Whom the Gods Hate (Of Gods & Mortals Book 2)

by M. M. Perry

  “What kind of bet ends with you in the Golden City?” Kali asked hoping she wasn’t pressing too much.

  Suman looked to the sky and sighed loudly, resigned to tell the tale.

  “It would probably be helpful for you to know a little more about me first to understand. Where I come from, and this is mostly for your sake Kali since the satyr knows all this, our, I guess you would call it a city, it is quite large even if it is broken up strangely, so city it is. Our city, Urgana, is made up of hundreds of clans. Each clan lives in their own area of the city. They aren’t really connected, the living areas I mean. They each are separated by the woods. It doesn’t have to be a large amount of trees, in fact some clans have grown so large only a single line of trees separates their living areas from the other clans. The central part of the city is where most of the trade happens. Clans tend to specialize in different things. Mine is the weaver clan. We weave rugs mostly.”

  Suman stopped for a while as if trying to remember something.

  “Clans don’t typically mingle with each other outside of the connubial days. Connubial days happen four times a year. That’s when all the eligible single people in the clans mingle and, well, get married actually. It’s a complicated process I don’t think you are interested in. But that’s the only time we officially get together as a city. We aren’t allowed in each other’s territory and generally only see each other in the main market, and we aren’t really supposed to be mingling then either, but, there are some exceptions. Because of the way the city is broken up… it tends to create a bit of… oh let’s call it sportsmanship between clans,” Suman said finally.

  “Sportsmanship?” Patch scoffed, “if you say so.”

  Kali looked from Patch to Suman, they were exchanging terse looks. She wondered just how much animosity existed between the satyrs and Suman’s people.

  “Fine. It’s a rivalry. And it isn’t particularly healthy. It causes members of different clans to do stupid things to prove their worth to each other. I think you can start to see where this is going. Anyway, my clan was not particularly prosperous. I mean, rugs aren’t exactly essential. But we had been doing much better at market since I began weaving. I, well not to brag,” Suman smiled widely, “Okay, yes I’m bragging. But it’s true. My work has more flair than everyone else’s. More color. More patterns. More everything. People who saw my creations wanted new rugs when they had perfectly serviceable rugs at home.”

  Kali smiled up at Suman, “Of that I have no doubt.”

  Suman beamed, happy to accept the implied compliment and trust in his words.

  “And the elders of my clan were okay with what I was doing, even if they did think it was frivolous. Because it brought in much better trade you see. Anyway, enough about how impressive I am. My rugs are eye catching. Almost as eye catching as I myself am,” Suman winked at Kali. Kali rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless.

  “I know, hard to believe I could weave something this beautiful,” Suman said framing his face with his hands to illustrate.

  Kali thought she heard Patch snort in contempt but Suman did not seem to notice.

  “Anyway, the metalworker clan, one of the largest clans in Urgana, well, some of the fellows from there were jealous of the attention I was getting at market.”

  This time Kali was sure she heard Patch sigh loudly.

  “Bored, satyr?” Suman asked.

  “You seem to have to talk a great deal about yourself to explain anything, human. I thought you said you were done talking yourself up so much.”

  “Oh, you’re just grumpy. All your lot are. Grumpy goats. Looking for your pretty maids. Lighten up and I’ll try to hurry this along,” Suman said slapping Patch on the back. At the slap Patch barked, surprised by the contact. He scowled.

  “Where was I, oh yes, my outstanding weaving and its ability to induce anyone around into fits of envy. Well, as is the, and yes I admit, rather stupid custom of my people, the fellas from the metalworking clan began challenging me. One individual in particular, Hamza, did not like that his girlfriend was fawning over me. It didn’t help that he found us kissing behind the fruit stand. He challenged me in swimming matches, climbing matches, jumping matches, anything that didn’t involve physical contact with each other. Those were the city rules, no fighting in any form. He bested me at most of these. Like I said, these were metalworkers. They tended to be big and strong. Hamza was probably the biggest and strongest among his friends.

  “For some reason, no matter how many times he bested me, it wasn’t enough for him. I think in the end he knew it was about the prosperity. I was merely a rug weaver, but my rugs made more money than any of his work. So eventually he challenged me to a money duel. Whoever made more money in two weeks’ time would win once and for all. He was very specific about the time frame, which I was immediately suspect about. But to be honest, I found the whole challenge thing to be tiresome. I had only been accepting up to this point because of the spectacle of it. If you haven’t noticed already, I do like a bit of attention,” Suman said grinning at Kali.

  “Get on with your story, you fool,” Patch said impatiently.

  “Well, I figured it didn’t matter if I won. In fact, I was beginning to feel a little bad for the guy. I mean, his own girlfriend was rooting for me. So I didn’t try very hard. I wove very basic rugs and that was it. But all week long, I didn’t see him in market. It wasn’t until the second week when I didn’t see him that I began to be worried. Hamza was big, but he wasn’t too bright. I found out from his friends he had headed to the Golden City to claim his wealth. He planned to come back clad in gold clothing and prove that once and for all, he was better than me.

  “Of course I knew what this meant,” Suman said shaking his head sadly. “I immediately made for the Golden City myself. When I got there, I found the city much like you did, mostly empty. Mostly. In the center of town I saw Hamza, touching his collar and looking very down indeed. I know he had been there more than three days so he probably could have left. I wondered why he hadn’t. When he saw me, he tried very hard to put on a good face, taking me to his home and showing me his riches. Boasting that he had finally bested me when it really counted. I watched him walking around, his face lit with false pride. But he was no actor. It was clear he realized too late what a stupid plan he had.”

  Suman’s voice trailed off. He looked pensive for a moment before speaking again.

  “You asked me if there was any way to get out of your contract with Midassa. There is. If someone willingly accepts your contract, they have to understand it completely, but if they do, and they accept, your collar will disappear and go to the person who has accepted the remainder of your contract.”

  Suman stopped talking again. This time it was obvious he would not begin again. Kali touched Suman’s knee gently. They shared a brief look before Suman resumed his sunny smile.

  “We should really stop and eat something. I’m starving. I am a bit spoiled from my time in the Golden City,” he said.

  “A bit?” Patch snorted. Kali noticed that although the satyr continued to sound brusque toward Suman, there was a new look in his eyes. It was fleeting, but she saw the respect there.

  “Hey, satyr. I’ll share. Unless you’d rather just munch on some foliage over there. Or maybe a tin cup or something,” Suman laughed.

  “Ha. Ha.” Patch deadpanned, “You sure you aren’t from the fool clan in Urgana? I think you’d manage quite well as a jester.”

  “From you, I’ll take that as a compliment,” Suman said hopping off his horse and pulling some food from the ample supply sacks at its side.

  Kali watched the two of them bickering as she stood, gathering her thoughts. She had certainly managed to find interesting people to travel with. Despite that, she did not feel wary. In fact, the odd companionship reminded her of something, a memory she could not keep from slipping away. She squeezed her eyes shut to try to keep the memory inside, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. She opened he
r eyes again, forcing herself to hope the plan to see the oracles succeeded, even if she had her doubts.

  They stood at the mouth of the blackest cave Kali could ever have imagined running into.

  “That’s the blackest cave I’ve ever seen,” Suman said, echoing Kali’s thoughts.

  “I think the blackness is meant to be a warning of sorts. Anyone stupid enough to enter something that looks like that deserves what they get,” Patch said wryly.

  “That’s my cue then,” Suman said.

  “I wasn’t going to say anything,” Patch sniffed.

  “You didn’t have to,” Suman said.

  “Maybe we should think on this first,” Kali suggested.

  “Naw,” Suman said, “I’ve learned a thing or two about doing stupid things. The problem with thinking on them is that you aren’t likely to do them afterwards.”

  With that Suman climbed off his horse and started toward the blackness. Kali and Patch watched him approach the cave of the oracles.

  The cave’s black maw gaped amid the lush green vegetation around it. Patch was right in that the very look of the thing would be enough to keep almost anyone or anything clear of it. The edges of the stone surrounding the opening were jagged like a saw blade. Tiny rock teeth rimmed the gloomy opening. The plants stayed cleared of the path entering the cave, as if even they were afraid of what was inside.

  “You can’t remember your name or where you came from, but you remember oracles. That’s survival instinct if I ever saw it,” Patch said musing as Suman disappeared completely in the blackness. Kali was too busy concentrating on Suman to respond.

  Suman felt his way along the wall, unable to see anything. Not only was it pitch black in the cave, but it was almost as if there was a sound baffle as well. He couldn’t even hear any insects from the woods around the cave, and he was sure he had only walked about a dozen feet inside. He kept stepping carefully, counting each footstep to himself. Somewhere around footstep two hundred seventy-eight, he began to hear heavy breathing.

  Suman reminded himself that he could not be killed by any but Midassa, but a corner of his brain kept insisting this had not been tested. Perhaps that was the one part of the bargain that was a myth. After all, his brain taunted him, that was not written anywhere on the wall where his contract had been stated. Suman reasoned with his brain aloud.

  “If it’s not true, then no worries. I wouldn’t have left that village anyway and I would have been miserable. At least this is exciting.”

  With his words spoken out loud, the breathing sounds became quicker. Then Suman heard a noise that made his hair stand on end. Slithering noises filled the cave. They were so loud in the heavy silence, Suman surmised that only a house sized serpent could make such a racket as it moved.

  “So stupid,” Suman muttered.

  He closed his eyes and clenched his fist and his toes as the sound surrounded him, sure he was going to die. He felt something flick across his face, slick and cool. Then another flick, and another. Suman opened one eye and saw three great glowing red eyes hovering over him. The monstrous glow was enough to illuminate the entire cave. Small squashed piles of white something littered the corner of the cave. They looked like strange cocoons. Suman stifled a panicked squelch as he realized it was the giant snakes’ leavings around the edge of the cave.

  He looked back up into the faces of the creatures. Their bodies were longer than ten men lined up along the ground. They were thicker than a horse was. Their heads were as big as a small row boat’s. Suman stared at their dark green scaly skin, wondering when they would swallow him whole. Or perhaps, he thought morbidly, they planned to pull him apart and share him, a little for each mouth.

  “I cannot eat him. I want to, but I cannot,” a deep, heavy, whispery voice said.

  Suman noticed it looked as if the right snake’s mouth had opened slightly when he heard the words.

  “Nor can I,” said the left snake.

  “What trickery is this,” said the center snake, “I cannot even crush him, and if I cannot eat him, I surely want to crush him. But I cannot!”

  “I thought you knew everything,” Suman said, feeling a bit more comfortable now that he was sure he was safe from the serpents.

  This only served to anger the oracles. Their bodies writhed and they shivered violently while hissing. Suman just smiled, feeling more and more confident by the minute. He knew it probably wasn’t bright to anger such a creature, but at the moment, he felt like a god.

  “The Golden One protects you,” the right snake hissed.

  “Yes,” Suman answered, “I belong to Midassa. Only he has say in how I perish.”

  The snakes were silent for a moment and Suman didn’t think it wise to allow them to ponder the situation too long, just in case there was some loophole they thought of. They were, after all, the oracles, and knew the answer to any question. Suman decided he needed to be quick with his.

  “I have a friend who has forgotten who she is. You should know who this friend is. Tell me who this friend is,” Suman asked.

  The snake’s attention was drawn back to Suman. A question had been asked and a power compelled them to answer as it was the one duty their creator gave them.

  “She is Cassandra, daughter of Timta and the mortal man Magnar. She is a warrior and therefor has no city to claim as her home. She was raised on the Plains of the Dead Gods by the seer Selina,” the snakes intoned in unison.

  “The daughter of…,” Suman’s mind raced. He had a million questions to ask and didn’t know where to start, or how much longer he should risk asking in case the oracles figured out a way to punish him.

  “Timta… she’s dead though, and Kal… I mean Cassandra cannot be that old. How can this be,” Suman began.

  “We are forbidden to discuss the secrets of the gods,” the oracles said.

  “But you just told me she was the child of a god. Would that not be a secret?”

  “We have been allowed to speak of it this once,” the oracles explained.

  Suman took a deep breath. He looked around him, as if he would see a god somewhere just over his shoulder, watching over the serpents and making sure they imparted the information they were meant to. He turned back to the serpents. He quickly thought up all the questions he would definitely need answered before he left the cave. He was fairly sure if he ever returned, the oracles would know exactly what to do with him.

  When Suman emerged from the cave Kali released a breath so large she imagined she had been holding it since he entered. She rushed forward and embraced him in relief. Patch just looked on, bemused.

  “You survived. Not many who seek out the oracles can say that. Now you actually have something worth bragging about. Though, I wouldn’t explain to them how you survived, you might lose some bragging rights when they realize you cheated,” Patch said snarkily.

  “Spoken like a true satyr. Jealousy,” Suman replied.

  “What did you find out?” Kali asked eagerly.

  “First of all, we should stop calling you Kali. Your name is Cassandra. People call you Cass. Ring any bells?” Suman asked.

  Cass mulled the name over in her head. She frowned, an annoyed look crossing her face.

  “No,” she said bluntly, then quickly added, “Not that I’m not appreciative. Thank you for doing this. I’m just annoyed at myself for not being able to remember.”

  “Well, hopefully your name isn’t all he got in there,” Patch said.

  Suman rolled his eyes, “I know we can’t all be as bright as satyrs, but I do try. You were brought up by a woman named Selina who lives on the Plains of the Dead Gods. You are a warrior. And, since your name didn’t bring anything back and the oracles pretty much said as much would happen, I know where we have to go to get your memories back.”

  “Wow,” Patch said levelly, “you had quite the conversation in there.”

  “Yes… well, I’m going to suggest we not dally here. As far as I know the oracles are not confined to that cave.
They were more than a bit irate that I was not very edible and I wouldn’t be surprised if they decide to take it out on you two. So we should be off. In a very immediate sense,” Suman said hurrying them along.

  Cass took a look back at the cave as they jogged away. She saw what looked like three giant emerald snakes with red gold eyes that glowed faintly, even in the light of day. They were strange eyes, not reptilian, but rather bird like. The large, fierce round pupils watched her angrily, the light of the sun glinting off their scales. If she wasn’t fleeing for her life, she would have thought them quite beautiful creatures.

  She could not figure out why they weren’t pursuing. She and Patch were on foot, and surely there was no way they could outrun such huge creatures. Then she noticed a beautiful man standing near the mouth of the cave. He had a disturbed look on his pretty face. His clothing was entirely inappropriate for traveling through the forest. The gossamer strands of fabric seemed stuck in place to just conceal anything that a more bashful person might not want seen. Even from this distance she could see his flashing violet eyes. She turned away from them, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in their gaze. When she looked forward again she noticed that neither Patch nor Suman had looked back, both concentrating on making their way through the wood, Patch lithely hopping over any branches that stood in his path, and Suman, farther ahead, coaxing his terrified horse to move as fast as it safely could.

  Cass filed away what she had seen. For the moment, she thought, she would keep it to herself.

  As she ran she toyed with her name in her mind. Cassandra, she thought, trying diligently to find the memories attached to the name. She had no luck but was hopeful in time she might come to be familiar with the name again. It was odd to her that she felt more at home in the name Patch had given her than her real name. She suspected that was because Kali was a name she at least had a few memories to associate with.

  The three continued to run away and did not stop until dusk began to fall. They collapsed in a shallow cave, breathing heavily. All fell asleep promptly from exhaustion. Cass’ last thought lingered in her mind even after she began to shift to dreaming.