Page 76 of Sun Warrior

“Yes, Champion.”

When she hesitated before leaving the balcony, Dead Eye made an irritated gesture. “Why do you not do as I bid you?”

“I will, Champion. Should I have another Attendant remain here to keep the God’s firepots fed?”

“No. I will not sleep. I’ll feed them until you return.”

“It will be as you command, Champion.” Lily bowed again and hurried from the balcony.

Dead Eye watched the young women pour from the Temple to wake the sated People and begin cleaning the mess below. Then he shifted his attention to the distant forest and his thoughts to the Tribe of the Trees.

How best to go about conquering the Tribe and claiming their city as my own?

He had already sown the forest with poison. The man of the Othersthe People had captured, along with his canine, had been infected, and Dead Eye was sure he had spread that infection to the City in the Trees. Why else would they have allowed a forest fire to consume them?

That step seemed to be going well—very well.

He was also pleased by how quickly his Reapers responded to the flesh from the boar. They were already healing and strengthening, and the nine left after he’d made an example of Stalker seemed to be accepting his authority unconditionally. But was that enough to take over the City in the Trees?

Definitely not.

Dead Eye needed an army of men like Iron Fist and the other eight—men who were loyal to him and whose skin had been healed by the flayed flesh of a living, untainted creature. Dove’s Attendants needed to be healed as well, or the Temple would deteriorate into the poisoned cesspool it had been before he had taken control.

“So much to do before we attack the city, but is there time? If I wait until I have an army of Reapers, I take the chance that the Others will have recovered and rebuilt. Yet if I don’t wait, do my People have the strength to defeat a Tribe as mighty as the Others in their city in the sky?”

Dead Eye paced, feeling the fire building within him. What should he do about the People? When should they take the City in the Trees? The forest fire—the blaze that had ravaged the city—mixed with the poison sown in the forest—might very well have weakened the Tribe enough to allow the People to defeat and enslave them now.

He wouldn’t know for sure unless he went to the Tribe and saw for himself how weak—or how strong—they were.

Perhaps he should wait. Perhaps he should take each Harvester and each Hunter who remained to the forest and, as he had done with Stalker, cull the weak. Then, like Iron Fist and his newly appointed Reapers, reward the faithful by flaying the flesh of a forest beast and joining its skin with theirs.

Dead Eye rubbed his hand through his hair in frustration, feeling a jolt of surprise when he touched the antlers above his ears.They’ve grown bigger, just in the space of this one auspicious day.

He stretched his arm, flexing his powerful biceps, delighting in skin that was free of cracks and pustules—free of disease. He was strong. Stronger than any of the People. As strong as a God.

You are a God.

The thought lifted from his veins, filling his heart, his mind, his soul.

That thought was not mine.

Trepidation skittered through Dead Eye’s body. Unbidden, he turned to face the metal statue of the immense God that lurked behind him.

Had he really felt Her move when he’d returned from the Hunt and taken Dove into his arms? They hadn’t spoken of it afterward. They had made love and feasted, and only now did Dead Eye have the solitude to truly consider what had happened.

“Did you move? Are you there?” He spoke directly to Her.

She did not answer.

He scratched the back of his neck, feeling the soft coat of fine stag fur that now stretched the length of his spine.

“Or am I going mad?”

Climb and learn the truth.

The command filled his mind. Not like a thought, and not his own. It was as if a great force had awakened inside Dead Eye and was stretching and flexing after a long sleep.

He stared up into the God’s face. “If I am mad, then this madness makes me strong, heals me, and tells me to lead the People from the doomed City to salvation.”