Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set

by T. L. Callahan

  It all came down to this moment. What would I give to save her?

  I reached out hesitantly placing the lotus on my palm against the one on the tree.

  The ground shook. Lava erupted into the air. Green light enveloped the tree and then me. The separate cords of my powers writhed like snakes in my belly. They bit into me, sending their essence through my veins. It felt like a branding iron seared my back. Screams ripped from my throat until I was too hoarse to do anything but whimper. A sound like the beating of a heart filled my ears getting louder and louder. I dropped to the ground. Every inch of my skin shivered at the mere feeling of the air upon it.

  Emerald-green eyes opened within the face of the tree above me. Branches reached out to cradle my limp body. My lips stretched wide in screams that were no more than a hiss as the rough bark slid against my sensitive skin. Color spread across the island. Vibrant green leaves unfurled from the tree’s branches as I was lifted higher. Cracking sounds filled the air as the tree’s roots were pulled from the fractured soil. Then the tree began to walk. Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes as each jarring step drove pain through me.

  Bark began to peel from the tree to reveal snowy white skin. The branches melted down to become long golden hair. More bark crumbled to reveal plump red lips.

  “Dia, at last, you have come.”

  My lips trembled, but no sound came. “Can’t. Pain.”

  “I hear you, my child. Birth is always painful. Yet, I would have spared you if I could.”

  “Dying.”

  “Death is but a kind of birth.”

  “Not same.”

  “That is your human teaching. You have much to learn of your true nature. You are a daughter of my blood. Marked by the lotus as one of my warrior handmaidens. You are destined for much more.”

  “Know you. Spoke to me.”

  “Your family calls me the Great Mother. You may call me Gaia.” Her face was now fully human and stunning as she smiled down at me. A yellow butterfly appeared like a tattoo on her cheek. Then lifted off and flew away. “I have not taken this form for many centuries. But I am always near for those who know where to look.”

  “You watching?”

  “Always. The world is mine to protect. It spoke to me even in my slumber. But it became harder to react when she called.” Her brow furrowed in worry. “We chose to slumber and wait for the day when the prophecy would be fulfilled. Yet we did not know the toll it would take. It is nearly too late.”

  The branches lowered. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the lava lake below.

  “My family? Meara? Jaxon?”

  “They are safe, for now. Your sister is here. I am blocking her, as I am Jaxon. In Meara’s fear for you, she might do you harm. Not deliberately, but she is not in control at the moment.” Her gaze dipped to my shoulder. “You both bear the mark of Hades. His power is much stronger in her, and she is untrained.”

  The heat of the lava reached out for me. My shallow breaths struggled even harder as the heated air seared my throat.

  “Promise. Save them.”

  “I cannot make that promise, my child. Some things are destined. Others are still to be written. The rules of the Games have been broken. The future is more uncertain than ever.”

  The branches began to weave together around me until only my eyes were left uncovered. I tore feebly at the rough bark. I wasn’t ready to die. Gaia bent over me, her body now fully human looking except for her arms. “Do not fight it, Dia. There is a purpose in all that has happened and all that will happen.”

  Then the branches covered my view. Dirt seeped through the cracks between the branches making me cough. Soon I was packed in tightly, with only a shallow pocket of air around my face. My heart was racing. My breaths were rapid and shallow. My stomach rolled with a queasy certainty that this was to be my grave. Some niggling thought was trying to break through, but I was too panicked to focus. The dirt piled up to my chin and filled my ears. What was I forgetting?

  “… call me Eros and I will answer ...”

  “Eros! Jaxon!” I screamed mentally and verbally, just as the dirt covered my face. Then I was falling into the lava below.

  27

  “How many this time?” Gaia asked.

  “It is hard to say, my lady. The attacks were widespread.” It was my lips that moved, but the voice that came out was deeper. “The Dalton tribe were hit hardest. There were no survivors.”

  Where was I?

  I was looking at Gaia from an equal height. That meant I definitely wasn’t in my own body. We were in a giant room with rough-cut stone walls. Six black thrones sitting to one side were the only things in the room. It appeared to be a crude version of the Tower Room where I had pledged myself to the House of Arrows.

  A bone-deep cold settled in. One I recognized. This wasn’t a dream. I was inside another ghost.

  “Was it the same as last time?” There was an intense green glow around Gaia that pulsed brighter.

  “An elder from a local tribe confirmed.” The woman I was in hesitated a moment, her thoughts full of anger. “A child had been born a fortnight ago who bore the marks.”

  Gaia closed her eyes and reached for the woman’s hand. The hand that met hers was covered in scars. The fingers were much longer and calloused than mine. And surrounded by that same green glow.

  “Two years, Alena.” Gaia gripped the woman’s hand tighter. “It has been two years since we first learned of the other ship of survivors. Yet we have only been able to rescue a handful.”

  “Mother, it is not your fault.” Alena placed her hands on Gaia’s shoulders. “You cannot take on the weight of all our problems. Especially this one. The survivors are not easily found. They scattered like the wind and have become good at hiding amongst the humans.”

  “Yes, that is true. But we have failed them nonetheless. My daughter, you are a fierce warrior, but you know little of politics.” Gaia smiled and patted her cheek. “There is always blame to be laid. I have assumed the leadership of the Order. As the leader of my handmaidens, you know that means that fault is always yours to own.”

  Alena bowed her head, her thoughts a mixture of pride and resentment at this truth. “Why you? Why must you lead?”

  Gaia sighed and turned toward the empty thrones. “Chaos united us for so very long. Without him, nothing is the same. But the Order is still here. Our purpose is—as it always was—to bring balance to this world. We cannot do that if we cannot stop fighting amongst ourselves. We need a leader. Eros and I are the strongest.” Her fingers laced tightly together. “But something happened to him when he went to find Lyannìa. He will not speak of it with anyone, but I have seen the haunted look in his eyes when he thinks no one is watching.”

  Her fingers tightened until her knuckles turned white. “We are hunted. Sotirìa keeps us hidden and safe. But the others lost to the human world have no defenses. They must be found.” She looked at Alena with tears in her eyes. “I cannot put this burden on Nikomedes. He is the most powerful Paldimori we have ever seen. Yet he is a seven-year-old boy. One who has been traumatized by the deaths of his parents.”

  Alena shifted nervously. “The Order has trained him hard these past years. Nikomedes is well-loved, and the people would unite around him. The fighting amongst ourselves might stop if he were to take his seat.”

  “You can see our powers like an aura surrounding us,” Gaia said. “Tell me what you see when you look at the boy.”

  A shiver raced down Alena’s spine. “A swirling wall of colors. And the shadow moving within.”

  Gaia nodded. “Nothing has changed?”

  Alena shook her head.

  “It is his connection that worries me.” Gaia sighed. “I love Nikomedes like a son. I swore to protect him and train him. Yet I fear I have failed in this too.”

  “Mother, I may not know politics, but I know battle strategy,” Alena said confidently. “Nyx will always argue because it is you she opposes. Tartarus would s
ee himself king, if only to claim more land. Erebus is content in the shadows, as always. Eros, well, we both know he is distracted.” She started talking faster, exited by the chance to do something more. “Nikomedes has gotten better. He is talking now. Set him on the throne. Let him be the voice by which you speak. Use his powers to find the lost and bring them home. Use his powers to fight back.”

  Gaia waved her hand dismissively. “Alena, I cannot use him like a common weapon. He is a child.”

  “Mother, he is both. His power is unmatched, even by you. Why are we keeping our best weapon out of this fight?”

  Gaia walked away and slumped onto her throne. “Do not ask this of me.”

  “I can do this.” A thin boy appeared beside Gaia’s chair. His wavy black hair hung past his shoulders. Big sapphire-blue eyes stared up at Gaia, their depths full of knowledge, far too old for a child his age. This was the same boy I had seen before. When I thought I was having a dream, I must have been in Alena’s head then as well.

  “Nikomedes, how many times have I told you it is not polite to use the shadows to spy on others?” Gaia admonished in a soft voice.

  “Many times,” he stated. “But how would I know what is happening if I do not listen?”

  “He has a point, Mother. He is a member of the Order after all.”

  “Daughter, you go too far.” Gaia slammed her hand down on the arm of her throne, and the room shook. “We swore to protect all children, even one as powerful as the son of Chaos.”

  Gaia’s expression softened as she turned to Nikomedes. “Your father would be proud of your bravery and dedication to our people. One day, you will make a fine leader. But you need time to be a child. You need time to heal.”

  Nikomedes placed his small hand upon her arm. “I m-miss mother and f-father. I wonder at night”—his throat worked, and tears slid down his pale cheeks—“what my s-sister would have been like if she had l-lived. My friends d-died. So many people died. But I lived. I have asked why, but n-no one answers. If my powers will s-save the lost maybe that is why.”

  Tears slipped down Gaia’s cheeks as she gathered the frail-looking boy to her. “If this is the purpose you need to heal, then I will gladly stand by you. It takes more strength to live even when it seems like all hope is lost. Never doubt you are destined for greatness, and you are strong enough to survive anything.”

  The black-and-red dragon dropped into the room from an opening in the ceiling. It flapped its mighty wings and landed in front of the thrones. In the blink of an eye, Nikomedes was sitting upon its back.

  As if called, the other members of the Order appeared upon their thrones.

  Nikomedes’s eyes swirled with colors as he raised his small fist into the air.

  “We fight!”

  28

  It was the pain that woke me. Raised voices stabbed through the darkness like spikes straight into my head. My throat worked convulsively as I sucked in gasps of air that burned all the way down. Where was I?

  “… there was no sign of a heartbeat. We have been trying to get in, but nothing has been able to penetrate the lava rock.”

  “Move aside, boy, before I lose my patience. Do you not know what the markings on her palm mean? Dia is the first handmaiden in over five hundred years. Anyone with half a connection to the Goddess felt her ascend.”

  “Mami, you must calm down. Your heart—”

  “My heart is fit and fine. I’ll not have this upstart think he can keep me from my granddaughter.”

  “Elder Rosella, please, our connection was lost—” Jaxon’s voice choked off. “If she is alive, you have to tell me.”

  I wanted to shout out to tell them I was here, but nothing came out. My hands felt around in the darkness and brushed up against bark on all sides. Panic struck, my heart flopping in my chest like a beached fish. I was trapped.

  Grandmother’s voice softened, “The Goddess’s ways are not always gentle, child, but a warrior has to be forged in fire. Use your bond and see for yourself.”

  “Dia ...!”

  “I’m here. I’m alive,” I shouted into our connection. Jaxon’s emotions spilled into me. A tangle of fear, love, and relief mixed with my own.

  “I thought I’d lost you.” Phantom fingers traced my cheek. “Our connection was severed. What happened?”

  “I met the goddess, Gaia.”

  A furious familiar voice made me lose my train of thought.

  I gulped down a sob. “Is that Lia?”

  “Yes, she’s here. And in rare form,” Jaxon chuckled.

  That must be the raised voices I heard. She came back! was the thought that sparked a second burst of happiness in my chest. That was followed by a less happy thought. Lia in a rage was not something that should be witnessed by small children—or anyone, really. She was about to go supernova on my “egg,” and I didn’t want to get fried. A goddess had already set me to boil in a lava pit. All because I had woken her up. I thought I was the world’s worst morning person, but she defiantly got that title. Sheesh!

  Dirt shifted around me as I lifted up to push against the barrier above. My stomach rolled as pain knifed through my back, but I didn’t stop.

  I winced as Grandmother and Lia took jabs at each other. “Oh, those two are going to be fun,” I said to Jaxon.

  “I’m enjoying having your grandmother aim her crotchety ... I mean, sparkling personality at a new target.”

  “Good save.”

  “Thanks, I’m practicing for the future.” He sent me a picture of him in a full suit of armor as our families were seated around Thanksgiving dinner. My grandmother was shooting rocks at him from a slingshot while his sister carved the turkey with a twisted smile. “Although I think my homicidal sister trumps your crazy grandmother.”

  I laughed and finally the pressure that had been building up in my chest eased. “I want a future with you. Even with the nuts in our family trees.”

  “Then you better get your beautiful butt out of that rock.” Heat filled me as his hands brushed over my naked body. “I know just how to celebrate your ‘hatching.’”

  “Didn’t you hear my grandmother? I’m a bad mama-jama warrior now. You best stop distracting me.”

  A phantom kiss pressed against my lips. “Yes, you are. Come back to me, Tigerlily. I need you in my arms.”

  My focus shifted to the powers at my center. There were no longer three distinct lights, but a blended swirling mass. I sank into the mass and let it fill me. Light shot through my veins, filling every corner. The bluish-white was my spirit power. The red was my shared power with Jaxon. The green my earth power and my connection to Gaia.

  Newfound confidence grew in me like a sapling that was finally being nourished. All I had to do was believe in myself, and I could do anything. I opened my eyes. The darkness was never going to take me because I carried the light inside. That’s what I had been missing. It wasn’t colorful clothes or happy paintings that kept the dark at bay—it was me. I could see my people clearly through my connection to Gaia. They were scattered and scared. My tribe had named their home Chaméni Elpída—Village of Lost Hope. They weren’t the only ones who had lost hope. But I would teach them, and we would restore that hope together.

  I understood now what my purpose was. The House of Seasons needed to be rebuilt. Not only with select individuals that were strongest, but with all descendants of the Goddess. We were one tribe. The earth was ours to protect, and she was sick. The pollution and destruction were like dark sludge staining the Earth. I could see it all so clearly.

  We would gather the tribes and start with what we could fix. Once we had helped repair some of the damage to our home, it would be time to meet with the other Houses to plan. Our enemy knew us better than we knew ourselves, but that was going to change. War was coming for us all.

  My fist shot through the barrier above me. My fingers gripped the edges of the hole as fresh cool air seeped in. With a pulse of my powers, the egg started to dissolve around me like melted
wax. I floated up from the remains. Then dropped to the ground in a crouch at the edge of the lagoon where the competition had first started.

  Lia gasped, “Good god, she’s like the Terminator.”

  My body was corded with new muscle. When I stood, I could tell I was a few inches taller. My eyesight was so clear I could see the individual hairs on Jaxon’s arms from ten yards away. My ears picked up a whispered conversation two guides were having at the edge of the forest halfway across the training area.

  “You hear what the trees hear,” Meara said gently in my mind. “Are you ok?”

  “I think so.” The pain had receded and left me with this new body to get to know. This would take some getting used to. “Are you? I thought I had lost you for a minute.”

  “Gaia gave me a choice, but I couldn’t leave you. Sisters stick together.” Her cold presence brushed against my thoughts like a butterfly kiss. “And you still need me.”

  “I should be mad at you for not moving on, but I’m selfishly glad you didn’t.” I pulled my hair over my shoulder to hide as much of my nudity as possible.

  Gasps echoed around the cavern.

  “See how the House of Season’s symbol has changed?” Grandmother clapped her hands. “The Goddess has been restored.”

  Jaxon stalked toward me like a dangerous predator. His eyes locked with mine, their deep blue depths sparked with the hunger of possession. He pulled a robe out of thin air and wrapped it around me. Using it to pull me into his chest, he crashed his mouth down on mine. His taste filled me like rain nourishing the ground after a long drought and my world felt a little more right.

  “I didn’t think it possible, but you are even more beautiful,” he said gruffly through our connection. “You, my little Tigerlily, are in trouble. You died.”

  I looped my arms around his neck, the movement was much more comfortable with my new height. “Lucky for us both this curious cat has a goddess on her side.”

  “To hell with the gods and the prophesy.” Jaxon gave me a fierce look. “You are my life. Where you go, I go. No more adventuring without me.”