"You will call us my Lord and my lady," the old man said.
Gregory grabbed Aysa by the arm and pulled her back before her mouth could get the better of her again. He hoped that perhaps they could win the day with feigned devotion. “My lady, it is an honor to finally meet the gods we have heard so much about. We come to you today to offer our service. It would be an honor to do your bidding. What would you have us do?" He bent his head, eyes on the floor. Holding his breath, he waited for her response.
Again, she broke out in laughter. "Oh, come on, you little prick. Don't try shoveling that shit around here. The only one in the room who doesn't know your game is that drooling fool.” She pointed to Broderick’s father. “And he waits for my husband to tell him he’s allowed to piss in a pot.” She paused. “But the three of you will be like him soon enough, mark my words."
The man nodded. "Oh yes, mark her words."
"If you're not gods, what the hell are you doing down here?" Hadley spat at the old woman. "Give us what we came for, and we’ll be on our way."
"That's funny," she said. "I don't think you'll be going anywhere, handsome, but since you'll be joining us for a while and you won't remember a damned thing, it shouldn't be a problem to answer your questions." Her words gurgled in her throat, making Gregory gag.
The old man opened his mouth to parrot his wife, but she grabbed him by the arm before he had the chance. "That's enough, dear." She looked at Hadley again. "But I have a feeling that you might know the story already. I am not unfamiliar with the ways of the mystics. Isn’t that what your group calls themselves?"
Hadley nodded. "It is. But we also have a name for people like you who use mental magic to bring suffering on others. "
The woman's eyes grew large. "Is that right? I would like to say that I'm surprised, but, before we came down here into our paradise we heard tales of those who would do such a thing. Tell me, mystic… What do your people call people like us?”
Hadley narrowed his eyes. "We call you ‘assholes.’"
She didn't laugh. Anger filled her eyes as her crooked fingernail traced circles around the massive crystal on the end of the arm of her throne. "I cannot wait until this one bows at my feet. I’ll have a good time with you." She cocked her head toward Gregory. "You should try to keep your friend’s mouth shut before he loses his head. Now, where was I?"
Aysa raised her hand, as if she were in a classroom. "You were about to tell us why you and that crusty old bastard are holed up down here while these good men are in a trance doing your bidding."
"Ah, yes. Those men, they say we are gods, as do the Heemites who live above ground and send their fathers and sons to be with us. It’s not such a bad thing for any of them. Cronus and I give them all hope. We give them hope, and they give us their lives. Fair is fair.”
“Sounds like a shitty deal to me,” Aysa growled.
“You’ll watch your fucking mouth when you stand before my throne, you disrespectful little shit,” Atreus said with a snarl.
“Yes,” Cronus chimed in. “You will watch your fucking mouth.”
“Thank you, dear.” Atreus reached over and ran her hand along Cronus’s arm like she was petting a dog. Turning back to Gregory, she continued, “But the thing that you might not know is that all gods start somewhere at some time. They start just like one of you, or like me. Cronus and I came down here years ago to start our kingdom, and our kingdom is coming. It is coming soon. We have not yet arrived, but we’re on the path toward being the greatest gods since the Matriarch and Patriarch left Irth."
"You gotta be kidding me," Hadley said, looking at the old man and the old woman who couldn't be but a few years from natural death. "If you're on your way to being gods, I’m on my way to falling in love with Gregory here.”
“We all have our preferences, handsome.” She laughed again. “You have heard the story of the Queen Bitch, have you not? A mere human who was turned into a god through eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the gods who came before her.”
“Um…” Gregory said, trailing off wondering if it were wise to speak.
Aysa said it anyway. “I don’t think that is really what happened with the Matriarch.”
“Oh no? You believe your tales, I will believe mine.”
She reached for a chalice on a small table between the thrones. Like everything else, it was made of the indigenous gems. Through the glimmer of the crystal they could see a deep red liquid, like a rich red wine from the vineyards at the base of the Heights. She drank, and when she pulled the glass away, her top lip was coated in the red. With a flick of her blue-red tongue, she lapped off the remains.
“Delicious!” she exclaimed. “As good as the first time I tasted it.” She tapped the glass and the crystal sang through the chamber. She held it up as if giving a toast. Her eyes were on Aysa. “My trust in our stories of the gods is why I tasted it in the first place. I am sure it will be effective quite soon.”
“Wait,” Aysa said, her brow furrowed over her narrowed eyes, “that’s—”
“Blood.” Hadley finished her thought. “It’s why the Heemites have been sending their soldiers, two a year, down here for decades and there aren’t more than a dozen left.”
“Holy shit,” Aysa spat. “You actually kill them and drink their blood?”
“Well, dear... We eat them too.”
“Yes,” Cronus added. “We eat them too.”
“Just like Bethany Anne and Michael. I mean,” Atreus said, “anything to bring our power to Irth, dear. And my mother always said, ‘Waste not, want not.’ Plenty of blood left in those loins, after all.”
Gregory felt sick, and he searched for something to say, something to do. His eyes cut to Broderick’s father, and he realized that one day he would be the evil feast. Hand curling into a fist, he considered charging the steps and punching the hag in the face.
But Aysa was faster and bolder. In a blur, she pulled her bolas from her hip. “I’m going to kill both of you sick bastards.”
“Ah, that’s cute, dear,” Atreus laughed. “But you will need to get through our men first. I’ve been wanting to try out our newest recruit.”
She snapped her fingers, and her eyes flashed white. Immediately Karl, eyes dazed and hazy, stepped through the rows of warriors, hammer already in hand.
“Guards,” Atreus shouted, and before Gregory and Hadley knew it, spears were leveled at their chests.
Karl took three strides toward Aysa, his hammer raised. “Fer the gods,” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Karl,” Aysa yelled. “Karl, snap out of it.”
But the rearick was unresponsive. He swung his hammer in a fast, powerful arc. Aysa dove to the side, then rolled back to her feet. “Had, help me out here!”
“I’m trying,” the mystic shouted. His eyes were cloudy and his teeth were clenched. “But I can’t get through.”
She kept circling, trying to stay out of the rearick’s reach.
“What do I do? What do I do?”
“Don’t hurt him,” Gregory yelled when Aysa barely managed to block a quick swing of Karl’s hammer. It rang as it hit her shield, and the momentum knocked her back a step.
“You’re worried about his safety!” she yelled. “What about mine?”
“Try not to fret too much, dear,” the old lady laughed. “It will ruin the flavor.”
Aysa picked up a rock and threw it at the goddess, but Karl was too fast. He crushed it in midair with the hammer.
“Gregory,” Aysa said, “you better figure out something fast, before I lose my patience and pound Karl’s face in.”
“I’m working on it.”
He looked desperately around the large room, searching for anything that might get them out of this mess. He took a half step backward, and his hand landed upon a carved torch stand behind him.
It was made of pure crystal.
He smiled to himself, and his eyes turned black.
While Gregory was shit at physica
l magic, he knew how to channel energy into amphoralds. He hoped that the Oracle wasn’t wrong about these crystals.
Seconds that felt like hours passed and Aysa kept dancing away from Karl, but Gregory didn’t pay it any attention. He was completely focused on the crystals. He knew it was working the moment power started to flow through him. His knees weakened but he kept going, sure that this was the only way out of here.
Finally he turned toward Atreus and shouted, “You know something? You’re nothing like the Matriarch. She was the most beautiful person to ever walk Irth, and you’re uglier than Karl’s asshole. You... You’re nothing but a shriveled old bitch!”
The woman turned, her smile quickly fading into a sneer. “I was going to turn you into a puppet, but I think instead I’ll just turn you into dinner. Guards, kill him.”
The guard in front of Gregory pulled back his spear, but just before he plunged it into Gregory’s heart the young engineer dove out of the way. He tackled Hadley and the two of them fell to the floor as an explosion ripped through the room. The man had ignited the crystal with the force of his weapon.
The guards took the brunt of the force, and were thrown in every direction. But even with their bodies as a buffer, Gregory could feel the heat of the energy that flashed from the shattered crystal.
It was enough to distract Karl for a second, and Aysa sprang into action. She smashed her bolas into his temple, and he dropped like a sack of flour.
“Get him into the cart,” Gregory yelled as he ran to her side. With Aysa doing most of the lifting, they managed to throw Karl into the back of the festival wagon.
Meanwhile Hadley was pushing against the guards as they regrouped and tried to attack. It was a losing fight, but it gave Gregory enough time to grab the reins and whip the donkey into action. The cart took off toward the exit.
“Hadley, come on,” Aysa yelled as she threw random Heemite artifacts from the wagon at the guards.
Hadley dropped his spell and jumped onto the back of the cart as they barreled out of the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Move! Move! Move! Fucking move!” Aysa yelled from the back of the cart.
Gregory snapped the reins against the mule’s neck and begged her to run faster. “Heya! Heya!” he screamed at the beast.
The sound of footsteps and shouting weren’t far behind and as far as Aysa could tell they were getting closer, but Hadley didn’t notice. His eyes were glazed with white as he knelt over Karl’s motionless body. The mystic gripped his friend’s hairy head between his hands, index fingers on Karl’s temples. He mumbled something under his breath, a habit that Aysa had noticed before. She wanted to scream at him as well, tell him to hurry up too, but she knew that mystical magic required concentration.
She dug through the cart instead to see what of might be of some use. Pushing aside the top layer of ornaments—ornate mirrors, artwork, and jewels of different kinds—apparently sacrifices to the “gods”—she finally got to the bags of food.
Loaves of bread, sides of meat, and produce of all kinds filled the burlap sacks. She ripped open the rough cloth and started to pour the food off the back of the cart, hoping that it might distract at least some of the charging horde.
“Save some of that for me,” Gregory called. “I’m wiped.”
“I bet. What the hell did you do back there?”
He smiled at her. “Easy. I just thought to myself, ‘What would Hannah do?’ And then, when I realized I wasn’t Hannah and I couldn’t just shove ice down everyone’s throat, I thought, ‘What would Gregory do?’ And then I did it!”
She laughed. “Glad to see you’re using your balls and your brains, but what exactly does that mean?”
“Simple. I used the one piece of magic I’m good at. Lilith was right. Those crystals can hold a lot of energy. More than the amphoralds, but they’re just as volatile. Crack a charged one open and all the energy comes out at once. Boom.”
“I’ll say.” She laughed again. “Well, I’m sure as hell glad you were there.”
“What the fuck is goin’ on here? Get off me, pretty boy.” She turned, just in time to hear Karl screaming.
Hadley kept a hand squarely on his chest to hold him down in the cart, but he was no match for the rearick’s strength. Karl sat up, his head turning in every direction. “Where the hell am I?”
Hadley leaned back against the wooden boards of the cart, which even then threatened to toss him over the edge. “Well, we just saved your ass from two demented old people who think the path to becoming gods is by drinking your fucking blood, so I think you should be saying thanks.” Hadley give him a wink.
Karl looked over his shoulder at Gregory gyrating in the driver’s seat, and then back down the long corridor. By squinting, he could see the shapes of the brainwashed Heemite champions charging toward them.
He looked at Aysa. “Shit, Aysa, we should get out and fight.”
Aysa looked over Gregory’s shoulder and then back at the men. The corridor was starting to level out a bit, and she knew they had to be close to the top. “No, we can make it. And what are we going to do, kill them? They’re nothing more than puppets.”
Karl grunted and agreed. “Guess I was one of them not too long ago, huh?”
Aysa only nodded.
By the time they made it to the top, they could see the whites of the oncoming men’s eyes. Gregory slowed enough that Karl and Aysa could vault over the side of the cart and race ahead to open the double doors that stood between them and freedom.
Once the cart was through the passageway they slammed them shut, and Karl slid the handle of his mighty hammer through the door handles just as the attackers made it to the doors. The doors shook as if a natural disaster were occurring, ungodly shouts and curses coming from behind them. Aysa looked at Karl’s hammer skeptically.
“Don’t ye worry about that hammer none. She’s gone through worse shit than this.” Karl nodded toward the cart, which had slowed down ten yards ahead of them on the stony path that led back to the city. “Let’s just get the hell out of here.”
By the time they caught up to the others, Gregory and Hadley were already in the midst of trying to figure out the next move.
“Let them bang all they want,” Hadley said. “Wear themselves out. Then we can open that door and take care of them all.”
“Take care of them?” Gregory said, a look of incredulity on his face.
Hadley shook his head. “Bet I understand this better than you do, Gregory. Those bastards down there, they’re deep in that trance. Took me a lot of work to pull Karl out of his, and they had him for all of an hour. This isn’t an easy business.”
“Aye. I’m with Hadley, though I always hate ta say it,” Karl told them as he joined them. “Well, not really with him. I’ve a better idea. Let’s get back ta that ship of ours and put it to use. Get up there inta the sky and just blast those shite-eating cannibals away.”
Aysa knocked him in the ribs with her elbow. “You forget two very important pieces of information, Karl.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“First of all, the ship doesn’t have the cannons anymore. We used those to save Lilith.”
“Scheisse, just when I was starting ta think that bucket o’ bolts was worth somethin’.” Karl scratched his beard and stared at Aysa. “And what’s number two?”
Gregory laughed. “Number two is that the crystals are down there.” He pointed toward the doors. “Remember? The entire freaking reason we came to this place?”
“Can’t go back without them,” Hadley said. “Would definitely disqualify me from beating Parker. And that’s not acceptable.”
“Not to mention,” Gregory said, “I know one of those guys down there. Well, I know his son, at least. These are people we’re talking about. Real people.”
Karl laughed. “We’ve killed real people before. Lots of ‘em.”
“Yeah,” Gregory replied, his voice raised, “but not good people. Not people l
ike this. The only thing these guys did wrong was believe in a lie, and I’m not gonna hold that against them. Hell, I believed a lie for most my life, until Hannah came along and woke me up. Those gods were false, but the real gods wouldn’t leave innocent people behind to die. And neither will I.”
Karl cursed under his breath and kicked at the stones by his feet. The tension was thick between them, and nobody really knew what to do. Breaking back into the caves wasn’t an option. The guards were everywhere, and it would just put them into the line of fire. They considered finding a way in and just slitting the throats of Atreus and Cronus, but Hadley disagreed.
“Their spells are strong, and those guys have been under them for too long. I’m afraid that if we just cut the wire between them all of a sudden, bad things will happen.”
“What kinds of bad things?” Gregory asked.
Hadley looked into the sky for a second and then back at Gregory. “Best case scenario, their brains just stop working and all those guys drop dead on the spot.”
“Worst case?” Aysa asked.
“Yeah… Worst case, I could see them going ape-shit on us like a bunch of overpowered remnant. But who knows? Want to give it a try?”
Gregory looked at his friends and then at the town. “I think there’s a better way, but we’re gonna need some help.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Hannah watched, transfixed, as a mist rose in the room, illuminated by the waning light of the sun outside of the tower. Before their eyes, the mist swirled and transformed into the body of a man, slender but muscular and tall. “I told you to leave,” he yelled, his voice echoing through the empty corridor. “Now you will pay.”
Taking a single step, the man raised his leg and kicked Vitali square in the chest, sending the Lynqi reeling backward.
Parker reacted quickly, swinging his spear toward the man, but he was gone as quickly as he came, and the weapon only cut through the lingering mist.
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