Of Gods And Elves
( The Godling chronicles - 2 )
Brian D. Anderson
Brian D. Anderson
Of Gods And Elves
Prologue
Gewey felt cold, smooth stone pressed against his face,and a terrible wind roared in his ears. He opened his eyes. Nothingbut pitch-blackness surrounded him. He remembered his fight withHarlondo. He felt his body searching for wounds the half-man hadinflicted. No injuries!
“We have healed you,” said a voice from thedarkness. It was soft and musical but neither male nor female.
Gewey tried to tell where the voice originated from, butit was as if it came from everywhere.
“Where am I?” He got to his feet as hisvoice echoed. “Who are you?”
“You are home,” said the voice. “Youare with us. We have been waiting so very long.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“There is plenty of time for questions. For nowyou must take your ease.”
A light appeared, piercing the darkness several yardsaway. He stood on a raised stone walkway, surrounded by purenothingness that went on forever. The only other thing he could seewas a silver door at the end of the path. Gewey crept forward,careful not to step to close to the edge.
When he was only a few feet away the door opened, andthe light dimmed.
“What’s in there?” he asked butreceived no reply.
He stepped inside the door and found himself in his ownhouse. A fire burned cheerfully, and a hot plate of roast lamb andhoney-split bread were on the table. Harman Stedding, his father, satat the far end of the table smiling at him.
“Finally,” said Harman. “Did you havea good day?”
Gewey turned pale and tried to back out of the door, butit was no longer there.
“What's wrong, son?” Harman asked.
His father was just as he remembered him, tall, and leanwith salt and pepper hair. Gewey had always thought he looked morelike a teacher than a farmer. He wore the green linen shirt andtrousers that he always had worn in the evenings after the day’swork.
“Who are you?” Gewey demanded. He reachedfor his sword, but it was no longer at his side.
Harman looked concerned and tried to walk over to him,but Gewey ran to the other end of the table looking for something touse as a weapon.
Harman sighed, shaking his head. “He told me thismight happen. Gewey let me explain.”
“Explain what? You’re not my father. Myfather is dead.”
Harman backed away. “Son, please. You’vebeen through a terrible ordeal. Let me help you.”
“Liar! Get away from me.” He found a knifeon the table and snatched it up.
Fear struck Harman’s face. “If you’lljust let me speak to you for one second.”
Gewey tried to calm himself and focus. “Speak,”he growled. “But if you come near me, I swear
I’ll kill you.”
Harman slowly pulled up a chair and motioned for Geweyto sit as well, but Gewey backed away and put himself near the frontdoor.
“You’ve been ill,” said Harman. “Veryill. Lord Starfinder took you to Gath for treatment.
You’ve been back for three days now.”
“Gath, eh,” said Gewey. “I wasin Gath with Lee, and so far that's the only true thing you’vesaid.”
“I’m not lying, son. This is the third timeyou’ve lost your memory since you’ve been back. It’sthe medicine they gave you. Lee told me that the healer said thismight happen.”
“You expect me to believe that?” Geweysnorted. “You’ve been dead for two years. I buried youmyself.”
“Your fever is causing you to hallucinate,”said Harman. “Last time you lost your memory you thought youwere a God. You even told me I wasn’t really your father.”
Gewey glared. “This won’t work. Tell me thetruth, or I'll gut you right now.”
Harman bowed his head. “You’re not going tomake this easy are you? We really hoped being here, and seeing yourfather alive and happy would be enough for you just to accept this.”
Gewey raised his knife and readied himself to attack.“What are you?”
“I’m here to care for you,” heanswered. “You are with us now. Your body has been leftbehind.”
“My body? What have you done to my body?”
“Your body was destroyed. Only your spiritremains. However, you shouldn’t fear, we love you, and we willcare for you. Anything you want is yours.”
“You still haven’t told me who you are?”
“We are the first,” he replied. “Weare the lovers of the Gods. We have been waiting for you. We loveyou.”
“Return me to my body now,” Gewey demanded.“You can’t keep me here. You don’t have the right.”
“I cannot return you,” said Harman. “Pleasedon’t worry. Soon you will forget about the troubles of thatother world. Here you can be anything you wish. All we ask is thatyou love us as your kin had once done.”
“My kin? You mean the Gods? What do you know aboutthem?”
“We were favored by them, above all others. Whenthe Dark One trapped them, we were left all alone. We had you onceand should not have let you go. But we were betrayed.”
“You’re not making sense,” said Gewey.“Who betrayed you?”
“Felsafell,” he said bitterly. “Heconvinced us to let you go. Then he left us too.”
“You’re spirits. That’s what you are.What do you want from me? I have nothing to give you.”
“We only desire your love,” he said. “Itis everything to us. We need it. We are so lonely.”
“I cannot stay with you,” said Gewey as hemoved to the door. “I don’t belong here.”
“You cannot leave,” cried Harman. “Thereis nowhere to run. Soon you will forget. Soon you will love us as welove you.”
Gewey couldn’t help but feel pity for thecreature, but he knew he had to get away. He opened the door and ranfrom the house. The figure of his father appeared in front of him.
“Get away from me,” screamed Gewey. “Letme go.” He pushed his way past the spirit and ran in thedirection of town.
“You are with us.” The voice of the spiritcarried on the wind, following him as he ran.
Gewey ran until his legs burned. When he reached thevillage all the familiar faces he knew as a child were there to greethim, but Gewey ignored them and made his way toward Lee’shouse.
The trees and brush whizzed by as he ran at full speeddown one of the many roads Lee had built. Gewey stumbled to a halt.He couldn’t remember why he was running or where he was going.
“Wait up.” His father ran up from behind.“I’m too old to keep up with you anymore.”
Gewey stood there scratching his head. “Whathappened?” he asked. “Why was I running?”
“We’re going fishing,” Harman replied.“Don’t you remember?”
It was then Gewey realized he was holding a fishing polein his right hand. Harman carried one as well, along with a bucket ofbait in the other.
“Yes,” said Gewey after a long pause. “Ofcourse, I do. I’m sorry, I was just confused.”
Harman smiled warmly and threw his arm around Gewey’sshoulder. “That’s alright, son.” He laughed. “Ithappens to everybody.”
Gewey and his father walked for about three miles, to aspot along the Goodbranch River where they had fished since he was asmall boy. The sun shone brightly, and the birds chirped merrily, asfather and son sat on the bank near a large oak and fished throughoutthe day.
Gewey landed three nice-sized trout and Harman fourothers. His father always had better luck at fishing. As the sunbegan to sink closer to the horizon, Gewey lay back on the grass andtook a deep breath of the fresh
spring air.
“Are you happy, son?” his father asked.
Gewey looked at Harman mildly surprised. “Ofcourse, I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’m glad.” He stretched his arms witha satisfied moan. “I think it’s time we go home and eatsome fish.”
It was nearly dark when they arrived back at the farm.Gewey cleaned the fish on a wooden table next to the house, while hisfather prepared the stove and wash water inside. After they had bothcleaned up and cooked dinner they sat down to eat. The fish tastedbetter than any Gewey could remember.
“I have a surprise,” said Harman, as he gotup and brought a pitcher down from the cabinet. Gewey could smellorange juice as his father placed it on the table.
“Where did you get that?” asked Gewey.
Harman just smiled and poured Gewey a cup. “Mylittle secret.” He winked and returned to the chair.
There was a knock at the door. Harman sprung up andlooked out the window.
“Who is it?” asked Gewey.
“It’s no one. No one at all.”
“No one? Someone knocked.” He got up andstarted to the door. Harman rushed in front of him, barring Gewey’sway.
“I said it was no one,” said Harman, thistime with more force. Again, there was a knock.
“What wrong with you?” said Gewey. “Whywon’t you open the door?” Gewey tried to push his wayaround his father, but Harman shoved him hard, sending him flyingacross the room and crashing into the wall.
“I said leave it!”
Gewey stared in horror as his father changed anddistorted, until he became a creature of quivering mass and swirlingcolors. “What are you?”
“She doesn’t belong here,” cried thecreature. Its voice echoed loudly. “She must leave.”
Gewey felt panic grip him as the creature closed in. Hebolted around the table and tried to get to the door, but thecreature got there first. “You must stay. We love you.”
Gewey slowly backed away until he stood next to thewindow. He propelled his body through the glass and onto the porch.
“Gewey,” a familiar voice called out.
Gewey tried to focus, but the world around him blurred.“Who’s there?” he cried as he tried to regain hisfeet. A figure stood in front of him, but he couldn’t tell whoor what it was.
“It’s me, Kaylia.”
As soon as he heard her name, it all came back to himand the figure cleared revealing Kaylia dressed in the same shirt andtrousers in which he had met her in the forest for the first time.“Kaylia,” he cried, his voice filled with relief and joy.
She took his hand and pulled him from the porch.“Hurry,” she ordered. “We must get out of here.”
The door to the house shattered, splinters flying. Geweyand Kaylia ran as fast as they could, not paying attention to wherethey were going.
“You must not leave!” the creature screamedas it pursued them. It appeared to float just above the ground.
“Where are we going?” asked Gewey as theyran.
“How should I know? Anywhere but here.”
Gewey nodded in agreement, and they headed down the roadeast, away from town. After a few minutes, Gewey glanced over hisshoulder, but he couldn’t see any sign of pursuit. “Holdon.” Gewey grabbed Kaylia’s arm and came to a halt.
“We need to keep going,” she said.
“But where? I don’t even know where we are;let alone where we should go.”
“We’re in the spirit realm.” Kaylialooked around for signs of the creature. “You became trappedhere after your battle with Harlondo.”
“The spirit realm?” said Gewey frowning.“Then how are you here?”
“We took you to Valshara to be healed. But yourspirit was lost. I used our bond to find you.”
“Valshara,” whispered Gewey. “How longhave I been here?”
“Not long,” she said. “Two days. Buttime may not flow the same here. For all I know we’ve both beenhere for weeks…even months.”
“How do we get out?”
“You don’t,” called a voice frombehind them. They turned and saw the form of Gewey’s fathersmiling at them.
“Who are you?” Gewey demanded. “Andwhy are you keeping us here?”
“We did not bring her.” said Harman, lookingat Kaylia. “We only want you. She does not belong here. Shemust leave.”
“We will both be leaving,” said Gewey.“Release us.”
“I cannot,” he replied. “We need youhere. We have been so alone.”
“What are you?” asked Kaylia.
“We will not speak with you,” said Harman.His hand flashed from his side, and a dagger flew through the air atKaylia’s heart.
Gewey shoved her out of the way just in time, and thedagger buried itself deep in his arm. Pain shot through him as hefell to his knees. Kaylia rushed over and pulled out the blade. Bloodsoaked his sleeve and dripped from the ends of his fingers.
“That was foolish,” scolded Harman. “Butno matter.” He waived his hand, and the wound was gone. “Youwill come to no harm, but she must be destroyed. You cannot stopthis.”
Gewey stared in amazement at where the dagger hadstruck. “If you hurt her I’ll kill you all.” He gotto his feet and squared his shoulders.
Harman looked amused. “You cannot kill us. Thedead cannot die.” He stepped towards Kaylia menacingly.
There was a blinding flash of light. When Gewey’seyes adjusted, he gasped. Felsafell stood between Harman and Kaylia.He was dressed in his animal skins and carried his walking stick.
“Leave her be,” Felsafell commanded.
Harman’s face twisted in anger. “Traitor!”he shouted. “Leave this place!”
Gewey looked in Kaylia's eyes and smiled. “Are youokay?”
Kaylia nodded, still staring at the scene.
“Your heart is rotten,” said Felsafell.“It’s rotten and cold. You take what is not yours. Youseal your own doom. Yes, you do.”
“You left us,” said Harman. “You brokeyour promise.”
“There was no promise,” Felsafell replied.“Oh, no. You are doomed and foul. I no longer care for yourwords. Our people are gone, and I will join you soon enough.”
“We will not let him go.” Harman clenchedhis jaw. “You can’t make us.”
Felsafell shook his head slowly. “I can’tmake you. But I’ll tell him not to love you. Yes, I will.You’ll still be alone. Alone forever. Unloved and alone.”
“I will never love you,” cried Gewey. “Notif you hurt Kaylia.”
Harman shifted his eyes to Gewey. “You will loveus,” he said. “Your father and mother loved us. So willyou.”
“You’re wrong,” said Gewey. “ButI will release my mother and father. Then you can be with themagain.”
“You see,” said Felsafell. “You are afool. The fool of fools. You keep the one who can give you love, butif you do he will never love you.”
Harman turned his back and lowered his head. “Willyou return to us, brother?” he asked.
Felsafell walked up and placed his withered hand onHarman’s shoulder. “I cannot. I must help free thefathers and mothers. And more there is to do for me. But I will joinyou soon enough.”
Gewey watched as Harman faded and disappeared. ”Whathappened?” he asked. “Is he gone?”
“Gone?” Felsafell replied. “No, notgone. Just far away.”
“Thank you,” said Kaylia. “I owe you adebt.”
Felsafell smiled. “You will repay,” he said.“Oh, yes. Then I can rest old bones and tired head.”
Chapter One
Millet, Maybell and Malstisos made their way towardHazrah. The first snows began to fall just as they had rounded thewestern end of the Razor Edge Mountains. Luckily, the snow was lightand didn’t bar their way, but Millet feared for Maybell’shealth nonetheless. As strong as she was, he knew the long days oftravel and the cold weather took a toll on her aging body. He andMalstisos kept a close eye on her and did their best to lighten herburden, though s
he didn’t make it easy for them. Maybell had anannoying habit of taking on extra work, especially if they tried todo anything she saw as herduties.
Aside from the dropping temperatures and light snow,travel was pleasant. Malstisos was open, friendly, and free with hishumor. Millet couldn’t help being pleased to have him along,and his skill as a hunter came in handy, as did his ability to knowwhen harsh weather was coming.
They had done well avoiding other travelers, and onlyonce had they been forced to seek shelter at a village inn. Malstisosinsisted on accompanying them, stating his desire to see humans fromother parts of the world. At first Millet and Maybell objected, butsoon realized that he could remain unnoticed even in a crowdedtavern.
They were three days outside of Hazrah when theyencountered the first indication that things had changed in the northsince Millet had last been there. Malstisos stopped abruptly and ledMillet and Maybell into the nearby brush.
“Wait here and keep silent,” he whispered,then disappeared into the woods parallel to the road.
Maybell and Millet did their best to stay hidden andkeep the horses calm, but as the minutes passed, the cold set in andMaybell began to shiver uncontrollably. Millet held her close in anattempt to keep her warm. At first, she tried to shake him off, buteventually relented. Thirty minutes later Malstisos returned, hisexpression grave.
“Five soldiers are camped three-hundred yards downthe road,” he said. “They bear a standard I’munfamiliar with, though admittedly I know little of human nations inthe north.”
“What did it look like?” asked Millet.
“Red with a gray background, and it bore the imageof broken scales.”
Millet and Maybell looked at each other. “That’sthe standard of Angraal,” grumbled Millet. “Wemust not let them see us.”
“We should go around then,” said Malstisos.He turned to Maybell, “I’m sorry, but we cannot restyet.”
“I’ll be fine,” said Maybell. “It’snot riding that bothers me, it’s standing still that chills oldbones. Lead on.”
Malstisos led them northeast away from the road andthrough forest. Millet could feel the wind pick up as it howledthrough the bare limbs of the trees. They rode for two hours beforeMalstisos finally called for a halt and built a small fire.
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