by Alan Baxter
‘I only came in the hope that you were finally dead, you fuck!’ The Morrigan’s angry face leered close to Isiah’s. He tried to shy away, as if from a bad smell. ‘But no, you’re still fucking here.’ The rags hanging off her body billowed and snapped. With a rush of air she morphed into a crow, flapped angrily away.
Isiah shook his head, mystified. ‘Mad bitch.’
‘I think everyone wanted to see if it was finally time for you to pass.’ Gabriel’s expression was apologetic.
‘You morbid bastards!’ A number of smiles appeared around Isiah. ‘You wanted to see what would happen, right? None of you care. It’s just morbid curiosity.’ His voice was weak, his outrage unconvincing.
‘We wonder as much as you do about the nature of your existence, Interferer,’ Thor said, leaning on the heavy head of his hammer, the haft pressed into the ground between fur-booted feet.
Isiah shook his head again. ‘Where the fuck are we anyway, that all of you can be here together?’
‘Your Realm,’ Gabriel answered. ‘Just somewhere very quiet. I didn’t dare take you between Realms. I just moved you and started trying to heal you. I called on any others to help me and word spread. It took a concerted effort from quite a few of us to pull you back.’
‘Against the protestations of a number of us,’ Thor rumbled, scowling.
Isiah smiled crookedly. ‘How long have I been under?’
‘Not long. A few hours. Your strength, Isiah.’ Gabriel shrugged, chuckling.
Isiah looked around again, blinking, wincing as pain lanced through his body. He felt a number of presences slip away, some quietly, some managing to express their annoyance that his death had not been more interesting. He heard the sound of a cleared throat. The old crippled god Legba stepped up, gesturing with his gnarled walking stick. ‘It seems this latest mess you’ve got yourself into is getting the better of you.’
Isiah nodded. ‘You’ve all been watching?’
‘Of course, since you spread the word. But these people appear to be very powerful and we can’t see what they’re doing.’
Isiah began scanning through his body with his mind, feeling gingerly for the damage that had been done and what had been so far repaired. Gabriel, the Nazarene and the others had done a pretty good job, certainly more than he had been able to do himself at the time. They had given him time and enough healing to survive. Now he could finish the job. Without them he would certainly be gone. But gone where? He began fixing tissues and organs, knitting blood vessels and muscles as he spoke. ‘You can’t tell what it is they’re up to?’
The deep, rumbling voice of Ganesh sounded from behind. ‘Of course not. They are not approaching our Realms. Whatever they influence, it exists elsewhere.’
Isiah nodded. ‘They’ve done a surprisingly good job of concealing all of their actions from just about everyone. I’m not sure how they’re doing it.’
Gabriel frowned. ‘Even your... usual contact? You seem to have a pretty good line in omniscience usually.’
‘I know. That’s the part that has me spooked the most. The Balance seems unable or unwilling to tell me anything.’ Isiah stopped, his brow knitting in thought.
‘What is it?’
‘That bastard. That fucking scumbag!’
Gabriel smiled through his concern, amused by Isiah’s indignation. ‘What?’
Isiah took a deep breath, determined to concentrate on healing himself. ‘It fucking knew. It must have.’
‘Who did? Knew what?’
‘The Balance. It must have known that I might die. That I might not survive this and so it kept any information from me. If it had told me how much my life was at risk, then I might have changed my course of action.’
‘Really?’ Gabriel asked. ‘Would it really have expected you to change your course? After all, you are usually pretty bloody stubborn about these things and more than once you’ve tried to find out what would happen if you did die.’
Isiah thought about that. ‘Maybe,’ he conceded eventually. ‘But I wouldn’t actively seek death, not any more. The prospect scares the shit out me the same as any other human.’
Gabriel smiled. ‘A lot of humans don’t have fear because they know where they’re going.’ His expression was mischievous.
Isiah tutted. ‘Don’t start that bollocks with me. Even the most devout are terrified when death stares them in the eye. It’s part of the human condition.’ He paused again, thinking and healing. The remaining gods and other divine entities present were patient. ‘I think the Balance knew that I was planning to go ahead with this plan of mine regardless. I think it knew that I wanted to see this ONC crushed and there was nothing it could do to stop me. But I think it also foresaw this happening. And perhaps, as is often the way, it couldn’t see beyond it. There were different possibilities depending on whether I survived or not.’
Gabriel nodded. ‘It was extremely close there for a while. I think it was only sheer bloody-mindedness that stopped you from dying right away. It took a lot of effort to bring you back.’
Isiah blew air out slowly from one cheek. ‘I’ve never been that close before. But maybe now the Balance will have a better idea of what’s going on. I still get the feeling that there’s more to this that the Balance can’t see.’ He reached out a hand and gripped Gabriel’s forearm. ‘Thanks, brother. You really came through for me.’
Gabriel smiled. ‘When you called me I knew it was something serious. I’m glad you’re still in your rightful Realm.’
‘Me too, buddy. I need to concentrate and fix myself up.’ He looked from Gabriel to the others still gathered. ‘Will you lot keep an eye on things? This whole situation is far from over.’
The beings present nodded or made various sounds of affirmation, then began flashing away, transforming into animals or bolts of lightning, some simply fading out, returning to their Realms. Gabriel gently stroked one hand over Isiah’s shaggy, black hair. There was unembarrassed love in the gesture. ‘Take enough time to heal properly before you return to this business. You are badly hurt.’
Isiah nodded. ‘I know. But you saved me and now I can repair everything. I’ll be fighting fit again in no time. One of the few perks.’ He winked. ‘Thank you.’
‘When I took you, I left a residue behind. Hopefully those that attacked you will consider you dead and turned to dust.’
‘Nice touch. Thanks.’
Gabriel nodded, smiling beatifically. He strolled a few paces away and vanished with a blinding flash. Isiah closed his eyes. He had no idea where he was, but it was a warm grass bed that he lay on and trees and peacefulness surrounded him. He slipped slowly into a state of deep meditation and let energies wash through his body, repairing, rebuilding, rejuvenating.
It was some hours before his body began to feel vaguely normal again. As his consciousness rose from the depths of his mind, he gathered his energy and Travelled. Whiteness surrounded him, cushioning every part of him. He immediately felt the presence of the Balance. ‘You really are an amoral son of a bitch,’ Isiah said, his eyes still closed.
YOUR STRENGTH IS ADMIRABLE.
‘You fucking played me.’
YOU HAD A DESTINY THAT NEEDED TO BE SEEN THROUGH. IT WAS NECESSARY TO LET THAT DESTINY HAPPEN.
‘So now will you tell me what’s going on? This ONC and their god, are they really going to be changing the world?’
NOTHING IS CLEAR.
Isiah made a sound of annoyance. ‘Still you’re going to hit me with that line? Do you really not know what’s happening?’
THE ACTIVITIES OF THIS GROUP ARE UNCLEAR. THEIR METHODS AND MINISTRATIONS ARE CLOUDED. THEIR WORSHIP IS VAGUE.
Isiah didn’t like an admission like that from the Balance. ‘Doesn’t that strike you as odd?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Are they able to conceal their activities from you?’
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
‘Are they really capable of keeping their activities that clandestine?’
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
‘You’re back to being your usual open and transparent self then. Did you even care that I might have died? Do you give a shit that I’m still alive?’
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN INCONVENIENT HAD YOU LEFT THE MORTAL REALM.
‘Inconvenient? Man, you have a way with words. Where would I have gone?’ A deafening silence was the only response. Isiah smiled. ‘I wonder if even you know. So what now? I have to stop the progress of this cult.’
YOU HAVE MADE THIS A PERSONAL VENDETTA.
‘Yeah, it’s personal. But it’s also right. Who better than us knows the power of a group with a god on their side?’
THE BALANCE OF BELIEF IS IMPORTANT, NOT WHAT IS DONE WITH IT.
‘But we know how evil this group can be!’
MORE EVIL THAN THE CRUSADES OF THE CHRISTIANS? MORE EVIL THAN SUICIDE TERRORISM IN THE NAME OF ALLAH?
‘But there’s something more to this. You know there is. You admit that you can’t see everything. You concede that it’s possible that they’re hiding stuff.’ Isiah’s sense of unease was increasing with every second of this conversation.
WHAT IS NOT KNOWN IS NOT KNOWN.
‘Yeah, nice Zen koan. But that doesn’t count for shit when we could find out the things we don’t know.’ Isiah paused for thought. In truth, they knew very little about this Order. ‘I know what an evil bastard Samuel Harrigan was, as do you,’ he said at last. ‘This is a whole cult with his ideals. They could get too powerful.’
THAT IS NOT FORESEEN.
‘But you admit that you can’t see everything. That freaks me the fuck out. Why are they being so secretive that even you can’t see what’s happening?’
AN INTERESTING QUESTION.
Isiah ground his teeth. ‘So I should find out the answer, right? I can’t just wait and see what happens here. I have a bad feeling about this. You don’t have any feelings, so you wouldn’t get that.’
YOUR HUMAN CONDITION AFFECTS YOUR PERCEPTION.
‘Your lack of empathy and intuition affects yours!’ Isiah was getting angry.
YOU ARE MAKING YOUR OWN PATH IN THIS MATTER.
‘So no suggestions or advice at all?’
THERE ARE GREAT MAGICS AT WORK WITHIN THIS GROUP. FOR ANYTHING TO BECOME CLEARER, THOSE MAGICS WOULD NEED TO BE INTERRUPTED.
Isiah smiled with one side of his mouth. ‘That’s as close as you’ve ever come to endorsing what I’m doing here. Are you coming around to my way of thinking after all?’
Silence.
‘Perhaps this Yath-vados character might upset the Balance after all?’
Silence.
‘Perhaps you really want me to interrupt the secrecy of what they’re doing. Do you have such a thing as curiosity, but you’re too proud to admit it?’
Silence.
Isiah laughed. ‘I’m going to stick around here for a little while and finish patching myself up. Feel free to drop any hints into my mind while I rest.’ He closed his eyes. He knew that he didn’t want to be away from the action, away from Petra and the Magi, for too long. He desperately wanted to let her know that he was all right. But he needed more time to heal. A few more hours. He may have just come as close to death as he had ever been, but he had survived and that had a way of reinvigorating a person’s drive. And it would seem that the Balance was a little more on side too. Perhaps there was hope yet to see this thing end the way he would like.
The Sorcerer sat in his tent, back bowed under the weight of his worry and anxiety. The presence in his head was almost painful now, an internal high-pitched burn that would not leave him in peace for a moment. He hissed through gritted teeth. ‘I know, I know!’ His face twisted in pain, worry, eyes squeezed shut. He listened. His voice was strained when he spoke again. ‘The Custodis Cruor are strong, their power is unrivalled...’ Again the band-saw whine of his Lord carved through his mind. ‘Can I afford more? No, no, I’ll need their power here. Once we begin, we will need all the power we can muster.’
With a gasp the Sorcerer sat back in his chair, his head tipping back and he roared at the firmament beyond his canvas roof, anger and pain. ‘I will! I will succeed!’
‘Dominus? Dominus, are you all right?’
The Sorcerer sat forward again, his eyes snapping into focus on the heavy flaps of his tent. ‘Yes, yes, I’m fine. Come in, brother.’ The presence of Yath-vados reduced to a distant keening in his hindbrain as the flaps parted and Lars looked inside. The Sorcerer gestured expansively with one hand. ‘Come in, Lars, don’t be afraid.’
Lars stepped into the light of the oil lamps. ‘You were yelling out, Dominus. Were you talking with... him?’
The Sorcerer smiled, nodding. ‘He is a vexatious God, Lars. And a perfectionist.’
Lars’s expression of worry remained firmly in place. ‘You know, you don’t need to carry so much of this burden yourself. We have helped with the logistics, the mundane organisation, but we are more than capable of helping with anything else too.’
The Sorcerer raised one eyebrow. ‘Are you though?’
Lars paused, shrugged. ‘We could certainly try, Dominus. Looking after the baby, communing with Yath-vados, controlling these aspects of our mission. Surely we could ease that burden?’
The Sorcerer shook his head. ‘I greatly appreciate your concern and your offers, but it is not possible. There are things here that must be tightly controlled. Trust me.’
Lars nodded. ‘I do, Dominus. And will continue to do so.’ He deliberately changed the subject, to show the conviction of his fealty. ‘I came to tell you that it is nearly dawn and that everything appears to be in order. As far as we can tell, all those that are coming have arrived. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.’
‘Good. Well, anyone not here by now will just have to miss out. The time is almost upon us.’
‘Will we raise Yath-vados to power today, Dominus? Tonight?’
‘It doesn’t need to be night. It can be any time. But we must be ready. I am holding enormous magic in my hands and I must not lose control of it now. Everything is at stake. Gather your brothers. I must tell you now what is required of you. Everyone of the Seventh Degree and you six.’
Lars grinned and nodded. ‘Yes, Dominus.’ He turned and ducked out of the tent.
The Sorcerer took a long, deep breath, sitting back in his chair. The presence of his demanding god echoed through his sub-conscious. What he would give for just a moment’s peace. He had not known quiet or solitude for months now and it began to tear the edges from his soul. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the incessant voice. He let his consciousness be drawn to the power that resided in the centre of his mind, the concentrated energy at the heart of his power. As his mind merged with it, connected to it, he could feel the heat and humidity that surrounded the Custodis Cruor, so far away, yet so very close to his being. Over the decades, as this group had grown, as he had tended and cared for it like a gardener raising prize blooms, he had come to love the sense of the place. The thick, hot, viscous closeness of it, enough to make anyone recoil in horror, was a kind of bliss to him. It was his and his alone. It protected him and empowered him.
Drawing on the magic of his deviant creation, seeing through the projected magic of their combined wills, he scanned his camp, his disciples. He could feel Lars gathering the senior members, he could feel those members moving towards his tent. He could feel the intense excitement building throughout the area as everyone present began to sense the impending events. He let his mind wander to the large shed beside his tent and the presence there. The empty, powerful, aberrant presence, waiting, biding its time. He ensured that the cloak of secrecy provided by the combined power of his Custodi was intact and as tight as ever. The child less than a shadow in the mortal Realm, invisible. No one, no thing must know. And he drew power from the Custodis Cruor for himself, drinking it into his soul like medicine, a revitalising tonic. The almost symbiotic nature of their existence was more important now than ever before. Only his magic held the Custodi together
and intact, yet the strength of their combined power increased his own many times over. Like a self-perpetuating engine, forever building momentum, the possibilities were endless. But holding that engine together was his task alone and, the more he used it, the more power he drew from it, the harder it was to maintain its integrity. The Sorcerer shuddered, bathing in the power of his own creation. Not long now, he told himself softly. Not long.
Petra sat on her haunches in inky shadows, watching. Like a piece of the night, like the shadow of a shadow she sat, patiently observing. There was a gap. Two ONC members were patrolling along the ridge line below her, some fifty feet down a steep, loose, rocky slope. For them to get up to this point would be difficult. Getting to their ridge from the valley below was relatively easy, so they had obviously considered that to be a good place to watch from. They were careful, periodically looking up towards the higher ridge where she sat, but it was obvious they doubted anyone was likely to come that way. It seemed they doubted anyone would come from any way. However, if someone did try to approach them from above, they would need to fly to do it unnoticed. Even with her skills, Petra didn’t fancy her chances of sneaking down that steep, loose incline undetected.
But that was not the point. She was fifty feet or so from the outside boundary of the ONC’s patrols, yet she could see the camp clearly. Just off to one side of the head of the valley, her vantage point looked out over the clearing below. She could see the front of the large shed. A tent bigger than any other stood beside it, some slightly smaller tents off to one side of that then a sea of smaller tents began across the clearing and made up the vast majority of the gathering. On the far side from her position a creek ran along one edge of the camp. It seemed certain that any major activity would likely take place in the clearing before the shed. Or in the shed. She desperately wanted to know what was in there. Why build such a structure out here in the middle of nowhere with everyone else in those old-fashioned military-style tents? Perhaps it was a temple of some description. Perhaps this special Gather was to take place inside. Perhaps a more permanent structure had been deemed appropriate. That seemed most likely, but Petra fervently hoped that it was not so. There was no way her people would be able to get close in that case. Given the wards that the ONC used to protect their Sanctum elsewhere, she knew how much they valued their secrecy. Then again, big though it was, the shed could never contain the great number of people gathered here.
