A New Prometheus

Sunset. The sky was beginning its daily shift to darkness, the sun clinging desperately to the horizon as the night gods awakened.
The semicircle of small furry creatures bowed their heads to the dirt and grass of the plateau, paying obeisance to their sun through the neolithic ring of vertical stones set into the ground before them. The setting sun cast long shadows, the hands of the gods. A fire burned on an altar as a priest made sacrifice of the day's hunt upon it, shaking bone-beads and carved totems, so that light may again rise upon the plains the furry creatures called home.
This was not the way it had always been; now the priest spoke of a time forgotten, when the fire-god saw fit to grace the furry creatures with his power, his great golden spears splitting the sky, while his thunder-voice spoke to the children-on-the-plain. The fire-god's spears set alight one of the few great trees; the children-on-the-plain had been given the power of the gods! No longer would they be forced to grovel in the carcasses of the grazers they killed, cleaning the blood from their fur like animals. No longer would their burrows be the victims of firestorms when the fire-god set the grass of their world alight. Now, the small furry creatures had the power of the gods, and the end of each day was devoted to thanks of the fire-god for his great gift.

A new sun appeared.

In the darkening sky above their sun, the home of the fire-god, the small furry creatures saw a new light. An orange point, burning brightly with the spirit of the fire-god.

But, unlike the home of the fire-god that gave warmth to the world, this new light was steadily becoming larger.
And brighter.

As the small furry creatures looked on in wonder and fear, the once small point of light now appeared as a raging inferno, the once orange-yellow light now mixed in with red and white, often flickering green or blue.
Not long after the light had first appeared, it began to light the darkening sky, speaking with the voice of the fire-god as it shot through the air. And, without warning, the light slowly flickered and died, replaced by a dark shape, barley reflecting the waning light of the sun, which still clawed at the distant horizon, somehow refusing to set.

The dark shape circled in the sky, the small furry creatures stared up in uncertainty; the dark shape is unlike anything they have ever seen before. Was it the fire-god himself? It was long and lean, a sleek predator; the back edges of the two rear-swept, downturned wings glowed red with the spirit of the fire-god, and as the shape circled the small furry creatures, they could see the spirit concentrated into four circles, in pairs sloped towards the ground, separated by the body of the predator. Small red and green lights appeared, outlining the points of the predator's silouette.
As the predator completed its second circle, it dove down from the heavens, passing close overhead, the heat, roar and wind of its passing flatting small bodies against grass and fur.

The predator drew close to the edge of the plateau, and slowed, hovering above the ground below, its mighty roar quieting to a dull whine as the fire-spirit diminished from it. The semicircle of the small furry creatures moved from the monoliths and altar to the edge of the plateau, where, even though the predator was level with the plateau, it still towered above the furry creatures. Now that they were closer, the creatures could see that the predators skin was a smooth gray-green, a thin nose widening to a curved body; a stiff fin prodruded from the back of the predator, towards the distant rear, above the downward sloping wings. The nose of the predator nearly touched the plateau, and the body sat, unmoving, in the thin air, parallel to the plateau.

The small furry creatures waited, talking among themselves.
A warrior, bravely, and perhaps foolishly, began to approach the predator, his stone-tipped spear gripped tightly to keep his small hands from shaking.

An opening appeared in the flank of the predator; small puffs of smoke issued from the top and bottom corners of the eight-sided hole. Spears on ropes impacted the side of the plateau, and tightened; a stiff net of what appeared to be black, wide-bladed grass connected the predator with the plateau. The opening was dark

A shadow stood in the opening.

It stepped forward into what little light was left, steadying itself on the net, walking forward onto the plateau.
The shadow was now illuminated; he stood on the balls of three-clawed feet, rising to three times the height of the small furry creatures, who stared up at his powerful frame, covered in gray-green pebbled skin-- marked with black and white-- with awe and fear. Blue eyes pierced the twilight from a blunt head, crowned with white-tipped brown quills. This....god, was a myth in the flesh

The war-god, the aspect of stone. And, always with the war-god was....

The hunting-god, aspect of the grass and all life, appeared out of the shadows behind the war-god, walking as his brother did, yet a full head taller. Brown fur streaked with black covered a whip-cord, lithe body; sharp features and keen eyes of a black-quill-crowned head mirrored those of the pack hunters of the plains.

The war-god looked around, taking in the diminutive creatures gathering around him, an expression that might have been puzzlement....then, frustration, crossing his blunt visage....
“SO NOVA BEKKK!!!!!;” The war-god's voice seemed to split the sky, and the gathering of the small furry creatures shrank back in fear. The hunting-god leaned forward, and tapped the war-god on the shoulder, speaking in a strange tongue:
“Aytald yew. Yewow mee abbeer.”

////////////

Drex Dan-kgh-a Corat stood in darkness, waiting for the starboard hatch of the Aeoch Kale to open. I don't care what he says, this is the right planet...
“Drex, this is the wrong planet; I keep telling you but you won't...”
Drex cut him off as the hatch finally opened, sharp golden light filing the airlock: “Darojak, we circled, and I'm sure about the coordinates. This is the right place.” Drex's gravelly voice countered Darojak's deep accent. The light blinded them to what lay outside.
Drex ducked out the hatch, steadying himself on the web-bridge that spanned the distance between the Kale and the plateau he had anchored it by, a hundred meters above the plain below.

His claws touched dirt, and Drex looked up...and then, looked left, then right, not believing what he saw.

Drex was surrounded by a couple hundred half-meter tall, excessively furry bipedal field mice. Field mice which appeared to be worshiping him, considering that they were kneeling with their round faces touching the ground, tiny paws stretched out towards him.

“SON OF A BEKK!!!!” Drex's roar of frustration caused a wave of cringing in the gathering of bipedal rodents around him.

Very....wrong....planet. I should have replaced that astronav computer.

Darojak's deep voice rumbled in Drex' second and fourth ears: “You owe me a beer.”
Darojak grunted as Drex elbowed him in the gut.
“I noticed. Stow the gloating, let's get out of here,” growled Drex, as he walked back into the airlock.
“We could always look around for that artifact,” said Darojak, chuckling harshly as Drex walked past him. “Maybe enslave the local population to help us dig. Shouldn't be too hard, considering our newfound popularity.”
“You can stay here then,” said Drex.

As Drex got to the airlock, he turned and faced the gathering of furry field mice.
“Wrong planet. Sorry to interrupt...ah, hell y'all won't understand this anyway. Don't try to sacrifice each other because of this.” And, with those parting words, Drex slammed the airlock door shut, made his way to the cockpit of the Kale, strapped in, released the anchor, and soared out of the atmosphere and into deep space, leaving the little furry critters behind.

//////////

The two gods spoke to each other for a few moments. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, they returned to the great predator that they rode in.

The war-god turned around, and spoke in a strange tongue. The skin of the predator closed again, and the war-god vanished from view.

The thunder-voice of the fire god filled the air again, as the great predator left the edge of the plateau and soared into the dark sky, the four red points of light merging with the stars.

The children-of-the-plain would be forever changed, having looked upon the faces of their gods....