The Undying God (33 page)

“No,” she said with a shudder. She
quickly picked up her pace, leaving Hrioshango smiling
mischievously.

“Well, that answers one of my
questions.”

“You’re so charming, Hrioshango,”
Nishka said.

“I know.”

“What was your other question?” Arxu
asked.

“Hrioshango was wondering if she
was—”

“Let’s go,” Nishka
interrupted.

Arxu was already approaching a guard
for directions as Nishka reined in Hrioshango. She was relieved to
hear that Eternitas hadn’t fallen victim to the same atrocities as
other cities.

“Can you tell us where the temples
are?” Arxu asked. The soldier pointed in the direction of a
gate.

With a nod of thanks, Arxu crossed the
plaza. Two sentries wielding polearms stood watch at the gate,
wearing the familiar scowls possessed by every man vested with
authority. One of them barely glanced at Arxu before delivering an
automatic warning.

“The temple quarter has been sectioned
off in response to a contagion.”

“Is anyone still in there?” Arxu asked,
refusing to let the guards discourage him.

“The watch has taken the liberty of
evacuating the temple quarter. Everyone has been evacuated.” A
soldier scoffed to his side.

“Except for the fanatics in the
temple,” the second man added derisively. “They insist on staying.
Something about purity.”

“We must go in there!”

“We cannot risk you spreading the
sickness. You will have to wait until the crisis has
passed.”

“Who ordered the quarantine?” Arxu
demanded.

“Captain Balthasar.”

“Where can I find him?” The guard’s
eyes narrowed.

“Don’t meddle in affairs you don’t
understand,” he said, abruptly ending the conversation.

Nishka grabbed Arxu’s arm, dragging him
away before trouble ensued. She could feel the tension in his
muscles, and his angry gaze looked as though it could burn holes
into the streets. Suddenly, he brought the steel tip of his staff
down hard with a crack.

“
Don’t worry, Arxu. At least
Margzor can’t make it.”

“No, he’ll make it,” Arxu said grimly.
“He’ll just have a little difficulty.” With those ominous words, he
eloped into the market district.

Chapter 34

Night fell upon the city as a figure
crept through the temple. He stepped lightly to avoiding raising an
alarm. It was imperative that no one knew what he intended to
do.

As a man, Ethan was forbidden to set
foot in this hall. If he was discovered in the women’s wing, he
would be ostracized from the faith, possibly arrested. He had no
intention of finding out what punishments the clerics had
prescribed for such a deviant crime. Nonetheless, it was a risk he
had to take. He stopped before a particular chamber and took a deep
breath.

He hoped this was indeed her
quarters.

“Kayla,” he whispered. For a moment he
was afraid she had fallen asleep. He could not risk trespassing on
her chamber and waking Kayla. How might she react to his presence?
The door timidly opened and a young woman peered back at him, her
brown eyes ever radiant in the darkness.

“Ethan?
” she said. The young man
quickly took her hand to assure her, tugging at her
fingers.

“Kayla, please don’t be frightened. If
the clerics know I’m here… I wish to help you. What happened last
night was only the beginning, I’m afraid.”

“What do you mean?” Her fingers were
like silky petals, slipping from his feeble grasp.

“I…” His thoughts seemed incoherent as
he tried to explain himself.

“Ethan?” His fear dissolved and he
spoke the first words that came to his mind.

“Elder Invictus has forgotten his moral
responsibilities to the faithful. I fear his ignorance is blinding
him to the danger he is placing everyone in. The clerics are
looking for someone to blame for Astalla’s absence. They’ve
transformed the temple into a religious court and everyone is on
trial for their sins.”

“What danger are you alluding to,
Ethan?”

“I suspect something terrible is going
to take place. Astalla has been trying to reach us, but she cannot
get through. She would only contact Invictus in the event of
something gravely important. You must trust me.”

“What if you are wrong?”

“If I am wrong…”
I will be branded a
traitor to the religion, publicly humiliated and ousted from the
temple.
“I won’t hide from the consequences that await me. I
have a choice between doing what is right and what is easy, and I’m
taking the difficult path. I beg you to listen to me, Kayla. I’m
conducting an evacuation of the temple to help as many people as I
can.”

Kayla looked intimidated, as if
imprisoned in her room by an oppressive force.

“To be honest, I was contemplating
leaving after what happened last night…” She lifted her face to
his, mesmerizing him again with her flawless eyes. “Ethan, I don’t
feel safe here anymore. The priests are discussing methods to
preserve our ‘physical integrity.’”

Physical integrity.
The phrase
made Ethan’s skin crawl.

“What do you mean?”

“Elder Invictus… he wants to remove…”
She choked on the words. “He wants to remove parts of our bodies.
From the women.”

“What?” Ethan gasped through his
nausea.

“The women have been whispering about a
barbaric procedure to circumcise our bodies… with a hot, iron rod.
And stitching it back together to prevent…” She didn’t finish the
thought, and she didn’t have to. Mutilating women’s bodies to
ensure virginity? Ethan wanted to scream at the top of his
lungs.

“I won’t let this happen to you,
Kayla,” he said, fighting the urge to hug her. “Please follow me.
This may be my only chance to save you.”

Kayla nodded.

Through desolate corridors, their
nocturnal escape led past holy chambers where clerics surely
prayed. One false move could sabotage Ethan’s efforts. With every
floor they traversed, another woman joined their covert operation.
At last, only the prayer hall stood between them and the city
outside.

Ethan pried open the double doors with
a grunt. Eternitas sprawled before the fugitives, beckoning them to
safety. At first, the weary disciples seemed hesitant to leave the
temple, like children afraid to leave their mother. Finally, a
woman emerged from the flock and descended down the steps. One by
one, they trickled into the streets.

Ethan looked at the woman he had longed
for since his early adulthood, and he saw the uncertainty burning
in Kayla’s eyes. In that moment, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted
to tell her everything in his heart, how he would even forsake his
vocation if only she would deem him worthy of her.

He wanted to say that everything would
be all right, that she would be safe outside of the temple. The
trembling man resisted the kiss he yearned to share with
her.

Instead, her lips brushed against his
cheek.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Their eyes
met and she slowly descended the stairs. Kayla cast one final look
over her shoulder at him, where he stood paralyzed like a statue on
the steps of the temple.

A knock sounded on Elder Invictus’
door. He sat in the darkness, not a single light to stir the
shadows. Entombed in this somber chamber, he resembled a dying man
who wished to spend his last hours alone. However, he had no
intention of dying.

“Enter,” he croaked. The door cracked
open just enough for a sliver of light to spill inside. A skinny
man peered beyond the door. Black oils were smeared around his
eyes, and red body markings overlapped in intricate designs to the
contours of his bald head. He was robed in a shade of purple so
dark it vaguely resembled black. He crept into the room, studying
the Elder Cleric.

Ganelon had served as a spiritual
advisor to Invictus for several months. He was rarely seen among
the confines of the temple, although he was one of the most
powerful men in the city. In fact, many worshippers and clerics
didn’t even know he existed.

Supposedly, someone fitting his
description could be seen creeping through the halls late at night,
whispering under his breath, his long robes dragging along the
floor. He was only briefly seen before he vanished utterly into the
shadows. Few other than the Elder Cleric could confirm his
existence.

Ganelon often visited Invictus to feed
him succulent bits of information, and he would show his worth once
more this night. He walked along the perimeter of the room as
though afraid to invade the cleric’s space.

“I have located the source of
abandonment,” the advisor said with a wretched smile.

“Have you?” Invictus
murmured.

“It seems your pupil has displeased
Astalla...” Ganelon let his words sink in for maximum effect. “I
saw Ethan sneaking through the halls as if he did not wish to be
seen. He was with a woman.” Invictus suspiciously regarded his
advisor with his corpse-like face.

“Who is this woman?”

“Kayla, a young convert from Sepulzer.
Her loveliness inevitably seduced Ethan. It is not difficult to
imagine her preying on Ethan. I attempted to track down this...
woman
. It seems she has conveniently disappeared from the
temple. Others are also missing.”

“Missing?” Invictus echoed.

“Unfortunately, yes. The matter of the
disappearances does not take priority, however; I’m certain you
would agree. We must immediately deal with the matter at hand
concerning Ethan.”

“Where is he now?”

“I do not know.” A threatening silence
followed. Ganelon said, “This is deeply troubling. He has
disrespected the religious hierarchy and succumbed to the most
horrid sin.”

His lips curled spitefully.

“Lust.”

He walked somberly away from elder and
bowed his head. The walls thick with dust seemed to close in on the
two men. Suddenly, Ganelon shrieked in rage.

“He has cast us into Astalla’s
disfavor!” he screamed. His hand slapped against the wall, his
yellowed nails digging into the granite surface.

“He threatens our temple,” Elder
Invictus agreed. “His actions may indeed imperil the vision Astalla
has sent forth to me.” Ganelon relaxed and let his arm fall by his
side. He glanced over his shoulder at Invictus.

“What would you have me do?” he asked
nefariously. The Elder Cleric contemplated his options. He could
not easily dispose of the young cleric. Ethan was a stubborn and
determined man of unwavering will. It would be a painful and drawn
out process to eliminate him.

Invictus turned his gaze on
Ganelon.

“Use your imagination.”

* * *

Balthasar glared suspiciously at the
three characters as they sauntered toward him, particularly the
Nightwalker. Balthasar was a middle-aged man with black hair,
ornately clad in regal armor that proclaimed his significance.
Various objects adorned his desk, countless documents and papers
stained with pungent ink. A pair of lavish gauntlets was discarded
there beside a dagger. Enthroned like a dictator wallowing in his
kingdom, Balthasar sat with his hands folded before him.

“
My guards report that you
have a request for me,” he said stiffly. Nishka noted the
condescension in his voice and she knew at once this man would
present a problem.

Arxu calmly strode forward. “Yes,
Captain Balthasar. We request that you lift the quarantine on the
temple quarter.”

“By what authority do you ask this of
me?”

“For the safety of the people you swore
to defend.”

“I am protecting the people by
containing the disease behind those walls.”

“You risk a greater tragedy by trapping
the clerics within the temple.”

“They are staying of their own will
despite our efforts to remove them.” Arxu refused to accept his
explanation.

“A man has been scouring the cities in
search of Astalla’s temples and killing her followers. He has
already lay ruin to the temples of Sepulzer, Azia-Nocti, and
Gaelithea.” Captain Balthasar did not look surprised by this
information. Rather, he looked irritated, as though it took all of
his resolve to take Arxu seriously.

“Why is this man killing
them?”

“He is trying to become a demigod.” The
corner of Balthasar’s mouth twitched, revealing the first hints of
a demented smile.

“You are a fool.” Arxu locked stares
with the man across the desk. Nishka suppressed the urge to punch
the captain, mostly because of the consequences.

Sensing a challenge, Balthasar leaned
forward and hissed, “Are you suggesting that one man murdered
dozens of men and women single-handedly? What you describe is
beyond mortal endeavor. Any man would be struck down by the guards
and city watch. And of all places, in Gaelithea!”