The Gods' Games Volume 1 & 2: Graphic Edition (The Gods' Games Series)

by Quil Carter

  Two squirrels fell, the impaled one and another one who lost its balance in the chaos. As Ben watched it come crashing to the ground, taking several thin branches with it, he saw Teal run after the remaining ones, following the rodents higher into the Silverwoods’ thicket.

  Ben gripped his spear as the still-alive squirrel fell to the forest floor. With a rush of adrenaline he ran over to it, the little rodent squealing and thrashing madly on the ground. He stared at it for several moments, its friend stone dead beside it, and felt his mind freeze.

  Then his hibrid instincts seemed to kick into action. Feeling a new found bloodlust rush through him, Ben raised his spear and stabbed the squirrel.

  But in his excitement Ben missed and only succeeded in stabbing the creature through the tail. It shrieked from pain and tried to run away, though the spear through its tail was preventing it from doing anything more than thrashing like a fish on a line.

  Ben froze a second time but like what happened previously he felt his instincts come to him. With his hastily gathered bloodthirst Ben did the only thing he could think of – he raised his foot and slammed it down onto the squirrel’s head.

  There was a sickening crunch before blood squirted out of the squirrel’s mouth and nose. Ben cringed for a moment but he quickly regained his composure. He brought his heel down on the rodent’s head and pressed, feeling its skull snap and bend under his weight.

  The squirrel twitched for a few moments as it died. The blood shining dark against its pitch black fur and coating the green and brown foliage underneath it.

  Giving the squirrel a moment to die in peace, Ben walked over to the other skewered rodent and unstuck the spear from it. He picked up both of them and threw them into the canvas bag, unable to hide the proud smile on his face.

  Then he looked up to see where Teal was. Rush after rush of pride flowing through him, whispering to him that perhaps he could defend himself after all. He knew for sure he could feed himself at least.

  Teal was out of sight but Ben could hear him crashing around in the canopy above them. Ben took this moment to lean up against a tree to catch his breath. His heart was racing with adrenaline and he absentmindedly found himself checking out the branches and trees for more squirrels. Or anything really. He was so full of energy and the high from killing something he would’ve probably murder a june bug if it flew close enough to him.

  Ben was almost jumping out of his skin with excitement when he saw Teal climbing down the tree trunk, though unfortunately he was empty-handed.

  “Look!” Ben exclaimed. He was clutching the bag in one hand and his spear in the other; it was all he could do to keep himself from jumping up and down. He quickly, stumbling over his own words, told Teal the harrowing tale of him murdering his first black squirrel.

  Teal smiled at him proudly, his face flushed from his own pursuit. “You? The human? You killed it, eh?” He opened up the burlap sack and looked into it – then he burst out laughing.

  “Ben! You crushed its head? Oh, Anea above, you didn’t lie. You did stomp the bloody life out of it!”

  “It would’ve gotten away if I took the spear out of its tail,” Ben said, glancing in the bag; he chuckled when he was reminded just how badly he had crushed it. “If I had a dagger I could have done it cleaner.”

  “Maybe when we’re on the road,” was Teal’s reply. Ben let out an unimpressed noise at his hesitation. He would’ve liked to have thought he’d earned his dagger after providing them with two squirrels for dinner.

  They started their walk back to the camp, Teal with the burlap sack slung over his back. But as they carried on Ben noticed that his friend seemed to be acting strangely. Whereas the entire hunting trip had been lighthearted and fun – Teal seemed to have stiffened up and he wasn’t making jokes like he had been before.

  He kept glancing behind his shoulder as they walked too. Ben gave him a curious look but Teal seemed too preoccupied with whatever seemed to have taken over his thoughts. Something must’ve happened while he was up in that tree.

  “What?” Ben asked cautiously.

  Teal glanced behind him again and Ben could see his jaw tighten. But when Teal looked back he noticed that Ben was analysing him and as quickly as it came the look vanished. “Let’s just get back to camp, clean the squirrels, then I’ll tell you.”

  Ben felt his skin prickle with goose bumps; he didn’t like the sound of that at all. They carried on back to camp, and after quickly sharpening Teal’s daggers they both got to work on the squirrels.

  As Ben started peeling the skin off of the rodents, Teal put some wood onto their dwindling fire. This time he brought out a vial from the seemingly endless collection in his pack, a scarlet red bottle filled with an off-white powder.

  To Ben’s amusement his recall was triggered as Teal dusted it onto the fire. It was a powder used by many blacksmiths all over Elron, called tsivia. It made the fire extremely hot, hot enough that it didn’t produce a lot of smoke.

  Teal rolled the two large logs they’d been sitting on a foot back as the fire heated up. When he was satisfied with it, he turned to Ben and helped him finish dressing the squirrels.

  “We’re going to be leaving tomorrow and heading towards a small village named Malla,” Teal explained in a steady tone.

  Ben felt a spark light inside of him, but whether the source of that spark was anxiety or intrigue he didn’t know.

  “I saw what looks like the remains of a camp about a league away,” Teal continued. As Ben gave him an alarmed look he saw his new friend start to grab his forearms with his clawed fingers; he seemed to do that when he was nervous.

  Out of reflex, Ben looked behind him, as if the bounty hunter would be there wielding an assault rifle or something equally earth-scary.

  But as the new information sat in his stomach he realized he was more nervous about seeing other occupants of this world. Obviously he had never seen another hibrid or elf or any of these strange creatures. Hell, he hadn’t even seen an animal bigger than a black squirrel. Was he really prepared to see the rest of Alcove? He still wasn’t sure that any of this was really real.

  “Do you think it’s the malkah bounty hunter?” Ben asked, wondering to himself if the town would even be safe. Maybe they should just go deeper into the woods?

  “No, there’s no way for him to know we’re here and a league is a long way away, especially in this terrain. It’s about three and a half miles,” Teal said in a reassuring tone, though Ben wasn’t sure who the reassurance was for. “I couldn’t see the camp well-enough to know if someone was actively there. It was too far away.”

  The hair on the back of Ben’s neck creeped up as he scanned the forest. Suddenly the silvery woods in front of him seemed dangerous.

  His hands clutched the bloody dagger he had been using to skin the squirrel. “Can we… leave now? Is it in the direction we’re heading?” Ben asked nervously. He decided in that moment he was more scared of unexpected visitors than he was going to that village.

  Teal shook his head. “No, we’re heading in almost the opposite direction and it’s too late for us to leave right now. It will take us a couple hours to properly break camp. I don’t want to leave any trace that we were here. We’ll clean up camp as much as we can tonight, leave early in the morning, and do a full days walking towards Malla.”

  Ben’s mouth twisted to the side. “I’ll trust you on this but I still don’t like it. If we get jumped and stabbed you’ll be able to use – that?” Ben motioned towards the sword.

  “I’ve lived in the woods for years, Ben. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” Teal said with a confident smile. “We’ll walk hard and we’ll be in Malla before you know it.”

  “And Malla’s safe? How far away is it?” He had heard Teal mention the small village a few times but he had no idea what it would look like or what was in it. It could be a bunch of forts in the trees for all he knew. Alcove to him right now consisted mainly of his camp and a bunch of gigantic trees.


  “If we walk fast and leave early we can make it there before dark. It’s about five leagues away. It’s a nice place; probably two hundred Alcovians reside there, more in the surrounding forest. It has a good wall, though it was used as a shelter for the soldiers during an invasion a few years back; it never really recovered.”

  Well, if it had a wall that was better than staying in this camp. The camp Ben had been calling his home since Teal had brought him here suddenly seemed exposed and unsafe. A stark contrast to his feelings only minutes ago.

  Ben found his eyes falling to the thick of tree limbs above them. Maybe he could just make a nest like a bird and stay in there for a while. That would be safe – bounty hunters probably couldn’t climb trees.

  “Do they have hotels there?” Ben asked. “With… locks?”

  Teal smirked; no doubt amused at the word ‘hotel’. “They’re called inns and, yes, there’s one in Malla. It has locks on the doors, all of them do. And they hire strongarms and sellswords to guard the inn and the square. Not to mention the guards stationed on the wall.”

  This made Ben feel better but he was still pensive about the whole thing. Either way it sounded like the town would be safer for the two of them.

  But this new news and the anxious look on Teal’s face made Ben once again question just why he was going along with all of this. He might’ve had a lot of things to worry about in his old world but at least they were things he knew how to handle. This world held many threats, most of them shrouded in darkness, or worse, still deceptively cloaked in the thick silvery woods.

  With a sigh, Ben went back to work, although his thoughts never left the mysterious campsite only a few leagues away.

  9

  Ben checked his feet. Most of the blood was dry but there was still a wet area around his heels that was still trickling. With every step he took, he could hear the squishing sound of the blood-soaked leather hitting the dirt road. The once hard sole leather shoes were now a shiny, almost black colour; they had completely soaked through.

  He wiped his bloody fingers against his trousers, leaving little rusted streaks, and continued walking. He was still able to keep pace with Teal, and that was all that was important.

  Ben heard Teal suck in a sympathetic breath. His friend fell back several paces and looked down to examine how bad Ben’s feet were.

  The two of them had been walking hard since sunrise with only a few breaks for food and rest. It had been hard trudging, especially before they got to the road. Ben’s joints were aching and his head felt like it was being hammered.

  “Cursed Xalis, those are bad,” Teal groaned. “They’ll disappear once your feet harden up, that I can promise at least. Your feet are just tender, not used to so much walking.”

  Ben gave him a pathetic look and leaned up against a nearby tree. He took his leather shoe off and rubbed the swollen, sensitive feet, flinching more than once when he grazed over an open blister. He had several of them, all but two busted open and sensitive to any touch.

  “I’m running on fumes now – but I can make it,” Ben said, wincing as Teal lightly touched a nasty blister on the back of his heel. “I’d do anything for some painkillers right now. On top of my feet murdering me my head feels like it’s going to split in half.”

  Teal brought out some gauze-type blue cloth from his bag and bent down to wrap it around Ben’s feet. “I’ll bind them tightly now and dress them properly once we get into the inn. It won’t be long, I–”

  Suddenly Ben felt Teal grab onto him. He jumped and was about to ask what he was doing when he felt himself get lowered to the ground. His mouth opened to try and talk to Teal but all that came out was a groan – he hadn’t even realized he had started falling over.

  Ben could feel his eyes rolling into the back of his head, but he still felt the urge to sit up. Unable to help his impulses he made the motion to get up but Teal pressed down on his chest. “Chaka, stay laying,” Teal commanded using what Ben now knew was a common Alcovian swear word.

  “Gods damn it, I shouldn’t be pushing you so hard,” Teal chastised himself. “You’ve only been up for a few days.”

  “I’m fine, let’s just get to Malla.” Ben wiped his hands down his face. Teal let him sit up this time, and a few moments later he handed him the leatherskin of water.

  The boy sat behind him and buried his face into his hands with an exasperated moan.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wanted us to stay in camp for another damn week until you could build up your strength, but it seems we’re already on the run. Every single gods’ damn plan I’ve made for this keeps failing.”

  Ben squeezed the water from the leatherskin over his head and wiped his face. The cold water helped shake the dizziness that kept claiming him. “We’ll get to Malla and make a new plan. We can stay in the inn for a few days, can’t we?”

  Ben winced as his headache started to get worse. He didn’t care if the inn was a shack with a pile of hay in the corner, he just wanted to get there and lay down, then drink as much silverwine as he could and reminisce about popping morphine and smoking joints. Oh wouldn’t that just be perfect right now…

  “As long as we aren’t being followed we can,” Teal said as he quickly finished binding Ben’s feet. After a quarter hour of resting and a change of shoes, Ben was able to get to his feet and they headed back towards the small village.

  The tight bandages helped a great deal for the final hour of walking. Soon enough the dirt road they had been walking on started to look more worn and compacted.

  There was a feeling of both relief and anxiety when Ben saw the thick stone walls come into view through the trees.

  “Welcome to your first Alcovian village, Ben,” Teal said with a smile. Ben stared ahead and let out an impressed whistle. The walls were tall and fort-like, and the trees around them had been cut down to prevent anyone using them to get over the walls.

  Ben tried to hide his limp as much as possible as they walked towards the walls that towered over both of them. They were about two-storeys high, and had lookout towers on the two corners Ben could see, and two guard stations on either side of a large wooden entrance gate.

  “If you look closely, you can see guards on post,” Teal said. Ben squinted his eyes and saw them; the very first elves he had ever laid eyes on.

  The guard elves were dressed in worn leather jerkins with chainmail vests, and black cloaks clasped at the front. They were standing guard on top of the walls and in the lookout towers with what looked like bows and quivers full of arrows strapped to their backs. They weren’t all dressed identically but it did appear like they were attempting to appear uniform.

  “Not bad, could use some snipers though,” Ben said with a grin, the pain in his head and feet forgotten in the excitement. “Machine guns, rocket launchers, AK-47s!”

  Teal laughed and shook his head, “You’re crazy, Ben.”

  “It would be great to see the expressions on their faces if I came into the castle packing heat. Man, the only one who would know what the heck it was would be Erick,” Ben laughed.

  Teal laughed nervously and glanced up, Ben did the same and knew immediately why Teal looked hesitant. They were almost in earshot of the guards now and Ben was sure his adventures in Alcove would end rather quickly if he mentioned just who his brother was.

  “Halt! What is your business here, kind travellers?” one of the elves on the wall called.

  Ben looked up just in time to see a middle-aged elf jump down from the top of the gate. Even though it was a long drop the elf landed lightly on his feet with barely a sound. He wasn’t dressed like one of the guards stationed along the wall; he appeared to be in what Ben assumed was normal Alcove clothing: a clean tunic, trousers, and a pair of well-worn leather boots.

  And as he got closer Ben was fascinated to see that the elf had black hair with orange streaks and was the same height as Ben himself now was. There was no mistaking it, this elf was a hibrid.

  Ben tried
not to stare at him. It was a bit overwhelming to see other elves and hibrids around. He felt like a sheltered homeschooled kid finally going to public school. It was all a lot to take in.

  “My business is my business, Aleeka, but if you must know I’m passing through. We’ll rest here then be on our way in the morning – and yes – we brought covis,” Teal said, and then added almost passingly. “How’s your mother?”

  The hibrid laughed, thankfully not noticing Ben’s gawking.

  “Cranky and old, she still won’t die,” the hibrid named Aleeka replied, then he looked at Ben.

  His eyes widened as if noticing Ben for the first time. Then he casually strolled over to him, his arms crossed over his red tunic. “And who might you be there, lad?”

  “This is my partner, Korbin of Galan,” Teal said plainly.

  “Partner? Chaylen partner?”

  Teal’s ears reddened. “No, Aleeka – nothing like that.”

  Aleeka seemed amused by this. “I thought as much, it’s weird enough for you to be around other elves, ya little hermit. I’m sure the world would collapse in on itself if I ever saw you with a chaylen partner, Tealander,” Aleeka chuckled, and at his comment Teal’s entire face went red.

  Ben dearly wanted to ask Teal what chaylen was and why there needed to be a partner for it, but as he mulled this over in his mind he suspected he already knew the answer. So Ben shut his mouth and watched Aleeka grin and seemingly revel in Teal’s embarrassment.

  “Okay, Tealander. Spend all your covis here, my boy. Anea knows Malla needs the business,” Aleeka said with a shake of his head and another chuckle. Then he glanced up at one of the guards standing overhead and clapped his hands. “The snake knights’ taxes are getting higher and higher. Why we have to pay them to get drunk and beat our residents I’ll never know.”

  The mention of the snake knights activated another planted trigger in Ben’s brain. It was a derogatory term for what his brother’s soldiers were called; the Serpent Knights of Alcove was their formal name, or Serpents. They were brainwashed knights, formally of King Calin. They used to be called the Knights of Alcove or Alcovian knights, and were welcomed as honoured guests in all villages and towns in Alcove, and the taxes paid for their services. Now they were just corrupt, lawless bullies.