Gathering of the Chosen (27 page)

“They can't and won't find you,” said
Diog. “As a god, I have placed my protection upon you, which makes
you impossible for the other gods to locate you with their powers.
They cannot kill you, either, although I, of course, still
can.”

Braim, without waiting for Diog to speak
further, fired a blast of light at the god. Diog deflected the
blast with his outstretched hand, however, causing it to fly into
one of the walls and leaving a black smoking mess where it hit.

“We gods cannot be harmed by magic, seeing
as we generate magical energy all the time,” said Diog. “Now cease
your resistance. Accept the fate that all beings are born under.
Obey the natural laws, which govern our world and ensure that chaos
does not destroy it.”

Diog curled the fingers of his
outstretched hand into a fist.

That was when Braim felt a terrible,
extreme pain in his heart. It was like having a thousand heart
attacks at once. It was so painful that he could barely think. He
dropped his wand and fell to his hands and knees on the stone
floor, his lungs burning, making even the simple act of breathing
into a terrible action that required great effort on his part.

But even through the intense pain
overcoming him, Braim understood why he felt this pain:

He was dying.

***

R
aya would never admit it, but the
reason she didn't like horses and knew so very little about them
was because she was terrified of horses. She was terrified of how
big and strong they were, how they could kill someone even with a
light clip of their hooves. She hated the smell of horses and
didn't want anything to do with them.

She wasn't exactly sure from where where
this fear of horses came. As far back as Raya could remember, she'd
always been afraid of the equines, even though most of the horses
on Carnag that she had ever interacted with were generally pretty
well-behaved. Even just riding in a horse-drawn carriage was a
nerve-wracking experience for her. And the idea of actually
riding
a horse? For fun? To her, that was like jumping off
mile-high cliffs into pointed rocks sticking out of the raging
ocean for fun.

And the large Steed that stood before
her—with its fiery red mane and its striking dark eyes—was the most
terrifying horse that she had ever seen in her life. It towered
over her easily, with bulking muscles all over its body. The Steed,
which a plaque on the back side of the door had told her was called
Abacos, barely seemed to acknowledge her existence. Even so, Raya
preferred that, because if Abacos decided to actually pay attention
to her, she had a feeling that it would run her down and squash her
into oblivion with its large, shiny hooves.

How am I supposed to tame that
thing?
Raya thought, doing her best not to tremble or make any
unnecessary noises.
How is
anyone
supposed to tame it? I
only go up to its shoulder, if even that. And I know almost nothing
about actual horses, much less horses that have existed longer than
I have even been alive.

Of course, Raya couldn't just leave, even
though she wanted to turn and run away. She needed to gather enough
courage to approach the massive Steed and then tame it. That seemed
like a simple task on paper, but in reality, she had no idea at all
how to do it.

How do you approach a Steed that has
probably seen—and killed—countless number of humans like me?
Raya thought.
Do horses even acknowledge royalty? Or do they
treat us the same as other humans?

Raya decided that she would just start by
introducing herself. Perhaps Abacos wasn't as rude or mean as he
seemed. He might have even been an even-tempered horse, a gentle
one. Raya had heard of those, even though she never really believed
that any horse could actually be gentle. She told herself that
Abacos was probably not going to kill her, because she was a
godling participating in the Tournament of the Gods and so Abacos
was probably not allowed to kill her.

Besides, Raya, if you stand here afraid
like this, you might end up losing to Zaos,
Raya thought.
Do
you
really
want to lose to Zaos? Of course not. You want to
win, because it is what you, the Princess of Carnag,
deserve.

That thought gave her enough courage to
walk forward toward Abacos, who still didn't seem to have noticed
her (or pay any attention to her if he had). She walked with as
much authority as she could, remembering all of the lessons that
she had received from her parents about the ways in which royalty
were expected to carry themselves. One thing Raya did know about
animals was that you had to act like you were the one in charge if
you wanted them to listen to you. That meant she could show no fear
in the face of even a creature as mighty and old as Abacos.

Not certain how to address Abacos exactly,
Raya stopped a few feet from him and said, “Steed, I desire that
you pay attention to me, for I am Princess Raya Mana, daughter of
King Tojas Malock and Queen Hana Malock of the House of Carnag. I
am here to tame you in order to win the Tournament of the Gods and
claim my rightful place as the Goddess of Deception, Thieves, and
Horses.”

Abacos actually looked at her briefly, but
then turned his attention back to the grass underfoot, which he was
now eating with obvious enjoyment. Now Raya knew little about
equine facial expressions, but the way Abacos had looked at her
seemed to say,
And? Why should I care?

Raya almost lost her temper and was about
ready to shout at the Steed before she caught herself.
No, Raya,
shouting won't do anything. That will just convince Abacos that you
aren't worthy of listening to. It might even cost you the
Tournament. You need to approach this more calmly.

So Raya, taking a deep breath to compose
herself, said, “Great Abacos, what must I do to show you that I am
destined to be your goddess? Is there anything I can do to prove
that?”

Abacos looked up at her again, chewing the
grass in its mouth and snorting. Its look said, quite plainly,
How am I supposed to know?
before returning to the grass at
its hooves.

That was almost enough to make Raya lose
her temper. She wanted to scream,
You stupid horse! You're
supposed to be an ageless, wise entity, not a stupid animal! If
you're this stupid, how in the name of Grinf have you avoided
breaking your legs? You are the dumbest animal I've ever
met.

But again, Raya caught herself just as the
first word leaped to her tongue. She had to take it easy. Maybe
this was part of the test. Abacos was probably acting stupid in
order to test her patience. If she lost her temper now, then she
might never be able to tame Abacos.

So Raya, speaking as calmly as she could,
said, “Great Abacos, if you let me tame you, then I promise to give
you a lifetime of … er … uh … whatever it is that horses like to
eat.”

Abacos didn't even look up at her this
time. It was almost like it was saying,
Stop bothering me. I'm
busy having lunch at the moment
, which angered Raya even more.
She was tempted to just kick the damn horse in the head, but she
had a feeling that Abacos wouldn't appreciate that, so she once
again beat down her anger and tried to think of some other way to
tame him.

Not easy,
Raya thought.
I don't
know very much about horses at all. I don't have any treats to feed
it. I am not even sure how to touch it without causing it to kick
me.

Raya tried to remember what she had
learned about horses. She had never actually had any formal
equestrian lessons—that just wasn't part of her royal education,
seeing as horse-riding was not a very popular past-time on
Carnag—but she tried to remember how the stable boys took care of
the Royal Family's carriage horses. Unfortunately, she kept drawing
a blank, because she never paid much attention to how the stable
boys took care of the horses. That was probably because the stable
boys weren't all that great to look at.

Have to stop drawing a blank here,
Raya thought.
Gotta remember something, anything. If I can't
…

Raya didn't even want to think about the
consequences of her inability to tame Abacos. She did not want to
return to Carnag in shame, having lost in the very first challenge
of the Tournament. That was unacceptable. She knew that her
parents—and the rest of Carnag, most likely—would still love her,
but she still didn't think that losing was acceptable.

Think, Raya, think,
Raya thought.
What did Yoji say about the Steeds? Did he possibly tell you
anything that could possibly help you tame Abacos?

The only thing she remembered was Yoji
telling her about how Abacos kicked the head off of a human who
once disrespected him. That hardly made her feel safer, much less
gave her any ideas for how to tame Abacos. It just made her even
more afraid of Abacos, even though the Steed was currently not
behaving very threateningly toward her.

Raya looked around the area she had
stepped in, hoping that her environment might give her some ideas.
It was an enclosed area, shaped like a wedge. The back, where Raya
had come from, was wide, while the corner that Abacos stood in was
narrow and pointed. She imagined that the areas that the other
challengers were in must have looked similar.

But unfortunately, aside from the grass on
the ground that Abacos was happily munching on, Raya didn't see
anything that she could use to tame the Steed with. She was so
frustrated that she stomped her foot on the ground, but Abacos
didn't even look up at her when she did that.

Stupid horse doesn't even acknowledge
my existence anymore,
Raya thought.
Why didn't Alira give us
some tools or knowledge that could have helped me win? I bet she
thought we all knew everything there is to know about horses before
we entered the Tournament. Probably thinks that 'destiny' will
decide who will win and who will lose.

Not that any of those negative thoughts
actually helped her in this situation. All they did was make her
feel a lot worse about herself and her situation, but mostly it
made her feel negative toward Alira. She looked up at the ceiling,
wondering if Alira was watching her right now.

Bet she is,
Raya thought with a
scowl.
Probably even mocking me. Or laughing at my pathetic
attempts to tame Abacos. Well, I'm just going to shut her up by
taming Abacos myself.

So Raya, steeling herself, carefully
approached the Steed. Abacos still didn't look up at her as she
approached, but she had a feeling that this horse was completely
aware of its surroundings at all times. She tried not to feel
freaked out about that, because she didn't want to make it think
that she was more afraid than she actually was.

Step by step, Raya approached Abacos until
she was within reach of its fiery mane. And again, the Steed did
not look up at her. Part of Raya was offended, because she
considered herself too important to simply ignore, but another part
of her was thankful, because she didn't like it when horses looked
at her, even if they were tamed and well-behaved.

Just go and stroke his mane, Raya,
Raya told herself.
I doubt he'll mind. He already considers you
a non-entity, more or less. If you stroke his mane and tell him
what a handsome stallion he is—assuming Abacos is male, though not
sure, since I don't know how to identify a horse's gender, but I
suppose it doesn't matter—then that will probably count as taming
him and you will then go onto the main challenge.

That, of course, was easier said than
done, but that was why Raya was preparing herself mentally for this
task. She reached out with her right hand, slowly and carefully,
trying not to look threatening. Not that she thought she appeared
that way, but horses could be unpredictable and there was no
telling how this one would react if it felt threatened by her
presence.

The tips of her fingers brushed against
Abacos's mane. As soon as they did, Abacos let out a great big
snort that caused Raya to jerk her hand back. She also walked—more
like stumbled—backwards as fast as she could, going so fast that
she tripped over own her feet and fell on her behind. The fall
wasn't painful, but it was embarrassing, especially with Abacos
looking at her with his puzzled eyes.

But Raya forgot all about her fear of
horses now, because her fear was replaced by the anger she felt at
being embarrassed the way she was. She stood back up and, pointing
at Abacos, said, “You stupid horse! Here I was just trying to
stroke your mane, but then you went and spooked me! Do you feel
good about yourself, spooking a delicate princess like me? Do you
get some sick pleasure from doing that? Do you?”

Surprisingly, Abacos actually seemed to be
paying attention to her ranting. This took her by surprise, making
her temporarily stop speaking. As soon as she did, Abacos
immediately returned his attention to the grass, which he
apparently found far more interesting than she.

Why did Abacos pay attention to me when
I was shouting at it?
Raya thought.
I thought most animals
hate being yelled at. Was it something in my voice?

Unfortunately, Abacos did not seem to be
in any hurry to tell her about what it was that she said that had
caught his attention. That annoyed her again.

“You dumb horse,” Raya said again, this
time channeling her anger more consciously. “Ignoring me … how
rude! I have never met a more inconsiderate horse in my life. And
yet you are supposed to be the First Steed, which I take it to mean
that you are the first ever horse. I see that wisdom didn't exactly
come along with your age, now did it?”