Bound in Darkness (32 page)

Sabo swung his sword high and with a crushing blow struck at Maxum. Maxum parried with Weysa's Champion, but it wasn't enough to keep Sabo's sword from striking him at his neck. When Sabo pulled the sword back and saw Maxum was not injured he said, “What's this? You are immortal, not invulnerable!”

“It would appear you are wrong about that!” Maxum ground out as he launched himself at Sabo, swinging Weysa's Champion hard. Sabo went to parry him but was clearly shocked when he didn't have strength enough to block it completely. Maxum's sword struck him in the collar and drew first blood.

So. A god could bleed,
Airi thought with wonder and more than a little relief. If a god could be wounded, then maybe he could be weakened. Maybe Maxum could win after all!

Maxum was thinking the very same thing. Renewed hope surged through him as he attacked Sabo in earnest. As he struck several brutal blows with Weysa's Champion, Sabo lunged forward and caught hold of him, grappling with him, each with a blade a hairsbreadth from the other's neck. Then, suddenly, Sabo released him, jerked back away from him and laughed.

“Missing something?”

Sabo held up the cuff. He had snatched it from Maxum's arm. Maxum had been tricked into letting him too close. How had he known what the cuff could do? Why hadn't Maxum used it from the start?

Damning himself, he knew it was over. As long as Sabo had that cuff his head was as good as gone from his neck. It would be nothing for Sabo to slow down time and then divest Maxum of all of his protective talismans.

“Oh, don't worry, little man,” Sabo said wickedly. “I have no intention of using this until I'm good and ready. First, I will fight you as you men do, to prove to you the might of a god has no need for such trickery. Yes…I think I will toy with you for a little while. That will please me.”

Maxum was grateful for the god's hubris which had him tossing the cuff carelessly to the ground at his feet. He had no intention of putting it on and using it himself! But then, as Sabo bore down on him, Maxum realized he didn't need the cuff. His strength was beyond anything he had ever known. His prowess with the blade he wielded was a thing of beauty. Something that Maxum could respect even as he faced it down.

For the better part of an hour the two traded blows in equal measure, neither wounding the other, neither making way. Then Maxum struck again, drawing blood a second time in Sabo's thigh.

Roaring with pain and outrage the god stood back and growled out, “You may be invulnerable to a blade, but you are not impervious to pain!”

He reached out and gripped the air as if he were gripping Maxum around his throat. Maxum cried out as a look of sheer agony crossed his features. He sank to his knees and screamed out again.

“That's right, little foolish man, I am the god of pain and suffering! I will show you pain you have never known! You think you have suffered thus far? It has been nothing compared to what I am going to do to you now!”

Maxum had never known such agony. He had thought the pain of being crushed and pulverized for endless hours of endless years had been a pain beyond all others, but Sabo was proving to him that it had been a drop in the bucket compared to what could be. What
would
be, if he lost. If he lost this battle he would be taken from Airi's side and made to suffer in ways he could not imagine. And through that Airi would suffer too.

No. He had promised her he would succeed, that he would come out of this alive and well. That they would have a future together. He would not break that promise to her.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines…

No!
Airi cried silently, knowing she could not shout out. She had promised Maxum and right now it was crucial she did not split his focus. But…

She looked to where the cuff lay forgotten on the ground. It was right in the middle of the battlefield. She knew that if Maxum were to have any chance at winning, he would need that cuff.

Her mind made up, she ran out onto the field. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her legs pumping madly as she dodged fighting godly opponents. She skirted around Maxum and Sabo, refusing to watch Maxum writhe and suffer, staying focused on her task.

She reached the cuff and threw herself down onto it. The minute she got it in her hands she focused and the field slowed to an infinitesimal crawl. Panting hard for breath she raced over to where Maxum lay struggling on the ground. She touched him and his body collapsed out of time with the freeze. He was gasping. Panting hard, shaking his head and trying to right himself. She touched his face and he jerked.

“Airi?” he asked.

“Yes!” She took off the ring and he could see her.

“Airi, what are you doing over here?” he demanded with a roar. “Get out of here!”

“Maxum, I got the cuff.”

She held it out to him and suddenly he looked up and saw the frozen battlefield. Saw Sabo locked in place like a fly in amber.

Suddenly Maxum reached out and jerked her into his arms, kissing her soundly.

“My good little thief!” he cried in delight. “I can't believe you did this!”

“Are you not mad now?”

“You've just saved my life. You've just given me exactly what I need. How could I ever be mad? Now…give me the cuff. Let's get you off this field. Put your ring back on.”

She did, making sure they kept in contact so she didn't let him become part of the frozen field once more. He hurried her off the field dodging petrified opponents. Then he took the cuff from her and put it on his arm.

“Stay safe. Don't come back out. I'm ending this now,” he said.

With that, he took over the use of the cuff, focusing on keeping everything locked in place as he hurried back to his position before Sabo.

Maxum let his fury come screaming forth, roaring in rage as he lunged for Sabo.

With a battle cry he raised his sword high and sliced it down at Sabo's neck. The god's head went flying from his shoulders.

Maxum and the battle roared into normal time. Sabo's body crumpled to the ground and then suddenly burst into flame and ash. The fire dissipated after a second and Maxum sucked in his breath hard.

And that was when the true pain began.

Maxum screamed at an earsplitting pitch as fire burned through his blood. The talisman around his neck burned up and disappeared, the cuff seared to his arm and then it too seemed to melt away. The ring of strength on his finger did likewise. Maxum curled up into an agonized ball of pain and cried out again.

That was when he felt cool, shaking hands on his face, felt gentle, soothing lips against his.

“Shh,” she soothed him. “It's over. It's over and you are free.”

But he didn't feel free. He felt as though his very soul was being burned out of his body. But the coolness of Airi's touch made it better. He wanted to tell her to flee the field of battle, but she felt too good and he was being far too selfish.

After a while the pain became bearable, the throbbing in his head manageable. It seemed as though it took forever, but eventually the roaring in his ears died down. When he opened his eyes he appeared to be alone, but the feel of Airi's hands in his hair told him otherwise, the gentle humming of her soothing voice gave her away.

“You have won, my love,” she whispered over and over again. “And see there? Weysa's faction has also won. There is Xaxis, kneeling before her in surrender. Kitari switched sides mid battle, and with Sabo gone…they were outnumbered. They had no choice but to surrender. Diathus was the first to realize the futility of the battle and she threw down her weapons first, even as Xaxis screamed at her to pick them up again. Now she is putting Xaxis and the other warring gods in chains and Kitari is standing over them as queen.”

“Xaxis,” he heard Kitari sing out. “You have held me hostage these many full turnings, and I will not forget that. Let this field of battle show you that you will never rule the gods. You will never have dominion over all the aspects of godhood as you had hoped. You see,” she said to Weysa, “his goal was to kill each of you in turn and assume the mantle of your power.”

Weysa nodded. “No one god should ever have that much power. In the time before time our power was separated for the good of all and so it shall remain.”

Weysa then turned toward Maxum. She approached him and he felt Airi tense protectively around him.

“So you have killed the god called Sabo. Well, it has been a long time coming.”

Airi suddenly became visible as she removed the ring of invisibility and Weysa took in a light breath of surprise.

“Are you then ready to accept your role?” Weysa said.

“Role?” Airi echoed.

Meru came up to them. “Yes. I warned you there would be consequences to your actions, Maxum.”

“Is this pain the consequence? Will he feel this forever?” Airi asked in distress.

“No. It will soon pass. It is the pain of becoming a god that he feels. His remaining mortal self is being burned away leaving him to become a god in full stead of the god Sabo.”

“God? I do not wish to be a god!” Maxum protested.

“Someone must take on the mantle of god of pain and suffering, and as it has been decreed long before the gods were what we are now, he who kills a god must take his place,” Weysa said.

“I will never be so cruel a god!” Maxim declared.

“Nor do you have to be,” Meru said gently. “Sabo chose to take his power to a dark place. He chose to inflict pain and suffering on all and sundry. You may choose to take it to a different place. You may choose to relieve the pain and suffering of others, to become a benevolent god.”

Maxum slowly sat up, Airi's hands there to help him. “Have I no choice in the matter?”

“None,” Weysa said definitively.

“But what of Airi?”

Weysa laughed. “We have all had more than our share of mortal lovers! What's more, you now have the power to make a demigod of her. So she may be with you from now into the oblivious future.”

Maxum looked to Airi in question. Tears jumped into her eyes and she nodded. He laughed shortly and drew her into his arms.

“You will begin training at once,” Weysa declared. “Meru, since you were so kind as to bring him here…and since she is your champion…perhaps you would be willing to train him?”

“I would be very happy to,” Meru said. “Anything to be rid of Sabo! I have hated that god for eons! He has hurt many of the women I have sworn to protect over the years and there was little I could do to stop him. Now if only Jikaro…”

“No more meddling, Meru. If all humans get it in their heads that anyone may become a god there will be nothing but trouble.”

“Maxum, the powers of the cuff, the ring of strength, and the talisman of invulnerability are now a part of you. You no longer need to wear them to have the benefit of them and they cannot be removed. As such you are now one of the most powerful gods among us. Sabo, luckily for you, was one of the weakest. Many of us are invulnerable as you are, but he was not. He was more demigod than god. But you…you will take this power to an exalted place. I can feel that,” Meru said.

“Yes. He will. He is a man of great strength and honor. He would never wish to cause anyone pain who did not deserve it,” Airi said confidently.

“And so it shall be,” Weysa said. Then she raised her voice for the field to hear. “Let it be sung in all the Songs of the Gods that this day Sabo was defeated by the man Maxum, who then became god in his stead. Let it be said that Maxum will be a benevolent god, that he will ease that which Sabo wrought.”

Then she turned to Maxum. “We will write down your journey to this state of being and hand it down through the temples. We will let it be told that all statues of Sabo are to be destroyed and that the temples shall raise images of you in their stead.”

“I do not need that,” Maxum said with a frown.

“No, but the people need it. They need to know they can pray to you to relieve their suffering. How else will you know what to do for them? We are best connected to people through our temples. We hear people the loudest when they pray there. You will learn this.”

“But how will I ease all of the suffering in the world? How can I be everywhere at once?”

“Alas, you cannot. Nor can you rid the world of all suffering. Man creates enough suffering, they do not need a god to help them. But Sabo took delight in it all the same,” Weysa said. “You must select your actions wisely. You must appreciate that relieving the suffering of one might cause suffering to another. You must think and weigh very carefully before you act. Again, you will learn this. Meru will teach you. Now, we must tend to our prisoners.”

“Prisoners? How can you imprison a god?” Airi asked.

“You cannot. Not for very long or the world begins to suffer. But we can curb them for a little while at least. Then we will let them free to do as they have always done, but at least now the balance of power will remain in place. Our queen will remain our queen and you will be on the side of the good.”

“I will,” Maxum said with a nod.

“Very well. Until we meet again in the house of the gods,” she said, nodding back to him.

The gods all vanished from the field save Meru and the new god of pain and suffering. And, of course, one little demigod to be.

“You must show me how to make a demigod of Airi,” Maxum said immediately.

“There are criteria to be met to become a demigod that even we gods must adhere to.”

“Such as?” Maxum asked.

“She must be a proven warrior. She must have had grand adventures and done great things. She must have acted in the name of a god.”

“She has done all of that,” Maxum said.

“So she has,” Meru said with a chuckle. “Damn. That means I must find a new wielder for the Dagger of Truths. The dagger can only be wielded by a mortal woman. And it is so rare that I find a worthy female,” Meru tsked.