by Eric Vall
Chapter 13
“This place is officially weirding me out,” Rana said as she looked around at the ceiling and the walls with dubious glances. As we quickly walked through the tunnels, the water continued to evaporate, and before long, we were able to walk freely. All that remained were countless puddles on the rocky floor, but soon those too turned into mist.
“You were right, it sure is getting hot in here.” Rana fanned herself with her paw. “I’m not liking this at all.”
“And here we go with the long-winded complaints about the heat,” Annalíse rolled her eyes. “I don’t know if I can go through that again.”
Rana simply narrowed her eyes and gave the swordswoman a sour expression.
“In Rana’s defense, this actually isn’t good,” Carmedy pointed out as she raised a finger. “Going from an extremely low temperature to an extremely high one in such a short amount of time isn’t healthy. Our bodies undergo a certain amount of stress when they're forced to go from one extreme to the other.”
“See?” Rana stuck out her tongue at Annalíse. “It’s not healthy.”
Annalíse rolled her eyes again and let out a groan as we continued to navigate our way through the passageways. Still, it wasn’t long before the temperature grew so warm that we all had to pull back our hoods and then remove our capes and cloaks in an effort to keep cool.
To my surprise, however, it never grew to some boiling, life-threatening heat. While uncomfortable, it was more of an annoyance than a danger. Perhaps this deity was trying to irritate us to death.
As we ventured deeper into the dungeon, I was able to pick up on the deity’s presence, and I used it to guide us forward. We had been walking for about thirty minutes when, all of a sudden, it started to rain in the tunnel in which we were in.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Rana moaned as we lifted our hoods to cover our heads once more. “This is seriously getting annoying.”
“Why did it have to be water again? Enough with the water already,” the feline called out, presumably to the deity who resided in the dungeon.
No sooner had the green-eyed woman spoken then we arrived at the end of the tunnel, and I raised my hand to signal the others to slow their pace so that I could step to the lead in case of danger ahead. I cautiously emerged from the passageway with the others close behind me.
Before us was an enormous cavern with ceilings that reached hundreds of feet over our heads, and within the cavern was a sprawling forest. The ground was not formed from rock but of rich brown soil, and the light that we had seen was glimpses of the sun shining through the blankets of puffy clouds at the top of the cavern.
It wasn’t the real sun of course, but the dungeon’s own personal sun, something which we had encountered once before.
The women gaped at the wooded area as they gazed up at the massive trees. We had seen pine trees in the first dungeon we had entered upon arriving in Tamarisch, but these were different. These trees appeared to be of the deciduous variety. A quick study of the leaves told me that the surrounding trees were oak trees and maple trees, certainly not native to this freezing land. The forest was lush and green, their leafy canopy towered over our heads and provided ample shade, and the trees were so extensive and thick that it was impossible to see through to the other side.
We had no choice but to venture through it, guided onward by the pulse of the god’s power.
I motioned for the others to follow behind me, and together we walked into the forest. As we walked through the woods, I observed the silence of our surroundings. There was no sign of wildlife or any kind of life, for that matter. At least the surroundings were pleasant, but even the sunshine couldn’t last as, after some time through the woods, the dungeon’s sky started to turn dark. The clouds turned grey, the sun disappeared, and it began to rain heavily just like it had in the tunnel from which we’d come.
Fortunately for us, the leafy branches of the wooded giants were so heavy that we were shielded from the bulk of the downpour. The sounds of the steadily falling rain and our footsteps squishing through the damp earth now broke the silence. We adjusted and trudged on, but right when I had finally adjusted to this new normal, the rain stopped abruptly.
My minions looked up at the sky through the trees with confused looks on their faces as the clouds turned back to white and the sun came out again.
“This is absolutely insane,” Rana mumbled. “It snows, then the snow melts, then it rains, then it’s not raining, then it is again, then it isn’t.” She glowered as she continued to stare skyward. “Make up your mind!”
Just as the words left the fox’s mouth, a brisk wind blew by that was so cold it seemed to cut into my skin.
“Ooh, here we go,” Carmedy shivered as we went on. “Is it going to snow all over again?”
No one had an answer for the feline’s question, not even me. The best we could do was to watch and see what happened next. Unfortunately, Carmedy’s theory proved to be wrong. What we experienced next wasn’t snow, but hail.
Large chunks of ice the size of cherry tomatoes rained down from the sky even though it was sunny.
“Yow!” Rana screeched as a piece of hail hit her on the head. She winced and rubbed her head from the blow. “I’m getting sick of this weather tug-of-war!”
“It is most extraordinary,” Morrigan marveled, seemingly unbothered by the large pieces of ice that fell down on us. “I have never before beheld something such as this.”
“You’ve never seen hail before?” Annalíse said as she shielded her head with her arm.
“That was not my meaning.” Morrigan shook her head. “I have never beheld power that was capable of altering the weather in such a manner.”
“I have,” I said with a twisted smile. “There’s an entity that I know that can bend the weather to his will like this. His name is Cethin.”
“You actually know this guy?” Rana said in disbelief.
“Of course,” I said nonchalantly. “I held the acquaintance of many deities before I was thrown from the heavens. We had yet to meet any that I knew personally… until now, that is.”
“Well, since you’re pals and all, what are the chances of him playing nice and just handing over the treasure and his power and all that?” Rana asked me.
“Not very likely,” I said with a chuckle. “The Cethin I knew was very competitive. We used to do battle just for the fun of it.”
“But you always beat him?” Rana asked as she bit her lip.
“Of course,” I replied, “but that was an impossibly long time ago. I am no longer a god of the heavens, and neither is he. Our powers are less, but then again, I have absorbed more. It will be an interesting battle.”
As I spoke, the hail abruptly stopped almost as quickly as it had appeared, and a thick shield of clouds overtook the sky and blotted out the sun. At the exact same time, the temperature dropped rapidly, and the leaves on the surrounding trees began to change color. Another stiff chilly wind blew past and rustled the leaves as they shifted from vibrant greens to rich browns, deep reds, striking yellows, and vivid oranges before our very eyes.
“Wow,” Carmedy breathed as she looked at the changing leaves in wonder.
Once the leaves had completed their transformation, they began to drop from the tree branches only to be caught by the gusting winds. In the blink of an eye, we were surrounded by a flurry of crisp, multi-colored leaves.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Carmedy giggled as she spread her arms and spun around in the falling leaves. “I love autumn.”
“Yes, it’s all very lovely, but I wish it would stop,” Rana groaned. “All this clothes changing is annoying.”
“It is rather annoying,” Annalíse agreed. “The constant change, you never know what’s going to happen next. I wonder why he keeps doing this?”
“I don’t think he’d listen to me, Rana,” I replied. “He’s a bit headstrong. And as for why he’s doing this, most likely he’s toying with us. I woul
dn’t put it past him. The only way to stop Cethin is to destroy him.”
“Will you not feel remorse over vanquishing your comrade?” Morrigan raised a white eyebrow.
“We weren’t exactly friends,” I said with a shrug. “He was part of the group that exiled me from the heavens.”
“I see,” the pale elf said quietly, and the other three women looked at me with their eyes opened.
But they didn’t ask any questions about my past.
The leaves continued to be blown from the trees as we journeyed through the great forest, and soon the branches were bare. Finally, we reached the edge of the woods and were met with a wide clearing that stretched into a field of long green grass. Two long rows of trees were lined up side by side, and their branches intertwined to form a sort of long covered pathway.
As I sensed diety’s power ahead, I led the way onward down the path. We quietly walked through the road of trees, and my minions stayed alert for an attack. It was extremely quiet here, serene even, but they all knew better than to let down their guard after all our trials.
Still, no attacks came, and we eventually came to the center of the meadow. An enormous tree that towered high above any other tree in the cavern rose up there. The tree’s trunk was roughly the width of a farmhouse, its heavy-laden branches sprawled out into the sky. The rainwaters had somehow been channeled through the leaves of the canopy to pour down in little waterfalls that cascaded into a pool carved into the detritus that surrounded the tree which never seemed to overflow.
At the base of the mighty tree was a throne that was somehow built into the wood itself and supported above the pool by gnarled roots. It was a huge chair that seemed to be sculpted from the very bark with large armrests and a high back wreathed with green leaves. On the throne was seated a tall lanky man with long brown hair that flowed down to just past his shoulders. He wore a long white robe trimmed with gold and brown sandals, and he leaned to one side with his elbow on one of the armrests and his chin in his hand.
It was a face and figure I had known for countless centuries. As I had guessed, it was Cethin.
The god rubbed at his long slender nose with a look of utter boredom, and then flicked his fingers. The clouds moved again at his command, and as they did so, they turned white and the sun emerged. The naked trees in the forest sprouted tiny buds, and within seconds, leaves burst forth. Before long, the trees were covered in vibrant green leaves, and the forest was back to the way it had been before.
The only things that remained unchanging were the trees that formed the arched pathway and the tree that was attached to Cethin’s throne.
“How come those trees didn’t change?” Carmedy tugged at my arm and nodded to the trees ahead of us.
“He controls where the weather changes,” I explained to the feline. “So, the forest is affected, but not the direct area where he is.”
“Oh, okay, I get it,” the feline said slowly, but the puzzled expression on her face told me that she did not actually understand.
Cethin sighed and made another off-hand gesture, and the patter of rainfall echoed through the forest again even though the sun was out. The weather god didn’t even seem to notice that we were present, and not only that, he looked exceedingly bored.
Well, we had no time to deal with his mood, and I wanted to get about our business, so I cleared my throat to get his attention.
Cethin still didn’t seem to notice, however. He only blinked lazily and flicked his fingers, a motion that cut off the rain immediately. It was replaced by shifting clouds and a growing flurry of large snowflakes.
“Cethin,” I said loudly. The deity blinked rapidly as though he were coming out of a daze and slowly turned his head to look at me. “This is all very amusing, but we have business to attend to.”
“Who might you be?” The weather god gave me a blank stare and then looked me up and down. “And why have you come here?”
“Oh, for the love of…” Rana said under her breath before she raised her voice. “We’re adventurers, and we’re here to conquer this dungeon. Why did you think we were here, to take a vacation?”
Cethin turned to look at the fox woman for a moment and then turned back to look at me.
“It’s been long since I’ve had visitors,” the weather god said with a yawn as he stretched out his arms and then slumped back into his seat. “People stopped coming to my dungeon a long time ago. I suppose that’s because it was so deadly," Cethin shrugged vaguely. “Many that ventured inside were killed within minutes, others within seconds. It all got very dull, you see.”
“I can understand where you’re coming from,” I said to the brown-haired man as I gestured to my minions. “People stopped visiting my dungeon for centuries before they came along.”
After I had spoken, Cethin furrowed his brow and then slowly sat up. His eyes lit up with some spark of his old self as he leaned forward to gaze at me intently.
“You seem familiar to me,” he said as he stroked his chin. “I cannot place the face, but the voice… ah, I remember now. We were gods together, were we not?”
“Indeed, we were,” I replied.
“That was many lifetimes ago, even for gods,” he muttered.
“It was,” I replied.
“Many of us have fallen since then. I remember not their faces, or their names, or their power. We used to be stewards of the worlds, but then cast aside by our kin, left to rot on this world, with only a sliver of the power we once had. I have made peace with it though. I care for little now.”
“I have not made peace with it,” I said as I shook my head. He didn’t remember that I was cast out before him.
He didn’t remember that I had sworn vengeance on them all.
“What was your name, again?” he asked as his eyes narrowed a bit. “You seem more familiar to me each moment that passes.”
“Perhaps you will remember before our encounter is over,” I said flatly, and without the emotion that would have hinted he was one of the many that was my hated enemy.
“And now you wish to conquer my dungeon?” The weather god raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, I believe my minion already mentioned that,” I replied.
“While I applaud your efforts, it is a useless venture,” Cethin said as he shifted in his seat and crossed one leg over another. “As I said before, those that have attempted to defeat my dungeon were slain almost instantly.”
Morrigan narrowed her dark eyes. “If what you say is true, then why did you not annihilate us upon our entering your domain?”
“I could have quite easily,” Cethin said nonchalantly as he absently waved his hand. “I was so bored, I decided to take a nap earlier. When I awoke, I sensed your presence, but I allowed you all to come closer out of sheer boredom and curiosity as to who you might be. You took so long to get here, however, I decided to amuse myself with the elements. I soon forgot all about you until you appeared before me that is.”
“This guy is just too much,” Rana said under her breath. “Master, please just fight him, suck out his power or whatever it is you do, and be done with it so we can get out of here.”
“Did you not hear what I said?” the tall deity continued on with the same bored tone. “I just told you that your venture would prove useless. I do not remember our time together as gods, but I know that I was never defeated, so while you may last a little longer than the others, you’ll fail nonetheless.”
“Your memory is poor,” I said as a dark smile curled to my lips. “Or perhaps it is selective, for I never lost when we had our mock wars.”
“Are you quite certain?” Cethin asked me as he pinched his lips together in thought.
“It matters not,” I said. “I would have prefered you remember me before I strike you down and devour your essence, but the result will be the same.”
“Fine, then.” Cethin snapped his fingers, and a small white cloud materialized in front of his feet. The lanky man stepped onto the cloud as if it were solid gr
ound, and as he clasped his hands behind his back, the cloud started to float toward me.
“Show off.” Rana rolled her eyes. “Typical god, won’t even walk on the same ground as us.”
Cethin either didn’t hear the fox’s snide remark or more likely had chosen to ignore her again. He continued to float toward me on his cloud until he was about twenty yards from me. That’s where the cloud stopped to deposit my old colleague. As soon as he had both feet on the grass, the cloud that he had conjured up disappeared.
“I want you all to stay well out of the way,” I said to my minions. “Our battles have a tendency to get very messy.”
The women nodded and turned to walk off toward the archway of trees back the way that we had come.
“Do try not to lose too quickly,” Cethin said as he covered his mouth to stifle another yawn. “Try to make our fight at least a little amusing.”
“Our fights were always amusing, were they not?” I said with a chuckle. “Think of all the havoc we wreaked in the process.”
“Hmmm,” he said as his eyes narrowed a bit. “Tell me your name?”
“My name is victory,” I said with a wicked smile. “I have more than just my necromantic power at my fingertips. You won’t be the first god whose power I’ve harvested.”
“Is that so?” Cethin said as a flicker of surprise flashed across his face. “Well then, perhaps this will be a bit more interesting than I had anticipated. Shall we--”
“Where is your coin?” I scoffed.
“My coin?” he asked, and his eyes finally grew large.
“Yes, fool,” I laughed. “Produce your coin and hide it on your person. Just as we used to do. I’ll remove it from you, and you will attempt to kill me. Remember?”
“Yoouuuu!” he gasped as his eyes grew large. “No. You can’t be here, we cast you from our heavenly domain and--”
“And now I am here,” I chuckled. “And now I will have revenge. Where is your coin?”
“No,” he said as he took a step away from me. “I beg you, please have mercy. I didn’t--”