The God Wheel

by Brian Clopper

  “I’m guessing you don’t feel like you can measure up. You’re in over your head, aren’t you?” He nodded at me and sneered. “And not just with saving the world but with your spiffy suitor. You’re riddled with doubts and that gives me a way in.”

  To some degree all our other deities had been helpful, quite inclined to offer aid, but this one didn’t want to play nice.

  “You’re sick,” Lorna said. She removed her hands from the wheel. “I don’t believe anything from your mouth. I know what you are and that doesn’t give you power. It gives me the upper hand. I realize things look impossible, but I also know I won’t wallow in self-pity or think less of myself just on the say so of someone like you. You’re even more one-note than all your other godly buddies.”

  Russ seemed to shrink. I did a double take. He definitely was a few inches shorter, his muscles thinner.

  “Remember sixth grade and how Emily Yoon made you feel? Do you recall the nasty note she left in your locker and how she snuck mud into your apple pie in Life Skills class? The whole class watched you eat it without you knowing. Of course, you found out later. How did it feel to see yourself chowing down on a mud pie posted online?”

  “Not the takeaway from that little episode,” Lorna said. “She got suspended for her stupidity. I may have felt bad for a couple days, but I got over it. I grew up. It’s obvious you haven’t.”

  Russ decreased dramatically in size. His appearance devolved. He looked much younger, maybe eight or nine. He was so short now that he could no longer hold onto the wheel.

  Lorna noticed this and pressed on. “Still fixated on the past.”

  “How about when you fell off the stage during the fourth grade talent show?” The god’s voice was more high-pitched and breathy as if he’d had the wind knocked out of him. He shrank even more. Only his head was visible; the rest of his surely toddler-sized self was hidden by the god wheel.

  “Really think you can go now.” She reached over and spun the wheel.

  Russ squealed and then was gone.

  In his place, a deity that was a far cry from human loomed over us.

  It was a pale blue, serpentine dragon with impressive wings. It looked at Lorna and then at me, narrowing its eyes. The scales covering its muzzle were bleached white, making me think it was an old creature.

  “Sure hope this one’s better than the last,” I said.

  The dragon cocked its head at me, suddenly opened its mouth, and sent a plume of blue fire in my direction.

  Chapter 13

  A Deal Made Broken

  The flames engulfed only my head, and somehow they didn’t burn me, not even my hair.

  The dragon stopped spewing its fire, but the small inferno persisted around my head, dancing about madly. I swiveled to face Lorna.

  She eyed the new arrival with fear.

  Despite my skull being ignited, a sense of calm filled me. This dragon meant no harm. It wasn’t a firm conviction. It could still open its jaws and take a bite out of me with its impressive array of sharp teeth. And for all I knew, it could control its flame and suddenly trigger it to produce intense heat. Just the same, I felt relatively safe, for the moment.

  I held a hand up to Lorna, who had drawn her gun and was bringing it to bear on the god. I said, “Don’t shoot. I’m okay. It doesn’t hurt.”

  I moved, and the fire stayed with me. I felt slightly warmer, but not flesh-meltingly so.

  The dragon shot its fire at Lorna. It engulfed her head. She tried to wave it away, but it persisted. When she realized it wasn’t actually burning her, she calmed down, even tucking away her gun.

  The dragon smiled at both of us and then glanced at Zartua.

  The warrior goddess acted quite comfortable with this fire-hurling god. They definitely knew one another, judging from how they appraised each other. Zartua nodded as if to encourage the dragon to move on to the next step of whatever this was.

  Suddenly, thoughts that weren’t mine erupted in my head.

  Relax. I am Lorna’s goddess of wisdom. I am Herena. Using mind fire is the quickest way to impart my history to you. With knowledge comes power and trust. I am an open book. Close your eyes and see what has brought me to your side.

  Lorna squinted at me. “Beats the last guy.” She closed her eyes.

  I did the same.

  Immediately, a vivid scene appeared. Or rather, I now stood inside a rich landscape with Lorna by my side. She smiled and took in the sights as well.

  We found ourselves at the edge of a clearing surrounded by tall pine trees. It was midday with not a cloud in the sky.

  A pale woman with long blond hair and wearing an elaborate dress walked toward a cave. Her long ears betrayed her elven heritage. With thin lips and wide pale blue eyes, she came off as beautiful, if a little stark. A simple necklace with what appeared to hold three small gems of some sort glowed faintly.

  The dragon’s thoughts returned. That is me. I am about to enter into a bargain.

  So she was an elf who could become a dragon. The sense that we were embedded in a memory crossed my mind. From Lorna’s reaction, it was clear she’d received the mental transmission as well.

  Herena entered the cave. We followed. The size of it impressed. Two school buses could easily drive in side-by-side.

  After navigating the spacious passage for almost five minutes, our only light provided by the glowing gems hanging from Herena’s necklace, we came to a large cavern. Hundreds of books were arranged on large wooden shelves positioned around the perimeter of the immense cave. A small cascade of water spilled down the roughest-hewn section of wall to our right. That was where the dragon, the one that flung mind fire at us, crouched, lapping up water from a rock basin surrounded by mounds of picked-clean skeletons of small animals and quite a few birds.

  Okay, now I was confused. Herena couldn’t become a dragon at will?

  Keep watching and you will understand. The elf spared me a reassuring glance, the first time she had acknowledged us. So this wasn’t a true memory, just a recreation.

  The dragon turned and flapped its wings lazily. This faint movement was enough to send it into the air. It glided over to the elf.

  Thanks to the light from Herena’s necklace, I saw instantly that the dragon was much younger in this memory. Its snout was stubbier and it had fuller cheeks. The scales were different, larger and a more intense deep blue.

  Its thoughts entered our heads. You wish to rid your hamlet of the nightmares.

  “Yes, and you will stop the dark visions if I do this?” the elf said.

  Of course, that has ever been the bargain on the table. You give me a month of freedom, and I will cease the night terrors. The dragon cocked its head. Your daughter has been particularly traumatized by them, hasn’t she?

  Herena didn’t answer.

  The dragon landed just feet in front of her. It will need to be sealed with blood. The serpent raised a talon high and dug a slit in its forearm. Blood spilled into a bowl on the ground I hadn’t noticed before.

  The dragon held up its claws, looking to do the same to the elf.

  Herena produced a knife from the folds of her dress and nicked her thumb. Her precious blood dripped into the bowl. The liquids mixed, rolling about in the vessel as if being whipped into a frenzy by a manic chef.

  “You will honor your end of this bargain?” Herena said, her expression downcast.

  Yes, just like it stated in the contract, a pledge among my people is always honored.

  Herena stiffened. It was clear she didn’t like the dragon’s choice of words.

  And I didn’t either. I could see the loophole the vile creature had forged for itself. It would only abide by the deal if it were with dragonkind, and Herena was not that.

  The elf staggered backward, raising her blade.

  The dragon chuckled and glared at her. It’s always the fine print you have to worry about, dear. Just take solace in at least knowing you are sparing your daughter further torment.
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br />   Herena screamed. She dropped her weapon and clawed at her midsection. Well, not exactly. It was more like she was hugging and pushing in on it, trying to hold something in.

  An exact copy of her, only see-through and white, flew out of her body.

  Lorna said, “Her soul.”

  I sensed she was right. Or if not her soul, her spirit. It looked like the elf’s ghost.

  A specter rose from the dragon and reared up, spreading its wings and puffing out its chest in victory.

  Time seemed to stand still for a moment. Neither spirit moved, just stared at one another.

  Then, both dove into each other’s physical bodies.

  The dragon collapsed and squirmed, thrusting its arms and legs about as if having trouble controlling them.

  The elf grinned and spun. The movements were much more fluid, but I still spotted a slight lack of control.

  The elf, now possessed by the dragon, said, “Thank you, fair Herena. I will put this shell to good use.”

  Herena gained some semblance of influence on her new body and stood on shaky hind legs. Why do you torment others so? Why couldn’t you have been happy here in your lair with all your books?

  The elf walked past us, not a shred of awareness of our presence. Lorna had to sidestep to get out of her way.

  “Seeking knowledge is not for me. Sowing madness, that’s my birthright. Goodbye, young elf. See if you don’t grow bored here after a hundred years.”

  Herena lowered her head and drew her wings close, making herself smaller.

  Lorna walked over to the dragon. “We’re so sorry, Herena.”

  The dragon slid its snout toward her. Lorna gently placed her hand on the dragon’s nose.

  You have seen enough. For now. The dragon’s thoughts were powerful, hitting us like a strong gust.

  The memory evaporated, and we stood once again in my god wheel refuge.

  Chapter 14

  Stakeout Flake Out

  No sooner had we returned than Lorna insisted we head back to the real world and take care of the basic functions of going to the bathroom and eating. Zartua protested, offering the option of launching an attack on the Entropy Queen, but neither of us wanted to do that. Yet.

  I now sat at Lorna’s kitchen, while she made sandwiches and Zartua restlessly stared out the window at the night sky.

  Our crown of flames was no longer visible. Herena had tucked it into our heads seconds before we had hopped across, assuring us it would not fry our brains. We needed to keep her mind fire a part of us to communicate with her.

  The dragon was half her size, having shrunk to fit through the portal and to be able to move around in Lorna’s apartment.

  “I don’t understand,” I said.

  What I manifest for you is not my actual form. It’s a projection. I’m still trapped in a dragon’s body back in the lair. The curse will not let me leave, but I can dispatch my mind afar.

  Lorna said, “Makes sense. Remember in the memory that the dragon could send out nightmares? Guess this is sort of the same.”

  Herena’s thoughts thundered into our heads. No, not the same.

  I changed the subject, slightly. “So how did you go from being trapped in a cave to being a part of Lorna’s pantheon?” I asked, taking the plate with sandwich and chips that Lorna offered me. She handed the warrior goddess a plate as well before sitting down to eat her own sandwich.

  A story for another time.

  “You’re in charge of knowledge. Shouldn’t you want to tell us everything?” I took a big bite. It was the best turkey with Swiss and mayo I’d ever had. The lettuce was so crisp, the bread perfectly toasted. I glanced over at Lorna and nodded my approval of her sandwich-making skills. Realistically, I knew it tasted so good because I hadn’t eaten all day. The last food I’d shoved in my mouth had been the Egg McMuffin Dad had delivered. This morning already felt so long ago.

  When the moment is right. Learning is also about timing. You must be at the correct juncture to receive it.

  “And this is not that juncture, huh?” I said snidely.

  The dragon didn’t answer.

  Zartua said, “You are allied with war and wisdom. I say make your move against the queen. With two such formidable deities at your disposal, you are assured a victory.”

  “Well, I bet charging blindly into the mix isn’t the right idea,” I said, thinking we couldn’t count on coincidence to save us since both of our gods of that variety weren’t on deck, so to speak. “Shouldn’t we do some recon, assess the enemy?”

  Zartua grinned widely despite chewing on a large bite. She spoke with a mouthful, spraying lettuce on the window. “Ah, now you’re thinking like a warrior.”

  Had she influenced me to come to that conclusion or had I generated it on my own? Knowing a pantheon was working in the shadows, nudging your life toward their specific agenda, was unnerving. It made me doubt my free will. The poor saps going through their lives, blissfully unaware of the inner workings and manipulation of their deities, were the lucky ones. A little knowledge was a dangerous thing.

  “How do we know where she is? What she’s up to? Would it make the news?” Lorna pulled out her phone.

  I know where she is.

  “You do? How?” I looked at Zartua. Did she as well? Were all the celestials able to track each other?

  It is knowledge, my forte.

  Her answer didn’t seem quite right, like she was dancing around the real reason. I eyed my goddess. “Can the queen track us? Does it work both ways? Do you celestials know where each other is at all times?”

  Lorna tensed. “Like is there a godly network? If so, what’s stopping her from crashing in on us now?”

  Zartua said, “That will not happen. We are not all connected. Only a rare few.” She nodded at Herena. “Take advantage of what she is offering, Felix.”

  Despite knowing we weren’t even a little bit ready, I said, “Let’s get our stakeout on, people.”

  ****

  We exited the portal created by Zartua, finding ourselves in a desert. It was freezing.

  My goddess sent her portal away. The rift had been full-sized. She had apparently recharged enough to be again at full strength in the portal-generating department. Last time, she’d been good for maybe four rifts before Kni had taken over. I suspected the same here. I glanced at Herena. If the dragon was just a mental projection, could she open portals? If not, we still had Lorna’s bracelet and my ring. Granted, I could only send us back to my god wheel, but that was still better than facing our deaths if things went sideways, which I feared they would.

  It was a cloudless night. I searched for a road sign, a landmark that would indicate our location.

  The dragon concentrated. A place known as The Badlands. In South Dakota.

  There was a thin strip of scraggly grasses to our right. We were in a relatively flat stretch of land surrounded by small, steep hills, many rising to sharp points.

  I looked at Lorna. “Never been, always wanted to visit.”

  She laughed. “Same here. Didn’t imagine seeing it like this.”

  Thankfully, the half moon cast enough light that we didn’t need to resort to our phones.

  “So why’s she out here in the middle of nowhere?” I asked. “Seems to me she’d plop herself down in the thick of things, like crash D.C. or New York. That would inspire the most chaos, right?”

  Herena flew, spiraling upward in wider and wider circles. She used her wings sparingly. Her powers of flight stubbornly ignored gravity’s sway. That made sense. She wasn’t real, just a hologram and didn’t actually weigh anything. Of course, that didn’t explain how she had been airborne back in the cave memory. Magic had to power her flight there.

  She will strike soon. She is amassing an army. The dragon fixed on a large hill ahead and drifted toward it.

  “How? Who would join her?” I said.

  We followed on foot. I shivered. It surprised me the desert was so cold.

  She finds
a way to enlist and incite. She always does.

  There was no doubt Herena had previously faced the Entropy Queen. It would’ve been before she’d fallen cavebound. Had she fought the queen, maybe even aided in imprisoning her? Her memory had not shown a timestamp. I had no idea how long ago the events had happened, but suspected hundreds of years. Her dress hadn’t looked remotely modern.

  We climbed the steep rise, choosing our paths carefully. The rocky terrain seemed mostly composed of sedimentary rock and gave easily, its layers separating and tumbling down. Four times I slipped, while Lorna and Zartua lost their footing only once. Part of me wanted to blame Slif for my clumsiness but knew it wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t currently by my side. Despite that, I still felt our mission would lead to misfortune. My gut told me that my entire pantheon exerted a constant influence and that the freshly spun god on duty had a bit more sway.

  The dragon landed just shy of the top and ducked down. She is here.

  We dropped to all fours to stay out of view and crawled the remaining distance.

  Lorna rose, peering over the top. Her eyes widened. “Oh, God!”

  I drew up next to her and peeked as well.

  Below was a wide canyon. Smack dab in the middle, the ground had been greatly disturbed. Towering rock formations twisted around each other like thick frayed strands of rope, their overall appearance reminiscent of coiling DNA. These columns surrounded on three sides a relatively flat platform with steps leading to the desert floor in front. A figure dressed all in black and wearing a hood waved her arms about. From her hands, yellow ribbons of energy wobbled out. The ribbons were pulling lengths of stone from the platform. It was like watching a time-lapse film depicting spiky crystal growth.

  All of it was unnatural.

  “That her?” I asked.

  Zartua appeared to my right. “Yes. She is quite accomplished with magic. Such talent wasted on one so devoid of good.”

  In less than a minute, the Entropy Queen had fashioned a throne.

  Most of the magic dissipated. Only a residual amount leaked from her fingers. Because of this, the lighting diminished greatly. I could only make out the queen as she spun about and sat on the newly crafted throne.