DIVINE WRATH

15. Immortal fear

I was dragging my feet. My arms hurt from all the heavy lifting. I let another bucket full of ROGVAIV spilt into the funnel. It swirled into spiraling waves until it was engulfed into the entire mass of the filtered light.

Around me there was a continuous rumor. Servants talked or breathed. I got used relatively fast with the talking, but the breathing, oh that was the thing that would undone me as quickly as a finger snap.

On a rational level I knew that they were not beings developed enough to find sustenance whiteout breathing, but on another level, one that was resurfacing more rapidly now, I wanted to push their heads into the funnel. I wanted to hear their bodies splash into the ROGVAIV.

The headache had subsided to a point that I did not feel it anymore. It should have been a good thing, except for the part that I gritted my teeth continuously and when my hands were not busy holding buckets they were gathering into fists. I dragged quantities of liquid at a neck breaking high, climbing on a ladder that seemed to have no end. Even those sprites that had wings were tired at the end of the day.

I should have been relieved. It has been more than a human week since my last visit on HR. I should have had a clear mind, not a readiness to twist someone's ankle based on their loud breathing.

I was hunched over one bowl of hot soup when the rumors began. This was a different kind of rumor. You could feel that it was something much more important, by the sush that suddenly fell over the tables. The dead weight silence felt more like a punch in the gut.

Suddenly, the spoon of hot soup was tasteless and cold. I felt a gaping emptiness in my stomach

"Deah Woman is here."

I sat straighter, nearly flipping over my bowl. She crossed the court with her head held high. Her chin was in the air, nearly touching her regal nose at the angle that she held herself. Her feet were bare, her stance had a little sprint in her step. Her long clothing was trailing behind her. Ash and shadows were curling from where her feet let dark traces on the stone pavement.

"She is pretty."

One that was too naïve or young to know spoke. Another shushed her.

"She is death."

"What? And what? We are immortals. Why should I be afraid of her?"

A shudder shook me. It was quick but its effect still vibrated into my veins.

"Stop running your mouth. I will show you immortality if you don't shut up."

The threat was quite mild. It was the equivalent of a nice tap on the hand and a kiss on the borrow. The servants could speak trash of their own gods. That was a dubious rule of the "free speech" claim. It was strange as it only

referred to the gods that you served. The liberty did not extinct to the ones that did not have you under jurisdiction.

It was a mire of a law. It was a remnant of the old rule, that came from the old Empire that allowed the liberty of speech. The new ruling class decided to cut parts and corners from it until it reached this current size.

"She could hurt you."

I said more to myself than to them. I did not know that I spoke aloud until the heads turned my way. Not many turned, but some. It was enough, as I wanted no attention.

"How?"

The youngling leaned forward, curious, grasping at the vast unknown that I had just developed for her.

"She loves mortal more than she loves sprites. She also kills mortals"

She gulped. What would she do, the, to us? The sprites? She had all these beautiful questions that rooted from an innate fear and precaution for her own wellbeing.

"There is no relief for immortality."

I added. She did not understand what I was talking about. She deemed me as mad.

She let my ramble to me and she spurred to another servant, young as her, as eager and as attentive on the figure of the Death Goddess.

Deah Woman was nearing the doors of the palace.

The Sun God must have been waiting for her, as the marble was more polished than usual and the servants that were put at the entrance were clad in darker colors.

I sat up. They did not ask questions. They did not demand where I was going. I was of no interest to them. Good.

I have been waiting for Deah Woman to come, for some time now.

Our meeting was for long time overdue. I had to prepare myself. I was going to go down again on HR. That was neutral ground for the gods. Me meeting with her there would not raise as many questions. Here it was almost impossible to reach her. After all, I was playing the mere servant of a glorious palace in which resided one of the strongest Gods in history.

And she was more than I would have ever wished to be. That was the general view at which I was running this game.

Truth be told, the plan barely had been put into motion and I was already oh so tired.

//19.08.2020; 22.32//