Chapter Fourteen
I MARCH IN formation alongside Olena the next day, still hazy from the feeling of that kiss. My heart pounds like a drum thinking back on it. A simple kiss; an electrifying kiss. We hadn’t done much more, which is fine for now. We need to talk things through before we go further.
“You being careful?” Olena pitches her voice low to avoid others hearing us as we make our way along the road to Ionos.
I glance toward the head of the column where Helia is before answering. “Trying to be.”
Olena smirks, but leaves it at that, which is the extent of our conversation for the remainder of the day’s travel. Helia is pushing us hard, eager to complete the contract.
We eventually stop as the sun dips below the horizon, the light fading fast. Breathing heavy, I watch as the others collapse as well. Looks like the conditioning, training, and travel is beginning to show progress. At this rate, we'll be back in Ionos in half the time it took us to get to Nolphi.
The quartermaster hands out dried rations; no one has the patience to wait for a hot meal. I’m quite grateful for that, flopping down on my bedroll and munching on my food. Sleep takes hold blissfully quick, thoughts of a black-haired woman chasing my descent into oblivion.
***
Gentle waves lap at my knees, the moon casting a silvery light on a black lake. Precisely as it had when Lunos visited me after my powers awakened in the forest outside Nolphi.
“You took so long to come back that I decided to bring you here.” The elegant flow of Lunos’s words spin me round. Sure enough, she stands behind me on shoreline in all her divine resplendence, water gently reaching her feet.
“It’s been an exhausting week or two. I had to come back eventually; Helia’s made it clear what kind of enemy we face.” I say, feeling more confident than I expected. Lunos taps her lips with a slender finger, silvery threads of power weaving a pattern in the wake.
“Did she now? I did not anticipate her revealing her origins. I certainly did not put that in her mandate.”
Schooling my face to stillness, I try to hide the shock.
Based off of what Helia explained, I didn’t expect any active communication between them.
However, I had considered Helia to be an extension of Lunos’s will.
Yet, Helia had revealed herself to me without Lunos instructing it when creating her.
The back of my mind itches like an bite from an insect; I need to talk with Helia about this.
Lunos takes a step onto the water, bringing focus back to the moment.
With each step, ripples form, inching closer to me.
In mere moments, Lunos is standing in front of me, towering and indomitable.
She’s already taller when we’re standing on even ground.
With water up to my knees, I have to crane my neck up just to look at her face.
“It is time for your first, and most important lesson. What is power?” The bluntness and seeming randomness of the question cause me to blink.
Several times. There’s got to be a reason she’s asking this.
Power…depends on the context. A soldier with a spear has power over life and death, a merchant has the power to purchase untold things; including the soldier.
An Archon decides the fate of a city, gods and goddesses wield the power of the cosmos.
“I’m not sure. That’s not a simple question.” Lunos hums in response to my answer. Did I say the right thing?
“Interesting…all of my previous conduits had pretty direct answers.” What. The water is neither cold nor warm, yet the ice that grips my heart holds fast. I fumble for words.
“Previous Conduits? You mean, I’m not the first?” No shit. She just said that.
Lunos smiles, a smile that one would give to a puppy who went to fetch a stick and brought back a rock.
“Oh sweet child. The cycle of true power has existed since the dawn of time, since the pantheons first came into being and the first humans walked the land. You are not the first, though you may be the last. For now, you are all that matters. So, I ask you again, what is power?” Pressure pushes at the sides of my head.
This is too much to process. Closing my eyes and breathing deep, I try to center myself and answer the goddess’s question.
“Well, there is physical power, the power of life and death. That’s straight forward, but I think you’re asking for something more. You talked about true power.” Lunos nods, giving nothing away, so I trudge forward. “Power also exists in what you believe has power.”
“Such as?” Her godly eyes widen and seem to fill with light, rising in response to my words.
“Like the Speakers or even the Archon of a city. They only have power because people believe them to have power; they give them that power. If suddenly everyone stopped believing or trusting in them, that power, influence, and authority disappears. It’s one of the reasons I hated Porto; he really only had power due to his wealth, but more so, everyone in the village was afraid of his anger.
” That last bit seems pulled from me. A truth I thought buried under the weight of the past months.
“Ahhh, well done Skion. You may not have gotten it exactly, but you are on the right path. Now that you are thinking this way, your practical lesson is to walk on the water. I will not return here until you can do so.” Lunos shimmers, a silver sheen coating her form. This is a twisted game.
“What?! You didn’t teach me anything!” I can’t believe this. All this time and effort, and she gives me weird riddles?
“Think about what power is. Unlock it and control it. I need you to.” With her final divine utterance, Lunos dissolves into nothingness, a final ripple billowing out from where the goddess of magic and moons once stood.