One (The Godslayer Cycle Book 1) (36 page)

All of this Kelvor reflected upon as his fellow God presented his initial claim.  Despite the vagueness of the charge, Kelvor had absolute confidence in both his capacity to seek justice and in the sincerity of the charge.  If he had a moment's doubt in either, he would not have pursued the issue further.  Instead, he remained attentive to the issue as both his duties and talents directed him.

“
You will need to be more specific, of course,” commented Kelvor.  “Generalities will not permit me to dispense justice.”

“
Of course,” agreed Galentine.  The God of Honor wore a simple white robe to this meeting, symbolizing the purity of his devotion and conviction, Kelvor assumed.  The God of Justice was well aware that this was a submissive hearing, and that Galentine sought through subtle manipulations to gain Kelvor's favor towards his claim.  Despite their centuries of association, still the other Gods sought to win his favor through such menial gestures, and each time they failed.  Yet Kelvor accepted this as part of his duty, to see in the effort to manipulate whether there was attempt to distract him ( a sure sign of deception) or simple flattery (misplaced belief, since Kelvor knew himself beyond such petty influence in the pursuit of his duties).

“
I only needed to be assured that you would act upon this affront,” mewed the other God.

Kelvor raised an eyebrow.  “You are not being completely truthful in that,” he said.  “You, of all Gods, know that I could never leave an injustice unattended.  Speak more clearly then and tell me what it is that disturbs you so?”

Galentine inclined his head.  “As always, you strike to the heart of the matter,” he replied.  “It is the means by which our fellow has acted.  It is unheard of.  If he or she persists in this, I am troubled that it could devastate the ranks of the faithful.  Not just my own, but all other Gods...”

Kelvor held up a hand.  “Your words are heavily tempered.  You speak of dread without revealing why there should be any.  Surely whatever means our fellow God has employed could be duplicated and used against him.  Or her.  In the end, a balance of power will again be reached, whomever ends up taking advantage of their temporary tactic.  At best, a temporary advantage would be gained, and in the realm of immortals, temporary issues do not deserve such obsession.”

“I would not be so certain,” rebuffed the God of Honor.  “I have never before seen even a remote ability such as this employed.  Not by our brethren, nor by those who came before us.”

“
Then explain what it is you speak of, so that I might better judge your words.”

Galentine heaved a great sigh.  “As you know, I maintain several shrines and temples within what the mortals call the Wildelands.  I even have a monastery there to provide support to any of the lesser conclaves.  As the name suggests, the Wildelands are ripe with creatures and peoples that have little honor and it has been my task to bring civility to these lands.”

At Kelvor's nod, Galentine continued.  “This very morning, the monastery had a visitor who came through the gates with reckless abandon, mad with need to be heard.  He kept bellowing of doom and destruction upon the faithful if his words were not heeded.  The man was fevered, a wound in his shoulder spreading its infection to his mind.  It took the men of the monastery some time to wrestle the man from his horse and to calm him enough to permit his wound and fever to be healed.

“
Once the man had recovered enough, he identified himself as Halor, priest magistrate of Scollhaven.”  At the name, Kelvor noticeably tensed, but made no move to interrupt Galentine's oration.  “This stunned everyone present, since not a one of them had sensed any inkling of divine power from the man, as any priest of higher status would have radiated.  And there was a reason, Kelvor.  The reason not a one of my faithful could sense the divine within this priest is that every iota of energy that I had given unto him had been drained, and the link to the divine severed!  Worse, the severance is so severe that no amount of ritual could reestablish my connection to him.  The man will never again be able to wield the divine magic of the priesthood!”

Kelvor was shaken.  “That is not possible, Galentine,” he said.  “No mortal can be severed from the divine unless they wish it themselves.  It is part of the covenant...”

“And yet it was done!  I have confirmed it myself!  I went myself to scry upon the man who had been my devout representative, and I could not sense him other than what my eyes could see.  His faith did not flow to me, even when his prayers were so fervent that his palms bled from where his nails dug in.  It as if the man had no soul, Kelvor.  The link that has always been there in every other mortal man, woman and child was simply... no longer there!”

Kelvor sat in silence, letting the words sink in.  The power to strip a mortal not only of his link to the divine, but to also sever the divine's link to the mortal – it was effectively the power to deny a God worship!  Such a though was...  blasphemous, at the very least.  And Galentine believed it had been committed by one of their own...

Of course, Kelvor knew of Scollhaven, at least cursorily, and knew that Imery had believed the disturbance in that town to be linked to the Old Gods of the Pantheon in some way.  Could she be mistaken though?  Could Galentine have uncovered evidence that it was one of their own behind the loss of faith in Scollhaven?

“
Did your priest say how this was done to him?” asked the God of Justice.

Galentine nodded.  “And a diabolic tale it was!  It seems a God has taken up residence in Scollhaven.”

“A God?” scoffed Kelvor in disbelief.  “Living amongst mortals?”

“
It gets better,” Galentine continued.  “The God calls himself 'Avery', uses
our
symbol of heresy as his holy symbol, and
claims
to be the heir of the Old Gods.  He actually says he is descended from Malik and Charith!”

“
That is not possible,” responded Kelvor.

“
I know.  Had either Malik or Charith – or
any
of the Pantheon for that matter – begetted a new God amongst themselves, we would have sensed the birth.  A new God is a powerful thing.  Besides, the Pantheon has had long-standing objection to breeding with their own for fear of their offspring rising against them as they did against their own sires.”

“
So the God is not new,” concluded Kelvor.

“
Precisely,” agreed his fellow God.  “Which means he is an existing God or Goddess in disguise, pretending to be a new God to spread dissent amongst the faithful.  Already, Scollhaven's populace had all but cast off its faith in the New Order completely!”

“
So why do you believe this 'Avery' to be one of our brethren?  Could it be a member of the Pantheon, or even perhaps a demiGod?”

“
I will confess that both possibilities had crossed my mind,” admitted Galentine.  “But the heresy symbol eliminates the possibility that it is one of the Pantheon.  They could not use one of our symbols, anymore than we could use one of theirs.  As for a demiGod, what halfbreed could hope to possess enough strength to cut off a God's power?  And before you suggest it, the only other possibility would be an Elder Power, but what purpose would they possibly have for pretending to be a lesser being?

“
No, my brother,” concluded Galentine.  “There is no escaping that the only possible culprit is one of our own brethren.  One of the New Order has learned how to sever us from our faithful, a grave injustice to the remaining Gods, and he or she must be stopped before more of the devoted are lost to us forever!”

Kelvor steepled his fingers to his mouth.  “I cannot say that I am completely convinced that it is one of our own, nor that the Pantheon is completely free of blame in this.  It will require some investigation to learn what has truly transpired in Scollhaven.

“In the interim, take my advice and stay clear of the town yourself.  We do not wish to panic the culprit before they can be identified.  Further, speak to no one else of what you have told me.  The less that know, the greater my chances of success.”

Galentine inclined his head again.  “I will follow your advice.  I am greatly distressed at this and would not impede your efforts.  Nor would I willingly forewarn whomever has done this foul deed that we have learned of their... deviancy.”  With that, the God of Honor vanished.

Kelvor sat unmoving upon his throne for several minutes.  The implications Galentine had brought before him were staggering.  He recalled Imery's thought that Scollhaven was in some unknown way linked to the man Goodsmith, who seemed to be in possession of Pantheon power.  And now this Avery claimed to be a child of the Old Gods, as well.  Imery was right in at least one respect: there must be a common link between the two.

Tentatively, Kelvor reached out in Scollhaven's vicinity, searching for the presence of whichever God had set up residency there.  Yet, as with Goodsmith, the God could sense nothing of this Avery.  There was one of the Lesser Gods in the vicinity, but Kelvor could clearly sense no amount of significant power within him.  Certainly nothing that would suggest the power level necessary for such as this.  Chances were his attentions had been drawn there the same as Imery's had been originally. Still, if Ankor was in the vicinity, perhaps he had gleaned something that would further the investigation.  Assuming, of course, that the Prankster could be encouraged to cooperate in the first place...

Ankor was the God of Mischief.  However, amongst his fellow Gods, he was known as the Prankster due to his love of tricks and badly-timed jests.  He was one of the twenty-four Lesser Gods of the New Order, which placed him at about a tenth of the power of the twenty-four Greater Gods.  Yet despite his menial power, he was ever prone to exercise his station against members of the greater order.  Were it not for the sheer magnitude of power required to sever one of the Greater God's faithful by force, the entire affair would actually reek of Ankor's hand for mischief.  But the Lesser God simply did not have the power necessary to do this.  In fact, Kelvor was not certain if even a member of the Greater Gods had the power to do so.  Perhaps there were more than one responsible party?

Kelvor could not help but shudder.  Not one anomaly, but two.  How many others might exist, there was no way to know.  And the God of Mischief somewhere at the scene of the crime, likely watching the whole thing unfold with a smirk on his face. 

It had been ever so briefly considered between Imery and himself – and even suggested by Galentine in dismissal – that this might be the work of something
more
than a God.  There were greater beings in the cosmos that even Gods feared – what the Gods referred to as Elder Powers – whose powers made the Gods seem as mortals by comparison.  Yet, as Galentine suggested, why would beings of such magnitude bother undermining the Gods?  If they were loose upon the world, why not confront the Gods directly?

Or perhaps this was all bait to lure the Gods in some way?  Force them to react to these scattered threats and leave themselves vulnerable at the same time?  But again, why bother with such tedious efforts rather than declare themselves openly?  None of it made any sense.

With a heavy mind, Kelvor willed the creation of two new forms.  One he sent to confront the errant fool of a God who would likely avoid any question put to him, and the other to Imery to summon her to a meeting.  He needed to discuss these new developments with her before he decided upon a course of action, as was his duty under their pact.  He had given his word not to act in this matter without her, and he had no intention of defying his own integrity.

It took only a moment for Imery to appear.  “You summoned me?”

Kelvor nodded.  “I have news concerning Scollhaven.”

“
And I have news of another sort.  Since you have summoned me, you may speak first.”

Kelvor rankled over the assumption of control exerted by the Goddess.  This was his domain, yet the Goddess of Truth was seeking to dominate the audience.  Still, it did not serve him to challenge her arrogance, and so simply bowed his head in acquiescence.  “It seems some entity calling itself simply 'Avery', son of Malik and Charith, has taken up residence in Scollhaven. 
He
is the source of our dwindled faith therein.  He is actively soliciting worship, using our sign of heresy as his own.”

“
How is that possible?” asked the Goddess, truly intrigued.

“
Obviously, it is not.  There is no divine child of these Pantheon Gods, nor any others.  This God is an imposter.  But his use of our own symbol negates the possibility that he is one of the Pantheon in disguise.”

Imery considered that.  “A demiGod then?”

Kelvor shook his head.  “No.  There is more you must hear.  Prepare yourself, for this is truly unsettling.”

“
Go on,” Imery ventured cautiously.

“
This imposter has the ability to...  sever the ties between mortal and divine.”

Imery scrunched her brow.  “I do not understand.”

“It is something unheard of before, yet it is true nonetheless.  I received a visit from Galentine requesting my service.  He is convinced that this Avery is one of our
own
in disguise, and using this disguise to somehow sever the link between God and man.”