Page 61 of The Gods Veiling
“I didn’t do anything today, little troublling.”
Fuck…the door I opened.
Years ago, his temples were destroyed. I still don’t know why, and he’s never explained the story. All I know is the gods basically sent the message to the realm, he may be a Beginning God and is crucial to our way of life, but he isn’t to be prayed to or worshiped anymore.
I technically break that godly decree every time I call upon him.
I’m starting to believe there’re different definitions of prayers as well.
“So what does all that mean? What does this mean for me? Why would any other god do this? I don’t pray, worship, or even think their names from fear of them hearing it. I need you to tell me what’s going on.”
“I’ll tell you the things that I can. I need something from you, though, Thayla.”
“What could you possibly need from me?”
His eyes soften. “You have no idea the amount of power behind the words you’ve said to me over the years. I’ve always been too selfish of a god to explain it to you.”
Well, there’s my fucking answer. Great going, Thayla.
You’ve disobeyed the laws of the gods and your parents.
Before I can lay into him about keeping that from me, he continues, “When a god is no longer worshipped by their people, the extra boost of power we receive from the realm begins to decline. I had gone years without an ungodly being calling upon my name. You may have spent many moments throwing those foul slurs my way, but each word directed at me has kept my extra power flowing.
“I didn’t care what came out of your mouth. The good or the bad. Truth be scribed, I quite enjoy your brand of chaos. It’s different from my own but much appreciated. You and an incredibly small number of others haven’t shunned me completely. That may not seem important to you now, but once you become a fully powered god yourself, you’ll understand the significance.
“Take the High Chancellor for example. No one prays to him other than a few of his associates, so he’s resorted to secretly syphoning power from the Gods Veil. At least he thinks that’s what he’s doing. Really, I’ve given him bits and pieces to hold over his head. I’ve kept that little tidbit to myself and hid it from the others, so use it wisely.”
My mouth gapes open and my brain completely blanks on anything to say. If I had known my words, just talking, not praying or worshipping, gave him power, I never would’ve said anything else to him ever again. My promise to my parents was and is far too important to me.
I guess that doesn’t matter much now, though, does it?
I know for a fact, though, he only dropped that piece of information on the High Chancellor for me so he could cover up the thankfulness in his tone. He can’t let it seem like I’ve done something for him and he not return the favor.
God logic…ridiculous.
I clear my throat and shake my head. “So you need me to continue talking to you. Is that it? You know I can’t do that. It was really shitty of you to keep that from me when I’ve literally expressed to you why I don’t pray to the gods.”
“It’s habitual now. I don’t believe you’re done cursing me just yet. I give it a few days and you’ll stub your toe, then blame it on me.” He smirks, and I snort before I scald myself.
That’s happened a few times, actually.
“I need your forgiveness. For a couple of things.”
My body instantly tenses. A prickling starts at the back of my neck and runs all the way through my spine. Every strand of hair on my skin stands.
“What do I have to forgive you for other than you keeping that from me?”
“For what I’m about to do.”
My voice barely lifts above a whisper. “I’m going to need a little more than that.”
He nods like he agrees, but he pinches his lips together and stares out over my mountains. I can’t bring myself to look at them. I don’t want to taint this beautiful image I’ve created by whatever he’s going to say and do.
“You know that some odd two hundred years ago, there were portals that connected five of the realms, and they closed. Those realms are Essemist Keep, Colosyree, Mystara Hollow, the nonmagical, and of course here. There was a time we connected to a sixth, Elementra. It closed even longer ago.”
He says the last realm’s name with both reverence and something akin to fear like speaking its name could be heard. That’s the only realm I couldn’t remember the name of. We have so little information on it, I’ve never put much effort into learning about it.
“We don’t know very much about it.”
