The Gods' Games Volume 1 & 2: Graphic Edition (The Gods' Games Series)
Page 100
Anagin stalked up to Malagant who was standing firm in front of the closed door. “You’re staying in this house, under the protection of magic until I figure out what is going on here. End of story!” Anagin bellowed.
Malagant seethed with rage. Teal cowered down further and found himself backing away until he was in the kitchen. He wedged himself into a space between the spice shelf and the kitchen counters and tried to make himself disappear.
“You won’t keep us prisoner here!” Malagant yelled back. “I came here for help, not to be locked up under protection while the guards go out into the plains with that creature to look for OUR friend! What would that make me? I’m not a coward!”
“This isn’t about what Malagant wants, this is about what is best for Elron!” Anagin said angrily. “For all we know it’s trying to lure the pendants of Elron out there to claim them as its own. The prophecies will send anything and everything after you, Malagant. Or have you not realized that yet? You have no idea what evil is out there, what could be stalking your footsteps.”
“I know what evil is out there!” Malagant’s voice suddenly turned into a vicious snarl. Teal crawled further into the corner trying to make himself as small as possible. He always hated yelling, he used to do this as a child when his parents fought.
“I have seen the evil,” Malagant snarled. “I saw my friends give into black magic one by one. I saw Erick’s priests carve off Genjen’s skin. I saw Nyte take over Teal and I shekin’ watched my fingers get twisted off one by one! I have seen evil, Anagin, and I survived.”
Anagin looked at him, and for a moment none of them spoke. They just glared at each other, dark blue eyes staring into yellow.
“You think that is evil, Malagant Avahlis?” Anagin said in a hush whisper. “I’ve seen things that would leave you a huddling, whimpering mess. I have seen things that, upon one look from a normal elf… would drive you insane from sheer terror.”
Teal’s body was cold. The expression of dread on Anagin’s face when he had heard that scream came to his mind. Anagin had seen evil. He had seen more than they ever had and hopefully ever would… and still, the terrifying shriek had seemed to rattle him. Anagin knew things, and he sensed things.
Teal rose to his feet and stepped forward. He looked at Malagant.
“He’s right…” Teal said. They all looked at him with surprise. “We have to trust him, Malagant. He’s dealt with this… not us. We might not like it… but… but we have to do what he says.”
Malagant stared for a second; most likely surprised that Teal was speaking. He knew his friend well-enough to know he shied away from these types of confrontations.
“But Ben…” Malagant whispered, his eyes heavy.
“I’ll still go out,” Josiah spoke up for the first time. “I can take care of myself. I’ll stay out all day.” Josiah looked over at his father for approval. Anagin gave him a nod.
Malagant scowled, he shot Teal a glare. “You’re supposed to be on my side, feral. So you’re Dad’s sidekick now?”
“No, he just possesses the unique skill of not letting his emotions overshadow logic. Try it some time,” Anagin snapped. He turned around and started making his way up the stairs. “Make tea, Malagant. I’ll be in the attic.”
Anagin disappeared up the stairs, leaving Malagant still seething. Teal tucked himself back into his spot in the corner of the kitchen.
“He’s never going to let us go, Josiah.” Malagant turned to his brother. Josiah was already in the kitchen making the tea for Anagin. “Kelakheva isn’t going to answer the beacon, and we’re going to spend the next year here.”
Josiah hung the kettle over the coals. He glanced up at his brother. “You don’t need to plan out the year, brother. Just concentrate on getting Ben back. One thing at a time. We can drive our selves insane with the prophecies once your friend is safe.”
This, of course, made Malagant let out an exasperated grunt. He opened his mouth to protest further but stopped when Josiah put a hand on his shoulder. Josiah seemed to possess the unique ability of being able to calm both Malagant and Anagin down.
“Malagant, I will get three other townsfolk to replace you. You are but one elf, even with Teal you are but two. Odds are it wouldn’t be either of you to find him anyway. I know you want to be the one to find Ben, we all do, but Father is anxious. He worries; he’s trying to not only protect those that are his, but also Elron. Dad’s always felt like Elron’s been on his shoulders and it’s hard for him knowing it is on his son’s too. He’s doing what is best for you because he loves and worries about you, and Teal.”
Malagant let out a sigh but he nodded. “Alright, alright… I know.”
Josiah patted his shoulder; his smile was bright and reassuring. “I will find him, Malagant. I will.” He looked over at Teal, still smiling. “Will you get me Dad’s mug, Teal?”
Malagant watched as Teal rose to his feet, and let out a breath. “Will Dad need us?”
Josiah shook his head, but glanced down at the mud they had all tracked in. “No, but you can clean the downstairs while I’m gone. There is mud everywhere. It’s driving me insane.”
“Josiah?” Anagin’s voice called from upstairs. Josiah took the cup from Teal and poured the steaming contents of the kettle into the little dark brick of leaves and gods knows what else, and started walking upstairs. “This won’t take long. Can you explain it to Teal, Malagant? He needs to know what’s happening. This isn’t sheomancy though, Teal. No worries.”
I’m not afraid of him anymore, Teal thought to himself, but he knew better than to say it out loud. The moment the words left his lips Josiah would be lecturing him on how dangerous demenos were and how he should be afraid of them. But Teal couldn’t help it, he felt comfortable with them now. Perhaps it was just his mind’s way of making him feel stronger than he knew he was.
Nothing had changed really, just Anagin telling him a story. Now a lot more things made sense, and he felt a little less like he was crazy, or a feral as Malagant called him. Well, he was still feral, just the demenos blood intensified that.
He also felt like he had another branch of family as well. Although he still didn’t admit it anywhere but the darkest corners of his mind, he felt a rift between him and his blood family, especially his father. The way Cruz had treated Anagin was cruel and horrible. Now Anagin, Malagant, Ben, and Josiah were his family. Anagin had been the one to say it, he belonged to him. It made him more than just Anagin’s son.
And his father and mother would have just let him die… rather than have a demenos baby.
“Wow, you sure do scowl. Where is your mind wandering off to?” Malagant’s voice brought him back to reality. Teal looked up at Malagant, not realizing that he’d just been standing there glaring at the fire.
“Just what Anagin had told me,” Teal admitted. “What you read.”
Malagant’s mouth twitched. He looked around and spotted a wine cask in the open cellar door underneath the stairs.
“I don’t want any of that gods damn smoke tea, I want wine. Want some silverwine? Josiah has strawberry.”
Teal nodded. “Sure, I’d love some.”
Malagant poured them both goblets, and as he did Teal got out a rag and started wiping up their tracks. When Malagant saw him, he chuckled; most likely amused Teal was actually doing what Josiah had asked of them.
Malagant handed him a goblet of fizzling silverwine. The smell immediately relaxed Teal, though he felt a pull to take one of Ben’s pills. He had been doing better; he hadn’t had any of them today.
“My father has put this enchantment on the house before,” Malagant said, taking a long drink of his white wine. It was pink in his goblet; Teal assumed he had mixed some of the silverwine into it. “While it’s on, we can come and go as we please, but we can’t bring anyone back here unless my father magics at them. No one will be able to see our house, not even the towns-elves, just the four of us. Dad does this when he think we’re in danger.”
He wanted to be out there though, but he felt better knowing Josiah would be. He trusted him, Josiah seemed so sure he would find Ben, so confident.
Teal felt his jewel warm under his jerkin. He put his hand over it and looked around, just in time to see a blue hue start to cover the house. It first ran along the beams of the ceiling, before snaking down the stone and wooden walls. Then finally it coated the floor. Once it encompassed the entire house it disappeared as quickly as it came, and Teal’s jewel cooled.
“That’s it, we’re under a magical barrier now,” Malagant said, taking another drink. He stepped over Teal and made his way to the living room. He sat down with his wine and kicked off his muddy boots.
“I can’t wait to get Ben and start on the road again,” Malagant sighed, massaging his socked feet with one hand, his other holding the goblet. “I miss it. I miss being on the road with just the three of us.”
“I do too,” Teal said quietly. He put the cloth away and sat down on the opposite end of the couch, wondering if he could grab a pill without Malagant noticing; he eyed his backpack. “I just want Ben here. I want some damn answers… I feel so drained and worn with all of this, and confused… so confused.”
Malagant reached over and clinked his goblet with his. “I hear you, Tee.”
“I hate waiting.” Teal sighed. “That’s all we can do now, just sitting ducks, waiting. For Ben… and Kelakheva.”
“I guess it did take four years for Anagin and Cruz to complete the Black War portion of their prophecies and another handful of years after for us to be born.”
Teal’s mouth twitched. When Kelakheva had come to him that night in the pub, he had thought Ben would be back in his world within the year and he would be back to live in his forest like he wanted. It was odd thinking of how easy things were back then. At the time they had seemed so complicated. What he would give to be back in the Silverwoods, keeping Ben from having another anxiety attack and hunting squirrels.
“It just always seemed like we were supposed to rush,” Malagant said dryly. “I don’t know why, it never said we had to. You just get that sense when you have such an important job.”
“True,” Teal replied as he brought the fizzing silverwine up to his lips. “I always had that sense too, but then again, I spent over six months in Ben’s world. For all we know we could be crippled old elves when we finally hand the jewel off to the skeletal hands of King Calin.”
Malagant chuckled and tipped his goblet to him. “The gods’ games, my friend. Elves have gone insane trying to figure out these fucking games.”
50
The rains had stopped sometime during the night, though the ground around Josiah was still sopping wet. It squished underneath his boots and threatened to take him off-balance with every hill they descended.
Suana was off in the distance, a bow and quiver on her back and a shortsword belted to her side. Melesch was to his left climbing up the biggest rises he could find to scan the plains beyond, but there was little to see besides dead flies and animal waste.
He had thought it cute when he turned around to see Malagant and Teal looking sad out the window as he walked off to the southern guard tower. One head in each windowpane with matching forlorn looks.
It reminded him of when they would watch Father leave for the day in Evercove. Off to practice his black magic, and teach the others. Josiah had been too young to start learning anything more than firepalm and sun-orb. His job was to look after his wild little brother, or as his father would say: ‘keep him alive for the day’.
They always cried when he left, they loved their father dearly and missed him when he would leave. Malagant had been too young to remember, but Josiah recalled doing the same whenever their mother would kick Anagin out of the house – which was often. The last time she had done it was when Malagant was only one month old and still nameless. It was the last time she would do that, since when Anagin would return home he would find her gone with Malagant. Off into the snows of the Bayle.
Josiah shuddered. He didn’t like remembering that day. The last kiss on the cheek and warm hand he ever got from his mother before she disappeared into the night with his wailing, red-faced newborn brother. She had told him how she loved him, that he was her little sunbeam. Perhaps that’s why she didn’t try bringing him with them. Or maybe deep down inside she did love Anagin, and didn’t want to take the son he had loved so much away from him.
Josiah remembered crying a lot after that, he had only been a boy of two. He had never been left alone before, besides the few times Anagin had left him behind accidently at the market. Now his father was gone, gone to his teaching job in Evercove not supposed to be back until the next morning.
But he came back. Covered in snow, he burst into the now chilly house to find his son, cold and shivering, wrapped in a blanket he had gotten from the bed. He had been surrounded by paper, sticks, and damp wood, trying unsuccessfully to make a fire.
“Where’s Tes? Where’s your brother?” he demanded, his yellow eyes were wild with fear.
Mom went into the snow with Baby.
Anagin quickly threw a ball of fire into the cold hearth, and, without another word, he ran out into the blizzard. He returned three hours later with the baby, whimpering at his chest. He didn’t tell Josiah what had happened until he was older; he only said that Mum had gone to stay with her family.
Josiah’s mother Tes had changed after Malagant had been born; she had gone mad with sadness. Anagin told him it wasn’t her fault, that sometimes it happens to ladyelves after babies were born.
But it was only when he was calm that he’d say that, during his rages he would condemn her to Shol and beyond for being selfish enough to try and kill a prophecy walker. After all, all of Elron may eventually depend on that little black-haired baby that whimpered in Anagin’s arms.
A couple years later Josiah would witness the second prophecy walker be saved. The small little hibrid in the claws of ‘Uncle Kaul’ as his father had called him to make him appear less scary. Only to lose the little boy in a brutal massacre seven years later almost to the day.
Josiah scanned an area below a sharp dip in the hills. He had no memory of that time, weeks of it had been blocked out of his mind. His father had done it, he didn’t admit it but Josiah knew he had. One moment everything was fine, then two weeks had gone by.
Josiah shuddered at the thought of how bad it must’ve been. Bad enough for Anagin to rip the memories out of his sons’ brains.
But Anagin finally admitted he had loved Cruz Fennic, that was a big step for Josiah’s closed-in, stern father. Who kept his emotions more guarded than Throateater in his fortress.
Teal being alive had brought a new flare of life to Anagin Avahlis. That and the prophecies not being a loss, however at the time they still seemed to be. Still it made Josiah happy to see his father happy and even though they’d fought the night before, he and Malagant were getting along. Those two had been butting heads since Malagant had learned to talk.
Teal seemed to be doing better too, as Anagin had hoped. Telling him just why Throateater was there had helped him, and would help him in the future. Everything seemed to be coming together, the puzzle pieces falling into place as prophecies seemed to. Josiah envied his brother in the moment for being such a part of the prophecies, but he felt happy for him as well.
Malagant had always felt out of place since Josiah had been Anagin’s heir. As Anagin had shouted at him during his cruellest rages, Malagant was without a purpose with Teal dead. A reason he had joined the Knights of Alcove before King Erick’s rebellion took over. His father had said cruel things to his brother and him over the years, but they understood why and loved him still. Anagin had a lot of anger inside of him, and a lot of loneliness. He
had saved Alcove from the croagh mages of Evercove and the demenos, and had brought a hibrid boy back to life…
But Anagin couldn’t get Cruz to love him as much as he had loved that hibrid. He couldn’t escape the prophecies commanding sacrifice even after the war. It had been no secret Anagin had never wanted to have children, let alone marry the mother of them, and this had always filled Josiah with a lot of guilt; especially considering that Anagin had been a great father. He had given up his life for the gods, and for his sons. Yelling cruel things and the occasional backhand was an easy thing to deal with, considering what Anagin had gone through and given up.
Now at least, though they were all in the throes of confusion since Malagant and Teal had shown up on their door step, they were safe and healthy. And their father was in his element… saving Elron and making sure his sons kept their heads.
And now the biggest puzzle piece I need to fit into this coloured mosaic: the human. I need to find the human.
Well, he was a hibrid now, but he had been a human. Josiah had picked up Malagant’s bad habit of referring to Ben as such on occasion. He made a mental note to squash that, he didn’t want to offend his soon-to-be new friend.
He was excited to meet the third pendant carrier, from Malagant and Teal’s stories he was quite the character. Josiah had been a bit wary of meeting a human, since the stories in the Anean Prophecies painted them as such bloodthirsty barbarians, but it seemed time in the other world had shaped them to be quite normal.
Well, as normal as you could be when you were godless.
A small lapin ran past Josiah’s feet, the sabre-toothed little rabbit ran scared and alone. Poor thing must have lost its friends; most lapin ran in gatherings, moving all around the plains so they could eat the fresh roots, too tough for normal rabbits to eat.
Josiah shielded his eyes and scanned the area as he walked down the sloping hill. Merchant’s Pass was off southwest of where he was standing. They had another several leagues of travel before they reached the edges Pontis had marked for them. It was several hours past high noon now, the sun hidden in the overcast, but still visible as a shrouded orb.