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

by Quil Carter

  There was no mistaking it, from Teal and Malagant’s descriptions Ben knew for sure he had found Lelanders.

  “My name is Ben, I am a hibrid. I need your help, my friends are trapped a few leagues back in the blizzard. Our horses are dead,” Ben said.

  He sat on the ground trying to catch his breath. It didn’t even occur for him to use the name Teal had gave him.

  “I’ve seen many hibrids before, mate, and you don’t come close,” the blond one leaned down and looked at Ben; he had a short beard and a pointed nose. “I reckon you’re an Aryd lynx. But how you got all the way from the Frey, and how you learned to talk is boggling my brain.”

  Then suddenly Ben felt the burning in his body, like when Kelakheva had changed him into the Aryd cat, though thankfully this time it was a lot quicker and smoother. Before he knew it the biting cold came back, stinging his face and neck, and the real colours of the Lelanders were brought into focus.

  Ben immediately started to shiver, but thankfully he was fully dressed. He hadn’t seen his clothing underneath him or even thought to look. It would’ve been both embarrassing and deadly if he was stark naked once he became a hibrid again.

  “By Lelander! It is a hibrid! How did you do that?” the one who Ben now saw had fiery red hair exclaimed, a look of shock and wonder on his face.

  The one named Tass helped Ben to his feet and tightened Ben’s cloak over him. Ben pretended to wipe his face with his cloak and when his mouth was covered he spat the Jewel of Elron into his hand and slipped it into his cloak’s inside pocket.

  “I need to help my friends,” Ben said. He tried to take a step forward but to his grim shock his legs gave out from under him. The fatigue of running here didn’t disappear like the Aryd lynx’s body; he was exhausted and the energy he had spent had caught up with him. “Please,” Ben gasped as the red-haired one helped steady him. “They’re going to die; they put a green blanket in the middle of the road. They’re in the elements with only our blankets and their fur cloaks – you need to help me get them.”

  Tass, the black-haired one, nodded and turned to his companions. “Talis, Jevi, take the mikau and any patroller able to weather the storm, look out for that green blanket.” Tass pulled one of Ben’s gloves off and handed it to the red-haired one named Jevi. “This will be a good enough scent.”

  Talis and Jevi both nodded; Ben almost fell to his knees just from sheer relief. With Tass holding onto him, the two Lelanders sprinted into the blizzard. Ben saw Talis hold a cupped hand to his face before letting out an eerie cry which sounded identical to a puma’s roar.

  “Thank you,” Ben said. “Thank you…” He took another step when an overwhelming wave of dizziness claimed him. He tried with all of his strength to keep himself upright but the fatigue won; Ben collapsed into the snow.

  “Chaka!” Ben heard Tass swear. He was pulled to his feet, and the Lelander put an arm around Ben to steady him. “Lean on me, my friend. We’re close to the castle; the gates were left open for us patrol. I’ll take you straight to the infirmary.”

  Ben leaned against the Lelander and tried his best to walk with him. He looked over his shoulder to see the silhouettes of Talis and Jevi climb on to two enormous creatures.

  “Don’t worry, they’ll find your friends in no time,” Tass said. “We’re the King’s Patrol and I’m King Korivander’s squire. We know this forest like the back of our hands; we will see it as a personal insult if they die.”

  Ben wanted to feel relieved but he felt like he was keeping balance on a dozen upright bottles. Even with the Lelanders out looking for his friends, the blizzard was raging on outside. What if all of them died out there?

  No, no, don’t think those things…

  After trudging through the snow a door opened, one that Ben hadn’t even seen them approach. They walked through and a rush of heat hit him like he’d just collided with a wall.

  “What did you find, Tass?!” a female voice exclaimed. Ben looked to his side.

  A plump old ladyelf with silvery grey hair, burst through a wooden door with a carved arch. She was staring at Ben with a wide-eyed expression.

  “A hibrid, Della,” Tass said. He didn’t stop walking down the corridor, one with beautiful green and gold carpet runners and colourful banners hanging over red brick. “He has two friends still out there. I have the King’s Patrol looking for them with the mikaus.”

  “Damned this blizzard, where did it come from?” Della said. Tass pushed through another door, a steep set of winding steps greeted them. He started helping Ben down them one at a time.

  “Oh, he looks so sick, look at those bags under his eyes. Are you all right? Can you make it down the steps, dear?” Della asked, her voice echoing that of any motherly elf who was seeing something that looked in need of nurturing.

  Ben nodded. If he wasn’t so frozen he would’ve explain to her he always looked sick and always had those dark circles under his eyes.

  They got to the bottom of the winding steps and walked into an open room. This one had lamps hanging down from silver chains, illuminating luxurious paintings on the walls, and bookshelves polished and without a speck of dust. As they crossed it to a single door with leaves carved in the archway, Ben marvelled at the paintings. The one he was looking at was of a grand king with three braids that travelled down dark brown hair. He had a circlet of gold leaves on his head, a narrow and serious face and piercing green eyes.

  “Squire Tassius!” a commanding voice rang out. It caught Ben by surprise making him jump into the air. Tass had to grab him to keep him from stumbling and falling to the carpeted floor.

  “General Geldirin. I found a hibrid, his friends are still out there,” Tass said, doing a three finger salute to the general. “I’m taking him to Satcha.”

  Ben looked up to see a middle-aged elf wearing a crisp brown leather jerkin and the same tight-fitting brown pants. He had a square face, a goatee, and narrow eyes that were framed by long jet black hair.

  For a moment, Ben was afraid the stern-faced elf would tell Tass to call off the search, that it was too dangerous or perhaps he had no concern over the needs of a hibrid since technically they were in Lelan Hold, not the kingdom of Alcove. The general seemed like the type from first glances, a type that didn’t bullshit anything.

  The general gave Ben a glaring look. “A hibrid this far from Jare and in this weather? What were you thinking, boy?”

  Before Ben could answer Geldirin turned back to Tass. “I’ll alert the king then.” And with that he walked towards the winding stairs back to the floor above them. Ben breathed a sigh of relief and carried on down the corridor at the other end of the large room.

  “Here we are,” Tass announced when they’d reached the end. Tass pushed the heavy door open and the two of them walked in.

  “Satcha?” Tass called as Ben looked around what was obviously an infirmary. “We got a sicky here.”

  There were light footsteps on the ceiling like there was a loft above them and, sure enough, as Ben looked around the room, with beds on each side covered in knitted quilts, he saw a set of stairs at the far end.

  “Well I suppose it’s inevitable with this weather,” Ben heard who he assumed was Satcha say.

  “Not just from the town though, it’s a hibrid traveller – the King’s Patrol are out fetching his friends now too,” Tass said. The footsteps started to lower in pitch as Satcha started to walk down the stairs.

  “I just need a moment and I can show them where they are if they haven’t found them,” Ben said. He tried to move away from Tass to stand on his own but felt his strength wane; Tass steadied him again.

  “I don’t think so,” Satcha said. He was an older elf with brown hair flecked with white and a trimmed beard. As Tass helped him by the fireplace Satcha walked towards him, wiping his hands on a towel. “I have treated lots of cases like yours, hibrid, and if you venture outside in your frozen state, you’ll be dead in an hour.”

  Ben knew this but he still
hated feeling so useless. It was hard to trust the Lelanders to bring Malagant and Teal back safely, even if he knew they were much more capable than he was at the moment.

  Satcha opened a drawer from a nearby wooden credenza and handed Ben a bundle of clothes, the material was thick and comfortable. “Put these on,” Satcha said, “and get yourself warm. I’ll make you something hot.”

  “I’ll wait outside,” Tass said with a nod. “Tell me if you need me to grab anything from the storage rooms, Satcha.”

  “I will,” Satcha said, disappearing into one of the other rooms. Ben could hear him rummaging.

  After Ben thanked Tass profusely, Tass left Ben alone in the large infirmary. Ben threw off his wet tunic and pants and put the new clothes on. It was a different style than what he was used to, and the pants resembled the same fitted style that Tass and the other patrol had worn. It was a tunic of deep crimson, and the pants were black and hugged his legs tighter than he was comfortable with. He could practically hear Malagant’s teasing in his head, and was thankful at least that this style of tunic was longer than the ones he was used to wearing, so at least it completely covered his backside.

  When he was changed Ben finally started to feel his blood unthaw. He huddled by the fire and stuck his hands out to warm them, briefly remembering when they were giant grey paws instead of the fur-less, but still clawed, hibrid hands.

  “This will help,” Satcha said, he was holding a steaming ceramic cup in his hand.

  Ben took it from him and smelled it. It smelled delicious, like cinnamon and brown sugar and perhaps a hint of coffee. He hadn’t had coffee in this world; he didn’t even know if it was available here.

  Ben took a sip of it and closed his eyes as the flavour and the heat filled his mouth. It was a wonderful taste, enough for him to make a mental note to ask Satcha for the recipe and then demand Teal buy him a bag of it.

  Satcha chuckled. “They all adopt that look when I give them my secret ambiar root tea. I’ll save you the question: shredded ambiar root that’s been dried in brown sugar, then take that same brown sugar and add into it cinnamon and ground tindi and use that for sweetening and flavour. It’s worth it on the long journeys and a cure-all I say.”

  “I’m in love with it,” Ben said, and at this Satcha laughed. The kind physician picked up Ben’s sopping wet clothes and fur cloak and placed them on a drying rack that was beside the fireplace, already holding on it blood-stained towels.

  Ben took another drink of the ambiar tea and looked around the room. The bright quilts on the bed and the colourful banners gave the room a positive feeling, which was odd considering it was an infirmary. It was brightly lit as well, much more than the inns ever were. Not all of it was from the fireplace either, there were little glowing lamps on the wooden side tables that were placed in between each bed. They didn’t look like they were made out of oil or were candles, Ben decided to check it out later.

  “Swallow this too.” Ben’s attention was drawn away from the bright lamps to see Satcha holding a second ceramic cup. “This won’t taste good but tonics aren’t supposed to taste good anyway,” Satcha said. “What did you say your name was?”

  “Ben,” Ben replied. He downed the second cup and grimaced as the taste of sour bark replaced the sweet taste of the ambiar drink; he immediately tried to kill it with the tea.

  “That’s a unique name.” Satcha nodded approvingly, before disappearing back into the storage room at the far end of the infirmary.

  Ben looked into the fire and tried to warm his entire body without catching himself on fire. The room was almost silent, save for Satcha rummaging around in the back room and the fire crackling.

  To his dismay, as the cold started to leave him he could feel his emotions unthaw as well. A flare of panic started to burn inside of his chest and the anxiety, always right below the surface, was a ready accelerant.

  Shouldn’t they be back by now?

  Ben’s heart started to beat harder and he wished for Satcha to come back and talk to him. The kind physician was a good distraction from his imagination quickly running away from him. The longer he was alone the more his mind raced in circles, telling him with sincerity that it had indeed been too long and something was wrong.

  No, my mind is just getting away from me… they don’t have clocks in this damn world for all you know no time at all has passed.

  Ben bit the inside of his cheek and chewed on it – he tried to distract himself with his tea.

  A short while later the door leading to the corridor opened. Ben sat up with his heart jumping up into his throat… but it was only Tass. Ben tried not to show the disappointment on his face.

  “Thought I’d check on you again, mate,” Tass said with a welcoming smile. The dark-haired squire had changed into what Ben now recognized as Lelander garb. A brown leather jerkin, the fitted pants, these ones black like Ben’s, and a cape that was dark green with a gold emblem of a big cat on the back.

  “I’m feeling better with some dry clothes and tea,” Ben said. Then he looked past Tass to the closed door. “I’m worried about my friends though – shouldn’t they be back by now?”

  “Don’t worry, mate,” Tass said. He pulled up a nearby chair and sat down by the fireplace; he was looking at Ben in an almost mesmerized way. “We don’t get hibrids here that often. I don’t leave the castle much unless King Korivander is going out. How–”

  Ben suddenly yelped. He shot up from the hearth thinking that an ember had landed on his side, but as he jumped up he realized it was the Jewel of Elron becoming hot again.

  Ben reached into his pocket, hissing from the pain, and brought out the jewel before tossing it onto one of the quilted single beds.

  “That’s a pretty gem,” Tass said, craning his neck so he could look at the jewel. “The fire must’ve heated it up.” He chuckled at this.

  Before Ben could answer the doors opened.

  In stepped an elf that Ben immediately recognized as the one he had seen in the painting. A tall elf with dark brown hair tied back with two braids and a golden circlet below arched eyebrows. He was middle-aged and his face was lined, but his green eyes held in them a youthfulness that seemed to brighten up the entire room.

  “My king.” Tass shot up and bowed. The king, wearing a dark green robe with golden patterns, inclined his head.

  Ben, seeing Tass bow, tried to get up too, but to his surprise the king held out his hand.

  “Please, sit back down,” the elf Ben knew was King Korivander said. “If General Geldirin is correct you’ve had quite the ordeal.”

  Ben wasn’t expecting that at all, but he sat down as King Korivander had said. “It has been a long day, my… king.” He hoped he was addressing him in the right way.

  “Why is he by the fire? Satcha, put him into one of the beds so he can lay. The hibrid looks like he’s about to faint,” Korivander said, shaking his head. “It’s not usual or probably proper for me to greet our guests personally, but I–”

  King Korivander paused and his eyes widened. Ben looked down and realized he was looking at the Jewel of Elron.

  The king’s eyes slowly travelled to Ben’s and when their eyes locked the king’s face visibly paled. “The Jewel of Elron… it’s returned? The prophecies will write again?”

  Ben stared back, his face starting to feel hot under the king’s piercing gaze. His eyes had a depth to them that jarred Ben, like the Anean Prophecies writing meant more to him than Ben could ever fathom.

  All he could do was nod.

  Then the door behind them opened, breaking Korivander’s intense gaze. Ben looked over and felt a cry come to his lips as Talis came in supporting Malagant, and Jevi came in supporting Teal.

  “Are you okay!” Ben cried as he jumped to his feet, though once again he rose too fast and it was the king this time that grabbed his arm to steady him. Ben put a hand on the edge of the bed post as the dizziness threatened his consciousness.

  “A bit c-cold,” Malagant manag
ed to say, his teeth were chattering. “But we’re alive, n-no less!”

  “Good job, Ben,” Teal said with a smile that was also made through chattering teeth. Jevi brought him to the fireplace and Talis did the same with Malagant.

  Before any more words left their lips they were already taking their clothes off. Satcha coming back with two thick blankets which Teal and Malagant gratefully wrapped around their half-naked bodies until their skivs landed with a wet sound onto the wood floor.

  Naked in front of the king – at least King Korivander didn’t seem like the type to care.

  “Oh, damned Xalis, I never thought I’d be warm again,” Malagant said as he huddled closer to the fireplace; the steam was starting to rise off of the both of them. “We were worried about you, eegit.”

  “Worried about me!?” Ben exclaimed. “I thought you two would be ice sculptures by the time they found you!”

  “We thought we would be too,” Teal said, taking a ceramic cup from Satcha with a grateful nod, the physician handed Malagant one too. “We buried into the snow and downed a serum that keeps your insides warm, plus a mage trick I knew. It heated up our little burrow well-enough but we kept having to go out onto the road to shake the snow off of the blanket.”

  “Well, that’s good at least, we won’t need to worry about pneumonia,” Satcha said.

  “No, we’ll be fine once the ice unthaws in our veins,” Malagant said. Then he glanced over at King Korivander who was talking to Tass. Talis and Jevi had already disappeared, most likely to get warm themselves.

  “King Korivander, you’re looking well,” Malagant said with a wry smile and despite the cold he got up and gave the king and overly embellished bow.

  The king smiled at Malagant and turned to say something to Tass when he did a double-take.