The Way of the Brother Gods (3 page)

"Selfish is what I call it. Korstra teaches us to ban together, to work as a family, so that we are stronger together. That the tribe is more important than the individual. And down here, in this little town, the tribe worked wonderfully together. So, Kryssta destroyed it. You go there. You see for yourself what that evil brother god has done. And I praise Korstra for I know it will be the last thing you'll ever see. Kryssta has no love for anyone. He'll kill you the moment you understand His true nature."

Fawbry shook his head. "I'm sorry you are filled with such hatred, but you are wrong. Kryssta doesn't kill, doesn't destroy, doesn't do anything like you suggest."

The old man laughed. To Malja, he said, "You watch out for that one. He'll kill you in your sleep if Kryssta commands it." He laughed again and walked up the road.

Malja checked on Fawbry. He looked more angry than shaken. "You okay?"

"Let's go," he said, setting his eyes on the road.

Malja took Tommy back into her arms. Burning with fever and flush in the face, he didn't seem to be aware of his surroundings. But he did snuggle closer against her chest, and despite her tendency to stiffen at such contact, she didn't pull back.

As they moved on, Malja heard Fawbry pull out a book and leaf through it. Fawbry owned only one book —
The Book of Kryssta
. She was happy for him that he found comfort in its words, but for her neither brother god meant much. She had seen too many evil people on both sides to become a believer.

By the end of the day, they reached the town. It sat in the open which suggested either a brazen attitude or a lack of enemies. Malja guessed the latter since she had not seen or heard anything to suggest other towns nearby.

The town had a grid pattern of streets forming orderly blocks of two-story buildings. As the road they followed merged into one of the town's streets, Malja noticed the construction was not the usual mashing of scavenged materials. These buildings had been built from the ground up — not found and re-purposed. Clearly the design of this town had been planned from the start.

Fawbry nodded toward an open door. Peering in as they passed by, Malja caught that the room inside was empty. The whole town appeared empty.

"I think something bad happened here," Fawbry said.

When they turned the corner, Malja brought Horse to a halt. "I think you're right," she said.

Before them, a dozen burned bodies had been strewn across the street. Shattered windows and splintered doorways marred the orderliness of the town. Bricks had been yanked out of the walls. Paint had been peeled back.

"Look," Fawbry said. "It all goes in the same direction."

He was right. All the destruction reached out toward them as if something closer to the town center had exploded, blasting everything and everyone down the street.

"It's getting dark," Malja said. "We'll pick a building for the night."

"That one still has a window."

Malja led the way with Viper held in front. The building turned out to be a home with little furnishing and plenty of dust. An empty picture frame was the only decoration. A foul odor permeated the air.

"Upstairs," she said.

They climbed the creaking wood and settled in the bedroom with the intact window. Layers of dust and grime coated the walls, and she couldn't see much through the filthy windows, but Malja felt more secure for Tommy than out on the street. Tommy fell asleep right away. Fawbry watched over him like a mother while Malja checked out the house.

"I'm going to find us some food," Malja said when she returned to the room. "There's another stairwell in the back. Anything happens — grab Tommy and use those stairs to get out. And scream. This town isn't that big and everything's quiet. You scream, I'll hear it."

"Don't worry. I can scream loud," Fawbry said but neither of them laughed. Then, with a shiver, he added, "This place. What was Cole doing here?"

Chapter 3

Fawbry's question stayed with Malja as she slid through the empty streets. But where Fawbry asked in fear, Malja felt hope. The only thing she could think that would cause this kind of destruction was an explosion of magic. On its own, that could mean a lot of things, but this was all about Cole Watts. Couple this town with the journal and it seemed obvious that Cole was experimenting with something powerful and dangerous. With Harskill in the picture, Malja knew for sure that Cole Watts had started messing with portals once again.

The town proved her right when she reached its large town square. In the center, she found a circle of odd, charred machinery with thick cables linking it all together. One wide cable ran straight into the center where Malja saw the scorched remnants of what looked like a large picture frame. She knew it well. A portal frame — Cole Watts had developed the technology to control a portal with the aid of magic created by the Bluesmen's music. This one clearly hadn't worked.

A strange sound caught her attention — a low moaning sprinkled with high-pitched whines like a wounded animal. Malja followed the sound down an eastern road. One side of the road had a long gray-brick wall. About two-thirds of the way down, Malja spied a huge hole in the wall dripping with blood. A konapol corpse draped the entrance.

Konapol were strong creatures. Whatever killed this one would be stronger.

Malja peered into the hole. With the sun down, she didn't have enough light to see much. A little movement, perhaps. The hole didn't seem that deep — more like a tiny cave.

A whispering voice traveled from the darkness. "Come in," it said.

Malja raised Viper so whatever had called her would know she had a weapon.

"I won't hurt you. Come in," the voice said.

Looking up and down the street, Malja searched for signs of other life. Tommy needed a good meal to regain his health — something more hearty than found berries and tree leaves. If she had to, she could take back a bit of the konapol, but its meat was tough and tasteless, and she had no idea how long ago the beast had been killed. Tommy hated the stuff, too. It seemed that this creature calling her was the only meat around. But it had some intelligence, enough to speak and not just attack her out of instinct.

She knew going in would be risky and dangerous, but if she walked away, she doubted whatever was in there would leave her alone. She could hear the desperation in its voice. This thing had to be dealt with, and if the result was food for Tommy, then all the better.

"I'm coming in," Malja said. "Don't make any quick motions or I'll kill you."

"I won't hurt you," the voice whispered with such desire that Malja could practically hear the creature salivating with hunger.

As Malja crouched and walked in, she felt the ground crunching under her feet. The snaps of small bones accompanied every step. A dim light flickered ahead — a fire. Thankfully, the deep aroma of burning wood masked the nauseating odor of rotting corpses.

The hole went further in than Malja had expected, a tunnel really, but she reached a point where the space opened into a wide room — one of the other buildings. A small fire surrounded by rocks and skulls crackled in the center of the room. Just beyond sat a gnarled figure, human in basic form but far from human. Close enough, though, that Malja dropped all thoughts of eating the thing.

It was tall and gangly with mottled skin stretched tight against the bone. No fat. No meat. A line of sharp bone ran along its spine, and its hands and feet looked more like sharp talons. It had a freakish face — childlike eyes but with the deadly teeth of a predator.

It sat on a wooden stool. Nothing else in the room. Malja entered.

"Who are you?" it asked, though it appeared to suffer pain in the attempt to speak.

"Malja."

"Really, now. I've heard that claim before. Even ate a few who said as much."

"Make your move and you won't have a mouth to eat with ever again."

It coughed for a moment. "I can see the revulsion in your face. You look at me like I'm some ugly beast. A monster to be destroyed."

"What are you then?"

"I ... I don't know anymore. I
was
a worker. I was human like you. We all were. We worked here every day until this happened. Another Devastation came and like before, we were changed, mutated. Maybe we are beasts and monsters. But we're not the real monsters. No, no. We worked for Cole Watts. She is the true monster. You watch out for her. She'll sacrifice you without a care. Turn you into something evil and disgusting. She caused another Devastation."

Malja shook her head. "There wasn't another Devastation. The world is as it was. Except here."

"Cole Watts did this," it said. A fit of coughing followed. It hacked up and spit out a glob of blood. "She plays with powers she doesn't understand. She thinks she's a god, but she's a fool. She's no Kryssta, and she's certainly not the great Korstra. She's just a mad woman, and we all suffer for it."

"There are more like you?"

It nodded. "Over half her workforce was in town when she let her experiment loose." It turned its big eyes on Malja and lost all sense of threat. "P-Please," it said. "If you are Malja, then you understand the horror I'm feeling. I've been made into something less than I was. Malja, the real Malja, is a great warrior. She would have mercy on me. Kill me even. She could end my pain in one swift stroke. Is that really you? Are you really Malja?"

In the flickering firelight, the creature's face shifted between weak pleading and hideous aggression. The conflict within this former-man played out not just on its face but in the room as well. Malja noticed now that all the bones were covered in uneaten flesh. The corners of the room had been fouled with vomit. This creature's hunger drove it to attack and eat these animals raw, but the vestiges of humanity left within it caused it to rebel against its body's desires.

"Please," it said, exposing its neck for a killing blow. "Have mercy on me."

Mercy. Malja had killed for many reasons: survival, defense, and revenge. She had led armies and toppled rulers. But to take a life for mercy? On the surface, it seemed fine, perhaps even moral, and could be done with ease. Except that Malja knew no killing was free of complications. At the least, she would have to pay the dead their honor as Uncle Gregor, her guardian growing-up, had taught her. How could she pay honor to a half-human/half-mutated beast? Especially when such a creature existed because it was helping Cole Watts do things she had been warned never to do again — opening portals. Then again, Malja sought Cole Watts to open a portal for her, so perhaps she was no better than the creature before her.

"Okay," she said, and the tension holding the creature firm eased away. It sighed, and Malja swore she could see a smile on its jagged mouth. She raised Viper, watched the creature close its eyes, and she struck true.

A pained cry erupted in the distance. Another joined it. Soon a chorus of howling screams echoed from outside, and Malja knew the other workers that had been mutated were still around. Somehow they had sensed this one's death.

The screams turned into angry growls. And they were coming closer.

Chapter 4

Malja peered down the tunnel she had arrived by. Something was in there. Approaching fast. A quick scan of the room offered no other exits.

With a resigned huff, she said, "Wonderful." She held Viper in front of her, the blade turned horizontally, and crouched into the hole. Cackling echoed around her.

Moving as fast as she could manage in the awkward position, she pressed forward. The bright moonlight that should have marked the end of the hole had been blocked out by whatever creature came her way. The double-strike odor of sweat and feces rode in on the constant noise of the creature.

Though her thighs, knees, and ankles cramped from trying to hurry in a crouch, she pushed her legs harder, faster. The only light came from the dying fire behind her. It was enough, though.

She saw a hairy mound of muscle and teeth ahead. Letting out a guttural war cry, Malja charged forward as fast as her legs would allow. Viper jabbed into the creature's gut. With more momentum, she would have cut straight through, but the confined space and awkward crouching lessened her impact. Instead, Viper lodged into the creature's spine.

She shoved forward, pushing the creature backward as it howled in pain. It slashed at her with sharp claws, but it couldn't reach. It tried to dig into the wall, but that only let Viper cut deeper. Hollering in agony, the creature started stepping backward, helping Malja reach the exit.

They burst onto the street, the night air cool and bright. The creature tripped on the curb and fell. Malja followed through, pushing Viper straight into the street and separating the creature in two. As she yanked Viper from the gore, she heard more creatures behind her.

Looking over her shoulder, Malja saw a vast array of deformed and mutated people. Some stumbled toward her on stumped legs. Some crawled out of the windows, adhering to the walls with ease. Others sped toward her on a belly of fingers. Their skin reflected in the moonlight — silvers, greens, blacks, and browns. They were a mass of burn victims, leather-skinned lizards, oddities and peculiarities, and even one woman who appeared to be made of glass. They shared only one common trait — they all were coming for Malja with teeth bared and hunger in their eyes.