He had told her what her name was. Simply Queen. She was the god of death. He brought life and creation and she brought death.
When Queen was born, He had yet to create the heavens, the stars or the world. She simply existed in the Radiant. She was the first god, the first being to exist; she was the first.
Except for Michael, He’s only angel. Michael always sat by his side, never speaking, never moving, unless He moved himself. That always unsettled her. What was the purpose of Michael? He was the creator of all and all-knowing, he didn’t need protection, he didn’t need a soldier when He himself could will anything from existence.
As He created the stars, the heavens, and the Earth, He spoke to her, taught her of the world and about herself.
Even as He created others gods to populate the heavens, she was still the first, the one He always spoke to before the others.
She remembered to when she was young, when she hadn’t even lived for more than two decades. He walked the Earth, following a trail of dead rabbit carcasses. He came up to a teenage Queen, bending over a crippled rabbit.
She held out a small knife made out of her own blood and stabbed it into the squealing creature.
“Why Do You Kill My Creations?” He asked.
“Because it’s fun,” Queen quipped as she stabbed the dying animal again.
The blur of He’s face was unmoving. “You Are Not Above The Animal That Lays At Your Feet, Nor Any Of My Creations.”
Queen paused and looked at He. How could she not be above animals? They were weaker, pitiful, and lesser than her in all their rights. But He’s guidance was always right. So she accepted it as He said.
Only He personally looked over her. She felt special. Whenever she had a question, He answered it. Whenever she needed help, He gave her guidance.
But that guidance ended as he created life on Earth. He would spend less time with her, their conversations would become more infrequent and his guidance became more vague.
Once, she asked why He created the humans. He simply answered, “Why Did I Create You, If I Didn’t Need To?” The answers never made any sense to her, his guidance became unreliable.
As time went on, the humans spread like vermin. They thought they knew of the creator, as a revered being. They built idols of He, a faceless man. Prayed to it on a daily basis and He answered them.
Queen believed those prayers took his time and energy and, eventually, He stopped speaking to the gods.
Queen looked at the humans below; she hated them. For being created in her image, for taking He away from her. Why did He make them? Why did He spend his time on them when He was so far above them?
It had been hundreds of years since He last spoke to the gods or the humans. Long enough for Queen to rethink the initial wonder of amazement she had when she first laid eyes on him. When the gods looked for him in the Wavering Radiant, He never showed up.
Queen never tried that hard to find him. She knew of his resting place, but with the hate she had felt from his abandonment, she never attempted to go to him.
Maybe He believed they could take care of themselves.
Or maybe He wasn’t as far above her as she once thought. It was time for her to take her fate in her own hands. If He wasn’t going to speak to her or the gods anymore, then it was time for them to stop relying on him.
Only a century before, Queen and the other gods had decided to create a hierarchy among the gods. A government. Creating the major and minor gods.
She had gotten them to agree to have her choose the positions, as she was the eldest god. They were naïve back then; convincing them to give her power was easy.
Before then, there were no such titles as the major and minor gods. There were no designated jobs but now, there was a functional government because of Queen and she placed her favorites in power. The Radiant-born were usually higher-ranked, most of whom happened to be her favorites. If she was going to create a government, then she was going to run it her way.
Some of the gods had disagreed with her postings, as the major gods got more incentives for their positions. More land, political power unrivaled by the ones below them, and rights to materials that couldn’t be made by a god.
In the hundred years since she created the government named Ifor, a very vocal group slowly rose against her, protesting against the major gods and their actions. It had been growing in size.
All the minor gods thought they had a say in the future of the god’s world, they didn’t. Queen wanted a war, she had elected the most powerful gods as the majors, so the war would be quick and easy.
But the only thing that held her back was that since He stopped speaking to them, He also stopped making gods from the Wavering Radiant.
There were gods who were born from a male and female god mating with each other. But it was very difficult for a god to get pregnant, which made for a lot of promiscuity. However, the consequences were that only one god was born every few years. The low birth rate would make a war devastating.
With a few quick moves and accidental deaths, the protest could cease, making a war unnecessary. As she elected the most powerful gods as the major gods, the minor couldn’t dream of fighting them without their leaders.
But that kind of shadow work required making partners and long-term planning. To prevent the situation from boiling over before she was ready, she decided to promote some of her opposition as major gods. To help her bide her time until she and her partners were ready to make a move.
For now, Ifor council member meetings were a test of patience for her. If she couldn’t have a war, then she needed another way to crush the opposition.
She continued to stare down at the Earth, at the humans she hated so much.
“I wish He never left us,” she whispered. Right now, she needed his guidance the most. But she knew it wouldn’t come anymore. She had to rule over the gods, as she thought she understood He’s words the most.
She missed being special, the warmth of being around his presence. But now, she had to rule, even if He came back. He wasn’t someone to be looked up to anymore. He abandoned his own children. So she would abandon him, too.
An anger burned inside of her. Out of all the gods, she took his indifference to them the hardest. She was the first.
Why did He abandon her? What did she do to drive him away?
The image of humans tilling in the fields disappeared and a small hole opened in front of her.
Her mouth was agape. Inside of the hole were thousands of stars. It continued to open until she could walk through it.
“Don’t be afraid,” a voice said behind her. Queen jumped at the voice and fell over the edge and into the hole. The hole quickly disappeared from behind her as she fell through the infinite black, screaming.
She tried to claw herself to a stop, tried to teleport to a dead body somewhere on Earth. But there was nothing to claw at, no existence to teleport to.
But then, she just stopped, her hair tumbling to the infinite below.
“It seems that my instincts were correct,” a voice came from below her. She looked down, a man in grey slacks and a white crisp button-up shirt lay below her, his hands in his pocket, his feet flat as if he was standing on the plane she was falling from.
His clothes were weird to Queen and so was the small white ball over his head.
Queen gasped as she felt an invisible floor come beneath her and the gravity shifting to under her feet.
She looked at the hole she fell from. It wasn’t above her anymore, but in front of her now.
The man continued, “You’re not human, you’re something more. I don’t need to help you exist in a place that doesn’t exist.”
Queen tried to brush her frazzled hair from her face in an attempt to look collected. But her voice betrayed her. “Who… who are you?”
“I’m just a curious man, passing by.”
“What are…?” She paused. She needed to think.
“Where are we?”
&nb
sp; “Outside of reality itself.”
Outside of reality itself? Impossible. But the man’s casual demeanor and his matter-of-fact way of speaking made her believe him.
“Why did you bring me here?” A little more confidence entered her voice. She was a god, she was above all existence except for He himself.
“I’m conducting a little experiment. I saw you asking just the right questions. You are unsatisfied with your God, your existence and I believe I can fix it.”
“What? You know nothing about me!” Queen said, suddenly on the defense.
“No? Then who did I see crying herself to sleep every night, calling her God’s name? Spending countless hours staring into the sky and the stars? Not someone who has her life worked out. Let me help you.”
“You…you’ve been watching me?” Queen asked, her quick burst of confidence suddenly gone.
“I’ve been watching everything in this universe. But now, I think I can finally stop watching.”
“What do you want with me?” Queen thought about running away, escaping from this crazy man. She wasn’t much of a fighter and if it was true what he said about them being outside of the universe, then she doubted her powers would work.
She tried to move the blood in her veins; her blood magic didn’t work.
The man raised a hand and a chain appeared in it. “I want you to incapacitate your God.”
“You want me to what?”
“Did I stutter?”
“That’s impossible!”
“Is it?”
“He created all of us! He can see everything, He knows everything! He can see us talking!”
“Can He? Your god doesn’t exist here. He didn’t create me. So why should I expect his judgement?”
“Wha…what? Are you a god?” The thought of a person existing outside of He’s existence twirled inside her. It was impossible. It was maddening. He could have been another god as powerful as He himself.
“Like I said, I’m just a man passing by. My mere presence disrupts your God’s all-knowing power. Do you want my help or not?”
Queen stared at the ball that made up the man’s head. Could he really do what he said? She didn’t believe him. He was all-powerful, all-knowing, it must have been a lie.
“I can’t…” Queen whispered.
“Take the chains anyways.”
The chains appeared around Queen’s left arm; her arm went suddenly cold. She couldn’t move it. She panicked and clawed it free of her arm. The chain went weightless and draped down past the invisible floor.
“With this, I can imprison He?” Queen asked. The warmth was slowly coming back to her left arm.
“With that, you could do anything.”
“And what if I say no?”
“Then no harm done, it’s a big decision for you to make, to go against your God. So I’ll give you a week to make your decision. But after that, I will move on with my experiment. Don’t be surprised if you regret your decision.”
“What do you want from me? Nobody gives anyone this kind of power without reason.”
Queen could feel the man grin under the ball.
“Now, that’s the question of the day. I want the Eye of the World.”
Queen’s eyes opened, she nearly dropped the chains into the infinite abyss below.
She mouthed words but nothing came out. The Eye of the World was what the gods used to look down on the Earth from the heavens, to make sure no place was left unseen by the gods. Queen didn’t even know if its power was attainable, it wasn’t a simple object she could give to someone.
The man started to drift away, as if the floor was moving them apart. “One week. If you need help finding He, just yell for me.”
Queen snapped out of her stupor. The man knew where He was.
“Wait! What is your name?” Queen yelled.
“Whatever you want it to be. I’ll be watching, so I’ll know if you’ll want me or not.” And with that, the man drifted away like a sail from her vision.
What should she call him? He seemed to know everything, he even claimed to know where He was. Queen had personally searched the Wavering Radiant for years until she found He’s resting place. Was this man telling the truth?
She then knew what to call him. The Omniscient Man.
…
A week and a half went by. Queen sat in the highest chair in the council hall. The major gods were arguing in front of her.
She ignored them.
She never gave the Omniscient Man his answer. She hoped a non-answer would get a reaction out of him, but nothing had happened.
She had simply gone through her days as usual, giving small glances around her. In the council hall, she stared at the ceiling. He said he was watching her. The sick bastard.
Did the Omniscient Man really exist outside of He’s grasp? She hadn’t been reprimanded for their discussion in the place with the stars. No visits from Michael. Maybe He really couldn’t see into the Omniscient Man’s void in the sky.
If that was true, she made a big mistake. Ignoring a being that powerful. She needed to contact him, she needed to learn more.
Shouting interrupted her concentration. Zakhehus and Midas were arguing in front of her.
She sighed, “So early in the morning? Can we keep our tones down?”
“Have you not been listening, Queen?” Zakhehus asked her. He was the god of war. An elected official from her known adversary.
“No, not really.”
“It’s your job to listen, Queen,” he said with a little venom. Midas attempted to grab him but he shrugged him off and walked up to Queen.
Zakhehus was a powerful god, one of the strongest there was. But when Queen attempted to bring him to her side, he denied her offer. He was a fighter for his people, the minor gods. Stupid.
He was mostly just a thorn in her side. Zakhehus and the Ifor leader were the only ones who hadn’t submitted so easily to her rule.
“It’s the leader’s job to listen, I’m only subbing today as the leader, Afin, is away.” Queen had a member of the opposition elected as leader of Ifor. It was the best way to quiet down the protest.
But everything came to a vote, and each vote carried a different weight. Queen’s vote was as heavy as the leader, as she was the eldest god. Coupling that with the fact that there were more major gods with her than against her, the opposition never got anywhere.
The gods were still stupid enough to allow her to elect everyone, as she was the eldest. But she feared that comfort was soon coming close to an end, so she had to speed up her plans.
Tonight was the night. The first time that a god would ever shed blood against another god. The leader of Ifor was going to fall and with it, the opposition.
“Dammit, Queen, we never get anywhere. You have us on the council but we never get a say!”
“Then I suggest you argue harder.”
“This is me arguing, Queen. Even though you’re not the leader, you have more say than anybody else, more votes than half of us combined. I believe that your eldest god bullshit is really a power play.”
“He created me first. I have more knowledge of the world than all of you combined. Who else’s word should we listen to, other than the very one who observed He the longest? Some country bumpkin? Or shall we get some human from the fields to guide us?”
“It’s that stubbornness that will be your downfall, Queen.” There was a sudden stillness in his voice.
Queen raised an eyebrow. “Was that a threat, Zakhehus?” Even though Zakhehus was powerful, he wasn’t strong enough to fight against all of them. The minor gods who followed him would barely be worth the lift of a finger.
“You can see it however you want, Queen. The major gods tower over the minors and you revel in it. The wisest aren’t ruling, only the ones who paid you off.”
Queen stood to her feet. “Baseless accusations!”
Zakhehus laughed. “We all know it, Queen. I’m the only one who’s speaking up about it.”
>
Before Queen called answer back, a bell dinged in the hall.
“Crap,” Queen muttered under her breath. She cursed her own misdeeds. Once that bell rang, all Ifor discussions must come to an end.
She had it implemented because the Ifor council’s discussions would go on for hours and hours, into nights and days. When there were two sides of egotistical gods arguing to try to get their way, no one ever backed down. So, an hour limit was set on the discussions. Unless it was a special case, which only she and the leader could call. Sadly, this wasn’t one of them.
Zakhehus smiled as the echoes of the bell died down. She wasn’t about to extend this discussion.
But Zakhehus had the final say, “The gods are growing less ignorant of your actions by the day, Queen. Don’t be surprised when you can’t control them anymore.”
He and the other major gods with the opposition left. The gods remaining stared at Queen. Midas spoke up first, “He’s gotten cocky, the bastard.”
Another major god, Sofia, the goddess of the ocean, said, “They need to be taken care of. As he continues to openly defy us, we will look weak to the other gods. We cannot allow that to happen.”
As the god of the ocean, she had the most to lose if she lost her position, as she controlled the largest domain, the seas. She also had one of the largest mountains in the heavens because of it.
Queen looked at them; because of these gods, she was still in the position she was. If she dissatisfied them to a certain extent, her rule would be cut short. All she needed now was one of the major gods under her to oppose her. As they all had the same goals, they would put someone else in power to get what they wanted. They were a fickle bunch. She hated working with them.
Midas said, “We had an agreement when we agreed to not oppose you, Queen. You—”
“And the agreement is still in order. The leader of the opposition will be gone by dawn.”
They gave her a gutless look. They were all cowards. Nobody had killed a god before. Definitely, not another god. They wanted it done, yet they still shied away from talking about it. That’s why she was their leader, why she would be able to accomplish their goals.
The Men Who Killed God (Sinner of the Infinite Book 1) Page 18