He didn’t stop gnawing until the ancient god’s head rolled free.
Chapter Fifty-nine
4th day, Month of the Bat, Year of the Rat
First Year of the Restoration of the Imperial Court
163rd Year of the Komyr Dynasty
737th Year since the Cataclysm
Zhangjian (The Place Between)
Cyron rolled to his feet, staring at the severed head. “Is he really dead?”
Tsiwen, having regained her color, nodded. “As dead as it is possible for him to be.”
Pyrust stepped forward as Shimik slid from the body and wriggled to Jorim’s side. “But there is no god of Death. I know this. There never has been.”
Tsiwen opened her hands. “Death, just like life, appears to operate independently of a patron god.”
The Viruk nodded. “Death existed before Nessagafel. A god of Death, were one to exist, would be the harvester of souls, arbitrating who is allowed to return to the world.”
Cyron frowned. “Then without such a god, Nessagafel could return.”
“As long as there are those who worship him, he could return. Only a god of Death could prevent it.”
Nirati crouched beside the body. “You needn’t worry about his returning. I won’t allow it.”
Cyron shook his head. “You can’t just appoint yourself a god.”
“I didn’t have to. Nelesquin created the Durrani and they worshipped me. Even now, if I listen, those fighting in Moriande offer prayers so they will not disgrace themselves.” She stood. “I shall be the goddess of Death. Nirati the fox. And I shall keep Nessagafel in a grave until the last of his followers comes to me.”
Tsiwen turned to her. “This is not a pleasant choice you are making.”
“You don’t understand, sister.” Nirati smiled easily. “All my life I sought my talent and never found it. Yet the one thing I did well was die. Death is my talent, and rebirth is the gift I can give to those who deserve it.”
Pyrust nodded. “I trust, in time, you’ll find I deserve it.”
“I find you already do. Rebirth, and an even greater reward.” Nirati waved a hand and Pyrust vanished.
Cyron stared at her. “You have taken to your powers quickly, Nirati. A talent indeed.”
Nirati bowed her head, then gestured again and Nessagafel’s corpse disappeared. “If you will excuse me, there are a few things to which I must attend. It would help me, brother and sister, if you could do something about the war.”
Nirati faded and Cyron stared after her. His eyes narrowed. “She said ‘brother and sister,’ but looked at me, not Jorim.”
Tsiwen linked her arm through his. “He is still her brother, and so are you, now.”
“What?”
“How is it that you came to be here, Cyron? Only a god surrendering a mortal sheath can appear here upon death.”
“I am no god.”
“People worship you. They attribute miracles to you.” Tsiwen led him toward Jorim. “You saw the offerings they left in your name, incense burned, relics displayed in those shrines. To those people, you are a god.”
“But what am I the god of?”
Her laughter came softly to his ears. “You are the god of your talent. You are the god we need. Nessagafel created his children to amuse him, but as it is on earth, so it is in the Heavens. We became a bureaucracy beneath him. You reformed the bureaucracy. You are Cyron, Prince of gods. You unite us and rule over us, bringing order to Chaos and paradise to the world.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“That’s the joy of being a god. You don’t have to believe. Others already do. Just listen.”
Cyron paused for a moment, and the voices did come to him. Prayers of thanks, panicked prayers asking for help, desperate prayers, and grieving prayers. Hundreds of thousands of voices, and not just human, but Viruk and Soth and creatures that Cyron never even knew existed.
And one desperate voice, coming from a few feet away.
Nauana knelt there, cradling Jorim’s head in her lap. She stroked his forehead, wiping away her own tears. Shimik sat beside her, holding Jorim’s hand. The bleeding had been stopped and the gashes healed. Jorim breathed steadily, but stared up blankly.
Cyron crouched and took his other hand. He patted it. “Jorim. Jorim Anturasi. Wake up.”
Tsiwen squeezed Cyron’s shoulder. “He doesn’t hear you.”
“I don’t understand.”
A tear rolled down Tsiwen’s cheek. “Nessagafel started to unmake him, but Jorim fought. He gave up little pieces of himself to protect the core. He’s in there, somewhere. Only he doesn’t have the words to communicate. He’s a child again, an infant.”
Nauana wiped her eyes. “But he can learn?”
Tsiwen nodded. “Yes, he can learn.”
Shimik grinned with a mouthful of golden teeth. “Jrima, Shimik learna, learna big.”
The dark-haired woman again stroked Jorim’s brow. “I shall take Tetcomchoa back to Nemehyan. I shall teach him. We all will. We will give him back his mind.”
Anaeda Gryst glanced over at Cyron. “I will take them back on the Stormwolf, if I have your permission, Highness.”
“It is no longer mine to give, but I think it is an excellent idea.” Cyron nodded. “Please take Nirati’s army with you and leave them on Anturasixan.”
“Anturasixan?” The ship’s captain eyed him suspiciously.
“A large continent. I doubt you’ll miss it.”
“Very good, my lord.”
Tsiwen beckoned Talrisaal to her. “You would go with Wentoki to help them care for him, no?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
“And I would grant you leave to do that, if you would do something else for me first.”
The Viruk bowed. “Whatever you command, Mistress.”
She gestured. A hole opened in the blackness. A simple garden appeared, with flowers in bloom and brightly colored birds singing in the trees. Cyron recognized things, then realized memory was an artifact of his mortality. His knowing, on the other hand, came from his new office.
Talrisaal staggered. “The garden. That was my home on Virukadeen.”
“So it is again. A gift from Wentoki’s mortal brother.”
“A man did that?”
“Indeed. You might be cautious about whom you enslave in the future.”
The Viruk nodded. “Why do you show me this, Mistress?”
“This is a man’s gift to the Viruk. I show you the garden so you will go there. I wish you to be my gift to the Viruk, to welcome your people back to their home.”
Talrisaal smiled. “Those flowers, the blue ones, they made us fertile. There were no more when Virukadeen died.”
“Then I suggest, Talrisaal, you spend your time well and recover all you need to know about child rearing, for that shall no longer be a lost art among the Viruk.”
“Forever shall I praise your name, Tsiwen, and pray often for your wisdom.” Talrisaal stepped through the window. Before it closed, he bent to sniff the blue flowers and smiled.
Tsiwen smiled. “Do you approve, brother?”
“You’re wise enough to know I do.” Cyron grinned. “But now, the war. Nirati wishes it stopped. Is there a way we can do this easily?”
“Easily, no.” She took his hand in hers. “Spectacularly, oh, yes.”
Chapter Sixty
4th day, Month of the Bat, Year of the Rat
First Year of the Restoration of the Imperial Court
1st Year of the Jade Dynasty
737th Year since the Cataclysm
Quunkun, South Moriande
Imperial Nalenyr
Though Kaerinus had sealed my wounds and healed the broken bones, I was in no shape to fight. My arms still ached-full healing would take time. While Ciras had killed all the kwajiin, he’d not escaped unscathed. The chances of our getting to North Moriande alive were slender at best.