Forging Divinity

by Rowe, Andrew

  Taelien folded his arms, considering. Is that what it is to be a god? Just a source of power and protection? Is that what I want for myself? What, exactly, did I think I was asking him for before?

  Did I just want to be more like Aendaryn? More like what people have always expected me to be?

  Something about what Edon was saying scratched at the back of his mind – it sounded pretty enough on the surface, but he knew there was something off about it. Something missing.

  “You said the traps sometimes change – how is that possible?” Taelien asked.

  Edon folded his hands in front of him. “That is the core problem. We don’t know. Presumably, something is alive down there.”

  Alive? Could something have survived down there hundreds of years after the fall of Xixis?

  Taelien tensed, his hand unconsciously drifting to the hilt of his sword. He only realized his action when Myros shifted, making the same motion. “What sort of traps are we talking about?”

  A booming voice issued from Myros’ helmet, no doubt augmented by some kind of sorcery within. “Spears emerge from the walls. One of the rooms fills with cold water. Another has statues that breathe fire.”

  Edon quirked a brow at Myros. “I hadn’t heard about that last one. Something from a recent visit?”

  Myros nodded silently.

  Edon turned back to Taelien. “Myros visits the Paths much more frequently than I do. On my second visit, whatever controls that place – presumably an ancient Esharen sorcerer – attempted to seal me inside a room. The properties of the stone in the walls inhibit certain types of sorcery, and I barely managed to escape with my life.”

  A fascinating confession, and another admission of mortal weakness. Oddly, it just makes me more sympathetic to him, though. Perhaps that’s part of his strategy.

  “Why are you telling me so much about this? I mean, if I live through this, I could tell anyone that you’re just using Esharen artifacts to emulate divine power.” Taelien shifted in his stance, moving his hand away from his sword.

  Edon sighed. “You still don’t see, do you? I want you to succeed. I want as many people as possible to succeed in here – and otherwise, in the world as a whole. I want humanity to succeed. You could argue that my claim to godhood is false. You could explain what you’ve just heard to everyone in the city. What would that accomplish? I am not giving anyone false hope – I can deliver every promise I make. I have the tools to do more for humanity than any god ever has, and as my knowledge grows, my ability to help others expands further. Would you truly wish to undermine that?”

  Taelien shook his head. “I suppose not. Your goal seems noble enough, and I respect that. I will say, though, that the people of the city would probably think of you differently if they knew your definition of divinity and the mechanism behind it. I think you know that, too – and that you’ve been deliberately avoiding making your methodology public. But I won’t speak out against you for it, at least not until I’ve had a chance to learn more. I don’t like that you’re keeping information from your followers, but I’ll give you a chance to see if you’re doing more good than harm.”

  Edon nodded. “Thank you. That’s all I can ask. If you survive the vault, I will tell you more about why I have chosen this path, and how my abilities function.”

  ‘True’ divinity or not, Edon was offering him a chance to test himself against a place of terrible danger for a chance at an artifact. He would have taken that chance without any prior promise of godhood – the challenge itself was a sufficient reward.

  “Sounds fun,” Taelien concluded. “When do we get started?”

  “Are you fully prepared? Do you need any other supplies? Again, I want you to succeed at this,” Edon gestured at the door.

  Taelien shifted his weight to his right foot, considering. If there’s something alive down there, I’m probably in for a fight. Possibly with another Esharen... I really should ask about that one that was in the bank when I get out of here. Nothing he just explained justifies what was going on there. Resh, he really is a good speaker.

  “I could use an extra sword, actually,” Taelien said.

  Myros wordlessly drew the long sword and tossed it to Taelien, which snatched by the blade, narrowly avoiding the edge.

  “Thanks,” he said, nodding to Myros. The armored warrior returned his nod.

  “Out of curiosity, why would the bearer of the Sae’kes need another weapon?” Edon asked, tilting his head to the side.

  “I try not to use it,” Taelien explained, patting the hilt. The sword was in its true form – there was no longer a need to hide it now that everyone had seen it in the arena. “It’s too deadly.”

  Myros nodded in understanding, but Edon furrowed his brow in apparent confusion.

  “Well, I suppose I can’t begrudge you a second weapon. You may also want to bring a torch – it can get very dark inside, and as I said, something in the walls suppresses some types of sorcery. Especially deep inside.”

  “Do you want me to bring you a sample of the walls?” Taelien asked with a grin, remembering his earlier joke about bringing a rock as his sign that he had succeeded at the test.

  Edon shook his head. “No, we’ve tried that. Once the rock leaves the paths, it seems to lose whatever property suppresses sorcery. Unfortunate, given how useful that material could be if properly harnessed.”

  Myros turned and walked to one of the pillars, removing an unlit lantern from a ring on the side. “Here,” Myros offered, voice still unnaturally booming from the helmet.

  Taelien took the lantern in his left hand, gripping Myros sword in his right. “Thanks. I seem to be out of hands, so I think I’m ready to head inside.”

  “You’re certain? You don’t need any further preparations?” Edon asked, sounding nervous.

  “Not unless you want to loan me Myros,” Taelien said, smirking.

  Edon chuckled lightly. After a moment, he muttered, “No. That would be unwise. Last time we sent in two people at once, it did not end well.”

  Well, that’s foreboding. I’ll have to ask about that later.

  “Then, I think I’m as ready as I’m going to be,” Taelien explained. “Wish me luck.”

  “Good luck,” Edon said, sounding sincere.

  Myros muttered something that was nearly inaudible in spite of the sound-enhancing helmet. It sounded like, “...keep you healthy.”

  Taelien nodded to both of the so-called gods, ignited the candle inside his lantern with a stray thought, and strode to the metal doors.

  I probably shouldn’t waste my strength, Taelien considered as he pressed his hand against the metal. But I can’t resist a chance to show off just a little.

  Open.

  A tall rectangle of metal stretched open, making room for Taelien to step inside and revealing a glimmering surface barring the way into a dim chamber beyond. Carefully, he took a step closer and brushed his fingers against the surface of the barrier, bringing back a wet hand a moment later. Thin lines of water began to flow out of the chamber where his fingertips had brushed the surface.

  That whole room is underwater, he realized, grimacing. This is going to be less than fun.

  He glanced back toward Myros and Edon, but they only stared silently down at him from the carpeted area above the rune-etched platform.

  It’s leaking now, which means maybe I could drain the water out of that entire room eventually – but something tells me Edon wouldn’t be happy about that.

  Now aware of the water, Taelien pushed a hand deeper inside, testing for any more surprises. The water was cold, but not freezing – he had gone diving in worse conditions near Liadra. Water flowed freely across his arm now, soaking his shirt.

  He took a deep breath and stuck his head inside, hoping to glance around and establish the location of an exit, but the interior of the room unlit. Withdrawing briefly, the swordsman took a final deep breath and plunged himself completely inside.

  This isn’t nearly the kind
of fun I was hoping for, Taelien considered as the water chilled his skin. Once inside the doorway, he was forced to fight pressure that pushed outward toward the opening he had created. The casing on his lantern shattered almost immediately, water filling the cage and banishing his only source of light aside from the doorway below.

  He planted his feet as best he could against the floor and pushed upward, trying to shove himself above the water level. He raised his sword arm, hoping the blade would collide with the ceiling and give him warning to prevent him from hitting his head.

  Taelien’s initial push was insufficient to take him to the ceiling, but he resisted the downward pull and continued to swim upward for what felt like minutes. His lungs were burning when he felt his blade impact with something, and he slowed his fervent kicking, his head emerging from the liquid a moment later.

  There was barely any room to breathe at the top of the chamber, and still no visible source of light. He considered dropping the lantern, but he hoped that the metal inlay had held the candle in position – if it had, he could still potentially relight it in another room, even without the glass.

  Taking several moments just to breathe, Taelien began to feel his way along the ceiling, attempting to find his way toward any sort of alternate exit from the room. He noted that the downward suction appeared to have stopped, and a glance downward showed him only blackness – had his entrance closed?

  Edon might have sealed me in here, he realized. Either to kill me, or maybe just to prevent the water from ruining his pretty purple carpet.

  Or, of course, whatever lives inside here might have shut the way out.

  A moment after having that thought, Taelien felt something solid coil around his left leg.

  Oh, resh. I had to think about that, didn’t I.

  The coil yanked, dragging Taelien under the water.

  Taelien lashed out with his borrowed sword, striking for whatever had encircled his leg. His attack was impeded by the water’s resistance, but he still connected solidly – against something with the consistency of stone. The sword vibrated in his hand, and a second coil wrapped around his right leg, dragging him downward faster.

  This is not how I want to die, he told himself.

  He swung his sword again, but the strike was equally ineffective. Releasing his grip on the sword, he grit his teeth and reached out for whatever was dragging him downward. His hand felt something smooth and solid, and he felt the Dominion of Stone tingling in the back of his mind. Stone was one of the two prime dominions that connected to metal, but he had never had the talent to properly utilize it.

  Now seemed like a good time to start.

  Break, he told the stone, but there was no reply.

  Fine, if you’re going to be like that, we’ll do this the hard way. Taelien tightened his grip around the stone tendril and pulled upward. For an instant, he felt his movement downward slow, and he grinned against his pain, releasing the lantern from his other hand.

  His left hand joined the right, and he slid them across the stone tendril, seeking a weak point. He couldn’t picture the stone as easily in his mind as he could with metal, but he found a crack with his fingers.

  You’re going to break now, he told the stone, and he heaved with both of his hands.

  The tendril snapped, and Taelien surged upward, the second tendril going slack as the first one shattered. Taelien’s shoulder bumped something – his lantern, he realized after a moment – as he floated upward, and he snagged it with his off-hand as he made his way back to the surface.

  Fortunate I didn’t bump into Myros’ sword, he realized as his head broke through the water. He took several panting breaths, realizing that whatever had grabbed him – made of stone or not – could probably do it again.

  Was that a monster or a trap? More likely the former, given that it went slack when I broke off a piece of it, but how could a monster be made of stone?

  He thought back to stories of creatures from the dominions themselves. Could there be a beast native to the Dominion of Stone living in these waters? It seemed unnatural – not only were natives to the dominions rarely found in the mortal world, but it seemed strange that one could survive while immersed in a completely different dominion.

  He dismissed his speculation for the moment – he had more important things to consider. He touched the ceiling again, finding protrusions of stone that he could use as hand-holds if something grabbed him again. Slowly, he made his way across the room, with no clear idea of his direction or destination.

  As time wore on, he considered lifting his lantern above the water to relight it, but the water level was so high that he doubted he would get more than a few moments of light before it was immersed again. The tax on his body was not worth the brief illumination it would provide – at least for now.

  After what felt like at least an hour, his knee bumped into something hard. He winced, but rejoiced at the same time – it was a hard, flat surface. His right hand reached out, finding another wall – hopefully the opposite wall. Once there, he shifted to moving his right hand across the surface, floating along the wall while he searched for any sign of light. Instead, after several minutes, he found a large gap - a rectangular hole, perhaps a few feet high, and above the water line.

  Taelien reached into the space, finding it perfectly flat, and apparently empty – at least as far as his arm could reach. Judging that sufficient, he set the lantern inside and steadied himself with his right arm.

  Ignite, he instructed the Dominion of Flame, creating a tiny flicker of fire inside the lantern – just sufficient to reveal that the candle was no longer inside.

  Oh, this just gets better and better.

  Taelien sighed, casting the useless lantern back into the water behind him, and crawled into the stone space.

  This would be a really bad time for those spears Myros was talking about to come out of the walls, Taelien considered. I really need light.

  He considered two options – he could flood the necessary strength into the Sae’kes to make the blue gemstone on the pommel glow, or he could try to maintain a fire with the Dominion of Flame. Either would tax him greatly, but the former would require him to move the sword out in front of him to be of significant use – and he wasn’t willing to risk losing the weapon the way he had lost Myros’ sword.

  Gritting his teeth, Taelien reached out in front of him and called the Dominion of Flame. A warm light formed in his palm, and he shined it against the walls, looking for any holes that looked likely to hold spears. When he found none, he crawled in further, noting that turning around would be impossible in the cramped confines he was pushing himself into. If he had to leave, he’d be forced to push himself backward – which would be an arduous process.

  Taelien continued to crawl, finding that the space extended into a long tunnel that arched subtly upward. I wonder if this is where the water poured into the room from, Taelien considered. If so, another torrent of water – or worse – could come down this way at any time.

  Not relishing the thought of being stuck in the tunnel while water washed through it, Taelien crawled his way through as fast as he could. Maintaining the sphere of flame in his hand dried his sleeves, but the chill that came over his body from expending his body heat only made the contrast to his soaking clothes more prominent.

  The conjured flame flickered and dimmed as he progressed, seemingly faster than it should have. He drew harder on the dominion, expending more of his own body heat to maintain the necessary illumination to continue. There’s that sorcery suppression they were talking about, he realized. It’s going to get worse as I get deeper.

  His body was shivering uncontrollably when he caught the sight of another source of light ahead – a green light signifying the exit to the tunnel. He pushed himself forward, extinguishing his own flame immediately, and paused just at the edge of the entrance to the new chamber.

  A scythe-like blade of metal swept over the exit of the tunnel, nearly brushing against Tae
lien’s hair.

  Really glad I stopped there, Taelien considered, just as a spear flashed from across the room toward where Taelien was still crouched inside the tunnel. His right hand caught the spear just before it smashed into his body, the force of the impact carrying the point of the spear to just in front of his face.

  A second later, the scythe swept over the entrance again, smashing the wooden shaft of the spear.

  Taelien pondered the amputated spearhead in his hand, flipping it around in his grip. Xixis apparently took their vaults very seriously.

  A glint of metal signified a second spear launching toward Taelien, but he was ready this time. He hurled his spearhead out of the tunnel, catching the incoming spear head-on and knocking it backward to tumble to the floor. As the scythe swept past a moment later, Taelien kicked off of the floor of the tunnel, launching himself into the room.

  Half a dozen steel blades launched from the wall to his right. Without so much as a thought, Taelien ripped the scabbard off his belt, spinning the still-sheathed Sae’kes and deflecting five of the blades, then catching the sixth in his left hand.

  He was no longer shivering when he took his next step forward. He was in battle - his body had no more room for weakness.

  Another scythe swept out at neck level from the wall behind him, but Taelien caught it on the blade he had snatched out of the air. The scythe’s mechanism pushed hard enough to carry Taelien backward, nearly pushing him into the trajectory of the second scythe near the tunnel entrance. Taelien growled, tightening his grip on the trap blade, and felt the metal inside connecting with the scythe.

  Every structural weakness within the ancient scythe flashed in his mind, and he swept upward with the Sae’kes’ scabbard. The metal lining on the scabbard smashed into the weak point, shattering the scythe apart, and Taelien ducked to avoid the remains of the weapon as it swept by.