Godling (Kairenz Jistora Book 1)

by Dusks, Rydre

  Crane, still tightly bound by my grip, threw his head back and guffawed. "So you revived the sun snakes. Very good, Siyari! You've proven yourself to be quite the spokesperson for the Fathergod. What am I supposed to be sorry for? There's no stopping my plan!" His hand twisted, and his nails dug into my skin. A ferocious stab of pain coursed through my arms and to my chest. My heart fluttered as my spine tensed, and I let out most of the air in my lungs.

  "I will kill Crow Hightower. Then his vengeance will never hinder my happiness again."

  Saidias and Insidd were on me swiftly, tugging me out of Crane's agonizing grasp. I struggled to breathe, feeling like there was a weight inside my chest.

  Velzae marched closer as the sun snakes twined around tanks. One of them skirted over most of the room and made a barrier around the Strejca, Sylvain, and I. Sylvain reached out to brush his hand over the golden scales. "Sol..."

  Crane turned around to look at us, halfway hidden by the largeness of the snake. He balled his fists up in fury, his eyes glowing stronger than I'd ever seen before. His gaze moved around everyone as his frail body tightened. "No one is on my side! No one respects me! Everyone is against me--even my own KahRatese!"

  "You are outnumbered, Crane," Velzae spoke up. "Sol's omniscience has been restored to Kairenz, and the gods are gathered. You are the biggest threat this world has faced in this age--bigger even than the Mirrored Plains. You are Kairenz's corruption. And you will be punished."

  "Crow," Sylvain whispered, nudging my Jux closer to me. I've given up. He will never listen to me again. Shooting him won’t kill him, but perhaps it will stun him enough to listen to you. Please help him leave this planet. I picked it up after I'd recovered.

  "Now," Insidd whispered.

  An array of bullets fired, peppering Crane's body full of holes. He stumbled back, then crumpled to a sit, his arms propping himself up. A shot had gone through his left eye, and he bled profusely from it. Another couple bullets had struck his tubes, and now he coughed and choked a little. He brought one hand up to clutch at his throat as he trembled. A pool of his fluids spread over the floor around him.

  Velzae stood back with a hand on the scales of the other sun snake, his face unreadable.

  "I-Ikio... Elle..." Crane rasped. The malice in his voice stung almost as badly as looking into his eyes had. He giggled, even through the obvious pain he felt. His undamaged eye had let loose a stream of tears.

  I raised the Jux. "GaenVrellec, this is for the gods. This is for the humans. This is for every soul you've tortured since you arrived. This..." I cocked it. "This is for Stelliot. Go home." I took the shot. The familiar blast of the Jux struck Crane in the head, then ruptured. Crane was blown back against the floor and covered the metal around him in dark matter and pallid chips of skull.

  Sylvain's breath hitched in hysterical sobs.

  The headless body twitched slightly before going still again. Insidd uttered praise for my shooting before Velzae took his hand off the snake and stepped closer, hushing him.

  "Terrestrial power is useless here. The spirit of GaenVrellec has been tainted by being housed in Crane for so long. For GaenVrellec to leave the body, he must do so willingly, otherwise he will have the ability to inhabit any other body in this room. There is no promise that he is gone for good."

  The sun snake around us pulled its tail in, pushing me closer to the Strejca.

  Velzae glanced up. "Kro--" he started, but the snake was faster than his words. It dropped its head and opened its jaws, narrowly missing me. As I flung myself out of the way the sun snake closed its teeth over Sylvain's upper body instead and pulled him out of the group. Sylvain's cry was muffled in the sun snake's mouth as it sank sharp teeth through his abdomen. The beast's tail cinched even tighter, pressing me up hard against Insidd, Saidias, and Phazer. I lifted my Jux and pointed, but Velzae stopped me.

  "Kro, don't! To attack a sun snake is to attack Sol!"

  "Crane's possessed it!" I protested. "He's going to eat Sylvain!"

  "Terrestrial power does not work! If you kill this sun snake, Crane will possess the other. If not, then one of the human Strejca. You cannot shoot!"

  "Then what the hell are we supposed do?"

  Before Velzae could respond, the sun snake beside him shot forward at tremendous speed and slammed into the snake possessed by Crane. The beast dropped Sylvain, who was partway caught by Velzae. From here I had a better view of the possessed snake, which I discovered had obtained a frightening green glow in the eyes. The entire creature had begun to turn a sickly rotten color, its scales dimming and patching with mossy tones. Crane had turned the sacred beast into a hellish basilisk.

  The sun snake wound around the possessed creature and pinned it down to the floor. The basilisk's tail loosened up, giving the rest of us a chance to get out of the way.

  The entry doors opened, and this time several people filed in. First was an orange-haired man I didn't recognize. He had boyish features. Next was Rovan and Blank, followed by a silver-haired woman, then Tienny supporting Rook, who was in crutches. His thigh and knee had heavy casting over it.

  "Rook--!" I started, but Velzae was quick to command everyone.

  "Tienny!" Velzae called, picking Sylvain up who streamed red from his midsection from the tooth punctures. The lids of his eyes were half closed, his mouth slack. He looked near death, if not dead already. My chest ached with worry. Velzae offered the red headed god to the goddess. "All of you are extremely late. Please get Dat to help you stop Sylvain's bleeding. We need him conscious."

  The orange-haired man looked over and rushed to Tienny's side. I assumed that was DatriaElle.

  "Hightower, we're going to finish evacuating Saydea. This isn't our place anymore," Insidd stated, rushing past me and heading for the doors.

  Saidias patted my shoulder as he followed, then smiled reassuringly, though it looked preprogrammed. "See you at work once this blows over, yeah? You are coming back to work. Right?"

  I tried to smile, but it faltered and never really broke through on my face. "Yeah. No doubt about it."

  Phazer shot me a look but said nothing, simply chasing after Insidd and Saidias as they made their way around the snakes and out the doors.

  "TeilaLouna is not here," the silver haired woman commented.

  "It matters not," said Velzae. "Sol's presence is among us." He indicated the sun snake holding the basilisk to the floor. Crane writhed and hissed angrily. Velzae turned his attention back to the eight others present. "This is our biggest trial of Kairenz to date, my brothers and sisters. Find your designated partner if you can. FaerorWint with LasNuk, IkioElle with DatriaElle, BaevZofold with SheenLerrin, TorRhea with KahRatese, as his partner is the target. Stand in a wide circle around the snakes--watch their tails--and face each other."

  "Will we be dancing, too?" Rovan asked as he stood in front of the silver-haired woman. I couldn't tell if he was being serious or funny.

  DatriaElle stepped in front of me and offered his hand. His eyes were baby blue, and he wore a genuine smile. "Hi," he greeted. "I'm Dat. You're Ikio?"

  I couldn't drop my tense posture, but I shook his hand anyway. "Yeah. Crow, more commonly."

  Dat's eyes suddenly sparkled with awe. "That's right... You're a Strejc. So cool." I didn't understand his enthusiasm.

  I returned a fake smile, then looked back at the white god helping to rest Sylvain next to Blank. "Velzae, where is Stelliot?"

  Velzae pointed with his hand to Blank. Holding Blank's fingers and hiding behind her was Stelliot, still looking badly abused and slightly dead in the eyes, but they brightened just a little when he spotted me.

  "Papa."

  A genuine smile replaced the false one I’d given DatriaElle. However, sorrow overtook me and the smile slipped from my features as I took in his awful state. His hair was a mess, and now that he wasn't attacking me, I saw visible blood on his dirty outfit. My smile waned yet again. I broke away from DatriaElle to go embrace my son, but Velzae's bark
stopped me.

  "Crow, this isn't the time. You will get a chance be with him as soon as this is over," he reminded.

  He looked up from Sylvain and over to the others. "My brothers and sisters, exert your will! We are going to send GaenVrellec back home!"

  The basilisk thrashed under the sun snake, letting out incredibly angry noises. Several of the gods backed up.

  "Stay in position!" Velzae commanded, but it was much too late for that.

  Crane flung the sun snake off his back and whipped his tail around, knocking over Rook, Tienny, and SheenLerrin, but stopping as Rovan grabbed hard onto the end. With a bout of inhuman strength, Rovan twisted and lifted the massive monster, flinging him hard across the room. The creature had to weigh several tons, but Rovan threw him like a toy. Crane smashed into several more tanks and flipped over his own tail twice, then writhed furiously to get back up into an erect position.

  "It's not going to work, Velzae. Crane's too strong in that body. He's going to kill us all before we can even get close to finishing," Tienny declared as she and Sheen helped Rook back to his feet.

  Velzae looked strained. I knew he was struggling to find a solution.

  "Velzae," I spoke up. "Let me kill the snake. I know it's not what you want, but if we don't do something Crane's going to escape Saydea and create mass havoc."

  "No," Rovan announced as he stalked toward Crane's wriggling figure several yards away. "If the snake dies, Crane will possess one of the gods, which is worse. I can't hold him off for much longer, Velzae. We need a new plan." He dropped his weight on the neck of the beast, who continued to thrash.

  Everyone looked to SiyariDendo. The white-haired man's face was grimmer, and his mouth had become a fine line with stress. Even without perfectly knowing Velzae, I knew all this pressure was beyond what he could handle alone. Unlike me, Velzae had memories of Crane before mortal birth. Although I looked at Crane as purely an adversary, Velzae looked at him as a younger sibling. It was frustrating... and sad.

  "Wait!"

  The gods snapped to attention as Rovan called out.

  "Crane has left the snake!"

  "What?" Velzae started forward in alarm, looking at the rest of us. His pale eyes frantically inspected every one of ours, obviously looking for a familiar acid green. "Did he release another project in the crash? Check the room for experiments!"

  The gods disbanded to investigate. Rovan was already busy overturning large destroyed tanks, crunching hefty shards of glass with his monstrous boots to get through the wreckage. The unharmed sun snake stayed by Velzae's side, using its height to examine the room thoroughly from a distance. Rook, despite his crutches, was already halfway across the Zone and accompanied by DatriaElle. Blank stayed busy with Sylvain, trying to use a coat given to her by one of the other gods to stop the redhead's bleeding. He barely looked awake.

  I looked back at Velzae once more. The tension was less visible on his face, though he didn't look any happier.

  "Velzae," I said, causing him to look my way. "Once this is all done, what's going to happen next?" I wasn't about to say "if." I knew I as well as the other gods needed Velzae's confidence to stay afloat.

  His eyes skirted over the room once more before he answered. "Once GaenVrellec is subdued, Sol has something in store for Saydea. And when Stelliot can handle clearing out the Mirr--" He cut himself off as he gazed my direction, his mouth slack with words unspoken. Then his eyes glazed.

  "Velzae...?"

  He lifted a hand up to brush trembling fingers over his heart, and I then realized he wasn't looking at me. He looked at Stelliot. Turning back to my boy I sucked in a breath of horror. Stelliot's own black eyes had lifted in color, now the shocking tone of hate and evil that scared so many mortals and even gods.

  Crane had possessed Stelliot.

  "Stelliot!"

  Velzae's body went limp. He collapsed hard before the sun snake beside him could wrap around him protectively. I lurched in front of Stelliot, using my body to block Crane's sight from the other god's, but I felt that it was too late. Velzae didn't move. The sun snake shifted, and I caught the god's blank stare of death.

  "Velzae!" Tienny screamed from a distance away.

  Stelliot giggled.

  It was low at first... barely a whisper. Then it heightened to mania. A cruel, unforgiving song of insanity straight from my own child.

  "I'll kill you all."

  The words pierced my ears, but my brain refused to acknowledge the young voice that spoke them. I dropped down and gripped onto Stelliot's upper arms, but all that met me was a fierce, stabbing pain straight to my heart when my eyes met those green lamps of disgust and decay.

  "How bittersweet this is," Crane mocked. "IkioElle's own bastard son murdering SiyariDendo and his father. This one will go down in history. How does revenge taste on the receiving end, God of Justice?"

  I wouldn't have it. Crane had gotten away with possessing a sun snake. He'd gotten away with killing Velzae... but possessing Stelliot was a line he shouldn't have crossed. With a mixed scream of fear, pain, anger, and despair... I pushed Stelliot downward, and felt us slip out of the physical realm and into one of shadows.

  24

  Fatherhood

  We tumbled. The trip was disorienting, and it took effort for me to pick myself up and get my bearings. The area where I had landed was dark but still within Saydea. Not much had changed, except the shadows were stark, and the colors were washed out. I was once again in the dimension that Velzae had so often traveled in, and this time with my son.

  My mind thought quickly about how I was going to go about this. I had few choices on what I could do, but Crane did as well. In a six-year-old's body, he was weak. His only strength would be his eyes and touch, and if I could avoid that much I'd have a good advantage. The problem came with the fact that Crane was now fully intending to kill me. A single touch would send my heart into cardiac arrest. Although he was little he was still lethal. As for me... I still wasn't fully aware of what powers I could use. I could condemn tainted things, and restore them. Could I restore Stelliot?

  "Keep this up, Crow," said Crane from behind me. I whipped around to face him but avoided direct connection with his eyes. He'd stood and straightened as well. "Stelliot is at home in this dimension. He lives here half the time anyway. You're only making this easier for me."

  "You brought me here," I argued. "Get out of Stelliot or I swear I will--"

  "You will what? Hurt your own child? What could you possibly do, Crow Hightower?"

  I bit back curses and fought away tears, trying my best to think of something... anything I could manage to do to get Stelliot and me to safety.

  "I think I mentioned that this godling is my weapon. Do you like what I've turned him into? His mind is so fluid... so pliable now that I've loosened it up. I can make him do whatever I want. And with the two of us, look how much power I have!"

  Crane raised Stelliot's arm, and with a rush of force he struck me in the chest and threw me backward. I hit the interior of an empty tank with my back and rocked it as an explosion of quick pain lanced through my shoulder blades. The attack had knocked the wind out of me, but had left me unscathed. I staggered to my feet just as the glass front panel of the tank slid down and closed with a locking snap, sealing me inside. I pressed my weight to the glass in surprise.

  Stelliot's face relaxed and he smiled, lowering his arm. "Oh look," said Crane. "Another one of Saydea's pets... This one will be called HSP Kro."

  I felt for my Jux and drew it out, pointing it at the sealed latch at my feet.

  "Aw, trying to get out so soon? Do it, Crow. You will blow your own legs off."

  I paused, knowing he was right. This close to the fragmentation of the bullet would gravely injure me. Shooting anywhere else in the capsule was asking for instant death, as the bullet could ricochet, strike me, then explode. My hands shook from the thought, and I lowered the gun.

  "What's the matter? Losing your spirit already?"r />
  I inhaled and kicked against the glass with my bionic foot. I'd seen so many broken tanks now... And if one creation could break through this type of glass on its own, so could I. I kicked it again.

  Stelliot laughed.

  I kicked a third time.

  "Want out, Crow? What will you do once you're out? Hurt me?" Crane taunted.

  "Stelliot!" I shouted. My heavy efforts and own call had begun to fog up the glass, making it hard to see my son just a short distance away.

  I finally managed a good strike with my knee. A crack bolted from the blunt force, so I mustered up my strength and struck it harder with my heel.

  "Well that's not fair," Crane grumbled.

  Several sparking cords snapped above the tank, and suddenly I was airborne. The tank lifted several feet and tilted. I dropped against the splintered glass as it turned sideways. My shoulder brushed some of the condensation from the panel, helping me to see Stelliot underneath me now, his arm raised again toward the tank.

  "Isn't it fascinating how much strength this boy has?" Crane wondered with a crooked smile. His glowing eyes were narrowed to smug slits. "You helped create this monster, Crow. He's your little nightmare."

  "Shut up!" I cried. "Leave my boy alone! Your problem is solely with me, Crane! I'm your enemy!"

  "Right. You certainly are."

  The tank jerked hard to one side and dropped. It spun twice, enough to make me nauseous, and fell near the locked HSP door on the other side of the room on its glass front. The shatter was loud, as was my gasp as my back struck the floor. I had little time to recover. The capsule was lifted off by Stelliot's divine power and flung away.

  "We're not done yet, IkioElle. There's still so much I want to make sure you feel."

  I stood from the wreckage, bracing myself for a moment to wait for the dizziness to fade, and looked back at Stelliot. The boy took three steps toward me still with that ugly grin.

  "Crane, is all this really necessary?" I tried. There was no hope getting Crane out by force. It just wasn't going to happen. The only idea I had was the tactic I'd used twice before... Stopping him with words.