99 Gods: Betrayer

by Randall Farmer

  Capitulate? This didn’t sound good. However, he thought Elorie’s information immensely important. “I’ll agree,” Dave said.

  “Let us talk to Elorie,” Tevosh said. He led them back to where Elorie rested. “Shall this occur with him?” he said, to her.

  “Leave here? Yes.”

  “This helps us,” Tevosh said.

  “This helps everyone.”

  “Unlikely. I cannot let this debt go unpaid, though.”

  Dave frowned. Elorie matched his face.

  “Okay. You want me to ask questions? Balance this debt?” Elorie said. She sat up, slowly.

  “Non-germane questions only,” Tevosh said. “Unless you want me to have to go get Glory or Sorrow.”

  “Uh, you don’t have to do that,” Dave said. Quietly.

  Elorie looked at the dusty floor for a moment.

  “How about this?” Elorie said. “One of our holy books states you mated with mortal women and gave birth to giants. Anything to that?”

  Dave almost swallowed his tongue. Her quote was from the Book of Enoch, which he hadn’t realized Georgia or one of the others had convinced Elorie to read. She had equated them with those Watchers, also named as Fallen Angels in the translation he had read.

  “Books of scripture are almost never correct,” Tevosh said. “In this case, the tale is nothing more than an attempt by unlearned primitives to explain and give an origin to the commonly found bones of extinct Pleistocene megafauna you humans are so apparently fascinated with, or used to be.”

  “Oh, we still are,” Dave said, surprised at Tevosh’s knowledge and words. “I’ve got…”

  “Hush, pawn,” Tevosh said. He kept his eyes fixed on Elorie.

  She nodded. Dave hushed up.

  “You implied the Eden story was your fault, before you clammed up,” Elorie said. “I’d like to know at least the outline of the story involved.”

  “Very well,” Tevosh said. “The Harappan civilization we were created to nurture lived in what the ancients termed ‘the land of the seven rivers’. With our aid, their civilization became an urban garden, as through our aid they developed Earth’s first urban fresh water and waste sanitation systems. They fell during our internecine conflict, their politics contaminated by thoughts of military strategy and tactics. The knowledge of their civilization lived on only in myth and legend, the story corrupted over time to fit the situation of the storytellers. Still, your biblical description of Eden as a ‘paradise’, a royal park, in the land of the four rivers, and the fall due to the knowledge of good and evil, is surprisingly cogent. On the other hand, there was no serpent or forbidden fruit.”

  “Thank you,” Elorie said, through a grimacing smile caricature. “The 99 Gods say they were created by an Angelic Host, and implied there is more than one Angelic Host. I would like to know what’s going on with them.”

  Dave marveled at Elorie’s questions and her nerve. She had a way with things, being able to pull the strangest ideas out of nearly nothing. Not only had she figured out enough about the Watcher’s rules to question-barter with them, she had the nerve to ask what Dave thought were insanely personal questions.

  Tevosh nodded. “About them I can tell a story, if you are willing to let them remain in our conversation ‘Angelic Hosts’ and ‘Angels’. Angels are not immortals as you perceive the term. They are born from God and humanity; when their term is up many centuries later, they return to God. They are born not of flesh, but elevated after mortal death; they are holy ghosts, holy spirits, the hands and ears of God. The Holy Spirit…as a group. There are many Hosts of Angels, but most do not or cannot appear to mortal eyes. The ones the 99 Gods speak of did create them and they are still around so they can mentor, nurture and replace those who fall. However, this is not a permanent state of affairs, as Angels are not immortal.” Tevosh laughed. “Trust me on this, little one: the truly holy mortal-born can be away from God Almighty for only so long before they become fully corrupted.”

  “What corrupts them?” Elorie said.

  “If you looked in a mirror, you would discern your answer.”

  Meaning? Mortals corrupted Angels.

  Dave wasn’t sure he believed a word of this.

  “Does worship corrupt them?” Elorie said. “Why does worship corrupt, anyway?”

  “Worship is not the only influence corrupting…and who would worship a mere Angel?” Tevosh said. “About the other possibilities? Well, polytheism does not harm mortals and it does not harm God Almighty, though it does dishonor Him. Such worship harms the objects of worship. This is true of mortals and spirits, but the harm is as always to the supernatural prowess, if any, of those worshipped.”

  “Does this include the veneration of saints and martyrs?” Elorie said.

  “Mortals, live and dead, who are or were actively religious in a monotheistic religion have no problems with veneration.”

  “What about Hinduism?” Elorie said. “Or, for that matter, the idea of the Christian trinity?”

  “A polytheism that sees their Gods as aspects or faces of God does not have the problem. Harm happens when those who venerate confuse their actions with worship, or they don’t understand that their Gods are just aspects of God Almighty.”

  “Thus Dubuque and the others?”

  “They are more damned, as they have set themselves up in place of God Almighty.”

  Dave shook his head. The subtleties in this completely escaped him.

  The subtleties didn’t escape Elorie. “This seems like a difference that makes no difference.”

  “The difference is of gradations, of allegory, even of what you might term technology,” Tevosh said, eyes twinkling. “For instance, what might happen if a cult worshipped a totally imaginary God, not as an aspect of God Almighty but as a totally separate entity?”

  “I would guess nothing would happen,” Elorie said.

  “Wrong, little one. There is always magic to be worked, and has always been. The art of worship works the ambient magic. Imaginary Gods become real, in a magical sense, become corrupted, take root in the minds and bodies of mortal magicians, who become evil and must be destroyed.”

  “You’re talking about magician-hunting,” Elorie said. “John Lorenzi’s old job. That’s why his job was necessary.”

  “You state the obvious.”

  “Wait a second,” Elorie said. “Magic’s always been around? There were groups of magical entities before you Watchers and your Omnipresent, then. Who were they?”

  “I cannot say what we might call them or reveal any new secrets.”

  The Watchers were assholes. Professional assholes.

  “Are you Supported, like the Supported of the 99 Gods?” Elorie said.

  “Your question, alas, must be considered to be germane,” Tevosh said. “I cannot answer.”

  “Our backer used the term ‘Ha-qodeshim’ to refer to some unknown supernatural group, different than you Watchers. Are you them, as well?”

  “Certainly not,” Tevosh said. He looked ill just hearing the name.

  “Are they one of the groups of magical entities predating you?”

  Tevosh made a face, thought for a moment, and nodded. Dave shivered, realizing Lorenzi’s horror show of old collected letters likely hadn’t been as exaggerated as Dave once thought.

  “Okay, back to an earlier question,” Elorie said. “How long do we have before the 99 Gods Angelic Host returns to God?”

  “I can answer, but this is your last question I will answer, as this is getting very tiring,” Tevosh said. “Do you still wish to ask your silly question?”

  “Sure. Yes.”

  “They will remain approximately a thousand years past their first appearance to humanity, the source of the religious aura surrounding the term ‘millennium’.”

  “I guess we’re not going to wait them out, now are we,” Elorie said.

  Tevosh shrugged.

  “Let us walk,” Tevosh said, and led Dave through a set of mind-be
nding fortifications defying logic and gravity – which showed Dave the power of their magic, despite their professed weakness – and out the front gate to where the four Watchers still conversed with Nessa and Ken. The sun beat down on the unshaded expanse of dust and brown weeds, but none of the group seemed to mind. Although Sorrow still sat elbow to elbow with Nessa, Ken now conferred elbow to elbow with the short fat Watcher. Dave cocked an ear and realized the two of them talked about magic, in specific, what Ken could analyze of their magic. The Watchers hadn’t realized Telepaths could sense magic. Apparently. Learn something new every day of your immortal life, he guessed.

  “We have made a decision,” Wisdom said, apropos of nothing.

  The conversations stopped.

  “Dave Estrada has a great deal of information to pass along to you. He remains a hostage and has agreed to return to us if you do not capitulate. We have also decided the payment for your tribute. We demand Nessa Binglehauser become our servant.”

  “Where the fuck did that come from?” Nessa said, leaping to her feet. Dave’s head pounded suddenly. Beside him, Tevosh winced. So did Sorrow and the fat Watcher by Ken’s side.

  “She’s going to wipe your asses if you fight, you realize,” Dave said, whispering.

  “In such a fight you would not last the first second,” Tevosh whispered back.

  Dave shrugged. No news to him.

  “This comes from me,” Sorrow said, answering Nessa’s question. “As interpreted by all Watchers. This is not without recompense, your service. We can remove your last nagging mental blockages. You would become a true peer of us, not the hobbled Telepath you are now.”

  Now Sorrow had Nessa’s attention. “Why?” Nessa said. “What do you get out of this?”

  Sorrow smiled. “I believe you are one of the prophesied ones. We suffer – in sorrow, of course – because we cannot damp the evil in our hearts. You are a holy mystic, strong enough to endure us and help us bind our minds away from evil. We need you to quiet our minds and aid us in the long years of waiting for our savior. We can show you immortality.”

  Dave rolled his eyes. The Watchers didn’t need marketing agents. They knew how to twist words with the best of them. ‘Show you immortality’ indeed. He had seen the elixir and learned its price. Nessa would never take the drug if she knew.

  “Let me think,” Nessa said. “You clean the crud out of my mind and in return, I get to keep you from doing evil and I become immortal?”

  Sorrow didn’t react. Bitch.

  Dave tried to open his mouth to speak, and found he couldn’t. They let Nessa fill in the blanks in Sorrow’s lies of omission with the wrong answers!

  Ken stepped over to Nessa. “Your socks warned you against this. So did I, and so did Uffie.”

  “So sue me. I have my weaknesses.” Nessa paused. “I know I can make this work!”

  Shit. Dave hadn’t realized how much a sucker Nessa was for a good sales pitch.

  “It’s another scheme, Nessa,” Ken said. “You agreed to let me be the judge of your schemes.”

  Nessa studied her feet and kicked dirt. “You’re right. I agreed.” She paused and smiled a silly smile. “Ken, join me with the Watchers. I’ll bet the two of us together could make this work.”

  Ken shook his head and looked over at Wisdom. “Great Wisdom, let me tell you the hunch of a Telepath. Read the truth in my words.”

  Wisdom nodded.

  “If you enslave Nessa, or Nessa and I, you will never meet your savior, who walks this Earth as we speak.”

  “Who is this savior? Which one?”

  Ken shrugged. “Damned if I know.”

  “Our demand must remain unchanged. Nessa?”

  “I don’t know,” Nessa said. “Sure I can be your analgesic, but this savior is your cure, not me. I think. I need to meditate on this.”

  “Our time of discussion today is over,” Wisdom said. “Learn what you can from Dave, and have him return to his proper captivity. Perhaps his words will sway your mind.”

  Just what Dave didn’t want to hear.

  49. (Nessa)

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Dave said. He looked like crap, and tears ran down his bruised face. They all stood together in a little group about 50 feet from the benches. “This is Elorie’s fate, for good or for bad. I don’t understand these Watchers and Elorie’s gone around the bend. I don’t have anything more to pass along to you.”

  Nessa bowed her head and turned away, undone by Dave’s long story. Her mind filled with fire. Elsewhere, elsewhere, there were answers. But not here. Every bit of information the Watchers let loose uncovered more unwanted mysteries. A key, a key turned in her head, and she knew fate had thrown her over the cliff. The path she hoped for in her life had vanished, first blown out of the air by some damned missile, now its remains devoured by these monsters. The present shuddered, shattered, and formed anew.

  Chaos.

  They had fallen below the precipice. Fallen, fallen, fallen…

  “Undone,” Ken said. His mind had retreated behind his mind shield, and Nessa, for once, had no urge to peek. “This undid us, our success here. I don’t know how, but I…” His voice tailed off.

  “I must go back,” Dave said. “I gave my word, and to these Watchers one’s word is everything. Unless, as they put it, you capitulate.”

  “Are you asking me to sacrifice myself for this idiocy?” Nessa said. She couldn’t look at Dave. ‘No’ both socks screamed in her mind. Both. Such unanimity was as uncommon as it was unnatural.

  “No,” Dave said. “You have what you came for, the information we were sent for. Take the information back to Lorenzi and let him deal with the fallout. Leave us here. Elorie and I will cope. Or die. You and what you’re doing is more important.”

  “Don’t write yourself off so cavalierly,” Ken said. His voice was an actor’s stage-filling bellow and his aura exuded terror in waves. Dave flung himself to the ground and scrabbled back. “Never! You and Elorie are as important as the two of us, perhaps more so. You are…”

  “We’re only human,” Dave said, a dusty whisper. “You’re not.”

  “Exactly, and that’s the key!” Ken said, shouting. Nessa had never heard Ken so completely taken over by a true prophetic hunch, which is what this had to be, the same thing filling her mind with fire. Only she didn’t understand what he said or meant at all.

  “Shall I submit?” Nessa said. Submission tempted her, despite the socks’ mental screaming. She could almost taste the wonder of losing the last of her mental blocks. Oh, so good, so good. She might be able to become one with the wild animals the way she wanted. She stood to follow Dave, but Ken stopped her. He picked her up with gentle telekinesis.

  “No, no, no!” Ken said, a command, not a plea, his voice still stentorian. “The immortality they offer you will slay the twins in your womb!”

  Nessa’s eyes lowered and a bottomless rage awoke within her. She looked at Dave, and saw he had known; the Watchers had tricked him somehow to prevent him from telling them. Her rage grew.

  Dust and darkness, raised by Ken’s willing acquiescence of her use of his telekinesis, filled the air around them and darkened the skies above the castle. Cattle screamed, dogs howled and even the sheep and goats protested. Wisdom, the target of Nessa’s assault, covered his head and lost his protective illusion, revealing a man just under six feet tall, a mid-caste Indian with a warrior’s build.

  She let her anger rage around Wisdom, holding back until she could control her emotions. How dare they! How dare they try to trick her like this! Evil, they were so evil they were beyond evil!

  She would not answer their evil with evil, though. She had seen the stratagem before, long long ago when Ken had been her boss and she had been an apprentice private investigator. Blind Tom used the trick and nearly ensnared the both of them.

  The way of answering evil with evil lay inhumanity.

  Nessa advanced on Wisdom, lids lowered so only a slit remained between, total
ly overcome by rage.

  “Any more, mortal, and a fight to the death this will become,” Wisdom said, between clenched teeth.

  Nessa hissed air, her heart pounding faster than she could track. She clenched her hands, searching for control, and found it. She ripped her hands apart and Wisdom fell back with a bellow, landing on his backside. The dust cleared from the air and Ken’s unnatural darkness lifted. “Come up with a better offer,” Nessa said, her voice liquid and sibilant, “Or I will give you back the pain you have given to all of your victims over all your long unnatural years.” She spoke with power, backed by judges who sneered at the Watchers as puerile infants. Only she had no idea who backed her or why.

  She turned her back on the putative whatever-he-was and stalked back to her now terrified companions. Only Ken met her gaze without blanching in fear. Even Uffie turned away, shaking. Dave? Dave sought refuge with the Watchers.

  To hell with this. She refused to let the Watchers manipulate her and tempt her darkness. She continued on, past her group, past the poles and skulls. In her wake, still wielding Ken’s telekinesis for him, she gave each skull a proper burial. Then she came to the wooden bridge.

  “You have a mind,” Nessa said to the bridge, now accessing Ken’s voice trick, booming her voice across the wide valley. “Your mind is evil with time.” The bridge had once been a mere thing of magic, like one of Lorenzi’s magical amulets, but had become much more so over time, bloated with power and fallen. Time gave the bridge a mind; it had fallen into evil because of the evil of its creators, the Watchers.

  Like the trap ensnaring the Ecumenist quest in the Room of Finding in Cappadocia, the bridge had achieved independence from its makers. The bridge hated them and all other life.

  “Your mind is dead!” Nessa hit the bridge with her entire being, her entire measure of telepathic force. The bridge’s unnatural flame of mind and life vanished into her telepathic gale.

  Nessa buckled and fell into Ken’s arms, though she didn’t know where he had come from. He flew her through the air to a pile of tents and supplies that had only moments before been a half mile away. The tents stood up and welcomed them home. Nessa closed her eyes and shook, the terrible rage awakened by the threat to her children now abated.