Standing at the helm of this army was a man twice the height and breadth of any general. He towered above me, his face a sagging sac of red skin, puckered and wrinkled like a scrotum with eyes. He wore a black vest, revealing the same texture of skin on his arms and his upper chest.
“Bow before Duul!” the man shouted.
“Leave Nola alone!” I yelled. “I won’t let you hurt her, or anyone else.”
“Of what importance is she, I wonder,” he said, “that the Great Mother should visit her mortal priest.” His voice was that of an old man, garbled by throat muscles too weak to keep his throat open while he spoke.
“You blame me for war,” he said, “but it’s the Great Mother that did this. Aggression is a natural impulse that must find expression if it is to dissolve. Instead, she bottled me up for centuries until the world’s anger boiled over.
“You must think I curse the men, control them in ways they would never allow. I do not. I release that which the Great Mother quelled. Their lives were angry and weak. I show them power and strength. I can show you that strength, young Arden. Serve me. Tell me where Nola is and I will make you my head priest.”
“What about the women?” I asked. “You don’t turn their eyes black with hate. Why?”
“The men will kill each other if that is their wish. The women must bear the children of war. I will populate the world with my own flesh and blood to ensure no Great Mother can stifle war again!”
“This is insane,” I said. “If the men all kill each other, your own sons would do the same.”
“My sons will be demigods that train their anger from birth,” he said. “They will not be victimized by war, they will relish in it. Every death will be bloody and honorable in the world that I will create.”
“So human women are just wombs to you?” I asked.
“And elf. And beastkin. I am everywhere, Arden. You cannot escape what comes.”
“Watch me,” I said.
“I shall,” he replied.
I covered my ears with my hands. My head hurt. I didn’t want to let Duul plant any more ideas in my skull. I wanted out. I shook my head back and forth, as hard as I could. I had to snap myself out of this.
“Arden!” Mamba yelled. My eyes opened slowly as she shook me awake. “You were having a nightmare.”
My face was drenched in sweat. “That was no nightmare,” I said. “Duul visited me. He hijacked my mind.”
Mamba’s face tightened. “Is he coming?”
“Yes,” I said. “I need to speak with Nola.”
I left my room and walked to the altar. Everyone else had gone to sleep, likely cramming into the restoration bed suite. I was glad to be alone to speak with my goddess.
Nola?, I asked. As I listened for a response, I heard her crying.
She’s dead, Arden, she said. Duul killed my mother. He’s not just coming for the minor deities now, he’s coming for all of us.
I know, I said.
I thought my psychic link was closed, she said. The Great Mother spoke to me anyway, casting aside the weak barrier I had put up. She told me Sajia died at Duul’s hands, and that as the next of kin I would inherit the gift of premonition. I told her I don’t want it. I told her to find the god of resurrection, or the goddess of rebirth, and bring her back to me. She refused.
Can you believe that?, Nola continued. She refused… Wait, did you say you knew?
She appeared to me too, I said. Then Duul took over the connection. He’s stronger than I ever realized, Nola. He has an entire army outside the Imperial City. Can you see the future now? What happens next?
Premonition, Nola said, is a delicate power. My mother warned me that not all fates can be changed, and that those that are altered will only diminish the faith others place in a god’s power. If I tell you Duul will win, and then you defeat him, wouldn’t you wonder whether I was right or wrong about the future I first saw?
It doesn’t matter, she said, I don’t have the ability yet. I must evolve before I am strong enough to wield it.
How did he speak to me?, I asked.
You and I are linked, she said. He traced the Great Mother to my mind, then forced his way into yours. I’m sorry, Arden. I didn’t know how weak my psychic barrier was.
Nola, I said, I’m so sorry about your mother. I’ve spent my whole life wishing I had one, but that’s not the same as losing one.
Thank you, Arden, she said. Please, go back to sleep. Tomorrow will be a difficult day, and for now I’d like to be alone.
I nodded and left. I wasn’t sure I’d get any sleeping done, but I knew I should try.
+25
Day after day, we worked. I was grateful that none of the settlers grew complacent over the two weeks’ worth of peace we had. Vix finished our stone wall, made from the same brown rock we had been digging from the quarry. Two wooden doors stood at the mouth of the flat path that led to Nola’s door.
We had towers everywhere, some of which were equipped with energems. I had upgraded Vix’s ability to build, so the newest ones were five and six stories tall. They all had zip lines leading to the successively smaller towers that lined the inner path.
The vestiges of our old “gate” were still in place. The innermost set of towers had a wooden pike fence strung up on pulleys, as did the next set of towers. Vix thought it would be good to have a backup gate. Now we had two backups.
We ran low on food and other supplies, but some of our settlers were already experimenting with farming and gathering from the forest. What we didn’t lack, however, were weapons. Lily and Ambry had the foresight to tell their people to come equipped.
I made a habit of training everyone in the compound once per week, so we were all in top shape when it happened.
One of the settlers ran down the hilltop, fleeing his post at the forge. I held my breath. We had installed a large bell at the hill’s highest peak. If he rang that bell, it meant our watchtowers had passed word along that Duul’s army approached.
Dong, dong, dong.
So this was it. Our chance to prove what we were made of.
“This is not a drill!” I yelled. “Everyone, take your positions!”
Vix and I stood at the temple’s front door. We were the strongest melee fighters in the group, but we could easily be overrun by too many cretins. We’d rely on the others to whittle down their numbers so we could focus on the few that made it all the way through.
The wooden fences were up for the time being. Whoever made it through the front gates would think the path to Nola was clear until we cut the cords and released the fences. We had a few surprises in store for them when they got inside.
The first wave of attacks came from cretins and war dogs that emerged from the woods. Two archer towers rained arrows on the monsters, releasing pools of black blood from their hideous bodies. I held a batch of fresh energems in my hand, waiting for their life force to fill the small crystals.
Atop the frame holding our settlement’s front gates in place was an energem attuned to Lily’s ice magic. Every two minutes it was prepared to send a snowball at a cretin that would freeze it in place. A larger energem, or a more powerful spell, would pump snowballs out at a faster pace, but this was the best we could muster so far. A few cretins screamed as they froze, shrill cries piercing the air like knives.
War dogs were monstrous, hulking creatures with sharp claws that walked on all fours. They were not true dogs though. They could climb. As they rose up the six story towers at the base’s front wall, the archers had to fall back. They zipped down to the next tower, where more fighters were prepared to take on the monsters.