Gathering of the Chosen (6 page)

“All we do know about it is that only the
gods can turn a mortal into a god somehow,” said Jenur. “The exact
process is unknown.”

Braim then looked at Mother. “Say, Queen
Hana, you're a katabans, right? Would you happen to know—”

“No,” said Mother shortly. “While I did
serve the Mechanical Goddess for many years, that was one secret
she never saw fit to share with me. We katabans are just as in the
dark about the subject of ascension as you humans are, so don't ask
me another question about it.”

Braim raised his hands defensively. “Okay,
okay. No need to bite off my head.”

Raya also pushed away from the balcony to
stand by Mother. She did not, however, express her desire to become
the Goddess of Martir, mostly because she doubted anyone here,
except for her parents, would take that wish seriously.

Instead, she said, “Well, I for one am
quite excited for the Tournament. I think it will be very
interesting, maybe the most interesting thing to have ever happened
on Martir.”

Darek, who was still leaning against the
railing, said, “I just wonder who the participants will be. Alira
said that there are supposed to be one hundred godlings, which
breaks down into twenty for each god. Any idea who might be chosen
to participate?”

“None whatsoever,” said Yorak. She then
patted Auratus on the shoulder, causing her pupil to look up at
her. “But I think that Auratus here would make a good candidate.
She is an excellent student and an even better mage.”

Raya wrinkled her nose at that. Although
she didn't know Auratus very well, she had to admit that she had a
hard time imagining an aquarian, of all things, as the Goddess of
Martir, or as any of the other godly roles that needed to be
filled. True, Skimif had been an aquarian prior to his own
ascension to God of Martir, but that was different and Raya wasn't
so sure that this Auratus had what it took.

But if Auratus is one of the chosen and
we are put in the same bracket, then that means we'll have to
compete,
Raya thought.
I'll have to keep a careful eye on
her in that case.

Auratus looked a little embarrassed at her
mentor's praise, while Jenur said, “I hope that one of my students
is chosen. It would bring even more honor to North Academy than it
already has. And I'd just love to put up a picture of that student
on the Wall of Mastery among all of our other great students of the
past.”

Raya, folding her hands behind her back,
looked at her parents for their opinions. She expected them to say
that she of course would make a great goddess. Not just any old
goddess, no, but the Goddess of Martir herself. It was only what
she deserved, after all, and as her loving parents, they were
obligated to voice their support for her.

But Raya was disappointed when Father
said, “It will indeed be interesting to watch. I hope that one of
Carnag's mages is chosen. What do you say, Hana?”

“I expect Carnag to have some
representation,” said Mother, brushing some strands of hair from
her face. “After all, the Carnagians are a proud and noble race of
humans. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the chosen godlings come
from that island.”

Raya wondered if her parents might have
somehow forgotten about her. So she cleared her throat rather
loudly, but no one seemed to pay her any attention.

Instead, all attention was drawn to Braim
when he said, “So what kind of challenges do you think that the
participants will have to take on?”

“I imagine it will vary from bracket to
bracket,” said Yorak. “For example, I doubt that the replacement
for Hollech will have to go through the same trials as a
replacement for Skimif. It is probably wiser to ponder the specific
trials that the participants of each bracket will face.”

“I bet that the people in the Hollech
category will have to tame horses, because he was the God of
Horses, after all,” said Braim. “And maybe steal things, too,
because Hollech was the God of Thieves, too.”

“That's still not very specific, though,”
said Darek, shaking his head. “Like, what would Hollechian
participants actually steal? Would they have to steal from a king
or from one of the gods, maybe?”

Raya found all of this speculation about
the actual challenges rather boring. She cleared her throat loudly,
but as before, no one, not even her parents, seemed interested in
listening to her.

“That would be a very impressive
challenge,” said Father, tapping his chin in thought. “Steal from a
god and try to get away with it. I can't see how any mortal thief
could possibly succeed in that, but perhaps that is the point, that
if you can successfully steal from a god, then you deserve the
title of God of Thieves.”

“But what would people who are
participating in the Spider Goddess category have to do?” said
Darek, a frown on his face as he scratched the back of his head.
“Try to pet a poisonous spider and hope it doesn't bite them?”

“I don't know,” said Jenur. “But I'm sure
that all will be revealed in time. For now, perhaps we should all
return to our residences, since the meeting is over and all.”

“Good idea, Jenur,” said Father. “But
before we do that, why don't we all have dinner together? I believe
that World's End has many good restaurants that we could patronize,
which will be my treat. Right, Hana?”

“Of course it does,” said Mother. “Or at
least it did, back when I last visited here. I doubt I'll have any
trouble locating a good restaurant for us to eat. In fact, I
believe I saw a great seafood restaurant on the corner when we were
traveling to the Temple.” She then turned to Raya. “Raya, what do
you think? Do you want to get something to eat before we return to
the place we're staying at?”

This wasn't what Raya wanted to talk about
at all, but she could see no way to bring up what she actually
wanted to talk about in a natural way. Still, Raya was determined
to find a way to move the conversation in the direction she wanted
it to go.

So Raya said, “Why, yes, Mother, that
sounds very nice. I have never eaten at a genuine katabans seafood
restaurant before, but I am certain that it will be a splendid
place to discuss how great a Goddess of Martir I would make.”

Raya was pretty sure that she had
succeeded in smoothly and naturally changing the conversation to
the subject she wanted to talk about—at least, she thought so until
Braim snickered, causing her to look at him and say, “What?”

“Oh, nothing, beautiful,” said Braim,
though he still snickered. “It's just that, well, I kind of doubt
that you will be chosen to participate in the Tournament. And even
if you are, I doubt you will become the Goddess of Martir.”

“How do you know that I won't?” Raya
asked. “Can you see into my fate and tell me what lies in the
future?”

“Of course not,” said Braim. “I just think
that it's funny how you think you'd make a great Goddess of
Martir.”

“Of course Raya would,” Mother said,
before Raya could respond. She wrapped an arm around Raya's
shoulders and squeezed her against her body. “Raya is obviously the
best and most qualified mortal to become the Goddess of Martir.
Even if she is half katabans, I doubt that will keep her from
achieving apotheosis.”

“Are you sure that katabans can ascend?”
said Braim. “Because I thought that only humans and aquarians
can.”

“I am
half
human, you know,” said
Raya. “That, I believe, is enough to qualify for me a chance for
the position of the Goddess of Martir. Right, Father?”

Father—who had clearly been trying to stay
out of the conversation—nodded hastily and said, “Uh, yes, Raya, of
course. And even if you aren't chosen, your mother and I will
continue to love you as always.”

“Don't talk about
if
she isn't
chosen, Tojas,” Mother said. “Instead, talk about what we will do
when
she is chosen. On that day, we'll throw an island-wide
party on Carnag to celebrate her success. And maybe on Shika as
well, if we can get them to celebrate with us.”

To Raya, the idea of an island-wide party
seemed awfully small for such a momentous occasion. If she became
the Goddess of Martir, she'd create a massive worldwide party that
everyone, human, aquarian, katabans, and god alike, would
participate in. She had never heard of a worldwide party, of
course, but she decided that that just meant she'd have to be the
first one to do it.

“Uh huh,” said Braim, who didn't sound too
excited about it. “Well, I guess we'll all just have to see which
way the winds of destiny blow, eh?”

“Of course we will,” said Raya. “And as we
all know, the winds of destiny almost always blow in the direction
of royalty.”

“If you say so,” said Braim, although he
didn't sound convinced at all by what she said.

Oh, well,
Raya thought.
It's not
like I need his support. I have the entire island of Carnag behind
me. Who needs the support of a resurrected man, anyway? Especially
one as rude as him.

***

M
ost days, Carmaz Korva was certain
that the gods hated him. Of course, his grandfather had always told
him that it was his own foolishness that got him into all of the
trouble that he did, that he should take more responsibility for
his own actions and should stop blaming the gods for everything
wrong in his life. It was arrogance, his grandfather had said, to
think that the gods would single out a poor young man on the even
poorer island of Ruwa in the Friana Archipelago just to torment
him.

Carmaz was no mage, so he supposed that
grandfather was probably right about that. Still, that didn't
explain why Carmaz now found himself captured by a tribe of
humanoid crustaceans, inside a wooden bamboo cell, with his right
arm broken and the side of his head bleeding. It didn't help that
the sun in the sky was burning hot, as it always was on the island
of Riuja, making him feel even more miserable than he usually
was.

But it wasn't like there was literally
no
explanation for how Carmaz got here. Earlier in the day,
one of his friends, Saia, had been swimming in the waters on the
northern beaches of Ruwa, when he was suddenly kidnapped by the
crustaceans—a tribe of humanoid crab-like aquarians known for their
tastes in human flesh—who dragged him to Riuja in the north. Carmaz
had then taken his grandfather's old raft and rowed all the way out
to that tiny island, despite knowing the bloody and violent
reputation of the crustaceans who lived here. Due to his poverty,
Carmaz had few physical possessions to his name, and so he relied
on his friends such as Saia for support and help more often than
not.

Unfortunately, when Carmaz arrived on
Riuja, his grandfather's old raft—which had been such a reliable
and sturdy sea craft for decades—had sprung a leak he couldn't fix,
thus stranding Carmaz on the island. Carmaz was sure that the gods
must have done that to him, because grandfather's raft had never
sprung a leak before, especially not under dangerous situations
like this.

Even so, Carmaz decided to save his friend
anyway, despite the lack of a ready means of escape. Of course, no
sooner had Carmaz taken a few steps onto the beach was he ambushed
and captured by the crustaceans (how was he supposed to know that a
handful of them would bury themselves in the sand and pop out to
attack anyone who stepped on them?).

The crustaceans had then transported
Carmaz to what was most likely the only settlement on the tiny
island of Riuja. It might have at one point been a human village,
as the rundown huts looked like the ones back on Ruwa, but Carmaz
saw no sign of any non-crustaceans around, aside from clean human
bones scattered everywhere. He didn't even see Saia, though he
assumed that the crustaceans were probably hiding him in one of the
huts somewhere.

As Carmaz sat there, he watched the
crustaceans below start a fire with which to cook him and Saia
upon. There were forty or fifty crustaceans in all. Not a large
number by any means, but they were such a vicious tribe that even
the armies of major nations like Carnag and Shika avoided them when
possible. None of the crustaceans wore any clothing and he wasn't
sure that they could even speak. All they ever seemed to do was
growl and snarl at each other and at anyone else they didn't like.
The most notable thing about them was the painted-on markings on
their exoskeletons, which resembled stylized flames, but Carmaz had
no idea what those meant or if they meant anything at all.

Nor was he much interested in finding out.
Carmaz had heard horror stories about these crustaceans and how
they ate pretty much anyone or anything that washed up on their
shores. No doubt they were planning to eat him and Saia, though the
crustaceans must have been smarter than he thought if they were
first preparing a fire for the two of them.

I need to get out of here somehow,
Carmaz thought.
And save Saia as well.

Carmaz shook the bars of his cage. They
were quite firm, although he wondered how these crustaceans had
managed to construct something like this, considering how none of
them had fingers with which to construct even the simplest of
objects. The cage looked quite old, so perhaps it had been created
by the original inhabitants of the island before the crustaceans
came and killed everyone off.

In any case, Carmaz was used to getting
out of these sorts of situations on his own. Once, as a teenager,
he had been kidnapped by a group of pirates whose captain had a
taste for boy flesh, and he had escaped using his wits and the
captain's own lust against him. In another situation, Carmaz had
been chased up a tree in the Swamp of Light by a large toothed
lizard, which he had only escaped after pouring salt on the
creature, which had burned its skin and forced it to retreat, which
allowed him to safely return to his home village of Conewood.