“Yes. I didn’t know what to do so I just pumped spell after spell into her body,” answered Tyler dejectedly. The sight of Asem lying still, her attire covered with blood, was like a knife suddenly plunged and cruelly twisted into his emotional being. “I thought I was going to lose her. Like I lost Jorund.”
“My daughter,” said Thaut as he unhappily looked at Asem’s body suspended in the air. “So stubborn. So mortal in thoughts and deeds.”
The deity turned his head to Tyler.
“I have lost sons and daughters through the ages, First Mage. Unlike other deities, I never could get used to it. And Asem is a favorite of mine. Unique in her perspectives and more powerful than most of her ancestors. I have never seen such a combination of immortal and mortal traits among my children. She’s wiser than most deities, I must admit.”
“At least I am glad, extremely glad, to see her alive,” replied Tyler.
“That makes both of us, First Mage. Though I need to remove her from your company for a while. She needs to recover, and my temple is the best place for her right now. But in a few minutes. Her condition must be stabilized before traveling. The power of a deity, even one as powerful as I, needs time to work. Especially in her current condition.”
“How did you know we were in such dire straits? Kemet is far from here. And from what I learned from Loki, a deity needed to have visited a place to transport there.”
“Prayers from a devout follower could form the necessary link. But she’s my daughter. Blood calls out stronger than any prayer. It was a good thing you were able to start the healing process, though I also sense something different about your curative enchantments,” said Thaut.
Tyler stayed silent and kept his eyes on Asem.
“Never mind. That’s a puzzle for another day. My thanks,” said Thaut finally after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.
“She’s one of us. A close friend and a valued companion. Asem would have done the same for any of us,” replied Tyler softly.
“That she is, First Mage. I never saw her so happy. She loved being part of your company. But Asem never did fully accept the deity part of herself. On the other hand, she fully embraced her mortal side. But now the question – who did this?”
Suddenly, Tyler felt emanations of rage flowing from Thaut. When the deity arrived, he didn’t expect Asem’s father to be so calm about the entire disaster. If the god kept his emotions in check, then he had enormous self-control.
Yet at first, Thaut only allowed his sadness to seep through his aura. The mage could sense how tightly the god guarded his emotions. Unfortunately, the raising of the question of who perpetrated the attack was too much for the emotional barriers the deity created around himself.
“I honestly had no idea, Thaut,” answered the mage. “Though I strongly suspect a non-magical attack, a persistent chemical agent to weaken our will to stay awake and then a powerful gas to put us to sleep when those creatures finally made their move.”
“As to the means, I could understand why it was done that way. A very devious strategy, considering the reaction of the soil in this place to ordinary magic. The same reason why Asem is suspended in the air while my healing powers do their work.”
“I did notice something strange, Thaut,” said Tyler. He never did like using honorifics when dealing with deities. They were, as he suspected and finally confirmed, only beings born out of man’s desire and imagination, given form and existence by the magical energy of the world.
“I believe that, next to Asem, I was the last one brought down by the sleeping mist. But our enemies ignored me and the rest of the companions, focusing their attacks on the priestess, who was still fighting,” continued the mage after Thaut nodded for him to go on with his story.
“That’s… enlightening,” said Thaut after a few moments of reflection. “An attack against me and mine? What did they have to gain? The pantheon of Kemet is not at war, nor have I done anything lately to arouse the enmity of other gods. But the iron claws remaining of your assailants tell me they are sasabonsam, wretched dark creatures found in the southwest, particularly in the jungles and cursed corners of that part of Adar. And how did they find you? It was not as if everybody knew where you were, as your party was constantly on the move. If not for Asem, even I wouldn’t know your location.”
“The Monarchy did know where we were going,” volunteered Tyler. “But they had every chance to kill us all while we were with their army. But even Girnita Balashi didn’t know how we were going to do it or where we would cross the Barrens.”
“A dangerous enigma, then. My mind tells me there’s an intricate plot behind what happened. And by intricate, I mean a bigger, sinister scheme. I believe the attack on your company was but a bait to draw me and the rest of our pantheon into something. I have to reflect on this day’s events. Lashing out never did do anybody good.”
“Can you sense whose hand guided these monsters?” asked Tyler, pointing to the largest mound of iron claws. Fury was rising from his gut and blood rushed to his head. From what Thaut said, the ambush was not done by creatures of the Barrens. Tyler felt like breaking something, even a deity’s head if it came to that.
“They hid their magical residue well, a fact making me more cautious about the entire situation. The puppeteers of these creatures want me to decide on a course of action in their favor. On that level, I need to know first what the game is – Senet? Talf? Xiangqi? Knowing what is on the table will eventually lead me to the
