“We were told that this goddess is merely one of your kind that takes the position of goddess, as others before her, and that if she is killed, another will simply take her place, and then another, and so on, so that killing her is not a solution to stop this madness.”
Sang didn’t hesitate to answer. “It is true that if she is killed, her followers may not stop simply because she is killed. Hunting and killing has given them a taste for power, so another leader will likely emerge to take her place. If killing her would stop this war with other worlds and what she is doing to her own kind, we would have tried to kill her ourselves if we could.
“But she is very powerful, with many who believe in her and do what she tells them. She teaches them that through eating the flesh of intelligent beings, like your kind, they will gain the strength and wisdom of those they eat, making them superior beings. Unlike eating our traditional food of float weed and muscle snails, they find a thrill in the danger involved. It gives some of them the chance to rise to be champions of the kills. Champions gain the favor of the goddess. That means that if she is killed, another would very likely want to take her place.
“Those with me could never succeed in stopping them because they have learned to fight, and they are vicious at it. Those who believe like me that what they do is wrong are not fighters and we don’t have their fighting skills.
“But on the other hand, if she is killed and if her followers are dealt a severe enough blow with many in their ranks killed on their home ground, they may then for the first time fear for their lives, fear for their world, fear for their offspring, and they may go back to the way we have traditionally lived for as long as any of us knows.”
Richard studied Sang’s emotionless face for a moment. “It’s also possible that even if she and a number of her followers are killed, they could still hold to their belief in collecting and hunting other worlds, gather followers and revert to this savage life.”
Sang nodded. “Yes, this is true, and this is why, besides killing the goddess and enough of her followers as only you would be able to do, there is another important aspect to what must be done.”
Richard had thought there had to be more to it. “And what would that additional thing be that would need to be done?”
“The device that allows them to go to other worlds must be destroyed once and for all. If they are denied any possibility of ever hunting other worlds, they could not win over followers, and without followers—believers—they could not continue.”
Richard felt goose bumps ripple up his arms to the nape of his neck. He didn’t like the idea of being an assassin. He remembered telling Zedd once that if he took the sword, he would not be an assassin. Zedd had told him that he could be whatever he wanted to be. Not only the world, but he himself had changed since he’d taken the sword. He now understood that there were times when it was necessary to stop a deadly threat and that killing was often the only way to do that. The difference between him and those he had to stop, like the goddess and the Glee, was that they killed because they wanted to; he killed because it was the only way to survive and prevent killing from continuing.
“I presume you are here, then, to ask me to somehow return to your world and kill the goddess for you along with enough of her followers to discourage them.”
Sang bowed his head. “Yes. You have it exactly right.”
“Let’s just say for the sake of argument that I agreed. So then, if I went to your world and could accomplish such a thing for you, you would then send us back here and you would then destroy the device so it could never be used again?”
“No,” Sang said with a sorrowful shake of his head. “You must also destroy the device with that weapon you carry.”
“How could I possibly destroy a device that I don’t even understand?”
“We cannot destroy the device because there is nothing in my home world that would be powerful enough to harm it.” With a claw, Sang gestured to Richard’s left hip. “I have seen you use that weapon. I have seen it do things that I find hard to believe. I have seen it do things that nothing else could do. We do not have anything like it. I believe it is the only weapon that could destroy the device.”
Richard was feeling a rising sense of dread. “If I were to agree to come to your world and I succeeded in defeating the Golden Goddess and her followers, and then destroyed this device that allows them to go to other worlds, how could I come home, to my world?”
Sang reluctantly shook his head again. “There would be no way. With the device destroyed, you would not be able to return to your world.”
49
Richard swallowed, trying to moisten his suddenly dry mouth, not entirely sure he had heard Sang correctly.
“You’re saying that I could never return to my world? Never? There would be no way for me to return?”
Sang nodded sorrowfully. “Yes. I am sorry. Once you destroy the device, you would not be able to return here. I am sorry, but it is the only way.”
Richard shook his head, not wanting to believe that he would have to stay there, in Sang’s world.
“I don’t know if I could leave my world for yours to fight for those on your side who can’t—or won’t—do it themselves, and then, even if I succeed, never be able to return home to my mate, my offspring, my people, and my world. That is too much to ask.”
“I am sorry, but there is no other way,” Sang said. “But it would not simply be that you fight for those like me, it would be for the survival of those in your world as well.”
Richard blinked in disbelief. “I don’t see how I could live in your world.”
“I can tell you that of all the worlds the goddess has collected, none can begin to match the beauty of my own home world, so you would at least have that. Your world, here, is a harsh, dry place. My world is lush and warm and beautiful beyond anything you have ever seen before.”
Richard had to remind himself to hold back his rising anger. This wasn’t personal. Sang was trying to find a way to end the bloodshed, even if the solution he had come up with was unacceptable.
“I don’t care how beautiful it is, it’s not my home. Everyone I love is here, in this world.”
Sang cocked his head to the side. “But this is such a dry place. I don’t know how you are even able to survive here. We have much trouble coming here because of how dry it is. We must put the jelly of the scrum plant on ourselves to help keep our skin moist while we are here, or it would dry out and crack. Then we would bleed, and we would die.”
That explained the gelatinous masses that Richard had seen slide off of them when the Glee first arrived, as well as the wet appearance of their skin.
“Sang, I’m not sure I could ever agree to such a thing—to leave everything I have here and everyone I love, never to return. As you may know, my own offspring are about to come into the world.”
“I do know about the imminent arrival of your offspring. Please believe me when I say that I sympathize with your reluctance,” Sang said, sounding sincere. “If the situation were reversed, I don’t know that I could stand to live in your world, never to return to mine.” He gestured at Vika. “But you would have this female with you, at least.”
“That is not enough, nor is it a solution.” Richard gestured up to the Keep. “My mate is there.”