AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I turn back to Myter, and my path slides closer to hers.
“Countless,” Myter assures us. “Godsworn can serve as living conduits for a god’s power.”
“How?” I ask.
“The more apt question is why,” Myter corrects, her voice taking on that reverberance I’ve heard before. I can’t help but wonder if it’s actually been her or Bala who’s been speaking to me all along. “It is harmful for all involved when the gods spend too much time on the physical plane, as you’ve no doubt seen with the Oterans. Which is why they bond with godsworn. Usually, each god starts with at least four bonded, but there can be hundreds, even thousands.”
They both turn to Ixa, their beings so blended now, I can’t tell where Myter stops and Bala begins. “As Ixa, however, seems to be your only current bonded,” they rumble, “he cannot fully heal you the way you can him.”
I blink, their words sinking in. “Wait, Ixa can heal me?”
I knew he could ease my pain, but this…this could change everything. I’ve been fearing the return of the sores, but if I can figure out how to get Ixa to heal me, perhaps I’ll have more time, more strength, as I continue on my journey.
When they nod, I swiftly ascertain, “And the reason I can heal him with my blood is because he’s my godsworn?”
They incline their head once more. “Indeed. But you need at least four to heal you entirely, and I doubt you can manage that number of godsworn in your current state. Ixa can, however, take your pain, as you have seen. That is part of his function: all godsworn keep spaces inside them for their gods; each one is a living temple to their deity.”
“Which is why ye can slip into his mind!” Britta gasps. “I knew it wasn’t possession!” she says triumphantly.
“That’s not what you said last time,” Li mutters.
“Shut it, ye,” Britta hisses, elbowing him.
As I stare at Ixa, Myter gestures with her chin, her voice losing Bala’s reverberance as she says, “We’re almost there. I know you’re used to Otera, so do try to contain yourself when you gaze at the wonder that is our capital. It won’t do to seem like too much of a bumpkin.”
It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes, but when I glance at Britta, she’s already doing it for me. “I’ll try,” I reply dryly. “I know it’ll be difficult, but I’ll try.”
The closer we get to the end of the pathways, the dimmer the rainbow lights glow. Where once they were brilliant things, they’re now the barest suggestion of a shimmer. The power, or whatever it was, that guided us here is coming to an end. We’re almost at our destination.
The mere thought raises my anxieties.
“So, Mother is expecting me?” I ask, fingers twisting together as my worries return.
The last time I spoke to Mother was on what I assumed was her deathbed. What will she think about the person I’ve become? The things I’ve done?
“I would assume so.” Myter’s unconcerned reply is like cold water dousing all my hopes.
“You don’t know for certain?” This cold, almost accusing statement comes from Belcalis, who is now walking out of the fog toward me, as are my other friends.
Around us, the pathways are slowly disappearing, the fog and forests fading as brightness and the sound of waves crashing take their place.
The children are still absent, but that, I assume, is because they’re with Bala, in different pathways all their own.
“No.” Myter shrugs. “Bala and I are not involved in the inner workings of the pantheons. We just mind the pathways.”
“And defend them when necessary?” Belcalis adds. When Myter blinks at her, she continues bluntly: “I’ve been thinking. No Oteran has ever been to the Unknown Lands and returned that I know of. We didn’t even know they truly existed. I assume there’s a reason for that.”
“Indeed,” Myter confirms, cheerfully twirling her hammer. “Bala and I are the reason. As long as the gods of Otera remain alive, no Oteran living can cross the pathways twice. Anyone who tries runs afoul of, well, me.”
“So where does that leave us?” I ask, everything inside me tensing.
“Gods and godsworn are different,” Myter says.
“We’re not godsworn,” Britta says.
“Yet,” Myter replies meaningfully, glancing at me.
I stiffen as the suggestion rings in my mind. Could it be possible? If I regain my kelai and become a true god, could Britta and the others truly become my godsworn? More to the point, would they want that—to become my glorified helpers? My living temples?
