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5.) Talents, fathers and the troubles of a god

I was chewing on dried beef and was watching as the Brotherhood of the Claws was building up a small camp of tents. We were about to have a day of rest as we were walking for six days already and only stopped at late night. I was sleeping well with Clarissa, she made me completely relaxed not just with the little magic tricks she showed me. I looked at Henrietta counting the food and water supplies we will need during that little pause in the adventures. She was a great cook, which was rare among Lions and had a crush on me somehow. I was told that she would give me a blowjob anytime I wanted because she liked me and the taste of my cum. She was talented coaxing it out indeed, despite she was a little rough. That thought put a smile on my face; Last night when she and Clarissa was sucking me off in turns was amazing.

“Magister Anderson.” Someone called my name, so I turned to the direction. It was Master Pa’adre al’Escon in his colorful chest plate, with a huge broadsword on his back. Despite the colors were toned down greatly the Knights of the Tamed Fire liked to advertise what they were with the orange, white, red, black patterns on their equipment. He had a bow and a quiver in his hands full of arrows. I thought he wanted to go out for a hunting.

“How can I help you Grand Master…” I stood up, he waved me not to continue my sentence.

“Call me Pa’adre. General Blood-drinker asked me to teach you. I thought using a bow would increase your survival chances in case you are separated from the Source.” It was an interesting idea which was in my mind a few times before. I was a clever and talented Wizard, also a Demigod with the ability to use Ether. The downside with all these that if I was Silenced at the same time when I couldn’t reach for the Ether too, I was nothing more than dead meat. So probably it was the same thought-flow of My Lioness as well. Last time I got in fight I was almost killed by the first soldier I have met with.

“Bow?” I had to ask as I would have expecting lessons in fencing from a Flame Knight.

“You are not strong, flexible, agile for sword. If your enemy is within an arm’s length, sword would only a burden for you. But with bow, you can kill the opponent before they get to you.” He explained and handed me the weapon. It was made from hickory by expert hands.

“You must know that this is the first time I have a bow in my hands, ever.” I admitted. The wood was colored to black and dark orange like a cloaking pattern, the quiver was made similar. Twenty arrows were more likely for practicing than battles as they hadn’t had metal heads, only spiked.

“In that case, let’s start with the basics.” He waved me away from the camp, probably he did not want me to harm anybody by accident. It made me a little annoyed as I wasn’t a hunter indeed, but I wasn’t a pile of wretchedness either. He led me to a rock in the firry we were and pointed to a pine tree heavy with cones.

“You will try to hit the cones, starting with the one up there.” He pointed to my future target. “But before that I show you how to draw the bow and how to put the arrow onto the string…” He couldn’t finish as I did within seconds. It was surprise to me that I knew by instinct.

“I have read a few books about this.” I said and shrugged to his wide eyes. My eyes were wide too probably.

“All right Magister, let’s hit something on that tree.” He waved me to shoot. First, I thought it will be a success if I hit the tree and not myself on feet. As I leveled the bow and pulled the string, a strange feeling hit me; Same as in the camp of the enemy. I felt the air vibrating around me, and the lights got a slight golden tone. The shadows became brighter and I could hear the muffled sniffling of a squirrel in the tree at my back, the breathing of Pa’adre, the rattling of the pine-leafs under his feet, the knocking of a stag-beetle behind the rock, the rustling of the wind between the branches. I released the string.

“Amazing! You hit that pine-cone right in the middle. Beginners Luck probably.” Pa’adre told me while I was about to shoo away that strange state of mind I got into. “Try the next one.” He said. Without hesitating even for a second, I pulled the string, aimed and shot. Another pine-cone was falling from the tree with an arrow pierced through the middle. I thought I will try my luck again and again till the quiver went empty. Pa’adre looked at me with wide eyes again, probably only the decades of training and battle-hardened facial muscles made him not dropping his jaw in awe; every arrow hit a pine-cone in the middle with engineering precision.

“I think that was enough bow training.” I remarked silently putting down the weapon onto the rock. The strange feeling suddenly vanished as soon as I released the wood. The shadows deepened, the lights were ordinary lights again, the vibrations around me faded away.

“It wasn’t just luck. I have only seen that accuracy once in my life.” He admitted and looked into my eyes like he was reading in my mind to find the answers of the question he had. “Who are your parents?” He asked.

“I was raised in an orphanage.” I did not want to lie so I only told him the part of the truth. I was indeed raised there and till the recent events I did not know my parents. I was only certain about my mother as my father was still a huge question mark in my biography. “Who was that archer you are talking about?” I diverted the topic.

“It was Zurik the Wild. He saved my life fifty years ago.” He admitted and I was blinking furiously. ‘Is he referring to that I’m just as good with bow as the God of the Hunters? Like the lover of my mother?’ I thought. It made me terrified suddenly. He was implying something I wasn’t ready for, that I’m not just a demigod. ‘Damn every God in the Sky! I’m not ready even for this demigod thing, I was pushed into!’ I was gasping for air.

“I have to go!” I said quickly and left the petrified Grand Master in hurry. I did not stop just when a patrolling lion stood in my way and asked if I saw anything dangerous as I was white like dried bones and looked like I have met with a ghost.

The night caught me in the tent of Clarissa. I was shocked only for an hour; I disputed the idea that my father could be Zurik the Wild. That would have meant that I wasn’t a Demigod but a Nephilim, which was ridiculous. Yet was so frightening that I even joked about it with Clarissa when she told me Pa’adre found me talented using the bow.

“Like father like son.” I said and she cooked her head.

“Are you referring to that Zurik could be your father?” She asked and I sighed. I already regretted that I brought up the topic.

“If it would be true, my mind would just stop working and my brain would slowly be dripping out from my ears.” I grabbed on a flask with wine in it and sipped a little. ‘Maybe I will find peace in alcoholism.’ I thought for a second and put that flask away. Stupid idea.

“I guess that would make my mission to find and convince Ximminth unnecessary as I found another Nephilim. Hmm…” She was frowning. “That would help me big time actually.” She looked at me and I knew it was her mocking frown.

“Stop it! I’m still munching on that I’m a Demigod. Also If I would have been a Nephilim you could not hurt me with your claws and maybe you forgot but even Valeria was able to bite into my neck once. Which means I’m only a goddamn demigod nothing more!” I kicked off a stool in anger. ‘Why everyone is putting labels on me? Labels so heavy that I cannot bear. Why life is hitting me on face again and again till I will not be able to stand?’ The thought that I was hit by a sword and survived without a scratch wasn’t helping. The strange sensations I lived through recently also made me think about my parents. I kept getting signs I couldn’t understand and there wasn’t anybody around me to explain them. ’Why my Goddess mother not helping me digest these things? I barely met her, and she wasn’t showing up anymore. I walked the dusty road for a week looking for the answers, following my aunt and she did not even send a sign that she is with me! She threw me away again!’ I was angry and desperate. I felt some sizzling sensation in my body emitting from my bones.

“Calm down. You are about to touch the Ether.” Clarissa distracted my thoughts. “You are just a whisker thick away from glowing in gold. Slower your breathing and heart beats.” She told me and I did accordingly. It was an agreement between us that we won’t use Ether in front of others just when there wasn’t other way and it was necessary to save lives. Fortunately, or Luckily it happened only once since the city; when she got really angry mentioning his dead friends and an army of lion was just a few meters away from us the whole time. ‘Clarissa is with me, maybe she can help me understand myself despite her experiences about being a demigod are different. But we are something different. I should admit her everything.’ I was calming down slowly.

“How did you know that I was touching the Ether?” I asked after I set up the stool and sat down on it. I was a wizard, so I was able to sense the magic around me, the Source inside of others if I concentrated enough but not the Ether, it was like an absence of the magic, the void itself, for me. I could have only guessed that if something strange was happening around me and I did not sense the magic it was the Ether.

“It is harder than you would believe but since you are turned out to be a Demigod, I try to keep my senses sharp to these things. Especially when you are angry or frightened.” She sat up pulled the stool closer to herself with me on it, licked my cheek. “So much to learn.” She sighed. “What if we go out into the woods and practice a little? Just normal, everyday spells.”

“Sounds good Master Wizard Lioness.” I caressed her face and neck, leaned to her. “It will make me forget this insane day.” And maybe skip my questions and problems as well, I thought with a sigh.

“Mistress Sorceress Lioness if you excuse me. Maybe Henrietta will suck your problems out after we finished.” She smiled at me and made a gesture with her paws like she was pulling a plug from a bottle.

“She would suck the life out of me one day, but you can… ehm… do things to calm me down.” I winked meaningful and she hit me with a paw, I leaned away from it, laughing up.

“I will do things definitely, but you will not like them.” She cried after me as I was slipping out from the tent and running into the woods. It was almost midnight by that time but I was able to see like on daylight.

She was following me mock-scolding my speed and persistence just like my ability to last long in sex with a lioness. I was mocking her that she had the same amount of time like me from the moment I pushed myself inside her, so we could have said; I won that battle. That went on and on till we reached a little clearing not far, but far enough from the camp.

The stars were shining bright on that night, all the constellations were visible clearly, the artwork of Alium to guide the lost travelers, help the sailors find the shore, light for the couples in love. I had to smile watching that beauty. In the distance there was the moon which reminded me to Zurik in wolf pelts on that square back in the city, made from silver and white stones, but I quickly shoo away that thought. I had other things to focus on, like the lioness in front of me.

“We are here to practice the magic, not astronomy.” She wasn’t rested to remind me. Clarissa was a powerful opponent a brilliant General and a talented Sorceress, above all she was a Demigod, but we agreed on not to use Ether just when it was necessary. It wasn’t a thing that you just pull out from your pocket anyway, I had to be terrified or furious to even touch it.

“How do you want to practice? If we just start throwing spells all around it could end badly.” I shrugged because I had no idea what her plan at the first place was. Magic was a dangerous thing to play with like children with a ball.

“Simple; I form a spell from low or middle tier and throw at you. Before I do, I will tell you how to deflect.” She explained like a teacher in the school.

“That is still sounds dangerous.” I marked for the record. “If you hate me, just say.” I laughed at her and she was giggling for a few seconds as well.

“I will only use not deadly spells, you silly. The first one will be a simple fireball. Use the air around you, form a shield and deflect.” Her eyes flared up in blue and the magic appeared in front of her nose. She did not even use a paw she was so talented. I had to gesticulate to create an Air-Shield which was easier than I thought. The Source made bluish lights running under my skin, waves going up and down and probably my eyes were also glowing in blue.

Her spell exploded on the other side of my shield without any problem. I thought it will be hard, but it was easy. The Source was blazing and boiling inside me like a volcano ready to blow up a continent. But I was in charge, I was handling it with more confidence ever before. Suddenly the lights got golden tone and I felt the air vibrating around me, but Clarissa did not notice anything of it. I wasn’t touching the Ether. It was the third time but that time I was filled with the Source.

“Good job! Now, do it again! Then I will switch to something else, like a lightning. It will be harder; you will have to make the shield thicker and encompass you from every direction.” She continued the lesson like nothing happened with me. She threw the ball. I grabbed it with my bare hand, I did not use any Source to create any spell. I saw what she did, how she sewed the magic from the element fire, from some air to support it and even some earth. It was strange that she used earth, but like a cook, wizards used to have their own special practices. I was holding it in my palm, inspecting from one side to another, like it would have been only a fruit she threw at me. By closing my hand, I was able to stiffen it out, untying the elements. I was understanding the magic more than ever before.

“That wasn’t hard enough I suppose.” I told to her as she was looking at me wide eyed. What I just did shocked her for a few moments.

“I only saw this once before, from Grand Wizard Ixius. Impressive!” She told me then shook herself a little. “Now, the lighting. Do not try to catch it as it is not possible with that element. Ready?” She was nodding to me to get myself prepared. I suddenly noticed that I was standing on a field in the middle of the night and I was able to see like on daylight. The golden shining lights wasn’t around me I checked quickly. So, I wasn’t using any Ether, still I felt myself strong and mighty. The first spark of the realization came in the same time as the lighting from Clarissa. She charge the air around herself then from a single point, she released the tensioned magic, creating an actual, zigging-zagging lightning like you would see on a stormy night. But this time it was coming from her, right into my direction.

I touched the Ether and grabbed the lighting on its head, bending and forming a ball from it with my both hands, then igniting with Ever Flame. I only had to think about it and happened. The stars were shining bright, the wind was whistling in the leaves. I was holding a ball of Ever Flame between my palms with lightning in the middle and I was calm. I was not just touching the Ether but embracing it, showering in it and I only felt that it was natural like breathing.

“How do you do this Eric? It is not possible.” Clarissa came closer with the fear in her eyes that she was witnessing something she shouldn’t have. I knew what she was thinking. There was a demigod, who was able to use the Ether like…

“I’m a god.” I sighed silently. Suddenly everything made sense. Pa’adre was right. I was the son of Zurik and Kaida, I was a new god. I heard something and I felt a presence coming. Suddenly Clarissa was frozen in motion, just like every bird, every insect and leaf on the trees, the time had been stopped. As I turned around, dim golden light waves formed around me and fade away after a foot. The same thing happened in the camp where I fought with the soldiers. This time I understood what happened when I saw the golden blistering lights on my friends. I was able to twist the luck around the others, probably inherited from my mother.

Suddenly there was a tall and muscular man warped in wolf pelts, with a bow on his back, not far away. His eyes were flashing in the dark but not like you would expect on any animal; it was like the moon were behind his eyes peeking out only when he was looking directly at you. He walked to me with an elegance of a predator and squeezed my left shoulder. As he was getting closer his body made small light waves but in silver tone. I caught myself on gasping for air he was so mesmerizingly strong I forgot to breath. He was the God of the Hunters and my father. He had a strange white-silver aura around him which highlighted his mightiness, not that if it wouldn’t have been crystal clear even for a blind person that he was above all mortal being. He has a big and thick beard which was sometimes silver sometimes black like a regular beard, it depended on the light and the angle you looked at it. But his eyes…

Another hand landed on my right shoulder, it was my mother in her human form, wearing a long, tight robe made from black and white silk. The lining was made from gold in a shape of a coiling long dragon. On her shoulder there was a decoration in a form of a white dragon, and I recognized Illigna in it.

“What are you doing here?” I asked both as it was a sudden but warm welcome. I lived my whole life without parents, as an orphan and in that moment, I was in the middle of a family. My father on my right side, my mother on my left side and even Clarissa was there, My Lovely Lioness, thought she was frozen with the time. That moment moved me to the point silent tears were flowing on my face.

“We are here to welcome you among us, My Eric.” My mother told me. I was touched to the point I couldn’t hold it back and hugged her, crying my happiness onto her shoulder. But the moment passed away quickly as I realized we were not alone.

The first man I saw was terrifying, he had a loose dark robe with a hood on his head, but his eyes were dull and black. He was holding a scythe forged from Cold Flame and molten steel. I didn’t need two guesses to figure out that was Moheres the Bringer of Death, the edge of his robe was releasing black mist. To his presence Zurik reached to a dagger made from probably a dragon tooth, attached to his belt. Obviously, they did not like each other.

“That is an aberration!” A huge muscular man appeared next by him from the thin air, shouted at me, dressed only in a leather loincloth, he had long brown hair, red eyes and had a huge stone hammer in his hand. It was at least a ton in weight if not more. “We must eliminate it!” He roared at me like a monster. So Seel the Destroyer had problems with me. I felt I was in the deepest trouble of my life.

“Calm down my friend. We will take care of it.” A small and sneaky looking man stepped off from his shadow warped in leather armor and had green glowing iris. He was playing with a silver dagger and looked at me with eyes like a slit, measuring me from the tip of my toe to the top of my head, looking for weak spots probably.

“I won’t calm down Ro’oe, till that thing is alive!” He got the reply. Great, now I had three Gods against me and two on my side. It wasn’t forecasting me long and happy life. I did not want to die on the edge of my adulthood, when I found my parents, when I started to enjoy my life more than ever. Furthermore, I was about to fight of a terrible enemy, unite the lands and become a fair god. Or something like that. But not an evil aberration, like I was called before.

“Lads! The violence is not always the answer. Probably there is some other solution.” I heard a flirty voice and soon my face went red like the rose in the hand of Nillimina, who was totally naked except a thin belt with a hanging golden flute decorated with rubies. Her long blond hair was caressing her back as she walked to the trio. I realized, all the Gods were around us, except the Dragon Gods.

There was Alium with a silver spyglass in his hand wearing a robe. I was gasping for air again when I saw that robe was looking like the exact sky above us. All the stars and constellations were there and as he moved closer it was changing according, like it was reflecting the sky, but no! It was mimicking the sky! Amazing!

Attot an old looking wizard was leaning onto his obsidian staff with a goat-head at the end. He seemed a little dreamy. His robe was the same as the Grand Wizards use to wear in the Academy, with all the silver and golden buttons, black and white lining, decorated with stars.

“Or we should just let him speak, before we jump to the conclusion.” He said gesticulating with his hand and staff.

“It did not work last time! We must kill it!” Seel shouted turning to the God of the Wizards. Attot just smiled at him like a grandfather would do to his grandchild.

“It did not work last time.” He replied mimicking Seel’s voice, who was shocked for a second, then became angrier than before, rising his hammer onto the Spell Singer.

“Everybody just calms down!” Another God walked between me and Moheres. “Do not make sudden and foolish decisions!” He wore a chainmail shirt, leather pants and plate armor boots. On his left hand there was a marble shield and, on his back, a similarly designed marble sword. He was obviously Kite the Unbeatable.

“We should not fight with each other.” Talimoth the God of Forests walked to the scene, with his brothers. He looked like a lion sculpt from wood, roots of mane. Edimoth was a strange phenomenon, his bluish, greenish fur was behaving like he was actually in water, even the lights were playing with his body to a strange game like you would see only underwater. It highlighted the Goddess of Light next by him radiating bright shining rays around herself like she was the sun in lion shape. She was winking at me like we knew some secret nobody else. I had no idea why she did that.

Tashmoth had the most influence on me and if my mother wouldn’t have squeezed my shoulder with more force I would have been running into the opposite direction, crying like a little girl. He was made from lava, sizzling and waving, burning all the grass under his paws. He had a dark aura around him and when I looked into his flaming eyes, I felt increasing panic and the feeling that it was dragging me towards him to burn me slowly into ashes.

“He is my son! You have to kill me first to get him.” Zurik stepped forward to the group of the main gods. Almost every single God was there, other time I would have been amazed by this company, but that time they were about to kill me. I was thinking about creating some high tier spell, but then I changed my mind. There was no spell against the army of gods. What I knew from the books and Clarissa, it would have been like a glass of water against a blazing volcano. I wasn’t sure that even with the Ether I had any chance to survive. ‘I need some God Tier spells if there are even such things.’ I was thinking.

“Zurik, how could you crate that thing? After my offspring, after what it did with us, how could you create another one?” Moheres told him preparing himself for an attack.

“He wasn’t created, he was born. He is our love-child. The first god in the history that wasn’t created by the Essence itself or from your evil thoughts.” He took his bow and grabbed the string. Suddenly an arrow appeared on it ready to shoot. Everyone had some kind of weapon or equipment to fight with. Even the spyglass in Allium’s hand looked strong enough to beat out a few teeth and I had nothing. Moheres raised the scythe, it heated up to the point it was almost white and Zurik tensioned the bow. Within seconds there will be the fight of the millennium, between the main gods.

“Sorry for being late. What did I miss?” Another God was appearing between the duo. His interruption was so sudden that it distracted everyone. He was damn fast!

“Gillian! What on the Tall Sky are you doing here?” Seel asked the question from the skinny man with silver hair like a horse’s mane. He looked agile and twitchy, which wasn’t a surprise according to the fact he was the God of the horses, horseman and runners.

“You are all here, so I am. What are we doing?” He asked ignoring all the drawn weapon and the tension in the air. He looked a little silly.

“Killing that aberration!” Seel shouted pointing to my direction with that enormous hammer he had. He was handling I would do with a pillow full of feather. I did not want to go into a fistfight with Seel I was sure about that.

“You will not fight.” There was a male voice exploding into the air, coming from every direction. He wasn’t angry, he just made a statement. Everyone was holding onto a weapon or swallowing back a hard one. I did not know who was that bodyless voice, but it changed the mood from angry, ready to kill and fight to frightened, on the verge of fleeing. Who would have been capable of frighten all the main gods at once?

As I looked to my mother for any hint what should have I done, she was smiling. So, everyone was freaked out expect my mother, the Goddess of the Luck, Kaida the Gold was smiling. It should have been a good omen I thought.

“Lower your weapons and your voice.” He said again. To my surprise everybody did accordingly. Soon the air was filled with something thick and made hard to breath. It was a kind of smoke coming from every direction. Without any sound or even any grass to bend, a huge slithering dragon formed not far from me. He was Daal the Black Worm, one of the Ancient Dragon Gods. He was enormous like Illigna. He looked like a long thick snake with small hands and legs. His head was like a half-lion-half-dragon with long tentacle like whiskers. His horns on the back of the head was tiny and antler like. But that presence he was emitting made it absolutely obvious why the main gods was afraid of him. He was an Ancient Dragon God, one of the first Gods created by the Essence when the Time just started which made him capable of erasing any god from the existence.

“Daal, you have to understand what a danger that thing is to us. Remember the last one; It almost killed everybody.” Seel stood closer to the dragon who kept slithering and almost flowing in the air like the embodiment of the smoke he was born from.

“I remember, because I killed it as you were unable to. I had to dismantle it piece by piece, until nothing remained but the mixture of Ether, Essence, the flesh of mortals and the thoughts it was created from.” He said and I swallowed a big one. I thought my faith will be the same.

“I was there too.” My mother stood in front of me, protecting me with her body.

“Just like me!” A woman’s voice came from nowhere, it was all around in the air, coated us like a warm blanket. The field started vibrating, everywhere like above a campfire. I had a good guess who that could have been, so I wasn’t surprised when Illigna formed out from a ball of Ever Flame next by Daal. They rubbed heads probably as a welcome then looked at the Gods in front of them. So, everybody was there, all the seventeen Gods from the Sky, every single one. All because of me, because I realized who I was, where I came from and what should have I become. I was the eighteenth God, born, not created, from parents, not from the Essence itself. I was raised as a human, I was taught by a legendary demigod Lioness. Suddenly I understood why they were afraid of me. I was a mixture of everything, with the potential to become anything. I was unsure about my place in the Sky. Every God has an aspect of the reality or element which they mastered. Seel, Ro’oe, Nillimina, even Gillian. I didn’t feel myself as a master of anything, I just hoped that I will live long enough to figure it out. Gods are immortal so probably, with some luck and help, I will have that time to think through everything. It was a fact I couldn’t hide anymore; I was not able to undo it. In that moment I wished stronger than ever before. I wanted my normal life back. Although Gods can make themselves mortal for a few years, but they will remain gods. I just wanted to revert myself to something simple. Return to the day I woke up in Clarissa’s tent when we first met. To become the to-be wizard young man on his pilgrimage again.

“My nephew is protected by me.” Illigna said with certainty and I saw in the eyes of Seel that he lost all the hope for some good fight. An Ancient Dragon Goddess’s words were the law even for them.

“And by me.” Daal confirmed too so it was stated. There won’t be any fight, Kite just smiled and nodded to them as he was about to prevent the war between us anyway. He was indeed a good lad as my mother told me before. Only Moheres looked unsatisfied, he wasn’t done with me it was obvious.

“Thank you! I won’t cause any trouble.” I told to everybody. Suddenly Ro’oe was behind me, stabbing straight to my hearth with his silver daggers. It was too late for my mother to protect me, Zurik was ready to pull me away but he wasn’t fast enough. I was embracing the Ether and wished I would have been somewhere else, safe from all the Gods in the Sky. I felt the tip of the daggers touching my chest when suddenly the Ether vanished, and I was falling back onto the ground. The air was cold and warm at the same time, the Ether was flowing out of my hands as I tried to grab it again, instead I touched something else, something warmer and sizzling, something thick and silky. It wasn’t the Source, wasn’t the Ether. It was something more than even a god could have understood.

I landed on the ground. Did I die? Was that the afterlife? I asked from myself. There was no answer.

To be continued…