Ultimate Level 1

Max stared at the crater, the only evidence of the town they had infiltrated just the other day.

No smoke rose from it.

Instead, there was an absence of all rock, dirt and anything else.

A smooth surface like glass ran down the almost-three-mile-wide bowl.

“Everyone must be dead,” Cordellia said quietly. “What… what kind of power could cause this?”

No one spoke, but Max believed each of them must be working through that problem independently.

“Can… can you do this kind of destruction?” Fowl asked.

Sensing his friend looking at him, he could only shake his head.

“No. This is far beyond me. Even with everything I have and know, moving that amount of material would take so long. I mean… how deep is this? Half a mile? Three quarters?”

“Still… to know that Thuy—” Tanila caught herself right before she said the name she had prayed to her whole life. Clearing her throat, she grimaced. “To know that someone would unleash that kind of destruction on a town makes me question the blind loyalty I have given them.”

“It’s not your fault, dear,” Batrire said as she squeezed her friend’s arm. “No one could have imagined that she would desire this.”

“I did… I mean… the signs were there,” their mage replied. Her voice was low, the pain of the realization evident on every word she spoke. “My dad… my grandfather… they all proclaimed how our goddess wanted us to be strong. Powerful enough to go to other worlds and proclaim her might and conquer those who wouldn’t bend a knee.”

Max held her hand, feeling her whole body tremble as his Sonar detected the slightest movement she made.

“So many have died… because of her… I want to curse her name but fear doing so would draw her attention, and we…”

She paused, pulling her hand free from Max’s and pointed at the crater before them.

“The last thing I ever want to do is draw the attention of someone who would do this to the ones who follow them.”@@novelbin@@

Are you going to tell her we caused this… that I actually caused this to happen?

It can’t be all your fault… I mean surely the crystal and that attack played a role.

Perhaps… in time, though, she might calm down and ask. When she does, tell her the truth. I had no idea the destruction it would cause. The choices were limited, and I needed to get away, yet I also needed to destroy the link to this world. Had I known… ṟ₳ΝО₿Èṣ

Bob stopped talking, and for the first time he could really ever remember, Max felt a thread of remorse.

We would have killed them all had they attacked us. Why is this different?

A small chuckle reverberated in his head.

You are beginning to sound like someone who has overcome their struggle against when someone must die. While you are right, I do not like how Tanila feels about this and how we are in the middle of her pain. She is struggling with anger against a god she has served her entire life. Right now, the blame for this falls upon Thuyja’s shoulders. Eventually, you must tell her the truth. I must take some of the blame.

Sighing, Max frowned. No one appeared to be concerned by his action, and all of them felt the weight of this moment.

“I guess we should return to Peltagow. The tracks show Blake was headed back toward the capital, and while I’m certain we can beat his return, I’d rather not have my family think something bad has happened to me again.”

A snort escaped Fowl, and Max saw his friend shaking his head.

“Unless you’re planning on camping out here a few days, I’m fairly certain there is no way that man is going to be faster than your ability to travel between points.”

Chuckling, Max shrugged.

“We can walk if you want.”

“Gods, no,” their warrior replied. “You’ve spoiled me, and now I expect to travel in style.”

***

Everett’s face had displayed a variety of emotions over the time that they had known him, yet watching the older man seemingly unable to make the pained expression on his face vanish was heartbreaking.

He never takes this long to handle whatever we tell him. Even when I shared with him what happened on the other world, Everett didn’t stay like this.

That is because he is used to you achieving the impossible. Learning that the gods he believed in have been secretly killing his race for so long just to gain power has shaken him like it did Tanila. The difference is that he doesn’t have you like the others do.

“Everett?”

When Tom said his name, the Faction leader turned and saw his friend smiling softly at him.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I… I… The gods, Tom! Why didn’t they protect us? How come they would allow this? I mean—”

“My only hope is that they don’t know,” Max said, cutting off the questions he knew were coming. “Our race was punished for the wars we created years ago. Perhaps there was a belief that some were unskilled. Maybe there really are? All I know is that we destroyed something that has been active for a long time, and I’m certain the fallout might spread across our world if we’re not careful.”

“Still… the queens… they knew? Had an idea?”

Everett’s tone grew harsher as he asked those questions, his eyes starting to narrow and a scowl replacing the pained look that had been there.

“Perhaps,” Max answered. “But even Tanila and Cordellia will tell you that each kingdom has its own way of controlling things. No one knows how long this has been going on and what kind of power is traded for by the queens and possibly nobles.”

“We’re not even certain if our king has a part in this,” Batrire stated. “While I’d like to believe he is innocent of such a thing, perhaps he is not.”

“Bah, we don’t care about such things like…” Fowl stopped his outburst, the eyes of everyone in the room fixed on him. “I mean… yes, we all want power, but humans have always been known for wanting it more. Gold, gems, ale, that’s what dwarves like. Humans have always been a bit more power hungry.”

Max bobbed his head, seeing his friend be honest in a time when most might not say what they thought.

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“Which brings me back to a point I made earlier. Our options are limited, and before we head off to your home and eventually Nalgrun, I need to see if Phaius will meet with me.”

“Even though last time brought destruction upon a town?” Tom asked.

“I won’t have the skill active that caused that.”

He ignored the scoff from the older trainer and waited to see if anyone else would protest.

After a few seconds of silence, Max stood and kissed Tanila on her head before moving toward the door.

“I’ll be back as soon as possible. We can leave tomorrow.”

***

Everyone sat in silence after Max left. His change in attitude was noticeable by all.

“He’s different. More… committed,” Tom said quietly. “What happened?”

“Max realized that sometimes death is required outside of combat,” Tanila replied, her jaw tightening slightly as she spoke. “No longer should we expect him to be the person he once was. He has grown up and tossed out the idea that everyone deserves mercy and help.”

“Gods, that poor boy,” Everett muttered.

“He’s not poor for being the man he must be,” she shot back. “To long has he allowed the world to take advantage of his kindness.”

The Faction leader nodded twice and then grimaced and shook his head.

“Yes, but that kind of person is rare. We all know the person he was before. Each of us would agree he needed to grow in some ways, but to think he might have lost the part of him which drew everyone to him… makes all this seem bleak.”

“It’s still there,” Fowl declared as he banged the small table with his hand. “It’s just… buried under all the pain we see that he has endured. As warriors, we understand the fear and pain of being responsible for protecting our group. He just feels that for the entire world.”

Batrire leaned against her man and nodded.

“Do you think he’ll ever be who he once was?” Tom asked.

A sigh came from Tanila as she slowly moved the hand she had resting on her stomach.

“Only time will tell,” she answered. “In the meantime, we need to help him be who he must right now. If what I fear is coming, we’ll need him to be hard, harder than anyone else.”

“And what do you feel is coming?”

She looked at Everett and saw his eyebrow raised. He was leaning forward on his chair in her direction.

“A war… a battle… and not one most of us can probably take a part in.”

***

Max watched the steady stream of people who were entering and exiting the temple for Phaius. Unlike the one in Windsor Wheel, this one stood at least four stories tall and cast a long shadow in the fading light of the day.

All around the building, the street was packed with vendors and tables, selling different objects, shouting over each other, proclaiming that what they sold was blessed by the very god himself.

“Need a bracelet? It guarantees protection from undead?”

Max sighed and waved off the man holding a cheap copper armband.

Without missing a step, the vendor turned and approached the next person making their way toward the temple, promising it would now not only ward off the undead but also add perks in bed to an older man.

The twelve steps leading up into the temple were cut from a single piece of stone, and Max took them one at a time, eyes fixed on the pair of open doors leading inside.

Columns bearing Phiaus’s likeness supported the large overhang, each created by someone skilled at working with stone. Murals depicting the god fighting, healing, protecting, and performing other acts of godliness were displayed.

How much money was spent on all this?

Bob scoffed in his mind.

You do not understand the power of all this. For his worshipers to believe how great of a god Phaius must be, someone must tell stories of what he has done. Those carvings will always be there, promising that perhaps he might do the same for them. Being powerful isn’t enough to have someone worship them. One must also make them believe that they care and will provide or threaten to destroy and torture if they do not.

It can’t be that simple?

Oh it is not. There are many ways to gain a following of believers. You alone know that as Everett told you about those who wear those silly armbands around this city and call them disciples of Seth Pendal .

Idiots… all of them!

Yet an army of loyal idiots is what every leader and would-be god desires. So that they can control those people and have them carry out the instructions they are given.

Two steps remained as Max and Bob conversed, the thirty-foot doors almost touching the steps from where they were open. Each one was thicker than his hand, and the metal it was made of had more carvings and impressions of Phaius and his power.

Laughter came from children with their parents; deeper inside, he could hear someone crying, lifting up prayers to their god for healing.

Robed attendants all ushered people into the doorway, pointing them on a path that Max could now see, which led to a statue of the god, not a simple stone one, but one that was almost glowing.

Is that gold?

Perhaps the outside, but I doubt the entire thing could be so. Its weight alone would crush the floor without major magical enhancement. Still… it takes a special kind of god to have themselves depicted like that.

Max could only nod, his eyes taking in the sight before him.

In one hand, Phaius had a shield, and in the other was a sword. Each had runes and writing on it, yet he couldn’t make them out. Something in his mind told him it was a real language, just one his skill couldn’t yet deduce.

Flowing garments like the ones he had been wearing when they first met seemed to almost move as the lights illuminated the creation, which was at least two stories tall. At his feet were carved images of bread, meat, and a keg of what Max assumed was alcohol.

Yet it was the eyes that tracked him as he walked.

No matter where he moved, those eyes never left him, almost as if the statue itself was alive and wanting to keep tabs on him.

“Here for a blessing or simply paying your respects?”

Max turned to see the young woman in an attendant robe he had sensed coming up on his side.

“Just here to pray and see if Phaius will reply.”

She nodded and lifted her robed hand, the yellow fabric hanging loosely from her arm. A single finger extended and pointed in the direction of the area where five different metal boxes sat, each one with an attendant near it.

“Choose how much you wish to give. Just know, Phaius hears the prayers of those who give the most.”

Her smile as she spoke made him want to spit, yet Max simply nodded and kept walking to where the offering boxes sat.

All around the temple, perfectly cut stone lined the floor, and more columns with tribute to the god whose house they supported lined each wall.

Benches were filled as some listened to a man share a message about Phaius and his love.

Then his Sonar and his eyes found the group of people all on their knees before the golden statue, kept back from touching it by a cloth rope and attendants, each one praying and crying out for his help.

You’re really not going to do what I sense you’re about to?

Grinning, Max couldn’t help himself, increasing his pace as he moved toward the petitioners.

The best way to get a god’s attention is to answer prayers. Right?

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