The Gods' Games Volume 1 & 2: Graphic Edition (The Gods' Games Series)

by Quil Carter

  Malagant tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “I was supposed to take care of them.”

  Now I know how Teal felt, except I was supposed to take care of him too. Now I’m watching this Throateater mask slowly cover his face, and I’m watching myself fail the most important prophecy we’ve had in centuries. My father ruined his life to create me, only for me to fail him and everyone else, including Ben. I won’t be able to give Alcove back to King Calin, and kill Erick and his priests. I won’t save Elron like I was born to do.

  I failed, I failed everyone.

  I should have let Ben kill Taugis… I shouldn’t have given Taugis mercy he didn’t deserve. I shouldn’t have handed him back to Korivander. I’ll never put mercy for another in front of my friends’ safety again.

  “Have some faith, brother.” Josiah put a hand on his shoulder. “We have a lot of elves out to help us and we even have Gellert along to replace Teal. We’ll find him. Either way, we’ll find him.”

  They walked through the open gate and into the grasslands. The mud was thick at the entrance, filling up with pools of muddy water. Ahead of them, grey sky, the clouds looking black and threatening. A thin veiled fog had shrouded the hills of the plains, with stray bits of sunbeams breaking the encompassing mist. It looked beautiful, though the leagues and leagues of endless green and grey around Malagant were daunting. It was a lot of ground to cover. A lot of places to hide. And in the rains, chances are Ben would be looking for shelter.

  With Daesy and Fenton behind him, Malagant glanced at his parchment before folding it up and placing it inside his cloak.

  “Daesy, you keep a dozen or so yards left; Fenton, a dozen to the right,” Malagant said, glancing to his sides. There were trees drooping with rain water all around them, but farther south where they had just come from, they started to thin.

  Daesy nodded. She was a strong ladyelf like her mother, with the same steel-grey eyes and shoulder length black hair. “I know a few fox and wolf holes; I’ll check them as we go along.”

  Fenton was a young but burly Alcovian elf; he was dressed in light guard’s garb and was wearing a shortsword on his side. He had long blond hair and brown eyes with a bearded face. “I’ll climb trees and scout.”

  Malagant nodded, slapping a few flies away, an odd sight to see in the rain. “If you see any footprints… anything…”

  “We’ll call you over.” Fenton nodded.

  With Daesy and Fenton off scouring the ridges and grasslands around them, and the walls of Birch starting to become faded in the rainy mists, Malagant walked on. He didn’t want to be alone with his roving thoughts so he just quietly whistled songs to himself. Songs that he knew Ben would know. Malagant the Great was the main one he would whistle, and Teal’s hibrid song, but he also found himself whispering The Moon’s Song, the one Ben had caught him singing that night by the fire.

  The night that seemed so long ago… right before it happened.

  No, no, stop thinking, you stupid elf, Malagant hissed to himself. He was refusing his mind to go to dark places. Negative thinking wasn’t going to help Ben.

  Malagant wiped the rain from his face with his hands, and tried to dry it on his doublet sleeve. The two figures on either side of him reminded him of his journey thus far. However those figures should be Ben and Teal, and they should be heading to Newvark now to hire a ship to Garas.

  Now Malagant was heading back towards the canyons, with a towns-elf and a guard, looking for Ben.

  Malagant tucked his hands inside his doublet to keep them warm and walked on, whistling all the songs he knew, keeping an ear out for his friend. The clouds kept darkening all around him, threatening heavier rain. It was already starting to bead off of his cloak, every time he stepped down a slope or incline it shot off of him in small transparent pearls. He started making a habit of shaking his cloak every half an hour or so, to keep it from soaking through.

  Several hours later, Malagant dug his boots into the wet ground as he started down a slight incline, grey jagged rocks poking out of the hills all around him as the terrain got steeper and slicker. Teal must’ve needed deity strength to drag his body to Birch, or Throateater anyway.

  Malagant jerked his head back as a dragon fly buzzed into his face. He slapped it away but behind it were several bulging flies.

  Then the ground disappeared out from under him as he slipped on the wet grass. He landed right on his bottom and gave out a disgruntled curse. He batted a few more flies away and rose to his feet.

  But as he wiped the mud away from his backside, he noticed something.

  The ground was alive around him. It was speckled with bees, moths, and other bugs unable to fly in rain. Most were dead, but a few of them were buzzing around, dying under the falling rain and damp mist. The heavy rain-soaked grass seemed to be finishing them off. Malagant could even hear the low buzzing over the rain shower. There seemed to be thousands.

  Bugs were stupid, but they knew enough to keep hidden when it was raining. Malagant’s eyes scanned the area, seeing more and more insects writhing under the rain. Now that he was looking for them he realized they were blanketing the ground.

  Malagant rose to his feet and wiped the rest of the mud off, then started continuing to walk, though he couldn’t help but stare at the odd sight before him.

  A horn wasp landed on him, Malagant flicked it away and watched it fly into a bumblebee, both of them buzzing angrily at each other. He drew his cloak around him and latched it tight; he didn’t want any bugs flying to any exposed skin. They seemed mad and ready to sting.

  After giving his surroundings a detailed look, Malagant carefully made his way to the bottom of the incline, keeping his head lowered. He looked up to see another rise in the plains, with several slate-like rocks jutting out over a gathering of trees. He looked to his side to try and spot the other two, but the rise was too sharp. At least once he got onto the rocks he would be able to spot them.

  Malagant jumped onto the rough rocks and made his way to the top. Still whistling, though only the buzzing and the rain answered his songs. At least if Ben was around he would probably be hollering from the insects. Ben always hated bees and wasps. He flailed around shrieking like a maiden whenever one flew into their canvas tent. Teal had commented at one point in time that most humans seemed to turn into little girls when flying insects were around, especially if they had stingers.

  Malagant grasped the slippery rocks with his hands; he still couldn’t get over the fact they were healed and better than ever. If it wasn’t for the jewels they would be nothing but stumps now. He had to take a minute to be thankful for that. In the chaos and misery that had followed them since Taugis had ambushed him, there had been a few miracles in the mix as well.

  Pushing himself up, Malagant stood on top of the rocks. He brushed away another fly and straightened himself up.

  His mouth fell open as he looked over the rock face.

  Animals… hundreds of them, dotting the plains like a swarm of flies. Big and small. Giant moose, small rabbits, deer, springers, giori, lapins, foxes, wolves, and audechts. He could even see a pride of jare, with tails in the air as was their sign of distress. They were running in the distance up a small rise, before disappearing into the plains beyond. And a gruleon as well, the giant lion-bear, walking past a group of foxes both indifferent to each other. In normal circumstances the giant half-ton beast would be tearing the foxes apart.

  The whole scene was surreal, Malagant had never seen so many of Alcove’s animals in one small area. They seemed like an indomitable wave of brown and black, sweeping across the green and grey lands, leaving billows of steam behind them from their anxious breathing.

  The nervous energy was seeping from them; twitching tails, nervous whimpers and cries, and vicious snaps at one another when someone got too close for comfort.

  Malagant watched with his mouth open in disbelief. In front of him must be every animal from here to the canyons and possibly beyond. All gathered together in a
massive sweeping herd.

  Malagant crouched down to the rocks as he saw a giant moose, with a rack of antlers longer than he was, walk towards the area he was in; steam shooting from its nostrils as it made its way up the ridge a few yards from Malagant. Beside the moose was a herd of white-tailed deer, also quickly making their way up towards Birch and the North. Their thin stick-like legs a flurry of struggling and slipping as they tried to climb the sheer rock face.

  As they got closer, Malagant could see flies stuck to them, shedding off of their thick fur with every jerked movement, most remaining on the grass when they fell.

  Something was extremely wrong…

  “Malagant? Daesy?” an alarmed Fenton suddenly called to the left of him. Malagant quickly jumped to the other side of the rocks and sprinted towards his voice, near the gathering of trees.

  Fenton was pressed up against a tree, a few feet away from him was a pack of raptorlizards, their giant narrow reptile heads lowered, eyeing Fenton with confusion and wariness. They were crouched down, their tongues flicking out of long snouts. All four of them with their elongated dragon-like arms tucked to their chests, their clawed feet clacking nervously against the rocks.

  Suddenly the raptorlizards ran towards Fenton. Fenton drew his sword and raised it to strike the first raptor that went near him, when to their surprise, the two-legged lizards just ran past him. The scraping of nails against rock sounding as they struggled to climb up the ridge to flee further north.

  Fenton looked confused, his sword still gripped in his hand. The raptorlizards didn’t look back; they took off running, leaving dead and dying insects in their wake.

  “There are hundreds of them. What are they doing?” Malagant looked at the guard, though he seemed just as confused

  “I’ve never seen it before. We’ve had worse rains than this and they haven’t done this,” Fenton said. “I haven’t seen a raptorlizard this far north since the heat wave three years past.”

  Daesy appeared behind them. She was panting from running, her own dagger in her hands. “There are half a dozen jare cats and three gruleon. This is dark magic, it has to be. I’ve never seen so many animals in one place. Predators and prey are caring nothing for each other. They’re fleeing from something.”

  The tightness was in Malagant’s throat again as they all started climbing up the hill Malagant had just ascended.

  “We need to get back to Birch, consult your father,” Daesy said. “He might have an idea.”

  “But… Ben.” Malagant looked behind him, his heart was heavy.

  “Even if they’re fleeing, Malagant, they’re scared, and scared animals will act as scared animals do. We need to get back to Birch and hope that everyone else is smart enough to do the same.”

  Malagant clenched his teeth and kicked a nearby stone, sending a shock of pain up his toe.

  “Alright,” was all he could manage. He wanted to stay out here, take shelter in a cave, but he knew he had to go back. Though it killed him to have to go back to Teal empty-handed, and with the strange sight they had just seen.

  Fenton gave a quick call, just in time for Malagant to turn around to see a wild-eyed bear climb up the ridge. Malagant jumped back as he ran past them, grunting and panting, and out of breath. Leaving huge gouges in the earth from his knife-like claws. Like the other animals the bear showed no interest in them. His wet fur rippled from the sunrays as he ran north, towards a herd of deer carrying on as well. He left nothing in his wake but the smell of wet fur, disturbed earth, and more insects.

  A creeping fear darkened Malagant’s soul. Dark magic Daesy had said… and Malagant knew she was right. Was Elron mourning the loss of a prophecy walker? Did the priests find Ben before they had? Did it have anything to do with Ben at all? There was no explanation, he was at a loss. But something was up, something was happening.

  Something was terribly wrong.

  47

  Teal looked at the door where Malagant and Josiah had just left from. He had his hands over his forearms again, digging his fingerclaws into them.

  The two brothers pulled their cloaks over their heads at the same time as they walked down the red stone path towards the small white gate, before disappearing out of view. They were off to look for Ben with the others. He had to stay in with Anagin… because Anagin wanted to talk to him. About his past, about Throateater, he wasn’t quite sure, but Anagin’s tone had been firm. He knew it was important.

  Teal tensed and sighed, the anxiety bubbling to the surface.

  “I’ve seen maidens less depressed watching their husbands go off to war,” Anagin commented behind him. “Tes practically pushed me out the door when I went off for a few months to help Tolney at Manderlyhall. I think I heard the door lock behind me as well.”

  Teal kept watching the window where he had last seen Malagant and Josiah. Maybe the next time he saw them… they would have Ben.

  “Tes? I think I remember that being her name,” Teal said quietly, not turning from the window. “Mother might have mentioned it, or Father… I don’t remember.”

  “Is that what they made you call them? Mother and Father?” He could hear Anagin rummaging around in the kitchen. He turned around to see Anagin getting them both teacups, hanging down from the iron grate above the kitchen counter. “I always thought it was so stuffy and formal. However I suppose House Fennic commanded such. I just had my boys call me Dad.”

  Teal leaned up against the stone wall beside the door, his claws lightly scratching his arms. “Was… was House Fennic… important?”

  Anagin shrugged, pouring a stream of hot water into two cups, before dropping a little disk of dried leaves and spices into each one. “It was of middle nobility, striving to reach the top. A House with a lot to prove.”

  “Do I have relatives?”

  Anagin gave him a sad smile. He sat down on the couch and motioned for Teal to sit on the other end. “You might have some cousins of different House names, but I’m afraid Keleon wanted your entire line to die. Your grandfather Teluz was killed a few days after Fenhold burned. Your Uncle Othello and his wife, their daughter, and others perished as well. Keleon and the Rising Crows killed everyone with the last name Fennic.”

  “Why? Why did Keleon hate my father so much?”

  Anagin watched as Teal tucked his knees up to his chest.

  “It is a long story; I will tell you in better detail before you leave, or even better, show you the actual writing. But your father and I exposed Keleon for treason, him and his sister, a bitch of a she-wolf named Kysenna. Keleon was King Calin’s advisor, Kysenna was his chieftess mage. She burned for her crimes, Keleon was imprisoned for life, but he escaped.

  “When Keleon escaped, your father feared for your lives. He ran with you, your brother, and Keiryn. I’m not sure where in Alcove you went, but eventually you ended up in a place Cruz named Fenhold. Unfortunately, someone sold you out, though I am not sure who. What happened with that would be your tale not mine. My only news was from King Korivander, telling me all four of you had perished when Fenhold burned.”

  “Did you run too?”

  Anagin’s eyes narrowed at the thought. “I was not afraid of Keleon. Your father was a warrior, not a mage. I would have summoned every demenos in Shol if that shek-eater ever tried to come near me or my sons. He knew that.”

  “Why didn’t Father come to Birch then?”

  Teal was surprised to see Anagin’s face change. His bottom lip pursed, and his face fell for the briefest of moments before he composed himself.

  “Cruz… Cruz wanted nothing to do with me.” His whisper was broken and full of emotion.

  Teal was quiet. He took a drink of his tea, looking down at the cup in the same way he did the day previous. Teal had never understood what had happened between them. The stories Malagant had told him, and Anagin had hinted to, suggested they had been inseparable during the war, but afterwards… nothing. Cruz barely mentioned Anagin during the seven years he had been around for, and when
he did Teal’s mother got angry.

  Teal had been raised not to ask questions which he had been fine with. He had been too young to care. Life was full of frogs to catch, wooden swords to play with, trees to climb. He never thought twice about his father and mother’s life before he came around. Children never do.

  There seemed to be a heaviness around Anagin, as the words left his mouth. The pain inside of him was so thick Teal could almost touch it. He knew something had to have happened for them to stop being friends. To not raise their kids to know each other, supposedly knowing they were going to be in the prophecies once they were grown.

  No, something must have gone on.

  “What happened?” Teal asked.

  Anagin looked up, his eyes met Teal’s.

  “You happened.”

  Teal almost dropped his teacup. “Me? Why me? What did I do?”

  Anagin gave him another smile, still weight down with emotion. “It… it was bound to happen. Or that is what I told myself. After Cruz married Keiryn, everything was destroyed. When I married Tes out of revenge, that was just one more nail in the coffin of our… relationship.”

  Teal deflected his gaze; his ears went hot. The lingering piece in the puzzle that would explain and shine light on his father and Anagin’s friendship fitted itself into the confused mess he had been trying to organize in his head. The probability he had been in denial about for a long time.

  It wouldn’t answer all the questions he had, or explain everything that happened, but it would make a lot of things make sense. He had told himself since Malagant had hinted to it, that it couldn’t be true, but now – it seemed obvious.

  Teal had suspected it; he wasn’t that thick in the head. He suspected that Malagant knew, and Josiah, though Anagin had never said it out loud. Would he finally admit it to him now?