Whom the Gods Fear (Of Gods & Mortals Book 3)

by M. M. Perry

  “What is it?” Anya asked. When she looked at the temple she could see it was still oddly green in the distance. The only thing that still looked the same as it had before the change. “What does it mean?”

  “The valley does not belong to Oshia. It is another older god’s creation. Oshia claimed the temple as his own, however. And he continues to maintain it. He has not needed to draw his power into himself again. He is not in the fight. Not yet. He has other plans, it seems. We must go sooner than we thought. Our allies are in danger.”

  “Now?” Anya said standing up suddenly.

  “Yes.”

  Anya quickly bundled up her belongings and hoisted them onto her back. She went over to the Teeton cages and checked on her messengers. When the weather had turned she had moved them all to the same cage so they could keep warmer. The found the birds snuggled together when she raised the heavy leather cover to check on them.

  “It’s time to go, my friends,” she cooed at them.

  She picked up the cage and fastened it to the make shift carrier she had cobbled together on the dew claw of the great star dragon, which already held her gear. The Ambassador extended one foot, making it easier for Anya to climb aboard.

  “I’m ready,” she shouted.

  Anya watched as the valley, once warm and green but rapidly becoming obscured by white drifts of snow, grew further and further away. She wondered how long it would be before all evidence it had ever existed was buried beneath the mountain snow.

  Viola looked up at the night sky. It was comforting to find that the stars were just bright as they ever were, though she could not fathom why they seemed unaffected by the change. The stars, she corrected herself, and the people aboard. Everyone on the ship seemed physically unchanged. It was a subtle thing, though, and took a focused examination to notice because the clothes and armor they wore were all less colorful. Their swords gleamed less brightly. But their skin seemed the same hue. The blazing red hair and beard of the warrior organizing the boarding party was every bit as brilliant as it had been before the change.

  Viola touched the little pouches on her vest, concerned. She had checked inspected all the ingredients she had handy before sowing them in her pockets, components she had once used as an enchanter to the great wonderment of others. All the various herbs she kept in vials and waxed leather pouches had lost the strength of scent she remembered them having. If all of this was due to the drawing of power back into the gods as Chort suggested, Viola wondered if there were any enchanters with power at all anymore. She imagined her village, and all the young girls there in training no longer being able to enchant even the simplest ingredients. She knew they’d be frightened, perhaps even terrified at their sudden loss of identity. It reminded her of her own feelings of loss when her own powers had finally faded as she grew up.

  She popped her head up again from her hiding spot to check on the watchman, who had finally stopped pacing and improvised a seat against where the railing pinched up against the captain’s cabin. She had shared a drink with him earlier in the night, first tossing a dash of finely ground night blossom in the bottom of his mug. Had she still been able to enchant it, the watchman would have been out within moments. Since she no longer had that ability, she had to wait the full hour for the soporific to take effect naturally. Viola watched him closely as his head slowly dropped to his chest and he started snoring. She crept out from her hiding place and walked lightly across to the watchman. She took his arms and, with some effort, slid the larger man down to the ground. She didn’t want him falling overboard. Once she was satisfied he was relatively safe, she made her way across the deck toward the dinghy.

  Before climbing inside, she pulled a vial from one of her many pockets and used it to oil the pulleys well so they wouldn’t squeak as she lowered the small boat into the water. She’d chosen the dinghy that swayed just above her room’s porthole, which she knew would be empty, minimizing the change anyone would see it being lowered. Just as she was about to climb in, a shadow passed over her. She looked up to see the clear starlight sky, still glittering down at her. She scanned the sky carefully but didn’t see anything but stars and the moon overhead. She was about to write off the shadow as imaginative nerves when she noticed a ripple, as if she was looking through a heat haze that moved across the sky, the stars beyond shifting minutely. A subtle swishing sound, barely audible above the sounds of wind, sea, and the ship, was the only other indication that something was overhead other than the sky.

  Then, she saw something more distinct—the outline of what had to be a person atop the shifting stars. Once Viola had something familiar to focus on, the amorphous shape it topped resolved itself in her mind. It was a dragon. Now that she knew what she was looking at, Viola could vaguely make out three star dragons flying towards Ledina, Anya surely in tow.

  “Now there’s another thing that hasn’t become any less glorious,” she whispered to herself as she took in the magnificence of the great beasts.

  As she watched the dragons fly off she quickly discarded her own plans to head ashore. She knew she couldn’t possibly offer any more help to her companions than the dragons could. She turned back toward the lower decks and wandered through the halls until she found the room she was looking for. She knocked quietly.

  After a moment, Manfred pulled the door open a crack.

  “We need to have that talk now,” Viola said.

  Manfred opened his door wider and invited her in. Viola saw that Manfred had set a small table with a bottle of wine, a wheel of cheese and two goblets. It was almost as if he was expecting her. When Viola looked back to him and saw him smile broadly and waggle his glittering blue eyebrows, she knew for certain that he had been. It was then that she decided to forgo any subterfuge and approach him directly. She sat in one of the chairs and gestured for him to join her. He poured some wine into the two goblets first, then took his seat. He snatched up his own drink and stared into it, unwilling to look directly at Viola. He had been expecting this since Cass had left the ship, and despite his efforts hide it from Viola to the contrary, it filled him with remorse.

  “What is it you don’t want to tell Cass?”

  Manfred’s eyes snapped up to Viola’s and narrowed.

  “I don’t…” he began, but Viola held up her hand to silence him.

  “Some pretty major things are going down soon. We can’t have people worrying about doubts and their companions when they are fighting to save the world. You tell me. I won’t tell her unless it’s absolutely necessary. If it isn’t, as you say, something terrible she needs to know, I’ll tell her just that. Maybe then she’ll let it go. She’s brave and strong. And she’s smart. She’ll know when it’s more important to trust in her friend’s advice than to continue letting this gnaw away at her.”

  Manfred looked impressed.

  “My, my, Red. When did you become so fierce?”

  “I’ve always been fierce. You just haven’t noticed.”

  Manfred nodded as a resigned look passed over his face.

  “She was on Xenor for months. Not a day. When she first came into that pub,” Manfred smiled remembering it, “she looked like a roasted dung beetle. She was dirty, smelly and crazed looking. She clearly had spent too much time wandering around Xenor and had run out of rations. Even so, she intimidated every one of us in that pub that night. We could sense there was something stronger than simply a mortal in her. We were all terrified.”

  Manfred stopped and looked at the back of his hand, studying the tiny, dark blue creases in his skin, remembering that day. He felt an aching hole in his heart he thought he long ago covered over. He clenched his fist, willing the feeling to subside.

  “Manfred?” Viola said quietly.

  “I’m never invited to those pub gatherings. I just go anyway. Out of spite, more than anything else, probably” Manfred said in response, his memories all over the place as old feelings long buried began to surface. “I’m the weird djinn who teaches lizards to spe
ak. I spent all my time in the library, studying the scrolls my people long ago considered deciphered. I’m the only one who thought we could be wrong about them. The only one who didn’t think the world had to end for us to be free. I’m also the only djinn who approached a deranged and dangerous looking woman that night in the pub, the djinn who wasn’t even invited there, who time after time inserted myself into their gatherings to try to feel less alone. I’m the one who called her over to my table.”

  Viola watched Manfred’s face go through a series of emotions. She felt as if she were uncorking something far more complex than she had a right to. She almost spoke up and told him it was okay, he didn’t need to tell her anything more. It seemed too personal, too hurtful. But she let him go on, partially because she wanted to be able to tell Cass that everything was fine and not be lying about it, and partially because she felt Manfred needed to tell someone. She didn’t want him to be so lonely any longer. He needed a friend.

  “She stayed and talked to me all night. About anything. Everything. We just talked. Like two old friends who enjoyed the sound of each other’s voice. My sister was the last person I had talked to that way. And back then it was about silly things, like what mom was making for dinner, or what the other kids at school were doing. My sister talked to me because no one else did. Because she was my sister, and she loved her brother. But Cass, she talked to me because she wanted to talk to me. She thought my jokes were funny, even when they weren’t. She liked my stories. She liked my thoughts. We talked all night. She stayed at the inn. I came back to visit the second she was awake. And the strangest thing happened. She was happy to see me.”

  Manfred looked up and into Viola’s face.

  “Me. The unlikeable little djinn. It kept going like that, for days. She was looking for some fellow. I knew where he was. I was a little afraid to tell her, afraid she’d leave. But I also didn’t want to keep it from her. So I told her. He was shacked up with another djinn. Joe. He was a bit of a romantic, always falling in love. He ran out of djinn to fall in love with and started finding mortals. My people tolerated it. What else could they do? As long as he wiped their memories of the djinn, all was good. So Cass decided to stay. Said she needed a break from adventuring. I was, of course, elated. Mainly because I knew she was staying for me.”

  Manfred went silent. Viola sighed sadly.

  “I’m guessing something happened,” she said.

  “We became close,” Manfred said tightly. The emotion behind the words betraying their true meaning.

  “You were… close?” Viola asked, trying not to let her imagination conjure up images she might regret.

  Manfred chuckled.

  “Not like that at all, Red. Your mind is a dirty place.”

  Viola blushed deeply.

  “I didn’t mean,” she began.

  Manfred laughed even louder at her embarrassment, his mood momentarily breaking the surface of its stupor.

  “It’s alright. Your curiosity is charming. I’m not built for the naughty things you were thinking. Apsos made sure of that. The gods police themselves as far as impregnating mortals, but Apsos apparently didn’t trust us to do the same.”

  “But you said you can change back, for a little while. Not even then?” As soon as Viola asked the question she regretted it. Manfred’s face went dark.

  “Once. It was the first time I’d ever tried. I’d seen one other do it before. He was showing off to his buddies I guess, I wouldn’t know. As I said, not really the type to have buddies. But having seen it done once gave me the confidence to try. Cass and I had a little spot where I’d erected a hut shortly after we met. Nothing extravagant, but it was a place apart from the other djinn, and we lived there together. I decided one morning to surprise her. I woke her up, and then changed. I didn’t know how hard it would be. In any sense of the word. It lasted seconds. Long enough for her to…” Manfred reached up and touched his cheek, “touch my face.”

  A melancholy smile flitted across his face.

  “Then I turned back. I was drained physically. It was bad. I collapsed on the floor and started coughing up blood. I knew it was coming. But I thought that I could go longer than the djinn I’d seen do it. That maybe my love…my love would make it last. The physical pain was bad enough, but the emotional toll, that was far worse. She forbade me ever doing it again.”

  Manfred quickly wiped his face with his hand and turned away from Viola. She reached out and took a drink, thinking she understood.

  “That’s it then. You don’t want her to remember that?”

  Manfred, still looking away, chuckled again.

  “I wish it were that simple. Cass told me it didn’t matter. Me being a djinn, none of it mattered. She said even if I were a talking lizard, she’d still love me. I was the problem. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I wanted to be human. I’d felt it, when I turned back to my human self for a few seconds. And Apsos’ lesson was burned into me. You’ll never have that, it said. You chose power over humanity. You lose. After a few more weeks I sent her away in a rage, angry at myself for letting any of it happen. I wiped it all from her. I sent the man she was after with her. I arranged for transport. A boat of men who suddenly remembered that they desperately needed to dock at Xenor. Convenient. And easy for a god to procure. Joe was furious with me for sending his own love away, but he soon found another. By the time I realized what a mistake I had made, it was too late. She’d know that I took her memory when I removed the spell that blocked it. She’d know what I had done. I couldn’t take it back. I forced myself to forget her and concentrate anew on freeing my sister…and then finding a way to die. I never thought I’d see her again. It had been years since I’d laid eyes on her when you came. Nearing a decade, I think. It can be hard for me to sense time anymore. I cannot tell you how angry I was when I saw that great blonde man holding the only thing of mine I let her take with her. I almost smote you all to embers when I saw it, my jealousy and rage were so hot. But I looked for her, and saw her, and in an instant saw the peril she was in… and then the sun stone. She was the one from the scrolls all along.”

  Manfred sat back and sighed.

  “Poetic, no? So, you see, it has nothing to do with the prophecy, what I knew or could have known. If only it were as simple as that. If only…”

  Viola fought back tears as she spoke.

  “You should tell her,” she said.

  “There were a couple times when my resolve weakened. I held up pretty well, even when I saw her again getting off that boat. I could have made her remember me. She’d remember she loved me. I can honestly say I didn’t even think to do that at that time. It was more of an afterthought, right when she was so angry with me for letting Suman die. Then, I was at my lowest. She hated me so much, felt so betrayed by me. I thought, if I reminded her of who I was to her, maybe she’d forgive me. But I learned my lesson the first time. I couldn’t play god with her. Not anymore. Then when Timta offered her a boon. Then, I thought, yes, if Timta can do this, I can have it all back. Everything I threw away. And my people would be free. I was driven temporarily mad by the thought of it. I thought then as well, let me show her why she should give me the boon. But then it passed. Not because of what Timta said. I realized it was gone. We were gone, in the past. You don’t get forever with those kinds of things. You can’t recapture it. We’ve both moved on from it. No. I won’t tell her. And you shouldn’t, either. If she does manage to finish what she started, I will die. Be no more. Let what we had, let what I did, fade with me from the world. Don’t taint her memory of me with the terrible thing I did. I stole her decision from her. I took something that was not mine to take. Don’t make her life more confusing now for my sake. I don’t deserve it.”

  Viola put her hand on Manfred’s, trying to make sense of everything she was thinking, all the conflicting thoughts in her mind.

  “Ok. I promise I won’t. I’ll keep your secret. But… when you die, won’t the spell fade away? Won’t she remember the
n?”

  Manfred pursed his lips.

  “I truly hope not.”

  Chapter 12

  “I’ll be fine,” Lasha said trying to stand.

  Cass shook her head and frowned.

  “You say that. You keep saying that. Why don’t I believe you?”

  Lasha winced as she got to her feet, her breaths coming in short heaves as she steadied herself.

  “That’s probably why,” Cass said crossing her arms.

  “We cannot stay here. The god could come at any time. We are much better off fighting just the elves now than the elves and a god later,” Lasha gasped.

  “She makes a good point,” Gunnarr said.

  Night had fallen on the clearing. The temple had crumbled into a pile of rubble as the sun set, the group watching it quietly as Lasha rested, no one wishing to speak the obvious out loud. Lasha was severely injured. Even should they escape the ring of ten thousand tiny deaths, as Nat had dubbed the elves, carrying the Cartan all the way to the ship would be impossible. Their options were grim.

  “I won’t let you die here alone,” Cass said, “not after the sacrifice you made for me. Oshia might only punish me. You could still escape. I might… be able to talk my way out of death. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s possible. Korick should take Lasha and get behind what’s left of the temple. It won’t really hide you from Oshia, but out of sight out of mind, maybe that actually works sometimes,” Cass explained.

  “No,” Gunnarr said gruffly, “after all we’ve done to find and free you, I won’t leave you in jeopardy now.”

  “Well, I didn’t say you had to go. You can stay here and help me kill Oshia. It should be fun.”

  Gunnarr grinned.

  “Yes, I’d like that.”

  “You would have me leave?” Nat asked incredulously. “Just me and the seer? How would we ever get through them on our own?”

  “I’ve been thinking, maybe they won’t bother with you,” Cass said hopefully.