by Quil Carter
THE GODS’ GAMES SERIES
Book One
Volume 1 of 2
THE GODS’ GAMES
GRAPHIC EDITION
By Quil Carter
Table of Contents
THE GODS’ GAMES VOLUME 1
Prologue
1
THE GODS’ GAMES VOLUME 2
© 2015 Quil Carter
All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or in any means – by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission.
This book is dedicated to my fourteen-year-old self. I finally published this book over a decade after first sketching Teal on the margin of a piece of paper. This book has been through multiple re-writes as I grew up and matured, and has always been a constant in my head and a companion during many rough periods in my life. So, fourteen-year-old Quil, this is for you. I bet you never thought I’d finally do it, eh?
Teach you to doubt me, you little shit.
Prologue
Anea walked along the plains of Elron. He walked along the rocks, he walked along the ocean, and he walked along the trees. It was a time in Elron when the immortal walked amongst the mortal; when worship was plenty for the Elder God Anea and his sons.
It was a time in Elron that wouldn’t last.
For thousands of years the creatures of Elron lived in peace with one another. The elves and demi-elves, the children of Anea, who cared for Elron, developed its land, and worshipped Anea and his sons; the animals of Elron, some lean and quick, others large, burly, and strong; and finally the humans, weak creatures with no magical potential, who murdered and pillaged, bullied the other races and tried to conquer the world of Elron with an iron fist.
But as the flow of time trickled on, that peace waned and died.
There were wars where there was once worship, famine where there was once plenty. Elron was slowly falling from its grace and this above all concerned Anea. Something had to be done about this race of humans, and he knew of only one answer.
“My sons!” he called one day. He raised his hands up into the air, into the sky, and stood on the tallest mountain in Elron, Cilandil. He looked upon the world he created and saw it stretch out as far as his eyes could see, for leagues and leagues.
Anea lowered his hands and looked behind him to see his faithful servant demigod. He nodded at the demigod with approval and turned to the clearing in the mountain he had made with his power.
All at once there were various puffs of fire and smoke, and Anea’s sons appeared.
Everon of Evercove, Lelander of Lelan, Daran of Darancove, Karilis of Kar’Endia, and the twins Xalis and Darsheive of Xal’Crith and Dashavia.
The Elder God Anea greeted his sons, and beside him his demigod bowed to each one.
“You know why you are here,” Anea said, looking at all of his children. “I look to the west and I see smoke billowing out of the Forest of Jare. I look to the east and I see the poisoned waters of Lake Alcove. I look to all of Elron and I see the destruction the humans have caused. It saddens me, my children.”
Anea’s sons turned their heads and they saw with their own brilliant dark blue eyes, the plague which had befallen Alcove.
“The humans have massacred my Lelans,” Lelander, Anea’s young fair-haired son said. He looked sadly at the ground, his face holding a deep pain. “They have cut down so much of the forest, Father. My elves struggle to find food for their children. I fear civil war will soon break out.”
“That is nothing!” Darsheive spat. “My Dashavians are suffering more than any race. Father, you have separated my Dashavians from their brother race the Crithians and they toil and die in this forsaken desert you have stuck us in!”
“Your Dashavians are killing my elves as much as the humans.” Lelander raised his voice at his black-haired brother. “You and your doppelganger are as much of a plague to this world as the damn humans!” he spat. “Be warned, serpent, as soon as I raise my army I’m going to massacre your–”
“Bring it on, forest rat!” Darsheive snarled. Behind him Xalis, his identical twin, appeared, and with matching malicious grins, they both advanced on their blond brother. As they did, their fists flared with red and blue flames.
In a flash a silver bow appeared in Lelander’s grasp, then as his other hand stretched back the tight string of the bow, a shimmering silver arrow came into view.
“ENOUGH!” Anea roared; the whole mountain seemed to shake with the power of his voice.
Xalis and Darsheive both stopped dead in their tracks and lowered their hands, and at the same time Lelander dropped his own hands and the bow and arrow disappeared. But despite submitting to their father’s wishes, the twins shot venomous glares at Lelander, and the blond-haired elf reciprocated. They seemed to make a thousand oaths with their eyes, the contempt-filled looks not lost on their father.
Anea shook his head in sadness and turned away from both of them. Squabbles amongst his sons were nothing new and there were more important matters to take care of.
“Daran, my youngest son, have the humans reached as far as you?” Anea asked a younger, teenage-looking elf.
Daran, god of the water elf race the Darcovians, stepped forward. The young god was dressed in a light blue embroidered robe, but his was cut and mended to resemble a short-sleeved surcoat. One of the many ways Daran liked to separate himself from his older, and more serious, brothers.
The young god shook his head; his hair a light blond colour like his brother Lelander, except it had a peculiar blue hue to it. “No, they have not, but my Darcovians have been helping Evercove and Alcove as they deal with the problem.”
Anea nodded slowly. “I see…”
Everon, the god of Evercove, cleared his throat. He was a well-built middle-aged elf with a short, well-trimmed beard. He was one of the older-looking sons of Anea, with black hair and deep black eyes that seemed to sparkle like the stars.
He looked over at his father, his stern face creased with concern.
“I hope I am not speaking out of turn, Father, but they are an abomination, a plague on Elron. They’re steadily killing everything in their paths. They’re power hungry with no respect for Elron, no respect for their fellow creatures, and no respect for the gods. Remember Schrael…”
“I know,” Anea said. He reached his arm out and the demigod obediently handed him a long, silver wood staff he had been holding. Its tip was of burl, gnarled around a glowing green orb.
“This news saddens me, for I gave my heart hope for these godless men. They rejected their god and their blessings and I will not risk the devout of Elron any longer. I have been left with one choice: the godless men must be banished. They will be exiled from Elron, to forever toil in a world untouched by our hand.” Anea closed his eyes momentarily and gripped the staff with both hands. As he clutched the staff, he rose up to the air, through the clouds and into the sky.
He took the jade orb out of the burl of the staff and raised it above his head. The jewel suddenly burst with a brilliant light, as if it had become alive with the god’s touch.
“You have condemned yourself and your sons and daughters to a life of exile,” Anea said, still holding the jewel in his hand. “This is a punishment you have brought on yourself.”
The Elder God Anea closed his eyes and lowered his head. Then he echoed his thoughts out to every human in the world of Elron. “Live your pitiful and bloodthirsty existence away from
the devout of Elron, for no longer will I let you massacre my children. No longer will I let you poison the world of Elron as you had once poisoned my youngest son.”
The humans below him looked up at the sky in awe, dropping their swords and axes as they heard the voice of the Elder God in their heads.
The god lowered his hand and momentarily held the jewel to his chest.
Then, to the surprise of his sons below him, Anea dropped the jewel and swept his hand across the sky.
The ground began to tremble as a violent earthquake started to shake the whole of Elron. The mountains, the oceans, the lakes, and land all trembled with a terrible fury. And as it shook the world, the hearts of every beast and elf felt a chill, for they could feel the Elder God’s sorrow as the world shuddered underneath their feet.
Then from the heavens fell the jewel Anea had been holding, named the Jewel of Elron. And it was only when that jewel hit the soil of Elron did the earthquake stop.
And when the earthquake disappeared – it was found that the humans had disappeared with it.
The Elder God wiped a single tear from his eye, and lowered himself to the top of the mountain. He gave his staff back to the demigod before addressing him.
“Kelakheva, my faithful servant, my failure has pained my heart. I shall leave this world for a time, and while I am gone, you will watch over my creations.”
The demigod looked up at his master and though his soft face held a look of visible shock, he obediently bowed back.
“I will make you proud, Elder God Anea.”
“You’re leaving?” Xalis, the god of the Crithians, asked. He stepped forward, his brother behind him. “Because of those damn humans?”
Karilis, the god of many faces, pushed Xalis aside and shook his head. “Those abominations were of no fault of yours, Father. Elron will recover. We must stay and oversee it.”
Anea raised his hand, and with a pulse of a green light, the Jewel of Elron appeared back in his grasp. He held it carefully and as he turned it in his fingers, a gentle yellow light glowed from deep inside of it. He smiled to himself and to his sons’ surprise he held it out to his servant demigod, Kelakheva.
“Kelakheva, my most faithful.” Anea placed the jade orb into the demigod’s hands and closed them into his. “Use this as you will.”
Suddenly Kelakheva gasped. He felt his knees go weak and his body shake as soon as the Elder God’s hand touched his. It was like the god’s touch was light itself touching a universe that had been covered in darkness since its birth. It lit up the demigod’s mind and heart with such an overwhelming intensity he cried out.
But the cry was not solely from surprise – it was also from sadness. For the touch had opened up Kelakheva’s mind to his master’s emotions, and it was in those emotions that the demigod felt the pain that the Elder God was feeling.
Before Anea had put the Jewel of Elron into Kelakheva’s hands the demigod had struggled to understand why his master had felt so much sadness over the banishment. But with a wave of compassion that seemed to come out of the Jewel of Elron itself, he understood.
Anea loved all of his creations, whether it be the world of Elron itself, its inhabitants, or his sons, the humans were no different. It brought great sorrow to Anea to exile them to a realm where he knew they would continue to destroy themselves.
But with the wave of sorrow that Kelakheva felt coming from his master, he also felt in him a feeling of indifference. That what is, shall be what is, and what had to be done, had to be done. It was almost an inner struggle inside of the Elder God himself; sorrow and compassion fighting with understanding of the greater good and indifference.
The demigod then understood why Anea had to leave Elron. He had to not only mourn for the loss of one of his creations, but he had to punish himself for creating them in the first place. He had created something that not only kept destroying themselves but had, many eons before, destroyed his youngest son.
Kelakheva knew then that this was something that was only shared between himself and Anea, and that it was to never be spoken about out loud.
And with that solemn knowledge Kelakheva inclined his head and looked up at his master.
“Keep close to your heart, the Jewel of Elron. You are its guardian, and its keeper.” Anea moved his hand away from the demigod’s, leaving the glowing orb in Kelakheva’s trembling grasp. “I will return. Our only voice now will be through my holy book.”
“Father…” Everon whispered, but Anea shook his head and turned from his sons. He looked to the vast rolling forests that surrounded the mountains.
“Guard your elves and love them, for they are beloved to us, as we are to them. Let my words be heard, that what is, shall be what is.” Anea smiled, then looked behind his shoulder. “Be well my sons, and please… do get along with each other.”
With Anea’s back turned, the sons of the Elder God exchanged dark glares with each other.
Then there was a flash of brilliant silver light and Anea was gone. Inside the Elder God’s sons an empty feeling grew as the presence of their father left the world of Elron. Their father was gone from the world and that realization alone filled their hearts and souls with unease.
Not a word was spoken between the six, or the demigod, for some time. They stood there looking at the spot where the Holy Anea had once stood.
They were alone now and neither of them knew for how long. Once outside of Elron, the speed of time became unique to each individual realm. In some realms a single day would be a year in Elron, whereas in other realms you could live a century and return to Elron only to discover a week had passed. And curious still, sometimes time would be so slow once returning to Elron, it was as if no time had passed at all.
Kelakheva knew in his heart Anea would not be returning for some time. Not only did he need time away from the beloved world in which he had created, Kelakheva knew that Anea’s sons needed time to grow into their own. Though each was thousands of years old, as gods they were still young and still learning.
Kelakheva sighed and held the Jewel of Elron close to his chest; the empty feeling in his heart was unsettling and he could fast feel a weight start to gather on his shoulders. He wasn’t aware of it at that moment but the weight he felt was the weight of all of Elron.
And it was only going to get heavier.
1
Ben Zahn looked down at his package of Cheetos, before glancing over at his roommate who was holding in his own hand: Doritos. Upon seeing the wonderful red and black bag he once again started having second thoughts about his decision.
“I mean…” Ben pursed his mouth to the side. “I don’t feel like crunching on something. I want the foamy, dissolve in your mouth, cheesy deliciousness. But there is just something about Doritos that keeps dragging me back.”
Tav stared at him for a second before he slowly shook his head back and forth. “You put more thought into your snack decisions than you do your life, Benji.” Then a smirk appeared on his face. “Either way though, asshole, you’re not mooching off of my bag. I still haven’t forgiven you for eating my ten chips.”
Ben grinned at the memory and the two of them started walking up to the front of the corner store. “You left me high as a kite with Cheetos in reach while you went to take a piss. That was your bad judgement; don’t blame me because you still haven’t learned your lesson yet.”
Tav elbowed him in the ribs, and with a squawk and a few dodged kicks they paid for their purchases and headed back out into the cold Denver winter.
“Okay, we have our chips, we have soda at home and our drugs. Anything else we need for roommate fun night?” Ben wrapped his arms around his chest, his teeth immediately starting to chatter. He had lived in Denver all of his life but was horrible about dressing for the weather. In his defence though, he rarely walked to the store – that’s what cars were for.
“Nope! As long as we don’t get too stoned like last time and forget when the movie starts I think we’re good!” Tav
said with a large smile. Every time Ben suggested roommate fun night Tav lit up like a giant light bulb. The kid had only been Ben’s roommate for six months now and he seemed to thrive off of the reassurance that Ben was enjoying his company.
The two of them quickly ran across the highway and jumped onto the sidewalk. The apartment they both shared was only a block away, less time if they decided to cross the park.
Ben pulled on Tav’s nylon jacket and motioned to the dark park, dotted with the shadows of various people enjoying the cold evening.
Tav made a noise in his throat and shook his head.
Ben kept pulling though, and started dragging Tav down a split in the sidewalk that branched off into the park. The young man made another nervous noise but settled for sticking close to his roommate.
Tav wasn’t only new to Denver, Colorado, he was new to the United States. The young man had arrived in the country only two months before moving in with Ben. He had come here on a student visa from Albania. Ben didn’t know his Albanias from his Albinos but Tav had told him it was somewhere in Europe, near Greece apparently.
Still though, being new to the country didn’t mean that he had to be afraid of everything. Ben reminded Tav of this but still only got an uneasy look from his roommate.
“It’s… dark,” Tav said nervously, sweeping the park with his eyes like he could see muggers and rapists hiding in the shadows. The kid was so paranoid it was amusing, as parks went this one was lit up and popular. No one was going to fuck with anyone here, at least not without a reason.
“I’ve crossed this park thousands of times, Tavy,” Ben said, waving a dismissive hand at him. “Most of the people who would be mugging us are my customers anyway. No one will fuck with the hand that gets them high.”
“Which reminds me…” Tav said quietly, dropping his voice. “Don’t we have a drop off to do tonight?”
