by Unknown
“Fine,” I sat back in my seat. “On one condition.”
“Oh, a condition?” He beamed. “Let's hear it?”
“I want to fight that guy,” I pointed down the table to the suparna who'd beaten the naga girl. He looked over at me in surprise and then at Hanuman.
“Lord Garuda, what do you say?” Hanuman smirked at the suparna. “Wanna see if you can beat the Godhunter?”
“A woman? No problem,” the guy's face slid into a smirk to match Hanuman's and my night suddenly began to look up. I grinned at him in delight and Azrael sighed.
“Wonderful! We have the first fighter picked. I'll let you pick the other two, Garuda.” Hanuman declared. “Now, on to the second course.”
Chapter Twenty
“There's vengeance written all over your face, Godhunter,” Hanuman observed. “I wonder why? Is it directed towards me for imprisoning your men? Because I feel that I was justified in confining men who broke into my home.”
“Nope, not you,” I smiled sweetly. “Well, maybe partially you but not for that reason. I understand defending your home and I concede that they were intruders here. Though they were only trying to free a friend.”
“Then for who?” He leaned forward eagerly. “Garuda? Is that why you asked to fight him?”
“I think I'll keep my reasons to myself until the day of reckoning comes,” my smile turned secretive.
“Oh, a day of reckoning,” he practically salivated. “Even better. We gods love those, don't we?”
“Not just the gods,” I shrugged.
“You're right,” he cocked his head. “Actually I think our blood thirst stems from the humans.”
“Come again?” I lifted a brow.
“Do you know what one of the common themes in most religions is?” He asked instead of answering directly.
“Don't kill people?” I smirked.
“No,” he chuckled. “The opposite actually. Total annihilation. Most religions have an end of the world scenario. A day of reckoning.”
“I know there's a few,” I frowned as I thought about it. “But I wouldn't say most.”
“The Hindus call it Kali Yurga, the Buddhist's version is The Seven Suns. That's sun as in the big burning thing in the sky, not a male child,” he grinned and then looked over to Ull and Thor. “The Norse have...”
“Ragnorak,” Ull answered in a grim tone.
It was serious enough to make me look closer at him and then the rest of my friends. They were all tense, even Pan' smile was brittle around the edges, and I realized that I wasn't the only one who had fought hard to remain calm in the face of the earlier brutality. Oh course I wasn't. How stupid of me to think otherwise. These were all wonderful people, people I loved and trusted, and not a single one of them could have remained unaffected by that girl's beating. That thought made me feel better and gave me a measure of calm.
“And the Hopi have a very interesting apocalypse called The Blue Star Kachina,” Hanuman continued gaily, “where a giant spider covers the world in his web before a star, Kachina, crashes into it.”
“A web?” I asked and shot a look at Azrael.
“Afraid of spiders?” Hanuman asked with surprise.
“Nope,” I huffed a laugh. “We just happened to kill a giant spider recently. A Native American god, no less. He also had a world-encompassing web. We call it the Internet.”
“Ah yes,” Hanuman laughed. “I heard that you killed Iktomi but I've never thought about his web being the Internet. I don't believe he was a Hopi god but the connection is a bit startling.”
“Indeed,” I muttered, wondering how much of that was the impetus of myth.
I'd found that human belief in religious myths often resulted in their being fulfilled by any means possible. Like how Odin was supposed to kill Fenrir during Ragnorak. When Demeter killed Odin, his magic spear tried to fulfill the prophecy but Odin used the last of his strength to divert the spear's course and send it into Fenrir's shoulder instead of his heart. Those prophecies wanted to come true and now Hanuman was telling me there were a lot more than I'd known about.
“There's the Christian Battle of Armageddon of course,” Hanuman continued relentlessly. “Which Hollywood loves to make films about. I have no idea why, they're so many more interesting end of the world myths. Including the very first ever recorded, Frashokereti. The Zoroastrian apocalypse which lasts millions of years, getting worse and worse the entire time.”
“So because of all these apocalyptic scenarios, you think humans taught the gods to be vengeful?” I said with a healthy measure of doubt.
“Not taught exactly,” he shrugged. “Encouraged is perhaps a better word. Though maybe it's not vengeance at all that makes them believe the world will end. Maybe it's a simple aspect of humanity.”
“How so?” Azrael was finally interested and I knew why.
He still worked very closely with humans, unlike most gods who rarely interacted with their followers, and he loved them. He loved human art and all of our scientific creations. It all fascinated him, as did the human psyche.
“We immortals understand the infinite,” Hanuman answered. “As only someone who spends centuries remaining completely the same, could. Mortals however, age and decay. They wither away and die. So it's harder for them to understand that there are things without an end.”
“So they invent endings,” Azrael whispered.
“Exactly,” Hanuman slapped the table. “I think it must be comforting for them to think that even time will one day cease. It was hard enough for them when they discovered that outer space is infinite. They had to fill it with aliens so that it would make more sense to them.”
“You don't believe in aliens?” I asked, realizing that I'd never thought to bring up the subject with the gods.
“Hardly,” he scoffed.
“That's a lot of wasted space,” I observed.
“See?” Hanuman pointed at me. “That's your humanity speaking. You can't understand how something would exist without your form of life to inhabit it.”
“I didn't say it was my form of life,” I corrected. “I just thought there must be something alive out there. With all those other galaxies, ours can't be the only planet able to sustain life.”
“I agree,” he nodded, “but don't you mean intelligent life? Life forms which can interact with yours?”
“Maybe,” I frowned and thought about it. “Maybe not. I mean, it's entirely plausible that if there is another planet out there with the ability to host life, then that life might progress until it gains intelligence. Or it may not. It could remain animal-like in intelligence but I doubt it.”
“A human answer,” he nodded.
“Is it?” I considered again. “The fey were having trouble conceiving until they began to change. I think that alone shows that life needs to keep progressing or it will become death. Immortality is an affront to nature, as much as I appreciate mine. It impedes the process of progress.”
Hanuman gaped at me and Azrael chuckled.
“Well said,” Azrael kissed my cheek.
“Do you believe in aliens?” I looked over at Azrael.
“No,” he said immediately.
“See?” Hanuman began to laugh again. “Now there is a god's answer.”
“I do believe there could be life out there but without a source of magic to create souls, there would be no higher forms of life,” Azrael amended and it was my turn to gape.
“Bravo,” Hanuman lifted his cup to Az. “I hadn't considered it like that. I just knew, deep down, that there weren't aliens. Not as some humans believe.”
“So without magic, there can be life but no consciousness?” I asked with wide eyes. Inside my chest, I felt my star start to glow. I'd struck on something important, I just couldn't figure out exactly what it was.
“What is a body with no soul in it?” Brahma asked with a gentle look.
“An empty shell,” I whispered.
I knew this intimately, which was
why Brahma had been so kind with his tone. When Odin had been killed, he'd been sent to the Void, the source of human and god souls. Then I'd found a way to bring him back but I'd needed a body for him to fill. I chanced upon one when we saved some of Demeter's victims. One of them, Griffin, was so mentally destroyed by what Demeter had done to him, he just kind of shut down. He should have died when his soul left his body but Teharon kept his body alive so I could place Odin's soul within it. Just like with coma patients, the soul leaves but machines keep the body going and you end up with a living shell.
“Magic is integral to a higher consciousness,” Azrael nodded. “So unless there's another Void out there, I doubt there are aliens.”
Another Void. The words sent a shiver through me. There was another Void, it was Faerie. Well, not exactly Faerie herself but she was its guardian and connected to it. So if there could be another source for souls, or essences, couldn't there be more? Perhaps producing other types of souls?
It blew my mind and frankly, I didn't want to have that conversation with Hanuman, so I went silent and let him think they'd convinced me. Azrael knew me better though and he narrowed his eyes on me, knowing this was far from over. I gave Hanuman a nod and then changed the conversation so that Azrael would let it go. We'd have to save aliens for another time.
The dinner consisted of five more courses. Grueling, cheek-biting courses during which I had to watch everything I said and keep my temper in check. Two more nagas were hit, neither were abused as much as the female but still, I wasn't happy to just sit there and watch. The only thing that kept me going was the idea of kicking Garuda's ass the next day.
I was going to burn that bastard's feathers to a crisp and serve him up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
After the meal was finally over, a monkey, I mean a vanara, directed Azrael and me to a bedroom and advised us not to roam the corridors at night or it might be considered an act of aggression. Aggression, please. I'd show them some aggression right up their furry butts. I ended up pacing the huge length of the luxurious bedroom over and over in an attempt to be rid of that aggression.
“Carus, please stop,” Azrael was sitting on the super-sized bed. He was shirtless with his wings out but they were lowered despondently.
He didn't like remaining inactive either. He'd wanted to search the palace for our imprisoned friends and hopefully release them before I had to fight. After the monkey's warning though, he thought better of it. Especially after I reminded him of the way he'd got himself caught before I went back in time to change things. These guys had Net, which meant we had to tread carefully.
So we were both dealing with feelings of uselessness and unease in our own ways. I would have ignored him and kept pacing if it weren't for that sad look on his face. Instead, I did an about face and went to stand before him. His arms went around me and his cheek laid against my chest, a perfect fit. I sighed as his wings folded gently around us and I felt our connection warm. Except we were missing our third. Kirill had drank the holy wine of Shehaquim with us and so he shared a sort of link that bound us together. Having him in danger was really messing with our happy buzz.
“Stop thinking about them for just a little while,” Azrael said as he lifted his head. “We've done all we can do and now we have to wait. Obsessing over it won't help.”
“You're right,” I nodded and brushed a hand through his short, dark hair. The angelic script on his cheek shimmered blue and I smiled and kissed it.
“That's more like it,” he grinned up at me but it was half-hearted.
“Maybe this distraction idea is more brilliant than I thought,” I reached behind me and undid my zipper as his light blue eyes shifted to sparkling diamond.
He lifted my dress over my head and tossed it aside. I went up on the bed, one knee on each side of his lap, and then we fell back onto the mattress together. He rolled us and lifted me further up the bed, then set to work on my underwear as I started undoing his pants.
I had a fleeting thought that it was wrong of us to be doing this while my other men were trapped somewhere in the monkey mansion but then Azrael started working his magic all over my skin and I let go of my concerns. They wouldn't begrudge us this comfort and I needed something to stop the insanity raging in my head.
Azrael's warm skin pressed to mine, his diamond eyes stared down at me, and his black wings spread above us. It was just what I needed, a moment to reconnect with someone I loved. As we came together, I thanked whomever was responsible for helping us find each other. Be it Alaric or Faerie or just plain, dumb luck, I was grateful for my angel.
Chapter Twenty-One
Breakfast was sent to our room on a tray with the message that I was expected in the arena in two hours. The arena. Of course they had an arena. It was probably a lot nicer than the Froekn fighting pit too.
It had been awhile since I'd fought gods for their entertainment but this time, I wasn't nervous at all. They could throw me in there completely naked and I'd still feel confident that I'd win. I was a dragon after all. One on one fighting wasn't a big deal anymore.
Azrael was still worried though. I'm sure he would have preferred to have been the one fighting. I could understand that. I'd experienced it both ways, being the fighter and the loved one standing on the sidelines, and I vastly preferred being down in the arena. At least there, you held a measure of control over the outcome.
“It'll be alright,” I said to him as I brushed my hair.
I used to braid it up into a crown before battle but not anymore. Preventing someone from getting a handhold wasn't really a concern when I intended on shifting immediately. All of my hair would be transformed. In fact, I was wearing a robe to the arena. Why mess up my pretty dress when Hanuman had been so considerate to provide us with white, fluffy bathrobes?
A knock interrupted us and Azrael went to answer the door. It was Horus, which surprised us both. He slid into the room with a backwards glance and then shut the door quickly behind himself.
“Brahma sent me with some information,” he whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” I whispered back.
“Because the walls could have ears,” he continued dramatically.
“Like literally?” Yes, I needed to ask it. It was the God Realm, anything was possible.
“No, not literally,” he growled, forgetting to whisper. “Hanuman could have spies listening in on us.”
“Then they got a hell of an earful last night,” I smirked at Azrael who shook his head and laughed.
“We don't have time for your shenanigans, Vervain,” Horus snapped. “Do you want to hear the message or not?”
“Of course I do,” I got serious. “And did you just say shenanigans?”
“Vervain!” Horus' face was turning red.
“Alright, tell me already,” I suppressed my laughter. Horus was just to easy to tease.
“He said,” Horus dropped his volume again. “That besides Garuda, you'll be fighting a vanara and a riksha.”
“Okay,” I waited for more but nothing else came. “Is that all?”
“This is important information, Vervain,” Horus sighed. “Now you can plan your fight knowing there will be three shapeshifters to battle, one who can fly.”
“But I already knew about the flying one and I kind of assumed the others would be bad ass,” I grimaced.
“So what's your plan?” Horus asked and Azrael chuckled. Az knew me well enough not to ask that question.
“Same as always,” I shrugged. “I'm going to win.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
When I showed up at the arena in my bathrobe, I got a lot of shocked looks... which I enjoyed immensely. Hanuman just laughed. He led me down through a tunnel and into a waiting area which ended in a lowered gate. Azrael had to go up to the seats to watch with the others so I'd be waiting alone.
“I'd figured you'd be shifting, Lion Goddess,” Hanuman smirked and I blinked at him in shock.
Didn't he know I was a dragon-sidhe?
Then I nearly slapped myself for being an egomaniac. How would he know? He may know about my travels to Faerie since the paths were open again but that didn't mean he'd know that I was a faerie or even what type of fey I was. Boy was he going to be surprised.
“That's right,” I recovered with a grin. “I've got built in claws now.”
“Good,” he nodded. “You'll need them.” Then he walked back up the tunnel and left me alone in the room.
I glimpsed part of the crowd waiting for me to come out and entertain them. They didn't look like much from where I stood but from the sounds of it, they'd be much more impressive when I entered the fighting arena. My stomach started to clench and my limbs got a little shaky. Just adrenaline but still, I wanted this to be over with.
Then my dragon began to rise within me and I realized that I didn't want this to be over with. In fact, I was looking forward to this fight. It had been a long time since my dragon had been allowed to hunt and although she'd miss the chase, she'd be quite satisfied with cutting ahead to the kill.
A rumble lifted up my throat as the roar of the crowd picked up and I heard Hanuman address them.
“We're in for a special treat today,” he said and the crowd quieted. “The Godhunter herself will be fighting three of our greatest warriors!” Everyone cheered. “If she wins, I've promised to free her men and if she doesn't, our fighters who died the day of the invasion shall be avenged. Either way, we shall be entertained!” Another roar. “So now, without further ado, I give you the Godhunter, Vervain Lavine!”
The gate opened and I played my part, walking out with my hands raised up and wide and a big grin on my face. This seemed to excite the crowd even more and the howl of monkeys, along with the screech of birds and the roar of bears, was added to the shouting. Gods did love a good show.
Then I saw them. Not only were my friends in attendance but so were my captured men, including six of my Intare. They were chained heavily and standing at the edge of the lowest stone railing, so they had a perfect view of the fighting area. I met Trevor's eyes first and saw they were filled with a mixture of relief and anxiety. He nodded to me and I blew him a kiss, which lightened his expression to a grim smile. Kirill stood beside him, looking very confident, and he gave me a wide grin. It lifted my hand to my heart and tapped my chest to let him know how much I appreciated his confidence. Then, there was Odin.