Other than the other chamber, Maiya had never once seen a tree like this.
“It seems they used to exist in great numbers, before the Fall,” the Blessed Chosen said from up ahead, almost as if he were reading her thoughts. “Now, only a paltry handful exist.”
“These aren’t normal trees,” Maiya said, following him to a hollow where the roots split at the base of the great trunk, leading into it.
“No,” the Blessed Chosen said. “No, they are certainly not.”
“Are they… connected to the gods? The ones you mentioned earlier?” Maiya asked, unable to resist. There was something so mystical about this place. Her heart raced, and she wished she could tell Vir. After all, hadn’t he experienced something similar in the Ashen Realm?
“In a way. Though exactly how, I do not know.”
Maiya stared at the great roots that curved up to form the trunk of this tree as she passed through the cavity.
The short passage led to a small chamber, within which a circular table sat, occupying a good half of the room.
As Maiya approached, she realized it was no table at all, but rather a basin filled with an inky black liquid.
“Grab a hold of it,” the Blessed Chosen said, taking a position opposite her and grasping the edge of the table.
Maiya obliged. The moment she did, the liquid began to swirl. It glowed with light… and a scene began to take form in the water in front of her.
“And so, the transference begins.”
Maiya hardly heard him. She was too transfixed on the image forming within the pool.
56
MANTLE OF THE BLESSED CHOSEN (PART TWO) (MAIYA)
It was winter there.
Having only recently traveled to the frigid, snowy terrain, Maiya understood she was being shown a vision of Sai. Not Kartara—the capital she’d raided—but some other town. Likely either Kaiya or Ksaia, she wasn’t sure.
So cold…
Two brothers sat huddled by a wall in some slum, their shoulders touching for warmth, shivering, with only the thin rags of a blanket to cover them. They couldn’t have been more than eight.
The scene rapidly shifted, now showing more of the brothers. In each, they appeared slightly taller than before, though no less bony and frail. The liquid pool showed them stealing for food and huddling in abandoned hovels before ultimately being thrown out.
The passage of time continued, showing the brothers joining gangs and heckling others. Those were better years—the brothers wore nicer clothing. While not happy, Maiya could see they were at least surviving and packing on some weight.
Weight that marked them as different from the others. The brothers had always been taller than the other children, yet now they were bulkier. Maiya knew then whose story she was witnessing unfold. Why she was being shown the Blessed Chosen’s past, she couldn’t understand, but she watched on, transfixed nevertheless.
The brothers’ bulk continued to build as the years passed. The young teens graduated from mere intimidation to bullying, and sometimes even borderline torture. All for their gang. Their clothing improved, and they no longer lived on the street. As leaders, they’d claimed a building all on their own.
Their operation expanded. The two brothers were feared and respected by their rivals and members alike.
Until, one day, their reign was suddenly cut short, their stronghold ravaged.
Not by the city officials—they’d been well bribed to leave the gang alone—but by another gang. A larger one, who worried the two brothers would someday pose a challenge.
They didn’t kill the boys. They killed most everyone else, but the leaders they left alive.
Maiya gasped, knuckles clutching the edge of the pool as she leaned closer.
Two thugs forced one brother to kneel while the other was dragged to a chopping block. The brother was forced to watch as his sibling’s tongue was ruthlessly cut and burned to staunch the bleeding.
The Silent One’s screams became muffled, guttural noises that were almost worse. The elder brother who’d been forced to watch railed against his captors, kicking and screaming in his brother’s stead… but it was no use.
What followed was a brutal beating and breaking of bones, after which the brothers were thrown out onto the streets like dogs.
With nowhere to go, the elder brother guided his now-mute sibling into the sewers. Deep into its depths, where none would find them.
From there, he raided the surface, bringing back food, lighting orbs, and other supplies to make their lives livable in the dark, putrid place.
Months passed, and when one fell sick—an inevitability in such a place—the other would fetch medicine, often ransacking healers’ stores to do it.
The scene shifted again, and this time, Maiya saw the brothers plumbing the depths of the sewers. It’d become something of a hobby of theirs—for there was precious little to pass the time in that place.
To their amazement, the tunnels led deep. Far deeper than they’d ever anticipated.
They discovered an entire maze of streets and roads beneath the sewers. Attracted by the call of adventure and more sanitary living conditions, they moved their home deeper and deeper, intent on mapping the area in its entirety.
Maiya saw the joy on the brothers’ faces. Joy they hadn’t felt in years. This was their castle. A castle no one would knock down.
And then, one day, they found something buried so deep, so long forgotten, that they were sure no one alive knew of its existence.
They discovered the ruins of an ancient city. From before history. From the Age of Gods.
Chills ran down Maiya’s back. What she was witnessing had likely only ever been witnessed by two other sets of eyes. No one else.
The city wasn’t a ruin at all. Just… dormant. Awaiting the arrival of the right people.
Blue-white lights blazed to life, illuminating the road to the many buildings.
As if summoned from a deep slumber, a giant being formed out of thin air, right before the brothers’ star-struck eyes.
A god. With a face so grotesque, Maiya knew immediately. This was no benevolent entity. Its face was a mask of wrath and hatred. Not the hatred any mortal could possess, but hatred that had simmered and cooked for thousands of years.
She also knew his identity. While she’d never seen him, she did know someone who had. Someone who had explained his features in great detail.
“You have arrived,” Janak said to the brothers, as if he’d expected them all along. “Good. It would seem that they are not the only ones capable of guiding Fate. There is much work to be done, and little time. You seek vengeance. You seek a life beyond dregs and sewers. You seek power. Work with me, and I shall see to it that you obtain power the likes of which you cannot fathom.”
Maiya couldn’t understand. Why was she being shown all of this? Why would a god broker a deal with these two urchins?
She tore her gaze from the pool, intending to ask the Blessed Chosen to clarify.
She found him missing. She’d been so absorbed in the pool’s visions that she’d lost track of her surroundings.
Cursing her mistake, Maiya’s eyes darted around the small room. She caught sight of the Blessed Chosen too late. Too late to avoid the man’s large hands as they wrapped around her head.
Maiya’s vision spun.
What in Adinat’s name?
The small room had disappeared, replaced by the bustling streets of a northern city in the midst of winter. The same city from the pool’s vision. Except now, she was in it. She felt the icy ocean’s wind and the salt on her skin. She saw the ships’ sails flutter and the seamen bustle.
What magic allowed the Blessed Chosen to transport her like this, Maiya did not know.
“We are in my mind, now,” the Blessed Chosen said, looking upon the scene with nostalgia. “The part of it most sacred to me. Fitting, perhaps, for it to take the form of this place.”