God of the Abyss (34 page)

I woke up one morning feeling empty… and not. The
void was always there, like a field of darkness looming over me, but it was actually
inside me. On this particular morning, it was like something new was there, and
it seemed even darker than the void. I was afraid and anxious, but there was no
explanation.

The next day, I could feel the void even less.
Something was overtaking the void in my blood and it was horribly wrong.

My guard handed me clothes and told me to get up as
politely as a goblin possibly could. If it were a person who woke me early to
make such demands, I probably would have ordered him to be set on fire.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t fire my goblin guards.

I shuddered as the rough skin brushed across my more
sensitive flesh, before the creature grumbled and left. I got out of bed slowly
and took my time getting dressed. My people would wait for me, because everyone
knew I was liable to hang someone who talked to me too early in the morning.

I reached for the door, my eyes slipping closed with
lethargy. It was the sudden and close explosion, not the odd jolt of adrenaline
which shot up my spin an instant before, that made me open my eyes. The door
was gone, revealing nothing more than a pile of wooden rubbish before me.
A
bomb? An assassination attempt? What a foolish perpetrator.

The guards came running, but what good were they now?

My bedroom was elegant compared to others, with soft
textures and rich colors. It was not by my design but my father’s, and so the
bed was far bigger than anything I would ever need. While growing up, I thought
it would help my image and relay to people that I was powerful. Instead I was
known as merciful and silly most of the time. I learned not to be concerned
with my image.

The important thing was that when there were
problems, my citizens would obey me without questions. I hated that everything
was my obligation, but I took the responsibility seriously. I wanted to have
fun, pull pranks, and skip out on boring meetings, but I could be afforded
that. I was High King, in charge of the entire world, so as long as I did my
job well on the important things, nobody cared if I escaped to a library when
they wanted to talk about proper vegetable growth.

Most of my people thought it had something to do with
my curse anyway. Really, I just wanted to be happy, and being responsible for
the remaining population of Dios would never make me happy, so I had to try to
be optimistic.

My people usually frustrated me; it was their fault
Dios was almost destroyed. They expected me to fix it all on my own without
taxes or resources or people to build the tools I needed, and when I succeeded
despite everything, they thwarted my plans with war. They didn’t trust my
judgment because I was young and they pitied me because I couldn’t use magic.
But the void inside me also prevented people from using magic on me, and that
gave me control nobody else had.

Against the wishes of many of my people, I continued
to rebuild the surface, because I could see what was right even if they
couldn’t. Of course, there would be new problems I would have to face, and
ruling the surface and under cities would be twice the work for me, but I knew
it was worth it. The children deserved to breathe fresh air… and I knew what we
had would never last.

I had been told over and over again that we had
enough resources to survive for another hundred years underground, but I could
see the truth. Others were blinded by the power they trusted. They believed
that if magic could create light and make plants grow, it could make up for
having no sun. We had machines to make oxygen, but it wasn’t the same. Our
world was dark and not even worth ruling over most days. Outlawing something
was making it a game to most people.

Only my uncle, Nano, was old enough to even remember
life above ground. For everyone else, there was no hope, because they never
knew what could be. I had to have enough optimism for everyone, because I
couldn’t be king of a hopeless society otherwise.

I left my chambers to attend a meeting. Often the
city kings wanted to make plans on who would take over should I die before I
could have a child. Since I was still very young, they never bothered me to
find a wife. Fortunately, they also realized that if pressed, I could appoint
Nano as my guardian and acting king. Nano was known for his lack of caring and
his short temper. He was often downright rude. Of course, it was a farce, but
their fear of him being High King, prevented the masses from insisting I was
too young to rule.

It was of no surprise that when I arrived at the
council chambers, I was met with false pleasantries and mock praise. But I was
High King; it didn’t matter what they thought. I was young, not a fool.

“My city has had difficulty this month with rationing
water. Our population has outgrown our rations. We are productive people who
pay plenty of taxes.”

I really didn’t want to talk about money. Money was
never the issue; it was resources. We never had what we needed; there was never
enough water, food, air… And the people tried to survive despite that fact. We
were a dying race and we just multiplied anyway. The trolls and goblins knew
it. We were invaders to them. Until people destroyed the surface with war, the
underground belonged to them, and they had enough resources before we took
over.

I sat heavily in my seat and gently grasped the
guard’s arm as he passed me. Nausea threatened my composure, but my headache
would not be ignored. Odd as it was, the goblins seemed to be the only ones who
ever understood me. He nodded and I let him go. They never bothered me with
pretty titles or flattery, and I liked it that way.

He returned a few minutes later with bread and fruit
for my breakfast and herbal tea for my headache. Unfortunately, because of my
void blood, no potion could help my head when it hurt, so I had to rely on
outdated treatments.

The king of Kedif continued talking, proud of his
city’s growing population. The ability to breed like animals and bring innocent
children into this time of suffering and famine was nothing to be proud of.
What I found very sad was that his kingdom had more water than most, yet the
king horded it for his family.

I contemplated my own food. My entire kingdom ate
well on the same rations everyone else had, so why did I get so many
complaints? I had a cup of water or tea twice a day and the working class usually
had as much as they needed. This was the High Kingdom, but I ensured that
rations were shared equally with all kingdoms, taking into account their own
resources, taxes, population, and duties. We never seemed to be doing badly
when I visited other kingdoms. Then again, I rarely did so.

“What about the Noquodi? Why does Zer allow him so
much power to waste while we suffer with nothing?”

I glared at him and he leaned back. “My uncle has
more important matters to deal with than lazy people. If you want your city to
have enough water, stop having children. If you can’t afford to feed the
children you have, stop making more. Nano saves your lives every single day and
you dare question him? If he did not do his job, you would not be around to
have children.”

As it was, I didn’t know if I was truthful or not. My
uncle was a great man, but for the last year or so, he had been very morose.
When I asked him about it, he would only tell me that he had chosen a wife that
he couldn’t be with for a while.

I shuddered at the thought. I never knew the love of
a woman myself, but I could see what it did to people when they couldn’t be
with their loved one. The bread was soft as I touched it, even warm from the
ovens, but before I could lift it from the plate, it grew hard with an odd
coldness. Ice was once a natural phenomenon, but now it only occurred from
magic.

I was startled into silence that the food in my hand
was becoming frozen.

It was impossible; magic was nullified by my touch. I
looked up at the gasps of the men around me as they, too, saw what was
happening. Hesitantly, I reached for the fruit. A shiver ran down my spine, my
adrenaline spiked, and the food froze.

I was doing this. I was doing magic.

The guards started removing the men from the room. It
looked like it was for their safety, but my guards were smarter than most
people thought they were. If I could do magic, it was because my link with the
void was breaking down and magic could be inflicted on me.

Kseve, the same guard who brought me my breakfast,
led me back to my room, vigilantly glaring down anyone who looked at me. He was
the guard I trusted more than anyone else, dile or goblin.

I sat on my bed and waved him away when he tried to
comfort me. I knew I was the only dile he ever showed kindness to, and he would
only do so in private. For some reason that morning, I just wanted to be left
alone. I didn’t know what to think or feel, but I didn’t want company right
then, not even from a goblin who treated me like his son.

Everything that I understood was crumbling. I was a
void.

*          *          *

The next morning, I could no longer feel the abyss at
all. Everything I touched either turned to ice or exploded, so I especially
avoided anything living. I wouldn’t even let Kseve in my room to give me food.
It wasn’t like I could eat it anyway; ice hurt my teeth.

My clothes became covered in frost to the point I was
constantly shivering from the burning cold. If I had such a power to create
ice, it was only reasonable that I should have an immunity to it. Still, it was
better to freeze than to make everything explode.

I tried other magic, like fire and water, but nothing
responded in any way but to freeze or explode. I couldn’t be a void and I
couldn’t even be a half-decent wizard. The guards sent for Nano, but he had
just left for Earth.

By the next afternoon, I couldn’t stand to see my
room for another minute, so I left for the throne room. I wouldn’t risk going
to my library because I didn’t want the room collapsing down on me if something
exploded. I loved that library.

Kseve insisted on bringing me food and left Creso in
charge of me. Creso was never so respecting of my personal space and took his
duty to protect me seriously. He was growling at the door as if someone would
enter through it when I tried to sit. Since my clothes had yet to frost over, I
assumed I was getting a grip on these odd new powers. My throne froze instantly
and I stood, shrieking from the sudden cold. My clothes froze just as quickly,
so I tried to claw my shirt off, frustrated with whatever was happening to me.
Panic was a new emotion for me.

I always thought being a void was a curse, but if
this was what wizards suffered with every day, I didn’t want to have magic.

Creso grabbed my arms, effectively getting my shirt
off and restraining me with one move. But I felt my adrenaline kick in and his
act to confine me was suddenly an attempt to shield me as the room pretty much
exploded. It wasn’t something I was touching; wind was thrashing around and
things far out of my reach were shattering. I finally understood.

Creso tried to pull me out of the room, but I was
quite a bit stronger than anyone else on this world, so I easily pushed him out
and shut the door. I understood; every time I touched someone, I gained a new,
destructive power.

I sat on my frozen chair, covered my head, and
battled my emotions. The more I feared my new powers, the wilder they became. I
told the guards not to let anyone at all in and sat alone in my throne for the
rest of the night.

*          *          *

That was how Dylan and Nano found me. It was Nano who
called out to me, asked me what was wrong, and tried to approach me.

“Stay away,” I shouted in English. “I do not want any
more.”

“Any more what?” Nano asked, also in English.

I reached out to ward him off and my new power of
wind responded to my fear. I heard a little baby cry and Nano moved to protect
it, which revealed Dylan. Seeing Dylan, I felt an odd sense of relief, like he
could help me. I jumped off my throne and started for him, but another man
stepped in front of him.

“Any more what?” the stranger asked, reminding me of
my plight.

“Magic,” Dylan said. “You can do magic now. How?”

“I am no void anymore,” I answered.

“Since when?”

“Four days I wake up and guard hand me clothes. I go
to open door and it blow off wall. I touch another and food freeze in my hand.
Guard grab my arm, I destroy room. I do not want magic. I am void,” I said.

Nano backed away when I looked at him, but a very
beautiful woman approached me. She was tall, but had a friendly look about her.
“Hello, Nila. I am Nano’s girlfriend, and I have no magic,” she said before
hugging me. Nothing happened. I didn’t feel the adrenaline and nothing new
happened.

“How does it work? Do you get their powers? Do they
lose the power?” Dylan asked. The woman let me go.

“I do not know. I get only one magic from each
person.” I desperately wanted to reach him, because I knew somehow that he
could help me. The other man pulled him away and Nila wanted me to recount
everything that happened since he left. I was explaining to him that nobody
tried to assassinate me when I stepped away from him. A sudden pain in my foot
made me jump.

Nano tried to reach for me, but I tripped. It was the
stranger who caught me, and I felt my adrenaline kick in again. I felt the fire
flow through me, bond with the wind, and flood the room.

Everyone is going to die and it’s my fault.
The fire became worse.

Dylan grabbed my shoulders and leaned close. “You
have to stop it,” he said. And everything was calm. The fire was gone. There
was no new magic. I tested, but there was no fire, wind, ice, or exploding.