《To Devour the Sun》 Prologue: The First Poem of Rising Day: Lo, I speak of the Gods, Sing, Plentiful Ones, Shake the Four Corners of the Earth For I speak of Solaris-Soter. In the Great Beginning, the Supreme Light arose And over the airts it did appear And a ray of its light reflected upon the Crystal Waters And from that shimmer, arose Solaris God of the New Dawn From him comes the Six Great Wisdoms And so too liberation Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!From his comes the cures of all worldly diseases And spiritual poisons. Mastery of the Arts is his to provide. Yet, the shadow he cast across the water Begot its own name Tyrannical Noctifer-Bebeloi The Cruel Night Bringer The Impure One who is formed from the Shadow of Goodness This force, which is named many, Is that which inspires chaos and sin, Impurity in great measures Guard yourself against Noctifer Lest he damn you Those who worship him Are those who worship the Devourer of the Sun And welcome a Great Darknessh The Book of the Rising Day To Devour the Sun To Devour the Sun This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. @JesterPerson Chapter 1 Solaris, called ''Sol'' affectionately, was seated over the firmament and watched over the world with a fixation on perfection. It was the day of the Lunar Festival, the Fifth of the Year, and so it was the festival dedicated to Him who came about the Fifth Day of Great Creation. He wasn¡¯t particularly fond of festivals, not since the few thousand millennia welcomed a Goddess of the Vine, who brought with her ecstatic drunkenness. Yet she was an avatar of the Goddess of Plenty, who came from Creation, so he could not interfere. It did not make her presence any less annoying. He wandered the terraces with his advisors, who presented the petitions of his devotees. After endless centuries, he had become noticeably impartial. He considered it a good attribute for a god, lest they play favourites with the mortal world, which would throw balance into imbalance, light into darkness, and order into chaos. One petition came from a king who had vowed to maintain his temple to the highest standard for the god¡¯s protection in a civil war. Solaris wasn¡¯t fond of war, seeing it as a distasteful sin and the cause of man¡¯s own folly. Still, the idea that maybe more of his priests could prevent these foul actions from occurring appealed to him. ¡°Send one of the daimons to the prophetess; tell her that he will obtain victory so long as he abides by the fasts. This evening, he must go and hold a vigil in my temple, and I will aid him.¡± The assistants nodded, leaving immediately. Solaris continued his leisurely walk, meditating on the various principles that functioned in heaven. He was alerted when cool air blew over him. Turning, he saw Caeli, the Goddess of Heaven. She wasn¡¯t actually the goddess of ¡°Heaven¡± but rather the firmament, the visible stars and planets that mortals referred to as ¡°Heaven¡± or the "Heavens." She was smiling, her robes floating about her with their signature embroidery of jasmine flowers and pomegranates. Her hair twirled around her form, as complex as the evening itself, and her eyes showed ancient wisdom and a youthful glimmer. ¡°Same thing as usual?¡± ¡°¡±Mortals are very predictable, Caeli.¡± ¡°Ah, same Solaris as usual,¡± she teased. ¡°Are you coming to the festival tonight?¡± ¡°It is my festival, is it not?¡± ¡°Yes, but all the gods attend your festival.¡± ¡°And?¡± Solaris asked, visibly frustrated, as the goddess danced around a problem. ¡°I¡¯ve invited Noctifer; it¡¯s been too long since we brought him to Heaven,¡± she finally admitted, coming to finally walk astride Solaris. ¡°You know well enough why we don¡¯t bring him to heaven; it is not his domain. He is not like us; he is no better than the demons that eat the soil off the roots of the Great Creation.¡± ¡°He is still a god,¡± Caeli defended, folding her hands neatly in front of her as she stared at Solaris. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°He will not come; I demand it.¡± ¡°He will come, and you have no power over the Office of the Night.¡± ¡°I have power over my own festival, however.¡± ¡°Your invitation, however, says ¡®all gods¡¯ without any mentioned exceptions, including Noctifer.¡± ¡°He is a sorcerer, a vile magician, and do you see what he does or what those followers of his do?¡± ¡°He is coming, and you two will simply remain on opposite sides of the room. It is that simple.¡± ¡°It is the principle of it; he will bring impurity to a sanctified occasion.¡± ¡°Then he will leave before the rituals begin. Is it that hard for you to see something beyond yourself?¡± ¡°There is only ''The Light''; even Light shines in the dark skies.¡± Solaris stomped off, leaving Caeli in the middle of the garden. She watched him go to his temple, where he¡¯d do his daily affairs. The air was so deeply tense that she felt his own affairs would be impeded by his own anger, and his own self-righteous hubris. That final part is what she would not say, however. With a silent frown, she faded from the Aethyr and back into her own abode seated over the Seven Planets. She looked down over the earth, then towards the planets which moved in their own orderly fashions. "Creator preserve Order, even in Seeming Disorder," she said quietly, looking back up at the gates of the Heavens where the other gods resided, those born directly during the Creation. She was among their ranks, yes, but preferred the rotations of the celestial bodies to the echo-chamber that lurked above her head. She was adamant, then, that Noctifer would come to the festival, even if just as peers reuniting after a long separation.
¡°Bebeloi is coming,¡± Solaris sighed as he finished his prayers. The monk who had ascended to his world, now a sage, sat before him with a cup of tea. The monk nodded distantly, contemplating the situation that was unfolding before him. He poured a cup of tea for his patron who drank heartily of the tea, as if to escape the impending arrival of what was considered his ''adversary''. ¡°Bebeloi, Noctifer, my Lord?¡± ¡°Yes, that one, he is coming to the Lunar Festival and I trust you can see why it is not the most permissible thing.¡± ¡°That I can, my Lord, but you did say that all gods were invited," the sage mused over his teacup. He took a sip, placing it down quietly before turning his gaze back up to the thoughtful deity before him. Despite the contradiction, there was still a great devotion in the sage as he looked over the one who had ordained his stay in the Abode of the Sun. The very appearance of the deity, from the cerulean blue eyes to the way that the Solar Halo reflected over his cascading red hair, was greater than all the texts the sage had read in his mortal world. Still, at the table, the deity was all too pensive, human in his quiet distress. The way he bit down on his nail as he thought, a testament to the interaction between gods and mortals, and even the way that traits would move between. ¡°He spends all his time in the mortal world, he can hardly be considered a god.¡± ¡°By birth, he is a god, my Lord.¡± ¡°He is my antithesis, he is an evil.¡± ¡°I may understand your frustrations, my Lord, but even gods abide by the ¡®Laws of Hospitable Order¡¯. Since you are the host, you are to accept him, no?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, my friend, but I must find a way to mediate between his vile influence and the sanctity of the ritual.¡± ¡°Vileness is very subjective, my Lord.¡± ¡°It is a state, sage. It is no more subjective than the sun rising in the east.¡± ¡°Maybe so, my Lord," the sage relented, swirling the tea in his cup before taking another sip. The sage poured another cup of tea for Solaris, but he did not see it. Solaris was busy looking outside the window. He was flexing his jaw as he tried to think of how he could handle such a ¡®travesty¡¯, which only made the sage feel more frustrated. He hid it quietly, muttering a silent prayer to the All-Creator, who he had hoped would show the benefits of such a situation to the silent god. Chapter 2 Caeli wasn''t one to needlessly go into the mortal realm, but she understood the appeal of it. She could see why the ''adversarial'' Noctifer would find his home down here. It was here that he was most at home, accepted amongst the remnants of his sect and free to do his own affairs without the zealotry of either Heaven or the Reformation which had occurred a few centuries prior. That is to say, he chose the unholy places as his abode. That didn''t help his reputation, but it did give him a place to rest when not doing work. This particular place was a cremation ground. It wasn''t the cremation ground itself but a tree that stood in the center. She stepped into the cremation ground, seeing the pyres that were left from a prior funeral. The air smelled of cypress and cedar, and was strangely soothing. She continued deeper into the grounds, her robes hitched up to not gather up or disturb the dirt and ash. As she neared the tree, she saw a small fire and a huddled figure next to it. "Noctifer," she greeted as she sat down in front of the fire next to the huddled figure. He wore a hood, but it was difficult for a god to hide from the sight of another, at least not without some difficulty. He nodded, taking off the hood that kept back flowing black hair that had become his symbol, the black veil that settles over the sky. If you had looked at him, he wouldn''t seem like the ''Great Adversary'' that the texts painted him out to be. His tanned skin, tired eyes and overall quiet demeanor made him seem more like a traveler from the port regions. "Caeli," he greeted smoothly, in a voice that could only be described as melancholic. She smacked his shoulder playfully. "You sound so pleased to see me," she pouted theatrically. She took another small twig that was near her and threw it into the fire which ate it greedily. It crackled but settled soon, leaving that comfortable silence that the two had come to share. "I hope you''ve considered my offer," she cooed, looking at Noctifer with puppy-eyes. "It''d be nice to see home again, but-" "If it''s about Sol, I spoke to him. The other gods will just have to deal and, worst case scenario, you and I just go back to the Firmament." "It''s the principle, Cael," he said quietly, leaning against the rough bark of the tree. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Yes, because you should be cast down for your birth," Caeli retorted, leaning her head against Noctifer''s shoulder. She smiled slyly when she felt him slump, a silent agreement to her invitation. It wasn''t like she was looking for trouble, she had made a vow to fight alongside Noctifer if things got fiery back in the Heavens. "We can''t have you go up to the Abode in that, though," she said, gesturing to the ragged wear that Noctifer wore, "I doubt even Sala is so merciful, and she''s Providence." Noctifer chuckled. None of them made an effort to move, content to sit and stare at the fire as it crackled. The cremation grounds were silent, but a coming storm broke that peace with its rolling thunder. Sighing, Caeli stood up, dusting off her robes before turning around to look at Noctifer. "Right then, shall we?" Noctifer stared at her with a raised brow. He eventually conceded, getting up with a grunt and wrapping his fingers around her arm. She smiled at him gingerly. "Hold on tight," was all she said before they disappeared from the mortal world and through the Airts. Eventually, they were back in her abode and Noctifer took the change to look down at the planetary bodies from her balcony. "It''s all so different from here," Noctifer mused longingly as he leaned against the railing. Caeli hummed in affirmation. She enjoyed bring Noctifer up here, even if it was for a little while. There was something about the wonder he displayed that warmed her. She had become largely disenchanted with life as a whole, but Noctifer still retained some joviality which she applauded. She shifted out of her dirt-laden robes, throwing them into a small pile on the bed that she had largely kept for decoration. Gods didn''t really need sleep, food, water and the like but it was a nicety. She sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the figure that was content to stare down through the airts for the rest of eternity. It never ceased to amaze her. It was like seeing a child get excited over a bug or some strange rock they had found while playing. "Nox, we have to change," she coaxed in a singsong voice, standing up from the bed. Noctifer didn''t move but soon joined Caeli in the room. She was struggling with the pin of her chiton, cursing it to the stars. Noctifer came up behind her and deftly pinned the fabric in place, shifting her veil so that it hung seamlessly over her shoulder. It was then that she truly appeared as a goddess, or at least a noblewoman. Her dress was made of navy-blue fabric, embroidered with patterns in a gold thread. She had decided to wear a gold necklace with the twelve cardinal stones, for each of the twelve signs which wandered the heavens, as a tribute to her office. Still, Noctifer didn''t get dressed. Sighing, Caeli pulled out another rectangular piece of cloth in a dark green hue, with the same golden threading on the edges. She decided then on an outfit she felt would suit him. Excitedly, she pulled out another smaller piece of cloth, fitting it around his waist to make something of an undergarment. She folded the fabric around his hip to create a ruffle before pinning it in place. Nox stiffened when she stuck the pin in, and she knew she had pricked him with it in her fervor. She muttered an apology but continued. She pulled the green fabric from before and fitted it over Nox''s shoulders, pinning it to create the chlamys. She chuckled to herself, finally realizing what it needed. Darting back to her boxes, she pulled out a torc with the ends made into the heads of bulls. She moved it around Nox''s neck, finally finishing the outfit to her satisfaction. "Worthy of the God of Lunar Festivals," she sighed, smacking Nox''s cheek playfully. She''d have to do something about the hair next.
Chapter 2.5: Noctifer-Boedromios The Tale of Noctifer-Boedromios (The Night-Bringing One who Aids in Distress) In the 4th Century, it was noted that necromancers and sorcerers had been persecuted in the Northern Regions of Ataea, due to their associations with the God Noctifer, but also the scrupulous fear of the Reigning Monarch Aram. As a result, a fifth caste had become formed of ¡°outcastes¡± or ¡°accursed¡± who dwelt in the streets or as hermits in forest expanses and deserts in order to escape the persecutions of Aram. One story, recorded by Zazaea, Anthropologist and Theological Historian at the University of Arcana, states as follows: ¡°Mourning, a mother brought her hungry child to a river and was about to drown him as a mercy killing so he would not suffer. One of her tears hit the surface of the water and, from that ripple, came the god Noctifer who stood upon a beast. Some depictions refer to the beast as a lion, others depict it with elephant-esque characteristics. This may be due to differences in sects. Seeing the suffering of his followers, Noctifer slit his own throat and poured forward wine and water from his veins. So too did he sever his own flesh which became bread for his devotees. This story advocates for the usage of foods, intoxicants and bread in Noctiferian Rituals, which seem to have drawn from the region of Lower Talera, in which similar theophagic rites were practiced by mystery sects as representations of the sacrifice of the Creator Deity to form the world.¡± (Lave, Z. 6th Century.) This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. This is presumed to be the origin story of Noctifer-Boedromios and was the establishment of his cult in Ataea-Minor, where he was worshipped near water sources. It is to be noted that this story has been edited by some sects to make it seem more demonic, showing the political-religious climate at the time. For example, we find a text written by Heresiologist Jued De Farae: ¡°Thus came the wicked to their hiding places ¡®mongst the rivers and dens, summoning the Darkness. He then committed grotesque acts, feeding his followers with his flesh and blood to which the aforesaid declared it an ¡®act of compassion¡¯.¡± (De Farae, J. 462.) Interestingly, a mondegreen occurred, where the name ¡°Boedromios¡± was mistaken as ¡°Buthos¡± meaning ¡°Abysmal¡± which eventually got connected to a cult title for Noctifer to refer to him as an ¡°adversary¡±. Such a name became: Noctifer-Phobos (The Terrifying Bringer of Night). Chapter 3 ¡°You seem weary, little Adonis,¡± probed Sala as she offered another robe for Solaris to put on. He had gone through three assortments, and could not find a single bit of cloth that suited his taste. ¡®Why don¡¯t any of these colours fit,¡¯ Solaris thought, trying to pick at the threads of this stress. He hated it. He hated how it felt as though the mirror reflection was mocking him like one mocks a cat with a thread. It was as though everything was urging him to scream. Sala folded the fabric gently, pinning it around Solaris¡¯ shoulders. ¡°There must be a reason why you are weary, nothing is without reason,¡± continued Sala as she gathered some of the fabric to Solaris¡¯ side, covering up the skin that has showing. ¡°Bebeloi is coming,¡± admitted Solaris, slumping onto his bed. He pressed his hands under his chin, still pensive from this morning¡¯s argument with the sage. He couldn¡¯t shake off this sensation of some imminent evil. ¡°You worry about the Young Gods?¡± ¡°I worry that he will pull a stunt, that he¡¯ll throw a dent in all my work,¡± Solaris fell back against his bed. Sala looked over Solaris, the tired and distant god. It was a far cry from what she once knew as Solaris but things change. Chuckling to herself, she patted his thigh with a maternal grace before saying: ¡°What we consider a good reason for life, may well be a good reason for our death.¡± Solaris stiffened at the mention of death, clambering to a sitting position but he could barely get a word in. Sala was already out of the room and wandering down the hall. ¡®Death?¡¯ The word threw itself against the edges of Solaris¡¯ skull and it was bound to give him a headache if he didn¡¯t stop entertaining it. He got up quickly, rushing down to the kitchens to distract himself with what he considered to be a sense of control. ¡ª- The festival began soon after moonrise. The gods gathered in the courtyard of the Abode of the Sun, bearing gifts and empty stomachs. Solaris, maintaining the Laws, greeted each one with a smile and a bow. He accepted the gifts with dignified grace and made sure to offer them wine and food freely. It wasn¡¯t the main meal, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t distract them with the platters of quick servings. He dawdled behind his table, chewing at his nails with fervency. The gods had provided gifts and they seemed well until Zaeal, the Goddess of War, brought a spear. It now stood on the table, glaring at him. He couldn¡¯t help but think it to be an omen of coming wartime. He also thought it to be a jab at his decision to support the king from the morning. He huffed when he accidentally bit down on the bed of the nail. It seemed as though he wasn¡¯t the only one in anxious spirits. His sage was sitting in the corner of the hall with an apprehensive knot to his brow. He kept to himself, but whenever a sound echoed, he would look to the door immediately. Only Solaris, the sage, Sala and Caelis knew of the impending arrival of Bebeloi and that was what made him worried. The faces of other gods, especially the Young Gods, were merry and ecstatic. It felt as though the presence of Noctifer would bring such a heavy cloud upon the air that he wouldn¡¯t be able to lift it himself. Moving from his nails, for their sake, he began to twirl the snake bracelet around his wrist. He ran his thumb along the repeating patterns of the scales, drawing pleasure from the texture. That, too, lost its appeal and Solaris was back to the need to chew on his nails. He busied himself by tapping on the table, while the other gods seemed oblivious to his turmoil. With a sigh, he stood up from his seat and hurried down the halls to see the state of dinner. ¡®The sooner,¡¯ he thought, ¡® the better.¡¯
Caelis was the first one to enter. She stepped in with her right foot, nearly slapping Noctifer when he was about to do so with his left. He corrected himself, following her lead and entering on his right foot. They weren¡¯t immediately noticed by the other gods, but Noctifer was anything but invisible. It only took a minute before they noticed the hulking, lanky specimen of a god lurking in their midst. The whispering soon followed, and the gods seemed to shy away from him and Caelis as they passed. Caelis didn¡¯t bother trying to correct the behaviour of ¡®superstitious children¡¯, as she cursed them, but continued forward into the hall. Noctifer didn¡¯t bother looking around him, worried that he might cause a panic of some sort. So he kept his eyes between either the floor, or the roof above him. He enjoyed the roof more. It had a fresco with a very well-rounded pattern which reminded him of Solaris¡¯ constant need for perfection, even in his aesthetics. It was very rare to see the god actually use squares because he said that craftsmen would always mess up the dimensions. He enjoyed circles more, and that carried over into every facet of his life. Noctifer gazed up at the repeating patterns, the laurels and flowers which came together in the abstract sun disk at the center. He didn¡¯t notice the sage before him, and only looked down when Caeli nudged his side with her elbow. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°You have caused a stir, Old Master,¡± huffed the sage quietly. Caelis looked tense again, staring at the man as though she was willing to fight him. Noctifer wrapped his fingers around the back of her dress and tugged warningly. ¡°I apologise,¡± Noctifer said, setting the man at ease with that characteristic voice. ¡°I did not say it was a bad thing, Old Master,¡± added the sage, looking around the room. ¡°It may just be that others are not as accepting as some of the Old Gods.¡± ¡°That is a given, sage,¡± Noctifer smiled awkwardly. The sage seemed to appreciate his efforts, and nodded cheerfully before leaving. Caelis looked up at Noctifer with a curious crook to her brow before moving with him to the table in the corner. She snatched two glasses of wine and held one out to Noctifer. ¡°I can barely get through one hour without drink,I don¡¯t think you should go without for an entire evening,¡± she joked. Noctifer crooked his lip in an attempt to smile. He accepted the cup from her but settled on taking small sips throughout the evening. Caeli, on the other hand, tilted it back and chugged down the entire cup. She grunted quietly to herself, swirling the remnants. ¡°Another reason why humans know what they¡¯re doing,¡± she said, raising the cup accusingly. She had always been one for drinking, she found it to be a hilarious experience. People never suspect her of being a deity, and so she would drink them under the table in some strange mythological premise. She looked to the side of Noctifer and frowned, putting down the cup and picking up another. Noctifer took that as his cue, turning around to see the red-haired solar deity walking into the hall. He was fiddling with his hands, again. Noctifer had once covered the deity¡¯s nails with a bitter juice in hopes of getting him to stop biting them, but it seemed to only worsen over time. Noctifer didn¡¯t exactly think that his absence would¡¯ve stopped the deity¡¯s habit any more. He turned back to his cup, following Caeli¡¯s lead and chugging the entire cup down. It was going to be a long and arduous evening, and he couldn¡¯t look at the roof forever.
Solaris sat at his table, trying to measure his breath but the fact that Noctifer was just on the other side of the room was rubbing him up in all the wrong ways. He rubbed his jaw when it suddenly stung with cramps, having been working on grinding his teeth for the past quarter-hour. The gods themselves didn¡¯t take to Noctifer¡¯s presence any better. They kept to themselves and spoke in hushed whispers, some even looking over at Solaris. ¡®What I expected,¡¯ he cursed himself for being so stupid as to allow Caeli to even come. Sala was nowhere to be seen, nor was his sage. At this point, he wanted to skip the festivities, feed the gods and then kick them all out so he could have his home back. He gestured a servant over, taking a cup of wine from them and sipping it quietly. He couldn¡¯t stop glaring at the dark-haired deity over the rim. Each sip of the wine grew bitter with the vitriol burning inside him. ¡®Did you even notice me? I allow you into my house and you don¡¯t even have the respect to greet me,¡¯ Solaris groaned internally, rubbing his temples. His fingers felt more sensitive now. Everything had begun to conspire against him and he took another deeper sip of the cup. ¡°There is not enough wine in all the Three Worlds to wash me clean of this travesty,¡± he muttered to himself. Eventually, the night moved into the dancers, which were a welcome reprieve. The choreography was set up by Sala herself, to match the fresco he had commissioned above them. He found himself entranced by the twirling of the dancers. It wasn¡¯t long until he forgot the troubles with the literal embodiment of the evening right down on the other side of the table. Yet, it ended all too soon and he was snapped back to reality. The servants began to bring out the food, and his fate was sealed. He couldn¡¯t run mid-dinner, nor could he berate the deity and banish him from his home. The two were stuck in a battle of will, it seems.
Noctifer sat down quietly next to Caeli who was still sipping at her glass of wine. She was noticeably frustrated, eventually staring down another god who had whispered something about ¡®adversary¡¯. What had made her mood considerably worse was the way the servants actively avoided Noctifer. She had tried to speak up, but he kept her quiet and when she tried to offer him her food. ¡°The Laws say that I shall not be a troublesome guest,¡± he whispered in her ear. ¡°The Laws can go stuff themselves when the host isn¡¯t doing his job,¡± she snapped back. She realized that she snapped at Noctifer, and sighed an apology. She picked up her cup to sip at it but had it snatched from her hands when she was about to go to her third sip of the wine. She looked at Noctifer who held the cup in his hand with a smile tugging at his lips. ¡°You can¡¯t deny that you¡¯re sitting here, while the other gods are stuffing their faces, with nothing to eat. Please, at least take a potato? ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, Caeli. It¡¯s not my first time.¡± She crooked her eyebrow at him, but ate regardless. She tried to ignore the feeling of guilt building in her stomach. One of the gods, a drunken one, came forward from his table and offered Noctifer some of his food. He was already there, and Noctifer didn¡¯t want to waste his walk so he accepted kindly. The god sneered and threw the plate to the side, so that its contents hit the floor with a sickening clatter. ¡°Eat then, dog,¡± he chuckled. Noctifer didn¡¯t budge from his seat, and his hand immediately went to Caeli¡¯s thigh, squeezing it as a silent reminder of consequence. The god shuffled awkwardly back to his table, slumping down in the chair where he was praised by some and admonished by others. Noctifer looked to Solaris, seeing the god look down at his plate immediately. The solar deity pushed his food around with a fork, trying to avoid eye-contact. Frustrated, for once, Noctifer pressed his thumb against his teeth and bit down. He pulled and rip the nail off the bed and placed it onto the plate. He let his thumb bleed into the chalice, the blood turning into wine and the nail, covered in blood and saliva, forming into bread. Caeli gawked at the act of sorcery, or transmutation. The two were alerted when the hounds of Zaeal were licking up the remnants of the plate that the god threw at the floor. Smiling, Noctifer ripped off a piece of the bread and offered it to the dog that ate heartily. He made due with the scrap left in his hand and the transformed ¡®wine¡¯. Caeli looked at Noctifer sadly, realising just how sorely he stuck out from the group. Her sorrow turned to annoyance and she snapped her head back to look at Solaris who was watching with wide eyes. The entire affair, from the act of sacrifice to the feeding of the dogs, hit Solaris like a hammer. It was worse when, despite the supposed pain that Noctifer had put himself into for the sake of eating, he also offered it to another being. It was compassionate, to say the least. ¡®But stupid,¡¯ thought Solaris as he tried to rationalise it. The other gods were sneering at the macabre act of sorcery. Solaris stared down at his own food, the red beets now staring back at him. He pushed his plate away, no longer feeling hungry. Still, the realisation of how far Noctifer would be willing to go when pressed, and how much he¡¯d be willing to give, stuck in the mind of the deity. He felt guilty, annoyingly so, about having made it clear that no food was to be offered to Noctifer. Turning back, he saw the deity drinking from the cup he had made. The goddess next to him, Caeli, had stopped staring at him and was now fretting over the wound left by Noctifer¡¯s act of sacrifice. He looked at the dogs who were called back to Zaeal¡¯s side. She didn¡¯t seem too offended by the god¡¯s feeding of her dogs with what was practically glorified flesh. The headache only got worse, and Solaris reached out for the glass of wine. He looked down, seeing the red colour and frowned. He growled and then chugged it down, trying to wipe the image of blood and the smiling face of Noctifer from his mind. Chapter 4 The dinner finished after an hour of merry-making. Drunken gods stumbled out of the abode to their respective spheres, leaving Solaris in the company of a handful who thought to speak after the festivities. Caeli was glaring over the rim of her cup and had become notably drunk and angry. Noctifer had finished his meal, wrapping a bit of his chlamys around his thumb awkwardly. He was still staring upwards, and the tension between the trio of Solaris, Noctifer, and Caeli only grew. Solaris, at odds with the evening, finally stood up. He nearly threw his chair back in his haste to leave the hall and the memory of the evening. He rushed from the main hall, rubbing his temple with a groan that only caused it to worsen. Caeli was the first out of the room after Solaris, who was stumbling into the garden. ¡°Why do you hate him so much? He has done nothing to you.¡± She hissed at the figure that leaned against the pomegranate tree. Turning over his shoulder, Solaris looked at Caeli with a vile venom burning in his eyes. ¡°He is impure.¡± ¡°No more impure than the gods who cast him down,¡± spat Caeli at the deity. He spun around angrily, staring at the defiant goddess who had questioned him. ¡°I am the God of the Sun, and if he is my adversary, then he is impure and the antithesis of all that is mine.¡± ¡°And, pray tell, what is yours that isn¡¯t his?¡± She asked mockingly, gesturing to the grand space around them. ¡°What has the sun seen that the moon has not seen in turn?¡± ¡°He wanders the mortal world like a scavenger, Caeli,¡± Solaris roared angrily, lurching towards the goddess with murderous intent. She did not budge when he ran, nor when he raised his hands up angrily in an attempt to scare the goddess. She simply stared at him, knowing then that his nature had contradicted itself. ¡°He cares deeply for you,¡± she muttered to the pocket of air between them. Solaris shook, stepping back and letting out a sad, resounding chuckle. ¡°I care more to be loved than to love itself,¡± he responded sadly, looking at the garden around him. ¡®A god,¡¯ thought Caeli, ¡®who whines like a child¡¯. ¡°That doesn¡¯t change the fact that he is here, and he is undoubtedly attached to the friendship you had.¡± ¡°He is not my friend,¡± swore Solaris, turning back to the goddess with fury burning in his chest. It faded just as quickly, and he threw his hands up dismissively. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Get out,¡± he huffed, ¡°please.¡± Caeli recognized that tone; the god had fallen to himself again. Angrily, she turned and left. She stopped when she saw the figure of Noctifer in the hall. He was looking over her shoulder at the god, who leaned against the tree. His eyes were clouded with a darkness that spoke of his subtle anger. ¡°Please don¡¯t hurt him,¡± Caeli pleaded, realizing that he had heard the coarse denials and rebukes. ¡°I won¡¯t; he will destroy himself,¡± growled Noctifer. He placed a hand on Caeli¡¯s shoulder, squeezing it with a forced smile. She nodded, scurrying away to leave the god to his affairs. Noctifer, now back in his brooding darkness, stormed into the garden. Solaris didn¡¯t turn from his position, hearing the god enter the garden and the air burn with electricity. ¡°Aren¡¯t you even going to look at me?¡± Demanded Noctifer. Solaris turned to look at Noctifer over his shoulder. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, and he turned away just as quickly. Noctifer¡¯s anger softened, but it did not stop burning in his body. ¡°Solaris, why do you act like this?¡± ¡°It is only fitting,¡± Solaris murmured. ¡°Fitting of what?¡± ¡°Of an adversary. How else am I supposed to treat a man who does his heathen sorcery in my own abode?¡± Solaris snapped back to look at Noctifer. The lunar god stiffened at the frantic glare of the solar deity. ¡°You are a god, just as I am. There is no rea-¡± ¡°You are not a god,¡± screeched Solaris, pressing himself against the tree as tears fell from his eyes. ¡°And neither are you,¡± roared Noctifer, placing his arms on either side of Solaris and staring down at the weeping god between him and the tree. ¡°You have been made arguably mortal. You, Solaris, have fallen to the Land of Mortals and have suffered a Mortal¡¯s Fate.¡± ¡°And what is that?¡± He sneered at Solaris, looking up at the figure that lurked over him. ¡°You have fallen into human limitation. You are a god made inextricably mortal, and one that will die a mortal death at the hands of his own limitation.¡± ¡°A reason to die,¡± thought Solaris, musing over the words that Sala had said to him earlier. It had weighed down on him, and now the words of the Goddess of Providence hang over his head. ¡°Get out of heaven; I banish you,¡± murmured Solaris, looking down at the floor. His eyes were red, and he could only see the vague outlines of his feet next to Nox¡¯s. He felt the hot breath of the god over his hair, but he didn¡¯t want to look up. ¡°You banish me?¡± Noctifer chuckled, the shock of the declaration hitting him. ¡°I banish you,¡± Solaris repeated, looking up with ferocity contorting his face. Noctifer looked down at the angered god, his face darkening. Soon, the cloud passed, and his eyes went back to their sorrowful form. He bent down and kissed the head of Solaris before turning on his heel and leaving the garden. Solaris gazed as the form left the garden, his head burning with the seal of his own actions. ¡°A reason to die,¡± whispered Solaris to the air around him, ¡°a reason to die, indeed.¡± He held tightly to his robe, trying to grasp some sense of reality. The world had conspired against him, and now his order had slipped from his quivering hands. He had indeed become a mortal god, made susceptible to the death most mortals faced. His head burned with the remnants of Nox, but the lunar deity was no longer there by his side. The god was no longer present to witness his fall, and now he bore witness to the travesty he had formed for himself. Chapter 5 Caeli stumbled when she came to a halt. She had run after the storming god of the night to the edge of the Aethyrs. There he stood, on the edge, looking down into the vast point where all three worlds connected. He didn¡¯t seem to be his joyful self, and Caeli wondered whether he was to travel or to fall through the worlds until he was fulfilled. Gods couldn¡¯t die, surely. She took a deep breath, steadying herself and the alcohol, which had robbed her of some mobility. Reaching out, she tugged at the bag of Noctifer¡¯s robe, as he did for her hours before. ¡°He banished me,¡± he whispered to the winding space of energy. His voice was deeper than usual, burdened with anger rather than melancholy. Caeli didn¡¯t know how to answer it, so she chose to simply be there with Noctifer as he stood at the edge. Her hand rested in the small of his back, an attempt at comforting him, though she didn¡¯t know if he needed comforting or intervention. ¡°What will you do now?¡± ¡°I will take what is mine,¡± he said simply, looking down into the vast, whirling pit. Caeli stiffened at the implications¡ªthe myriad of implications¡ªthat fell with his words. He turned to look down at Caeli with a weak smile before turning back to the pit. He took a deep breath, and he saw how remarkable it was. Caeli stared in awe as his skin glowed brightly with all the light of the moon and stars. He looked at her with a final smile and then fell over into the pit. Caeli realized too late, and she fell to the edge in an attempt to catch the falling god before he faded. All she saw was the world-ending smile as he faded to who knows where. She grabbed at the swirling energy pleadingly, begging for the god to return. The night had darkened entirely, losing its beauty and light, and she knew that this was the beginning of a great catastrophe. ¡ª- Solaris placed the lamp at the altar, praying quietly to calm his nerves. It wasn¡¯t a tradition amongst the Young Gods, but many of the Old Gods still prayed to the Creator who had formed them. ¡®Praying to the inner nature¡¯, is what Sala described it as. He looked at the drawing done in grain and flower petals on the floor with some modicum of peace until a shiver struck him like a spear. He bent over, his body spasming with the sudden change. He looked around him, knowing something was amiss. Something had moved out of its way and left a gaping hole in its place. He looked at the lamps, which now gave off less light. ¡°Nox,¡± he whispered to himself, breaking the circular pattern of the mandala as he ran from the room. He sought out anyone who could help him, running into Sala, who fell to the floor in his haste. She looked up at him in frustration, but then saw the frantic look on the sun god¡¯s face and the way his hair clung to his head and face, tears and sweat covered. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°What did you do?¡± demanded Sala as she climbed to her knees, grabbing Solaris¡¯ arms and shaking him for an answer. ¡°He¡¯s gone.¡± Solaris shook, feeling that great emptiness spread. Sala only stared blankly before realizing what had happened. ¡°Oh, little Adonis,¡± she lulled, as Solaris fell down into her arms in hysterics. ¡°I banished him, Sala,¡± he confessed to her shoulder as he wept. Sala only looked into the distance, stroking the solar god¡¯s red hair. ¡°I banished him, and now he¡¯s gone forever,¡± he continued, his voice breaking as tears and mucus seeped into Sala¡¯s robe. She didn¡¯t move but stayed there with the weeping god, who gripped tightly at his clothes. ¡°A god of many years, but still a child,¡¯ she thought to herself as she rubbed his back. She knew this was bound to happen. Solaris was temperamental, to say the least. She patted his back soothingly, seeing him as nothing more than a sniffling toddler. She realized what she was doing and smiled to herself. ¡°What do I do?¡± Solaris asked, his face still pressed against the taller goddess¡¯s shoulder. She was quiet, but her jaw flexed as she thought of some solution. ¡°The heavens will be in imbalance until he returns his share of the power,¡± she stated plainly. This did not make Solaris feel any better, but it made him cry again as the consequences weighed heavily against him. ¡°We¡¯ll have to find him then before the hole becomes too big to patch,¡± she whispered. She knew it was easier said than done, but she looked to the sobbing god regardless. ¡°Did he say anything when you banished him?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Solaris between hiccups. He hated crying for a few too many reasons, and one of them was how painfully hard they made it to control his body. Sala hummed pensively, her brows knotted together in frustration. ¡°Did he come with anyone?¡± ¡°Another goddess, Caeli.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to question her then.¡± Sala held the shivering god closer to her, her hand tracing the serpent bracelet around Solaris¡¯s wrist. She hid a chuckle when she realized the irony. The snake eating its own tail, a sign of eternity. "You devoured for the sake of sanctity, but have now devoured yourself,¡± she thought as she looked down at the god. He wasn¡¯t entirely present but was looking at some distant horizon. His breathing had leveled, which was a good sign.
Caeli was frantic. She couldn¡¯t move from the edge of the portal, and her entire body burned. She felt that she could throw up at that moment, but not even that happened. She stared down into the swirling colors that were the only remnants of her friend. The air only got worse, and it felt as though the Aethyrs had begun to collapse on themselves, losing a foundation. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before the other gods felt the disturbance, but how it would be handled was what worried her. ¡®What if he¡¯s in one of the Lower Realms? No god would go down there,¡¯ she thought, pulling at her hair as she tried to think of something to say or do. She felt helpless, and every time she looked back into that swirling pool between spaces, she only felt more insignificant. She wanted to blame the gods. With all her anger, she wanted to shout at the gods and have them take Noctifer¡¯s place and return him to the Heavens. Even that, that one primal desire for vindication, seemed far away from her. It was like everything had been placed behind a glass pane, and she could only think and see it but never touch it. With a shrill cry, she slammed her hand against the floor. Forgetful of her power, the floor cracked around her with the fierce strength she put into the hit. She looked around, seeing how the cracks formed around her¡ªa testament to her power and rage¡ªand could only weep bitterly. Chapter 5.5: Sala, the Goddess of Providence The Tale of The Goddess of the Grain Lo, I speak of the Goddess Dhena And Her Origin, the Goddess Sala I speak of them and the tale of the Goddess of Grain. Many moons ago, when men had been merry Sala sat upon the mountains and spoke with the God of Fire He, whom we call called Mere. They spoke of their power Mere, in his pride, decided to challenge Sala. He said that he could provide wealth and fortune And Sala accepted this, and so went Mere over the skies He became as the sun, but his power was great His harsh heat burned the four corners And ripped water from its rivers And crushed down the grains of the earth Lo, the mortals prayed in their hunger and sorrow They beat down on the earth The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.Mere too saw the sorrow of his actions And began prostrations, a god to a god. Then, Sala broke from her meditation. She looked upon those who prayed and understood. From her hair, she plucked a strand and threw it onto the earth From it came the Goddess Dhena, born of Sala. She bore the flowers of the four corners on her hair In one hand, she bore a jug which carried the Life Waters And in the other a loaf of seed bread. She poured water from her jug, and water returned She fed the earth of her bread, and grains sprouted She became the Goddess of Grain and Food And so nurtured her devoted Mere, astounded by the beauty of Dhena, Begged for her hand and so she accepted. This is when Mere and Dhena became one Mere¡¯s power was soothed by the Compassion of Dhena And Dhena¡¯s compassion was measured by the Justice of Mere For where this is power, there must be control and wisdom And where there is Mercy, there must be fairness. Chapter 6 The attendants were in disarray. Earlier, one of them went into Solaris¡¯ room and saw that he had barely touched his breakfast, the whole tray sitting on his dresser. He had not moved from that singular spot in his bed and had taken to staring out the window before he eventually shut the curtains over it in a fit. He then proceeded to lie in bed for the rest of the day, staring up at some phantom that he had created for himself. It took the attendants to the height of inviting the Goddess of Providence, Sala, back to the Abode in an attempt to talk Solaris out of his deep disdain for anything of his own life. ¡°It is not his fault that Bebeloi left, Agathe Dea,¡± declared one of the attendants with his hand over his heart. Sala only looked at him, frowning slightly, before she answered in turn: ¡°Noctifer, do not forget your place,¡± she said. The attendants shook at the appearance of the goddess in such a wrathful manner, a far cry from the tender motherliness that she was known for. The attendant, who had spoken, only nodded. ¡°It is still an issue; without the presence of a Sun Deity, the world will fall into ruin.¡± ¡°The absence of a lunar deity is enough to send Solaris into a spin; please have your priorities in order,¡± she said as they guided her down the hall into Solaris¡¯ chambers. She remembered that sobbing god and knew well enough what his tailspin was about. She knew how his fits could be when they hit him. As they entered the darkened room, she looked at the hunched figure in the bed with a simple sorrow building in her, mixed with venom for his actions. She dismissed the servants before coming forward to seat herself on the edge of the bed next to Solaris. She put a hand on his shoulder and tried to rub it, but she knew well enough that it wasn¡¯t going to solve his episode. ¡°You know, bathing might help. It¡¯s productive and soothing,¡± she whispered, leaving the offer in the air between them. Solaris didn¡¯t move but only stared back to the side, having moved from his position when hearing the attendants rushing down the corridor. ¡°Or eating something; maybe a little fruit would be good,¡± Sala offered in response to the silence. When Solaris still didn¡¯t respond, she let out a sigh before squeezing his shoulder firmly. ¡°You can¡¯t starve yourself, Adonis,¡± she sighed. ¡°I wish I could,¡± was all he said in response. ¡°Your death would only add to the trouble around us.¡± ¡°Then let it,¡± Solaris snapped back, shaking Sala¡¯s hand from his shoulder. The goddess looked down at the figure, annoyed but also aware of his pain and anxieties. ¡°Your death will only bring more suffering,¡± she tried again. ¡°Hardly¡± was all he could say. Before Sala could object, the god sat up in his bed. His eyes were sunken with insomnia, his face gaunt, and his entire demeanor was akin to that of a man who had seen the edge of hell. ¡°If I die, then what will be left of me? The priest will idolize my flesh, my enemies will romanticize my corpse as a sign of victory, and my mourners will mourn it as a fallen idol. My memory will be an oddity, my flesh a relic of my identity but not my personhood.¡± Sala did not respond, only watching the god scratch at his hair in his hysterics, falling back onto the bed with tears running in excess. ¡°And to him?¡± Solaris didn¡¯t have a response to that, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to imagine Noctifer¡¯s reactions to his dying if he were granted that luxury. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Noctifer took up residence in one of his temples, lost to time, in the northern regions. It was here that he had taken to the simplicity he had seen with mortals. Although the cold air did not support the most gentle of flowers, it still did its best with the hardy bushes and shrubs, which he took great pleasure in watering as much as he could. It was no secret that the place drew him deeper into melancholy with its images, bringing him back to the diaspora of his followers, but it was still one of his homes. Currently, he was busy drawing together strings of the white blooms from the aforesaid bushes. He saw his devotees do this for him, and he could see the appeal of it. It was a gentle and meditative exercise that took him away from the evening prior, or even that morning, when he had noticed an omen. The morning sun did not shine as brightly as it did. As much as he could blame it on the air of the mountains, it was still a noticeable dullness. ¡°Glad to see you never lost your thinking face,¡± croaked a voice behind him. Turning over his shoulder tiredly, he saw the sauntering figure of Ava, the Embodiment of All Death and Degeneration, in the hall with him. ¡°Ava,¡± he greeted quietly. ¡°Nox,¡± Ava greeted in turn, sitting down next to him. Their presence brought the death of the flowers, which he had spent so much time preparing, and he could only frown at them as they picked at their nails obliviously. ¡°Why are you here, if I may ask?¡± ¡°Wherever Zaeal goes, I go, and wherever I am, I stay.¡± ¡°Zaeal brings war, does she not?¡± ¡°And war has come to this land, don¡¯t you know?¡± ¡°Why must they engage in it?¡± Ava shrugged distantly, dusting off the red-stained cloth of their robe before turning back. They smiled gently, seeing the sad eyes that looked back at her. ¡°You¡¯re horribly sincere,¡± Ava joked. Noctifer only chuckled weakly in response, continuing with his garlands. ¡°So, you left for good?¡± ¡°I was banished,¡± Noctifer responded bitterly. ¡°Nothing is ever banished, Nox,¡± Ava mused. ¡°If the Creator has put us into his creation, we¡¯re never truly separated from anything or its opposite. At least not without some heavy damage.¡± ¡°Which brings you here.¡± Ava chuckled at Noctifer¡¯s attempt at joking, slapping his shoulder. ¡°No, I¡¯m here because of the war, but I must say that your disappearance has certainly put something at play.¡± ¡°What is it with you and riddles?¡± ¡°I am a riddle that every mortal tries to figure out, and they do,¡± Ava droned, ¡°when they die.¡± ¡°You truly do have a sick sense of humor,¡± Noctifer cooed. ¡°When you¡¯re down here, you have to change to meet its power, or just fade into it, I suppose.¡± "So, how¡¯s Sala?¡± ¡°She¡¯s goo-¡± Ava turned back to look at Noctifer angrily, but he kept at his work. ¡°She asked me where to find you, and I told her I¡¯d keep an eye out,¡± Ava huffed moodily, resting their head against their hand. ¡°And are you going to tell her?¡± ¡°I think that maybe that¡¯s best left to another person, not me.¡± A comfortable silence fell over the two. While Noctifer deftly made his garlands, Ava stared out into the remnants of the temple. They knew he¡¯d be here; no one came here anymore. What Ava also knew was that the world was shaking around them and practically about to fall. They wanted to report back to Sala, but the last time they were in Heaven was in the Beginning before they descended to the mortal world to fulfill their office. Ava was snapped out of their thoughts when Noctifer took one of the pristine white garlands and wrapped it around their neck. Ava couldn¡¯t help but grin at him, their tusk-like fangs gleaming in the light. Not to their surprise, the flowers began to wilt around her neck. They did, however, have the uncanny appearance of small little crosses when they wilted, making it look as pretty as it did when the flowers were still living. ¡°So the wheel turns,¡± pondered Noctifer as he straightened the garland around their neck. The deity brought their brows together in an exaggerated expression of thoughtfulness before Noctifer smacked them on the shoulder with laughter. ¡°Life is relatively simple; it moves, and that is it,¡± chuckled Ava as a response, their words having an air of finality to them.
Caeli had spent most of the day calling the stars and the Seven Presidents of the Spheres to attend to the growing issue. She barked orders at them, demanding that they keep an eye out for Noctifer. The President of the Moon said that not even he could feel where Noctifer was and that Noctifer was his deity. Caeli didn¡¯t take well to the implication that Noctifer wasn¡¯t to be found, and so she dismissed the Seven Presidents and left herself to the swirling thoughts in her head. She felt guilty and had fled from heaven just as quickly as she had, as she would describe, ¡®failed¡¯ to keep Noctifer in Heaven. She glared at the Aethyrs, cursing them whenever she spared a glance. She cursed Solaris¡¯s name; she cursed all the gods when her thoughts were left on their own for even the smallest minute. She could not do her work, and when the petitions of mortals to the Presidents, or the Stars, came to her desk, she could only stare at them. It wasn¡¯t long before she took to drinking again, pulling a decanter from her room and seating it on her desk as a liquid incentive. She had to go tell them that Noctifer had vanished, but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to leave her abode to go to Heaven. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d be able to look Solaris in the face again. Angrily, she threw the decanter at the wall, where it landed with a crash. The blood-red wine spilled over the floor and wall, marking it with its hue. She watched as the spill expanded on her floor. ¡°I will find you; by all that is, I will find you,¡± she swore to the room around her. ¡°I promise.¡± Chapter 7: Solaris found himself in the baths sooner than later, under the maternal berating of Sala, who currently sat at the head of the bath with his hair in her hands. She was combing it down, singing a song, while the solar god spent the most his time in the heat of the water. Sala abandoned the task of trying to get Solaris to wash himself. Relenting, she allowed him to rest in the water until he regained the strength needed to act. She knew of his temperament, and she had weathered it before and would weather it again. Solaris himself had grown accustomed to feeling that emptiness that came with the loss of Noctifer. It felt like all power had gone from his limbs, and he couldn¡¯t bring himself to raise his hand or foot. Not only did Sala bring him here, but also that she took such care of him. He felt useless, and that only led him deeper into his depression. He compared himself to a shell being blown in the wind towards some unseen horizon. He had thought about that. Mortals used to say that if you held a seashell to your ear, you could hear the roaring of the ocean. Would he sound the same? Would his hollowness give way to that same echoing rush of blood that you¡¯d hear in the shell? ¡°You¡¯re thinking again, Solaris,¡± Sala said inquisitively as she ran the comb through his red locks again, tugging gently to pull him back to himself. ¡°When am I not?¡± ¡°Sometimes, it is good to rest the mind and not think,¡± Sala responded playfully. ¡°It¡¯s not like I can anymore; I have to figure this out.¡± ¡°And you will, when you¡¯ve given yourself the ability to sit down.¡± ¡°You seem resigned to this entire thing,¡± Solaris said, gesturing widely with his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve seen worse in my life, Solaris,¡± was all that the goddess said. The two fell back into a heavy silence, and as Sala plaited the Solar God¡¯s hair, he finally spoke up: ¡°What am I supposed to do?¡± Sala stiffened, hearing the god¡¯s voice break again. He was crying, and she knew it was best to let him cry, but, by all that was, she couldn¡¯t sit and watch the god rip himself apart. He had become his martyr and persecutor. Sala couldn¡¯t handle it because of his self-inflicted suffering, but she couldn¡¯t stand it for the same reason. She wanted to shout at him and tell him to pull himself together, but she knew he was fragile. It was his great struggle. When the Solar God fell, he fell with the darkness of the sunset around him. Sala had not heard from Ava as of yet, and she will send a messenger if it meant prying for the information needed. ¡°You will know what to do when the time comes,¡± was all she could supply, being unsure herself of the outcome.
Ava couldn¡¯t help Noctifer when he tended the garden or the lengthy vines that ran through his temple. Everything they touched would wither away and be restored to its archetypal form. They made due by sitting on a small slab of stone with their eyes set on the lunar deity as he wandered from corner to corner of the room. Eventually, boredom got the best of the deity, so they slinked down from the slab, taking the form of a young girl, and wandered out into the courtyard of the once-temple. The stones were cracked, but at least there wasn¡¯t anything susceptible to them. She looked up at the clouds that promised snow with glee, bearing the tusk-like fangs that never seemed to go away regardless of her form. She picked up a stick that had fallen, which luckily didn¡¯t degenerate too quickly, and made it into a pencil with which she drew a small picture of the sun on the wet dirt. It was fun until she heard the call of a crow. Looking up at the branches, she saw the small bird staring at her before it eventually fell from the tree and onto the floor. There was the sickly sound of bones snapping and skin stretching until it had formed the lanky figure of a woman, a messenger, with feathers still protruding from her arms and her notably bird-like legs. The lady smiled toothily before speaking: ¡°Mistress sends her regards and asks if you have any news of Noctifer.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Ava wished it was easy to hide from other gods. Even in this childlike form, she couldn¡¯t hide from the eyes of Sala, which made it rather annoying. Back in the Beginning, they used to play hide-and-seek, but you can¡¯t hide when practically everything is formative. Ava was about to speak but remembered that this situation was more complex than just somehow getting a god to return. There were political nuances and relationship-based ones. It didn¡¯t matter; the birdwoman seemed to get the message and was on her way to fly towards the heavens carrying the message until she was grabbed. Ava had resumed their form, tall, dark, and entirely annoyed. Their fingers gripped the birdwoman¡¯s foot and brought her down to the earth. The skin on the foot had begun to melt away into decomposing flesh. The lady was panting, looking up at the impartial, burning eyes of the deity before her. ¡°Please, I will not tell Mistress of this,¡± was all she could say. Ava, grabbing the face of the bird woman tenderly, looked down with soft eyes. ¡°I know, but Sala has her ways, and I¡¯d not be involved with anything outside my paygrade; there is a lot more to this than Sala or I could handle.¡± The birdwoman¡¯s eyes grew wide as her face began to melt away, revealing the yellowed bone underneath. Tears began to stream from her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t grieve, my child; I will be here when you return,¡± was all Ava said, pressing their forehead against the remnants of the messenger, who then faded away into dust and the remnants of what was a physical form. From it came the etherical form, still maintaining the form of a crow, which gladly floated around Ava¡¯s body, seating itself on the deity¡¯s head. ¡°We¡¯ll have to send you to Ava for rebirth at some point,¡± chuckled the deity as they scratched the head of the spirit that had taken to their head for warmth. The caws of the spirit echoed around them, displaced yet still present.
Sala had placed Solaris back to bed, his plaited hair a great deal more comfortable than its original, tangled form. She had soothed the weeping god and left to go about her duties and the duties of the deity who had fallen to his emotions and the deity who had been banished. She frowned at the realization that she was doing the work of three gods. She¡¯d have to deal with the complaints about Caeli at some point in the day. ¡°One night was all it took to undo the entire structure of heaven,¡± she growled to herself. One of the attendants of Solaris looked up at her with wide eyes; she had barely seen the poor spirit wandering close to her. ¡°Yes?¡± She asked quietly, bending down so she could hear the attendant speak. ¡°The others sent me to speak to you about the petitions.¡± ¡°Oh yes, the petitions, thank you,¡± Sala responded, tapping the attendant on the head. He smiled inwardly and followed after the goddess as they entered Solaris¡¯ study. She seated herself at his desk, and so began the day of arduous work. Of particular interest to her was the standard case of deific bribery. The case of the king who had offered Solaris his loyalty in exchange for his protection during the war. She knew of the war; Ava had kept her updated about it. ¡®Speaking of,¡± she thought as she looked out the window, trying to see if the messenger had returned. It had been an hour since she sent the bird, and they had yet to return. Massaging her temple, she turned to look down at the petitions before her. Beyond the deific bribery, the petitions were characteristic. Most of them were affected by wartime, and a good deal of others remained as calls for rain, protection, and healing for such and such a person. Some were even those of spirits or lesser deities, invoking Solaris for greater wisdom. She couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the irony, but she remained steadfast in her work. She did, however, put some of the more sentimental petitions aside, knowing that it was not her place to actively do Solaris¡¯ work. There were some things that only the solar deity could do, with or without his sanity. As she paged through the endless pile, her eyes widened. They had locked on a specific petition given to one particular deity, whose name was written on the top: ¡°Nox-Melanotheos,¡± ¡®Dark God of the Evening, how you surprise me,¡¯ thought Sala as she read through the paper properly. She hadn¡¯t seen too many petitions to Noctifer, though he spent enough time with his devotees that they would take their petitions to him directly. This particular one was for a family¡¯s affair with a snake that had bitten their daughter. ¡°I had almost forgotten you had ruled over poisons,¡± she smiled to herself, stamping the paper and sealing it as she answered. She looked down at it, still smiling at the thought of Noctifer, the God-Still-Praised, and the Name-Undying. She knew his cult was strewn across the land, but it was still heartwarming to see that some people didn¡¯t see him as a monster. She frowned at that thought, looking up at the door. She couldn¡¯t help but think of Solaris, who had so accused Noctifer, alongside others. She rubbed her forehead, trying to soothe the migraine that had begun to form. ¡°Nobody is pure here,¡± she muttered to herself, ¡°not even I.¡±
¡°Who¡¯s your friend?¡± asked Noctifer, leaning against the threshold. He had walked in on Ava busy playing with the spirit of a bird¡ªa game of tic-tac-toe. Its feet were perfect for the crosses. Ava looked up, smiling sheepishly at the lunar deity. ¡°Just a bird,¡± was all they said before turning back and cursing at the bird for having taken a turn when they weren¡¯t looking. Noctifer watched the two of them play, carefree and oblivious. He remembered a Solaris like that, who would wear the sun in his hair and skip merrily around Noctifer as they worked in the Heavens. He wished he knew when Solaris fell, but it seemed so subtle. It first started, possibly, when Solaris began chewing his nails. ¡°Are you alright there?¡± Noctifer looked up at the concerned eyes of Ava and the crooked head of the bird, which gazed with equal concern. Noctifer nodded with a weak smile, quickly leaving the room and entering the temple proper. Ava turned back to the spirit that fluttered from here to there and wondered if she had followed the right course. Chapter 7.5: The Cult of Noctifer: A Timeline Prior to the 4th Century, the Cult of Noctifer was primarily situated in Greater Ataea where the deity was heralded as the Embodiment of the Arctic Nights that fell there during the Winter, complementary to the deity Solaris who was seen as the Deity of the Rising and Falling Sun. This was until about circa 381 where the kingdom of Teram, the central hub, underwent Religious Reformation, converting to a semi-monotheistic pantheon where Solaris became Solaris-Soter (Solaris the Savior) and the Head of the Pantheon reconstructed. This was largely due, some say, to a vision of the Reigning Monarch at the time. Whether or not this is actively true is up to debate, but it is well known that the Reformation of the Pantheon brought with it social changes. One of these was the Persecutions of the 4th Century under the Reigning Monarch. What was once conceived of as a Deity of the Evening became a Diabolical Antithesis to the Solarian Worldview and its members. This particular change is well recorded in the heresiologies of Temple Fathers est. 397-410. The first recorded use of Noctifer as a ¡°Devouring Force¡± is found circa 398. The Persecutions were dominantly in the Northern Regions where Noctifer had a role as the Arctic Deity, alongside his presumed ¡®family¡¯ of deities. It did, however, also move eastward towards the coast where Noctifer took on a role as a god related to storms, the depths of the sea and diseases of a cold or watery temperament (he is well-noted in some villages as a deity of herbalism, especially of poisons and the capacity of poisons to be used as medicines, not to be confused with the deity Zet, who was a local deity relating to the usage of ritual narcotics in the eastern region). Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. We only have remnants of the texts of the Noctifer Cult, of which only a few are legible as of current. Most others are anecdotal, journal entries from those of the persecutions. Our only other sources are artifacts, items which either refer to or directly bear the name of Noctifer, but these are few and far between and less likely to be found anytime post the 4th Century, when such artifacts would¡¯ve been discouraged and any prior ones fallen into disrepair or actively destroyed on the basis of ¡®heresy¡¯ and ¡®sorcery¡¯. There is nothing linking Noctifer immediately to the underworld and even the Solarist Reformation doesn¡¯t link him to the underworld or its facets, but it does give him a rather strange attribute as a psychopomp, though this is only regarded in the text of one Solarist Sect in Ataea-Minor. ¡°And Lo, the Shadowy Moon cometh over the abode of the Dying One, for whereas Fair Solaris guides the Soul upwards, does Dreadful Buthios guide the Shade downwards¡± - (The Book of Seven Steps) It is to be remembered that the above text is that akin to other funerary texts, meant to be as guide to the soul in its traversing between realms and so has rather mystic qualities. Chapter 8: Sala had more than her fair share of work, but the case of the daughter stuck heavily in her mind. She wanted to do more than just stamp paper for the prayer to be officiated. She also wanted to see what the followers of Noxifer looked like after all these years. So, she sent the attendants to make sure that Solaris would be safe while she was gone before leaving the abode and descending to the earth.
She landed near the village where the devotees lived. The moss of the earth cushioned her feet, and the air welcomed her devoutly, but she knew well that it would be foolish to go out onto the earth as a woman with such fanciful attire. She then assumed the form of an old lady, hunched and lanky. Around her, she took clothes made of rags and dusted them with the earth beneath her shaky feet. She combed her lanky fingers through her hair, deciding whether she should cover it with the rags. She decided against it and began wandering towards the village. ¡°Not enough,¡± she mused, picking up a fallen branch from a tree to use as a stave. Much to her annoyance, her office carried on, and the branch flowered. She plucked off each of the flowers, letting them fall to the earth, but more sprung up in their place. ¡°Curse you, you stu-¡± she stopped when the wood recoiled in her hand and withered away. She bit the inside of her cheek, staring at the branch with a new-found amusement. ¡°All things are one, I suppose,¡± she chuckled half-heartedly, before carrying on towards the village. Sala crept towards the perimeter when she fell still. Her brow furrowed in apprehension. She sighed, moving her aching bones to the back of a home, she slumped onto the stairs and thought over the issue. Something bothered her, but she couldn¡¯t figure it out. She felt like she was intruding and going against her office. She sat down on a slab near one of the smaller houses and stared out into the forest that unfolded below her. Sala jumped when she heard a lady nearby with a basket. The lady, entirely unaware of Sala¡¯s presence, put down a basket of laundry, which she studiously hung up on the railings of her home. She left back into the building, and Sala had a wonderful idea. She inched forward, crawling close to the floor, and stole the basket from the railing. The deity snapped off a piece of her branch and breathed over it. It sprouted bright flowers, which she then took off and deposited into the basket. This continued until Sala had a basket of fragrant flowers with which she could finally complete her disguise. A sigh left her chapped lips as she thought over the days that she and Ava would play hide-and-seek, using such forms to their advantage. Groaning, she got up and settled against her staff, basket in hand, and wandered towards the house of Noctifer¡¯s hidden devotees. The house was small¡ªnot too small by village standards. Sala assumed that most of it was storage for grain, but now wasn¡¯t the time for thoughts about structure. She knocked on the door, hissing when a splinter broke off into her skin. A young girl who had not seen sleep for a good while promptly opened it. ¡°Hello, I have some flowers I¡¯d like to sell if you¡¯d be willing,¡± Sala said, imitating the croak of an old woman. She presented her basket to the girl, who looked over the flowers with a sense of unease. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have any healing herbs, would you?¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°What type?¡± ¡°A snake bit my sister; we didn¡¯t catch the stupid thing, but now she¡¯s writhing like a maniac,¡± the girl spat unintentionally. Her face softened when she realized the tone of voice she had given Sala. ¡°May I come in?¡± Sala said quietly, a gentle smile creasing the skin of her eyes. The girl stared beyond Sala but nodded and stepped aside. Sala entered the warm house, seeing the markings of a home. She turned the place over in her head, taking in all the minor details. Turning to the side, she saw something covered with a red and black cloth. It was very hard for a god to hide from another god, and so she winked at the statue of Noctifer that hid underneath the cloth. This did not go unnoticed by the girl, who narrowed her eyes during the interaction. ¡°Eva, who is it?¡± I called a man from upstairs. Eva, so the girl was called, bowed quickly before climbing up the ladder to the second floor of the building, where she spoke to an unseen man. Eventually, the two returned. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Aunty; we¡¯ve just been busy with my daughter. My hus-¡± the man caught himself. That¡¯s when Sala smiled inwardly. ¡°My wife went down to the market, and¡± the man took a breath, steeling himself for the continuation of a long, life-defying lie. Sala only chuckled, waving her spindly hand dismissively. ¡°My child, don¡¯t worry about names. Your husband is down at the market; that is all there is to it.¡± The man almost fainted with relief, seeing the accepting gaze of Sala through the eyes of an old woman. It made sense now why they went to Noctifer, who so readily accepted the outcast. The deity could not help but smile widely as she walked to the ladder, scaling it without issue. Sala didn¡¯t stop to reconsider the movement. She could easily be an old woman who climbed. ¡®Old women climb, right?¡¯ thought Sala as she came to the second story of the house. It was a simple single room with bedrolls. There, in the corner, was a girl still writhing and groaning in the empty air around her. Medicine and various tools surrounded her bedroll. They were just delaying the inevitable. Sala shuffled towards the girl, sitting down next to her. The writhing stopped for a moment¡ªthe effects of a deity¡¯s presence. When the girl looked up, her skin flushed with sweat and paled beyond words. She smiled weakly. Sala reached out and stroked the girl¡¯s temple, ushering her into a small sleep. She took a flower from her robe and twirled it around her finger. ¡°How fragile life can be,¡± she mused to herself. The other two climbed up to the rooms, staring at Sala from the dark corners. The old woman brought with her an unusual scent, filled with incense and petals. Sala didn¡¯t mind their watching; she hoped they were. They¡¯d declare this a miracle of Noctifer, and, for once, she was glad that another took credit for her work. She blew onto the pink petals of the flower, igniting its spirit, before putting it in the sleeping girl¡¯s mouth. ¡°I conjure you by the sixty names of the serpents that guide the chariot of the sun,¡± she whispered into the girl¡¯s ear. There was a sizzling sound, followed by the girl choking. She sat up immediately and spat out the flower, which decayed rapidly, carrying the poison of the snake. She coughed a bit more, and her father immediately brought a vessel into which she vomited. Hazily, the girl looked up. Though still sick, and sick for a while, she slowly regained color in her cheeks. Sala smiled and looked over at her father, who held his girl tightly to his chest. He was crying, and the sight only made her melt further. ¡°Thank you, Aunty,¡± he said between sobs. ¡°Thank Noctifer,¡± she said plainly, threading her fingers together. The man¡¯s eyes widened at the mention of the deity. He nodded frantically, his tears streaming more. He turned back to his girl, kissing her head with glee. The entire scene stopped when the girl continued to retch into the vessel again. It would take a while, but she was glad. Sala stood up, shuffled back to the ladder, and passed the girl, who stared dumbfounded. ¡°Thank you, Melanotheos,¡± the girl whispered in shock. Sala climbed down the ladder, picking up her staff. The fabric that covered the statue caught her eyes. Slowly, she grabbed up the basket of flowers and wandered towards the table. She pulled the cloth off the statue, revealing a clay sculpture. It was handmade, with the fingerprints still visible. ¡°Your devotees always had a strange way to them,¡± was all she said as she took up the flowers and began placing them around at the feet of the deity. ¡°Still, they love you as a father, a mother, a child, a husband, a wife, and anything else that they see you as. That is a gift which is only earned by a great deity,¡± she added with the last flower. Chapte 8.5: Noctifer had spent a ridiculous amount of time on a mural in the corner of his temple, dusting it and trying his best to discern the story that his devotees had engraved here all those years ago. He smiled faintly at it, the way they painted the symbols, though some had wasted away into faint imprints of a lost memory. ¡°Was this the source of my being?¡± He wondered, running his fingers across the red pigment. He quite enjoyed the human condition, how a single concept had become entirely limited by words or identity, yet still vaguely its own. It was interesting to see how his devotees used pictures rather than words, a tale of their impressions of the world around them. Even that limited them, yet it was easier for a mortal to project their will and world upon a painting than it was on a word with a set boundary. How many concepts could be shown in these paintings, and how many fingers had painted them? How many fingers had painted these walls that don¡¯t exist anymore? Their memories had become so lost, entirely gone, except in him and this mural which he traced with fervency. He knew he shouldn¡¯t. It would cause his limitation and attachment, but how beautiful it was that these should exist as archetypal memories of him. Truly, existence was a shadowy blessing that covered the sun but also made the stars more noticeable. ¡°Greatest god.¡± The words echoed in the air, and Noctifer turned on his heel. The room was empty, and Ava had still been playing with the bird the last time he checked. Worse still, the voice could not be Ava¡¯s unless she had suddenly become an old lady. ¡°Hello?¡± called Noctifer as he stepped further into the room, squirming uncomfortably when his foot pressed against something cold and noticeably squishy. He lifted his foot and looked down. It was the smell that came first, the scent of citrus. He frowned, looking against the dirty floor to see what had caused such a scent. The first thing he saw was a flower, unlike the ones they had in the mountains. Its pink petals unfolded into a beautiful pattern, radial, though now very deformed. It was a shame that it would be so damaged, but it was a mystery as to why it suddenly appeared under his foot. He twirled the stem, or what was left of it, in his fingers and watched the petals wilted sadly. The scent was ever-prominent and stuck to his fingers. He had a thought then, one which was rather exciting. The last time he had seen the sun was earlier that morning, and it looked awfully cold and distant. He cupped the flower in his hands, focusing on it and then the image of Solaris, who, he thought, would be somewhere in his throne room. There, he prayed, offering the flower to the solar deity, knowing that it¡¯d be something of an interesting surprise. ¡°Greatest god.¡± It echoed through him again, and the image of an old lady before an altar. Yet, this woman was radiant beyond all the world and a smile spread across his lips as he thought of what she was.
Solaris held his knees close to his chest, staring blankly at the blankets that had rolled around him. The room was still dark, and the attendants were outside but none of them came in. He fisted the blanket, frowning at his self-imposed isolation. He shivered. He had become exceptionally cold since the loss of Noctifer. He couldn¡¯t sleep and thoughts of the deity plagued his mind every second. It was maddening, to say the least. He found that the act of remembering something that you had forgotten hurt more than the act of forgetting it. It was easier to live in ignorance of everything, for the sake of a few short minutes of happiness. It was easier to be happy than to know. ¡°I care more to be loved,¡± he repeated to himself, the depth of his words pressing on him. He rolled over onto his back, staring up at the roof and the circular patterns he had commissioned. It was nice to trace them, you could sit on the bed for hours and trace the pattern endlessly. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°An endless dream,¡± he chuckled, remembering how Noctifer had described the frescos when they were still young and vibrant, ¡°without beginning or reality.¡± He could smell the incense of his devotees wafting around him, just out of the reach of his mind. It was an interesting experience and one he could never really get used to. You would be minding your own business, but then have the impression of a smell without the actual smell being present in the air around you. He had chosen to keep incense lit in any room that he was working in, for his sake. ¡°Gone far beyond all reason and reality,¡± he muttered to the air around him. That¡¯s when it appeared. The citrus smell was what he noted at first. It was too real to be fake, or some distant offering. He turned his head to look at the pillow next to him, and there it was. A pink flower, or remnants of a flower, laid against his pillow. He reached out to touch it, his fingers brushing against the soft, sticky flesh of the once-flower. When he came to himself, again, he was on the floor. The blankets wrapped themselves around his leg as he stared fearfully at the flower that had been displaced to the bed¡¯s center. He had fallen, and the pain coursing through his head was evidence enough that it was reality. The flower, still present, was real and just as real as anything else around him. He grabbed at the blanket, pinched himself, and panicked. Eventually, assured that he was indeed awake, or at least in a horrible, lucid dream, he clambered to his feet with the blanket wrapped around his quivering form. There it was, as clear as day, as the moon against the night sky. A flower, an offering so clearly given despite its broken state. Yet, in the back of his mind was a song that came with it and threatened to shatter his mind. He longed to claw it from his ears but knew well enough of its nature. ¡°Solaris-Soter, Saving Light Who caught the heart of the Night Rising Sun over the East Who conquers even the greatest Beast Compassionate Ruler of Unfolding Heaven May this offering be pleasing to you.¡± ¡°Noctifer,¡± Solaris whimpered. His legs fell out from under him, and he was on the floor, staring past the flower. It all came to him like a memory, a single impression of what truly was. ¡°Where are you?¡± Solaris screamed, throwing his blanket to the side. He reached out to grab and crush the flower but stopped just short, ¡°Where were you when I needed you?¡± ¡°Solaris-Soter, Strong One Blinding Fire, Radiant Jewel Standing over the Heavens Ruler of the Heart of Night Compassionate Ruler of Unfolding Heaven May this offering be pleasing to you¡± Solaris scratched at his ears, slapping at his head as the consistent images of Noctifer in a temple, and the whispering prayers he said to what was the flower. When he came back to himself, his body shaking and entirely lost to its defenses, the flower remained in a silent vigil. ¡°Noctifer, Night-Bringer, why have you dragged me here?¡± He laughed, running his hand through the loose plait, undoing it. The strands stuck to his face and neck and clouded his eyes. His panting continued, echoing through the dark room.
Sala had returned to the heavens and the attendants were nowhere to be found. Walking silently in the halls of the Abode of the Sun, she felt as though there was an ambush, or some other form of attack waiting around each corner. It was ridiculous, but the abode was rarely this quiet. A servant rushed past her, and Sala nearly hit her into the wall. Still, the servant carried a tea tray and this gave Sala some hope. Where there was tea, there were people. So, Sala followed the servant girl to the room that was Solaris¡¯ study. She crooked her eyebrow, wondering who was there at this hour of the afternoon. The servant girl shouldered the door open and so he was seen. Solaris stood in the center of the room, barking orders to his attendants and to the goddess, Caeli, who was also in attendance. His robe was crooked, having put it on in a rush. Sala smiled at his sudden progress, but she knew his swings could be disastrous when mismanaged. When she entered, she kept to the walls and watched as Solaris waved his hands to different parts of his desk. Upon closer inspection, it was a map of the continent. Raising her eyes to look at the face of the deity, she was worried that his hair had been taken out of the loose braid. She could not see his eyes, but something caught her view. His red river of hair housed a single flower with mismatched and deformed petals. The colors were unmistakable, and Sala smiled inwardly at the small, indirect triumph. It was a triumph in two parts. Noctifer had spoken to Solaris and Solari started bending, taking the imperfect and fractured remnant of reality and donning it. ¡°I will receive reports by tomorrow afternoon,¡± he declared resolutely. The deities nodded and left quickly. His eyes finally fixed on the watching goddess and his face broke with a maniacal smile. ¡°He¡¯s still alive,¡± Solaris declared. ¡°And how are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m,¡± he trailed off thoughtfully, ¡°something¡­¡± Chapter 9 In his attempts, Solaris placed the flower in a bowl and set that bowl on his altar. He had tried everything, from offering water to incense to gold. othing seemed to strike the same connection as before. ¡°What am I not doing?¡± He growled, staring at the flower as it remained quiet. The gold glinted around it. The space was filled with incense smoke. Soon, the entire area was saturated with his growing frustration at the deity¡¯s refusal of his offerings. He brought gold from his personal treasury. Noctifer didn¡¯t accept that, nor did the flower move or sing to him as it did before. The flower, it seems, was satisfied with watching him accusingly. He took a break, relenting to the flower¡¯s temperament. He stormed through the halls and into the garden. The first thing he looked too was the pomegranate tree in bloom. He watched a flower slip from its branch to the ground. It felt as though the entire was watching him too, judging silently since that night. He scoffed to himself and went to sit near a pond. He watched tiredly as the waters caught the sun above him. His frustration only grew, and he picked up a rock and threw it into the water with a shrill cry. He fell, grabbing his hair as he tried to regain himself, but his chest burned and his fingers buzzed with obsessive fear. Solaris looked up, bleary-eyed, at the water¡¯s ripples. He caught it as it began; the drop rising from the water before returning. The ripples caught the sun as they moved and echoed back to their original point. They caught the light of the setting sun as they moved and transported it almost thoughtlessly to each point of the pond until they returned to their respective centers. He hated himself for realizing such a simple lesson from such a cliche example. He thought of the sages down on earth who would use metaphors to explain divine interaction. Standing up, he reached down into the water with a cupped hand. His first attempt was shaky. Most of the water spilled, but he demanded perfection. He tried again, somehow maintaining a smaller amount in his hand. Growling, he threw his hand into the water again, grabbing at the flowing pool. ¡°Breathe,¡± he reminded himself harshly, taking in a deep breath. He slowly readjusted his hand and pulled it out, carrying some of the water. It still spilled, much to his chagrin, but there was a small amount that remained in the cup of his palm. He nodded to himself, trudging to the pomegranate tree. His eyes kept darting as if the water would disappear, but he was soon at the base of the tree. He took a deep breath, and dripped the water onto the roots of the tree, focusing on the image of Noctifer.
Noctifer sat in front of Ava, playing a game of Rota. He moved the pieces, smiling when Ava frowned. They rested their head on their palm, staring at the pieces with a growing annoyance. The bird spirit was preening her feathers. Ava, looking up, raised their eyebrow as water dripped down Noctifer¡¯s face. The deity reached up and touched the water, looking at it oddly before smiling to himself. ¡°He¡¯s learning,¡± whispered Noctifer, pressing the water-covered fingers to his lips as a subtle show of affection. Ava¡¯s expression only grew as light glimmered under Noctifer¡¯s skin. He didn¡¯t seem to mind, only moving his piece after Ava¡¯s turn. He got three and won with a grin. Looking up, he held out his hand in a sign of peace to Ava, who gawked at the game before them. ¡°We¡¯re getting there,¡± he mumbled. Ava nodded uncertainly, shaking Noctifer¡¯s hand with a concerned gaze. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
In his focus, Solaris had failed to notice that the water continued dripping endlessly from his palm. He had forgotten the world around him, solely focused on the image of the lunar god, whom he had hoped to find through this connection. He allowed himself, for once, to be swept away by the waves of chance. He felt the air rush as he fell through the airts in the vision. Then he found himself in a temple where he saw two deities sitting across from each other. When he looked closer, he saw the shining face of Noctifer in that trademark smile. He reached out, attempting to call to the deity, but stopped just short. He felt his chest burn, and his heart beat faster. His chest clenched, seeing the deity¡¯s unaware smile. He called out to Noctifer, but the other did not respond. His heart only quickened at the realization that the deity did not see him, or even know his presence. He felt the cold thoughts settle over him. A sound marked the presence of a fourth in the space. He turned around and saw the figure. It was like him, but distinctly not like him. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. The skin was too pale, or the eyes were too large or too far apart. Everything about it was like him, but wrong. ¡°Hello, Deus ex machina,¡± it whispered, sounding too loud in the corners of Solaris¡¯ head. Its robes were as his but garbed in circles and snakes, which repeated themselves infinitely. ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡± hissed Solaris darkly, his own feet begging him to run and his hands urging him to fight. ¡°Deus Ex Nihilo,¡± the figure responded with that wide smile. Its hand reached out to Solaris in a faux attempt at peace, its smile too wide and its eyes too narrow. ¡°You are a liar, you are not Deus-Anything,¡± mocked Solaris with a frantic wave of his hand. ¡°You mean nothing and will be crushed.¡± Solaris¡¯s voice hastened until it was a screech of anger and rage. His hands threatened the spirit widely and his eyes were frantic and red. ¡°Get out, I banish you,¡± he screamed, and the spirit receded. When Solaris woke up, he was in the garden, and the root had become dark with the water he had offered. Nothing more came from his hand, and his body was sodden with sweat. He fell to his knees and rested his head against the rough bark of the tree. The cool air of the night whipped past him. The leaves stood as witnesses. Sala herself also stood as a witness. She was standing in the shadows of the garden, choosing flowers to bring some life into Solaris¡¯s bed chamber. When she saw the god slump back down against the earth, his eyes blank, she knew well that he had gone back into that silent state. He had become the half-god once again.
Noctifer heard a scream on the periphery of his senses. He looked around, looking past Ava, but saw nothing of the sort. His frown only grew when Ava looked at him as though he were a madman. ¡°Did you hear that?¡± ¡°Hear what?¡± ¡°That scream, Ava,¡± Noctifer snapped, catching himself almost immediately after. He took a deep breath before trying again: ¡°I heard a scream. Did you hear anything?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± Ava said distantly, moving another piece. They smiled when they won the game, looking up at Noctifer, who was still gazing over their shoulder. ¡°Life carries on, Noctifer. Maybe it¡¯s the darkness of this temple. Have you considered bringing light in?¡± ¡°How can it be the darkness that¡¯s making me hear things?¡± ¡°When the sun sleeps, everything comes out. You should know this, Noctifer.¡± Noctifer¡¯s shoulders slumped. His fingers massaged his knitted brow. ¡°True, the night always had a way of bringing out the worst fears of people. You want to begin the next round?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to, but we¡¯re making a bet this time.¡± ¡°Another meal?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± Chapter 10 ¡°Solaris?¡± Sala inched closer to the deity, who reclined against the tree. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, knowing that something profound had occurred in the wake of this half-god. ¡°Am I weak?¡± muttered the god to the goddess, who stood beside him. ¡°You are not weak. Rather, you¡¯re wounded,¡± Sala sighed. She reached out to comfort the god, but his eyes were all too different. She shivered under their storminess, recognizing that this god was a little more than just ¡®half¡¯. ¡°What¡¯s the difference, Sala?¡± He snapped, returning his head to its resting place against the bark of the tree. ¡°Wounds can heal, and strength is in the ability to transform. If you can heal your wounds and confront them, then you are not weak. If you allow your wounds to fester, you will weaken.¡± ¡°These wounds hurt, Sala, more than other wounds I¡¯ve had.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what it seems like at first because we can only see them through pain. A doctor will look at his patient and administer a cure because he does not actively feel the pain, save through his sympathy.¡± ¡°Are you the doctor, Sala?¡± Sala stiffened at the dark tone underneath the god¡¯s voice. His eyes had only grown stormier, with a deepness to them that belied the otherwise expressionless god. He narrowed his eyes at her change, turning away from her hand and standing up. He dusted himself off and sneered over his shoulder at the goddess. Eventually, he left, and the sun seemed so much darker in its setting. Sala folded her hands as she watched the god leave. She shivered, knowing well that this would only escalate. ¡°All is one, even you in your darkness,¡± she said shakily, trying to calm the beating of her heart.
¡°My Lord,¡± greeted Mere, the Lord of the Kingdom of Fire, as he entered Solaris¡¯s study. Dhena had immediately taken to Sala, with whom she sat in the garden, plaiting pomegranate flowers with a red thread from her dress. Sala seemed worse for wear, looking at the goddess next to her in thought. ¡°Please sit,¡± slurred Solaris with a wave of his hand. The snake bracelet he had worn that evening jingled on his wrist, flashing the light. Mere frowned at the sudden disposition of the god but complied regardless. There was a hierarchy, and Mere was taught to respect it by his wife, but he knew when to fight and when not to fight. ¡°You have come up for a mission,¡± continued Solaris, turning around to smile gingerly at the god who sat at his desk. ¡°I would be honored, my lord,¡± responded Mere, watching the god, who swayed to his desk. ¡°You will gather your powers. You will look for the Lunar God and bring him here. The use of force is allowed, but only if necessary. I trust you can do this.¡± ¡°Noctifer?¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Buthios,¡± corrected Solaris with a chuckle, falling into his chair. He continued with that smile that made Mere shuffle in his seat. He eyed the god¡¯s demeanor. ¡°Are you alright, my Lord?¡± ¡°Do not pry into my affairs, elemental,¡± snapped Solaris, his smile fading into a darkened expression of annoyance. ¡°I do not mean to pry, my Lord, but rumo-¡± ¡°Rumors mean nothing to me; I am the designated head of the pantheon, and you will do as I say.¡± ¡°My Lord, I-¡± ¡°Silence,¡± roared Solaris as he swept the contents of his desk away and grabbed Mere by his collar. ¡°You will do as I say. I am in control, and you are controlled; am I understood?¡± ¡°My Lord, let go,¡± growled Mere with equal anger to Solaris. His smile returning, Solaris threw the deity back in his chair. ¡°You have become a snake; do you think you can overcome me so easily?¡± Solaris cooed as he swayed to the window again, pressing his head against it. ¡°It was you who became the snake,¡± Mere said, rising from his chair with grace. He bit down on his tongue, his knuckles white as he held himself back. ¡°Your will be done, Sol-Maenoles,¡± was all he said before he left. Solaris chuckled at the god¡¯s sudden departure, forgetting the tears that streamed down his face. He swiped at them, looking at his reflection in the window pane. He cried aloud and punched the window. It did not budge, but it did enough for him to relieve his anger. He looked down at the stinging flesh, seeing the golden-red blood and the faint marks of bruises. He smiled a sorrowful smile, keeling over as he let out strangled breaths.
Mere came into the garden in a huff. Dhena looked up first, followed by Sala. The two looked at the muttering god as he came closer to them. Sala, much to her surprise, stood up quickly and held the god¡¯s hand. ¡°How is he?¡± ¡°Your god is mad, beyond himself and his senses,¡± declared Mere, pulling his hand from Sala¡¯s. He looked to his wife, who still sat down with the pomegranate garland in her hands. He let out a sigh when he met her eyes, seeing the intense power that roared within the goddess. ¡°He is mad, that is all I can say. I will not turn against him, but he has undone the work of heaven in this madness, and others may see it as an advantage.¡± ¡°War is already happening on earth; we can¡¯t have it in heaven,¡± Sala snapped, her blood boiling with the realization that Mere was right. ¡°War is rarely chosen, Goddess, but the politics of heaven are as fickle as the mind of your god.¡± ¡°He is your god too, Mere,¡± corrected Dhena, who stood up proudly. ¡°Not him; he is not Solaris-Soter.¡± ¡°What did he say specifically?¡± Sala and Dhena asked almost simultaneously. Sala¡¯s eyes narrowed dangerously. ¡°He wishes for me to go to the earth and seek Noctifer,¡± Mere said, shuffling under the wrathful stares of the god. Despite himself, his hand rested on the hilt of his blade. ¡°You will do this, even if it is to give him peace of mind that he is still in control,¡± Sala said quietly, sitting down on the bench. Dhena eyed the goddess warily. The way she slumped down onto the bench, the wrathful lines around her eyes¡ªit all seemed as though the goddess had begun to shift before their very eyes. It worried Dhena to no end. ¡°Give us a moment, Mere,¡± Dhena said in her characteristic voice, one melodious with sweetness and depth. Mere nodded, leaving the garden to prepare their chariot. Dhena sat down next to the goddess, who seemed so cronelike. ¡°What do you suppose, Lady Mother?¡± ¡°Your husband is right. We cannot deny the possibility of rebellion. The Young Gods have begun betting on the war; they¡¯ll likely do anything to win.¡± ¡°And how do you feel?¡± ¡°I¡¯m tired. The world moves on, and we are simply conduits of its transformation,¡± the goddess smiled at Dhena, ¡°whether we like it or not.¡± ¡°The wheel turns,¡± Dhena said, placing a hand on that of the goddess, ¡°and so do we.¡± ¡°Deus ex Machina,¡± chuckled Sala as she patted the hand of her emanated daughter. Dhena was happy to see the goddess laugh. It made their circumstances feel lighter. Plot Explanation So this actually came about when I explained some of the symbolism to a friend who reads the book, but I also wanted to put it here. I''m in the process of making a guidebook, but for all intents and purposes consider this an excerpt despite it not being in the book itself (at least yet). So, the first thing is Solaris. It is a bit noticeable that Solaris isn''t exactly emotionally stable. He isn''t crazy by most standards, but this book draws on symbolism from Psychoanalytic theory, some esotericism and alchemy. So, we''ll need to get started on that point. For all intents and purposes, we can simply the entire Psychoanalytic theory into three main parts: Superego (The Higher Morality or Discerning Feature of the Psyche, commonly associated with "I can''t" or "I shouldn''t". I can''t be angry because it is wrong. I shouldn''t do this because it is y) Ego (The Mediator or the Waking Self, this is you as you are now. This is the part which has to work between the shadow (the Id''s "I want" and the Shadow''s own features) and the Superego. Shadow (Which would include the Freudian Id, the Collective Unconscious, the Personal Unconscious and so on. The Personal Unconscious features all repressed or forgotten facets of a person, as well as connecting point to the Collective Unconscious which would feature the Id, or the Need for gratification through vengeance, sexuality, food etc. basically primal human needs). This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. This is a very basic interpretation, but it''s what we''re working with for now. So anyway, you''ll notice that Solaris has a few key issues: - Obsession with Perfection - The Need to Control / Be Secure - Obsession with Purity - Obsession with being Loved, but not dealing with the pain or stress of loving. These issues become prominent when he has to deal with his emotions and the chaotic aspect of himself, that being represented through the serpent (atavistic power) and the circle (formlessness, it has no structure or order. The serpent also has a funny thing with change and transformation which is directly counterproductive to his need for control. You can''t control what is not really stable or has no immediate form). The Serpent and the Circle also feature on Deus Ex Nihilo''s clothing. I wish to say beforehand, Deus Ex Nihilo is not a deity. We carry on with Solaris''s form. The Sun, Sol, is associated with external manifestations in Astrology, just as Solaris is more focused on appearances than actual character, creating a false character to suit him. When the consequences of his actions (a result of the dissonance between himself and his true self) begins to build around him, he experiences mental and emotional strain. Imagine Sister Faith and Sister Chance mixed with Silent Hill Chapter 11 ¡°Explain yourself,¡± bellowed Caeli as she stormed into the room. Sala looked up from her desk, raising an eyebrow, but she put down her papers, regardless. ¡°Please be specific, Caeli,¡± she sighed, rubbing her temple tiredly. The goddess stared at the storm cloud that had made itself comfortable in the center of her study. ¡°He undermined my authority by sending Mere in search of Noctifer. He may be the Lord of the Heavens, but he is very well not in any state to do so.¡± ¡°He isn¡¯t in any state to do anything. I¡¯m the one who authorized Mere¡¯s involvement in this mess.¡± ¡°On what grounds, Sala?¡± ¡°Think logically, Caeli,¡± growled Sala. ¡°If we can give Solaris the illusion of control, we can handle the affairs of heaven while he works on his own grounds.¡± ¡°A shadow of the throne,¡± realized Caeli, gulping down the fear of a coup. ¡°A proxy-ruler, I prefer,¡± declared Sala. Slumping, Caeli shuffled to the window that looked out over Sala¡¯s courtyard. ¡°Describe ¡®putrefactio¡¯,¡± Sala prompted suddenly, as she continued with her work. Caeli looked over her shoulder at Sala curiously, but turned back to the garden. ¡°A base material is fermented acuriously,nd its structure broken down for the extraction of a spirit and salt.¡± ¡°Correct,¡± Sala said, stamping a piece of paper with her seal. ¡°It is one of the alchemical procedures of the universe at large. We, the gods, are no more different from the universe than a grain of sand in the desert. Solaris is in his own state of ¡®putrefactio¡¯. He is being broken down to reveal the base materials.¡± ¡°So is the entirety of heaven,¡± Caeli interjected, looking back out over the garden. ¡°Yes, heaven is also subject to these cycles of change and creation. It appears that Solaris¡¯ state of madness is bringing heaven into both a spiritual and political transformation.¡± ¡°And the world below,¡± added Caeli. ¡°Yes,¡± huffed Sala, growing agitated with Caeli¡¯s constant comments. She was right, of course, but the repeating reminders of the world breaking down around her were becoming frustrating. It was contrary to her nature. She created, and having to sit back and let the Cycle of Creation and Destruction occur before her, at the expense of doing nothing, was akin to a mother watching her child fall to a sickness. ¡°He can¡¯t even take care of himself,¡± Caeli mused. ¡°And neither can you without a drink, so I¡¯d recommend you shut up for now.¡± ¡°Angry much?¡± Chuckled Caeli, walking to Sala¡¯s side and looking at the papers on her desk. ¡°All is One and nothing is separate,¡± Sala said, turning the paper over in her hands. ¡°Circular movements, life into death, and death into life.¡± ¡°And one into all and all into one,¡± added Sala, holding up a paper to Caeli¡¯s face. ¡°This is a letter to Mere to take at least one of your emissaries on his train. You will use this, and stay out of trouble.¡±
¡°Noxifer,¡± Ava called into the empty temple. It had gradually returned to some of its former glory. Lanterns were lit, and they revealed the intricate murals. He had restored the central fountain and had brought lotus pods to rest in it for the day. They quite enjoyed watching them bloom, but then the realization of Nox¡¯s absence set in. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. It was a frustration like no other when the god would disappear at a vital crossroads. She had received word of Mere¡¯s court appearing in random places, mostly temples and cremation grounds. There was, however, another issue. The sun had become redder, and the omen ended up stirring zealotry in Solaris¡¯ temples. The one under the king and crown was the epicenter, and now the remnants of Nox¡¯s sect are under persecution. She really wished this state of Putrefactio would finish soon. ¡°Nox, I swear to all of Heaven and Earth,¡± she threatened loudly, and the temple listened without responding.
Noxifer couldn¡¯t get over the scream. It sounded too close to him, and it resounded within him. After taking leave from Ava, having lost three games, he resigned to the garden. He had reshaped the temple. His hands had become calloused in his constant movement, but that did not shake the scream that constantly echoed in the back of his thoughts. It was like a roar of the universe, one that threatened to shake the three worlds. He wished he knew what was going on, but it all seemed like some mystery that even he could not pierce. It only worsened when he heard another scream from one of his devotees. In his meditation, near the white flowers, he suddenly heard the splitting cry of a child, and his mind filled with visions of war and blood, and his statue crashed. He had left at that point to go to a village where he knew the crying had come. He donned a simple form, a water-bearing woman coming from the river. He did not like to admit it to most, but he enjoyed how others became entranced when he took the form of a woman. That was one of his names: ¡°She who glows like the full moon¡± So, there he came with his jug underarm and the dress wrapped around his form. His breath hitched when he saw the state of the town ransacked and on its last beams. Solaris¡¯ banners decorated the walls and, in the center of the town, was a bonfire. He wrapped the cloth around his midnight hair, covering the gentle face he had assumed and the burning rage that clouded his eyes. He shuffled to the side of a man who was busy cutting fruit on the remnants of a porch. ¡°Excuse me, sir, may I ask what happened?¡± Nox said, his voice coming out more sultry than he had desired. The man looked up at the woman, Nox, garbed in red cloth with copper skin and a wideness to her form that stunned him for a minute. He quickly gathered himself, standing up fully and smiling bashfully. ¡°Well,¡± he stammered, ¡°priests of Sol came here yesterday afternoon in pursuit of heretics.¡± ¡°Heretics?¡± Nox pushed, his mood darkening. ¡°Followers of Bebeloi. Apparently we had a family of them. The priests took them, burned their statues and books over there.¡± he pointed to the bonfire. Nox had heard enough, and his grip on the water jug tightened. ¡°Where did they take them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but if I had to guess from the rumors, then they¡¯d be taking them to the temples, like they did the others.¡± ¡°Thank you, sir,¡± Noxifer said bitterly. He turned on his heel to leave, but stopped. He sighed and held out the jug to the man. ¡°For your service,¡± he said kindly, trying to rectify the crudeness of his voice. The man looked oddly at the water jug and held it. ¡°Thank you?¡± He said, unsure of himself, but the jug weighed down on his hand. He looked in, and from the water arose pieces of gold that soon overflowed. Noxifer smiled weakly and left.
Mere was about to lose it. Not only had Caeli intruded on his affair. Now there was no one handling the affairs of the firmament, and he was not one to trust attendants needlessly. The silver-lining was that they had a lead. Deities were spotted around an old temple in the mountains. The energy is very noticeable. Gods could never hide from other gods, especially primal ones. He had to cover his chest. The cold air did little to help him and his fiery nature. He didn¡¯t mind, there was a certain joy in wearing the clothes that his wife had made for him. It was like a reminder of her wherever he went. He also enjoyed seeing the jealousy of others when he wore something handmade. The temple came into view. Mere had realized that the rumors were true. The air was thick with energy, but it was foreign. Caeli felt the same thing as she closed in on the doors. It wasn¡¯t the cooling energy of Noctifer, but something more profound, even profane. She placed her hands against the doors of the temple and pushed them open, the lanterns in the temple flickering with the sudden gust. In the center of the hall, lurking around a fountain, was the deity in question. Ava, receiving deific guests, received them with a form that was ¡®worthy¡¯. This time, however, they wanted to prove a point. They stood before the gods, their signature darkness marked with a myriad of blinking eyes. Their arms spread from their back, six in total. Two were folded in each other while the other four held the moon, a scimitar, a rosary, and a grail filled with some darkened liquid with a potent smell. Caeli shivered when the smell reached her nose¡ªthe acidity was enough to cause a headache. Around the deity, rays of blue light warped the shadows, even the lanterns, in the room. ¡°Welcome to the temple of Noctifer,¡± greeted Ava curtly, their form only strengthening as the lights in the room faded. Caeli stared defiantly, still holding her nose. ¡°Where is he?¡± she demanded, heaving as Ava sloshed the liquid in their cup, the smell growing potent. ¡°He is where he decides to be,¡± Ava said coolly. ¡°That is to say that I don¡¯t know where he is. Still, how lovely that you should come when he goes.¡± ¡°He is in trouble, and so are his devotees,¡± slurred Caeli. Mere pushed past, but stopped halfway. His light, his fire, had begun to tremble in the presence of the deity of all ends. Ava only stared as Mere stepped back out of the temple, holding onto Caeli as she swayed. ¡°I understand his devotees are in trouble, which is why you are wasting your time by coming here.¡± ¡°Please, Master, where is he?¡± ¡°He will go where his devotees call. Even a dimwit would understand how he works.¡± ¡°Ataea-Minor,¡± hissed Mere as he turned. There was the barking of orders, and then Mere shouted for Caeli. She stared at the deity before her. Her face was flushed, and she felt no energy in her bones. ¡°What is happening, Ava?¡± ¡°The wheel turns, and life continues,¡± Ava said with a tone of finality before turning on their heel and leaving deeper into the temple. Caeli reached out to demand an explanation, but fell forward. The world around her spun, and she felt her body giving way to something else. The skin of her fingers rotted away. She felt the same on her face. It was a peaceful feeling, like rain during a long summer. Someone¡¯s voice echoed in the distance. When she looked again, she was facing the open sky. Mere let go of her leg, rushing to her side and trying to check her pulse and vitals, but the skin of the goddess gave way under his pressures. He choked back a heave that threatened to empty him of all that he had that day. Caeli was still facing the sky above her. The red sun hid behind the clouds that threatened a snowstorm. Despite the yelling from Mere and the fretting of her attendants, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to look away from the sight. That¡¯s when it clicked, in that state before a ¡®death¡¯. ¡°Putrefactio,¡± she giggled to herself. With a fading smile, she exhaled and closed her eyes. Chapter 12: Noctifer didn¡¯t bother to transform. He had wandered across the world in the form of a woman, dealt with all that came his way, and so racked up a small bounty amongst some of the military encampments as a ''she-devil¡¯ and a ¡®devourer¡¯. Still, he finally found where the temple had been taking his devotees. They had been isolated in a small part of the country¡¯s hub, a place called Ataea-Minor. It was too small a place for too many devotees. He was cheered by the fact that so many still held to the traditions, but disheartened by the circumstances he had found them in. His eye caught the shimmer of the temple¡¯s structure over the walls of the city. The gleaming gold and silver details that marked it as separate were enough, and he would demand an explanation. Walking into the slums of Ataea-Minor, he looked around. Despite the dread and the imminent promise of execution, many still sang. Mothers remained in cloistered groups, preparing vegetables for the evening meal. He was particularly angered when he saw a girl who had her hair recklessly shaved from her head. Another girl was busy shepherding the children, with two other boys flanking her. Despite these being his kin, Noctifer couldn¡¯t look them in the eyes. The crying of a baby sent him deeper into his depressive anger, and he immediately broke the path to tend to it. Finding a mother trying to console her baby, he smiled gingerly and sat down next to her. ¡°May I nurse him?¡± The mother, stricken with the suddenness of the question but also the seeming youth of the woman before her, nodded. Noctifer, smiling at the lady, pulled down the robe of his form and let the baby latch. He hissed a bit when they took, but he eventually let the child take from him what he would. He couldn¡¯t determine the major effects; maybe the child would become a hero or champion in the future as he drank from a god. Noctifer would have to ask Sala about that if he returned to heaven, but his people needed him. He looked down at the face of the baby, alert to the milk and divine substance, and reminisced of the day in which he had cut his throat to feed his devoted. His mind wandered, eventually remembering when he had made a meal of his nail and blood, and the face of Solaris who looked on in disdain. He tried to hold himself, but his hands gripped tightly onto the shawl of the baby. He forced himself to calm down, to stop whatever emotion would affect him, but it came all too quickly. The baby, having had its fill, fussed away from the nipple. The mother, grateful, took the child to her and smiled at Noctifer. ¡°May I please give you some food, or a drink, mistress?¡± Noctifer looked on, seeing her and the world around her. ¡°No, thank you, Amma,¡± Noctifer denied tensely. The mother nodded and wrapped the shawl tightly around the baby before rocking it in her arms. Noctifer was suddenly hit with the depravity of the situation, of all these people and their cries. He turned to look at the roof of the temple, and he stood up defiantly. The red sun shone brightly over him, and the clouds threatened to bring rain, which would only bring more filth to the slums. He trudged into a small alleyway, where a barrel stood under the constant maintenance of a rain gutter. There was enough water there, and he needed a change. The water was taken with a ladle and poured over his hands to wipe away the dirt. He then cupped some into his palm and washed down his face, willing himself towards another form. So appeared another form of the deity, a widower. He chuckled at the archetypes that the gods seemed fond of. Most appeared as alluring youth, small children, or crooked elderly. He was no exception, considering that he was a woman with a round figure and a military bounty just a few moments prior. He never questioned it, but it seemed natural and unassuming. From the alley came the elderly Noctifer, with his stringy gray hair and leathery skin. He tried to make the gait of the elderly lady natural, but he also wanted to get to the temple as soon as possible. The desire to walk speedily with the otherwise unnatural shuffle created an unnatural and uncanny limp. He was looked at curiously, but one old man came to help him. "Sorry, Amma, would you like some help?¡±
Eventually, Noctifer dismissed the man with a kind smile, sure to remember his name and face for later. He was at the foot of the temple and had begun to amble up the stairs towards the main sanctum, where he would demand to speak to a priest. As he walked up, the sun only became hotter, and it was readily apparent that Solaris and his corresponding force were deeply imbalanced. He muttered to himself, trying to balance the guilt he felt for being, in part, the cause of this entire situation with the anger he felt at the same time. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. When he got to the top of the stairs, he walked towards the sanctum, nodding to the statues of the deities as he walked by. Soon, he was at the archway, and, directly across the room, was a statue of Solaris in gold and marble. He narrowed his eyes at the statue, then turned down to look at three priests at the base of it. The smell of incense was unmistakable. Looking down, he wondered why he hadn¡¯t taken the step into the room. Maybe it was because a nagging thought presumed him to be impure and that he would then burst into flames when entering the temple. He shushed it away angrily, stepping into the temple with his crooked foot. The lanterns around him flickered, and the incense immediately changed direction as he brought with him a gust of wind from the outside, and his ability. The priests turned around, one looking shocked at the presence of such an elderly figure entering the temple. ¡°Amma, you should¡¯ve asked for help on the stairs,¡± he said shakily, pushing something behind his back. ¡°I did not wish to disturb,¡± Noctifer croaked with a raised hand, ¡°I have come to speak to a priest.¡± The priests looked at each other confusedly, as if trying to discern who would deal with the haglike figure, or something else. Noctifer¡¯s eyes flickered downwards, where he saw eight feet, and only three priests. He saw six clothed feet and the pair of a young child. Tapping his pinkie against his hand, he allowed himself to gain enough force to knock one of the flower vases off a nearby table. The loud cracking sound shook the priests, which, in turn, gave way for a young girl from the slums to rush out of their hands. Noctifer¡¯s eyes widened when he saw her state. Her hair was short, as though it had only started growing from the scalp of her head. Her eyes were sunken, and her lips were marked with dried blood. A priest angrily reached out to grab her, pulling her back into the group. Her eyes darted to Noctifer, and she screamed: ¡°Abba!¡± His blood had begun to boil, and his fingers twitched. ¡°May I ask about the little girl?¡± ¡°These heretics are being dealt with as per the will of the God Solaris and the King Reve.¡± ¡°Heretics, she is but a girl.¡± "Therefore, she can be converted,¡± the priest continued coldly. He nodded to the other two priests, and they took their leave. They dragged the girl, and she once again turned over her shoulder and screamed out: ¡°Abba!¡± ¡°It is an old lady, you blind fool, call her ¡®amma¡¯,¡± spat the priest. This broke Noctifer, and he appeared behind the priest. The former turned, seeing how the diminutive old lady was now behind him, with a fearsome fire burning in her widened eyes and her flashing teeth. From the aethyrs, Noctifer drew a blade. He cared not if anyone saw him, or had the nerve to wonder how such an old lady would become such a power, but he would not see injustice dealt with complacency. He grabbed the collar of the priest and threw him against the altar table. The two other priests, hearing the commotion, pushed the girl into a separate room and shut the door. One grabbed a censer and began chanting to exorcise the supposed widow-demon that was before him. The altar was thrown back, and Solaris¡¯ statue shook with the impact. The priest groaned on the floor but came to his fours, breathing, although his chest stung with the impact of the crone. Noctifer enraged, stepped forward, grabbed the locks of hair on the top of the priest¡¯s head, and lifted it. He exposed the neck, and with a horrible screech that shook all of the heavens and earth, he brought down the blade repeatedly until he finally ripped the head of the man off. The blood dripped on the blade and marked the temple in a variety of directions. In anger, Noctifer raised the head and continued his war cry, before throwing the head at one of the priests.
Solaris was in a state. His headache had not gotten any better, and he had begun to notice small things. His attendants were smaller in number. The halls were too quiet, and Sala hadn¡¯t been present in the court for a few days now. Additionally, he had no report from Mere. It painted a very, very horrible image for him, one that threatened to throw him into a spiral of interrogation. The ones who were here, with the attendants, weren¡¯t his main advisors. It was like a play set before him¡ªa pretty curtain to hide an otherwise horrible outside. It annoyed him to no end, and he was on the path to writing a demand to Sala, but his papers and stamps had also gone missing, so he had to make do with another one he had found in the bottom of his drawer. He was on a third stack of paperwork, entirely small and very concerning considering that its details were trivial affairs. One was a standard message about omens; it felt as though his work had been dropped everywhere else except his abode. Maybe he had misplaced the paperwork. This thought caused him to rub his eyes again, the entire affair of the past few days being one long, blurry memory. It was as though he was partially asleep, just constantly asleep and blundering through the halls of a home that was just outside of his memory and senses. The headache, the entire way that the world distorts itself behind the glass pane of his perception¡ªit was enough that he took a drink during his work. He reached out to the glass, grunting when he realized that it was empty again. His attempt to fill it only made him realize that the bottle was empty as well. Roaring, he threw the bottle to the floor and let it crack. The sound rushed into his head, piercing every single fiber of his being. The floor began to shake first, followed by a tremor in the windows and the shelves. The jingling sound of the broken glass came, and then the air was broken by a shrill cry. ¡°Solaris!¡± It sounded like an old lady but, when it broke through his perception, had the power of a god. He stood up from his desk, the chair falling back. ¡°Noctifer¡­¡± Chapter 13: There are a thousand-and-one stories about a deity with delirious bloodlust. There are more that recount the philosopher¡¯s attempt at discerning what would occur if the deity was left in their sanctified destruction and more on whether or not such destruction would be good for the overall. Regardless, in the sanctum of the temple, it was notably ruthless. The reddened sun had been shadowed by the storm that Noctifer brought with him. To the two remaining priests and a handful of guards, there was only a maddened and ravenous widow who had killed multiple without so much as a break, a breath, or a blink. The girl was still barricaded in the room by the priests, and Noctifer would not rest until she was free and his people were safe. He promised himself that, even if it meant that he should draw blood from a rock and fire from water. The statue of Solaris, once a pristine marble with gold detailing, stood as a bloodied sculpture. The eyes, face, body, and hands¡ªall of it¡ªwere marred in the vicious spray that came when Noctifer unleashed his blade and teeth with a fearsome roar. The gods, hearing this commotion, abided within their statues but knew that this was not their place to work. Indeed, little could overcome Noctifer in his states, and none had full jurisdiction in Solaris¡¯ temple, which was run under his autocratic rule. Yet, there was a third unseen force. Sala watched in heaven. The Goddess of Art, Divination, and three of the Holy Springs stood beside her with the scrying bowl. She prayed that Solaris would take this chance to break from his spiral and attend to something, but she also worried about the effects, which revealed the entire act. She prayed that Solaris would take this chance to break from his spiral and attend to something, but she also worried about the effects. Blood in his otherwise pure temple, and the consequences of his priests being led astray by a king rather than by the tenets they had believed in during the creation. To prevent reckless bloodshed and stressors, she warned the gods that whoever would intervene would deal with not only Noctifer¡¯s rage but also hers. This was Solaris¡¯ duty, and he needed to see it through. She clutched her beads tightly. ¡°Life be with us,¡± she said simply. For Solaris, the rush to the temple was staggered. He ran into some of his attendants, who had appeared. Others tried to keep him still, as his eyes were frantic and his hair disheveled in his need to go. He was a madman, quite akin to one in every way except diagnosis. Even his mount, the eagle, looked at him oddly. ¡°Please,¡± he pleaded. The eagle only bowed its head in response and took flight through the Airts until they were seated within Solaris¡¯ statue, and the eagle took its place in one of the murals where it watched closely. To his ears, the prayers of the priests and the demands of the guards were like the tolling of bells in his skull. He frowned but stiffened when he heard a crying sound: ¡°Abba!¡± Solaris, still embodied in his statue, turned to see the priests guarding a door. They were staring at an old lady who was currently twisting the arm of a guard and throwing him at another. ¡®Those eyes,¡¯ Solaris realized, ¡®Noctifer.¡¯ Noctifer, angered by a guard who had slashed his back with a blade, only continued. He grabbed the sword of the guard, not minding the sharp edge cutting into his skin as he sought a grip. He ripped the blade from the guard¡¯s hand and went forth for an attack of his own. Throwing the guard down, Noctifer stepped onto his chest and pressed down with full force, crushing the guard¡¯s ribs and his heart. His widowed form was covered in the rich ichor of blood, and his hands and feet were stained with it in excess. Solaris only realized the presence of Ava, who kept close to the shadows. Whenever Noctifer struck down one, she was there to raise them back to the aethyrs. In front of him was the entirety of life and death¡ªdeath in life and life by fateful death. When Noctifer charged the priests, grabbing one of them and crushing his head into the wall, Solaris snapped. He took his form, bursting from the eyes of the statue and appearing behind the widow. ¡°Noctifer, I command you to stop!¡± Noctifer didn¡¯t hear him, but he threw the limp corpse of the priest through the door. A high-pitched scream echoed from the room, and that¡¯s when Noctifer calmed down. The blade disappeared from his hand, and he reached forward into the room with a crooked smile. From the shadows crawled a girl whose appearance shook Solaris. All the signs of malnutrition, abuse, and fear were etched into her being, and her being in his temple only impacted him more. This was his, and his priests had done this despite the tenets he had afforded them. The last priest in the sanctum reached forward to catch the girl, but Solaris had seen enough. With a shout, he twisted his hand in the air. The priest, sworn by an oath, was compelled to kneel despite his will, urging him to ¡®not let the heretic escape¡¯. Noctifer looked back, seeing Solaris standing with his hand raised in the air, and his eyes darkened beyond any known measure of the god. A cold shiver went down his back, but he wrapped his arms around the girl and stood straight. He dismantled the form of the widow, and so returned to his original form, or at least the humanoid original. The blood faded from his skin, which now took on the resemblance of the sunset, and his hair was no longer wiry but became the curls of night that were his signature. He cradled the girl close to him, holding her tightly. ¡°Solaris,¡± he urged, trying to bring the god back to himself. Solaris, however, was in no mood for listening, and his hand only stayed in its position. The priest remained locked in his kneeling, the pain becoming excruciating as the god did not bother to release his muscles or joints from their tightness. With a low hiss, Solaris released his hand, and the priest¡¯s entire body slackened. He fell to the floor with a strangled huff, and Solaris only watched. He stepped forward, grabbed the priest by his collar, and held him an inch from his face. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Who authorized this?¡± ¡°Please, Soter, have mercy on me,¡± wept the priest. ¡°I asked a question,¡± roared Solaris in response, the temple shaking with the thunderous rage that boiled in his blood. ¡°The king,¡± the priest mewled. Solaris stiffened but then threw the priest back. He looked at the guards and waved his hand dismissively. Through the simple force of will, the guards had forgotten their situation and so awkwardly shuffled back to their posts, thinking that they were called for a meeting that never happened. ¡°Noctifer,¡± Solaris began threateningly, ¡°home, now.¡± ¡°I have to take her to her family,¡± Noctifer denied stiffly. He eyed the god, a husk of his former self but a vague reflection of his greater self. ¡°Have one of the attendants do it.¡± ¡°She is my devotee; all my devotee¡¯s children are my children, just as theirs are mine.¡± ¡°No one cares, Noctifer. You¡¯ve been gone long enough,¡± snapped Solaris, twirling on his ankle to stare the god in the eyes. ¡°So have you,¡± Noctifer retorted, ¡°you have been gone, and now look.¡± Solaris looked around at the bloodied bodies and the girl in Noctifer¡¯s arms, who was playing with the threads of the god¡¯s robe. His jaw clenched, and his chest twisted. This entire ordeal was because he couldn¡¯t keep himself in order, and now he had blood on his hands. A shaky breath was all he could respond with, looking down at his hands where he could see the countless lives taken in a faux name. ¡°This is my fault,¡± Solaris admitted quietly. His hands shook, and he looked up to Noctifer with tears in his eyes. ¡°Please, give me a chance, Nox,¡± he wept, hiccuping as the words rushed from his mouth. His teary eyes betrayed the youth that Noctifer had once seen. The other god softened. ¡°I can give you as many chances, but this is something that only your hands can wash themselves clean of,¡± Noctifer said, patting the girl on the back. He whispered something in her ear, and the girl fell asleep instantly. Solaris looked at her, envious of the sleep that she had been given when he couldn¡¯t even rest in the comfort of his bed. His eyes swept over the temple, and the gods fled from their statues, lest they be the next victim to Solaris¡¯ frustrations. ¡°Where are her parents?¡± Solaris asked, finally relenting to the adamant Nox, who was fixing his chlamys so it covered the girl¡¯s body. ¡°That remains to be seen, but I don¡¯t think they¡¯d let her go to the temple in any state,¡± Noctifer whispered, his hand moving the girl¡¯s arm under the cover of the chlamys, but he stopped. He gently turned the girl¡¯s wrist and saw two puncture marks on the skin. ¡°A snake?¡± ¡°Probably, come on,¡± Solaris said dismissively, taking the form of a courtier for safety¡¯s sake. Noctifer remained, running his thumb over the bite. He knew Sala¡¯s work when it was in front of him. He folded the girl¡¯s arm into the fabric and moved after Solaris. He took the form of a courtier, like Solaris, but a little less fancy. Solaris was going to stick out like a sore thumb, but if luck stayed, then maybe they wouldn¡¯t notice.
The slums were in a ruckus. On one hand, people were celebrating that a ''rebel¡¯ had stood up to the temple, but others only grew more concerned. When Solaris came into view, many eyes narrowed, and a few dragged their children or elders behind them to make sure that the ¡®visitor¡¯ wasn¡¯t a temple spy who would take them at a moment¡¯s notice. He wondered, as they walked, whether or not these people were worth saving or even worth his time at all. When he looked at the people who sang and the mothers who shielded their children, however, he knew that it was less a matter of saving and more of relation. To them, this was the face that has become the sign of tyranny and an unjust world. To him, theirs was the relation to what had prompted one of the worst aeons of his life. He looked over at Noctifer, who held onto the girl as though she¡¯d break in a minute. A part of him twisted in revulsion and envy, at the display, but a part of him equally longed for it. When he looked around, he was far from the sterility of his court and his view and into a world that was not his by any means but was still undeniably under the watchful eyes of heaven. Whether or not he thought these people were worth his time, they were his regardless. They were Nox¡¯s, as well. If Nox could find space for them in his view, then why didn¡¯t Solaris? His thoughts were interrupted when Noctifer grabbed his arm. He was speaking to an old lady, who said she knew the girl. ¡°Yea, that¡¯s Eva¡¯s sister. Poor thing, she was taken a week ago,¡± the lady frowned. ¡°Does she know?¡± ¡°Know?¡± ¡°Her sister left to go...¡± the old lady trailed off when she saw Solaris¡¯ interest. She clicked her tongue and looked back at Noctifer. ¡°Regardless, her sister is gone, and we just buried her fathers three days ago; Heavens keep them. They were killed in a struggle for the girl.¡± ¡°So she has no guardian?¡± ¡°It takes a village, boy, and everyone here shepherds everybody else. If our Lord could accept the beggar, then who are we to turn aside the same?¡± ¡°I see,¡± Noctifer mumbled, his hand tightening around Solaris¡¯ arm. ¡°Though,¡± the lady said, ¡°it seems Leah has taken a liking to you. I¡¯m preparing dinner for a few houses; would you like to come?¡± ¡°I would lo-¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to see, Mistress,¡± Solaris interrupted, his hand reaching and tugging at Solaris¡¯ chlamys. The god frowned at him but nodded all the same. The lady¡¯s eyes, once icy and hard, softened at the sight before returning to her work. She barked some orders, and the world around her responded in measure. ¡°She doesn¡¯t have a family,¡± Noctifer said quietly. ¡°We can¡¯t keep her,¡± Solaris immediately rejected. ¡°You can¡¯t keep her, but I can.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± Solaris hissed, trying to keep his voice down. ¡°That is my condition if you want me to return to heaven. Until I find Leah¡¯s sister, I¡¯m taking care of her, and she will share in Heaven. It is the least you can do,¡± Noctifer said darkly. Solaris stiffened. He looked at the sight of the people who had fallen to reckless harm under his name and knew that Noctifer was right. ¡°Fuck,¡± was all he could say, and Noctifer nodded. ¡°You don¡¯t even have an abode in Heaven anymore; where are we going to keep her?¡± ¡°Stop talking about her like she¡¯s a dog,¡± Noctifer warned. ¡°Where is she going to live? A child needs a home.¡± Solaris rubbed at his forehead wearily. One melodramatic sigh was all that came from him before he finally added: ¡°You will stay at the Abode of the Sun with it. You will be under constant supervision because I will not have a repeat of this, understand?¡± ¡°Conditions for conditions; I keep her, and you keep me.¡± ¡°Just until I somehow solve this,¡± he said, gesturing vaguely at the world around him. The girl shuffled under the warmth of Noctifer¡¯s robe, and, strangely enough, Solaris felt a twinge of heartache for her. ¡°Until I solve this,¡± he corrected himself, though still uncertain of whether or not it could be fully solved. Chapter 13.5 Before they left, Noctifer wanted to bless the souls of the departed, which, in hindsight, was a horrible idea to agree to. They trudged through the town, going to the mass grave, where Noctifer prayed for a few minutes and promised to take care of Leah and the rest of the devoted who resided in Ataea-Minor, before leaving. It wasn¡¯t noticed then, but Solaris remained. He looked over the markers and the flowers. Some of them had lit lamps and incense. It was a silent and melancholic sight that left him with gnawing anguish. There were so many things here¡ªmemories left to those who could remember them. These people, who were under his feet, were extant manifestations of reality. How did they live? How did they cope with the inevitable doom that awaited them? All of this sparked two major realizations, which only threw Solaris deeper into his depression. One was that these people, born of life, struggled tirelessly towards some goal that was taken from them when fate conspired. The second was that, despite their lives and singular personhood, they were taken by those who claimed his name for their unjust actions. These people had died, and their blood marked his hands and would forever stain his nails. There was never going to be enough water in all the kingdoms to free him from this agony. Solaris was not one for philosophy, but the philosophy remained in his head. How did they work for meaning when everything was a meaningless culmination of adversaries? Did their meaning save them? Would Solaris have been so easily forgiven by them had he tried to make sure their deaths were not meaningless? He barely realized that Noctifer had left and that he was being tailed by a second, darker force. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Why do they continue, despite their imperfection being their doom?¡± Solaris looked over his shoulder at Deus Ex Nihilo who kicked up a stone. He had a point, and the same philosophical premise now being expressed. What was the point of continuing if, by your very nature, you were cursed to constantly die and start again? ¡°No, that¡¯s wrong,¡± Nihilo cooed teasingly. Solaris¡¯ brow furrowed, frustrated at the act of playfulness in such an area. ¡°They continue because they were given the ability to. No human lives without fearing death first, and life is then born,¡± chuckled the shadow as it walked closer to Solaris. It pointed over his shoulder at the grave. ¡°Remembered are they, small minutes in an endless eternity, endlessly immortal in eternity.¡± ¡°Speak properly, please,¡± Solaris said quietly. ¡°A circle is the perfect embodiment of reality because everything leads into everything else, and no immediate start or end can exist unless it is perceived. Truly, there is a beautiful meaninglessness in that one can only live with the dots of their past and the past of another outlining their future.¡± With that, Nihilo left, and his voice echoed with the thought of Solaris. It felt cold¡ªhorribly cold¡ªand he heard the call of Noctifer. The god ran back into the graveyard, the girl still clutching tightly to his neck as she slept. ¡°One can only live," echoed in his head. Lurching forward, Solaris pressed his face against Noctifer¡¯s robes and cried. The god¡¯s free arm wrapped around Solaris, pulling him close. Chapter 14: When confronted by an adversary, one generally goes into ''fight-flight-freeze''. That is, one will either display aggression, try and avoid the adversary, or try to remain still, hoping the same will go away. These are natural, and even gods react in such ways. For Solaris, however, the consistent words of Nihilo, Sala, and Noctifer weighed heavily on his mind. Had he tried to run away from himself, he¡¯d be there, waiting. Had his aggression only increased, he feared that heaven might lack a solar deity. Had his stillness continued, it would¡¯ve lost a deity anyway. He was stuck with these consistent thoughts and queries about his validity, his existence, and his self-assumed purity, and it was as though his endeavor to bring Noctifer back to heaven was just an illusory fix. The deity was immediately taken into the abode and locked in a room with Leah, but the sense of wholeness that gradually returned did not return to Solaris. He was left with more questions than answers, and his whole being and raison d''¨ºtre were on a shaky basis. His own identity became some malformed lump of consciousness that he couldn¡¯t identify. Even if he looked in the mirror, he did not see himself. He sometimes wondered if these hands were really his, or if it was his skin that he was feeling. Sala had, twice, caught him scratching at the skin in an attempt to rip off the facade and had to have him confined to the bed chambers again. She was concerned that maybe Solaris was too far gone and that this entire fiasco of Noctifer had done nothing more than solidify what was already happening. So, there sat Solaris in his bed. The blankets were sprawled lazily around his waist, and he could do nothing but stare into the pitch-dark corners of his room, or what would¡¯ve been what he called the room of the ''real¡¯ Solaris. His thoughts were plagued, and his very perception became a spiral into madness. What got him was the question of ¡®why¡¯. The girl¡¯s parents had every capacity to adopt another child or have their own. Why would they so easily give up their lives for her, and how would they be assured their sacrifice would not be in vain? ¡®A reason to live is as good a reason to die,¡¯ is what the hidden voice in Solaris¡¯ mind would say, taking the words of Sala and echoing them back at him. He thought over it, the words piercing the skin of his head and biting down on his tongue. He thought of how Noctifer was willing to fight, and how he was willing to take in the girl without consideration. A raison d''¨ºtre in an otherwise meaningless and entirely chaotic environment. ¡°Foolish,¡± he muttered to himself, mocking how humans will try to seek stability in a temporary environment. There was a reason he was not good at philosophy. In his attempts to be consistently logical, abiding by some objective rationale, he tried to forsake every aspect contrary. Yet, one can never escape thought. His mind briefly flashed to Noxifer, and the way that the deity had unconsciously latched onto him in the graveyard, seeking stability in an environment that was a reminder of the temporary nature of things. Yet that was not his raison d''¨ºtre; there was no justification for life in a god who embodied all that he was not. When he felt his arm around him, however, everything was fine... There was no need for a justification of his existence, nor one of thought or reason. There was nothing within the confines of Noxifer¡¯s arms, and that was enough for the god in that moment. It passed. Soon, Solaris was back in his room. The air felt no less cold than it had before, and whatever emptiness was left by Noctifer had only grown to consume more of his identity. The gods had planned a feast, prompted by the Elder Deities and Dhena, who knew that this entire return to heaven would solve such issues of power and ¡®validity¡¯. It was tomorrow. Noctifer would be given a place at the table. He would be fed and given drink. Solaris had offered him a pair of gloves, but the deity casually refused and went back to playing with the girl who had taken to heaven almost seamlessly. Frustrated, Solaris fell back down onto his bed and settled in for a night of staring at blankness.
The feast was to be held in the afternoon, which gave Solaris time to do a variety of things. Most of all, he wanted to find a way to deal with the fatigue that had taken his body to the point where sounds were too loud, sights were too bright, and he could barely read the words that were on his paper. Noctifer was, despite being a taboo deity, a bit more accepted amongst the court and had taken to his affairs. It was odd seeing the god in a place that didn¡¯t show chaos and informality. It was worse to see him cleanly shaven. Solaris felt a twinge of sadness at the sight of the god without his beard and scruffy hair. Still, the god was not one for sitting in small, cramped rooms, so he took his work with him. He did, however, leave Leah in the ¡®comfort¡¯ of the abode, which meant that the attendants asked Solaris if he wouldn¡¯t mind watching her because they wouldn¡¯t know what to do with a human girl. Solaris obliged, brought the girl into his office, and told her every rule he could think of. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°And just don¡¯t make too much noise,¡± he huffed, ¡°please?¡± Leah nodded and sat down near one of Solaris¡¯ bookshelves, pulling a tome from it. It was one on philosophy and one that he wouldn¡¯t care to police. If she wanted to read what would be identified as ¡®the Sects of Alchemy and Their Treatises¡¯, then he would not stop her. It didn¡¯t take long for her to grow bored of it, which was something they had in common. Solaris couldn¡¯t stand the book and was glad that someone else shared the same thoughts. Leah put down the book and began to wander around, eventually picking up speed as she played a game of hopscotch on the patterned rug. The sound was beyond annoying, and every vibration only worsened the headache that was building. Still, better madness here than her doing something else, somewhere else. He kept his composure, biting down on his tongue and working through the papers until he heard a sudden drop. Looking up, Leah had fallen and was holding her elbow. Despite himself, Solaris rose from his desk and ran to her side. His hands immediately went to her elbow, gently trying to pry Leah¡¯s hands from what she was covering. ¡°Abba,¡± whimpered Leah as she looked to the door. Solaris, still working on unwinding her hands, nodded slowly to himself. ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± he said subconsciously. He didn¡¯t think over the words he had just said but only realized it when Leah looked at him with a cautious smile. ¡°Don¡¯t get comfortable,¡± Solaris tried to add, but there was something undeniably warm about the interaction. There was a strange sense of connection, a raison d''¨ºtre, a justification for the being of something or another thing. He realized why humans drew such pleasure from these temporal connections. He pulled the girl¡¯s hand from her elbow and saw that there was only a small scrape. Relieved, and disconcerted that he was relieved, he worked to try and soothe the pain and rid the main bits of damage, but there was little that could be done with little. He wanted to berate Leah for being dramatic over what would be considered a ¡®nick¡¯ but he didn¡¯t have it in him. His fatigue and Leah¡¯s disposition were enough to disarm him. He tried to lift her awkwardly, but the pain in his body and his notably smaller frame made it difficult to support her in a way that was comfortable for the both of them.
Noctifer avoided the attendants but was still constantly under the eyes of Sala, who still kept up with him. ¡°Are you really going to follow me everywhere?¡± ¡°Where did you go?¡± ¡°A temple.¡± ¡°Alright, now can you come down from the tree?¡± Sighing, Noctifer slunk down from the pomegranate tree and landed on the floor next to Sala. He closed the book he was reading and tucked it away in his robe. ¡°I know this entire thing isn¡¯t ideal, but it''s best to give Solaris some sense of peace until Heaven returns to normal, no?¡± ¡°I suppose, but I¡¯m used to being with my devotees. Some things don¡¯t fade too easily.¡± ¡°I understand, especially with them being in the slums.¡± ¡°Especially with them being in the slums.¡± A silence fell over the two deities, one filled with a mutual mournful longing. In thought, Noctifer finally decided to break it: ¡°He hasn¡¯t recovered.¡± ¡°Sometimes,¡± Sala began, uncertain of her next words, ¡°wholeness is not given but discovered, even earned. None of us can bestow contentment.¡± ¡°He hugged me, you know?¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°When we were in the grave, I came back and saw him in tears and hysterics, it was the first time in a long time that he hugged me.¡± ¡°Do you know why he was in hysterics?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about him anymore,¡± Noctifer admitted, leaning against the tree. ¡°He¡¯s different from who he was before, and who he was when he was created. He¡¯s something similar and different at the same time.¡±
Leah had been taken for a nap, and that left Solaris in his study. The light wasn¡¯t shining as it did before, and his office was now gloomily silent. Leah¡¯s choice of reading was still on the floor next to the shelf. It annoyed him, but he could not hold it against the girl as much as he wanted to. As much as he wanted to berate her for existing, there was something that she stirred in him that made him feel less inclined to such action. Standing, he walked to replace the book. If anything, he liked the diagrams more. Some texts of an esoteric nature spoke purely in diagrams and allegories. Where Solaris failed to understand the language, he could understand the image perfectly. Opening the book, he trailed his fingers over the same inkblot-messes of literature before turning his eyes over to their accompanying diagrams. It left him dumbfounded at how a concept that would be so horribly misconstrued in language could be easily explained in a circle with lines and letters. He wondered if anyone ever thought of just teaching through pictures, maybe he wouldn¡¯t find debate so boring. ¡°The state of Putrefactio is the Tomb, in which Psychopompos raises the Essence of Self from the Decomposing Material. This Shadow-Form, what one may call ''spirit'' elevates the antimony to what we may call Phosphoros, or ¡®the Bringer of Light¡¯.¡± His eyes narrowed at the diagram, which featured a Venn diagram with alchemical glyphs, but one particularly interesting image was under it. It was a woodcut of two figures, both reflections of each other but with small differences. One was the embodiment of all the other was not, just as the latter was the opposition of the former. Around them were more alchemical signs that featured their duality, but their union was noted by a single glyph, which was called ¡®Monad¡¯, and was that of a circle with a dot within it. It was a symbol well-known by most alchemists, philosophers, and, as Solaris would say, even the gods. ¡°Nihilo,¡± Solaris muttered, tracing the hazy figure in the woodcut, the one contrary to the embodiment of consciousness and light. As said, Solaris never considered himself a philosopher. It was too ¡®wishy-washy¡¯ for him, yet he could not deny the synchronicity that had occurred and did not stop himself from thinking over it again and again until the party. Chapter 15 ¡°I want all the books we have on alchemy sent to my study,¡± Solaris demanded before rushing back to said study. Books were strewn across the desk, and he had notes upon notes. Most of the subjects he barely understood. Still, whenever he saw something he could remotely connect to the patterns he exhibited, or at least what he had seen in his own life and spirals, he jotted it down. Everything, absolutely everything, was tied together but also so horrendously disconnected. He couldn¡¯t even say that he felt connected to himself. It felt like he was floating over his head or that his head was some foreign object to him. A thought did cross his mind that maybe he should put down the book and try to be someone Sala wouldn¡¯t shove into the bedroom for once, but it felt nigh impossible now that he had found this trail of crumbs. Of course, the first book was nothing more than a philosophical treatise, with its symbols and allegories focusing on the end rather than the means to the end. The diagrams were enough to describe the topics to him, but it wasn¡¯t enough. He thought that if one book mentioned a force similar to Nihilo, then maybe all the other books had similar ideas, and maybe, just maybe, he could overcome it himself. Still, that would be tomorrow, as he had his affairs to deal with and the books still had to be found. The ones he had lacked any practice or, at least, any application to someone who didn¡¯t already know how to apply them. It was a book written by seasoned alchemists for seasoned alchemists, and the trend only continued with the later ones that he found. All in all, it was as fruitless as it was fruitful, and he found himself at the beginning with enough knowledge to warrant a better exploration. He looked up from his mess when Noctifer entered, looking around the room. ¡°She hurt herself, so I took care of it and sent her to sleep.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± replied Noctifer simply, showing neither disappointment nor excitement. Frowning, Solaris turned back to his work and paged through another book he had snatched from his shelf. ¡°You busy with another project?¡± asked Noctifer curiously as he shut the door, wandering over to Solaris¡¯ desk. He bent down, resting on the edge of the desk as Solaris¡¯ pen scraped against a page. His face contorted at the sharp sound, and, rather aggressively, he nudged the inkwell closer to Solaris. He took the hint and dipped his pen before continuing with his writing. ¡°I suppose so,¡± Solaris responded, tapping incessantly on the paper before he finally reclined. He let out a sigh and combed his fingers through his hair, showing the tired eyes more fully. Noctifer, growing concerned, sat on the edge of Solaris¡¯ desk. He cupped Solaris¡¯ face, thumbing the cheekbone that had become more exposed. ¡°You haven¡¯t eaten since I left?¡± ¡°Sparingly, I was focused on other things.¡± ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°I feel fine.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°You are a horrible liar.¡± Noctifer sighed. The solar deity had little improvement. Noctifer¡¯s presence only seemed to aggravate the symptoms, causing the deity to become more distant and emotional, yet also numb. They hadn¡¯t spoken, but the disarray of Solaris¡¯ otherwise pedantically tidied study was a clear sign. This sudden frantic obsession with alchemy only worried Noctifer more. Solaris was obsessive, which made life difficult when it came to discerning the deity¡¯s intentions. They fought a few thousand years ago, where the deity questioned whether or not Solaris wanted to be friends with Noctifer as a person or Noctifer as a ¡®concept¡¯. The two hadn¡¯t been the same since then. Despite his annoyance, Noctifer still had a soft spot for Solaris. He still saw that jovial light deity that was born alongside him all those aeons ago. Solaris leaned into Noctifer¡¯s hands, looking at his wrist. ¡°I feel as though I¡¯m not myself,¡± he finally admitted. ¡°It feels like my mind is not my own, like two people are living in my body and I¡¯m just a temporary resident. Everything feels so cold, and it¡¯s almost like I can fall through the world at any moment.¡± ¡°Two people?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Nox,¡± Solaris sighed, looking up at the sitting deity. Whichever parts of Noctifer weren¡¯t worried before, were now twisting in anxiety. He didn¡¯t want to move his hand, Solaris having claimed it as a resting spot, but he needed to break Solaris¡¯ comfort and take him away from the study. He needed to give him some external comfort, something that he could experience without the intercession of another. He had been playing a game of tag with Leah, which continued into the two sharing hidden swipes at each other throughout the day. Maybe he could bring Solaris into the game. ¡°Solaris, you know I¡¯m here for you, right?¡± Solaris didn¡¯t know. The god had fled so quickly before, and he understood. How can one ignore a decree from the head of the gods? Still, the deity¡¯s disappearance and seeming nonchalance, and the sudden appearance of his missing attendants. He didn¡¯t know who he could trust. He barely thought he could trust himself, or whatever form of himself he inhabited. Not to mention that the guilt that had overtaken him with the Ataea-Minor situation had only made it clear that he had failed Noctifer, his charges, and the gods as a whole. That question was enough to break the comfort, and Solaris pulled away from Noctifer¡¯s hand and reclined once again. Noctifer seemed to understand, but he would be lying if he said that his worry lessened and that he didn¡¯t want to reach out again to try and reclaim that comfort. ¡°The party¡¯s this evening,¡± Noctifer said, changing the subject. Solaris only nodded, swaying his head to look out the window. With a huff, Noctifer slid off the table and spread his arms. He grabbed Solaris and pulled him close, burying his face in the red mess of hair that the solar deity had all but forgotten about. Shocked but not displeased, Solaris allowed Noctifer to hug him. He didn¡¯t notice how his arms reciprocated or how they hugged Noctifer tightly enough that the latter let out a grunt. ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Noctifer said, allowing the god to slump against him. ¡°I haven¡¯t slept,¡± Solaris whimpered, ¡°in so long. Am I going crazy?¡± Noctifer bit down on a remark but saw the desperation in the god¡¯s eyes. ¡°Define crazy,¡± Noctifer said, hoping it would work. The god¡¯s eyes lightened, and he let out a tearful chuckle. ¡°Idiot,¡± he retorted shakily. Solaris reached up and wiped away a tear that had fallen from Solaris'' eyes. ¡°Better a happy idiot than a morbid philosopher.¡± Chapter 16: Noctifer had decided to have some fun, and so his first stop was to the room where he and Leah had been ¡®hosted¡¯. She was shuffling under the blankets when he entered, looking up tiredly and with her hair in all sorts of directions. The god stifled a chuckle at the sight of what he lovingly thought of as ¡®a wet rat¡¯, before sitting down on the bed next to the girl. ¡°I think Uncle Solaris needs something to eat, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Abba?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here,¡± Noctifer responded, but the girl shook her head. ¡°No, Abba Solo-rice,¡± she corrected. Noctifer looked at the girl, his heart warm but his head practically spinning. It was nice, amazing really, that Solaris had created a circumstance in which Leah could refer to him as ¡®abba¡¯. What worried Noctifer was what would happen if Leah witnessed the same parts of Solaris that others did. What would happen when he was no longer ¡®abba¡¯? His thoughts must¡¯ve shown on his face because the girl was poking his side to get his attention. Noctifer shook his head from its thoughts and smiled down at the girl. ¡°Yes, Abba,¡± he responded before picking her up and sauntering over to the kitchen. Leah yawned on the way, only made more tired by Noctifer¡¯s attempts at brushing down her hair with his hand. Still, when the smell of the kitchen came into the air, Leah was awake and looking around for what was a distinctly sweet and floral smell. They stopped outside the door, and Noctifer put the girl down, pulling a small bag from the folds of his robe. ¡°You don¡¯t do this outside of here, alright?¡± ¡°Do what, Abba?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to speak with the chef, and I need you to take some things from the table. A little fun game for us and Abba Solaris.¡± Leah, only understanding part of the morals, nodded quickly. She snatched the bag from Noctifer and shuffled behind him as he entered the kitchen. The lunar deity had heard of the Sous¡¯ tendency to be arrogant, and so he entered with an exceptionally high amount of pride himself. He hoisted his shoulders up and made direct contact with the sous, asking whether or not the food was up to standard for Solaris¡¯ tastes. The sous, scoffing, denied any imperfection, but Noctifer prompted further. ¡°Are you sure? He can be very pedantic.¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve been the head at the Abode for centuries.¡± ¡°Yet not the head-head,¡± Noctifer joked, clearly enjoying how the sous became riled up. Annoyed, the smaller spirit then nearly demanded that Noctifer should see the food for himself and determine whether or not it was ¡®perfect¡¯. So, the god followed, and Leah slipped between the tables to hide. Whenever the sous looked up at Noctifer to describe a dish, her small hands reached out to grab a pastry or a fruit, sometimes a bun, and shove it into the bag. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it As fate would have it, she slipped, and a pomegranate rolled into the kitchen. The girl panicked and hid behind the covers of the counter, especially when she saw the feet of a well-dressed adult entering the room. Coincidentally, it was Sala trying to investigate who was arguing. She looked down and saw the girl under the counters, then the pomegranate. A raised eyebrow at the bickering sous was enough to shut him up, and a glare at Noctifer was enough to let him know that his game should end. Yet, still warmed by the jest, she subtly nudged the pomegranate to the counter and walked ever so gracefully so that her robe would cover the spot that Leah had hidden in. The sous tried to explain the situation, but Sala was tired from having to try and speak to Solaris earlier about leaving his office. The deity had been caught up in texts, and it had become akin to prying a cat from a tree. She wasn¡¯t in the mood to listen to anything, and her patience had worn extremely thin. While the Sous turned back to Noctifer, she decided to have a go and slipped a meat bun from the table to Leah, who was underneath. Surprised, but not complaining, the girl took it. Now, the escape, and Noctifer had not planned this part. He knew there was a door between the kitchen and the hall, one that had a good passage, but he was worried that the eyes of the chef would burn into him had he brought Leah from her hiding place. Frowning at his silent cue, Sala quickly lifted her skirt and ushered Leah to hide within the folds. It was uncomfortable, but there was enough fabric and Sala was tall enough that it mostly looked like an issue with the folds. She walked quite oddly, but made it out of the kitchen, where she then let Leah out, and Noctifer walked up behind her. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said awkwardly as Leah handed him the bag with a cheery smile. ¡°You¡¯re really bringing a child into this, Nox?¡± ¡°She¡¯s small, and I¡¯m not doing it for me. I¡¯m doing it for Solaris.¡± ¡°The food?¡± ¡°Basically,¡± Noctifer trailed off, thumbing the edge of the bag. Sala softened, reaching out and pulling a small peach that Leah had taken. She held it to her lips and took a bite of it. ¡°He hasn¡¯t eaten since you left, but there were a few days before where he was struggling,¡± she said between bites. ¡°It looks like it might only get worse.¡± ¡°I hoped my return would change things,¡± Noctifer said quietly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sala.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be sorry; he¡¯s his own person. He¡¯s just¡­¡± A silence fell over the two. Sala chewed on the peach, trying to figure out the best word for it, but the melancholy that floated between the two gods was enough. They both knew what she meant. ¡°I don¡¯t think he can get fully better,¡± Sala finally admitted, ¡°he can only learn to cope with whatever is going on with him." There was an inevitable realization. History showed that Solaris was someone who suffered from his anxieties and his sudden changes in temperament. It caused bitterness to well up in Noctifer, but he knew that Sala was right. He could only be there for Solaris, even when the deity was in the throes of his mind. Leah seemed to have caught onto the dreary mood. She quickly reached up and tugged at Noctifer''s robes. The god looked down with a forced smile. "Let''s go feed Abba," she squeaked happily. The two gods smiled at the girl, despite the gloom that hung over their heads. Chapter 17 Zaeal watched as the soldiers of the king marched southward. The incident at the temple had only escalated aggression between the civil groups. Many had taken the side of the king with the recent omen of the ¡®Red Sun¡¯. He proposed a spiritual cleansing. One in which renegade priests and heretics brought under intense inquisition. Her dogs, three in number, crowded around her feet. The air froze around her, and the dogs stood at attention. ¡°Ava,¡± Zaeal said, not looking away from the marching troops. The deity came to Zaeal¡¯s side, looking over the vast horizon. The deity¡¯s natural form always disgusted Zaeal. At best, Ava was just a humanoid darkness with a myriad of eyes. At worst, Zaeal shivered at the memory. It was during a plague a few centuries prior that Ava had to aid the Kings of the Lower Earths in migrating the souls. They took the form of some gigantic blob of shadow, a thousand mouths, and even more eyes than they had now. They rolled over the landscape like thick smoke, taking up the souls of the departed. It had only made sense then why the deity, Ava, had no main gender. They were nothing, the embodiment of Nothing. Nothing made into Something. They were a philosophical paradox. Quite honestly, it struck fear into Zaeal, who could only imagine the extent of Ava¡¯s ability. ¡°Fools, all of them,¡± Ava said knowingly, their face hidden as a set of eyes settled. ¡°It is war,¡± Zaeal said quietly, looking down at the floor with her hands folded behind her back. One of her hounds sniffed the air around Ava but whimpered away. ¡°War against who?¡± Ava said. ¡°Who do they have left to war against if not themselves?¡± ¡°You would¡¯ve figured that maybe Nox¡¯s presence in heaven would¡¯ve slowed this entire thing,¡± Zaeal grunted, scratching the ears of one of the dogs. ¡°No, Putrefactio can¡¯t be stopped. Noctifer¡¯s absence set it into motion, and now we can only wait for the New Dawn.¡± ¡°You sound like one of those sects, the cults.¡± ¡°One of the few that got it right, that listened.¡±
Caeli was somewhere. She didn¡¯t quite know where, but it was somewhere she had been before. When she looked around, she saw a sanctum with a great fountain in the center. Beautiful lotus flowers were holding golden light in them, which danced off the water that bubbled from the fountain. What made it all so uncanny was the lack of sound. It was like she was present in every sense, except sound. She stumbled forward, reaching the edge of the fountain. When she looked in, she fell back and crawled away from the feature. The reflection was not hers. When she looked against the surface, her body was like a shadow, except for her eyes, which glowed with a white light. She was like walking smoke¡ªa blink of an eye. When she reached up to touch her face, the skin gave way underneath the press of her fingers. It went through her cheek and was touching the hard part of her palate, and she could only just scream frantically as more skin fell under the stress. That¡¯s when she heard it. A sound broke through the uncanny silence. It came from the fountain, and the water began to spill over onto the floor. When it reached her, it felt hot to the touch, and she jumped to her feet. Looking up, a pair of eyes looked over the fountain¡¯s edge at her. It was that same figure, her reflection, crawling out of the water. It slipped over the edge and coiled into a fetal position. The skin contracted and relaxed as though it were just one giant lung. Caeli cringed at the sound, like a horrible, metallic groan. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°What the fuck are you?¡± She whimpered, pressing herself against the wall. It reached up with its knotted, growing fingers and pointed at Caeli. A small line of light appeared on its face, stretching until the shadow broke open. It unhinged its ¡®jaw¡¯ and Caeli only saw light as the top part of its head fell back, and a high-pitched scream echoed through the sanctum. Caeli woke up to the frantic tapping of Dhena. Mere was holding down her arms, Dhena was sitting over her, and the two were sweaty with strain. Dhena sighed when she saw that Caeli was awake, falling forward and burying her face in the side of Caeli¡¯s neck. Mere fell back against the floor, looking at the goddess, who was in a daze. ¡°You¡¯re finally,¡± Dhena panted, ¡°awake.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± Caeli grunted, trailing off when her words caught in her throat. Dhena nodded, slipping off of Caeli and onto the nightstand. She picked up a shard of broken glass from the floor, frowning for a moment. ¡°Please get us a new glass, Mere, and maybe new robes and bedding.¡± The god didn¡¯t respond. He only stood up, stared at Caeli for a moment, and left. Dhena muttered to herself as she shuffled tiredly to the door. ¡°Get a maid here, please, and also some pillows from the next room,¡± she called out to what Caeli assumed was a servant. Her voice rang like church bells, bursting through her bubble. Caeli reached up awkwardly, hissing when her wrist and elbow locked. Dhena heard this and immediately rushed from the door to Caeli¡¯s side. The goddess pressed her wrist down against the bed. ¡°Don¡¯t move; the restraints broke, and I don¡¯t know if anything¡¯s broken.¡± ¡°Restraints?¡± ¡°You were delirious, laughing and screaming. Then came the coma,¡± Dhena explained, tentatively moving the sheets. Caeli squirmed uncomfortably, feeling a wet warmth on the blankets. ¡°You had nightmares,¡± Dhena said. Caeli whimpered ashamedly, but Dhena only smiled. ¡°It¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of." We could only really feed you liquids, but your nightmares must¡¯ve been horrible.¡± ¡°Ava.¡± ¡°Mere told me, and Nox was found. Caeli was about to jump at the declaration, but Dhena pushed her back down to the bed. ¡°Don¡¯t move; you¡¯ll hurt yourself.¡± ¡°Safe?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s safe, but you need to worry about yourself right now.¡± Mere interrupted them when he came in with a maid and an armful of pillows. The apprehension was evident and belied his otherwise stoic nature. The maid rushed in, swept up the glass shards, and left, but Mere remained against the walls. Dhena sighed and held out her hands, to which the god obliged. ¡°He¡¯s just never seen Ava¡¯s work upfront.¡± ¡°Ava?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Dhena confirmed, putting aside the glass and lifting Caeli slowly. She propped the goddess up against the wall, wiping away some unseen, dried substance on Caeli¡¯s lip. ¡°Do you remember anything before falling asleep?¡± ¡°No,¡± Caeli sighed gruffly. Dhena nodded, filling the glass with water from a pitcher. She muttered to herself, finally turning to Caeli. ¡°Drink slowly,¡± she said, holding the cup to Caeli¡¯s lips. The goddess opened her mouth, taking in the water. Some of it dripped down her chin, and Dhena pulled it away all too soon. The goddess let out a needy grunt but stopped when she saw Dhena¡¯s glare. ¡°You¡¯ll get sick,¡± Dhena warned, putting the glass down on the nightstand. She wiped away the dripping water from Caeli¡¯s lips. Mere kept a comfortable distance, appalled and fascinated by something. Caeli¡¯s eyes widened when she remembered the rotting skin. She quickly reached up to touch her face, finding that one part of it was the soft skin from before. The other part was leathery and scarred. Dhena reached out and wrapped her fingers in Caeli¡¯s, pulling the goddess¡¯s hands away from her face. ¡°Deep breaths,¡± she said, reminding Caeli of a breath that she didn¡¯t know she was holding. She exhaled, her body slumping as Dhena pulled a strand of hair from her face. Looking down, she saw her other hands. Her wrist was bruised and scarred, but her fingers had the same leathery texture. The skin had turned a dark blue, and there was a ring of scaly skin around the bottom of each point. Her thumb had survived, but the realization struck her like a hammer. ¡°I died¡­¡± Chapter 18 Dhena had worked tirelessly to make sure that Caeli could sleep, even using herbology and incantations. Mere was stuck to the sides of the room, however. He watched tentatively as she worked until he was eventually required to leave. Dhena, watching Caeli fall back into a fitful sleep, was at a loss for what to do. She needed to return to heaven, but she was in no state to even sleep without having visions. She could barely hold her bladder when such visions came. Dhena shuddered at the thought of something scaring the headstrong Caeli. She took up some ointment and rubbed it onto the half-dead skin of her hand and face. Ava¡¯s handiwork was something that only a few could ever really see and survive. To see the damage, the state of undeath, was something akin to looking into the eyes of death itself. It was a poetic tapestry of how life and death became woven together. Mere had received a note of thanks from Sala, which he could only stare at for a moment before sitting back in his chair. Dhena had not gotten any sleep, not that she needed it. There was something about his wife that outdid him at every turn. Most traced it to her being the emanation of an Elder Deity. Still, even she had to admit that this was something strange. He feared Ava. All generative forces did, at some point, fear the deity who represented their end. He remembered some alchemical sects that honored Ava as some hypostasis of unity. Despite Ava''s position as the Supreme Destruction, he never thought her power would be like this. Seeing how Caeli¡¯s skin began to die and fall away, and how she had convulsed repeatedly in her sleep. There were whispers amongst the courtiers that Ava had ¡®eaten¡¯ a part of Caeli. He was pulled from his thoughts when Dhena stumbled into the room. His wife fell onto a chair in front of him, staring distantly. Her fingers massaged her temples. ¡°She¡¯s going to be dealing with it for the rest of her life.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Putrefactio, unless we find a way for her to manage the visions while waking.¡± ¡°This is what I hate.¡± Mere sighed, leaning back. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°You Elder Deities always know more than you let on,¡± he said. ¡°We didn¡¯t have a name for this, and now it''s ¡®putrefactio¡¯.¡± ¡°Mere, not tonight,¡± ¡°Then when, Dhena?" ¡°Fine, just ask and get it over and done with,¡± Dhena sighed, gesturing dismissively to the air around her. ¡°What is Putrefactio? Everyone mentions it, but it¡¯s like there¡¯s this whole other world behind the word.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a state; a form or idea is broken down so that its original state can appear.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s this original state?¡± ¡°Who knows, Mere?¡± she huffed. "It¡¯s on the other side of a locked door.¡±
Caeli was back in the sanctum. She could hear this time, which was a partially welcome change. The water was still all over the floor, but the figure that had horrified her was no longer there. She started walking around the fountain, finally seeing a set of footprints going out. Her head fell forward with a silent chuckle when she turned and left in the opposite direction. There was at least some lucidity in this dream, and Caeli was going to use it and avoid whatever ¡®that¡¯ was. The figure had other plans as it watched her from the corner of the room. It took in the details of her leathery, half-dead skin and her limp. If it had discernible features, it would¡¯ve been smiling, yet its face did not show a single bit. Rather, it stumbled from the shadows after Caeli, imitating her limp playfully. She heard it and turned to see that the figure was now just an arm away from her. Screeching, Caeli fell back. She slipped on the water and tried to stop herself with her arm. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It collapsed on itself, as though it were just a very thin peel. Her crying only grew as her arm collapsed. The forearm folded in on itself before disintegrating. The creature looked on curiously, stepping forward. ¡°What are you?¡± Caeli screamed, using her other hand to claw her way backward. The figure didn¡¯t answer, but got on all fours and started to crawl towards Caeli in turn. Eventually, it straddled her hips, and the goddess stared at its eyes. Her cries turned into strangled whimpers, her other hand giving way to death as it faded. Tears spilled from Caeli¡¯s eyes, and the figure crooked its head in curiosity. It reached out to wipe away the tear, and its thumb grazed her eyelashes. It flicked them with childlike amusement before it stopped. Reaching up, it felt around its face for the same features. Not finding any, it looked back down at the goddess. The latter''s body was flattening and fading under its ignorant play. ¡°What¡­¡± Caeli whimpered, unable to finish her question. It reached down and cupped both sides of her face, its thumbs inching closer to her eyes. It gently traced the skin of her lower eyelid, moving down the contours of her nose. It pulled the skin down, trying to see her eyeball itself. Despite her fear, Caeli could only see it as a child, curious about the world around her. She wanted to struggle, and she would, had her body not been in this state. Its thumbs went back up her nose towards her eyes and stopped. Its head crooked again as it pondered something that she could only imagine. Finally, it seemed to decide. It pressed its thumbs down on Caeli¡¯s eyes, then bent them so the nail went in. Caeli screamed as its thumbs wiggled around in her eyes. They pushed out the jelly-like substance with sickening squelches. Weeping, she thrust her hips upwards in an attempt to throw the creature off of her, but to no avail. She saw it then. It was small at first. The pain subsided, and she could begin to see small flickers of light. Those lights then coalesced into a pearl of light. Thereafter, it burst, and it was like lightning shooting through her body. She could feel her hands and feet again. Everything came flooding back. One thing that stuck, however, was a sense of power that threatened to break through her skin. She grabbed the creature¡¯s wrist and let out a roar that shook the sanctum. ¡°Get the fuck off!¡± she screamed, crushing the wrists of the creature. It gave way like liquid, and the creature fell away. She could not see, yet she could. Her eyes were gone, but she still knew where the creature was crawling. She jumped to her feet, throwing her foot back to find the wall. When she found it, the mental image of her space grew. ¡°Can you feel it?¡± The creature chuckled, crawling around the fountain. ¡°The Heartbeat of Creation, the Lifeblood?¡± ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡± ¡°How does it feel to be the limb, the finger of a deity? How does it feel to know that this war, the great Putrefactio, is just another limb of your creator?¡± ¡°Shut up, demon!¡± ¡°If I am a demon, then this is hell. Since this is your dream, Caeli, you are Hell, and I am yours. I am that which exists within Solaris, Noctifer, Sala, and Ava.¡± Dhena rushed into the room after hearing the scream. Mere came rushing towards her but stopped short. He fell from the threshold, crying aloud as he saw it. The bedcovers were smeared with blood and urine. Her face, Caeli¡¯s face, was covered in the same red, dripping from her eyes and her blood-stained fingers. ¡°Send for help!¡± Dhena shouted at Mere as she pressed down on the screaming goddess. Her eyes widened when she saw the veins on Caeli¡¯s arms and face begin to pulse. They turned brighter, glowing faintly under the skin. She arched her back and let out another scream that shook the room. The glass shattered. Shards of it scratched against Dhena¡¯s face, and she hissed. Fearful, she smacked Caeli¡¯s face in an attempt to wake her up. Caeli¡¯s eyes opened. Dhena withdrew her hands immediately, gasping at the sight. ¡°Caeli,¡± she whispered. Caeli did not answer. Her eyes were no longer the same but were now like small suns that glowed brightly. When the goddess laughed, it reverberated through the walls and Dhena¡¯s body. She shivered at the cold, distant sound. ¡°You saw it, didn¡¯t you?¡± The goddess smiled before her body slackened, and she collapsed back onto the bed. Her eyes shut, but the glowing veins and the reverberating laughter remained. Mere came back with two guards and a train of maids who had followed. He stopped at the threshold. ¡°Is she dead?¡± ¡°She¡¯s¡­¡± Dhena trailed off. ¡°She saw the other side of the door.¡± Dhena steeled herself, turning around to look at her husband. Blood dripped down her face from where the glass cut through. ¡°Send a message to Sala,¡± she said. Mere was stuck, watching Dhena with a fearful expression. ¡°Are you deaf or stupid?¡± Dhena barked. Mere saw the fear in her eyes and nodded quickly before running off. Chapter 19 It had been a whole three hours since the troop stumbled into Solaris¡¯ study with a bag of treats. Despite his logic telling him to admonish the trio for falling to such lows, he was still somewhat warmed by their actions and couldn¡¯t turn them away. Still, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to fully eat it. He had maybe one or two berries before returning to his work with a horrible feeling in his stomach that strained his focus for the rest of the day until Sala edged into his room with caution. That didn¡¯t make him feel any better about their altercation early. He looked up at her, not saying a word, but his demeanor spoke volumes. His eyebrows relaxed, and his eyes gazed at her with no sharpness or hatred, just a simple, colourless guilt. She sighed and came fully into the room, looking at Solaris as he put away his paperwork. He was rubbing his head and didn¡¯t stop for the entire duration of their conversation, which only put Sala on edge. She¡¯d have to call a physician from the Kingdom of Earth, though she knew Solaris was as stubborn as he was fickle. ¡°It¡¯s nearly time for the party, and you¡¯re not dressed,¡± she said, straightening herself when she realized she might¡¯ve added more stress to his already great heap of stress. Solaris frowned, burying his face in his hands as he let out a dramatic sigh. Sala fiddled uncomfortably at the display before she attempted: ¡°Your outfit has already been set out; you can take your time.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Noctifer and Leah?¡± ¡°Currently bathing and getting dressed, Noctifer had taken ash and used it on her hair, and we didn¡¯t want to...¡± She trailed off uncertainly, trying to find the right words for those right on her tongue. ¡°To put off the gods of heaven,¡± Solaris said, stating in clear and simple terms what Sala¡¯s democratic nature danced around. She sighed, realizing that his fatigue had made him blunt. No one said it, but there was apprehension that this night would be like the previous night, and Noctifer would fall back to the earth in what was described as a ¡®tantrum¡¯. Solaris slumped, looking at Sala for advice, but the goddess simply watched him without input. Rather, she walked forward and took Solaris¡¯ hand in hers. ¡°Deep breaths, and try not to do anything stupid tonight,¡± she said quietly, tracing the lines on Solaris¡¯ palm with intrigue, as though reading them. Solaris could do little but sigh in response, knowing that he was now the topic of intrigue when it came to parties and courts across the Aethyrs and Heavens. It annoyed him to no end, and he had only found some reprieve in his studies, though the diagrams had been reduced to some unintelligible hogwash. ¡°I think maybe you need a break, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been on a break long enough, Sala,¡± he started. ¡°Heaven is still as shaky as it was when Noctifer left.¡± ¡°Esoterically, yes, but the presence of a powerful deity has stabilized the political situation a bit more.¡± ¡°Sala, what do you know about ¡®shades¡¯?¡± ¡°The dead?¡± ¡°I read a book this morning, where it was described that every person had a sort of antithesis to their nature, a ¡®shade¡¯.¡± ¡°Alchemy?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s a reference to some internal aspect. I don¡¯t know much but it appears in how we are made. Ava is my ''shade¡¯ and I am hers. Conversely, she and I both embody aspects of Creation, but in different and sometimes oppositional ways. Then, there¡¯s the personal ''Shade'', just as I have my waking ability to create and nurture, I have an indirect ability to destroy through that. Just as Ava can destroy, she possesses an intuitive quality of creation.¡± ¡°And myself?¡± ¡°If you are Solaris the Orderly, then you are also Solaris Maenolos, the ¡®Frenzied¡¯ and ¡®Maddened¡¯ Solaris.¡± ¡°Can I actually contact this shade?¡± ¡°We¡¯re never truly out of contact with it, it¡¯s just the degree of interaction that varies. Still, I don¡¯t recommend it, for now, you¡¯re too raw in your thoughts and dealings.¡± ¡°Does it make someone mad?¡± ¡°Quite the contrary, it makes the mad sane and the sane insane, and it makes the sane more sane of their reality and the mad more detached from some perceived sanity. All of it is very arcane and no two points are ever the same when it comes to it, it¡¯s like a snake that is constantly shedding its skin.¡± ¡°My headache¡¯s only getting worse,¡± Solaris huffed, running his fingers through the red hair that had become frizzy over time. ¡°Exactly, it doesn¡¯t bode well if you¡¯re not well. It¡¯s like adding fire to an already dry forest.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go speak to Noctifer, please,¡± he said too quickly, rising from his desk. Sala¡¯s eyes widened as she watched him practically run from the study into the halls of the building, leaving her and the pile of notes. Gods were known amongst humans for their theoretical omniscience, and Sala was no different. She could see the course of creation, all except what Solaris had written in his pile of notes. Not sparing a minute, she grabbed the pile and began to read through them, her expression only darkening as she proceeded.
For Solaris, he had found himself getting closer to Noctifer¡¯s room and the sensation of dread and nausea only grew over him. It felt like it was piercing into his stomach, and rending his flesh. He swayed a bit, holding onto the wall, and was glad enough that it was not in sight of the guards. Despite Noctifer¡¯s return and the assurance of Sala, something ate at him. It was a constant reminder, a faux vision, of what may come if his weakness was seen and his fickle nature discovered. These thoughts hurt him to no end. Each one came after the other in a quick succession and it took away his breath and rationality just as quickly as it had come. Still, upon regaining his balance, he left into the hall and nodded to the guards. Each one bowed in turn and Solaris was then present at the door to the room he had so graciously locked Noctifer in. Raising his hand, he stopped and had to think. This was his abode, his realm. He felt as though the guards were watching him, eyeing the gesture of courtesy as a sign of weakness. ¡®They¡¯ll think that Noctifer holds a higher rank,¡¯ he thought to himself, biting on the inside of his cheek as he pushed open the door to look around. Noctifer wasn¡¯t there, and only Leah remained. She was lying on the bed, curled up with her hair still wet and spread over a towel. Still, the absence of Noctifer struck Solaris who immediately looked around. He spun on his foot to alert the guards until he heard someone walking into the room behind him. He turned around, seeing Noctifer step out from the bathes with a towel loosely wrapped around his shoulders, but doing little else to hide his legs or the curve of his neck. Even the small baby hairs and promise of a beard stuck out in the light of the setting sun. ¡®Stop it, this isn¡¯t the first time you¡¯ve seen him like this,'' Solaris swore to himself, trying to bring his eyes up to meet Noctifer¡¯s but he couldn¡¯t. Despite his attempts to remind himself of their earlier trips as youths to the bathes, there was something about the matured deity that entranced Solaris. He found himself growing unseasonably hot, and trying to maintain some composure until Noctifer snapped his fingers in front of the deity¡¯s face. Angrily, Solaris smacked the hand away. ¡°You will never do that to me again.¡± ¡°The snapping?¡± ¡°Yes, the snapping,¡± lied Solaris, knowing full well that the snapping was just one part of the heap of stress and anxiety that Noctifer had thrown upon him. Noctifer, himself, was also aware of Solaris¡¯ lie but chose not to say anything. Even as Solaris left the room, the image of Noctifer¡¯s legs, and shoulders burned in his thoughts, Noctifer said nothing.
When Sala found Solaris, he was pacing back and forth in his bedroom. The robes she had put out from him, light for the evening heat, had begun to fall off his shoulders as he fiddled endlessly with his hands. The deity did not turn to acknowledge her, instead focusing on the thoughts that assailed him at every end. It took Sala fully grabbing his shoulders to bring him back to reality, and even then Solaris was unable to look her in the eyes, choosing to look at a corner of the room where he found comfort. ¡°What¡¯s going on, Adonis?¡± Sala said quietly, rubbing Solaris¡¯ shoulder as she straightened his robes. Solaris didn¡¯t answer, his brown knitting together as he tried to think of something that bothered him. He came up blank on all ends. ¡°Is it the gods?¡± Sala asked quietly, pinning the fabric of Solaris¡¯ robe together to finish the outfit. He nodded, still not looking her in the eye but now looking down at the fancy medal that stuck to the pin. It was one of a snake coiling in on itself, in a delicate spiral with gold and eye embedded with two small rubies. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Sala, something feels off. I can¡¯t shake the idea that something is working just outside of sight.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay to feel anxious, Solaris, you must just try and keep your head up when someone¡¯s looking at you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying,¡± he muttered distantly. Sala¡¯s eyes softened and she pressed a small kiss to the part in Solaris¡¯ hair, looking down at him with a fond, aged smile. There was something inherently beautiful about the goddess, and Solaris would be lying if he said that he hadn¡¯t had thoughts of her romantically. The way her eyes glimmered and the gentle folding of the crow¡¯s feet made her a mixture of maternal beauty and aged elegance. He had noticed, at some point, that Noctifer had similar crow¡¯s feet, despite theirs being the same age, if not for a few seconds. There was something undeniably alluring about the maturity, which only caused more conflict for Solaris as he thought over that afternoon. He had settled himself on drinking that evening, and avoiding as much conversation as possible, if possible. Sala must¡¯ve picked up on this because she grabbed the young deity¡¯s chin in her hands and said solemnly: ¡°No stupid things, understand?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± was all he said. With that, barely convinced, Sala left the room and wandered down to the hall to make final preparations and welcome the gods. She had old books dug up from the crevices of the library in an attempt to find some fire ritual with which she could officially welcome Noctifer. Unfortunately, all written knowledge had begun scrapped pieces and allusions which only frustrated her. So, in what she had gathered in her myriad centuries, she had lined the fire pit with flowers, wine, and ash before marking Noctifer¡¯s sign in the center. Whatever would happen then would just be an adaption of pre-existing rites, and she hoped it would make due. All that mattered now was ensuring that the Court of Heaven knew that there wasn¡¯t an imbalance of power. ¡®All that matters,¡¯ she thought to herself.
Solaris was eventually called to the hall where he would welcome the first arriving gods. Zaeal was amongst them, and Ava immediately took to Sala¡¯s side like a puppy. The shapeshifting deity had abandoned their prior form, taking on that of an elegant yet masculine woman garbed in a coat and other vestments assuming of a businessman. Whatever they said gave Sala cause to laugh, and it echoed like the chiming of bells throughout the room. Merriment began the festivities, and her chipper laughs carried the spirit through the other gods. Noctifer walked into the room, and Solaris wished to run away. He wore an outfit similar to that night but with some smaller alterations. The fabric was loosely pinned under his armpit to reveal that same curve that had enraptured Solaris. He was bedecked with silver necklaces, anklets, and bangles. Rather than the ash and dirt that was his trademark, he had chosen to mark his limbs with patterns using the same grey substance. In short, he looked like a god, and it seemed that Solaris was not the only one who thought so. The bickering and gossip stopped when he had entered, and all eyes turned to him. They turned to him, and to the young girl who held onto the folds of his robe from behind. He smiled, reaching his hand backward defensively to shield her from the eyes, and their sinister thoughts and maledictions. It warmed Solaris, and a small shock of envy for Leah shot through him before it was replaced with another, more primal sensation. He took to Noctifer¡¯s side, looking out at the gods as Leah took shelter behind both of them. He did so, despite his heart breaking out of his chest and the excessive amount of sweat on his hands. Sala raised her eyebrow knowingly, accepting a glass of wine from Ava who watched with equal interest. ¡°Putrefactio has an interesting way, doesn¡¯t it Sala?¡± ¡°It seems so,¡± Sala responded, taking a sip of the drink before spitting it back into the cup. ¡°You halfwit, you turned it into vinegar,¡± she hissed, hitting Ava¡¯s shoulder. The deity chuckled loudly as they dodged Sala who glared with a vengeance. When the gods had settled back into their routine, Solaris had reached his limit. He took to his table, drinking deeply of the wine and hoping that it would inebriate him somewhat. ¡®Better a drunken fool than a fearful scholar,¡¯ he spat internally, taking another sip. Noctifer was bouncing Leah on his hip, speaking with Sala and Ava, whom he had not seen since the temple. Sala was having a grand time as she stole berries from the plates and fed them to Leah. Ava, seeing this, smiled in turn and gently took from their hair the spirit of a bird. Sala looked at it and frowned, recognizing it as her messenger. She accepted the gift, only somewhat comforted by the fact that Ava had not just thrown it into oblivion. The bird, now in the hands of its master, looked up at Leah and pecked at her hands. The girl laughed merrily at the cold feeling and Ava stared at Sala¡¯s smile and laugh as she watched the girl play with the bird. This distance, a divorce from joviality, only made Solaris more inclined to drink and he had taken his share of two pitchers until he was suitably drunk enough to think without thought. His emotions came out in a blur, and he could hear the distinct whistle of what would be ¡®Nihilo¡¯ in the back of his mind. Dismayed, he got up from his chair and left towards the sanctum of his abode where he felt some peace could be found amongst the lanterns and flowers. It had been too long since he had done some formal oblation, and his drunken state thought that tonight would be the best night. So he swayed through the halls, clawing at the clothing as it scraped at his skin in all the wrong ways, enough to make his head feel as though it was a prison cell. When he eventually came to the sanctum, looking at the flower given him by Noctifer, he smiled and knelt on the floor. He watched it distantly, as it slowly unfolded under the moonlight with its broken petals and stamen. Noctifer had followed him, seeing the change in his demeanor in the hall. He had given Leah to Sala who graciously took her and was currently walking in the garden with Ava who took the form of various animals to entertain the girl. He rushed down the halls to the sanctum where he found the god kneeling just in front of the entrance, not even in the middle of the room itself. Solaris¡¯ futile attempts at clawing off the tight second skin had broken the pin and now the fabric draped down his back, revealing the skin that clung to his neck and spine. ¡®You didn¡¯t eat,¡¯ realized Noctifer as he stepped forward into the room. Solaris turned around lazily, staring at Noctrifer with a half-smile. His eyes were glazed over as he looked back out over the mandala and the flower. Noctifer didn¡¯t know what to do, and he felt that his words might earn him another banishment so he only chose to sit next to Solaris. Solaris took well enough to it, much to Noctifer¡¯s relief. In fact, Solaris leaned against the god, and the strong smell of alcohol pierced Noctifer¡¯s senses. He grimaced a bit, but quickly adjusted to it until it was an afterthought. ¡°You know, I missed you,¡± Solaris slurred, tilting his head up to look at Noctifer who stood still, and tensed. ¡°I missed you too,¡± he responded stiffly, not knowing what to do. Solaris chuckled to himself, reaching out to touch the god¡¯s jawline, the small stubble that had begun to grow, and the fullness of his lip. Noctifer only stiffened, but a heat grew in him. It only grew as Solaris examined his face, his jaw, and the tense muscle of his neck. It continued to grow until it had overwhelmed him, and Noctifer grabbed Solaris¡¯ hand and yanked the god to him. He grabbed the back of Solaris¡¯ head and pressed a kiss to the deity, hoping in the back of his mind that Solaris would reciprocate. He did. Solaris intertwined his fingers in Noctifer¡¯s black there, throwing off the jewel hairpin and pulling the god closer to him. Noctifer growled as he pulled Solaris onto his lap, his hands gripping the god¡¯s thigh with a reckless desire. He pushed his hand under Solaris¡¯ robe, feeling the warm skin of the god tense and relax under his fingers. His other hand reached up, gripping the deity¡¯s hair with desire. The tug sent a shiver down Solaris¡¯ spine, and a small moan left his lips. He pushed Noctifer back, straddling the god¡¯s hips and pressing sloppy kisses against his neck and jaw. Noctifer grabbed his hips, pressing his arousal against Solaris who reciprocated with another smaller moan. Noctifer smelled everything, the alcohol mixed with the scent of sandalwood with which Solaris anointed his hair. He smelled the softer floral scents that he perfumed himself with and the muskier scent of his sweat. His desire only grew, as he lifted more of Solaris¡¯ robe to reveal the god¡¯s legs and their throbbing member. Noctifer sat up, straightening Solaris on his lap as he kissed the god¡¯s neck, his hand wandering on the inside of Solaris¡¯ thigh before moving down his ass and against his entrance. The god whimpered, pressing his head against Noctifer¡¯s chest as his fingers curled around the fabrics of Noctifer¡¯s robe. Hungrily, ravenously really, Noctifer pushed Solaris onto his back and positioned himself between the deity¡¯s legs. He took Solaris¡¯ erection in his hands and began to lick it, running his tongue along the shaft to the god¡¯s pleasure. He arched his back, slamming his hand against the floor with need. Noctifer smiled, taking the god¡¯s length into his mouth with ease. The size of it wasn¡¯t too much, yet it was enough that Noctifer could just feel it in the back of his mouth. He bobbed his head, running his tongue along the length as his fingers prodded Solaris¡¯ entrance. The god, flustered and drunken, became undone. He reached out, without a care, and grabbed Noctifer¡¯s hair, half-guiding the god into a faster pace. Humming, the vibrations forcing Solaris into another fitful spasm, Noctifer pushed a finger into Solaris¡¯ entrance, feeling the god resist. Solaris tried to push it out, his entirety spasming but he soon realized where he was and tried to relax as much as possible. The alien intrusion moved, and his body only grew hotter and heavier as he begged incoherently. Noctifer continued to move his finger, curling the tip until it rubbed against a small growth that sent Solaris into hysterics. The god buckled his hips against Noctifer¡¯s hand, his grip on the deity¡¯s hair becoming inconceivably harsh and tight that even Noctifer had to stop. He patted the deity¡¯s thigh, drawing Solaris back to some half-present where the god looked down with hazy eyes. Slowly, Noctifer began to move his finger, slowly this time, as he bobbed his head on the deity¡¯s cock. Solaris, only somewhat more alert, bit down on his hand to muffle any more cries. His breathing grew ragged and hot as he found himself nearing release. His hand spasmed, gripping Noctifer¡¯s hair in intervals which let Noctifer know the god¡¯s current condition. As he moved his finger, the middle, in the deity, he reached up and pressed against the perineum with his thumb, massaging the space there to the delight of his lover. He felt Solaris¡¯ cock twitch in his mouth and withdrew, hearing a whine from the half-present deity. He knelt between the god¡¯s legs, moving his free hand on the shaft, flicking the sensitive and engorged head with his thumb now and again. Spasming, Solaris continued biting down on his hand until his moans and cries became frantic and his body arched and relaxed. With a smile, Noctifer withdrew his fingers, climbing over the god with his hand still working. He pressed a kiss against Solaris¡¯ hand, his eyes dark with a raging desire. ¡°Take it away. I want to hear you, all of you.¡± Solaris complied, moving away his bleeding hand and reaching up to take the god¡¯s head. He pulled Noctifer down for a kiss, moaning against his lips and raising his hips to meet Noctifer¡¯s agile movements until it became too much. He shivered, his fingers pulling on Noctifer¡¯s hair as he let out a cry. He pressed his hips forward with one final moan, arching his back, and felt the final pumps of his body leave him. He fell back, and Noctifer smiled at the dazed god. He looked down at his hand, on which cum had spllled, both on him and Solaris, and smiled. He pressed a kiss to the panting, sweet-sheened deity¡¯s forehead and stood up, gathering Solaris in his arms like a bride. He haphazardly wiped his hand on Solaris¡¯ robe, knowing that it would probably be taken care of, and carried him to his room, in a drunken, fitful bliss. Chapter 20: There was a lot that Noctifer had dealt with in his eons of life. There was also a point where he took the form of a youth to help a potter sell his wares; everyone always likes a jovial child, it seems. Yet, all that came to naught when he had to heft the sleeping Solaris to his room. What made it worse was that he didn¡¯t fully know where Solaris¡¯ room was, nor did the fitful movements of the elder deity make his movement any easier. He felt sorry for him and whatever nightmare he fought in his dreams. Still, it was somewhat satisfying to have Solaris'' grip onto his cloak or burrow deeper into his arms. It soon came that Noctifer had to stop to adjust Solaris'' outfit so that the fabric covered his legs, having seen one too many guards take a peek at the sandalwood-covered limbs of the deity. He didn¡¯t want to feel jealous; he didn''t actually. One thing about Noctifer was that his emotions warred between extremes, either a supreme desire to nurture and protect or one to destroy and cast down. Of late, those two have been more prominent. He thought it was more protective of him, wanting to protect Solaris from being exposed to others, especially after what had occurred. He was dizzy at every remembrance of it¡ªthe way Solaris clenched around him or the whimpers of the solar deity in the throes of needed release. He would have to speak with Solaris about it in the morning to see where they stood and if it was just a drunken escapade, but O¡¯ Heavens, he hoped it wasn¡¯t. The god in his arms, half out of his own reality, was a stark reminder of a simpler time before he had become an adversary before he had become the embodiment of all that was sorrowful and dull. For lack of a better word, Solaris reminded him of his temple in the mountains. A steady home despite all around it, and that was what he would continue to see him as. He swore to himself, then and there, that he¡¯d be there for Solaris, even if it cost him his sanity. Sala had spoken to him earlier about Solaris¡¯ recent endeavors in alchemy, her brow was furrowed, and only Ava managed to pull the goddess from her emotional strain. He offered Leah to the two of them while he went to check on the drunken ¡®abba¡¯. It seemed that they were all too quick to accept Leah into their arm. He was comforted in that it was more from an expansive maternal desire than a god keeping a human as a curiosity. All of this¡ªthis sudden alchemy, drunkenness, and sex¡ªwas new to Noctifer, and now these fitful dreams. Finally, to the room, he came and shouldered upon the door, which shut almost as quickly as he had opened and stepped in. The room was dim, lit only by maybe one or two lanterns. One by the vanity and the other by the bed, with the rest of the room sparsely lit by moonlight. The bathroom, or what Noctifer thought would be the bathroom, was half open. Most inviting, however, was the bed with all of its wonderful fabrics. Noctifer chuckled to himself, appreciating Solaris¡¯ eye for aesthetics. He reminded himself that the inherent inability of gods to sleep for any given benefit did not take away from the aesthetics of it. Falling asleep was more like meditation. ¡®Might as well be comfortable,¡± he thought to himself as he tried to put Solaris down on the bed. The god squirmed when the sudden cold hit him, his breathing only coming out after a few minutes. Noctifer needed to change him; it didn¡¯t feel right to leave him sitting in the stained robes and sweat, but he couldn¡¯t think about what Solaris would have or where he¡¯d put it. Frustratedly, he quickly ran to his rooms, nearly bumping into a guard and attendant, and grabbed his robe, which he had placed in a very obvious position: ¡®Like a normal person,¡¯ he cursed at himself and Solaris as he rushed back to the room. Getting there, the light that came in from the hallway sent Solaris into another fit, squirming this way and that way until Noctifer came to the bed and stroked the god¡¯s hair, whispering slightly. After a few minutes of cooing and lulling, the god eventually fell back into some state of rest, where Noctifer then stroked his cheek, asking him to wake up even just a little bit. He groaned, turning away from Noctifer¡¯s hand and burying his face against the sheets. ¡°Come on, Sol,¡± murmured Noctifer with increasing frustration. Finally, after some gentle prodding, Solaris relented and sat up, letting Noctifer pull off his robe and replace it with his own. Almost as quickly as that had been done, Solaris then fell back on the bed. ¡°Can¡¯t be helped,¡± Noctifer sighed as he lifted Solaris¡¯ legs fully onto the bed, covering him with a blanket that had become crumpled at the foot of the bed. As he was about to leave, Solaris reached out and half-grabbed at his robe. Turning around, Noctifer smiled when he saw the bleary-eyed god looking up at him. Not a word was said, but they both knew. Noctifer shed his robes, climbing over Solaris and into the bed beside him. He pulled the blanket over himself and pulled Solaris close, the god immediately taking to the sudden warmth. He burrowed himself into Noxifer¡¯s chest, letting out a content, drunken sigh before immediately passing out. Noctifer smiled to himself, rubbing the back of the sleeping god before falling asleep himself, still musing over that kiss they had shared earlier.
The light proved to be an issue when it woke Solaris up. He felt as though his eyes were vibrating in his head, and the intrusion only made it worse. With a groan, he pulled the blanket over his head, hiding from the light. The sudden movement shook something in his head, which had begun to press against the sides of his skull like a bell. The last thought he wanted to deal with was how much he had drunk. Worse still, he didn¡¯t want to think about what he had done if anything. His servants must¡¯ve brought him to his rooms and cleaned him, it seems, but there was an issue. Usually, his robes were not so big, and these flooded him like waves of soft fabric. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He turned over, still groaning, when he hit something hard. It was warm but firm, and he hissed in annoyance when it pushed that same feeling through his head and light. He first noticed the chest hair and the faint remnants of the ash on their chest. He noted the smell of sandalwood, but what finally struck him was the presence of rampant black hair across the pillows and sheets, scarcely tied up. It was him, and Solaris was lying in bed with Noctifer. He barely had a memory, but it slowly dripped into his waking mind, causing him to groan but also feel hot again. The memory of that ecstasy and Noctifer¡¯s ravenous eyes. Noctifer murmured something akin to ¡®back to sleep¡¯, as he grabbed the sheet and pulled it over Solaris. He pulled the deity closer to his chest. Solaris wanted to resist, but he was conflicted. It was warm, despite the sudden intrusion of memories, which caused him to cringe in shame. Half-asleep, Noctifer stroked his back as if to comfort him from a nightmare, but the two of them were so distant in their worlds. Solaris hid his face in the deity¡¯s chest, relaxing when the smells of both sandalwood and Noctifer¡¯s scent hit him. It was then that Solaris realized the god¡¯s nudity compared to him and his size. He shivered at the thought, and whether it was from a sense of shame or delight, he didn¡¯t know. ¡°Noctifer?¡± He murmured, feeling Noctifer¡¯s arm tighten in response. ¡°Did we do anything last night?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± was all Noctifer said, rubbing his face against the pillow with a yawn. ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything,¡± he murmured, trying to see if there was any actual pain he felt in his body. ¡°You were drunk; you didn¡¯t want to take advantage,¡± he murmured, pulling Solaris closer with his hand, and stroking the god¡¯s red hair. ¡°Sleep.¡± ¡°It¡¯s already daybreak,¡± Solaris responded, nuzzling his face against Noctifer¡¯s chest. To be frank, he wasn¡¯t in the mood to leave either. It was comforting and a long-overdue rest. It was like finally coming home. Noctifer sighed, inching downward to press his lips against Solaris¡¯ head. The deity let out a content sigh, drawing patterns on Noctifer¡¯s chest. He felt the pacing of the god¡¯s heart under his fingers and the way that the god smiled wearily down. ¡°You¡¯re like a child sometimes,¡± he said warningly, his eyes creased with a deep adoration. He rolled onto his back, and his arm ran under Solaris¡¯ side, pulling him closer. The deity rested his head on Noctifer¡¯s chest and stared vacantly out into the room. ¡°Daybreak,¡± Noctifer realized with a sigh as he rubbed his eyes. He traced circles on Solaris¡¯ head, looking down at the god, who lazily rested in his arms. A sigh left him, and he patted the back of the solar deity, bidding him to get up so that they could do something. Solaris whined, pulling the blanket over his head. Noctifer, used to discomfort, got up first. He huffed as he ran his fingers through his hair, catching on to some knots that had formed during the evening. Solaris heard this, pulling the blanket down to look at the god with a vague sense of annoyance. ¡°Do you want me to brush it out for you?¡± he murmured, grabbing the pillow and hugging it tightly. Noctifer sighed again, moving to the vanity, where he took up a brush and handed it over to Solaris, who took it quietly, sitting up in the bed. He parted some of Noctifer¡¯s hair, frowning when it caught on other strands. He ran the brush through the hair, top to bottom, followed by his fingers. Something was entrancing about how Noctifer¡¯s hair moved and coiled, like small snakes. The curls didn¡¯t help that much, which aggravated both. Solaris sat up properly and ran the brush through the hair again, this time getting through it without as many snags. He heaved a sigh of relief as he continued to part the hair and brush, repeating this an odd number of times until Noctifer¡¯s hair was neater. He didn¡¯t know much about how Noctifer preferred his hair, but he spent his time mindlessly plaiting and unplaiting it as Noctifer remained in a small waking sleep. It seemed thematically appropriate, thought Solaris, that the solar deity would be more alert during the day than the lunar deity. He also wondered if Noctifer had ever eaten a proper breakfast in the time he spent down on earth. The god was skin and bones at worst, and the morning light only sharpened the shadows of his ribs. Asceticism, he recalled, was one of the domains of the deity. Noctifer, still half-asleep, leaned back against Solaris, preventing any more brushing at that point. All Solaris could do was rest his head against Noctifer¡¯s hair, his arms wrapped around the god¡¯s shoulders, as he patiently waited for the morning to start, at his discretion. Chapter 20.5: During the earlier periods of civilization, the usage of myths and stories as allegories for otherwise natural (unless discovered otherwise by the religious institution of that period) were quite common. One particular incident, one of the three full solar eclipses noted. It is, also, one of the earliest sources connecting the deity Solaris to the sun, rather than his standing as god of light, wisdom and the arts. The story, summarized, is as follows: ¡°At peak of the mountains of Ataea sat the great Nox, and at his side was the deity of the Six Great Songs. The deity (Sol) played a gentle tune on his harp, of which the strings, three-and-twenty, became the tones of the Great Words, of which you will have seen in many hymnals. It soon came to be that this deity of song, had wished to play a game with Nox who had otherwise been stringing together the freshly bloomed flowers of the Snowbush. ¡®Great One,¡¯ asked the Singing One, ¡®Shall we play a game, as done in the days before?¡¯ ¡®Of which game do you speak, O¡¯ Pleasantly Singing Bird (Translator¡¯s Note: direct translation, original word may have connotations of ¡®theatre¡¯ or ¡®brightly acting¡¯) ¡®In the time before, when the world was yet young and had not been set with either name nor measure, we used to bide our time by seeking each other in the mass void.¡¯ (Historian¡¯s Note: There is one text from an alchemical sect which uses similar symbology, refer to Askepea¡¯s ¡®Theurgy of the Ray: A Discovery of Light in Alchemical Symbology) ¡®Very well, Fair One¡¯ The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. And so the game began, and the lilting laughter of the Singing One was heard as he bound a threaded band around the eyes of his deity, and made way into the vast heavens above. While Nox waited patiently for his time, the Great Light arose to the heavens and asked to borrow the Solar Chariot of the President of the Sphere. The President of the Solar Sphere obliged him, and so the Singing One had begun to stride across the Heavens under the guise of an illusionary sun. Soon, it came as expected, that Nox awoke from his brief count and walked from corner to corner of their shared grotto. He did not find the Singing One there, nor did he find him in the trees, the crooks of the mountain, nor the rivers, nor the blooming flowers. Neither of these housed the sneaky Singing One, who we know to be playful as the light which dances on the snow. Fearful, Nox then ran to the Heavens and sought council from the President of the Lunar Sphere, who then said that he had seen the Singing One go higher. Gratefully, Nox moved upwards to the Wandering Sphere, to which the President of Hermos said that he had seen the Singing One go higher. Gratefully, Nox moved higher to the Shining Sphere of the Dove-Star. He then asked the Lady of the Dove-Star who said that she had seen the Singing One go to the Sphere of the Sun above her. Gratefully, he rushed forward and opened the doors of the Solar Abode. The President of the Sun, then seeing, said that the Laughing One was on his chariot, and that he would be where the Shining Light would be. Rushing, Nox ran under the Wandering Stars and the Fixed Stars until he saw the Light in the distance. Relieved, he rushed forward and grabbed the back of the Chariot. To we, the mortals on the First Earth, this was the moon beginning to move unto the Sun. Jumping, he grabbed the Singing One from the back and held him close to his heart. To we, the mortals on the First Earth, this is when the Sun and Moon were one. Now, we are well-aware of the spiritual potencies of such an affair. It is said that, in his relief, Nox had begun to cry and these tears fell onto the earth in seven places which became the Seven Healing Streams. ...¡¯ The aforesaid is also used to describe the appearance of the Seven Springs which arose in the western regions of Ataea Range, of which two had become the spot of two temples to Solaris and one, now abandoned, which was dedicated to Noctifer but it was abandoned in the late 4th Century. Chapter 21: ¡°Do you have to leave so early?¡± Sala murmured, hugging Leah close to her side with the blanket from her guest room. Ava turned over, strapping on their cloak but their eyes showed urgency. Sala stiffened, pulling the blanket over Leah¡¯s head as the girl slept. ¡°What¡¯s happening, Ava?¡± ¡°This recent feud has left more than just Earth and Heaven disgruntled. The Lower Earths have caught wnd of it and it looks like they¡¯ve started travelling to Mere¡¯s domain.¡± ¡°Cutting off the path to the Airts?¡± ¡°Not while I¡¯m here,¡± Ava swore to the air, moving to their mount. Sala rushed after but was stopped when Ava looked back a t them. ¡°Please, Sala, stay here.¡± ¡°Will you send back to me.¡± ¡°Sal-¡± ¡°Will you send back to me or not?¡± Interrupted Sala, staring at Ava with a fierce glare. Ava smiled, moving forward and taking Sala in their arms. They pressed their forehead against hers, taking a deep breath before finally saying: ¡°I will do what I can, but I want you to stay here.¡± ¡°This is my creation too,¡± sniffled Sala, reaching out with her hand to grip Ava¡¯s cloak, as if to prevent them from leaving. ¡°But it isn¡¯t your duty to transform it.¡± ¡°I thought we did everything together. Have you learnt nothing from Noxifer¡¯s absence?¡± ¡°Sala,¡± Ava whispered, reaching up to cup the deity¡¯s cheek, ¡°There is not greater absence I could have than to lose you, and that would be the End of All Ends.¡± ¡°Please, just promise me you¡¯ll come back,¡± Sala sighed, rubbing her eyes quickly before smiling. Ava only nodded, pressing a kiss to Sala¡¯s head and stroking the blanketed form of Leah before they turned and stepped into the chariot. ¡°One last thing, Salah, please make sure that the Aethyrs remain safe. This war won¡¯t end until Putrefactio is complete.¡± ¡°Shut up and leave so it can finish quicker,¡± Sala joked, her voice cracking. Ava smiled sadly and began to ride down towards the Earth. It was now only Sala and Leah in the courtyard. The sun shone coldly on the Abode. Angrily, pained, Sala spoke to the winds: ¡°Dhena, make preparations.¡±
Mere was angrier than usual and Caeli was still bedridden. She had managed to get up a few times to go to the bathroom, but the visions still haunted her at every corner. What made it worse, all too worse, was that Dhena was well aware of the source of Mere¡¯s aggression. She was wiping Caeli¡¯s forehead after a particularly long and tiresome dream when she heard it in the back of her head. ¡®Make preparations.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t unknown that the Lower Earths had become unruly, and now the recent war has opened enough pockets for them to come out. Wartime had a strange efficiency at bringing demons from the Depths. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder if maybe there was more than just a sudden uprising of demons, but a slow and gradual trickle of them into the world. She took up the bracelet and wrapped it around her wrist. It had small bells on it, which had become her signature. She loved hearing the lists of names that her devotees had for her, but one mentioned her as the ¡®Goddess Whose Approach is as the Voices of the Bird¡¯. She made it her duty, at that point, to always wear these anklets and bracelets so that that song could be heard wherever she walked. Reaching onto the vanity, she pulled the small jar of Kohl and applied it. It was only a matter of time, and it haunted her to no end. She couldn¡¯t help but look over her shoulder whenever she heard a sharp noise or saw her husband enter into the room. She needed to make a plan for her servants and Caeli. As for her, she¡¯d be a prize for the demons if they got a hand on her. Still, she would not leave the world so quickly. It gave her a headache, trying to weigh all the factors and she had started taking to eaten. She had her servants prepare her small sweet cakes, especially those which were glazed with red wine. She took up the sandalwood paste and applied it onto her skin before she had finished. It felt foolish to her to try and maintain an illusion. Yet, there was little she could do than make preparations and appear as though nothing was happening. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. She took another bite of the cakes seated on her vanity, swallowing it almost immediately. The door was thrust open and Mere appeared, face stark and paled. ¡°Now?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°They¡¯re here, aren¡¯t they?¡± Dhena clarified, standing up with her hands folded in front of her. Mere¡¯s eyes darkened for a moment, but he let out a steady breath before nodding. Her heart dropped and her skin was prickled with cold. ¡°Call the servants, send them to Sera. Get Caeli out of here as well,¡± she commanded as she ran forward to her bedside. She ripped a sword from underneath it, strapping the sheathe to her side. Mere could only stare, his resolve shaken by the sudden authority in his wife¡¯s voice. He nodded and roared into the hallway, and it began. ¡°I want you to stay with Caeli, don¡¯t come out until this is over.¡± ¡°Is this your kingdom or am I your queen?¡± Mere turned back, glaring at Dhena who rushed to his side. The tinkling of her jewellery only etching the frown deeper into his brow. He murmured ot himself and ran, not waiting for Dhena to catch up. A part of him hoped that she would come to her ¡®senses¡¯. To his annoyance, she didn¡¯t and continued to follow him. That¡¯s when the first horn sounded, followed by a sudden quake as the trebuchet hit its target. Turning to his wife with a raised brow, she only responded defiantly and moved at his pace. Mere, despite his annoyance, wanted Dhena to be safe but knew that she would sooner fight than be placed aside. It was what had made him fall in love with her in those early days but now he couldn¡¯t bear to see her fight. As they rushedd through the halls, the Servants and some of the remaining townsmen were rushing towards the Gate, one of the few places on Earth that could be used by mortals to go to the Airts and Aethyrs. ¡°Let¡¯s go and make sure that the Gate is fortified,¡± Mere suggestted, seeing an opportunity. Dhena nodded and followed after him, hushing the townsmen and commanding the servants and the guards to prioritize the children, infirm and elderly and have those of fighting capability lead and trail the movement. They responded, and it almost snapped Mere from his plan. He regained himself as they neared the doors to the chamber, the Gate. Dhena stood at his side as he ushered the fleeing populace in. Finally, all too soon, Mere turned around and pulled Dhena in for a kiss. He gripped her arms tightly, holding her close until they needed to breathe. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± was all he said before he pulled her away and threw her into the chamber. He roared for the guards to close the doors. Just before Dhena could rush out, however, she was grabbed by Sera who had been spoken to by Mere earlier. He spared one glance at his wife, briefly hearing her cries of pain and outrage before the doors shut and her voice became muffled.
For the next few hours, people were shepherded through the Gate, but Dhena did not speak to anyone. She kept to herself, muttering angily and cursing the air around her. Sera knew that she had betrayed her Queen¡¯s trust, but she also knew that the Kingdom would need a leader. They both knew that the possibility of Mere returning decreased by the minute. She only grew darker in temperament, spitting and running her fingers through her hair. Caeli had chosen to stay, offering whatever support she could to Dhena, albeit in her infirm state. Sera had also chosen to stay, unsheathing her blade and standing at the door at the command of her King. For Dhena, it was a much more sentimental reason. She had hope that Mere would return, and so stayed at the Gate for what felt like hours. To her annoyance, she had to fiddle and walk around to keep her mind at bay but the jingling of her jewellery would give away their position. The sun outside became red with smoke as it wafted up into the heavens, a testament to the remains of their kingdom. Her hand ran over her stomach, wondering what it would¡¯ve been like to be a mother, and all the things she could¡¯ve done had it not been for this, or for Mere¡¯s possible demise. She shook her head, spitting curses against herself for thinking so negatively. Eventually, there was a thunderous knock at the door. Dhena stood up immediately, her eyes widening with relief until she heard the voice. ¡°We¡¯ve come to visit the Little Bird of Heaven,¡± the voice chuckled grotesquely. She staggered backwards, Caeli rushing to support her and pull her towards the Gate. Sera held firm in her position but it was nothing when the door came flying inwards from the blast of some arcane spell. It knocked Sera off her feet, throwing her to the floor in a heap of groans. The splinters shot into Dhena¡¯s side, causing the goddess to hiss and throw Caeli back. She looked up, staring through the smoke to see what it was that had dared to trespass on her land. In the door were four demons. Four standard demon kings but their armies would probably be outside. Sera tried to stand up but winced and fell back down. Caeli stood up again, limping to Dhena¡¯s side in an attempt to grab her and rush into the Gate. All of this was fine, but when Caeli touched the deity¡¯s arm, she screamed and pulled back. The palm of her hand and pads of her fingers had become red from heat. When she looked up at Dhena, she understood why. Dhena¡¯s eyes were wide and furious, tears streaking down the sides of her face. Her cheeks had gone red and her knuckles pale with tension. Her skin had taken on a glow like fire as she glared at the Kings who jested, throwing something into the room. Caeli fell back, holding in a gasp when she saw Mere¡¯s scorched head roll into the room to Dhena¡¯s feet. ¡°No one to protect you now, Little Bird,¡± spewed one of the Kings as he sauntered forward. He smiled wickedly, kicking Sera¡¯s stomach and sending her flying against the opposite wall. His movements grew more lavish as he came closer to the fierce-eyed goddess. Close, he bent down to look her in the eye, his smile growing wider as he saw tears drip from her face. Dhena had gone. She slapped the King with such power that his jaw had been ripped off. It left only the flailing, bleeding muscle of his tongue and his wide-eyed fear as she stepped forward. The fiery glow only intensified, illuminating the room as she grabbed his tongue and pulled him forward. She pressed her hand against his chest and pushed it in. Her fingers broke the muscle, the bone and then pierced through his heart before finally rushing out the back with a small piece of his backbone. The three Kings behind him stumbled backwards as they saw the feat. Withdrawing her hand, and the King crumpling to her feet, she looked at the others in turn. The fire only grew, until her skin had become red like the colour of hibiscus flower and her eyes wide and frenzied. It ignited, her entire form dispersing in a fire until it recollected into a somewhat humanoid form. She stood proudly, with a halo of light and flame around her. Her eyes were wide and fearsome, red with rage. Her skin was crimson in hue, and around her neck, wrists and ankles were the same jingling bells. She wore a skirt, but nothing to cover her chest which was marked with several symbols. Her hair was unruly, and wrapped around her like the vast void. In her hand, from before, was that lengthy blade which now only grew red as her own heat warmed it. ¡°You come onto my land, kill my beloved, and think I shall be the Bird of Heaven?¡± She roared. The Kings stood up, waiting for her to make the first attack but none of them seemed willing to fight. She didn¡¯t hesitate at their hesitance. She lurched forward with a scream that shook the heavens and the earth and stabbed her blade into the eye of one of the Kings before grabbing another. She ripped limbs from bodies, and drank deeply of the blood. The more she drank, the more profound her garments became. Her anklets turning into twisting serpents which fell to the floor and slithered out of the keep. Fearfully, Caeli crawled backwards towards the Gate. A hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her through into the Liminal Space between the Airts and the Earth. Screaming, she clawed at the figure until it revealed itself through its voice. ¡°Hey, snap out of it,¡± lulled the voice quietly. Ava, the deity that had been the cause of Caeli¡¯s state, was there at her side and smacking gently at her cheek. It took a while, a great while, until Caeli had actually calmed down enough. ¡°What the fuck happened?¡± She demanded through shaky breaths. Ava sighed, stroking Caeli¡¯s hair with tension in their movements. ¡°What you saw, was what you will become at the end of this.¡± Chapter 22 Zaeal was out of breath. The goddess kept to the alleys of the town square, pressing against the remnants of an inn. Her arms couldn¡¯t take any more strain which was an obvious sign that something had happened. The air grew oppressive with heat and smoke and the sun became dark against the pillars of ash. She sent Ava to rescue those who remained at the gates, but then she saw the explosion of light and felt that it was too late. Guilt racked her in every part of her body, the taste of blood a constant reminder. Her eyes darted down when she saw the glittering scales rushing past her feet and around the corner. She darted around the corner. She regretted her impulsivity as a demon stood proudly with four war dogs in the center. Seeing her, he smiled and bowed. ¡®Manners from a demon, never thought I¡¯d see the day,¡± panted the goddess, holding the blade up with a scowl shooting across her face. The demon chuckled: ¡°Better to give those on their last breath some control over their death,¡± he said, looking up. The calmness of his face was disconcerting. He placed his arm across his chest in a sign of salute: ¡°Goddess-Mother, we do not need to fight,¡± he said soothingly, ¡°you can surrender your weapon and we will go back to the camp.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t about my ability,¡± Zaeal spat, ¡°your people defied Honour, and I will never stand for that.¡± The demon raised his brow, licking one of the oversized canine teeth with thought. He nodded before raising his hand. The dogs bowed, waiting to pounce. Zaeal¡¯s hands tightened around the hilt. Her lungs burned and her entire body protested against the sudden rush of energy that burned in her veins. The demon roared a command and the dogs pounced forward into a leaping bound. Before they could react, one was taken down by a coiling thread. The demon narrowed his eyes as the serpent revealed its hooded head. It wasn¡¯t only that which warranted surprise, but a twin snake that rushed to the aid of its brother. Both grew quickly as they coiled around the dog. The other dogs tried to help their comrade, but the serpents hissed violently, their fangs shooting out streams of venom. ¡°Is this you?¡± Zaeal realized that she had an opening while the demon was confounded. She rushed forward but slipped when a light flashed through the air, blinding her, the demon, and the dogs. She hit the floor, crying aloud when a broken brick stabbed into the side of her body. She looked up, her vision filled with dots and then she saw the figure. The bright skin and the blood-red eyes as she darted through the fire. The demon fell back, hearing the blood-thirsty roar akin to the storms of heaven. The serpent retreated from the dog and swarmed to their mistress, coiling up her legs and torso until they were around her arm, spewing their venom across the blade. With a horrifying screech, she rammed her blade against the neck of the demon, the venom dissolving the skin until it melted through. The corpse fell to the floor, and there stood the red figure. A glare sent the dogs running but their howls were not unheard. Another demon came rushing to fight the figure and Zaeal, in her brief understanding, cried out to the specter.. It knew long before her, spinning around and staring at the oncoming fighter. Seeing her, she dropped her blade. Her eyes widened with fear. She fell to her knees and held her hands to the figure: Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Amma, please have mercy,¡± the demoness stammered in short frantic breaths. The red figure, silent and still, looked at the demoness. Something in Zaeal wanted to tell the newcomer to run before the snakes or the spirit got her, but she was winded. To her surprise, the figure reached out and touched the demoness¡¯ head, patting the hair that met her hot, fiery fingers. Zaeal, staring, had barely processed what had happened, staring at the hand, the demoness who kneeled with her head downwards in prostration. The skin began to glow again, burning brighter. Her hair curled like tendrils of smoke before the transformation was over. That was Zaeal assumed to be the end, at least. ¡°Dhena?¡± The goddess turned, hearing Zaeal call her name. Her skin returned to its normal hue, but a distinct red glow was under it. Her eyes remained in their reddened state and nor did the appearance of her clothing change. The serpents slithered up her arms, biting onto their tails to form armlets near her shoulders. ¡°Zaeal,¡± the Goddess greeted casually, the blood on her hands becoming notably clear. Zaeal shivered but forced herself to stand up. She winced, turning to see the goddess who only stared on with the coolness of a great body of water. ¡°My Lady, what happened? Where is Master Mere?¡± The mention of ¡®Mere¡¯ struck something, Zaeal realized, as the goddess¡¯ skin began to glow brighter again. The sweat on her forehead created whisps of vapor as the heat of her skin grew. She took a deep breath, exhaling and the light faded into its quiet pulse. ¡°His life was given,¡± was all she said. The demoness remained still but eventually grew comfortable. She crawled forward, holding onto the ankle of the goddess like a whimpering child onto their mother. ¡°This war will not end, and it will only grow darker,¡± Dhena said, almost prophetically as though she was in a trance, ¡°and the Sun will be Devoured.¡±
¡°After you left, I had horrible nightmares,¡± Caeli said quietly, showing her blue-black hand to the deity. Ava gazed at it, shock evident despite her silence. ¡°Nightmares?¡± ¡°Strange fucking things,¡± Caeli said, tiredness tearing all grace from her voice, ¡°some strange creature like me or something worse, I don¡¯t even know.¡± Ava¡¯s face did not change, but there was a notable tension to their shoulders. ¡°Nihilo,¡± they said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Everyone has a part of themselves which embodies all they were, all they wish they could be, and all they wish they weren¡¯t. Since we¡¯re gods, ours is notably more active. It is a power within us.¡± ¡°Was that what happened to Dhena?¡± ¡°No, well,¡± the Deity trailed off uneasily, ¡°when the two are united, it creates a new form. Alchemy and all that, and that form is powerful but also severely destructive when mismanaged. Imagine it like dying and returning to the Earth when you¡¯re buried.¡± ¡°That makes no sense,¡± Caeli said tiredly, staring vacantly into the space beyond her. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to, it just is. Half the laws of the universe don¡¯t make sense, but they are there whether we want them or not. For now, however, we should keep moving.¡± ¡°What about Dhena?¡± ¡°That¡¯s for the world to handle for now.¡± ¡°Do you think Solaris would actually welcome us?¡± Ava stiffened, turning to look at Caeli with a sad smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s our only bet right now.¡±