“Thank you for finding me a proper successor,” a whisper that was somehow everywhere and nowhere at the same time told Omprek. “I have spent far too long waiting for the cycle to turn, holding on with what little I had left. It is a relief to finally let go. I would wait longer if I could, for he seems young, but the bargain I made so long ago does not permit it. My cycle must end for the next to begin.”
Omprek couldn’t believe his ears. No one had heard from Echa since he entered his Last Sleep well over a century earlier, yet this had to be him. They were only supposed to wake him for two things: when a new god rose among the dryads, someone he could bless as a new member of the Holy, or there was a threat to Berinath that was so great they called on him to deal with it despite the cost.
New gods had risen, twice, yet Echa never woke for them, no matter what they tried. Without the blessing of the Holy, neither god became prominent; one died soon afterwards in a bid to gain more power while the other left Berinath, dejected at the rejection. There were no gods on Berinath, not now. Few chose to worship after the destruction of the Holy and most of those who did sent their devotion to the now-departed gods or to Echa. There was no room for a new god that wasn’t Holy.
There was a reason Omprek called Echa gone; he was. They hadn’t called on him for a threat to Berinath, but none of the Elders truly believed he had the power left to answer or help if they did. If he could have, surely he’d have answered the new gods that embodied Growth and Prosperity, wouldn’t he?
Yet the hand of a Death Mage, the most hated of Paths short of that of Necromancy or Undead Puppetry, woke him. Why could that be? Why would he answer an outsider rather than one of His own people?
The Lord of Cycles, Last of the Holy, has Fallen.
Tzintkra and Berinath welcome the Worlds’ Friend and grant him the Authority of the Holy. Life and Death have met hands in peace and the next Cycle begins anew.
With the Blessing of Cycles, a new Holy One rises. The Lord of Cycles gives way to the Lord of Dungeons.
Those words were the answer, weren’t they?
Omprek stared at the notice. He’d forgotten that Echa wasn’t simply the Lord that saved them but the Lord of Cycles. A cycle was not simply one thing; it had to turn around. It could be a spiral; many were. It could be a process. The one thing it wasn’t was a single thing.
How were Dungeons a Cycle?
Omprek didn’t have the answer to that but he suspected the Death Mage knew.
The Lord of Cycles, Last of the Holy, Lord of Berinath, has Fallen.
The Cycle has turned at the Will of the Lord of Cycles.
Berinath greets the Foremost Elder as the new Lord of Berinath.
Omprek’s mouth fell open in shock. He’d known Echa was formally the Lord of Berinath, but he’d always assumed that was a mere formality. For that matter, he’d been told that it was a mere formality when the previous Foremost Elder passed the duty on to him.
Omprek was fairly certain the second announcement had gone to everyone who lived on Berinath. The Voice didn’t announce mere formalities.
He wasn’t the Foremost Elder and Manager of Berinath anymore; he was Berinath’s Lord. He had no idea what that changed. He wouldn’t know until he made it to a City Node. Maybe the previous Foremost Elder was right, maybe it changed nothing other than his title.
Or maybe he’d be able to change something important.
“Kill him! Strike down the blasphemer!” Elder Inchabe’s yell pulled Omprek out of his thoughts.
Omprek blinked but wasn’t able to do anything as a spear flashed from the High Spear’s hand towards the light that still limned Serenity’s figure. He reached a hand forward as if that would stop the High Spear’s action, but that was all he had time for.
He was still watching when the spear dissolved as it hit the light.
What? What was happening?
The next few minutes passed in a blur that Omprek didn’t completely understand. He knew that several more of the Spears attacked. None of their weapons survived. He knew that Elder Inchabe threw both spells and animated figures made of twisted vines and wood at the newborn Holy god. The spells dissipated as they hit the light and the animated figurines dissolved into specks just like the Spears’ thrown weapons.
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He saw World Shaman Senkovar Et’Tart start to move between Elder Inchabe and Serenity, then stop with a huge grin on his face.
He heard Serenity shout something that sounded like “Surrender or Die!”
Omprek didn’t move. He still didn’t understand what was happening. Was Elder Inchabe really attacking Serenity? That wasn’t possible; there wasn’t supposed to be any fighting!
It definitely seemed to be happening.
“Stop this madness!” Omprek called out. He wasn’t sure who he was talking to. Was it Elder Inchabe? The Spears? Maybe Elder Lizven and Ibken?
Where were Elders Lizven and Ibken, anyway?
Omprek glanced around the chamber, worried, until he found them.
It looked like two Spears had moved Elder Ibken back, towards the revivification circle, and were staying between him and danger. They didn’t seem to have a clear idea what was going on either. That made some sense; they were the Spears specifically assigned to the Challenger, weren’t they?
The Advocate’s Spears were hurrying her out of the room. Omprek barely saw them before they vanished. That was probably where he should go as well, but it didn’t seem right. Not when Elder Inchabe launched an unprovoked assault on a man they’d all agreed didn’t seem to be a threat.
She couldn’t have thought he killed Echa, could she? That would make her claim of blasphemy make sense, but both Echa’s words and the Voice’s declaration made it clear Echa approved of the Death Mage. You didn’t approve of someone who killed you unless you wanted to die.
No. No, wait. He was a Death Mage and the Voice had just declared him Holy.
No wonder Elder Inchabe called him a blasphemer. She wasn’t old enough to remember the old gods. She only knew Echa as the Guardian. If he’d forgotten Echa’s primary place was as the Lord of Cycles, why should she remember the details of gods who died before she was born? Yes, the tale of Sharii was an important part of the Tale of the War, but Elder Inchabe didn’t remember Sharii.
Omprek was the last dryad left on Berinath that remembered the gods before the War. Oh, there were others who remembered Tzintkra, even some born before the War, but few remember things that change before their fifth birthday. A few remembered the War, but even that memory was nearly gone. There were many reasons worship of Echa had faded.
Elder Inchabe should know that Death was not blasphemy to the Holy, but Omprek suspected she didn’t.
He watched in horror, unsure how to stop the events unfolding in front of him, as the High Spear pulled a long knife off his belt and threw himself at the glowing figure. The knife disintegrated as it hit the glow, but the High Spear did not. He continued forward, but it was simply momentum. His hand hit Serenity’s side with no more force than a simple pat as he fell to the floor.
Omprek hoped he was unconscious but suspected he was dead. It meant Serenity was far more dangerous than a Tier Eight Death Mage should be, but he was Holy. The Holy were not weak.
“Surrender or die,” Serenity repeated. He sounded tired.
To Omprek, it was clear that he was tired of killing rather than running out of energy, but Elder Inchabe and the Spears who followed her command seemed to take it differently and redoubled their attacks.
“Why do people always choose death?”
Elder Omprek didn’t think anyone was supposed to hear Serenity’s mutter, but his voice seemed amplified by Echa’s blessing. He glanced around the chamber, unsure what to do, until his eyes fell on a group of Spears he’d overlooked earlier. They weren’t attacking and they weren’t running. It looked like they were just as uncertain what to do as he was. He shouted at them. “Stop them! Stop Elder Inchabe and her Spears!”
He didn’t understand why so many of them had immediately followed the Elder. She wasn’t supposed to be commanding Spears. She was, however, ambitious. That was why she was the second Watcher for this event, after all; Omprek was already fairly certain where the evidence would lead and he wanted to evaluate her and see how she acted when she was supposed to decide based purely on what she saw in a difficult case.
Senkovar Et’Tart wouldn’t bring someone to Berinath if he thought there was any chance the other person would harm the moon, relative or not. Omprek had known him for centuries. The Worldshaper loved the Worlds he worked with. He was often less fond of the people, but Omprek didn’t care; he didn’t always like everyone either.
No, the only reason they’d find a problem with Serenity was if they found something Senkovar didn’t check or thought wouldn’t matter. There was very little chance of that, so the outcome was nearly predetermined. That made it the perfect place to test some of the older Elders to see if any of them were ready to train as a new Foremost. Omprek would love to pass the duties to another and concentrate on the tasks he loved instead.
Lizven hated her position; that was why he’d given it to her. She had reason to hate necromancers and reason to want to recover the undead. She’d lost her husband to a necromancer less than a decade earlier. They were unable to recover his body, which left her shattered for years. It was probably cruel to make her defend a Death Mage, but it was necessary. If she couldn’t move past her husband’s death, she would stay an Elder. Respected and honored as a teacher and wise person but not a decision maker.
Ibken was a professional; he’d do his job regardless of his feelings. Omprek suspected he was less upset by Serenity than Lizven was. In fact, Omprek suspected he was pleased at the way Serenity had refused to be baited; the man liked smart opponents far better than dumb ones and was happy to be beaten as long as he did his best. It made him a wonderful Challenger.
Ibken was also Omprek’s current top choice for a successor. He wasn’t old enough yet, and he needed to spend more time in other domes, but Omprek had already started pushing him towards tasks that would give him the experience he needed.
Omprek’s current declared successor wasn’t nearby. That was deliberate; if this was a trap, Omprek didn’t want Oniija anywhere near it. She’d have to pick up the pieces, however little she wanted to.
All of which brought him back to Inchabe. Omprek could think of no good reason so many Spears had followed her commands without thinking about it. That led him to think she might have a bad reason.
He needed to warn Oniija about possible betrayal. It wouldn’t be the first time.
He hoped the small number of Spears that hadn’t followed her orders would be able to stop the others without any more death. He was suddenly not concerned about Elder Inchabe, but losing the Spears would be a waste.