The lifeless body of the elder hit the floor with a thud. Immediately after that, the earth began to shake violently. Huge pieces of stone fell down from the crumbling ceiling, crushing the fearful soldier while he hopelessly tried to leave the place, until the walls fell and the whole temple collapsed on itself.
A thunderous roar was then heard all over the region. It had definitely come from somewhere near the sacred mountain, yet no living creature was capable of making such a massive, terrifying sound. Instead, it seemed as if the mountain itself was roaring. Suddenly, wide cracks began to appear all around it, and what had seemed to be a head-shaped mountain turned out to have a whole body attached to it, lying beneath the surface of the earth and stretching for miles. The gigantic colossus lifted its enourmous arms and legs trying to stand up. Streams of hot lava the size of rivers erupted from cracks in its body and poured down its shoulders, covering the nearby fields with molten rock. Beorg had been awaken.
2. Atonement
At this point, the battle at the ruined village was abruptly ended. The northern plains, and therefore the town and the sacred mountain, were perfectly visible from their location, and the vision of a stone giant emerging from the ground was enough to make them forget about their feud.
The army retrated to the town, or at least they tried; before they could reach the gates, the giant strode across the meadows and crushed the town, killing everyone in it. This also wounded the hearts of the mountain dwellers, for it had been their town before the coming of the foreigners. Nevertheless, the awakening of Beorg filled them with relief, for it meant salvation for their people and damnation for those who had enslaved them.
3. The Cleansing of the Earth
But the true purpose of Beorg’s awakening went beyond the limits of their imagination. They did not realise that the giant’s destructive powers were not something they controlled at all. Beorg was not there to save them, but to purify the land, to free the earth from all living things and thus give birth to a new life, a new cycle. Soon, they would join the others. Soon, there would only be ashes.