by Lucas Flint
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“No way,” said Captain Galaxy. She kept looking from Kyra to the Spirit and back again, her eyes wide and unbelieving. “There’s no way Kyra can be the Dread God’s daughter. She doesn’t even look like him.”
“She doesn’t look much like the Spirit, either,” Hypno pointed out. “Perhaps the Spirit is lying and she actually kidnapped Kyra.”
“No, Mommy is my Mommy and Daddy is my Daddy,” Kyra insisted. “I’m like all kids. I have a mommy and a daddy. Daddy isn’t very nice, but he’s still my daddy. Why do you find it so hard to believe? You people are weird and silly, mostly weird.”
“Could be a joke,” said Bolt, stroking his chin. “Or a troll job. I mean, I don’t know if gods engage in trolling, but—”
“I am telling the truth,” said the Spirit, her voice as serious as ever. “Kyra may look like an ordinary little girl, but she’s actually a deity like the Dread God and me. She isn’t fully grown yet and is still quite childish, but that doesn’t change her essential nature.”
“Then why does she look like a human?” said Aster. “If she’s really your daughter, wouldn’t she look like an elephant or something?”
“Oh, I can change my shape,” said Kyra brightly. “See?”
Kyra’s face suddenly transformed into a miniature version of the Spirit’s. She blew her nose like a trumpet before her face snapped back to its normal form. She giggled at the shocked expressions on the faces of everyone looking at her.
“Funny,” said Kyra. “You guys are funny. Funny, silly, and weird.”
“Kyra is a bit of a show off when it comes to her shape-shifting powers,” said the Spirit, who, based on her tone, was obviously used to Kyra’s sudden display of her powers. “She took the form of a six-year-old human girl because of a picture book she read once that starred a six-year-old human girl.”
“Abby’s First Day at School, by Carol Ferguson,” Kyra said. “It’s my favorite book.”
Bolt rubbed his forehead. He wasn’t sure what he found strangest: That the Dread God and the Spirit had apparently had a child together or that said child had a favorite picture book. He was used to seeing weird things—it was an occupational hazard in his line of work—but this had to take the cake in terms of absolute weirdness.
Hopefully, things will go back to normal after this, Bolt thought. I can handle sentient planets, evil alternate universe counterparts of my dad, and Russian guys who like cat magazines. But I can’t handle kid gods who like picture books. Gotta draw a line somewhere.
“So, uh, how does that work?” said Hypno somewhat awkwardly. “I mean, we all know how children are conceived, but how does, er, reproduction work with … well, you know.”
“I do,” said the Spirit, nodding. “I can’t get into the details here, if only because there are no words in your human tongue that can accurately describe it, but rest assured that it is possible.”
“I don’t understand,” said Aster. “The IEA has been in contact with you for a long time. Did you just have her recently or—?”
“She’s much older than she looks,” said the Spirit. “By your standards, she would be considered an adult, but by our standards, she’s still a very young child. I kept her away from visitors, however, because I didn’t think she was ready yet to meet other people.”
“Mommy was protecting me from mean people,” Kyra added. “You people aren’t mean, though. Weird and silly, but not mean.”
“Kyra is correct,” said the Spirit. “While I still don’t trust the IEA, I must thank you for saving Kyra and protecting her while I was away. It was foolish of me to leave her alone like that, knowing that the Dread God’s servants would likely scour the Forest for her, but I was in too much of a hurry and I thought Kyra would reach the Castle before anyone caught her.”
“I tripped,” said Kyra. She raised a hand and brought it down on her lap with a slap. “Tripped and had to hide. The bad guys tried to find me, but couldn’t, so they tried to burn the Forest down to the ground. It was scary.”
“Indeed,” said the Spirit, nodding.
Captain Galaxy shook her head. She still looked quite disbelieving, but as she pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear, she said, “Why does the Dread God want Kyra? What does he hope to do with her?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” said the Spirit. “He wants to raise her to be his daughter. She won’t be his equal, nor will she be allowed to succeed him, but he wants her anyway in order to increase his power. You see, Kyra, due to her parentage, has immense potential to be a being of great power someday. She could even rival the Dread God, if not surpass him, but only if she is given proper teaching and guidance.”
“I take it that the Dread God would not train her well?” said Bolt.
“He would stunt her growth,” said the Spirit. “He didn’t say it explicitly, but I know him well enough to know that he would never tolerate anyone becoming his equal, much less surpass him. He doesn’t have a paternal bone in his body. He wants to dominate everyone, and he’ll hurt his own children to do it if he has to.”
“Sounds like the Dread God won’t be winning any Father of the Year awards anytime soon,” Hypno said.
Bolt looked at Hypno. “That was an awful joke and you know it.”
“Just trying to lighten the mood,” said Hypno with a shrug. “Don’t want things to get too tense around here, eh?”
“So the Dread God basically wants to make Kyra his slave and use her power for his own purposes,” said Aster. “Did I get that right?”
“Yes,” said the Spirit. “It’s more than that, however. The Dread God wishes to build his own pantheon of lesser gods, who will serve him as unquestioningly as the Darzens will.”
“He’s trying to build a pantheon?” said Bolt in shock. “Why? I thought he wanted to rule the multiverse alone.”
“He does,” said the Spirit grimly. “And will, if he succeeds in his plans. But he knows that he can’t possibly control the multiverse by himself. He wants to create a pantheon of lesser gods who will enforce his will onto the population of the multiverse. They will obey his every order and ensure that no one can successfully revolt against his rule.”
“It still seems kind of out of character for him, though,” said Bolt, scratching the back of his neck. “I can’t imagine a bunch of gods, even lesser ones, would be happy with following his orders. What if they rebel against him?”
“As I said, the Dread God will ensure that they are as fanatically loyal toward him as the Darzens are,” the Spirit said. “Besides, you must understand that the Dread God is doing this in response to his first defeat. You can say many things about the Dread God—and Lord knows I have said all of it myself at one point or another—but he does learn from his mistakes, and one of his mistakes before his first defeat was his inability to delegate. By having a large pantheon whom he can delegate responsibility to, he is hoping to create a hierarchy that will effectively stamp out resistance to his rule before it ever gains ground.”
“Ah, I see,” said Captain Galaxy, stroking her chin. “I don’t like it, but it makes sense. I assume that the original rebellion gained momentum because he didn’t bother to stop it early on, right?”
“Right,” said the Spirit. Her trunk rubbed her front left leg, the one she limped on. “The Dread God did not believe humans could kill him, so even when he heard rumblings of a rebellion in his subjects, he didn’t see any need to do anything about it. He thought he could crush it anytime he wanted no matter how big it got, but he should have extinguished it early on. Otherwise, Arius likely wouldn’t have gotten the God Slayer, and he wouldn’t have used it to kill the Dread God.”
“Dang,” said Bolt. “An enemy who can learn from his mistakes … pretty dangerous, if you ask me.”
“Especially one with the power the Dread God wields,” said the Spirit. She shuddered. “And I fear he has somehow grown even more powerful since his resurrection. I don’t understand how because one would assu
me the opposite. The only good news I can deliver is that he still isn’t quite used to having a physical body again yet, so he’s somewhat awkward and clumsy in person. That’s not much of a weakness, however.”
“Which brings us back to the Starborn,” Aster said. He stepped forward, clasping his hands together like he was praying. “We need you to tell us where they are, maybe even send us to them directly. We know you can’t help us, but the Starborn aren’t under the same limitations as you.”
“That may be so, but as I already said, the Starborn are not interested in fighting the Dread God,” said the Spirit. “They’re more focused on their creations. Asking them for help would be quite useless.”
“You don’t know that,” said Bolt. He jerked a thumb at his chest. “Like I said, I have met them before. I even saved them from being brainwashed by a crazy rich guy. They’ll at least be willing to hear me out, I’m sure.”
A doubtful look crossed the Spirit’s face. “Perhaps. I can’t say I understand them entirely—unlike the Dread God and me, they evolved to their current power level, so they are still somewhat mortal in their outlook on life—but I have spoken with them and know where they stand on the matter. I doubt they would be happy if I sent you to try to convince them to join the fight against the Dread God.”
“So what?” said Bolt. “You’re not going to be the one talking to them. I am. I’ll handle whatever their response might be.”
The Spirit hesitated. “I am still not entirely convinced of the wisdom of your idea. It might be better to go and aid your friend Beams in his quest to get the God Slayer.”
“How did you know he was doing that?” said Hypno in astonishment.
“Omniscient, remember?” said the Spirit. “I know everything going on in the multiverse. I simply am not allowed to act on anything unless it directly enters my domain.”
Bolt stepped forward. “Listen, Spirit, I understand your reluctance. I know from personal experience just how powerful the Starborn are and how fickle they are. But my dad always taught me that it’s better to have multiple backup plans and the Starborn are one such plan. Think about Kyra. As long as the Dread God is around, she’ll always be in danger.”
“But I can protect her in this castle,” said the Spirit, gesturing at the Castle around them.
“So you plan to raise her in complete isolation in this place?” said Bolt, gesturing at the throne room. “It’s not a bad castle, but I can’t imagine it’s any healthier to raise a young goddess in isolation than it is to raise a mortal child in such circumstances. The Endless Forest is Kyra’s birthright just as much as it is yours. You shouldn’t have to live in fear of the Dread God just because you aren’t sure our plan will work.”
The Spirit was silent. Bolt wasn’t sure if his little speech would work. He knew that the Spirit was practically a deity and that her ways and thought processes were practically incomprehensible to his own, but she sounded just like his mom whenever she talked about Kyra. And he knew that if his mom was in this same situation, she would be persuaded by his speech.
Finally, the Spirit nodded. “Very well. I am still doubtful about the effectiveness of your plan, but I won’t stop you from doing what you want to do. I’ll tell you where the Starborn are, but I won’t go with you to them, because I need to stay here and defend Kyra and the Castle. The Dread God still wants her and it would be unwise of me to leave her unprotected.”
Bolt’s face broke into a big smile. “Awesome. When will we leave?”
“Soon,” said the Spirit. “But again, I must warn you: The Starborn may not want anything to do with you, even if you did save their lives once. Do you still want to go?”
“What choice do we have?” said Bolt, folding his arms across his chest. “It’s either that or let the Dread God take over the multiverse. I know my choice.”
“All right,” said the Spirit. “Then listen carefully, because you will need to if you are going to find the Starborn.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Beams stood in front of a gaping cave mouth, staring deeply into its pitch black depths. Even with the night vision enabled on his helmet, he couldn’t see very deep inside. He wondered if the darkness was normal shadow or if it was some kind of supernatural darkness which even the brightest light could not penetrate.
Given all of the other crazy stuff I’ve seen so far, that might not be too far from the truth, Beams thought. The world is a big, weird place. Who knows what lies in its depths?
Somewhere deep within the cave, Beams heard what sounded like a tiger growl, but it could just as easily have been the howling wind of the blizzard as it passed between the stalagmites and stalactites which guarded the entrance like the teeth of a dragon. He shivered slightly when the wind blew through, though he didn’t shiver because of the cold.
“Whoa,” said Shade as she stopped beside Beams. Her eyes were locked onto the cave mouth, her own mouth hanging slightly open. “It’s been a long time since I couldn’t see in the darkness, probably since before my powers manifested. It’s weird.”
Beams looked at Shade in surprise. “You mean even you can’t see it? Huh, I thought it was just my helmet’s night vision not working.”
“Yeah,” said Shade. She gestured at her eyes. “As a being of shadow, I can see perfectly well in the darkness, even better than in the light honestly, but the darkness of this cave is thicker than any darkness I’ve ever seen. Even the depths of the ocean aren’t this dark.”
Mr. Space also stepped up beside Beams on his other side, a wary look on his face. “If neither of you can see into it, then maybe going into the Gauntlet isn’t such a good idea.”
Beams looked at Mr. Space in annoyance. “What are you talking about? The Gauntlet is the only way we can get the God Slayer. Without it, we’re doomed and you know it.”
“Unless Galaxy and the others find the Starborn,” said Mr. Space. He tapped the side of his own helmet and frowned. “Sparky just sent me a message. Said that Galaxy and the others know where the Starborn are and are going to meet them. Maybe we won’t need to go through this after all.”
Beams sighed. “Space, even if the others find the Starborn and convince them to help us, I still need to do this.”
“Yeah, I see,” said Shade, nodding. “Never hurts to have a backup plan, though. That’s what Cadmus always tells me.”
“It’s more than that,” said Beams. He looked down at his hands. “I’m a son of Arius. I know this now. Beyond just getting the God Slayer, this is kind of a rite of passage for me. I don’t know how to explain it, except to say that it’s more personal than anything and I would undertake this challenge even if I didn’t need the God Slayer.”
“Can’t say I understand,” said Shade with a shrug. “Then again, I’ve never been one for tradition or rite of passage. Always just been me.”
“No, I get it,” said Mr. Space. He looked into the darkness again. “Still, it would be better if one of us could go with you.”
“Only the challenger may enter the Gauntlet,” said a voice behind them. “And only by himself.”
Beams looked over his shoulder. Scorius was approaching them, with Pesa on his left and Garus on his right. A large contingent of hunters followed behind him, though Beams noticed that their eyes kept glancing at the cave mouth. They seemed to have some kind of superstitious fear about the cave, though if what Beams had already heard about the place was true, then perhaps their fear was less superstitious than it seemed.
“Are you sure about that?” said Mr. Space doubtfully. “I know it’s tradition, but—”
“It’s more than just tradition, outsider,” said Scorius, coming to a stop not too far from them. He spread his arms wide. “It is ancient law, laid down by Arius himself. To break it would be to break the oldest and most venerable law among our people. It would be to spit upon the grave of not just Arius, but every generation of Ariopolitans who have come before us. I would have to kick over the tombstone of my own father if I were t
o break this most ancient and holy of laws.”
“I understand,” said Beams, nodding. “And I’m not afraid of taking it on by myself. I’ll do whatever it takes to get the God Slayer, no matter how hard it might be.”
“Wise words,” said Scorius, “but it takes more than wise words to complete the Gauntlet. Many men bigger, stronger, and wiser than you have taken on the Gauntlet, only to meet a gruesome end alone in the darkest depths of the earth. The Gauntlet shows no mercy to the weak, nor forgiveness for the foolish.”
“Sounds like a party,” said Shade sarcastically. “So what do Space and I do? Just stay here and wait for him to come back up?”
“Yes,” said Scorius bluntly. “And do not ask me when he will emerge again if indeed he ever does. Completing the three challenges of the Gauntlet depends on his own ability, as well as what fate desires.”
“I don’t suppose you will tell me what these three challenges are, will you?” said Beams.
“Correct,” said Scorius. He stroked his short beard. “Truthfully, however, I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to. The three challenges of the Gauntlet are a secret to all save for those who attempt to complete them. Only the challengers have ever seen them, but given how no challenger has ever completed them or come back out alive, we still know nothing about them. Therefore, you are going in completely blind.”
“Wonderful,” said Beams with a sigh. “I love jumping into the dark without knowing where I am going to land.”
“You have no choice,” said Scorius. “But there is still time to give up. Until you pass the threshold of the cave mouth, you are free to walk away and go home.”
Beams frowned. “I’m not going back home. Why do you keep telling me to do that?”
“It is tradition,” said Scorius simply. “As the Elder of the Ariopolitans, I must always remind you about your freedom to leave as you see fit. The Gauntlet is not mandatory and few survive it. Besides, I now see that you are a good young man, whether you are a son of Arius or not, especially after saving Pesa. It would be a tragedy, I believe if you were to perish inside the Gauntlet.”