Prophecy: Tome of Magic

14. An Eye for an Eye

Byrenion entered into the lair silently, knowing that his station would grant him complete anonymity from the other god. Sure enough, it was clear that Andreegys was unaware of his presence, and he continued to pace back and forth across the ground, laughing and babbling on as if he were speaking to himself. But Byrenion knew better, and he could see what mortal eyes could not-what Andreegys was also seeing-and he knew that he was not talking to the wall, but rather something far more insidious, and something far more dangerous.

"You think I fear you? No, have I not lived millennia on this earth while avoiding your malice? You could not control me then and you cannot control me now-not when I'm so close. The very fact that you show your face to me in this instant, after so many years, only convinces me that it is you who is afraid. My plague is holy, better than anything you've ever conceived of, and I will not abandon my crusade until every last mortal is either wiped clean from this earth, or kneeling before me." Andreegys stopped, as if he were being spoken to, and after listening for a long minute he laughed.

"Really? More threats? You will have to do better than that, brother, you've not yet been able to eradicate me." The silver eyed immortal paused again, then continued. "This is mine-it should all be mine! If you are as mighty and powerful as you say you are, come forth and cleanse me from your sight then. No, for you are unable to, because even in my weakened state you are no match for me, and I am again left to wonder how a fool such as yourself was able to bring the order of the old gods to a close. You were always the runt." Another gap of silence. "Fine, go now, I haven't time to waste on you either."

"Prudence, my love, you should not cause unnecessary strife with our brother." Byrenion made himself known once the two of them were alone. "Have I taught you nothing? He may appear weak, but there is good reason that he was the one who prevailed so long ago, and the rest of us faded away."

"God is not my master." Andreegys turned, still angered from the encounter. "Yet he dares to come here, lord his victory over me and threaten my life. I am the last of us, the sole survivor-the flame he has never been able to snuff out. Until now. Until I revived you from the bottomless pits of whatever unspeakable hell awaits our kind. That is why he is afraid, because he knows that the two of us, together, can destroy all that he has created. Destroy him. So tell me, my love, why are you here?"

"I am unsure." And that was the truth. Byrenion could hear the human thoughts in his head, trying to answer the question. That he missed him, that he simply wondered what he was up to. "There was nowhere else that I wished to go. You must let go this foolishness, is your vengeance really worth the world? Come away with me, for we have all the powers of the universe."

"You're asking me to run away? Do you not understand that we are dying? We are not truly immortal anymore-not in the way that we should be-am I to sit by and watch myself pass away? No, we need our full power restored, and we need to take back what is rightfully ours. Is that not what you want?" Still, Andreegys could not see beyond his lust for revenge.

"I want to live. It has taken me too long to decipher what it is that I truly want, and I want to live. I do not need the power that we've lost, and I do not need to live an eternity-a millennia is plenty for me. There is beauty in this world, my love, things that would be a shame to lose. Let it be, let it go, for I am here with you, just as you've always wanted. Leave this world, leave it to its own fate and forget about the rest. Take my hand, or is it that I am no longer enough?" The newly revived god wasn't sure if it was what remained of Austin that made him so sentimental or not, but he didn't care. If they could leave this place, together, then they could be happy. It could still work.