“I hope he’s learned not to listen to the whispers from the depths of chaos. The abyss is full of nastiness that he isn’t capable of controlling for all his ego,” I said.
“Even I do not dare stir the great cauldron of creation, Kaltron. The universe exists in perfect balance that may be tipped if we are careless. The elemental balance of forces must be maintained.” As Pandron spoke his gaze drifted off as if he were seeing events unfold which were lost in the mists of time. He went silent for a moment then shook his head.
“Enough of this talk. Better to avoid giving notice lest we lend power to darkness. That whelp Yond will be stripped of his powers. I’ve decided that as a reward, I shall pass on those powers onto you. Your mother will not be pleased. She coddles the dolt. I was somewhat redundant to allow his ascension in the first place. It should be much simpler this way. In retrospect, investing you with his gifts would have solved so many issues in the past. Yond always seemed too envious of you. I should have never sired him.”
I laughed. “Well, you know Mom. Maybe you didn’t.”
Pandron’s face darkened. “I will ignore that blasphemous remark, because I refuse to let you sully this moment of triumph for the gods.”
I shrugged. “Sorry, no offense. But let Yond keep his light show and sound effects. I don’t want them and it would only make him more bitter. There is a small chance he’ll actually learn some humility from this episode if you don’t rub his nose in it too much. You aren’t much on forgiveness, by the way. You created Yond in more than one way. I’ll just go back to my own life and let him heal.”
My father nodded. “You’re becoming wise, my son. Although wallowing in filth with the mortals is detestable to me. It does seem you’ve gained some insight. But, Kaltron, you must tell me how you managed to kill Jegu. I must know.”
I smiled. “Why father, Jegu isn’t dead. He’s just…sleeping, let’s say.”
“What do you mean?”
“For all your insistence that I wield the sword, it really wasn’t my godly powers that rendered Jegu mute. In fact, I almost expanded his power as Yond did. The only way that I could counter Jegu’s power was to channel my humanity. That which you have been trying so hard to get me to renounce is what saved your butt. But even then, Jegu is not destroyed. His heart still beats, but slowly.”
I reached into my tunic and brought out the small rock. Deep within a ruby red light pulsed softly.
“Destroy that obscenity.”
“I can’t.”
Then Pandron reared back to blast the stone in my hand.
“Beware, father. If you strike out it you will be instantly consume you, too, just as Yond you will simply feed him and you’ll release Jegu back into our reality.”
He froze.
“Good. Glad that I have your attention.”
I scratched my cheek and pondered my words for a moment before I continued. This was a rare moment. My father was actually in a position where he had to listen to me.
“I’m not sure how the universe operates, and I don’t think you do either. Even though you spout a lot of bullshit I don’t believe you really have any idea. But, I do know that somewhere, somehow there is a balance and you’ve said as much although I see little balance in your method of rule. There is a debt to be paid for everything. Even the Gods aren’t immune.”
I held up the stone. “This is our accounting. The interest on the collective injustice of the gods. As you abused your power, so it grew. Finally, it became a god itself.”
I could see the wheels turning from the look in the old man’s eyes. There was an eternity of atrocities crying out for recompense and he knew it.
I looked at the rock and the faint red glow that slowly flashed. “This will never go away. It is as eternal as you are.”
Pandron sputtered. “But...but...that’s horrible.”
“It’s not all bad. You have a chance to work off the bill before the next day of reckoning. You have the rest of eternity to turn this black, negative thing into something neutral…or dare I say positive? This could potentially be a reservoir of divine power which could support and strengthen us against any enemy.”
“How?”
“Just do the right thing—a lot. I mean start doing it all the time, or eventually it’ll make you pay for doing all the wrong things.”
Pandron looked stricken. For once in his existence he was being held accountable. He was like a child being forced to eat his vegetables or get a spanking. I tried not to grin. It was priceless.
“I’ll make sure it stays in a safe place, but of course if it becomes too powerful no force in this universe can contain it.”
Pantron seemed confused. “What can we do? What acts can we perform that won’t make things worse?”
“I don’t know, and I really don’t care. For myself, I intend to write a lot of music, and drink a lot of beer. How you spend eternity is up to you.”
I left him with that.
Suffice to say that the feast in my honor was canceled. There were no tearful goodbyes. I just mounted Blackflame, got out of there, and tried to not let the door hit me in the ass on the way out.
I figured the lie would keep him in check for a while, or at least off my case.
Jegu was just some inter-dimensional bad ass that my brother had conjured from chaos to bring down dad. Yond was too stupid to realize that the force of chaos by its very nature was capable of destroying anything, even the gods. But, not this time. Jegu’s power was gone and he was destroyed, or perhaps banished back to wherever he came from. The meteorite was just a talisman, powerless and inert now except for the enchantment I had put on it to make it glow a bit.
I love special effects.
I knew Yond wouldn’t have shared the full details of his treachery with father so the lie was a pretty safe one. They would have difficulty separating the fact from my fiction.
Twinge of guilt? No, it was about time they were lied to. They’ve been lying about themselves to the mortals since creation. Maybe his deception would make them keep their intrigues up in heaven rather than playing them out with human pawns.
With Pandron constrained for the moment, I didn’t worry much about my other siblings. For the most part they were harmless anyway. Nanaya, for example. Although she was trouble incarnate, she rarely tempted those who wouldn’t have gotten into trouble anyway. The heart of man was fragile and sometimes I think they wouldn’t be happy without breaking it a few times. There were also others, lesser troublemakers, but with dad knowing the stakes he would ultimately keep them all in line.
I started the long ride back. I wasn’t sure where I was going. I supposed I’d find a little inn somewhere and play my lyre, or maybe my guitar in a honky-tonk or blues club. I had a love song for Angelina that I never got to play—but I wasn’t sure if I’d be capable of singing it aloud for a while.
I saw movement above—a black raven swooping toward me. It landed on my saddle horn. In its beak it held a scrap of folded paper.
I took the paper and opened it, revealing a single sentence. “Beware, the price of vanity is death.”
Warning or threat?
The raven tilted his head and stared at me expectantly.
“Bring it on. I’ve got nothing else left to lose.”
The raven ruffled its feathers as if to shrug, and flew away.
ALSO BY BILL D. ALLEN
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THE OUTYONDER SERIES
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THE RELUCTANT WAR GOD SERIES
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Duty Calls: The Reluctant War God Book 1 Page 13