Chapter 30
He thought the meeting with the coven went rather well.
They got down to business fast enough that he wasn’t wasting too much time on the emotional meet and greet.
He’d died already, after all. Elric had no interest in pretending that he cared when people saw him again.
He’d only been dead for a few weeks. Really, that wasn’t nearly long enough to miss anyone.
But the moment they walked out of that kitchen, Sybil grabbed onto his arm. Jessamine went with the others, to get them settled and to speak with those who already pulled her out of the room. And then it was just him and his longest-worshipping witch.
“Is it really her?” Sybil asked.
“I fought to get her back, just as I planned. It’s her, Sybil.”
Her shoulders curved in relief, making all the muscles in her body lax. “Oh, thank you. Thank you.”
“You seem adamant that you needed her.”
“Ajax has been hunting for someone to replace her. He’s been obsessed with the princess—at least, that’s what it seems from our side.” Sybil shook her head, her arms curving around to hug her body. “There’s something about her that Ajax knows and we don’t. Well, we do now, I guess.”
He stared at the closed door, feeling her presence just beyond it. The thrum of her magic was hard to ignore. “I never would have thought his spell would turn her into a goddess. It’s good to know, though, that it is possible.”
“I think it was more than his spell. It sounds like perhaps that was you.” Sybil’s expression looked troubled for a moment, before she shook her head and seemed to free herself from whatever those thoughts were.
“I know I told the others that we could wait, but I think it would be smart to try a sacrifice sooner rather than later. We don’t know what your powers are now, as a dual deity.
And we need to so that we can adjust accordingly.
I thought we would fight with a deathless god at our side, not… ”
She didn’t finish what she was going to say, but he knew what she meant.
They didn’t know what he was now. Or what Jessamine was. Gods were created and then tested. That was how it had always been. He wasn’t sure what kind of god or goddess they were going to be now.
And that was unnerving. Elric had been one thing his entire godly existence.
The Deathless One. He knew who that god was and what was expected of him.
He knew the people who would make sacrifices to him and what they wanted.
Perhaps the uncertainty should have been exciting after hundreds of years of being the same person.
But all he could feel was the boiling dread in his stomach at what he would need to endure next.
He wanted life to return to the way it had been for a little while longer. Just a small break would have been appreciated. Unfortunately, they were in the thick of things now.
Elric nodded and headed out to gather Jessamine from the other witches.
She was still talking in a hallway with a few of them, her voice hushed as she assured them everything was going to be all right.
She was so good at that. Just the sound of her voice released the tension in some people.
It was a gift she hadn’t always had, but he had enjoyed greatly watching it flourish over time.
“Jessamine,” he said, his voice already commanding in the small space. “I need you to come with me.”
She said her goodbyes quickly, reaching out her hands and squeezing theirs, as though just her touch should ease the nerves in them.
And he could see that it did. Each of those women relaxed immensely after holding her hand.
Jessamine had a way about her before she was a goddess, but now?
He would need to teach her to control her new magic sooner than he had thought.
Because if she continued like this, she’d have every mortal eating out of the palm of her hand.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her back to the kitchen. “Sybil wishes to try the sacrifice now, but did not want any of the other witches interfering,” he murmured in her ear.
“Why is that?”
“I’m not sure. We are unknown gods, and I think she fears that we may be a bit more volatile until we figure out what it is that we can do.”
In truth, so was he. He didn’t know what it would be like to have new abilities, or if he would still have the same old ones he’d had all these years. He had a sneaking suspicion he already knew what her powers would be. Now, he just needed to understand where he fit into all of it.
Sybil was already prepared in the kitchen. She had in her hand a chicken that had seen better days. A poor sacrifice if he’d ever seen one, but that was likely by design. She didn’t want to give them a rush of energy.
“Isn’t that one of Elissa’s?” Jessamine asked, amusement on her features as she pulled a chair to the gap between the island and the kitchen stove and took a seat.
“Yes. But it was going to die soon, anyway. It’s a small sacrifice. We should drip magic into you, rather than pump you full of magic you can’t control yet.” Sybil swallowed and started the spell.
Every witch was different. Some sacrifices were merely emotion, others were ritual. Sybil was a mixture of both as she whispered old words of undying devotion and then slit the chicken’s throat.
The poor thing didn’t feel an ounce of pain. Sybil was quick, the cut was clean, and soon enough, there was blood dripping over her hand onto the floor.
Elric knew she hadn’t made that sacrifice for him. He’d have felt it, and he was very much used to getting sacrifices. Jessamine, however, was not.
She frowned, looking between the two of them. “Was I supposed to feel something?”
“It’s a bit of a tickle sometimes. Like a breeze is ruffling the hairs on the back of your neck.” Elric tilted his head to the side. “Although that was a small sacrifice. Sybil, perhaps you could find another.”
“I am not giving either of you more power, Deathless One, until I am certain what you will do with it,” Sybil grumped at him.
She set the chicken on the table, likely to pluck later, and then crouched in front of Jessamine.
“Close your eyes and feel it. Gods and goddesses are different from witches. I don’t know how to tell you where your magic might lie now. ”
“Oh,” Elric muttered. Right, he was an idiot. “Jessamine, you know my realm very well. Yes?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then transport your mind there. Slowly, at first. Then you will envision your own world. That is where your magic will gather.”
She closed her eyes, but it only took moments for her to shake her head and angrily say, “I don’t know what I’m doing. I usually have to fall asleep to even get to your realm, Elric.”
“None of this is going to come naturally, nightmare. Don’t get testy with me.”
He made eye contact with Sybil and raised his brow, pointedly looking at her hands on Jessamine’s knees until the other witch removed her touch. Only then did he place his hand on Jessamine’s shoulder and dive into the realm of shadows with her.
He had tensed, worried it would be something other than what he had left it.
But this was the same as he had seen before.
Shadows, darkness, even the gravesinger souls still tied up right where he had left them.
Exactly the same realm that he had left behind, although now he wasn’t sure what to expect from Jessamine.
“Search for that magic,” he said, his voice lulling Jessamine through the meditation even as her mind materialized here.
She wore the goddess version of herself in this realm.
Her magic flowed out of her in transparent ribbons of color that were nearly gossamer.
He watched them float around her, reaching and stretching for something he did not understand.
Until finally she shook herself and those ribbons wrapped around each other and speared into the dark water at their feet.
A great chasm stretched as far as the eye could see, a single line spread throughout the realm of darkness.
On one side, shadows and darkness as it had always been.
Inky textures that reflected meager moonlight in strange, mind-bending ways.
And on the other side, color. Life. Emerald-green beauty that filled the entire realm with textures and scents that he greatly enjoyed.
Fresh green grass. Daisies. The crisp scent of heat in the air that only happened when spring had finally broken through the cold grasp of winter.
“Life and death,” he muttered.
Jessamine opened her eyes in their shared realm, and she gasped. “What is this?”
“I suspect it was the same thing you were doing when I first met you. Magic that spilled out of you always created a little spot of color, but now that you are a full-fledged goddess, you can create all the life you wish.” He stepped onto her side of the realm, pulling the scent and liveliness into his soul. This was so much easier to endure.
Certainly, he wouldn’t want to be here forever. Even a god had to sleep, after all. But he would enjoy this place for many years to come. Even if he died, he wouldn’t be banished to a cold realm without a hint of life.
Now she had gifted him yet again.
“So, you are a life goddess,” he said.
“A what?”
“A goddess of life itself. You inspire things to grow, to live, to improve. It is all good things, Jessamine, but something that is odd, considering we are bound.” He tucked his hands behind his back and turned to face her.
“I am a god of death. You a goddess of life. Very different from each other.”
“Duality,” Jessamine corrected. “If you want to look into it far too deeply, then you should be able to understand that life and death go hand in hand. But…”
Her words died off. He could see the struggle on her features. Her brows wrinkled and her arms curved around herself as she bent in, arching just slightly too much.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I…” She shook her head. “A goddess? Really?”