Looking back at Fingit and the dog, Sakaj whispered, “Harik.”
Three dozen six-foot-long spikes sprang out of the dog in all directions. It resembled a panting, flop-eared, twelve-foot-diameter hedgehog with spines like needle-tipped razors.
Sakaj raised her eyebrows at Fingit.
“It only works when you say it. Say anything else.”
“Uh…”
The spikes retracted into the dog with a well-machined click. The dog ran to Sakaj with worshipful eyes, and it sniffed her crotch.
Sakaj guided the dog’s nose elsewhere and gave it a couple of hesitant pats on the head. “Let’s go then. Krak’s waiting to laud me.” She and the dog strode away toward the gate.
“You’re welcome,” Fingit said as he followed her.
The Gossamer Forest stretched out full and verdant under the midday sun. That sun hadn’t returned to golden, not even close. But it showered wholesome yellow light onto the Home of the Gods. Forest creatures darted around, no longer foul and warped, except for the squirrels. To Fingit they still appeared foul and warped, but he’d thought squirrels looked that way since squirrels first existed.
Fingit and Sakaj descended into a shallow, emerald glen of heartbreaking serenity. A modest pond lay at its center, as pure and poignant as a tear. Artful foliage dotted the pond’s grass-napped banks. Benches, tables, and divans of marble and rare woods had been placed around the pond in architectural tension. The breeze channeled wafts of lilac and rosemary, brushing the water and caressing the branches of the lone tree in the glen, a noble golden cypress. As Fingit strolled down into this newly created sanctuary, he felt that it might be the most peaceful place in all existence.
“Welcome to the Vale of Righteous Devastation!” Krak bellowed as they reached the pond to stand with the rest of the gods. “We have pierced the Veil. We have freed ourselves. We have reached once more into the world of man.” Krak waved at the pond. “We have wrought this, the Theater of Man, into which we may see to guide and protect man once again.”
Fingit gazed at the pond’s surface. He applied a slight thought about the Nub, and an image appeared, shifting toward the boy but leaving the rest of the pond undisturbed. Now all of the gods could visit the world of man as they wished. He shook himself and looked back at Krak, hoping he hadn’t been caught letting his attention wander.
I'd hate to have the impossibly searing light of the sun shot up my nose for being an inattentive little squid.
Krak was still speaking. “We owe our survival as divine beings, and our deliverance from the greatest peril of all time, to that which I am ashamed to say we have least understood and least appreciated throughout the eons.”
Sakaj took a deep breath.
“Our rightful power and majesty were delivered to us by our will to work together, to toss away our grudges and hurts, and to entrust our lives—our true and eternal lives—to one another.”
Sakaj didn’t move, but Fingit heard the breath being pressed out of her as if she were a frog stepped on by a bull. He glanced around and saw that Harik was scowling at the grass, and Lutigan looked like he’d swallowed a dead skunk.
Krak went on: “It is my wish that we set aside pettiness so that we may become inviolable and indestructible for all time.”
“What about me?” Sakaj said.
“Eh?”
“What about me? I elevated myself hundreds of times to find the Dark Lands, I brought Fingit there to work for us, and I secured the power that brought us victory, which required me to make an awful deal, by the way. And what about Cheg-Cheg’s foot?”
Krak looked down and smiled. “Well, I didn’t want to mention it, but I suppose I did contribute more than most. I provided the fundamental strength required to dismember the Void-beast.”
Sakaj took a step forward and said, “What? I brought us victory. The glory is mine. I should get a tithe on all power passing through these lands.”
Krak laughed. “That’s entertaining! Only I get a portion of all trades. It’s always been that way. I’m… the Father of the Gods. I agree that you contributed like a regular warrior, Sakaj. You served us well. Oh, and Fingit helped too.”
Fingit touched Sakaj’s arm, but she flung off his hand. “I will see this land in flaming wreckage before I let this stand!”
Krak stopped smiling and seemed to grow half again as tall. “This is a time to rejoice. It’s a celebration of our collective victory and our resplendent future.” He rubbed his hands together, and slivers of shocking-white light leaked out from his palms. “I would hate to tarnish the mood by burning off someone’s tender parts.”
Sakaj trembled, and Fingit stepped away so that his tender parts didn’t get vaporized in error. Then she exhaled, looked down, and stepped back.
“Good!” Krak said. “I think everything’s been said, so let us revel! Bring the ambrosia!”
Demigods and demigoddesses hurried into the glen bearing pitchers, platters, bowls, and pipes. Fingit didn’t partake much, but not because he felt cheated. He didn’t really want glory, anyway. He wanted a well-stocked workshop, plenty of power, and everyone else to leave him alone until he needed guinea pigs. In fact, he had a new idea. He’d given up on chariots, but perhaps a flying war elephant powered by the impossibly searing light of the sun… he’d need to make some calculations.
The party wallowed its way deep into the evening darkness, with every indication it would continue for several days. Fingit shuffled away while Weldt was telling a joke about four water spirits and a sea serpent. Halfway to the Gossamer Forest, he heard the dog barking behind him, so he stopped and waited for Sakaj to catch up.
Her hair, black as night and soft as sleep, trapped specks of moonlight so that her head appeared to be covered in stars. Her face was shadowed and still. She stood straight and relaxed. She didn’t speak, but she did scratch
