Pain (Curse of the Gods Book 5)

by Jaymin Eve

  I snorted, and the Abcurses all turned to stare at me.

  “Is she laughing?” Cyrus asked.

  “She’s thinking about how she’s a princess again.”

  I couldn’t see Cyrus, but I knew that he was rolling his eyes. “Could we focus on the pocket, please, Willa? I can sense them coming. We don’t have much time.”

  “Fine,” I muttered, closing my eyes and tipping my head back, my arms extended.

  We had discussed the two best points for the portal: one on the dock—assuming the servers could swim—and one at the back entrance to Blesswood, between two high stone walls. Both were the easiest access points, and while we knew that the servers would be difficult to defeat, we also knew that they weren’t that smart. They would take the most direct route. No tricks.

  I had no idea how to create a pocket, but we had spent many rotations pouring over Cyrus’s maps as everyone was evacuated, and I at least knew Minatsol better than I knew Topia.

  “This is a little different to creating a normal pocket in Topia,” Cyrus explained, drawing away from his position holding back the crowd so that he could stand beside me. “In Topia, you’re just folding the land around you to jump from one spot to another. Here, you’re lining up two worlds, two different lands, one on top of each other. You’ll use the same process on Adeline’s mortal glass, so consider this … practise.”

  I scoffed. “Right. Practise.”

  “Clear your mind, Will.” Coen spoke from behind me. “It needs to be completely clear, or your destination will be confused.”

  “Visualise the map of Minatsol,” Siret instructed. “All those lines, tracks, boundaries, roads … if you’re having trouble, just look at your feet.”

  I cracked open one of my eyes, noticing the maps that someone had laid at my feet before closing it again. I had stared at those maps enough that they were imprinted on the backs of my eyelids, but I still cast several more glances down as I slowly constructed the map inside my head. I was in awe of the gods, suddenly, and their easy use of pockets. After almost twenty excruciating clicks, I called for my energy, basking in the welcoming rush of heat that flooded through me. I was operating at full power, I could tell. It was different to what “full power” had once felt like to me. It was less full, less wild, and less all-encompassing. I didn’t exactly think that this was worse, though. There was something about my lowered power levels that made me feel more in control, more of a master over my energy as opposed to my energy being the master of me.

  I began to layer the map of Topia over the map of Minatsol in my head as the power within me swirled, almost as though it watched my thoughts, waiting to jump into action. It took me another twenty or so clicks, but I soon had both maps drawn in their entirety, and I began to carefully shift them into position. My concentration and energy began to wane then, but I continued slowly, not daring to rush the process until the spot where I stood lined up exactly with the point on the map that was an empty valley in the centre of Topia. We had all agreed that an unpopulated area would be best. The gods had not yet been warned of what was about to happen, since we hadn’t wanted to chance any of them tipping off Staviti. We wanted to give them time to gather their defences, though, so we were dropping the armies far from any of their residences.

  When the two points on my mental maps were lined up, I stood there struggling to breathe, waiting for further instruction.

  “Good.” Yael was the one to whisper, and I knew that they were all monitoring my mind. “Now press the maps into one, but make sure that you do it in the place where you want the pocket. If you press in more places than one, you will open up holes in the world.”

  I did as he said, feeling the prickle of sweat forming along my brow as I bit the inside of my cheek, pressing the point on the map of Topia into the place where I was standing in Minatsol. The maps didn’t resist at all, melting together through the spot where I pressed them as heavy, hot power exploded out of me, rippling across the ground beneath my feet. I blinked my eyes open as a wave of forceful energy passed across my face and the air before me rippled and wavered. An arm slung about my waist, jerking me back, and I realised that I’d been moments from being pulled into the pocket I had created.

  I stumbled as Rome steadied me, his other arm wrapping around me fiercely, and I could tell that he was still reeling from the fact that I’d almost been sucked into my own portal. We stared up at the barely visible barrier before us, and a small sense of awe filled me as I took in the sheer size of the pocket I had created. It spanned the entire length of the dock, visible by the faint ripple of colour, as though we were staring at the world through clear glass, only barely discernible.

  The people gathered around us began to cheer, the sheer noise of their reaction shocking me, but as suddenly as it had risen, it died off, and then rose again with a new tenor. They weren’t cheering anymore, but screaming. Cyrus’s voice began to boom over their noise, calling for calm and order, but I paid no attention to any of them, because I had just spotted movement on the other side of the water. Atop the hill leading down from Soldel, bodies were appearing. Their numbers doubled and then tripled, basically tumbling over each other in their haste to get to Blesswood. They were armed, now, but not with any traditional kind of weaponry. They held fence posts, rakes, pikes, whips … objects that they had clearly looted from the towns and cities that they passed through.

  “Stand aside for the guards!” a voice shouted, and the arms around my waist tightened, drawing me back as a line of uniformed men and women began to form right behind the barrier I had created.

  A last line of defence.

  “W-we need to get to the other side,” I stuttered out, panic suddenly seizing me.

  “This side is under control.” Abil agreed, before surprising me by leading the way out. “Everyone, with me.”

  We followed him to the steps leading up to the main gate of Blesswood, and the people who had been gathered on the steps to watch the goings-on below scattered out of our way, finding footing on the mountain beside our pathway. They shouted out things to us as we passed: blessings, well-wishes, and pleas for us to save their lives. For just a moment, I marvelled over the sight of dwellers and sols mixing, side by side, united in their shared terror of what their “Creator” had done to their world.

  We reached the top of the stairs, and once again the people parted to let us through. Abil and Adeline were leading the way, Cyrus and Emmy close behind them. Rome and I were next in the procession, with the other Abcurses behind us, and the remaining Original Gods bringing up the rear. So it caused quite a pile-up when I suddenly halted at the gates, my eyes riveted to the tree in the courtyard where I had first seen Coen and Siret.

  I sucked in a deep breath, glancing behind me, reaching for them, and they came to me quickly, their expressions matching the sudden welling of feeling inside my chest. They caught my hands and drew me forward, past the tree, past the reminder of my past: our beginning.

  When we reached the other side of Blesswood, my legs were aching from running and my arms were aching from Coen and Siret pulling me along, urging me always to go faster. For once, they weren’t slowing down for me. We didn’t have the time for that. We had been right about the armies reaching Blesswood at the same time, because the people gathered on the edges of the forest were already panicking. They couldn’t see the approaching servers themselves, but I heard them yelling to each other that those who had found refuge in the arena had spotted the servers approaching on the other side of the forest.

  Cyrus cleared an area for me again, and this time I had the added barrier of the Abcurses fanning out around me, facing the crowd. They didn’t need to face the same way as me because they could see out of my eyes and read my thoughts if they wanted to. The bigger threat to me in that moment was the people gathered and the threat of their panic morphing into an actual riot.

  “Just close your eyes and focus,” Coen shouted to me. “Block them all out.”

 
I nodded, and Cyrus stepped between the Abcurses to lay out the maps for me again.

  “You’ve got this, Willa.” He rested his hand on my shoulder until Yael barked something at him—even though he was facing the other way. Cyrus rolled his eyes, removed his hand, and retreated back behind the Abcurse wall of defence.

  I glanced down at the map, quickly familiarising myself just as the tops of the trees in the distance began to shake, causing fear to ball up into a tight knot in the back of my throat. I raised my shaking hands higher, closing my eyes and working to quieten the noise around me. I repeated the same process as before, but it wasn’t as easy as the last time. My energy waned quicker, my legs becoming weak, the shake in my arms growing more violent. The maps were taking longer, too. It was almost as if the easy imagery that I had managed to conjure earlier was now slipping away. I began to doubt myself, and the accuracy of my maps, only to open my eyes and check the maps on the ground and find that I hadn’t made a mistake at all. I was preparing to push the two maps together when the noise around me suddenly rose higher, and my eyes snapped open. I could see them through the trees.

  With my eyes open, I returned to the vision in my mind, finding the two points on the map and pressing it inwards … except it didn’t move. Instead, I moved. My legs buckled, and I stumbled forward, catching myself on my hands and knees, the maps crumpling beneath my palms.

  “No!” I croaked out, when I sensed the Abcurses about to descend on me. “I can … do this.”

  I reached into my pocket, pulling out the vial that Jakan had sent to me. I uncorked it as the blurs of colour and movement through the trees grew proper form. They were about to reach us, and the gods were struggling to hold back the line of guards who were trying to push forward, to drag me away from the danger. I tipped the vial to my lips and emptied it, feeling some of the energy of Topia fill me even as the cool water washed across my tongue. I raised my hands again, the shaking dying down to a tremor, and I took the map by the two points, slamming them together. My pathway rent through the air with an actual cracking sound, and the ground split beneath my knees, forming spidery cracks all around me. I tossed out my arms, my palms facing behind me, and screamed out an order to the frantic mass of people behind me.

  “Be calm!”

  The quiet was deafening, but I didn’t have a chance to check behind me because the first server was upon us, pitchfork raised high, blank eyes focussed directly on my face.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered to her as she hit my pocket and disappeared. “It’s time for you to return to your Creator.”

  For yards either side of me, they burst through the trees and collided with my barrier, disappearing without a trace. Those that followed weren’t smart enough to stop and change direction. They could see us, a few steps away, and they charged … right into Topia. I turned around, finding all of the gathered dwellers and sols staring at the disappearing servers in amazement and disbelief … while the gods stared at me.

  The Abcurses were filled with pride and love: it shone from their faces and shimmered through our soul-bond, filling me with so much light that I couldn’t help but smile at them all. The other gods seemed to be filled with awe, except for Adeline, who only looked troubled and apprehensive.

  “It’s time,” she said to me as our eyes caught and held. “Staviti has sent my server with a message. He is calling me. He must have felt the servers enter his world. He will want to put his next plan into place, now that this one has failed.”

  The realm of death. His second contingency plan.

  I nodded, my victory short-lived. This fight wasn’t over yet.

  “I need Jakan,” I told her. “I can’t do this without him.” I wasn’t sure if it was true or not … but it seemed like a good idea to have his help. He had the same power as me, but many, many more life-cycles of practise with it.

  “I know where he is,” Adeline replied, holding out her hand. “Come with me, daughter. We need to hurry.”

  Twenty

  Adeline took me to the panteras’ land and the Abcurses all appeared a moment later, a few feet downstream beside the river that ran through their main gathering area. I ran over to them as Abil appeared behind Adeline, and we all turned toward the cave that the mortal glass was held in.

  “Why is Jakan here?” I asked, glancing around at the panteras that were gathered, staring at us almost warily, though they didn’t attempt to slow our progress.

  “I think we should let him tell you himself,” Abil replied, as he and Adeline suddenly stepped out of the way.

  I looked past him to where a soft light was glowing. I could see Jakan’s broad back as he hunched over an inert form on the ground. I picked up speed, breaking into a jog to reach his side, my heart in my throat and dread clawing up my spine.

  Please tell me it isn’t …

  “Donald,” I choked out, catching sight of her face.

  Her eyes were closed, her expression peaceful. Somehow, all of the waxiness was gone from her features. She looked almost the exact same as she had looked when she was alive … except when I pulled down the barrier that hid her thoughts from me, there was nothing. Darkness. An empty space. I had been guarding myself from … silence. I choked out a sob, kneeling by her other side, my accusing stare wandering up over her form to land on Jakan.

  “What have you done?” I forced out, thinly veiled rage rushing through me. I trusted you.

  “Calm down, Willa,” he replied soothingly, apparently unfazed by the sudden flare of my temper. “She will come back to us in a moment. It’s time.”

  “What … have you done?” I repeated, though this time I was more confused than angry.

  “The portion of her soul that you brought back from the imprisonment realm …” he trailed off, and touched a stone that had been hanging around my mother’s neck. I hadn’t noticed it before. “I called it back and trapped it within a semanight stone.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Staviti creates his servers by torturing their souls. He damages them, slicing up their essence, knitting them back together with his own intention. Their souls are still there, but he is their glue. In a way, he becomes their new soul. I had to remove his influence from your mother before this war began, in case he decided to utilise the servers here in his fight. She was in danger. I had to do it.”

  “You…” I frowned, trying to understand what he was saying. “Removed Staviti’s influence … but that means you also removed the glue keeping her soul together.”

  He held up a hand, warding off my freak-out, but then he lowered it again, gripping my shoulder, his eyes boring into mine: blue, clear, and pure.

  “Yes, her soul was in pieces after I removed all traces of him. But I bound it back together with the stone: it’s the new glue.”

  “It’s more than just her soul.” A voice spoke up, and Aros appeared behind Jakan, frowning, his eyes fixed to the stone. “I feel another influence there—is it yours?”

  “No.” Jakan’s lips twitched. “I also extracted memories from the mortal glass. Her history: your history. Our history. She will awake with the memories of what she is and how she came to this place. She will remember everything. And … she will be a god. One of us.”

  I stared at him over my mother’s body, this man who had returned a life to her that she hadn’t had for the entirety of the time that I had known her. Her true self, torn apart since Jakan had been torn from her. He had gathered her pieces and knit her back together with more care and patience than I thought anyone capable of. I suddenly launched over her body and wrapped my arms around him.

  “Thank you,” I sobbed out as his hands wrapped around my back and his surprised sound echoed around the cave.

  I was crying heavily as I hugged my father, and the distance between us forged by our lack of history narrowed to nothing. I hadn’t been actively holding on to doubts about him, but I actively let them go in that instant, and all I could think was how drastically my life had changed.
I had been born with only Emmy, my chosen family. I had fought to survive: cursed, challenged, and blessed in equal measure until the sun-cycle I died, after which the real fight had begun. Now, there I was with the family I had possessed all along, returned to me like a blanket whose pieces had washed up onto the same shore by chance; whose pieces had been returned to me sewn into one whole fabric again.

  “Willa?” a familiar voice croaked out behind me. “Jakan?”

  I fell away from Jakan, crouching beside him and staring down at my mother’s face. Her expression was full of emotion—one after the other, they raced across her features. She was remembering, just like Jakan said she would. She reached out a shaking hand and I quickly grabbed it, hope and apprehension both filling me. I had given up on my mother a long time ago. She had never been interested in me and she had never spent any time caring for me the way a mother should. We had developed a very casual, distant relationship … until Staviti killed her. Something about losing her had made me crave the mother that had never actually been present in my life, and now I could almost read the history that flooded her with every passing click. She laughed, sobbed, and gasped, reaching out for Jakan with her other hand. When it all slowed down and she was able to focus on us, she seemed at a loss for words, but her touch was warm and solid, and love shone out from her eyes.

  It was enough for me.

  A hand landed on my shoulder, and I glanced up, seeing Adeline.

  “We have no more time,” she cautioned me, though I could tell that she didn’t want to break up our moment.

  I nodded, but I didn’t actually make any move to stand, and I didn’t let go of my mother’s hand.

  “How do you want to do this?” I asked Adeline. “Where is the mortal glass that you created?”

  “It’s in Staviti’s home,” she replied. “He doesn’t get many visitors.”

  “Can’t imagine why,” I mumbled. “I can’t wait there,” I mused. “He’ll sense that I’m nearby.”