Olympia nodded. “Natas devised a loophole to the prohibition. He could not act on humans directly but he could act indirectly through them. He made ‘contracts’ with individuals, offering them his power in exchange for their subservience to his will. Essentially, he made them his puppets. Sorcerers have the illusion of power but in truth the power is never and was never their power but Natas’s to be used as he wills.”
“What are you saying?” I asked with growing horror.
Again, Olympia sadly nodded. “Have you ever wondered where your magic comes from, how it seems to always be there, yet come from nowhere? Have you ever noticed that the magic seems to have a mind of its own, always pulling at you to do something other than you want, especially as you and Zimri got closer? Have you ever wondered why there are no healing spells? It is not because the power does not exist but because Natas will not let his power be used for anything good. Oh, he will allow some neutral spells to be done but at a great cost of life force. You can only work magic at his will and only for his ends. It was never your power and you were never in control. At best, you have been made a slave to his will; at worst, you have had your will overruled by Natas. The magic you believe you have possessed is a lie.”
I sat there, thunderstruck as her words struck home. I wanted to scream that she was lying, that the Mistress, evil as she was, wouldn’t have sold me to this Natas. I wanted desperately to believe that it was my magic, my power, and that I was no one’s slave.
But I couldn’t. As much as I rebelled against it, I knew she was telling the truth. Too many questions I’d had about magic, too many inconsistencies suddenly were resolved. I had always sensed a presence when using magic, like a mind taking over mine. I could feel the presence now, hovering just over my shoulder, whispering at me to destroy her. Had I not spent so much time with Zimri, I would’ve given in without a thought. Or choice, apparently.
I felt sick, dirty, and violated. I wondered if this is what it felt like to be raped, like my being and body had been used at someone else’s will. It was as if I wasn’t my own anymore, that someone had just taken me over because they could and there was nothing I could do about it. In a moment, I went from feeling like one of the most powerful people on earth to feeling utterly powerless.
“Did she know?” I asked, in a bare whisper.
“Katrina has always known,” Olympia answered, voice full of empathy. “She knew even as she swore herself to Natas. She did not care then and she did not care when she stole you from your parents and sold your soul to him.”
I slumped down, feeling the weight of the truth bearing me to the floor. Everything I knew, everything I’d been taught, my entire world was a lie. My life, everything I could’ve been, had been stolen from me. I was supposed to be a lady, a mistress commanding the Eisenberge. The people were supposed to serve and worship me. In reality, I was nothing but a slave, a puppet to the will of a sadistic god. I felt so helpless, so lost.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw Olympia’s deep eyes holding mine. There was kindness there, and hope.
“I can help you,” she said. “I can free you from Natas; that is my job, after all. You will lose your magic but it was never yours to begin with.”
“How?” I asked.
“Swear yourself to me and place yourself under my protection,” she said. “I will protect you from Natas taking over you mind.”
Suddenly, my suspicions were raised. “What do you mean, ‘swear myself to you’?”
“It means you become my servant. Not my slave, mind you,” she quickly added. “You will always have your mind, your will, your identity to be your own person.”
“But I will still serve you,” I pointed out skeptically.
“You will always serve someone,” she said. “In me, you will have a good mistress, the mistress you deserve to have, one that will help you be the best version of you that can be. All I ask in return is your help to protect my people.”
“Your people?”
“I am the goddess of all humanity,” she said. “But I have taken a special liking to the Eisenberge people, especially since Katrina has ruled them. Help me free them and help me make this place the place the Creator had in mind from the beginning.”
“If you free Zimri, I will do whatever you ask,” I answered.
Olympia smiled. “I am freeing Zimri regardless. You are not the only servant I have chosen,” she said, “Although Shama’im has complained bitterly about having to give him up.”
“Who?”
“Another of the gods,” she dismissed. “The point is, you are both needed for your task. You alone, even with my aid, cannot defeat Katrina. But together, you can set things right. You need each other,” she said, looking down at the sleeping Zimri. “He needs your intelligence, your practical nature, and your willingness to step outside the box. You need his courage, his unyielding resolve no matter the odds, and his sense of right and wrong. Apart, you are incomplete; together, you are an unbeatable force.”
“I know,” I said, looking at Zimri and tentatively placing a hand on his arm. “I would never have believed it a couple of months ago, but I cannot imagine my life without him. Not that I will ever tell him that. The last thing he needs is to hold that over my head.”
Olympia laughed softly. “You are learning to love, understanding how crazy and complicating and yet empowering love is.”
“That might be the best characterization of love I have ever heard,” I commented.
“I am the goddess of wisdom,” she said.
“Can you free me from Natas?” I asked. “Can I defeat the Mi—Katrina without magic?”
“Will you? I do not know,” Olympia admitted. “You are not the first I have chosen and those before you have failed. But can you? Yes, absolutely. I will teach you how to fight magic with wisdom.”
“I do not suppose I have much less of a chance without magic,” I said, resigning myself.
“On the contrary, you only have a chance with me,” Olympia said. “Do you think Natas would let you strike down his favorite toy?”
“No, I suppose not,” I admitted.
I felt trapped, exhausted, and thoroughly overwhelmed. Everything I knew was a lie, which meant I really knew nothing. I didn’t know what to believe, what to think, or who to trust.
No, that wasn’t right. I knew I could trust Zimri. That was about all I knew but I at least knew that. Would he trust her? Hard to say. He had been looking for her since arriving but he also seemed to have a distrust of the gods for whatever reason.
“Save Zimri and I will be yours,” I said.
Chapter 34-Athala
Titan showed up with the boar right about then. He looked miserable but in one piece.
“Excellent young Titan,” the goddess gave him a slight nod. “Place it on the floor here. Athala, grab that knife.”
“Okay,” I mumbled, confused. “I thought you were going to fix him.”
“I am,” Olympia answered. “More specifically, I am going to teach you how to defeat this spell, as well as others.”
“But I lost my magic, or Natas’s magic,” I frowned. “Are you going to give me magic, like with Natas?”
“No,” Olympia shook her head. “I will not. Our powers, or magic as you call it, require life force to use. For us, who are immortal spirits that is not a problem as we have infinite life force. But for you, even the slightest use of power can drain your life force away.”
“I have noticed,” I grumbled.
“Of course you have,” the goddess nodded. “I cannot give you my life force because I am a spirit and you are not. Natas discovered away around that by syphoning the life force from another being. Since Natas does not care about life, he has no problem with his sorcerers killing others. In fact, he preferred it. However,” she went on, raising a finger, “I will not be party to such a thing. I am here to preserve life, not destroy it.”
“But why not just wave your hand or whatever and fix him?�
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“Three reasons,” she answered. “First, because I will not always be around to solve your problems. This will teach you how to handle magic when it comes up. Second, because I am not allowed to use my powers directly on humans. The Creator placed prohibitions on our powers, not lettings us to use them to control humans in anyway, letting them forge their own path. We are shepherds, not kings.”
“But surely this is an exception!” I protested.
“No,” Olympia firmly shook her head. “You are mortal and so do not understand. Your actions and decisions have small, finite consequences, often consequences you never live to see. But I will always live to see the consequences. Every decision I make changes me, which means I must be vigilant with the boundaries. If I make a compromise here, it makes it easier to compromise again. Then I do it again. In a thousand years, I find myself Natas.”
“I do not care,” I growled, not truly understanding what in the peaks she was talking about.
“I know you do not, my dear,” she gave me a subtle smile. “But I do care. The longer I live, the more power I have, the more imperative it is that I change little, if it all. It is your ability to change, become someone more and different that Natas envied the most, I think. He always chaffed at our need to be static.”
“Whatever,” I waved off. “The third reason?”
“The third reason is that Natas’s power is equal to my own,” she explained. “This is his spell, two of them in fact, not yours or Aidan’s. Even if I were allowed to, I do not have the strength to undo his spell. I could prevent a spell being placed but once there, I cannot undo it.”
“But I can?” I sounded as dubious as I looked.
“Yes,” she nodded, “Because of the one fatal flaw in sorcery.”
“Aside from needing to murder people to gain power?”
“Yes, aside from that,” Olympia nodded with a subtle smile. “Despite appearances, sorcery, does not change the laws of nature; it merely twists them, taking shortcuts. For example, a bewusstseinskontrolle-spell works by twisting the mind, subverting the will to another. It dampens a person’s self-will, making them easily controlled by the caster.”
I knew that. “Point?”
“The point is, all someone needs is a boost of mental energy to break the block and reassert their own will. Adrenaline usually does the trick, especially for a spell this weak,” she explained.
“So what? I scare him?” I asked
“No, that would be unlikely to succeed,” the goddess shook her silver head. “He needs an extra shot of adrenaline. Dragon boars are compatible enough with humans that its adrenaline will work.”
I blinked, trying to process what she just said. “Let me get this right,” I frowned, tapping my foot. “You want me to take the adrenaline from that boar and pump it into his brain?”
“His heart, actually, but essentially, yes.”
“That might be the most insane thing I have ever heard,” I said flatly.
“I know what I am talking about,” the goddess regarded me with a cool, commanding expression. “You need to trust me.”
“Trust you?” I snorted. “I just met you and if you have been watching over me as you say, you know trust is not exactly something I like doing. I am particularly distrusting of divine beings who waltz in at their leisure. I know Zimri would not trust you.”
“In that, I fear you are correct,” she looked down maternally at the sleeping Alkite. “I am afraid Zimri’s distrust of us runs deep. Pity Shama’im got so carried away with him. But, my dear, what do you have to lose? You cannot keep him sedated forever.”
My foot tapped furiously as I internally conceded the point. “Fine,” I growled. “How do I do this?”
“Cut an incision at the base of the boar’s neck,” Olympia instructed. “Just under the skull, you will find a gray gland about the size of your palm. That is its adrenal gland. Just be careful of the sulfur gland.”
It took me over an hour to get it right. I nearly burned myself, and the boar, by puncturing the sulfur gland. Injecting the stuff was the next hurdle. Olympia instructed me how to make a hollow needle to pump the adrenaline through. We used a hollowed-out quill from the boar.
“A metal needle would be better,” she commented. “But we do not have the time. Keep it in mind in case you ever need to do this again. Take one of your glass vials, ensure it is clean, and drill a hole in the bottom. Attach the quill to the hole and seal it shut.”
I did so, finding myself left with a rather strange looking apparatus.
“Good,” Olympia nodded. “Now squeeze the gland into the vial, getting as much of the adrenaline into as you can.”
Again, I followed her instructions, yelping as some of the adrenaline started leaking out of the needle tip.
“That is alright,” Olympia assured. “Titan, hold your finger against the end to keep it from leaking out. Athala, take that wad of wool and place it on the end of the stick.”
“This is not going to work,” I commented, looking at the bizarre concoction.
“Do you doubt me?” Olympia raised an eyebrow.
No, I decided I did not.
“Smart girl,” she said. “Titan, remove Zimri’s shirt.”
The tall teen gave me an awkward look but I just shrugged in reply. He went over and tugged Zimri’s mail, shirt, and undershirt off.
“You know where the heart is,” Olympia stated more than asked.
“Of course,” I huffed, walking over to my friend.
“Stab the quill into his heart and depress the plunger,” she instructed.
I knelt over Zimri, the tip of the quill hovering a couple of centimeters just to the left of his sternum. A wave of fear and suspicion washed over me and I look over at Olympia.
“It will work,” she answered the unstated question.
“How can I trust you?” I asked. “If this does not work…”
“Then Zimri will die, which he will anyway if you do nothing,” Olympia answered. “I cannot give you further proof of my trustworthiness. This is my test.”
“Hell of a test,” I muttered, taking a deep, steadying breath. Then, with nothing to lose, I plunged the quill into his heart.
Chapter 35-Zimri
Pain exploded in my chest and I lurched up, wide-awake. Gasping, my senses were flooded with an overload of information. I could see everything with painful clarity, heard the breathing of the others in the room, could smell all the odors around me, including my own, and felt the ache of the spine sticking out of my chest.
Wait…what?
Looking down, I saw the strangest looking apparatus digging into my heart. It looked like a dragon boar quill attached to a glass vial. Feeling a growing sense of panic, I jerked it out, eliciting another wave of pain. My muscles quivered with energy and anticipation, ready to fight or run. My mind was racing at blinding speeds as I put the confusing elements of my situation together, ready to attack the nearest enemy.
Except, so far as I could tell, there wasn’t one. I was back in Titan’s house, the Eisenbergian standing off to the side, holding my clothes and watching me with a wary expression. To my left stood a woman I’d never seen before. But my attention quickly focused in on the young woman directly in front of me: Athala.
She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, dark circles under bloodshot eyes stood in stark contrast to her drawn and ashen face. Her expression was a mixture of fear and hope, almost pleading with me.
“Are you going to kill me?” she asked quietly, voice quaking.
“What? No, of course not!”
Athala’s face light up like the sun as she threw her arms around me, hugging me fiercely. Confused, I gingerly returned the embrace. Pulling back slightly, she held my face in her hands, regarding me with an odd expression I’d never seen before for a moment. Then she did the last thing I would ever have expected Athala to do.
She kissed me.
It was a full, deep, passionate kiss and completely out of chara
cter. I was so stunned, so confused that I just sat there as she kissed me. After what felt like an eternity, she suddenly came to herself and jerked away, flushing the same color as her coppery hair.
“Uh, did I miss something?” I asked, thoroughly lost.
“It worked,” she sat on her haunches, letting out a massive sigh of relief.
“Of course it worked,” the strange woman snorted. “I told you it would. Do you trust me now?”
“Ya, I suppose,” she looked over at the woman. “And I will hold to my end of the bargain.”
“What in the Trinity are you talking about?” I interjected. “And who in Adamah’s courts are you?” I added, taking real note of the woman for the first time.
“You do not know? I am the one you have been looking for,” she remarked with an arched eyebrow.
I raised my eyebrows in return. She was without a doubt the strangest looking woman I have ever seen: rust-colored skin with snow white hair and slate-gray stripes running down her arms. Yet, despite her odd appearance, there was a strange, commanding presence about her. Whatever she was, I had a feeling she wasn’t quite human.
“Unless the Sorceress did something truly horrifying, you are definitely not Ariadne,” I pointed out.
Athala winced beside me. “Uh, Zimri I would not—”
“No, I am not Ariadne, obviously,” the woman stated, her face a stone. “I believe my friend Shama’im referred you to me.”
I stared at her for a moment as the pieces suddenly clicked into place. “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” I groaned. “You’re the Olympia that priest was talking about? Wait, that priest was…” I trailed off, recalling the bizarre conversation with the “priest.” “Well, that’s just fantastic,” I groaned, leaning my head back. What the hell had been going on? “Is there something you want?”
“Zimri!” Athala hissed. “She just saved your life!”
“What are you talking about?” I turned on her. “All I know is I just woke up with a dragon boar spine sticking out of my chest. What in the Trinity was that all about? Saved from what? What the hell is going on?”
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