Mortal gods, p.66
Mortal Gods, page 66
“Shut up! Why do I have wings?!” Adrian shouted in a panic.
“First, let me introduce myself.” He drew his hood back from his face, revealing a strong jaw and impeccably smooth skin. His eyes were a deep copper that seemed to gaze further than suggested. It was hard to say that the colour inside the ring of copper was even that, it was like a shadow, an ever shifting puddle that flowed beneath the lids. His hair dropped to his shoulders, but was swept back comfortably.
“My name is Agirious, the Archangel of Fate. I have waited a very long time to meet you, Adrian.”
For half a heartbeat he was surprised to hear his name, but then again, he was surprised to see wings flowing off from his back. The burning copper eyes considered him for a few moments more before they relented off into the distance to the Diamond Gates.
“Why do I have wings?!” Adrian yelled again, turning on the spot as though some how he expected them to fall off if he spun hard and fast enough.
“That is a long and tedious story. So just know and accept that you are what your realm knows as an Elemento. But in the High Heavens, you are an Angel.
“No, no, no, no!” Adrian repeated, turning on the spot still.
“Please do not be this thread…” Agirious quietly said to himself. “The daemons from the Void were put down, we should be past this?”
“What thread? What are you talking about?!” Adrian said in a panic, but he got the feeling the figure before him was musing to himself.
“I am the eyes which behold the fragile threads of existence. I see not only the truths before me, but the truths yet to be, and the truths that may never be.” Agirious said, standing stout with his hands clasped in front of his body.
“What in the hell’re you talking about!?” Adrian screamed at him.
“Gods…” Agirious breathed to himself, “We scarcely have the time to give you an explanation that you will neither accept nor understand, Adrian.” He paused for a second and then sniggered to himself, almost as if he realised something in that moment. “But of course, this is the thread where I must explain it all… splendid.” Agirious said before clearing his throat. “When the Council of Faith, created your realm, they selected four of the Heavens brightest to form an Order that would guide the inexperienced beings through the trials and tribulations of existence.”
“The what?” Adrian interrupted.
“Not this thread.” Agirious sighed in annoyance. “The Council of Faith are to the High Heavens as your Kings and Queens are to your realm. In short, they are the rulers. Anyway, as I was saying, the four were chosen by the council to oversee the birth and journey of life in your realm.”
“The Order of Ell.” Adrian said slowly.
“Ah excellent, you are familiar, that saves some time! Although I must confess, your Order came much later. Men were so alluring to The Four. They were smart and stupid, interesting and dangerous, wild and precious all in equal measures. In time, the Four mingled and grew fond of their charges, laying with the women, drinking with the men. But Man is corruption. And corruption to an angel, even an archangel is fatal. When the council realised, it was already too late. The Four were recalled to the Heavens as diluted shells of their former Angelic selves, abandoning your realm to its own devices. But there were… Unforeseen circumstances.” Agirious paused for a second, seemingly baiting Adrian to guess the answer, but the young boy was still coming to terms with the whole wings situation. “You Adrian. You were the problem.”
“What? How?” Adrian stammered, wondering how he could have been considered a problem hundreds or thousands of years before his birth.
“They lay with their women.” Agirious repeated. “A descendant of the Four, an Angel by right.”
“What happened to The Four?” Adrian asked. “Who are they?”
“So it is that thread…” He whispered to himself.
“Why do you keep saying threads? What is that?” Adrian asked.
“You have many questions!” Agirious complained. “A thread is the journey of life. Each choice made and every word spoken when another could have taken its place influences the path the thread will take.”
“And if I choose to do nothing?” Adrian said.
“Choosing to do nothing is still a choice. See, your questions have taken us from a thread where we are already where we need to be, doing what we already need to do. But instead, we stand here. Still speaking empty words.” Agirious said.
Adrian fell silent, contemplating his words, fighting the urge to ask any more.
“Splended! Now that that is over, let us remove ourselves from the Plains.” He said heartily approaching Adrian. “This place is the Pandora Plains. It is the only place in existence which directly links to The Shadow Realm. It is a dangerous place to loiter.” He said pre-empting another question. “Both you and Balor are here, which means Cratos has escaped his confinements and will almost certainly release Hellanious in the coming days. This Cycle will most certainly be the last.”
“You can see the future? Tell me what happens, do I save the realm?!” Adrian let his over eagerness spill from him to the reply of a hearty laugh from Agirious.
“HA,” The Archangel boomed, “My dear boy, I see many futures, each an endless vacuum of possibilities that shift, collide and destroy one another. With that said, if I did know, I could not tell you.” He laughed.
“Why?”
“Because the ever shifting fates of existence would be altered by the very fact that I told you and what I say would alter what may or may not come to pass. The web of life is a tangled and complex mess. It cannot be trifled or tampered with, even if the one with the sight wishes to.” He warned. “However, I do wish to help you!”
“Help me how?” Adrian asked cautiously.
“You wish to save your realm, and I wish to save mine, however unlikely this feat may be. To help you is to help me.” Agirious said.
Adrian followed the Archangel with a reserved caution. He was timid and quiet, keeping his thoughts close to his chest. He recalled how vulnerable he assumed Cratos to be when he explained his plight against Gauis. Adrian was taken in, he ate up every word of his story like the eager child in Redbridge had done with the stories of the sailors. A wroth rose inside him, partly in embarrassment, partly in anger at how he had been duped. But to look at Agiriousious, Adrian couldn’t sense any falsehoods, not even in his heightened suspicious state. He seemed jovial and excitable, both traits Adrian never thought to find in someone like and Archangel, not that he had thought to find one of those either.
“The Heir, phew!” Agirious hushed under his breathe with a hint of amusement.
“Is Tristan here?” Adrian asked quietly.
“We tred the High Heavens, son, of course he is here.” He quipped back with a smile. “You are taking a different route than the others.
“What do you mean?”
“Well none of the others had the gall to speak the words and walk through an Arc.”
“Balor spoke them, actually.” Adrian half whispered, fearing he was about to be scolded.
“Bahaha!” Agirious scoffed. “Oh this is a good thread, good thread indeed!”
“Why are you helping me? Gods I meet seem to fancy killing me.” Adrian asked tentatively.
“I am no God, dear boy.” Agirious laughed. But, well, now that you mention it, there was a future gone past where I killed you where you stood for entering this hallowed place,” Agirious said, punching Adrian lightly on the shoulder, “but lucky for us you managed to not kill Balor.”
“Kill Balor? I wouldn’t have gotten here without him, I can’t read the inscription.” Adrian asked, but he was stared down by a knowing face. “You can’t tell me.” Adrian deduced.
“What has come to pass has brought us to this possibility. I believe that is all we should concern ourselves with.”
“Which possibility is that?”
“When you see it, you will know why I have chosen to help you, beyond the salvation of my own realm of course. For now, that is all I can say.”
Adrian wanted more but he nodded and grinned a stupid face. He faltered in his steps when Agirious veered from his path to the Diamond Gates, towards a shallow construct closer, like a guard house that would flank a palace.
“Aren’t we going there?” Adrian pointed towards the Diamond Gates. He took a closer look and marvelled at their wonder. The gates themselves resembled wings, stretched high over the walls, proud and fierce.
“Only if you intend on decapitation and displayed upon the Diamond Gate?” Agirious laughed, “Come, we take the scenic route.”
The puff below their feet seemed better suited to fairy tale stories mothers would tell their children of when bed time stories called for such mystery. But in truth, Adrian could feel it beneath his feet, as though he walked on the clouds themselves, but he knew it could not be true. He focused his eyes, trying to see a chink in the brightness beneath him, but it was absolute.
“What is this?” Adrian asked, scooping up a puff of white that evaporated between his fingers.
“You’ve seen the daemons the Void harbours?”
Adrian nodded, thinking of the Necurtu he saw stream from the hole in the fabric of existence upon the Kingsway Bridge.
“This,” he scooped up his own handful, “reacts to their form. There is nowhere in this plain that they can conceal themselves from the watchful eye of the Diamond Gate.”
“Is it clouds?” Adrian asked, stupidly.
“No, more vapour than anything else, but a very strong revealing incantation.”
“And it goes all the way to the Void?”
“Not all the way, but far enough.” Agirious replied.
The Archangel walked towards the building but paused shortly and looked back at Adrian as though he had just realised something.
“Your arm.” He said shortly, and rolled Adrian’s sleeve up further. “Hmm, this makes it more difficult.”
“What do you mean? Adrian asked.
“There are few threads where this has happened to you. Even fewer where we are successful in what we must do after this has happened to you.” He rolled his sleeve back down and trotted on and squeezed it. Adrian took that as an instruction to keep it covered at all costs.
The structure was very small, but pristine in its architecture. Each woven stone felt like granite but shone like marble. At the main door, two small columns stretched about ten feet above, supporting an elaborate décor of sculpted figures above. Adrian moved to ask about it, but Agirious cut across him. “All who pass through the Diamond Gates are bound to present themselves to the Citadel, before the Archangel of Valour who, in every tangled thread of fate I have seen, removes your head on the Citadels steps.”
“Lovely…” Adrian said feeling his gut churning.
“No fear, our path is much more incognito… But well… Oh I’ll let you see for yourself.” He said with a little giddy smile on his face. Agirious placed his hand onto the wooden frame, but stopped short of pushing the door open.
“Please remember not speak, keep your head down and if say run, you run.” Agirious warned harshly. He pushed the door open with a serene creak that was more of a melody than a crack. Behind it lay gardens that reminded Adrian of the Alamar Gardens in the Order. The vapour barred at the entrance, piling upon itself as though it yearned to be admitted across the white marble ground. A white marble that Adrian had seen before.
“Oh dear… this one.” Agirious said his tone shifting expressly to worry.
“What?!” Adrian exclaimed harshly under his breath.
“Do not worry, I'm sure its not.” Agirious said.
He followed the Archangel out from beneath the archway that precluded the door and into an open square, where a dazzling fountain dribbled wonderfully from its basin to the floor and swallowed gratefully by a pond of shimmering water. All around, Angels who had enjoyed small conversation with one another gazed at Adrian with a mixture of intensity and disbelief. One approached angrily, spitting in a tongue that the young boy could not understand but Agirious ripped back under his breath forcing the Angel to back away.
“We must move quickly.” Agirious said.
The stout silence slowly withered away, as discontented voices rose passionately. In a few short moments, they were howling at Adrian, spewing venom at the half breed. Agirious waded through the crowd with an authority that only his amber wings could command. None who shared the similar shallow blue glow with Adrian dared bar his path.
Agirious descended a few marble steps to a flight of stairs that dropped steeply into a narrow alley. It was populated along the walls with plants and flowers of blood red, yellow and blue, of the likes Adrian had never seen before. He tried to follow closely, but as he tread upon the top step, he felt the sharp tug that almost ripped the Hyulian leather armour from his body. But it was an undue pain that seemed disproportionate at first. He feared it was a blade that had punctured his skin, but it wasn’t. When he spun, he quickly found the angered face of one of the Angels tugging so roughly, it felt like Adrian’s was being flayed by a blade dipped in volcanic rocks.
“Agirious!” Adrian shouted, but he could feel a temper rising within.
Agirious’ eyes burned with a fury of copper power, just like his wings. He exploded into the air and over Adrian, landing just behind the Angel who gripped seemed to attempt to rip Adrian’s wings from his back. He gripped him sternly and hurled across the square, over the fountain and through the undisturbed pool of water that had been so calm before.
“ENOUGH!” Agirious howled, his voice ferocious and booming.
The small square fell silent again, with only the thrashing of water heard, as the Angel who had attempted to see Adrian part with his wings, fought his way onto the slabs of perfectly crafted marble.
“Yes, Agirious, enough indeed.” The voice calmly replied.“Oh dear, I do hope it is not this one.” Agirious said quietly.
“Run?” Adrian whispered, but Agirious shook his head quickly to dissuade that growing tension in Adrian’s legs.
The voice cleared the archway and stepped into the bathing light of the Heavens. The sight made Adrian fraught with intimidation. He shared the same shade of Agirious’ deep amber wings and walked with an authority that far surpassed even him. He was tall, with a mop of black hair that was groomed neatly, and although his face was smooth, he wore it in a bark for those who laid eyes upon it. His armour was of the same cut of the two Angels Adrian had been confronted by upon the Pandora Plains. White and gold plate over ring mail, but somehow it was more daunting. The crowd of Angels backed away, like a swarm that raced from a raging blaze. It was easy to tell they feared this Archangel.
“Illitheal.” Agirious said, disguising the tension in his voice.
The Angels dispersed, some down the stairs Adrian had been caught at, others through doors and some even left through the door to the Pandora Plains. Only Adrian, Agirious and Illitheal remained, separated by a pond of shimmering water. The tension was vicious, as though the air snarled.
“Tell me,” Illitheal said calmly. He walked slowly around the pond, his reflection beaming down into it, “What does the Archangel of Fate have to gain by smuggling a half breed into the High Heavens?”
“Smuggle?” Agirious replied aghast, “Why I am offended, I do not smuggle anyone anywhere!”
In truth that was exactly what he was doing, but his outrage at the suggestion was so convincing it almost had Adrian believe him.
“One would presume that you have seen your threads and the boy dies if presented at the Citadel. Hence you are smuggling. I'm intrigued as to why?” Illitheal said calmly.
His flowing amber wings were just as vibrant as Agirious’ but they were accentuated by the majestic armour he wore. He stood only a few feet from Adrian and Agirious.
“You know I have good reason, Illitheal, but you also know telling you will alter it and that, I cannot allow to happen!” Agirious said. There was silence from Illitheal, his six foot plus frame looking down upon Adrian. Agirious stepped between them, and their fierce gaze threatened to ignite the air. “Illitheal, you are loyal to Tristan, your friend. Please do not make me say more and trust me at my actions.” Agirious pleaded. “Tristan’s Heir?” Illitheal said quietly, almost immediately seeing his face soften and his eyes grow less fearsome.
Agirious nodded, but he was still weary.
“Why is he here? He serves no use in this realm?” illitheal warned sternly.
“He is here to decide whether we live or die through the coming war.” Agirious warned, his eyes vacant of their usual jovial smile.
Illitheal paced quietly, like he was in silent deliberation with himself. A few minutes passed before he returned to them, his face cold and stern. “Agirious, whatever you must have the half breed do here, see to it quickly and send him back. The Angelic Guard you met on the Plains sounded his arrival to me. By now you know this has passed Voltaire’s ear, and when he comes for you, I will play no part in your defence.” Illitheal warned.
“Thank you my friend,” Agirious said, heart felt, “but I fear I must ask you to extend your help further than your silence.”
Illitheal was apprehensive at the request but he lingered a moment longer to hear Agirious.
“The threads I see from here end in failure without your help.”
“What would you have me do?” Illitheal replied stiffly.
“The boy must speak with him.”
“Agirious…” Illitheal was taken aback. “Have these threads of fate twisted your mind to madness? The wings on our back carry a heavy weight, but no weight could place this half breed in the same room as him! Please, do not ask this of me.” He finished sadly, his voice stained in guilt.
“I am truly sorry, my friend, but there is no other way to save the High Heavens.”
“He truly is this important?”
“If Adrian fails, the High Heavens will fall along with all who reside here. Angel, Archangel or the Gods who oversee us all, we will all perish under the boot of the Black King.”
