The Punishment Of The Gods (Omnibus 1-5)

by Jake Yaniak

  'So it is that I tell you, there may be a power that wills us according to a purpose, or there may not be. To this power, as it comes before us, our own happiness is but a means to an end; you, therefore, are a means to an end and no more. But if there is no such power, then our happiness, and you with it, are irredeemably worthless! Whether there be gods or no, then, I say, it makes no difference whether we do as you wish. We might as well, then, even for the sake of chance, do as we ought.'

  The voice of Lutrosis rose up like thunder. 'You have grown shrewd and wise, Daryas, and, were you my master I would be very much pleased to obey your reasons.' With those words, Lutrosis looked Daryas straight in the face, his green eyes glowing with hatred. 'But I am your master, and whatever you believe concerning the stars and their lords is of little concern to me. Wrap me with an army of serpents, and with a million shameful glances, I will never relent to pursue that which I have been born to pursue.'

  With those words they fell upon one another with more ferocity than can easily be described. Daryas struck his enemy in the face, hurting his fist upon the iron and not wounding his foe. Lutrosis cast the Galvahirne to the ground and leapt upon him with his fists held aloft. He struck him in the face and beat him until his face could scarcely be recognized. But ere the life left him, Lutrosis relented, and spat upon his wounded face. 'Now, I go to do that for which I came. He took Daryas' sword from his side and walked back into the Nunnery.

  Hatred

  Lutrosis stormed into the Nunnery in a fury, brandishing the sword of Hiron wildly, screaming, 'It is time for you to die!' The sound of his voice woke the virgins from their slumber, and one by one they came from their apartments in amazement and fear. Some, when they had seen the form of the intruder, and smelt the smoke in the air, fled without hesitation, making their way through the eastern gate. 'Fly!' he shouted at them, 'fly from my hideousness, though I do not doubt you have loved men more ugly than I, and richer!'

  From another part of the Nunnery came a dozen Temple Guards, dressed in white with gleaming chain armor. 'Halt!' they commanded. Lutrosis ignored them. 'Halt!' they once more commanded.

  'What are you? The keepers of these fiendish women?' Lutrosis taunted them.

  'We are the guardians of the Holy Virgins of Agonistes,' one of them said confidently.

  'Holy? Holy to what? To rich bumblers who cannot get their fill from their own wells and their own cisterns? Sacred indeed, is the Nunnery of Agonistes, and more sacred is the reputation of its Virgins!'

  'Put down your sword, and we will spare your life,' Belran of Dighn, the leader of the guards, commanded as they finally overtook him.

  'I did not ask you to spare my life,' Lutrosis laughed. 'But I acknowledge your kindnesses all the same. To make things equal, therefore, I make the same offer for my part. Leave this place now, and do not delay me, and I will let you live.'

  'Your pride has condemned you,' Belran said shaking his head. In an instant, the guards surrounded him. The first guard to strike at him met a quick end, finding the shining sword of the Galvahirne between his teeth. After that, the others made their attacks in groups, hoping to catch the strange intruder off guard. But Lutrosis was too strong for them all, and in a short while there remained only Belran. 'What manner of devil are you?' he panted.

  Lutrosis gave no answer save for the swift stroke of his blade. When all this was finished he continued across the red-stained stones toward the tower in which Leonara resided.

  He kicked down the door and entered the tower, slaying the guards at the lower level and swiftly ascending the stairs to the Princess' apartment. There he banged upon the door, shaking it upon its very hinges.

  A very cold and shrill voice answered, saying, 'What shadow looms without? What canst it do to me? For I have by my own light given it darkness.'

  Lutrosis roared in anger and pushed down the door. Before him stood the princess, dressed in a gown of pure white, with the mirror of Desset in her hand.

  Chapter VII:

  The Hidden War on Sten Agoni

  Name

  In the deep places below the earth there are innumerable caverns filled with flames and fumes unbearable. Even the delvers, who are heartier than all other races, cannot descend to these depths. The spirits of the earth rule this domain; the poisonous fumes and vapors whom men call the Gaians. In this dreadful place are tormented many thousands of spirits who have been cast down from the upper world by their enemies.

  There, in the chaos and heat of hell, all knowledge and thought vanishes away as a drop of water vanishes in the ocean. There the spirits are made to suffer, and from this they cannot easily escape. Some indeed manage to pull themselves back to the upper world. But this is usually the result of a happy accident rather than any sagacity on the part of the souls of the damned. Agonistes alone among the gods, perhaps, escaped hell in the proper sense of the term.

  Into this boiling pit of flame dropped a new spirit. The body of this spirit was already broken and beaten, and the descent into hell through so many layers of rock and earth did it little good. The torment of mind in such a place was so vivid that it drove from thought all but the agony and horror of the place. Soon the mind gave up its identity, thinking itself to be just another tongue of flame, or just another drop of molten stone. The name slipped from the tongue and all knowledge vanished away in smoke.

  This spirit could not have hoped to discern how far it had fallen or how long it suffered beneath the earth. All time became meaningless and all thought became vain and empty. Days became weeks, weeks became months, and months seemed to turn into nothingness. But this did not last forever. All of a sudden a voice rang out in the darkness calling the name, 'Mityai!'

  The word seemed to the spirit at first to be some alien sound, or some meaningless clanging of metal upon metal. But when it repeated itself several times, her mind was forced to recall. 'I am Mityai,' she thought to herself, suddenly distinguishing between herself and the flames in which she was engulfed.

  'What are you doing in this place, Mityai?' the voice asked.

  After considering each word carefully, as if she needed to search her memory long to find the meaning of each word, she replied, 'I am here because I have failed; I have gone against Pelas and suffered that which such spirits are doomed to suffer.'

  'You must go against Pelas once again,' the voice said.

  'I cannot, I have not the strength.'

  'You have some strength, though, or you would not have even heard my voice.'

  'Some strength! some.'

  'And does that strength belong to you alone? Did you give it to yourself?'

  'It was given me, though I know not why.'

  'And why could not he that gave it to you supply that which is yet lacking, if he so desired?'

  'He might,' she said with a weary voice.

  There was a great flash of light, and Mityai found herself removed from the heat of the earth and in a darkened cavern, the ceiling of which was crowned with many beautiful gemstones. Before her stood a strange figure; a man cloaked in brown with a belt of twine. 'I am called Paley,' he said in a comforting voice.

  'Is it you who rescued me from that place?' she asked humbly.

  'I plucked you from the fire,' he answered, 'but in doing so I have simply done what was required of me.'

  'Why would one wish to spare me from my doom? What god would take interest in the very weakest of the sprites?'

  'Not a god,' Paley laughed, 'The Eternal One.'

  Mityai fell down to her knees, 'I cannot be of any use to such as he.'

  At this Paley just laughed. 'Have you not heard it spoken among men, that there is nothing in the world but power?'

  'No, I have not,' she answered, 'though I do not doubt that it is the truth.'

  'Indeed,' Paley said, 'Every which way you look there is power; things acting upon things, the stronger of which has its way. Does not the greatest honor go to the greatest?'

  'It is even as you have said,' Mit
yai answered.'

  'What demonstrates the greater power, Mityai: the victory of the spear against the dagger? or the victory of one wise word against an army of men?'

  'The wise word,' she answered, 'for it is of little import, yet its effect can be great.'

  'And why then should we be surprised to find that he who loans to man the power to will and the power to live, should demonstrate his own great power, not in those deemed to be the greatest, but rather in those deemed to be the least? In doing so he shows forth his invincible and unalterable will.'

  'You said that I must go against Pelas,' Mityai said nervously. 'Am I to be given words of wisdom to bring to the spirits above?'

  At this question Paley laughed. 'Do you not yet understand what it is you have been called to do? Behold yourself!'

  With those words the whole cavern lit up and Mityai saw before her a great pool of water. On the surface there stood a great warrior; a woman, decked in the finest of heavenly armor, bearing in her right hand a great spear and in her left, a mighty shield. Atop her helm was a great plume of pure white feathers that flashed like lightning in the bright light. 'Who-?' she began to ask, but as soon as she spoke, the lips on the warrior moved. Before her, in the pool of water, stood her own reflection.

  'You have much to do, Mityai,' Paley said with great pride.

  The Wolf Returns

  The first light Mityai saw upon her return to the upper world was the bright light of a half-moon. She stood for a moment transfixed by its beauty, and stared at it with great delight. But soon her attention was brought back to her surroundings. Before her stood a great host of wolves, and in their midst stood the great devil-wolf Ghastin.

  'Lord of wolves,' she said to him. 'Your time in this world has run out, and it is time for you to pay with your soul.'

  The great wolf howled with rage and walked slowly toward her, blowing steam from his nostrils as he raged within himself. 'Shall a fish swallow a whale?' he asked, 'Shall a deer consume a wolf? Shall the prey bring down the hunter? You know not to whom you speak!'

  'Do not trouble me, Ghastin, for I have but a little time ere I must depart. If you will not come with me, to put an end to the gods of Weldera, then I must slay you now and send you to Abban Don without mercy.'

  'You speak of Abban Don?' he said, suddenly showing a little fear. It seemed at that moment as if he was perfectly torn; not knowing whether he should test the intruder's might or whether he should accept her word as truth. In the end he made this resolution, 'I will go,' he said soberly, 'Not for the sake of my own hell-bound skin, but for the sake of hatred. It is time for the false gods of Weldera to take their place among the dead. And if by doing so I buy for myself a little time, then I shall be all the more pleased to do so.'

  Saying this, he came and stood before her, and seeing her great majesty he bowed his head and whispered, 'So the time has come at last? The scattering of the ancient powers...'

  The Devils Scatter

  The mountain of Sten Agoni was as densely inhabited by ghosts and spirits as it was with men. On this night, when several thousand Amlamani warriors stood ready for combat, so many thousands more stood invisibly braced for war. Pelas himself was on the march, it was said, and he meant to take upon himself the form of the young Galvahirne, a thing he had not done in all the years of his exile from the north. To inhabit a body of flesh he had always deemed to be a disgrace. But now, after he had lost so much, and when he could no longer deny his growing impotence, he resolved to battle his rival with equal weapons. 'Flesh against flesh,' he said as he led his servants through the Amla Gap, past all guardians and spying eyes, into the land of Amlaman, and then north to the hill of Daufina, on which sat the ancient Temple of Agonistes. 'I will cast him again into hell, this time I shall not grant him hope of return.' He said this as though he had such a power. 'Yet even as this shall be his end, my own spirit will revive itself in resurrection, and I will at last triumph over my ancient humiliation.'

  By the time Daryas and Rahdmus entered into Ramlos there were already many hundreds of thousands of spirits, gods and devils battling upon the hill of Agonistes and all throughout that land. Many hundreds had already been cast down and sent into the fires of hell. But even as these two great hosts raged against one another, taking ground here, losing ground there, inhabiting cities and scattering hosts of immortal souls, Mityai appeared, riding upon the wolf Ghastin and shining, to their ghostly eyes, like the very light of the sun. The striking of these two against the hosts of Pelas and against the servants of Agonistes, was like the falling of a great oak into a stream; even as the waters scatter and are cast about by the force of the fallen tree, so were the warriors of these two rival gods sent into a panic and cast down. It seemed to them as if the lords of the North had come once again to punish them, and to take away at last what spark of life remained within their ghostly bodies. The teeth of the wolf and the spear of Mityai turned every which way, making no difference between the servants of Pelas and the servants of Agonistes. After a while some of these spirits even cast their lot together, and as a single force challenged the wolf and its rider. But it was of no avail, the power that had been given to the sprite, and the natural power of Ghastin lord of wolves was more than any of them could withstand. They fled or they perished.

  When they had made an end of the spirits in the northern woods, they turned abruptly and descended with great speed into the valley wherein was hidden the Nunnery of Agonistes. Ghastin, shunning the gates, leapt over the great walls with ease and slid to a stop upon the smooth white stones within. Mityai dismounted and, giving the wolf a nod with her head, she rushed into the northeast tower, where long ago she had met the goddess Evna.

  Theodysus Shining

  Lutrosis and the Princess locked eyes and stared at one another for a great length of time. Until finally the princess, disregarding the bloodied sword in his hand, lifted the mirror to her face and laughed. 'What a shameful sight you are? How full of double-mindedness, and how filled with pride and hopeless desire! You are more akin to an infant than a man; your will is full of incontinence. Begone from me, shadow.'

  Where all others had either fled at the terror of her words, or obeyed in confusion, Lutrosis remained, with a soft laugh echoing from within his iron mask. 'Do you not know, fool, that among men you will find no savior? Cast me out, then, and see what comes your way next. It is easy for you, I am sure, to judge the hearts of others, when all you discern within your own soul is beauty and virtue. But it is virtue to and for yourself, and for no other. Lay down that pretentious mirror, and take up a mirror of glass, to look within and see your folly and ignorance. I give you but one chance, to cast aside that devil's toy.'

  Much taken aback, Leonara lowered the mirror to her side. Without warning, a wooden chair rose from the floor and flew at Lutrosis with great force. He ducked and turned, allowing the chair to shatter into a thousand splinters against the stone wall of the chamber. This chair was followed by two others and then a table, a vase, and several other pieces of furniture. A dagger rose from the table near the window and flew with great speed at Lutrosis' throat. He caught it ere it slew him and he cast it to the ground at Leonara's feet, pinning her dress to the ground. In great surprise, she backed away, tripping over the fastened hem of her skirt as she stepped away. She fell to the ground with a shriek and lifted her arms over her face. But as Lutrosis approached her, he was stopped. For Daryas had caught up with him at last and, leaping upon his back, pulled him to the ground. There they wrestled and fought for control of Hiron's sword with all the ferocity of mortal enemies. In the end, as before, Lutrosis proved stronger; taking up the sword he laughed, saying, 'You cannot kill me any more than I can kill you, Daryas son of Biron. But I have the advantage that I will always overpower you, and there is naught that you can do to overcome me. You dream of righteousness! But you are the one taken by imagination - it will never be, not for one such as I.'

  Lutrosis then grabbed Daryas by the throat an
d lifted him from the ground, squeezing the very life from his body. In a whirl of pain, Daryas lost himself for a moment, thinking his head had been ripped from his body. But after a moment he found that he still had something remaining of life within him.

  'There is Theodysus,' Daryas said with great labor, 'and now I think I understand.' With those words said, thrust his fist into the iron face of Lutrosis and then wrested the sword from his adversary with ease. Lifting Aevangelu high above his head, he brought it down upon the mask of iron, sending sparks of flame and light flying out in every direction. Lutrosis hollered and the mask split in twain, falling with a heavy thud upon the stone floor of the chamber.

  A great sickness fell upon him as he looked at last upon the face of that creature who had for so long been his tormentor. It was his own face.

  In that instant the histories of these two became, at last, but one story, and Daryas saw at last the depth of darkness that dwelt in his own heart. 'For every virtue,' he thought to himself, 'I have vice a hundredfold.'

  He fell to the ground and covered his face with his hands. Feeling his neck, he found that the serpent was wrapped around his own throat, and that all this while it had been he who was filled with such evil thoughts and ambitions.