Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
YEAR 206, ERA OF THE GODS
W e’ve finally had a breakthrough. After a year of searching, reading, talking to priests and priestesses and those closest to the gods, I think I may have found a solution.
Kairoth made it clear he couldn’t be connected to me in any way. Couldn’t be seen with me. Couldn’t speak to me on a regular basis.
Someone was always watching, he’d said. So he told me that once I had a plan, to call for him. I’d rebuilt my farmhouse. It was much smaller now, just a single room with a hearth, a table, and a bed. It was enough.
At some point over the last year, Kairoth must’ve spoken to Khalasa, because suddenly, the cold front lifted from our village and our crops began growing again.
I haven’t heard from Khalasa—I suspect it’s because of Kairoth, but I have no idea what he might’ve said or done to convince her to stay away from me.
Or maybe by this point she’s grown bored of torturing me. Either way, I am happy for it. More time for me to figure things out.
Though, we’ve had our troubles, even without Khalasa. Tsunamis and hurricanes have grown more frequent on our island. Water levels have been rising, washing away our shores, wiping out a few villages. I’ve heard whispers of the same phenomenon in other realms across the continent. Wildfires, earthquakes, storms. Something odd is happening, and I wonder if it’s connected to the gods. I haven’t seen Kairoth, so I can’t ask him about it. Even if I did, I’m not sure he would know the answer. It doesn’t seem like the other gods trust him very much or vice versa. I worry sometimes about the state of our world, what will happen if we don’t find a way to dismantle the gods of their power.
Every time I’ve tried to remember what I saw in Khalasa’s journal, my mind has grown fuzzy. I can see the pages, the notes in my mind, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot recall what they said. I suspect Khalasa has been in my mind, removing the information. Which means I was right all along. There was something in that journal that could give me the answer I seek. I just don’t know what. But I kept coming back to one thing: the weapons. The gods each have a weapon. One pulled from stone. There has to be some significance, so that is what I’ve focused my efforts on researching and understanding.
Once I found something of interest, I summoned Kairoth.
He appeared, and I gestured for him to sit and told him everything I’d learned: about the stones where they each pulled the weapons from, about how the weapons were a way to channel their magic back into them. I told him I believed the stones were the key. That they trapped the weapons, so maybe those same stones could trap the gods.
Kairoth had sat there thinking about it, hands steepled, deep in thought. “It could work,” he finally said.
I wasn’t expecting that. I’d expected him to tell me the plan was stupid. That there was no way we could pull such a thing off.
We hadn’t wasted any time after that. Kairoth flew me straight to the place where the stones were. An underground cave in the star realm, of all places. I didn’t like being in Khalasa’s territory, but I also didn’t have a choice.
Kairoth told me I had to test this theory. On him. He wanted me to trap him.
I was terrified. I didn’t want to accidentally hurt him. But he insisted that the only way we could attempt to trap all the gods was if we knew this would work. There were nooks in the cave that had been carved out, altars dedicated to each of the gods. This was a popular place in our culture. Everyone knew the origin story of the gods, so followers often came here to commemorate their birth from the stones.
They were huge, big and round, more like small boulders, and definitely large enough to roll in front of a nook.
Kairoth told me his shadows would do the work. That he’d instructed them to roll the stone where he’d pulled his weapon over a nook after he went inside. I honestly couldn’t believe he trusted me so much. What if I just left him there? What if I chased his shadows away with light so they couldn’t free him. What if trapping him with a stone was permanent? But he didn’t care about any of those things.
So we did it. He stepped inside one of those little nooks, and I watched as his shadows rolled the large stone in front of it. Nothing happened. No thunder clapping or rocks raining down. No screams.
I ran to the boulder and asked the shadows to help. They flew over and pushed it away. I opened it to see Kairoth laying on the ground, unconscious. I dragged him out of the small, dark space, and it took nearly an hour for him to wake up.
When he did, he was groggy. Something changed in his voice, in his demeanor, as he told me what he’d experienced. It was like his power had vanished, and he immediately fell into a deep sleep.
So the stones themselves had the power to trap the magic. Maybe even the gods.
Kairoth and I have figured out exactly how we can trap the gods and end their reign of terror.
Now comes the hard part: executing it.