around. There was no other attackers.

But it felt... weird. Like she was looking down on the scene.

Xilimyth looked to the temple, and realized that she was looking well above the door of the temple, at the third row of carved sculptures and images that craftsmen had designed and built hundreds of years before, of gods and goddesses that had always looked down on the court yard.

But now she was eye level with them.

Xilimyth looked down, to see that she was totally naked. Her armor had fallen off as she outgrew it, and the white tunic she had been wearing was now rags hanging off her body, if they hadn't been ripped or torn away in the fighting.

She looked at her arms, and gave an experimental flex. Her arms were massive, at least twice or even three times bigger than before. That was even taking into account that she was at least double in height now, if not more.

And her chest... her chest was so much bigger. Where before she had small but respectable breasts that could easily be hidden by a tunic or her breastplate, now they were huge, inflated like a sheep's bladder filled with air that amused little kids.

"What... what has happened to me?" Xilimyth rumbled, her voice making the ground and temple shake.

"Xilimyth?" a muffled call reached the cheetah's ears. "Xilimyth? Are they gone now?"

The cheetah shook her head to try to send the thoughts out, and she grabbed hold of the door handle as best as she could at her size, and pulled it open. The doors were heavy, where only the strongest guards could move them. But here she was able to do it with ease.

"My lady," Xilimyth said, looking down into the temple. "They are gone. But..."

Kiya stepped out, and looked up to her head guard. At least, tried to: her large, triangular ears only just reached to the underside of Xilimyth's breasts now.

"I... something happened," Xilimyth said. "I didn't even realize it until the fighting was over."

Kiya was speechless, staring up at the giant, nude Amazonian warrior who nearly filled up the entire temple.

"What happened, my lady?"

"I... I don't know. Magic of some kind. Divine powers." Kiya said, looking around the courtyard. "Who did this?"

"The attackers said they were followers of Mut, and were trying to kill you."

Kiya's body began to tremble. "But, why? I always pay respect to all the gods. Even Mut, who is the opposite of my own namesake."

"I cannot tell you," Xilimyth said. "But... what shall I do now?"

Kiya looked over the massive cheetah, and to the blood on her claws and hands and feet. "I... I do not know. But you have taken many lives today."

"All to protect you, my Lady," Xilimyth said.

"I'm a Priestess of the Goddess of Life," Kiya said, her voice stern. "Why did you go into such a murderous spree?

"To protect you," Xilimyth replied, her voice trembling. Despite being over double the height and several times stronger than the priestess, the cheetah was scared of Kiya.

"I cannot accept that," Kiya said. "You may have just upset the Balance of the Gods, by killing these people, and saving my life. Calamaities may soon come on us all."

With that, Kiya turned and marched up the stairs to her chambers, leaving Xilimyth, naked, afraid, and alone.

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The Priestess still lives.

Aye, that she does.

I have failed you, my Lord. The Balance of Gods is unchanged.

You have not failed me. This is according to my plan.

What do you mean?

Fear not, my loyal subject. All in time, my plan will be revealed. Now, go prepare for the next stage.

Of course, my Lord.