Birth of a Mortal God (17 page)

She pushed him back and saw a man ashamed of his past. “G’nar?”

He only nodded.

She led him to a pair of chairs and they sat down. “But how?”

He avoided meeting her eyes.

“You started this confession for a reason, F’lar. You knew I’d realise something as soon as I examine G’nar’s formula. Which is the next logical step, since he is the only Untouched yog’mur not of U’norgarr descent to possess a superior intellect. I am more interested in the how than the why,” she said, fascinated by this unexpected mystery.

F’lar wondered if she was going to feel the same after hearing the details, but also knew she was right. There wasn’t much of a choice left. “I am not justifying my actions, but I had little time, so I had to be ruthless in order to make progress. For years, I had been working on a process to add human characteristics to yog’mur, to merge the strength of two races if you will.”

“With the goal of increasing yog’mur intellect,” supplied Elizabeth, now making them some tea. A beverage she had introduced to the tribes upon finding wild tea bushes growing near the city while collecting herbs.

He nodded. “I abducted childbearing human females from nearby villages and tested my theories, merging yog’murgarr blood with that of their unborn children. But I was so ignorant, I did not even know of this formula of yours. Had I known more . . . maybe not so many would have died.”

She sat with a cup half raised to her mouth, before putting it down. “One of the creeds of the Mages’ Guild is to not let one’s power corrupt your morals and principles. It is a hard path to follow and one on which many great mages have stumbled off unknowingly. The road to the Nine is paved with good intentions, as the saying goes.”

He had expected outrage and was surprised by her understanding. “I eventually succeeded; however, upon the child’s birth, it was clearly more human than yog’mur. I could not allow the other shang’gomagarr to discover what I had been doing, so I killed it. The mother, like all the others, died during childbirth. My mate knew what I wanted, but I don’t think she fully understood it. She consented, nonetheless. I took human blood, and using the same principle, I imbued my unborn son with human characteristics.”

Elizabeth took a sip from her tea. “That was quite the gamble. There was no guarantee that a yog’mur would react to human blood the same way humans did to yog’mur blood.”

“They didn’t. I almost lost both my mate and G’nar. I barely saved my son, and it was all for nothing. All those human women suffered for nothing! We now are on the path to cure this affliction for our whole race. If only I had not been so vain and arrogant. If only I had waited,” he said the last almost as a plea.

She put her hand on his shoulder. “What you did was terrible, but if we use your knowledge to help better the entire yog’mur race, their deaths will have more meaning. But one day, you will stand in He’nensu’s White Hall and In’kanak will judge you for all that you have done.”

He looked deep into her eyes. “G’nar can never know.”

“What do you
think, brother?”

Asteroth ran his hand over the parchment detailing the plans for the city’s expansion. “It seems . . . ambitious.”

G’nar laughed. “And when has anything we’ve done not been ambitious?”

He sat back uncomfortably in a chair clearly too small for his massive form. “But the entire Viper Valley? How long would it take to erect so many structures?”

“Ten, perhaps fifteen years,” he answered honestly before quickly adding, “Half that if you’ll lend me Father and his shang’gomagarr.”

He smiled at his brother’s enthusiasm. G’nar had discovered his passion for the construction of things one night drinking with the moulders and their ilk. Normally, men were not allowed to practice such crafts, but their race was growing, and he had decided early on that he would not stunt that growth with traditionalism. “Well, I can’t find anything wrong with this plan, and I do want those still living outside the city to have homes to call their own.”

“I may be able to even have some of the moulders craft you some furniture in which you actually fit,” said G’nar with a smile.

“No, I’ll not have resources spent on luxuries while so many of our brothers and sisters still live in tents outside our walls. I won’t die from a little discomfort.”

G’nar was about to reply when someone knocked on the door.

“Enter.”

The warrior entered the sparsely furnished room. He was garbed in elk, probably earned during the Rite less than a year ago. “Little grey man captured at border.”

Asteroth got up, happy to be out of that damned chair. “Show me.”

The young yog’mur led them to the wall where four guards towered over the bound ashen-haired man. He was barely half the size of Asteroth’s leg as he stood in front of him. “Why have you trespassed on our land?”

The man was a bit taken aback to be addressed in Zhēnli but quickly recovered and bowed. “Your Highness, I was sent by the Pillar of Light himself to extend the hand of the Empire to the tribes of the Viper Mountains in friendship.”

He studied the emaciated man. “I’ve heard of your people. You are called ewiens, correct?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Asteroth saw him glancing at his dangling member and smiled. “Your kind has stayed north of the Viper Mountains ever since the Grey War centuries ago. We bear no grudge, for our ballads speak of an enemy that fought with honour, even when it became clear they were outmatched. However, in all the time that has passed since, your kind has never attempted to befriend us. Why now?”

“Well, Your Grace, the yog’murgarr were fractured, and our most wise Emperors felt that it would be impossible to broker a friendship with a people who warred amongst themselves. But now . . .” he left the thought unfinished.

“You mean we were not a threat before, but now we are, and your emperor wants to secure his southern flank,” said Asteroth as a breeze blew back his long black hair.

“Your Grace is not wrong, but we are no longer the warmongering race we once were. We now try to befriend and understand other races. The Eranian Empire is wide and diverse with many different people living and trading within its borders. His Eminence hopes that we can add the yog’murgarr among those we call friends and perhaps, in time, discuss some trade opportunities.”

He liked what he heard, but there was something that bothered him about this messenger. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He just seemed odd.

As if reading his mind, G’nar said, “Brother, shouldn’t this man be afraid, considering his situation? Yet I smell no fear from him; quite strange seeing that he’ll be killed and eaten if we don’t like what he has to say.”

“I know, it is more than strange. But he presents us with an opportunity to learn more about our northern neighbours, as well as other nations . . . It would be a waste to kill him. No, I think he’ll be our guest for a while, but have him watched at all times. If he does anything suspicious . . .”

“Kar’ta,” replied his brother before hurrying off to make the arrangements.

Asteroth motioned for the guards to unbind the emissary. “You will stay as my guest. Now walk with me, and we’ll discuss the futures of our two people further.”

“You honour me, Your Grace,” he answered in a courtly bow.

“Asteroth is fine; what are you called?”

The little grey man smiled. “I am known as Joneras.”

Elizabeth knocked on
the door. She waited and then knocked again. Normally she would have entered a room by now, but yog’mur were quite strict when it came to how Asteroth should be approached, even though he didn’t seem to care about all the protocols.

Having waited longer than she cared to, she tried the door and found it unlocked. Theft among the yog’murgarr was incredibly rare; it was seen as cowardly and shameful to steal from the tribe when all you needed to do was ask for what you required.

She entered the large empty antechamber. The tribes had insisted that Asteroth take the previous chieftain’s house as it was the most lavish in the Black City. He had conceded to their wish but had almost all the furniture within it sent to the families who still lived outside the walls. “Asteroth? Are you here?”

There were no torches lit, which was not uncommon since Asteroth hated wasting resources and would often only have the ones in the room he was in lit. But unlike yog’murgarr, she was not night-eyed, and the black cre’per’um walls, floor, and roof made the house infuriatingly hard to navigate.

She began running her hand along the wall when she stumbled and almost fell for the third time. She had come to care about, even love these strange people, but there were times when she felt she wanted to throttle them.

Slowly, she climbed the stairs when it became clear no one was on the ground floor. The house was the size of a Zinoxian noble’s estate, and she wondered how long it would take Asteroth before he repurposed it. She made a note to mention that she could use more room to grow herbs and conduct experiments.

She had cleared the second floor and was about to ascend to the third, when something underneath her hand shifted and made a clicking sound. She stopped as she felt energies gather beneath her hand and applied their opposites. It was a simple spell among the yog’murgarr; used by the shang’gomagarr when something is forbidden to non-magic users or the Untouched as they are commonly called.

When activated, the spell continuously gathers energies in a fixed space, the size of which was at the shang’goma’s discretion, until they eventually explode. Even the most mediocre magic user would be able to feel the energies gather and cancel them out with their opposites. Though an Untouched would not realise what was happening and was likely to get injured or even killed by the explosion.

The wall vibrated as the spell was dispelled, and slowly, a section of it slid into the floor, revealing a tiny pocket in the wall, which held a lectern. A thick tome rested on it, and she quickly cast a seeker spell to detect any more magical traps.

When it appeared that there were no more surprises, she quickly picked up the book and jumped back. But it seemed that whoever had laid the magical trap had not seen the need to add a mechanical one as well. She hurried to a window and regarded it in the fading sunlight. The cover was made from some kind of scaled skin. She would have thought it wyvern scales as they were indigenous to the Viper Mountains. But to her knowledge, wyverns were all brown scaled and the scales covering the tome were jet black.

She opened it and flipped through its vellum pages. It was written in Yog’mur or something similar to it as she recognised most characters. But the grammar used was clearly different, as most of what she read made no sense. She held the book to her chest as she descended the stairs and left the house. Her heart pounded in excitement at the potential secrets held in her arms. Then she thought of what F’lar had said about her worship of Genoss. “That old hur’thlu might just be right.”

Sebastian burst into
the great hall. The long dining table was stacked with all sorts of exotic and exquisite cuisines. King Lindred and the Queen were the only ones seated at the table, with more than ten servants attending to their every need.

“Why are you marshalling the nation to war?” Sebastian asked, annoyed.

Lindred continued eating. “Who do you think you are addressing?”

He struck the table, toppling some nearby piles of fresh fruit. “Damn it, Lindred! If it was ill advised to attack the beastmen before, it is idiotic now!”

“I will not be spoken to in such a manner! I am the eldest, Sebastian! I am the King! Who are you to question your King?!” screamed his brother, half chewed food flying across the table.

“You are stripping our kingdom of every able-bodied man and all its defences! What good will a king be if there is no kingdom left to rule?! The tribes of Viper Mountains have been united. Reports say Asteroth commands as many as fifty thousand beastmen, perhaps more. We can’t win this—”

Lindred heaved to his feet. “Asteroth is nothing but a myth! Fifty thousand beastmen, you say? Don’t be ridiculous! And even if there are that many of them,
my
advisors assure me I’ll have an army of a hundred thousand strong. I’ll wipe their filthy existence from this world!”

“Supai’s six thousand cocks! Has your hatred completely blinded you to reason? Even if this creature is not Asteroth, he is a gifted general. Look at what happened to the Black Griffins. Please, Lindred, do not do this. It is a war we cannot win, and even if we do by some miracle survive it, how many thousands of lives will be lost? Leave the beastmen be.”

“Soldiers are meant to serve their King,” said his brother as he sat and returned to his plate. “If you are so concerned about their well-being, then maybe you should stop being a coward and act your part as general of my army and lead them.”

“You damned bloated pig! I will not let you march our kingdom to ruin,” said Sebastian before rushing for the door.

The King jumped to his feet as if he had taken an arrow in the ass. “Guards, seize him! You go too far, Sebastian! I have always suffered your behaviour because you’re my brother, but no more!”

Sebastian punched the first guard in the face and kneed the second in the groin, but he had left his sword in his quarters. “You are a disgrace to the ri Nok name!”

The ten remaining guards drew their swords and surrounded him, keeping their distance as more of their comrades swarmed into the great hall. “My Prince, please surrender,” pleaded their captain, a man named Rodger who had become a father to a baby girl less than two days past.

He sighed and allowed them to seize him.

Lindred walked over as the guards held him down. “Let it be known that Sebastian ri Nok is hereby stripped of all lands, titles, and privileges. He and all who sympathise with him are to be imprisoned for treason, until such a date that I call for their heads. Now get him out of my sight!”

“You are mad. You will bring Zinox to ruin! May the gods curse you, Lindred! May they curse you!” screamed Sebastian as the guards dragged him away.