Chapter 17: Reestablishment of Relationships

Bahren Mongel, Hassika and Cybrien Canbierra, the three representatives of the Vernya alliance were waiting to be heard by the High Protector.

“Cybrien, tell your sister Gillyn that our godly family and their priesthood on Calmyra has joined the ranks of our enemies. That’s actually nothing new and what happened here was simply an official acknowledgement. The Canbierra, Dohougney and Callghannen fought with us today and the rest of the clans can either stay with the alliance or join the forces of our enemies. That was always their decision to make.”

Athea told the big warrior and then addressed the smaller one.

“Bahren Mongel, I have already told you what you have to do. What are you waiting for?”

“Athea, I am the captain of Notabir’s guard and that’s all I am. I have no authority to make such decisions but I can tell you already that the mayor and the town’s council will refuse your request. Most of the large number of priests came in the wake of the war, but some of them are locals and have deep roots in Notabir. For instance, the abbot of Ghania’s temple is our mayor’s brother. The citizens of Notabir won’t abandon their relatives, nor will they burn the temples that they’ve built with their own hands,” Bahren answered warily.

“I do not care about your mayor or about the council. You are the only one I am talking to and that makes you the only authority in Notabir. Look at the corpses strewn around. I am sure that some of them had relatives amongst the locals too. However, relatives or no relatives, when you bury the dead they all will strike roots in Notabir.

The gods and goddesses of Atyseos and their priesthood on Calmyra are my enemies. This is a war and Notabir will banish my enemies and burn their homes or choose to become my enemy too. Either way, tomorrow night their temples will burn and there will be no priests in Notabir anymore,” Athea coldly replied.

For half his life as a mercenary he had fought in service of kings, queens, warlords, and once even for a wizard, but he had never fought for or against a goddess. He remembered witnessing the clan leaders’ oath of allegiance to the girl. He remembered his amusement as he saw the strong women on their knees, bowing to a girl half their age. He wasn’t amused today contemplating his choices and then he noticed the three priests from the orphanage. They were trying to find their way across the alley and stumbling over dead bodies. The black blood leaking from their eyes was blinding them and he remembered the judgment of a six-year-old girl - Unworthy.

Bahren Mongel dropped to his knee. “As Captain of the Guards I declare the independent town of Notabir as subjects to the High Protector of the Ghallan Clans. My sword belongs to you, Athea Maghon.”

Now there was a small smile on her face as Athea responded. “You’re one of the very few warriors I have met who are useful beyond bashing another useless warrior’s head. Maybe that doesn’t mean much considering my age and experience, but I tell you now that Chaos shares my opinion.”

Bahren Mongel bowed his head, wondering how many others he would have to bash carrying out the commands of his new mistress. However, he had done what had to be done to protect this town, his home and his family.

Hassika, the First Daughter of the Amazons was the last of the three representatives waiting to be heard. Athea looked into the tall woman’s dark-green eyes but that door was closed. For once she had to ask without knowing in advance the answer she would receive.

“Have you finally come to a decision Hassika?”

“I wish we could stay out of this but I know neutrality isn’t possible in this war. ‘Chaos and Destruction will hold the future of your tribe in their hands’, these are the words of the prophesy. Nirumy’s Daughters will follow you into this war, even if we have to fight our own mother,” Hassika answered.

“You have chosen the path of the Amazons but what about your own?”

Athea’s new question shattered Hassika’s solemn decorum.

“I’m the First Daughter, leader of the Amazons. You have my loyalty, what more do you want from me?” Hassika retorted.

“Aww, don’t be that way Hassika. You know Roban and I have a special fondness for you. You own a piece of our hearts. Call it love. We want you back,” Athea was smiling and her voice was gentle and soft, but her eyes were showing a different emotion.

“Roban would let me go and I never refused you. Why are you doing this to me Athea?” Hassika asked confused.

Cybrien and Bahren had listened so far but now they quietly retreated.

“He is my brother and if he can’t, I can’t have you either, we share everything,” Athea answered and all gentleness was gone as she continued. “Also, there is a problem with your new love interest. Leandris is carrying my brother’s child. She belongs to us. Don’t be stupid Hassika, Leandris isn’t your one true love. You are a placeholder and your toys are merely a surrogate for what she really wants.”

“You are talking about true love? Rhabina truly loved you and you pretended to love her as well. Now she is dead and you didn’t even shed a single tear. Your true and ONLY love is your brother. Everyone else is just a toy to you, to be used as a pawn in your games. Maybe Iane is right and mere mortals are unworthy of the love of gods. So we have to search for the love we need amongst the other puny humans,” Hassika shot back.

Athea was clenching her fists and glaring at Hassika when she replied. “Ghania, Eyna and Zeroth; that’s the love of the gods you are talking about. Their love is eternal and it is a part of my soul, but I am also Athea and I never pretended to love Rhabina. I did and I do. To you, puny human, she might be dead but to me she is not. I won’t mourn her death, nor will I forget about her when we tear down the gates of the underworld in this War of Gods.”

Taking in a deep breath she continued, “I will always love your fearless spirit, but the other part of me is becoming inpatient. She wants me to rip the limbs from your body. This is war and time for our family to reconcile. Like it or not, you are a part of it. You will come to our home in the evening and we will resolve our problems tonight. That is an order and you will obey.”

“Yes, Matassaja, “ Hassika hissed but bowed and was mumbling curses under her breath as she abruptly turned and left.

As Roban reached the source of the ear-piercing screams, Bosko, was lying on his belly and Menja, tenderly stroking his back, was kneeling at his side. Denyssa was kneeling opposite from her, stroking the dog as well.

“Bosko is a clever dog and if you spoil him for getting wounded, he will get wounded every time he has to fight. I should heat an iron rod and cauterize the gash. That would teach him to be more cautious,” Roban told them.

In response, Bosko lifted his head of his paws and snorted, Menja loudly screeched and Denyssa scowled at Roban. As luck would have it, Iane was approaching at that moment, able and eager to add her own, more verbalized comment.

“I saw old scars of cauterized wounds on your body, but every time you fight you receive a plethora of bleeding cuts and nasty bruises. You were killed once, mortally wounded too and all that happened just within the last few months. Nevertheless, you still believe you can teach a dog the lessons that you obviously were not smart enough to learn. I would laugh about it, if I didn’t have so much work because of your inability to avoid injury.”

“There should have been a ‘Master’ somewhere in your statement,” Roban grumbled and Iane immediately followed up and corrected her mistake.

“Shut up, Master!”

Iane joined Menja and Denyssa stroking Bosko. The gash in his hind leg was rapidly closing when Athea joined the gathering.

“Bosko is astonishingly smart, fast and he is very strong, even for such a huge dog. That and the blue eyes aside, it seems that’s all you have changed. I would have at least expected him to be wearing a palm-tree braid on top of his head and his fur to be extraordinary colorful.”

Menja’s head snapped up as if someone had struck her and the worried expression on her face transformed into one of wide-eyed wonderment. Denyssa was screeching, “Zeza!”, but the damage was already done.

“White fur and a braid like mine. Blue, red and green dots would look awesome on white fur!”

“The poor dog; in this case, I recall my previous objection. Make him breathe fire as well, at least then he will be able to burn himself and end his misery,” Denyssa groaned.

“Breathing fire? Actually that’s not a bad idea,” Roban mused.

“See! Daddy likes it too!” Menja pointed out, excitedly clapping her hands.

“If Bosko could breathe fire the whole town would be standing in flames now. So of course your daddy likes it!” Denyssa scoffed.

“Zeza said she wants the temples burning and Bosko could help with that too!” Menja, unperturbed, happily suggested.

“Do I have to remind everyone that this dog is usually very close when we are sleeping?” Leandris worriedly asked.

“That’s a quite reasonable objection, but sadly we are dealing with Creation, Chaos and Destruction, also known as the Trinity of Insanity,” Iane dryly remarked.

“Said the wise woman who happily and willingly enslaved herself to the worst of them,” Leandris equally dry retorted.

At that moment, Bosko opened his giant snout and licked with his long, broad tongue all over Menja’s face. She was joyfully giggling until she heard Jenaya.

“If Menja isn’t worried her cute, little face could be fried crispy in a situation like that, I think we should trust her and stop fretting about it. It’s her dog, her decision and her responsibility ... and face.”

After that comment, Menja looked at Bosko, wrinkled her nose and fell silent, deeply in thought. Athea used the sudden quiet for her own announcement.

“While my little sister ... hmm, actually I should say sisters now ... are pondering the concept of consequences and responsibilities, I want you all to know that this evening I am planning to resolve some issues that have lately surfaced. They are issues of a very personal matter and we all are concerned. I want it to become a celebration, there is no reason for anyone to feel scared. Every one of you will take part in our happy reconciliation.”

Athea was smiling as she told them of her plan, but she could see on the faces of her audience that her announcement was still received with a lot of trepidation.

Trepidation was an emotion unknown to gods.

“Chaos declared war on us. So do we call our meetings war councils now?” Messaya asked.

“That’s one of the many mistakes we have made. The humans we use as our vessels are mere tools and likewise we ignored the human vessels of Chaos and Destruction. We ignore them because they are powerless, but that isn’t true for the permanent vessels. It wasn’t Chaos who declared the war, it was Athea. I don’t know their relationship, nor do I know that of Roban and Destruction, but I know they empower each other. Roban is controlling Destruction’s rage, using it really, just as Athea is using Chaos power. She is forming alliances, which is something Chaos never would have done - never could have done. If we continue ignoring them, our plans will continue to fail. The little girl, Menja, she will use Ghania as well,” Feya replied.

“It was your plan to break the bond between Chaos and Destruction,” Injontas pointed out.

“Yes, it was a part of my plan to separate Chaos from Destruction. You agreed to that plan, but like always, you had to use the easiest strategy without telling me anything about it. Since you couldn’t kill his vessel this time, you tried killing the vessels of Chaos and Submission. You only succeeded in killing one of their lovers, a girl who apparently meant something to Athea. Are you listening this time? I said that she meant something to Athea, not Chaos, and now remember who declared the war!” Feya retorted.

“None of us planned on killing the girl. It was a decision made by the assassin,” Balkhor answered shrugging his shoulders.

“By the way, the girl is waiting for her judgment and she is an Amazon, do you want her Nirumy?” Messaya wanted to know.

“No, keep her as far away from my hunting grounds as possible. She is your problem now. Your assassin killed her. Besides, the Amazons of Vernya decided to stay with Athea. They are lost to me. My own prophesy turned against me.” Nirumy answered and she was smiling.

“Apparently you are less than upset about the loss, how come?” Ipochone asked.

“You are the Goddess of Love and should know the answer to your question,” Nirumy told her.

“I do,” Ipochone replied, smiling as well now.

“Very romantic, but there is a war we have to discuss,” Khor grunted.

“The fastest way to end this war would be to surrender,” Feya stated without smiling.

It was a simple statement, but to the gods and goddesses the concept of surrender was as unfathomable as the feeling of trepidation.

“Surrender?” Messaya and Balkhor simultaneously exclaimed their question.

“I AM THE GOD OF WAR! I will never surrender to anyone!” Khor shouted.

Even Maldurin woke up and drowsily responded, “They are bound to Calmyra and can’t reach or harm us directly, why surrender?”

“We pride ourselves of being powerful gods but without a world to lord over we are gods and goddesses of nothing. We are bound as tightly to Calmyra as they are. Furthermore, you still won’t heed my advice. We banished and forced a bond on Chaos and Destruction, but Athea and Roban are born on Calmyra. It’s their home, like Atyseos is ours. However, I agree with you, it would be the fastest way but sadly surrendering wouldn’t solve anything. A walk outside this cave is all it takes to remind me of that fact. We are fighting Chaos and Destruction and if we lose or surrender, the outcome would be the same. We have to win this war.”