The Godling Chronicles:Book 05 - Madness of the Fallen

by Brian D. Anderson

  Gerath allowed the embrace, but did not return it. “I have been to the world of humans and elves.”

  Darshan released his father and frowned. “Ayliazarah told me about that. It sounds boring.”

  Gerath gave him a weak smile. “It is anything but boring. There is much to be discovered there, and much we can learn.”

  “What are the people like? Are they as strange as Ayliazarah says? Do they really hurt each other for no reason?”

  “Not all of them,” he replied. “And Ayliazarah should not be telling you these things. They will only upset you.”

  Darshan laughed. “I am not upset. They cannot hurt us. We are gods, after all. We cannot be hurt.”

  “Why do you say that?” asked Gerath. “What makes you think we cannot be hurt?”

  “That’s what Dantenos told me. He said that the mortals have no power over us. That the Creator made us to live forever.”

  Gerath scowled. “He should not have told you that.”

  “Why? Isn’t it true?”

  “It is not as simple as that,” Gerath said. “We are as the mortals. We have direct knowledge of the Creator. She gave us the gift of her grace, but this comes at a price.” He knelt to be at Darshan’s eye level. “We are servants. It is our duty to carry out the Creator’s will. This can be…difficult at times.”

  “But, father,” his little nose crinkled in a look of confusion, “I have no knowledge of the Creator. I have never seen her.”

  “She left us,” Gerath explained.

  “Then if she is gone, there is no one to serve.”

  Gerath’s eyes flashed with instant anger. “She left us so that we could carry out her will. She left us the moment you were born.”

  Darshan lowered his eyes and folded his arms. “Is that why you never want to play with me? Is it because I made the Creator leave? If I bring her back, will you love me then?”

  Gerath’s jaw tightened, but then his features relaxed. He stood there expressionless for several seconds before taking hold of his son’s hand.

  “There is something I must tell you, Darshan,” he began.

  Gewey shook his head. He couldn’t tell me he loved me, he thought.

  Melek sighed. “Because he doesn’t love you.”

  Gewey had stopped caring that Melek was inside his mind. In fact, with the absence of Kaylia still fresh, it had become a comfort.

  Gerath and Darshan strolled at a leisurely pace. Darshan held tight to his father’s hand, swinging it back and forth.

  “I am going to take you to the realm of the mortals,” said Gerath.

  Darshan frowned. “Why?”

  “You have a task to perform,” he replied. “A very important task.”

  Darshan’s face brightened. “A task?” He sounded much the same as any human child who was eager to please his father. “Whatever it is, I can do it. I know I can.”

  “It means you must remain there,” Gerath continued.

  Darshan stopped short. His eyes narrowed with suspicion. “For how long?”

  “I don’t know,” Gerath admitted. “For a long time, I suspect. At least, it will seem like a long time to you.”

  “Will you be there too?”

  Gerath pulled his hand free. “No. You will be alone.”

  Darshan looked at his father for several seconds before taking a step closer. “And when I’m done? Can I return then?”

  Gerath averted his eyes. “I do not know. Perhaps…if you succeed.”

  Tears began to fall from Darshan’s eyes. “Why are you sending me away? What did I do wrong? Whatever it is, I’m sorry. I swear I am. Please don’t make me go. Please!”

  Gerath clenched his fists. “Stop this crying at once. You are the son of Gerath, and you will do what is required of you.”

  “I won’t” yelled Darshan, suddenly defiant. “And you can’t make me.”

  In a blinding movement, Gerath grabbed his son by the shoulders and shook him hard. “You will do as you are told. And if you ever hope to return, you must learn to be strong. Otherwise there will be no hope at all for you.”

  This stopped the child’s tears in an instant. His defiance turned to fear. “What do you want me to do?”

  Gerath relaxed his hold. “You will discover your destiny in time. For once you leave heaven you will have no knowledge that you were ever here, or even that you are a god. You will believe yourself to be human. You will live as one of them. And like them…you will be vulnerable.”

  Darshan began to tremble. “Then who will take care of me?”

  “Listen to me, son.” Gerath’s tone took on a fatherly quality that sounded almost loving. “Humans and elves are not the monsters you may believe. They have a great capacity for love and kindness. You must look to them for help and guidance. And though you will not remember any of this, my hope is that the impression of what I say will live somewhere deep inside you.”

  Once again Gerath’s hands gripped his son’s shoulders. “I am sending you away because it is your destiny to bring hope to a world that is slipping into darkness. You must become the light.”

  “But why must I do it alone, father?” he asked, his tears starting afresh. “Why can’t you come with me?”

  Gerath met his question with silence.

  Darshan turned his back. “You’ve always hated me. You blame me for the Creator leaving. You blame me for everything.”

  For just a moment Gewey thought he saw a hint of regret and compassion in his father’s eyes. Maybe he didn’t want me to go, after all, he thought.

  “What prevented Gerath from staying with you?” Melek asked him contemptuously. “Why would he leave you alone and unprotected in a savage world? He had the power to defeat your enemy and keep you safe, yet he left it to strangers to raise you and care for you. You need not have suffered the way you did.”

  His words dug painfully into Gewey’s heart, filling it with fury. Suddenly, it all became clear. Melek was right - Gerath wanted him gone. If not, why didn’t he simply come down and smite the Dark Knight? Why make his only son bleed and feel mortal pain? The answer was clear. Because he was jealous. He knew that one day Darshan would surpass him, and Gerath feared that. He feared what his son could become.

  “That’s right,” said Melek. “He feared you. He allowed all of this to happen. He betrayed both his father…and his son.”

  Gewey nodded sharply in agreement, then returned his attention to the vision.

  Gerath was staring down at Darshan, his face no longer revealing his feelings. “You are wrong. I do not blame you. But you are the only one who can do what must be done.”

  “Why me?” His voice was a quiet lament. “Why am I the one? Why won’t you choose someone else?”

  “If I could, I would,” Gerath replied. “But the choice is not mine. The Creator revealed to me your destiny, and it is through her wisdom you have been chosen.”

  Darshan turned to face him. “When?” His once clear and childlike voice was diminished to a hushed whisper.

  “Now,” Gerath replied stoically.

  Darshan looked directly into his father’s eyes, unblinking for several minutes. Finally, defeated and rejected, his shoulders slumped.

  “One day you will understand all of this,” Gerath promised.

  His words had no impact on Darshan. He simply nodded. “Can I say goodbye to the others?”

  Gerath took his hand. “No. It is best that you do not see them again.”

  “If you say so, father.”

  A portal opened beside them and Gerath ushered his son through.

  Back within the house, Melek poured more wine. “Now do you understand?” he asked.

  Gewey sat down at the table and drained his glass. His eyes burned and his muscles flexed. “How do we get free from this place?”

  Melek tilted his head slightly and stared intensely at the brooding Gewey. “The question is: What will you do once you are free?”

  Gewey thought about this for a time. “Fi
rst, I will destroy the Dark Knight.”

  “Why?” asked Melek. “Are his goals not the same as yours?”

  Gewey shook his head. “He’s too ambitious. His campaign to destroy the gods is rooted in fear and a desire to rule. Should I bow down to such a man? Because he would have it no other way.” Gewey’s voice was becoming increasingly powerful; his heart was filling with more and more hatred.

  “No,” said Melek. “You will never bow to anyone - ever. If you wish him destroyed, I will help you to do so.”

  Gewey snarled. “I don’t need help squashing this ant. He wants to do battle with the gods? He can begin with me.”

  “I would advise caution. This human has stolen great power, and has had many years to learn how to wield it.”

  Gewey was taken aback. “You don’t think I can defeat him?”

  Melek held up his hand and smiled. “No, of course you can. But why take any risk? Let me fight by your side. Let me help you make the ant crawl. You say he is driven by fear. Together we can show him the true meaning of fear. Before he meets his end he will curse the day he heard your name.”

  This brought a sinister grin to Gewey’s face. “Yes. I would like that.”

  Melek poured more wine. Gewey took it greedily and drained the glass. Melek smiled with satisfaction and gave him more.

  “I would ask for only one thing in return,” said Melek.

  “Whatever you need from me, you will have it,” Gewey assured him.

  He leaned forward. “Once your enemy is crushed, you will then help me to crush mine. I alone cannot challenge all nine of my children. But together....”

  “Together, we will both have our revenge,” interrupted Gewey. “You have opened my eyes. I understand now how gullible I have been, and how I was used by the very beings who now beg for my help. For that, I am in your debt. Gerath may not have taught me anything, but my human father most surely did. He told me: 'Always pay your debts'.”

  Melek reached out to take hold of Gewey’s hand, squeezing it tightly and sending intense heat running through his entire body. “And once our enemies are vanquished, then we can undo the evil that the Creator has allowed to thrive in heaven - and on earth.”

  His final words gave Gewey pause. He intended to free the world, and to save those he loved from the menace of Angrääl. But what did Melek mean by undo the evil? Once the Dark Knight and the gods were no more, what evil was there left?

  Melek released him and poured another glass of wine. “I only meant that we will bring peace. Do you not think the world has seen enough war? Does your child not deserve to grow up without the threat of annihilation?”

  Gewey emptied his glass. The cool liquid turned to fire in his belly, sending more waves of heat rushing through his limbs. “Of course, he agreed,” The heat became anger. “Yes. There must be no more war and death.”

  “Then there is only one way,” said Melek. “Only one way to end the madness and never ending cycle of destruction.” There was a long pause. “The Creator must not be allowed to return.”

  Gewey leaned back, his anger lessening as the magnitude of what Melek was saying sank in. He means to kill the Creator.

  Again Melek refilled his glass. And again Gewey drank deeply, his hands almost trembling from the desire to taste the sweet liquid.

  Melek eased his chair back, away from the table. “And if that is so? Would you still fight by my side?”

  The growing displeasure on Melek’s face pained Gewey, but he had no idea of how to respond. “It’s just that I don’t understand why you would want to do that. Why would you wish to see the Creator destroyed?”

  Melek rose to his feet. His unassuming frame suddenly appeared to grow in stature, becoming menacing and powerful. His voice boomed out, shaking the walls of the small house.

  “I served her for uncountable centuries. I cared for every one of her precious creations. I loved her without question. Where was she when I needed protection? Where was she when my children betrayed me?” His voice rose to a crescendo. “Where is she now – now that we are trapped in this flaming pit?”

  The house exploded outwards, shattering with a force that sent Gewey sprawling. The desolate landscape that had once been beyond the four walls was now a raging inferno. All around them fire spewed forth from a never-ending succession of hideously misshapen rocks. The heat was so intense that Gewey cried out and covered his face. The howl of the wind was a cacophony of insane screams and pleas for help that raked at his ears, threatening to drag him along with them into sheer madness.

  Just behind Melek, the ground fell away into a pit of utter darkness. Even the light from the endless fires was unable to penetrate its depths.

  Melek rose high into the air, his arms spread wide. “Now do you see? This is where the Creator thinks I belong - where we belong. This is the nightmare she allowed my children to trap me within.”

  Gewey looked at Melek in horror. The absolute fury of what he was witnessing struck his heart with desperation and fear.

  Casting his gaze downward to Gewey’s huddled form, Melek drew in a deep breath and drifted down to earth. In an instant the house blinked back into existence, just as if it had been there the entire time.

  Melek walked over to Gewey and helped him to his feet. “I am sorry if I frightened you. But I wanted you to know the reality of Shagharath. What you are seeing here – this house, this table, even me – it is all there simply for your benefit.”

  Gewey allowed Melek guide him to his chair and pour him another glass of wine. “So that’s what this place really looks like?”

  Melek shrugged. “To my eyes, at least. It is what I see every waking moment. It takes me great effort to keep it the way you see it now. But I did not want you to be afraid.”

  “And the screams,” Gewey whispered. “Those horrible screams. They were so much worse than before.”

  “More evidence of the Creator’s cruelty,” said Melek. “Mortal souls were never meant to be faced with such unspeakable things. She could save them. And yet they remain…forever lost.”

  “What was that pit?” asked Gewey. The wine was beginning to settle his nerves and he held out his glass for more. Melek was happy to oblige.

  “That is a choice I am faced with,” he replied. “Within the pit there is only oblivion. Should I enter it, I would cease to be. A final kindness left by my son. I can choose to end my captivity, but I must pay the ultimate price.”

  A vision of the pit and the fire entered Gewey’s mind. How long could anyone stand to be in such a place, he wondered. Surely death would be a sweet release.

  He felt the gentle touch of Melek’s spirit listening to his thoughts. He smiled and allowed it to comfort him.

  “Many times I nearly took the plunge,” Melek told him. “But something always held be back. A faint hope that one day I would rise again - that the implement of my salvation would reveal itself.” He smiled warmly and spread out his hands. “And now…here you are.”

  Gewey returned Melek’s smile. “I will not fail you.” His desire to please was rapidly growing. More than anything, he wanted to help Melek escape and exact his revenge. He would not fail, no matter the cost to himself.

  “And what will you do when the time comes?” asked Melek. “When we face the Creator. Will you stand with me?”

  Gewey nodded. “I will.”

  Chapter 10

  King Lousis dismounted his massive steed and raised an arm in greeting. Mohanisi stood at the vanguard of a thirty thousand strong army of elves from the Steppes, his expression grave.

  The king spanned the distance between them with long sure strides to embrace the elf enthusiastically. Mohanisi, clearly unaccustomed to such physical displays, stiffened in response. Laughing boisterously, Lousis didn’t seem to notice.

  “You have no idea how happy I am to see you,” he said after finally releasing his hold. He gave the elf’s shoulder one final fond slap and then took another look at the army. “You have arrived just in
time.” He glanced around curiously. “But where is Lord Theopolou? I thought for sure he’d be with you. I would very much like to speak with him as soon as possible. His experience in the Great War is sorely needed.”

  There was a long pause. The look in Mohanisi’s eyes told Lousis that all was not well.

  “Out with it,” the king commanded.

  Mohanisi lowered his eyes. A look of sorrowful reverence washed over his face. “Lord Theopolou fell while freeing the elves of the Steppes from the enemy’s curse.”

  His words struck King Lousis like a massive blow to the gut. He took an unsteady step backward, not wanting to believe what his ears were hearing. The person who had saved his life from an assassin’s poison, and who had most likely helped more than anyone else to unite human and elf…was dead?

  “How?” he asked. Words were sticking in his throat. “How...how did he die?”

  “Gather the elders and commanders,” said Mohanisi. “I would have them all hear of his sacrifice.”

  Lousis nodded in agreement. “That would be wise. I would not have rumors spread as we stand at the edge of battle. Theopolou was well loved among his people. We should all hear of his fate together.”

  Mohanisi gave instructions for his captains to meet with the commanders of Lousis’ army, then followed Lousis to his tent. As he arrived, the king was issuing orders that the elders gather in a small clearing on the western end of the camp. While they waited for this meeting to form, Lousis explained their situation.

  “The enemy we face still outnumbers us by two-to-one, even with the addition of your people. But should Lord Chiron manage to break through in time, and with his force intact, I am certain we will prevail.”

  He went on to tell Mohanisi about the enemy’s devastating new weapon they had been facing. The elf listened with keen interest, though he told Lousis he had never heard of such a thing.

  “We know of certain minerals that when combined with each other will produce colorful sparks and flames. But nothing such as you describe.” He rubbed his chin. “Even so, perhaps it is something similar. I will consult with Lady Bellisia once I am finished speaking to the assembly.”