When Devane felt a pry at his ankles he glared down to the child's grubby hand scratching at his pants.
"If this king doesn't show soon, maybe I'll start taking these children out one by one," Devane threatened while launching the five-year-old into the nearby stream with his magic. "Maybe then he'll show his face and take some accountability." Though his actions had the unintended side effect of garnering the other children who now also wanted to be flung into the water like it was some sort of game.
Jared tried to shoo the kids from Devane before his temper truly burst, but they only left once the leader of the village came out from his tree home. The children flocked as King Levithan strode graciously towards them. Jared hadn't even seen him return through the forest surrounding Dire-Reeve and wondered if he came through a secret passageway under the upside-down tree.
King Levithan smiled at the children huddling around him, who eagerly displayed to him their advances in magic or some other skill like carpentry or sowing. He acknowledged all of their efforts in soft-spoken praises that left each of them beaming. Then he told them to line up for dinner as four of the eldest children brought out today's menu of beef soup, barley bread, and seasoned rice. As always, the food smelled delicious and exemplified how the skills of these children far surpassed that of just about any adult in Jared's experience, and Devane's as well. They first assumed that was all accounted to the king's instructions, but in time they discovered it was the children freely sharing their experiences and knowledge amongst one another that had led to such well-developed talents. Just as impressive as the system the king had set up, was how effortlessly he could command the children as he did now. Jared observed them so orderly and neatly taking their meals, wondering if the monarch used magic to make them so obedient. Of course, there was no magic he himself was capable of producing that could have such an effect, but as a vessel, Jared didn't know what the limits of the king's power were, or if there were any.
Jared waited until the last child had been served before he approached the man-turned-god.
"And what can I get you?" the thousand-year-old king asked, filling a wooden bowl to the brim.
Jared refused the dish. "Answers."
The king smiled listlessly down at the bowl he pressed to Jared's chest. "Eat first, child. You'll need every bit of strength for what's to come."
"We're plenty strong now," Devane asserted. "And impatient. Tell him the information he needs so we can be going."
King Leviathan poured full another bowl of soup, handing it out to Devane, though his attention appeared to shift someplace far off as his eyes clouded over in a daze while looking through his small foggy glasses like he was focusing on something else entirely. "Eat," the monarch commanded, sending Devane's temper to its breaking point as his hands started to steam with magic. "Then it'll be time for us to speak."
YOU ARE READING
Algernon Black || The Rise of a God ||
Romance"Gods aren't born. They rise." Algernon Black is infamous, known throughout his world for a prophecy that would make him a god if he sacrificed the one he loved most. Downcast and disheartened, Algernon never paid the rumors much mind, until the per...
