Mortal Gods (Mantles of Power Book 2)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “Here we are! I might not be the only one who knows about this spot, but not many people come here. It’s a long trip through the maze, and most people don’t find it worthwhile,” Niadra said, releasing Kitania’s arm at last as she looked her in the eyes. “Do you like it?”

  “It’s a lovely spot, I’ll agree. Almost as lovely as you are,” Kitania agreed, smiling and leaning forward to give Niadra a kiss.

  “Mm, that’s what I like to hear,” Niadra purred, embracing Kitania and kissing her hard. The elf was much more passionate this time, and while she was significantly weaker than Kitania was, she was still reasonably fit. Niadra’s hands were just reaching for the laces of Kitania’s dress when another voice interrupted.

  “And just what do you two think you are doing?” Alserah asked, her voice icy with anger.

  Niadra flinched back out of the kiss, and Kitania looked toward the entrance to the alcove to see the goddess, Niadra’s arms still wrapped around her. Alserah looked a bit angry, and in the depths of her eyes Kitania saw the faintest flicker of blue light.

  “Um, I—” Niadra began, her voice trembling, but Alserah interrupted.

  “Silence, Niadra. I’ll have words with you in a few moments,” the goddess said, her beauty almost enhanced by her anger, and her gaze was fixed on Kitania as she asked, “Is this how you repay my choice to release you from your cell, Kitania? By seducing a princess of the realm?”

  She definitely wasn’t happy, Kitania decided, but that didn’t matter much to her, not in her current state of mind. Besides, there was also that intriguing, faintly terrifying flicker of blue in her eyes. If it was what Kitania thought it was, that was a very bad sign.

  The demon didn’t look even slightly apologetic, Alserah noted, and her anger grew, as did the spike of pain rippling through her mind. She tried to suppress her anger, but it was hard, especially since Kitania looked more fascinated by Alserah than regretful. The anger suppressed the odd other emotions that’d been surging through Alserah at the sight of Kitania together with Niadra, which made Alserah slightly happier.

  “To be fair, I’m pretty certain that Niadra was seducing me,” Kitania replied, her tone shockingly relaxed as she met Alserah’s gaze. “I just didn’t resist. You also didn’t say that I couldn’t come to parties like this, and since the collar didn’t shock me for daring to kiss her, I just didn’t worry about it.”

  The ambivalent tone didn’t improve Alserah’s mood at all, and her frustration grew still more. Especially since she saw Niadra blush and look away, despite how pale she’d gone at Alserah’s initial interruption. It meant that Kitania was probably telling the truth, and that made Alserah even angrier, and caused the stabbing pain to grow stronger.

  “That was because I thought that those in the court had better judgment. When your status is unknown, and your claims still unverified, I believed that they would keep their distance,” Alserah replied, scowling at the demon as she crossed her arms. “I also didn’t believe I needed to make so many restrictions on your collar. Obviously, that was a mistake.”

  “Mm, perhaps. Niadra, would you let go of me?” Kitania asked, glancing away from Alserah and smiling at the princess, who reluctantly detached. “I’m not upset with you. To be fair, I wouldn’t normally do something like this; I’ve just been feeling out of sorts and—”

  Kitania suddenly paused, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Niadra and murmured under her breath. “Wait… flushed skin, dilated eyes, being more expressive than normal… we’ve been drugged, haven’t we? I shouldn’t be this relaxed. And I normally don’t get close to someone this fast, not when I was suspicious earlier…”

  “What?” Niadra asked, her eyes widening in obvious shock. “But who would have done that? Why?”

  Alserah’s anger cooled slightly at the implication that someone had drugged Niadra, but she wasn’t about to fully believe Kitania or let her off. But as she was about to speak, Kitania interrupted in a surprisingly happy tone. “No, no, don’t calm down, Your Grace! You need to stay angry. Or emotional, anyway… and not just because you’re prettier that way.”

  “What? Why does that matter?” Alserah demanded, her anger and the pain surging again, along with the faintest hint of embarrassment that the demon thought she was pretty. “You’re the one who might be in danger, here.”

  “Nope, I’m not the one in danger. Niadra, look at Her Grace, please. Her eyes, specifically. Do you see blue inside her pupils? I want to be sure I’m not seeing things,” Kitania said, taking a couple of fearless steps closer to Alserah, which made the goddess uncomfortable. “If I’m drugged, it’s possible that I’m just imagining colors where they aren’t.”

  “Ah…” Niadra hesitated, then slowly looked at Alserah, flinching back as she did so, then nodded and looked away. “Yes, I do see blue.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Kitania murmured, suddenly frowning.

  “What are you going on about?” Alserah snapped out, some of her anger turning to confusion.

  “Your Grace, how long have you been having stabbing headaches whenever you get emotional? Also, have you been having frequent nightmares over the years, often centering around webs, being restrained, and spiders?” Kitania asked, ignoring Alserah’s question as she stepped still closer, almost touching the goddess now as she stared into Alserah’s eyes. Her confidence was disconcerting, to say the least.

  More frightening to Alserah was that she had accurately guessed about problems that had been plaguing Alserah for centuries. The dreams were annoying, as was the pain, but neither she, nor some of the other deities she knew, or even any magi she’d quietly approached, had any idea what the source was. All Alserah knew was that they’d started right after Rosken and the fight with the demon lords there.

  “I’ve been having them for a very long time, ever since a fight with some demons,” Alserah said flatly, her confusion turning to concern, and the pain faded a little more. “Do you know what’s causing it? I’ve approached a number of people over the years, and none of them have ever been able to find the source of it. They thought it might just be natural.”

  “I’m not surprised, considering how rare this is. You probably were stabbed by some bastard with a dream spider fang,” Kitania murmured, her gaze fixed on Alserah’s eyes. “Or bitch, I suppose. Unless you remember being bitten by a glowing blue spider that wasn’t entirely material.”

  “No, there was nothing like that,” Alserah replied, then hesitated as she thought back, then added, “One of the demons did have a dagger that was glowing blue, though, and it ignored my armor. It didn’t hurt much when he hit me with it, and it broke in the process.”

  “It didn’t break. He must have stabbed you with a dream spider fang,” Kitania replied, and she winced, shaking her head unhappily. “I’ve never seen one this big before. In fact, if you weren’t a goddess, you’d probably already be dead.”

  “What?” Niadra said, paling still more as she looked at Kitania in disbelief, any embarrassment long gone.

  “Explain yourself,” Alserah demanded, her concern turning to fear, and the pain spiked again.

  “Dream spiders are native to the uncreatively named Dreaming Jungle far to the west of Estalia,” Kitania explained, stepping back and shrugging as she tugged on a lock of hair thoughtfully, freeing it from her braid by accident. “The natives know how to deal with them, so most dream spiders are spawned from eggs, and they’re about… a foot across, most of the time. Nasty, immune to non-magical attacks, but easily dealt with when you know what you’re doing. The problem is when they bite someone, especially someone who doesn’t know what they’re dealing with.

  “See, if the spiders bite someone or their fang is used as a weapon, it creates another spider inside them. It’s not entirely in our world, so no normal examination spots them. They’re sneaky, evil little things. They feed on the user’s emotions and dreams, particularly nightmares they cause, and grow larger and stronger until the victim’s mind collap
ses and their head just… bursts,” Kitania continued, pausing and shaking her head as a flicker of queasiness flashed across her face. Alserah’s stomach clenched at the description. “The only real way to detect them is when the person is emotional, because you can catch glimpses of the spider through their pupils. This one is so big it can’t really hide anymore. I’m surprised no one has spotted it before this. On the other hand, you are a goddess… I’ll bet that not many people look you in the eye when you’re upset.”

  “Oh no!” Niadra exclaimed, her face white as chalk as she stared at Kitania in horror. Her reaction was far more pronounced than Alserah’s was, but despite the goddess wanting to believe that Kitania might be lying about the spider, she had a sinking sensation that Kitania was right. Niadra continued as Alserah was debating what to do, the pain spiking in her head again. “Can anything be done about it? I mean, you said that the people in that jungle know how to deal with these dream spiders.”

  “Of course something can be done about it! It’s just that it’ll be dangerous, as big as that one is,” Kitania said, glancing at Alserah again speculatively, then shaking her head in concern. “I had one get in my head, but the locals dealt with it inside a week, so it was pretty small. I know a couple of elixirs that can force it out, and then it’s a matter of killing the horrible thing without letting it spawn more of the cursed things. I’ve seen the ruins of a village that didn’t properly prepare for one being removed.”

  “Interesting. Your claims are troubling, Kitania. Do you have any way of proving that the spider is what you say it is?” Alserah asked coldly, slowly forcing her emotions to cool, which helped mitigate the pain. That, more than anything else, had her convinced that Kitania was probably telling the truth.

  “Not at all. The most I can do is tell you to get people you trust to look into your eyes when you’re emotional. Believe me, if they’re looking closely they won’t be able to miss that bloated monstrosity. Though it won’t look that big in your eyes, I suppose,” Kitania replied, crossing her arms as she looked at Alserah, then frowned as she reached up to rub her forehead. “Ugh, my thoughts are going everywhere. It must be the drugs… I’m going to have a horrible headache in the morning, I just know it.”

  “Do you think it was Lord Navian? I wouldn’t think he’d have drugged me, but… no, no, the spider! It’s more important,” Niadra said, quickly shaking her head as if to clear it.

  “I’ll have Lord Navian and others spoken to. Niadra, you’ll visit the Royal Healers once we’re done here to confirm that you were drugged,” Alserah interrupted, keeping her voice level. Despite her misgivings, she looked at Kitania and asked, “As for this spider of yours. If it truly is there, what would removing it entail? This elixir of yours.”

  Kitania giggled, shaking her head as she quickly spoke, looking grimly amused. “It isn’t my spider, but the elixir… I’d have to brew one. It’d take a couple of days, but I’m fairly sure the ingredients won’t be too hard to get. It’s partly a draught that lulls the partaker into a waking dream, one that brings the spider to the surface. The other part is poisonous to the spider, but essentially harmless to others. Extract of dreamweed, combined with just a hint of… wait, sunset fruit wouldn’t be available… um, likely a bit of orchid nectar here in the mortal world. That’ll force it out of your head, and then you’d just need people with magic or magical weapons to kill it. Without getting bit, preferably.”

  “Interesting. However, at this point I will have to ask you to return to your room and stay there for the time being,” Alserah told the demon, her eyes narrowing as she made her decision. “No matter if what you’ve told me is true or false, you’ve still disappointed me with your conduct.”

  “As you say, Your Grace,” Kitania replied, and then she gave a deep curtsey, one that surprised Alserah with its grace and poise. Then she started toward the exit, and Alserah watched her go, feeling conflicted internally.

  Once Kitania had left, the goddess turned her attention to Niadra, who was looking down at the ground. Alserah waited a moment, then asked, slightly incredulously, “What did you think you were doing, inviting her to the ball? You’re a princess.”

  “I… I just wanted to get to know her,” Niadra replied softly, studying her feet in shame, shame that seemed far more pronounced than Alserah had ever seen from the princess. It was probably the drugs, the goddess realized a moment later, almost guiltily. In a lot of ways, she was barely related to Niadra, with a gulf of seven generations between them, and they’d rarely interacted before this.

  Alserah let out a soft sigh and shook her head as she spoke more gently. “No matter. You can reflect on it later, Niadra. For now, you’re to keep your distance from Kitania. Come here. It’s time to get you to the healers.”

  “Yes, Your Grace,” Niadra agreed, and nervously stepped over to Alserah.

  The goddess put her arms around Niadra and tapped into her power to move through the air, quickly ascending so she could bypass the maze and party alike. She caught just a glimpse of Kitania slowly working her way toward the exit before she was out of sight, and a part of Alserah took a bit of grim satisfaction at the idea of the demon getting lost. It unfortunately also reminded her of how she’d first seen Kitania and Niadra, and a thread of envy surged upward once more, causing just a bit of pain to flare through Alserah’s mind.

  She’d have to ask others to investigate Kitania’s claims when she reached the healers, Alserah decided grimly. If Kitania was right… well, at least she’d finally have an explanation for her lasting injury. And just possibly a cure.

  If she did, she’d have to apologize to Kitania for her suspicion.

  Chapter 12

  The sound of the alarm caused Seidrel’s eyes to snap open, and he threw off the blankets as he sprang to his feet, shaking off his slumber quickly. The alarm couldn’t be a test, since he hadn’t scheduled a drill, so he grabbed a tunic and hastily shrugged his way into it, getting his wings through the slits for them with practiced ease, then a pair of trousers and shoes in a few moments more. He should have time to get ready, with the watch schedules he’d set up, but Seidrel didn’t want to dawdle.

  “What in the heavens is happening? Hragon couldn’t possibly be thinking to attack here, could they? It’s been centuries since Firewatch was directly attacked!” Seidrel muttered, though his thoughts did drift to the abduction of First Sword Roselynn, and the disappearance of the group sent to rescue her. Shaking off the grim memories, he grabbed his sword belt and rushed for the door. If there was an actual attack coming, he could grab his armor quickly, but he wanted to figure out what the situation was, first.

  Seidrel stepped out into the hallway to hear the sounds of people rushing about, and he headed for the command room, swearing internally as he regretted moving into the quarters traditionally used by the commander of Firewatch, which were also much further away than the quarters that Roselynn had favored. He’d need to cut through the courtyard to get there, but it wouldn’t take long.

  He turned a corner and saw a couple of other angels rushing toward the courtyard, taking the same route Seidrel was. The man and woman quickly opened the door and rushed into the courtyard, and Seidrel was right behind them. Just as he took a step into the courtyard, he heard the man cry out in alarm, and an instant later a net dropped from above, weights on all the sides as it came crashing down on the pair of guards and tangled their wings.

  “Archangels above!” Seidrel exclaimed, flinching back as he glanced up and saw dozens of winged demons circling the courtyard, many of them carrying more nets, and at least twenty angels were down in nets that he could see. The sight of a succubus gleefully ringing the alarm bell made him blanch as well, and as he watched, several demons were descending toward the newly restrained guards. Seidrel began retreating, intent on reaching his armor as he wondered how the demons had gotten so close without raising the alarm.

  An instant later, he felt an impact from behind as someone bodily kicked him out t
he door, staggering forward as a man spoke. “No, no, you don’t get to run away after coming this far, handsome.”

  Seidrel caught a glimpse of a man melting out of the shadows of the doorway, a fit, armored incubus with a broad smile. Then another weighted net landed on Seidrel before he could regain his balance, and he almost screamed in anger as it drove him to his hands and knees.

  “How did you monsters get in here?” Seidrel demanded, struggling to escape the heavy netting, and unable to draw his sword. “The heavens won’t stand for—”

  “It doesn’t matter what the heavens will stand for,” the incubus replied, planting a boot on the small of Seidrel’s back, which caused the angel to gasp in pain at how the net pulled on his wings. The man’s weight drove Seidrel to the ground, and the incubus continued. “Your outpost played host to a group of angels who invaded Our Lady’s domain. They attempted to murder those under her protection, including her daughter. You’re simply fortunate that we have orders to take all of you alive.”

  “What?” Seidrel asked, his blood running cold. “But they weren’t supposed—”

  “No excuses will suffice, not now,” the incubus interrupted, and hefted a heavy sap as he smiled. “Alive doesn’t mean uninjured, and we can’t have you causing trouble, now can we? Good night, handsome.”

  Then the sap came down on Seidrel. It took two blows before he lost consciousness, with the alarm bell still ringing over Firewatch.

  Meldrion looked around the angelic redoubt in satisfaction, then looked at his lieutenant and smiled at Qorrith as he asked, “What do you have for me?”

  “Firewatch and the surrounding environment are secure, sir,” the muscular blood demon replied, and she smiled in return as she continued. “None of the sentries managed to escape, and based on our investigation all the angels are accounted for. There are reports of some disturbances in the mortal villages, but nothing of note yet. It appears that the outpost is secure and under our control.”