Chapter 27 #2
“I never went through anything like that for Death or the gods’ power,” she cut in quickly, not wanting to be rude but she had so many unanswered questions.
It was Rah that spoke then, “Technically, you passed Death’s test several times.
It was showing unconditional love to something that has only known hatred.
Death has always gotten a bad rap, you know, the whole reaper thing.
” Before her eyes, his body morphed in seconds, and standing where he did was Death.
Wrapped in their black cloak, a hood covering its fully skeletal form, and a long-curved scythe in hand.
“I’m known as the boogeyman to most,” Even his voice shifted, sounding exactly like the Death she had all but come to love. “Boo.” He stepped towards her, but she didn’t flinch, just stared at him in awe at his shapeshifting ability.
With just a blink of her eyes, he was back to normal.
“Death is one of the harder trials, because it is difficult to change what you are trained to see. It was, at least for me, but I came to understand that it was not a means to an end, but a new beginning.” Those words were some of the same that Death itself had said.
“Then, the gods power? I never…”
Rah turned his head away from her, and she felt shame once again hit her. The embarrassment that she felt knowing that these two knew exactly what had happened to her washed over like a wave.
“It will never be okay what he did to you,” Ilkiz shifted ever so slightly, enough for her snout to gently push against her back, and she instinctively leaned over and wrapped an arm around, at least in an attempt to do so.
“Goddrick made a mistake and gave you a good deal of his power. For that, the trial was surviving it.” Rah crossed his arms, the tone in his voice shifted to disgust, “He lost his title, and became what is known as the people’s god; empowered by the might of mortals.
.. Even after losing his title, Goddrick maintained his titled powers, but being in the mortal world strengthened him beyond the threshold of what we thought was possible.
” She turned to look at him, his teeth clinched, and his hand balled into a fist. “Piece of shit, it was those types of gods I hoped would have never found their place in this world.”
Ilkiz huffed, “Calm, Rah, don’t get worked up.” She sounded much calmer than she had before towards him, which seemingly worked to settle his anger.
“Sure—sorry. The only reason gods are as powerful as they are, is because the people worship them. That is their source of sustenance. Even after they are forgotten or have stopped being worshiped, they still retain their power. Goddrick, he had been sealed away in that hourglass for nearly two thousand years, but before that, was worshipped for over three centuries. Besides the God of Might, I would argue Goddrick is probably one of the strongest gods currently in existence.”
Somehow, with that knowledge, she felt better. At least she could find some solace in knowing even as hard as she fought, it was useless.
Rah continued, “Back to the trial. He began the Veritum, which brought Ilkiz to you, and pretty much everything that happened afterwards.”
“Jaakobai, Thall, the battle? How—Thall had to have been gathering that army for years.” She countered.
“Right, he was,” he crossed behind her, drawing her away from Ilkiz and she followed, “That battle was inevitable, whether Goddrick screwed up or not. You prevented it from what could have been, though.“ He was making his way towards the lining of tomes, where one stood out amongst the rest.
Bonded in pure white leather, was a large book that rested on its side, drawn around it was a crimson strap, with no keyhole, just tied in a knot.
“You were never meant to be there, and the mortal realm was supposed to lose that battle. But with the shift in your fate, came the fate of the realms.”
“That is the Book of Aurora, isn’t it?” Azahara asked, stopping as he grabbed it off the shelf.
“Yes, it is.” He ran his thumb along the pages, readying to open it.
“Please, don’t,” Her voice was shaky, and he looked up at her. “I don’t want to know anything that hasn’t happened yet.” His eyes narrowed, and she continued, “Just, tell me what has happened, and what should been.”
“Smart girl.” Ilkiz chimed in, and Rah shot her a glance. “Not everything is a jab at you, Rah, relax.”
Azahara could only guess that Rah had read the book when he was in her position but she wouldn’t prod to find out if that was the case or not.
“How long…” She continued, swallowing and fearful of the response, “was I meant to be under his curse?”
Rah placed the book back on the shelf, his head dropped and didn’t respond. Something ate at her then, as though she were hungry and all she could eat was her own stomach. It felt horrible, and it made her nauseous.
“Another thousand or so years, child.” Finding her hand over her mouth, she swallowed the lump in her throat. Her eyes squeezed tightly, and the prospect of that nearly made her faint.
His filthy voice slithered its way into her head, “I pulled these memories, all seven hundred and forty-three of them, individually—”
Go away, go away! Please!
“Oh—” Her hand searched for something sturdy to keep her afloat.
She was looking for Jayce, to pull away the onslaught of memories that were about to come.
The inevitable flashback to those days he trapped her and violated her.
Every instance over the last five hundred years that he destroyed the sanity she thought she had.
“You are mine.”
“Please—”
Rah was there, his hand in hers, keeping her upright. “You are safe here, Azahara. Don’t let him in, you have retrieved your soul. You are no longer bound to him. All that is left is his anger and obsession.”
“My soul?” She looked at Rah, focusing only on his face, and his words.
“He trapped your soul in his hourglass. But when,” he paused, and she pulled her eyebrows together, “Sam—when he came for you, he broke the confinement that he had trapped it in. It was with you where he had you captive.”
“You saved your life, but he saved your soul, and broke all ties with Goddrick that remained; including the curse.”
I’m safe here, she thought, closing her eyes and centering herself, he will always keep me safe. No matter what…
Removing her hand from Rah’s grasp, she turned away and began pacing around the room, feeling both a weight lifted and another settling on her shoulders.
There were so many questions, she truthfully didn’t know which direction to keep moving in.
She was grateful that Rah, who was slowly making his way into the center of the space, continued.
“You may have two of the four elements of this realm, but you have received them in a dangerous order. It is why we needed to strip you of them upon entering. Every Keeper before you—”
“We are called Keepers?” Azahara cut him off, looking to find him and seeing he had come to a stop.
“Yes. We are what are known as the Keepers of the Realm.”
“They don’t call you that,” she countered, “they talk of you as a Star.”
She wasn’t sure what a Dragon would sound like laughing, but the sound she just heard wasn’t it. The booming laughter nearly brought her to her knees at how loud it was in her head. It was low in tone, but high in its roar. She quickly covered her ears, thinking that would help; it didn’t.
“Rah, a Star? Baha—” Again, the laughter continued, and Azahara regretted saying anything.
Rah didn’t seem fazed by the laugh, but he couldn’t help feeling hurt by the offense it carried. “Real mature,” he retorted with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
“They say,” She felt like she was yelling, “The Four Points of Rah’s Star, at least, that is how they refer to you. Or just Rah’s Star.”
Once more, laughter roared, causing Azahara to stumble as the reverberations in her skull became almost unbearable. A persistent headache took hold, one she feared wouldn’t relent.
“I’ve got you,” Rah said as he was in front of her, his hands coming up to her temples and placing his palms on them. Immediately she wanted to pull away, run, not allow him to touch her so sensitively. “Oh, is this better?”
When she blinked, in front of her was Jayce. Her eyes widened in shock, the feeling in her stomach not changing, nor did she feel any better.
She shook her head and wanted to run even more than before.
Rah laughed, and even the smile was perfect. It got the completely opposite reaction from her, and she felt angry.
“Don’t take his face,” she said without any kindness. The realization that he had changed to Mel in that moment also added to her rage. He shifted back, thankfully, without any argument. The smile still on his face.
“You idiot.” Ilkiz was coming down from her fit of laughter.
Rah stepped away, “It worked, though, you stopped hearing her.” He wasn’t wrong, all she heard was ringing from the anger that was writhing throughout her. “Shall we move on? It doesn’t matter what they call me, I’m history, you’re the present and the future.
“As I was saying, every Keeper before you, they gained the elements Magic, then Power, then Death and Life. Once you receive Power, you can retake the elements of Death and Life.” He watched her, expectantly.
“Why does the order matter?” He was expecting that question.
“Magic is the most volatile because it has a mind of its own. It has the control, not you. It is like—”
“I know what it is like, I’ve felt it before.” She didn’t want to cut him off, but she was more familiar with Magic than any of the other three and didn’t need a lesson in it.
“Right, so starting with that is easier to manage. Power, which is governed by Ilkiz whom the Keeper bonds with, helps contain the Magic, and Death and Life, they equal each other out. It is why you were able to survive gaining them both within moments of each other. If you had received Magic and Life, for instance, you may have been obliterated in seconds.”