Cereus rolled his giant wolf eyes and Selth felt terror flicker back to life in her stomach, he was enormous. The wolf stood almost as tall as the branches twenty feet overhead and his eyes were a burning blue that flickered and flared like real fire. His pelt of fur was a shining silver which reflected light which wasn’t there. Massive fangs dropped from his mouth and his tail was barbed at the end, like a scorpion’s, and it slashed back and forth wildly as Cereus stared at her. “Because that’s who you are.” he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Selth opened her mouth to protest but Cereus cut her off before she could, “You yourself told me what you would look like when you came here, if you came here. Trust me; I’m just following your instructions.” For an instant the wolf flickered away and the man who had given her that silver coin, what felt like years and years ago appeared. Then the man faded and the wolf reappeared.
Selth stared up at Cereus in shock and it all came rushing back to her, “You’re the man.” she said, disbelieving, “The one who started all of this, the one that gave me that coin.” Cereus smiled, if a wolf could smile, and inclined his head. “What do you know about me?” she demanded. “If you’re acting on my orders you can tell me about the things that I’ve done? Can’t you?”
“I could,” he shrugged his massive shoulders, “But there’s too much to tell you in the time that mortal body has left.” he growled, his belly undulating up and down in laughter, “It’ll be easier to just give you back what you lost. That should bring you back to yourself or at least bring you another step in that direction.”
“It’s just that I found a suit of armor, and weapons, smeared with the words ‘false god.’” Selth broke in, not hearing what Cereus had said. “I knew those swords.” she looked up at the wolf with her piercing gaze, “What do you know about that?”
Cereus’s eyebrows shot up, an amusing look on his lupine features. “Maybe I’ll tell you all about it.” he smiled cruelly and narrowed his gaze, “Maybe not. But what I will do is bring you back to your power.”
“What!” she shouted as he bent down and grabbed her ankle in his massive jaws. “What do you mean by that? How are you going to do that?”
Cereus dropped her ankle to bark a laugh, “Because, you left something for me to take care of when you were dragged off to prison this time. Something you wanted returned to you as soon as possible. Now maybe you don’t remember that and maybe you feel as though you don’t want these powers back. But I don’t answer to Selthraxadinian without,” Cereus looked Selth up and down critically, “her powers. I answer to her when she does have those powers along with the memories of who she is.”
He grabbed her ankle again, ignoring all of her protests as he dragged her across the rough ground of the forest. Tree roots and stones dug into Selth’s back and dirt rode up into her shirt but Cereus trudged forward implacably. The invisible barrier remained around her and no matter how she twisted she couldn’t get free. Finally, she gave up and lay back as the massive wolf dragged her forward. When he stopped she found herself in a clearing that seemed out of place in the forest. Looking around she realized why, the trees, the grass, the flowers, even the ground were all burnt to a crisp. Cereus ignored the destruction and dragged Selth towards the center of the clearing where a pool of light and darkness was swirling on the ground. She started thrashing again but all that did was cause Cereus’s long teeth to pierce her feet and send pains shooting through her leg. That didn’t stop her from trying, she didn’t want anything to do with that power. Not if it could bring her back to being a false god, she shuddered as the image of the blood spattered armor came back into her head. It didn’t do anything, five feet from the swirling pool of power Cereus stopped moving.
The invisible barrier around Selth disappeared and she leapt to her feet. She turned and started running from the pool but Cereus’s tail intercepted her with lightning speed. She grunted in pain as the tail smashed into her and she heard the massive wolf’s voice one last time, “Good bye, Just Selth.” She toppled into the pool. It was as when the shadow had poured into her except a hundred times worse. Pure power was pouring into her, burning her up. Selth couldn’t feel her body, everything was being destroyed and the pain. By The Provider the pain! She was dying and coming to life all at the same time and memories started flashing through her head. Memories from a life stretched across more time than she could comprehend. Memories coming too quickly and suddenly she was in pain for a whole new reason. It felt as though a massive claw was reaching through her back and tearing her open as power poured into her but she couldn’t escape from the pool of power. She blacked out and came to and blacked out again. Over and over it happened and power kept pouring into her and that claw kept etching its way up her spine. Enough power to destroy a world, to destroy a universe, poured into Selth, but the claw was always there, promising endless pain as endless power poured into her. Finally, it ended. The pool of power was gone and Selth was lying sprawled at the bottom of a twenty foot pit.
She tried to call into her mind all the memories she had had but it was impossible. All that there was was the pain, that implacable claw crawling slowly up her spine. With gentle, probing, fingers she pushed at her back where the pain had occurred. Nothing. No massive cut, no claw piercing her body, just the same body she had always had.
She fell back into shadow and appeared out of the pit. Cereus was sitting in the same position he had been in when he knocked her into that pit of power. Selth cried out and fell to the ground as memories of Cereus competed with pain ripping down her spine. “Oh dear.” he said, rising to his feet. “Well, I didn’t expect this. Not at all.”
“Didn’t expect what!” she screamed as pain rocked through her body.
“Well, a traiganidorian wound of course.” The great wolf said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “What else could cause enough damage to stick with you for so long.” he laughed slightly, “It would appear as though you got on the bad side of Atlatraigan and his sniffer dogs. Here, let me help you with that.” his snout came down towards her head and in an instant the pain receded to nothing.
“What did you do?” she gasped as it vanished.
He sighed uncomfortably, “I blocked your memories again. The closer you are to being Selthraxadinian, Lord of Light and Darkness, the more that wound will burn you. The memories are a key piece to that puzzle. But don’t worry! They’ll come back again if you manage to get rid of,” he gestured towards Selth’s back with one enormous paw, “that.”
Before she could ponder overmuch on what Cereus had just said, a name flew into her head. “Atlatraigan!” she shouted, hands flying to her face in shock, “I remember him. He’s the reason I’m here.” she had stood up as Cereus was speaking but her legs turned to jelly under her and she smashed to the ground, “That dream was real, I really was stabbed through the back by a traiganidorian.”
Cereus laughed, “Isn’t that what I just said!” he shook his head in astonishment, “My oh my, you really get quite a bit stupider when you’re trapped in a mortal body my dear Selthraxadinian.”
She groaned and pulled her knees up to her chest, “Stop calling me that!” she shouted at the wolf, “That’s not who I am! I’m no false god!”
He rolled his eyes, “No, you’re quite a real god. But if you’re so worried about those stupid dwarves and the blood spattered statue, don’t be. They were doomed to destruction anyways, you just helped alleviate the loss of one of the more . . . precious . . . items from their hoard.”
“What?” Selth said stupidly, staring up at him in confusion. The wolf laughed and the tip of its barbed tail flicked out and touched her on the forehead. She collapsed to the ground in a faint.
* * *
Selthraxadinian strode along next to a dwarf who was beseeching him to change his mind, booted heels creating no sound as he moved across the beautifully worked floor. His gold and black leather armor rasping gently as the different pieces moved together and
his long black cloak swished pleasantly behind him. The dwarf was trying to get him to stay in the palace, “Please sir, you are a god! It is your duty to be there for those who are lesser than you. You can’t leave!”
He simply shook his head, barely noticing the massive city through which he walked, “No King Vazin, I must go. There is a battle to be fought, one that shall last a million million years and I cannot remain here to govern you while it is waged.” A smile almost crept onto his face as he walked but he ruthlessly repressed it. It wouldn’t do any good to give up the gig before it was finished. The two of them walked into the treasure room, twelve dwarves were already arrayed in a circle around a pedestal. He walked up to it and began to remove the armor and weapons that hung from him. Placing them on the ground, Selthraxadinian glanced around and pulled from the darkness of the underground and the light of the sun and infused the armor and weapons with a power of their own. “Keep my power safe!” he gasped out, collapsing to the ground as though in great pain.
The twelve dwarves and the dwarf king Vazin all bowed their heads as he staggered to his feet. He had spent the past century pretending to be a god to these dwarves, all so that he could enter this room. Oh, he could have stolen in when he first realized what was in the place but it was far more fun to play the long game, to make those he stole from give up what they had willingly. Selthraxadinian began walking towards the exit to the treasure room and one of the dwarves shouted after him, “Where are you going my lord?!”
He turned, “I must fade now, when the battle is won I shall come back and resume my rightful place but now there is nothing left for me.” Drawing shadows around himself, Selthraxadinian slowly disappeared from the eyes of the dwarves. He immediately turned and ran back the way he had come. The treasure room of the dwarves of Aulternanden was incredibly well warded and he had only ten minutes to reach the very center of it before they sent alarms resounding through the whole palace. It wouldn’t do well for the dwarven god to be caught in the act of trying to steal from their treasure room, what if he wanted to come back at some point?
He reached the center of the room with two minutes to spare and raced up the steps to where the Hammer of Al’aGoth lay on a golden pedestal. He had no idea how the dwarves had gotten the hammer but the thing was massively powerful. It could shatter the core of a planet in a single blow, could even shatter the cages at the heart of Shay’ath T’an Geltel if in the right hands. Heaving the hammer from its pedestal he opened a portal and leapt through to his own realm, light and darkness twisting all around him. He started forward and the light and darkness slowly faded, along with the memory.
* * *
Selth sat up with a gasp. “What was that?” she demanded, turning to Cereus.
“A memory you shared with me thousands of years ago.” The wolf shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
She frowned, “Why did it fade before the end?” she asked, recalling those twisting strands of power. They had been . . . doing something, something important, but the memory had faded before she could remember or comprehend what it was.
Cereus was no help, “Because that’s what you gave to me.” he said simply, “I doubt there’s any other creature in the multiverse who’s seen more of your realm than that. You’re not exactly open about what happens there, turns out that’s your loss this time.” The great wolf turned away from her and looked out into the forest. “Until next time, Selthraxadinian.” he said then leapt forward. A shimmering tear of blue and silver fire appeared in the middle of the clearing and Selth briefly caught a glimpse of a frozen tundra through the flickering fires of the portal. A refreshing breeze that spoke of cold plains and the thrill of the hunt wafted through the clearing then Cereus disappeared through the portal and it faded to nothing. Selth blinked in shock at what she had seen then glanced up at the sun. It was getting late. Falling back into darkness she appeared next to where the horses were hobbled. No one else was back yet. She smiled briefly then collapsed to the ground in a faint.
14
The Power of Light and Dark
Only Pel Abis, Ruination and Myself seem to understand the horror of what has been discovered. Celithic and Tel’arib are both creating minor deities, disciples to follow them, with a reckless abandon. They do not understand that these new Gods are creatures of Order in the way we are creatures of Chaos. They cannot be trusted.
– Journal of Selthraxadinian
“Get up!” A voice broke into Selth’s dreams and a boot toed her side. Groaning, she rolled over; her dreams had been haunted by images of Atlatraigan and other people who she had never met or seen before. “Selth, get up!” the voice repeated itself
She hopped up and shook her head, unable to remember anything of what had happened since she had left the horses. She found herself staring into the concerned face of Aren, “What? Is something going on?” she asked, concern filling her with energy.
“Maybe,” he responded looking at her pensively, “Did anything happen while you were in the forest?”
In the back of her head those words seemed to mean something, but she couldn’t figure out what had happened, “I don’t think so.” she said cautiously.
“You don’t think so? So you’re not sure if something important happened in the forest? Like, oh, say, a magical surge strong enough to wipe out a small city.” Aren snapped, getting angry.
“I mean I can’t remember!” Selth shouted at him, “There’s something but it’s not coming back to me. It’s like something important happened and I know that it happened but I don’t know how or where or what it is.”
Aren stroked his long beard thoughtfully, “I’ve called back Kant and Mattle, Kant felt the surge and he’s as concerned over it as I am, we’re leaving as soon as we can. I’ll give you a look over when we get out of here to see why you don’t remember anything but I don’t think it’s safe to do so while we’re so close to the location of the magical surge.” As the two of them started walking to their horses, Selth almost collapsed to the ground. She felt as though she had run a hundred miles without stop and hadn’t eaten in three months. It was only Aren’s hand under her arm that prevented her from falling flat on her face. He hurriedly helped her into her saddle and with a few muttered words she felt her legs grow rigid. When she tried to move them she found they were stuck.
“What did you do?” Selth asked, more curious than concerned. Aren had never done anything that was detrimental or hurtful to her before and she didn’t think he would start now.
“A simple binding spell so that you won’t collapse out of your saddle when we travel. The fact that you’re so weak makes me want to examine any changes in you now but I think caution is still suited to the side of us leaving as soon as possible.” he explained in a rapid voice, all the while staring across the river to the tree where Kant and Mattle would cross on the suspended rope.
What felt like hours later Selth spotted the two of them moving quickly towards the tree and a short while after that they were standing on her side of the river. “What happened?” Kant tried to ask Aren but he was cut off before he could really start pressing.
“Get us out of here and back on our path as soon as you can.” Aren snapped at him before climbing into his saddle and refusing to say another word. Kant looked back and forth between Aren and Selth, questions still bubbling to his lips but he pressed them down and with an angry look on his face leapt up onto his horse. He kicked the beast into motion and with an angry jerk of the reins the group of them rode along the bank of the river, angling back towards the road.
Selth tried to keep her head up and take in what was going on around her but she was so tired that it felt more like moving a bag of lead bricks than turning her head whenever she tried to glance up from her saddle. After just twenty minutes of riding she was unable to hold herself up as she rode; instead she collapsed onto the pommel of her saddle, passed out. Her dreams were strange though, as she fell into sleep she materialized in a Mardulian room. The shadows in one
corner of the room obscured her from the eyes of the other people in the room and with surprise she realized that Atlatraigan was standing behind a desk in the room, speaking into a small silver device.
“I’m sorry, sir.” he was saying meekly into the device. Then he stiffened and his eyes glazed over for a moment. He came out of the trance with a gasp, “But sir, he hasn’t been enlisted or put into any sort of formal records. I can’t find him if he leaves no paper trail.” he stiffened again, this time he shuddered as though in agony until the phase passed. Gasping, he spoke, “I have a thin lead, one of my more powerful assets is bringing me one who could be Selthraxadinian but that would mean he took female form. He hasn’t done that in two thousand years!” Atlatraigan stiffened one last time and the silver device melted on the desk then he collapsed into the chair behind him and glared with hatred at where the device had lain.
Angrily, he shoved himself back to his feet and began pacing the room. Selth pushed herself as far back into the shadows as she could, trying to draw them about her in the same way she could when she was awake. As though he had sensed it, Atlatraigan turned around, his eyes briefly passing over the corner where she was hiding. When those burning eyes moved past her, Selth breathed a massive sigh of relief, she had been sure he would see her. Then his eyes snapped back to the patch of shadow in which she hid and realization flashed across his face. He lunged towards her corner with a shouted, “Selthraxadinian!” but the dream dissolved as his hand came within grabbing distance of her face and darkness resolved itself all around her. The darkness slowly faded to reveal the forest floor passing in front of her face as her horse moved forwards with the others around it.
The God in the Shadows (The Story at the Heart of the Void Book 1) Page 15