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

by Quil Carter

“Your old ones were rather torn up. These just got dropped off a few hours ago. I got all of our clothes washed and the bedding too,” Malagant said, his voice was a hush whisper. He was cleaned and dressed in his travelling jerkin and cloak, his sword on his back and the matching dagger in a scabbard on his belt. It looked like he’d been up for a while.

  “Did you even sleep?” Ben asked, changing in front of the fire. He wanted to get as warm as he could before they faced the chill of winter again.

  Malagant shrugged and handed Teal his own freshly washed cloak. Teal was quickly packing everything into his canvas pack; he was already changed and ready to go. It looked like they’d woken Ben up last.

  “I’ve been up for a few hours; we had visitors about an hour ago,” Malagant said. “You two slept right through it, for being feral beasts you certainly sleep like rocks once you’re indoors.”

  “Who?” Teal asked, clasping his cloak over his jerkin. He threw his canvas bag over his cloak and made his way to the door.

  “Lord Gorat and Grady, they know me too well. They knew I was planning on sneaking us out of here early.” Malagant shrugged pushing the door open and holding it open for the two.

  Ben was relieved at that, and he understood why Malagant did it too. He didn’t want a big send off when they left the castle. He had been dreading leaving for the sole reason of having to face the lords and King Korivander again. The guilt of everything that happened yesterday weighed heavily on him. Even though he knew what was done was done, and it was Taugis’s fault not his, Aurelle was still dead and Taugis exiled.

  Being on the road was so much easier. Jare cats were easier than royal politics.

  “I believe we’ll be out of Rhastt before the shops open, but we can stop in one of the smaller villages or holdfasts before we reach the canyon. I think Uncle Korivander probably made sure we were well-packed at least.” Malagant led them down the quiet, dimly lit hall and through a door leading them outside.

  A rush of cold air hit Ben; he let out a deliberate breath to see the white puff of mist escape from his lips.

  He let out a sigh, moments ago he was happy to be getting back to the road but the cold pre-morning chill, and the thin layer of frost that seemed to be covering everything brought back all the memories from before the jare attack. No litter to lay in all day this time; back on the road, back on the horse.

  They stuck close to the whitewashed wall, trying to conceal themselves in shadow as much as possible. They even managed to sneak past a few of the guard though most of them tipped their steel helmets to them as they tried to silently pass them. Thankfully though, their exchanges didn’t go past common courtesy, and the next thing Ben knew Malagant was leading them to the north tower. The same one Ben liked to sit on to get his zen time.

  “I told the stable master to meet us in the north garden, and the guards on the watchtowers are expecting us,” Malagant said. The sky around them had turned from a light purple to a faded red as the sun continued to emerge above the eastern mountains. The glow of the sun had already started to burn through the Valewind mist; the fog was quickly disappearing like the small stars that were slowly melting with the darkness.

  Sure enough, Ben could see three paint horses, all with a small bundle of supplies strapped behind their saddles. The stable master was nowhere to be seen though, but there were two elves there instead. Both were dressed in thick cloaks of wolf fur.

  “Thought you could leave without saying goodbye, cousin?” Eliander smiled. As was familiar for Ben to see now, Migheer was helping him stand. The elf had seemed to have adopted a Lelan-style of dressing now, and hair style too. Migheer still looked very much like an Alcovian but he now had several silver hoops in his ears like Malagant, and though his hair was brushed back, loose strands still fell over his forehead.

  “Oh, don’t give me that, Eliander. I’ve seen you more than I’ve seen my own brother this past year.” Malagant laughed quietly. He walked over to his cousin and embracing him gently, he then did the same to Migheer. “I just didn’t want to make a scene; you know how popular I am.”

  “Aye.” Migheer smiled, inclining his head to Ben and Teal; they did the same back to him and the prince. “I’m jealous; ya get to have all the fun, runnin’ round Alcove.”

  “And I’m jealous you get to sit on your soon-to-be royal ass drinking wine and ordering around servants.” Malagant winked at Migheer and started strapping his sword to the top of the bundle of supplies on his horse. “I wager you’re going to be a prince next time I see you. Aren’t you, Prince Migheer?”

  Eliander’s cheeks reddened but Migheer grinned. “Ya, we’re going to officialate it at the council. Make me pawsies talk to his pa and hammer out a dowry for Eli. I reckon Korivander will pay me pawsies big to dump this handsome eegit off on me.”

  That must have been a joke because everyone started laughing; even Teal, but Ben of course didn’t understand it. He finished packing up his horse and climbed onto it.

  “Father is speaking of bringing Chesirae back too.” Eliander patted Malagant’s horse on the nose. “He wants to keep family close now. I’d rather him stay with Aunt Silvi where it is safer, but it will be great to have him around. He has a gentle heart.”

  “I can see Korivander wanting that. Chessy will cheer everyone up; he’s always had a knack for it,” Malagant said. “You’ll have to tell us how it goes.”

  “We’ll send a hawk to Uncle Anagin after. We’ll use the magic enchantment he taught Father in case it gets intercepted,” Eliander said. “As usual the code word is the same –”

  “– Quick as a fox,” Eliander and Malagant said at the same time. Malagant continued, “We’ll be there in a month and a half I’m guessing. I might dawdle considering I just know we’ll be at each other’s throats after four days but Kelakheva knows my father well – he’ll understand.”

  Eliander and Migheer laughed and bowed to them one last time. “Lelander protect you Malagant. However like all Avahlis elves, even Shol will not have you, so I know you’ll be safe.” Eliander smiled. “You be safe too Ben and Tee. May Anea guide your journeys.”

  And with that, the three of them nudged their horses and made their way away from Castle Rhastt.

  The streets of the large town weren’t nearly as deserted as Ben had thought they would be. Smoke from the bakers and the butcher’s shops could be seen, with glowing oil lamps lighting their shop windows to show that they were open. Ben could also see cloaked Alcovians quickly walking down the wide stone street, sometimes giving them passing glances but for the most part they walked silently past.

  “I want to make a quick stop,” Malagant suddenly said. He’d said it quickly as if he’d finally convinced himself to do it. “It… it won’t take long.”

  Malagant pulled his painted gelding to the right and started walking down a side road.

  Teal paused; he looked down the road Malagant had just gone down before biting his lip. Then, after what seemed like his own moment of hesitation, Teal nudged his horse and followed Malagant.

  Ben shook his head at his weird friends and followed behind. At first he had no idea where his friends were going until they turned a corner and faced a large stone building.

  Ben looked up and realized what it was. It looked like a cathedral. It stood several-storeys high on top of over a dozen, or more, granite steps. It had large pillars of whitewashed stone and carved arches which framed many stained glass windows.

  When they got close enough to dismount their horses, Ben could see elves carved right into the stone columns around the building, so detailed he could make out every crease in their clothing, every hair that fell over pupilless faces; even their pointed ears held actual coloured stones in their earrings.

  “This is our version of a church, Ben. It’s called an auchtrhall,” Teal explained in a hushed tone. He stood beside him and extended a hand towards one of the stone columns. He gently ran his fingers over the smooth creases that were in the elf’s tunic. The sta
tue looked like a younger elf with an incredibly handsome face and short wavy hair that flicked up at the ends; his ears held sparkling blue gems and he was carrying twin scythes. “This one is Daran, isn’t it neat?” Teal pointed to the column nearest to it several yards away. That one was of an elf with a short beard, shoulder length straight hair, and a serious square-shaped face. “That is Everon, the god of the Evercovians. All six of the sons are here and the Holy Anea.”

  “This place looks incredible,” Ben said. He was in awe over the detail that seemed to have gone into such a place. It must’ve taken centuries. “Malagant… he’s…”

  Teal smiled sadly. “Just paying tribute to Aurelle… would you like to go in too? I –” One of Teal’s pointed teeth found his tooth. “– I would perhaps… like to say a few words to – to…” Teal swallowed hard, suddenly looking a bit green.

  Ben put a hand on his shoulder and directed him towards the entrance to inside of the hall.

  The oak doors were stained a rich brown and arched, with iron bars securing them to the stone work. “You don’t need to say it. Come on, let’s go inside.”

  Teal looked up at the large and imposing building. “I haven’t been inside of one of these in years.”

  Ben started up the steps with Teal, the hall in front of them. When they got to the last step they saw Malagant standing by the doorway inside of the building.

  Ben’s heart wrenched when he saw that Malagant was holding in his gloved hands five purple flowers. They looked damaged and wilted but they were still beautiful.

  Malagant had said he hadn’t slept much the night previous and now Ben knew why. He must’ve snuck out while he and Teal were sleeping to retrieve the flowers Aurelle had dropped when she’d gotten hit with the arrow.

  The inside of the auchtrhall was warm and inviting. It resembled the inside of a church, though instead of a pew at the front, there were seven different areas, deep recesses in the stone forming small alcoves. Each area had a different sculpture made out of marble, and above the small shrine, a large and detailed stained glass window, depicting whatever god the recess had been dedicated to.

  Ben couldn’t recognize all of them but a few were obvious: Lelander’s sculpture was a bow mounted on a slab of red marble with an arrow made out of silver leaning against it, The stained glass window behind the shrine was of a blond elf with his long hair brushed back, holding another bow and arrow. He was wearing a green and blue tunic and was drawing the bow and arrow at the sky.

  Then there was Daran, god of the Darcovians and the daraphin. He was obvious as well since Ben had just seen his stone statue outside. His blond hair was blue tinted, and behind him was a twisting wave. He was holding, crossed across his chest, two scythe-like weapons. The scythes were also his sculpture, made out of a deep blue stone and resting on a bed of silver seashells.

  Ben watched as Teal walked towards the front of the hall. He looked up and Ben knew why. At the front of the room, with his hands spread as if welcoming them, was the Elder God Anea, and beside him a silver-haired elf with a white burl staff that Ben recognized as Kelakheva.

  Anea had white hair that fell to his shoulders and blue eyes that seemed to shine even brighter with the rising sun. He held no weapon and made no fighting stance like some of his sons; he was welcoming and warm with his demigod beside him. His sculpture was a single stone, carved out of what looked like jade. The Jewel of Elron. The one Ben had touched when he first arrived in Elron, and now held a piece of it near his heart.

  Ben walked over to Teal, who quietly knelt beside the small shrine. He rested his hand on Teal’s shoulder.

  “Cruz Fennic, Keiryn Fennic-Kelber, Eagen Fennic,” Teal whispered quietly, his voice thin but brave.

  Ben squeezed his shoulder.

  Teal reached into his pocket and pulled out a silverling; he left it underneath the marble sculpture and stood up. Then, with a sigh, he walked past Ben.

  Though Ben didn’t follow, he looked up at the stained glass window and at Kelakheva.

  “Take care of us,” Ben said to the demigod. “Take care of Malagant, and take care of Teal… and – and don’t let me screw this up.”

  “A fine prayer,” Malagant said quietly behind him. He walked to Ben until they were side by side.

  “I have many knights I lost to King Erick’s priests, too many to remember by name… but… watch over Thierry and Tiercel, if they are alive. Watch over Duck and Goose, Captain Creed and Commander Laus, Kale, wherever she is… and my father, Anagin, my brother, Josiah, my mother Tes Pelly… and Cruz Fennic.”

  Ben turned to leave as Malagant did but found himself pausing.

  Without being able to explain why, or whether it was the right god to pray to, Ben glanced around, trying to find a god with red eyes.

  There were none though, all of the gods had dark blue eyes like their father, but Ben ended up finding who he was looking for. He couldn’t blame himself for assuming Darsheive would have red eyes like all malkahs and most Dashavians, and it wasn’t like he had seen what the two looked like.

  But he knew it was Darsheive the moment he saw him, mostly because the elf to his right was identical in almost every way. Both had black hair, Darsheive’s brushed back and Xalis’s in bangs over his eyes, and both were wielding swords. Darsheive’s sword was on fire with red flames and Xalis’s with blue.

  Ben didn’t go over to Darsheive’s shrine, he didn’t want to offend Malagant or Teal, but as they walked back down the hall he stared at Darsheive’s portrait. His brother was a Dashavian now, Darsheive was his god, or Ben assumed he was.

  “Watch over my brother,” Ben said to himself, feeling ashamed to even say it in his head. But with Malagant and Teal honouring their family and friends, both fallen and alive, he felt he had to. “Let him – let him still be my brother; let him still, deep down inside, be Erick Zahn.”

  He gave the portraits one last look and turned away, then followed his friends back outside. The purple flowers no longer in Malagant’s hand, they were now resting beside Lelander’s bow.

  They rode in heavy silence after; everyone deep inside their own thoughts and dealing with the emotional visit to the auchtrhall in their own personal way. Teal’s face was stoic and expressionless but his grip on the reins tight. Ben knew he was thinking of his parents and his brother.

  Malagant’s face was also just as stoic but not void of expression. He was examining the bottle of Kova’s Seeve with a look of perplexity and wonder, even his tongue occasionally poked out of the side of his mouth as if he was trying to solve a riddle.

  Hours later, when Rhastt was nothing but a wall and faint towers in the distance and all that lay ahead of them were sparse trees and rolling hills, Ben had decided he’d had enough of the silence. It was time for his friends to snap out of their quiet and somewhat solemn mood.

  “Malagant, you never told us exactly what Kova’s Seeve does,” Ben said, pulling on the reins of his horse so he was riding side by side with him.

  Malagant glanced up, still holding the bottle in his hand. He tossed it to Ben. Ben caught it and was surprised to find it was a lot heavier than it looked. Though the liquid inside was clear and watery, it had the weight of solid iron.

  “It’s extremely rare. Korivander kept them well-hidden. If this is the last bottle, well, it’s baffling me and making me proud as hell that Korivander gave it to me. The recipe is only known to the kings of Lelan and apparently an ingredient needed to make it is harder to find than a chedni Dashavian king.”

  Ben blinked at him; he turned as he heard Teal laugh.

  “As you know, Ben, chedni is the opposite of chayle. The Dashavian kings and the Crithian kings are always chayle since they’re selected by specific standards rather than born into royalty,” he explained with a smile.

  “Ohh, I understand. Very funny, Malagant.” Ben smirked. Malagant winked at him and went on.

  “So after taking this vial, and enduring an excruciatingly long and painful evening, my
bones will be much stronger. Not quite coated in seeve like the name suggests but incredibly strong. My endurance will rise as well.”

  “So basically, he’ll be like a hibrid,” Teal chimed in. Malagant gave him a flat look, but he didn’t bite the baited hook Teal was dangling in front of him.

  “That’s amazing, but it’s going to be painful to take?” Ben handed the bottle back.

  Malagant gave a shudder and nodded, tucking the bottle back into his cloak pocket. “I’ve never seen it go on, but I’ve heard nightmare stories from my father who was gifted a bottle during the war. Lots of puking, sweating, shaking, fever, delusions. I’ll probably request to be tied up during, apparently some elves end up hurting themselves from psychosis.”

  Ben’s eyebrows rose at this. “That sounds a bit scary; we’ll have to bind you up good then. When did you want to take it?”

  “Once we find an acceptable place I guess. I’d rather not do it in the canvas tent.” Malagant shrugged.

  “According to the map, we won’t come across an inn for a good week, but there are lots of abandoned towers and strongholds that Gorat marked on our map for us. Most of them far off from the road and not well-known,” Teal said as he tapped his finger against his chin, then he glanced towards his canvas pack before raising a hand and snapping his fingers. The map appeared in his hand and he unrolled it.

  Ben shook his head. “If I ever got my own pack I would be so afraid of forgetting I had just put away my sword or something, then I’d shekin’ skewer myself. I would love to learn magic one day.”

  Teal looked up from the map with a mischievous smile. “There is magic I can start teaching you, Ben. Malagant, do you think he’s ready?”

  Of course, like was expected of him, Malagant scoffed and waved a hand. “His eyebrows are nice and grown back, perfectly formed and beautiful. Must we put our human in danger?”

  “Har, har.” Ben rolled his eyes.

  “He has a point though, Ben. One of the first tricks you usually learn is firepalm,” Teal said, handing the map to Malagant. “It’s creating fire in the palm of your hand. It’s difficult however, you usually apprentice for a mage if you want to start doing magic and building up your maegic stores.”