Harvest of the Gods (13 page)

“
The fey use the Aether now too,” Fenrir noted.

“
But a faerie wouldn't have fled into the God Realm, they would have headed back to the Faerie Realm.” Unless they were with a god, but I kept that thought to myself. I didn't want to weigh them down with faerie problems too if this happened to be unrelated.

“
Hmm,” he nodded, “yes, you're right. I was just trying to find an explanation.”

“
Kirill, can you go get Torrent?” I turned in his arms to look up at him.

“
Yes, Tima,” he let me go and traced away.

“
The Harvest Goddess is cutting down my wolves like they're wheat in the fields,” Fenrir growled. “This needs to stop.
She
must be stopped.”

“
We
will
stop her,” I took his hand and squeezed. “Send for more wolves, I think we're going to need them.”

“
And give me a weapon,” Emma said with grim determination, “because I'm going to help.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

When Torrent showed up with Kirill, I put on my goggles, knowing I wouldn't be able to see the trail of sludge without them. I looked over at him and my hand stopped halfway out to his.

Beneath his perfect, poreless skin, Torrent glowed bright green from the layers of computer code that ran through him. I could clearly see the outline of his organs, all made of code shaped into forms; a liver, a kidney, a stomach, a heart. The heart beat, pulsing with steady thumps like any normal heart made of blood and flesh. With every pulse, light flowed out of the heart and through the code, like blood through veins. I inhaled sharply and his eyes focused on me, the lime green of his clear irises flashing once.

“
Is everything alright?” He asked.

“
Yes,” I smiled and lifted my hand the rest of the way, to take his.

I didn't want to tell him what I'd seen, Torrent already had what I'd labeled in my head; Pinocchio issues. He didn't think he was a real person and I wasn't about to add to those anxieties. Iktomi may have created him out of Internet energy but that didn't make Torrent any less real. He had feelings, desires, and a sense of morality that had made him hate the monster Iktomi had become and had prompted Torrent to help me escape Iktomi. That was real enough for me, artificial intelligence didn't come with morals and it sure wouldn't turn on its creator because of them. It made no difference whether he was made of cells or codes, Torrent was a real man to me.

“Are you ready?” He asked and I nodded.

This time I could see the Inter Realm on my own but I needed Torrent to manipulate it for me, so I let him lead, let him
find the vein that led through the Aether, and let him adjust it to move us in horizontally until we were in front of the spot the sludge had oozed up to and vanished.

“
This is the same magic,” Torrent glanced at me before he set to work. “It's the same codes exactly. Whoever cast this, cast the last one as well.”

“
I had a feeling.” I grimaced and then a thought occurred to me. “Hey, does the code say anything about the caster? Do you get any impressions off of it? Like maybe an aquatic feel?”

“
Aquatic?” He glanced back over his shoulder at me. “The Intare said you were investigating Kanaloa for something that happened in Faerie. Are you thinking this might be connected?”

“
I don't know but it's possible? So? Do you?” I pressed.

“
No, I don't recognize the anything in the code, just that it's the same as the last one.”

“
Crap,” I sighed. “Okay, thanks anyway.”

“
No problem.”

It took only moments for him to clear the spell and while I watched him work, I wondered what else he could do with this talent. He had the power to unmake magic. I couldn't even process the implications at the moment but one thing I was sure of, we had to keep this to ourselves. If it got out into the god population, Torrent's life could be in danger. Somehow I didn't think they'd be too happy knowing there was someone who could tear apart their magic... and possibly even their lives.

I gaped at Torrent as the thought occurred to me. Could he use this as a weapon? Did I even want to suggest it to him? It was one thing to be able to steal magic, or perhaps alter it, but to tear it apart...unmake it? What would that do to a god? I shivered and a huge part of me, probably the goddess part, rebelled at the idea. It wasn't even the thought of killing magic that scared me the most, though that was a frightening prospect, it was what the killing would do to Torrent. In a lot of ways, Torrent was innocent like a child and I just didn't want to put that kind of pressure on him. He had enough issues without adding magic murderer to the list.

No, I'd keep my theories to myself.

Then Torrent was finished opening the way, and he pulled me through the path that was revealed. We stepped out into a dark circular room. The walls were made of hand-laid stones, rough hewn and large. The floor was black marble, smooth and unblemished. It was a strange mix of rustic and refined but there was nothing else in the room to suggest where we were. It was just an empty tracing room.

I edged toward the door and Torrent stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. He was looking around wide-eyed, like a child in his first haunted house, with that look of terror that accompanies the heart-pounding moments you walk unmolested through dismal corridors, knowing the monsters are close and about to jump out at you but not knowing when. I waited for him to say something, tell me what he sensed, but he just stared around himself, appearing to look straight through the walls as his throat worked convulsively.

I understood the feeling, something was making the baby hairs on the nape of my neck stand up, and every instinct I had was telling me to run. I sniffed the air warily but there were no unusual scents, just stone, earth, and a faint trace of feathers. So I listened intently, straining my sensitive hearing for something, anything that would warrant the fear that was creeping up on us.

There was nothing, whoever lived there was either being really quiet in preparation of springing a trap, or they weren't even home at all. I didn't know what else to do, so I pulled my short sword and waved it in the doorway to test for traps. Nothing happened so I poked at the walls, the floors, the ceiling. It was all solid, no traps and no alarms. No one came out to investigate the noise I made either. I finally sheathed the sword and headed forward warily.

My first step beyond the room felt like the floor had changed consistency beneath me. It was more spongy than stone should have been, like walking on a yoga mat. Along with the physical sensation came a feeling of dread even worse than my earlier wariness. It seized hold of my body with a shooting, intense cold. My breath came faster and fogged the air in front of me. My pulse raced, thudding in my ears, and I couldn't take another step. I was frozen in place with fear.

Then I looked down and saw the black sludge. It was coating the floor, seeping up through the shiny marble like sweat through skin, and slowly covering my foot. It reminded me of this movie I'd seen as a little girl, called
The Stuff
. In it, this white
marshmallow fluff looking substance was being mined out of the ground, packaged, and sold to people as food. Once consumed though, it would consume right back and turn its victims into monstrous, possessed, stuff people. That was what the sludge looked like, except black instead of white, and I didn't think this black stuff wanted to possess me and turn me into a stuff monster. No, its desire was much more simple than that. It wanted to kill me.

Panic melded with the fear as I watched its progress up my leg and I knew, without a doubt, that this had been a terrible mistake. It didn't just want to kill me, it wanted to consume me. Once that sludge reached my face, all of my worst fears would be drawn out and used against me. In that weakened state I could easily be beheaded and I wouldn't even be able to lift a hand to defend myself. Lifting anything substantial was impossible, I could barely lift an eyebrow, I was so riveted with fear.

I didn't think it was going to behead me though. It hadn't taken the Froekn's heads, though technically the Froekn weren't gods and so didn't have to be beheaded to die. They were kind of a sub-group, more like demigods. The vampires and Intare were similar and they were a little easier to kill than gods were. Still, I didn't think my head was what this magic was after. It was unlike anything I'd ever encountered, resembling a black hole, eternally hungry and unstoppable. I felt like it was drawing me in, like the fear was just a means to lower my defenses enough to make me vulnerable to its pull. No, it didn't want my head, it wanted my soul.

“
Torrent,” I whispered, the choked words barely making it past my frozen lips. “Can you pull me back?”

I felt his hands creep up over my arms and he pulled me with a sharp jerk. I didn't budge and his hands slid off of me, followed by the sound of him hitting the stone floor. I couldn't even turn my head to look for him but it didn't matter, he was back in a moment, gripping me tighter this time around my waist, tight enough to bruise. He gave another swift yank and the sludge gave way with an angry slurping sound. We fell back onto the floor of the tracing chamber in a tangled heap.

The immobilizing fear was gone but I was still terrified, my heart still beating fast in my ears. I realized that I was huddled against Torrent, our arms around each other like children in the dark. We didn't have to say anything, one look and we both knew we were leaving immediately and never coming back. We didn't even stand up to trace, just opened the Aether as we clung to each other and kind of just fell/rolled in.

When we reappeared in the clearing, we were still holding onto each other, still on the ground, shaking and sobbing with relief. I could feel everyone else around us but they didn't say a word, probably too confused or horrified to react yet. I didn't care what they thought, I just held onto Torrent like he was the only solid thing in my universe. All that mattered was that we had made it out alive.

I'd never been so afraid in all my life. Not even when I'd killed Ku and spent days hiding in my bed. I'd never felt that icy rush down my arms, never been paralyzed with fear, and from the way Torrent continued to cling to me, I doubt he had either. I'd faced death on countless occasions, been tortured by the most expert sadists around, but nothing they'd done to me could ever come close to those few seconds I'd spent in the sludge.

It had shown me that death wouldn't be an end. It would continue to consume me beyond the grave. It would feed on my soul, using it to fill its emptiness until my soul was used up and I was a part of the nothing. Give me chains and whips any day, hell I'd even rather go back to Iktomi's Hanging Gardens and let him torture my mind than have to die like that. I shivered, knowing this was truly the most horrible thing I'd ever faced if it made Iktomi look mild.

Finally I got my breathing under control and I pulled back enough to look up at Torrent and see his terrified face.

“
What did you see?” I whispered in choking gasps as I pulled the goggles down onto my neck.

“
Magic that was beyond me,” he whispered back. “Almost like it was the opposite of magic, un-magic. No, I don't know, it had no code for me to see, nothing organic to it at all. It was...”

“
Nothing,” I whispered and laid my head against his chest as everyone surrounded us and laid comforting hands on our backs. “It was a deep, dark, nothing but it didn't want to be. It wanted so much more.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

It took them awhile to calm us enough to get me and Torrent to release each other. Then it was even longer before we were calm enough to trace home. I spent a lot of time being rocked by Trevor, and then Kirill, who hummed something soothing that finally seemed to work. Then Kirill did the same for Torrent and I loved him for that, that he could comfort another man without his masculinity being an issue for him. Torrent responded to the humming as well as I had and he finally took a deep gasp of air and stepped back from Kirill. Kirill put a hand on the smaller man's shoulder and looked him in the eye, just to be sure Torrent was okay. Torrent had nodded and we'd finally traced home.

Fenrir and some of the Froekn followed us back to Pride Palace, and they joined us in the dining room, where Torrent and I had been bundled off to. Trevor had brought us blankets and Kirill brought out a fresh pot of coffee with mugs for everyone. Sometimes I thought sensing what I needed was one of Kirill's super powers. I mean, Trevor knew me but Kirill knew what was best for me at any given moment.

“
Thank you,” I touched the side of Kirill's face while he poured coffee into my cup. I felt like I needed to reassure myself that everything I loved was okay. Being touched by that nothing had made me feel like nothing for a little while too, like I didn't exist and that everything I loved didn't exist either. Like I was completely alone.

“
Your welcome, Tima,” Kirill poured a mug for Torrent, who was seated on my left, and then put the coffee pot in the middle of the table. Everyone else could serve themselves. I smiled at that, as much as Kirill helped me and looked after me, he was no one's servant anymore. He took a seat next to Torrent but his eyes were focused intently on me.

“
Vervain,” Fenrir was seated next to Trevor, who was on
my right. “Are you ready to tell us what happened?”

“
You can't fight this, Fenrir,” I said gravely. “This magic is unstoppable. It can't be killed, it can't be injured, it can't be fought at all. How do you a battle a black hole? You can't, all you can do is stay as far away from it as possible and hope it doesn't suck you in.”

“
That's not an acceptable answer,” Fenrir growled.

“
I know this is hard for you,” I looked him in the eyes so he could see the truth in my words, feel the weight of them, “but this is a war you will not win. You won't even be able to place two feet upon the battlefield before you're destroyed. Gather the Froekn and tell them to be wary, to never go anywhere alone, and if they begin to feel a sense of panic or dread, they should run.”

“
Run?” Fenrir growled. “You want me to tell my wolves to run? We haven't run for centuries!”

“
I don't know Vervain beyond what she's done for me,” Emma placed a hand over Fenrir's fist, her pale fingers looking so fragile on his large, rough hand. He looked down at her and opened his fist, turning his palm up, so he could twine his fingers through hers. “But what I've seen so far leads me to believe that she's not a runner either. This is a woman who stands her ground and if she's telling you to run, it must be for a good reason.”

“
This magic is beyond anything I've ever encountered,” I gave Emma a grateful nod as Fenrir looked me over speculatively. “If Demeter is aligned with it, we're fucked. I've never met anything this powerful, even Iktomi's power pales by comparison.”

“
Are you fucking kidding me?” Trevor's face paled and I knew he was remembering the giant spider Iktomi had become.

“
No, Honey-Eyes,” I said gently, “I'm not.”

“
She's really not,” Torrent whispered, his eyes looking
haunted and bruised. He clutched his blanket closer to himself and Kirill put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“
Well, I refuse to just roll over and die,” snarled Fenrir. “You're going to take me and some of my wolves to wherever you went today and we're going to handle this.”

“
No.”

“
What?” His voice got deadly quiet.

“
I'm not taking you there,” I said with finality, “and neither is Torrent. I won't put him through that again and I refuse to be a party to your death.”

“
You are my Rouva,” he stood up and glared down at me, “and you will obey my wishes in this.”

“
No I won't. Strip me of the title if you want,” I shook my head, calm in the face of his anger because I'd rather have him mad at me, even furious with me, than have him face that thing. “I will not deliver you unto that evil. You don't understand, your strength doesn't matter, not even my dragon stood a chance. I couldn't even feel her there, all of my beasts hid. It's not a matter of whether or not you can fight it, because there's nothing to fight and yet that nothing will consume you while you stand there unable to move against it, and make you a part of the nothing. I'm sorry, Fenrir, I won't go back there and I won't take you back there either, I want you alive.”

“
You merely resign me to another form of death,” he glared at me before turning and leaving the room. The Froekn who'd come with him gave me varying degrees of hostile looks before they followed him out. I didn't even care, I was too numb. Their anger barely scratched the surface.

“
I'll speak to him,” Emma gave me a sad smile. “I don't want him dead either.”

“
Thank you,” I nodded to her as she left.

“
Vervain,” Trevor whispered in horror.

“
Don't,” I shook my head and reached blindly for Torrent's hand. He gripped mine tight and we took comfort in each other, only the two of us knew the true measure of the monster. “You need to trust me in this, Trevor. There was bound to be a god we couldn't fight and we've found him. If that thing we faced was Kanaloa, I'm glad we never confronted him with my suspicions because we'd all be dead. This power is beyond divine, it's practically astronomical.” I glanced over at Torrent and he was nodding, over and over like a crazy person. “I may not be able to control Fenrir but I do control the Intare and I hope you will support my decisions. We're not fighting this, please just let it go.”

“
Alright, Minn Elska,” Trevor's voice was soft as he looked me and Torrent over. “I trust you. If you say this is too much for us, than we stay away from it. Loving you has made me value my life more than my ego.”

I gave him as much of a smile as I could muster, which probably wasn't a lot. I knew how monumental those words were for him, that what he was really saying was that he'd chosen me over Fenrir and the Froekn, but I couldn't truly appreciate it at the moment. Everything seemed distant, a hollow echo of what it should have been, and I couldn't focus on anything but the shivering knowledge of what I'd almost become.

Nothing.