Gamarron wrenched Renna to her feet, the passion of fear breaking through his façade of detachment. “Look at her, Renna! That is no god!” Gaia was communing with her newly-risen creation wordlessly, and they both turned their eyes to the party of humans – one set of eyes a glittering black, the other bloody sockets crowded with green creepers. The inhuman thing pointed to them, and her undead thrall lurched to its feet. “She is a parasite!” the savage whispered.
Renna wept inside. Who am I to resist the Earth Mother? Yet this was not the encounter she had expected. There was no care in her goddess, no love or pity. This creature denied being the Creator and was fixated on some essence that was nowhere to be found in the holy writ. Also, she controlled the reanimated dead man currently reaching for his war hammer.
“I’m putting my vote in the ‘let’s go’ hat,” Guyrin said, yanking ineffectually at his zephyr’s ears.
The vine-armored dead man approached with maul raised, and Gamarron stepped in front of Renna. Conflicted and afraid, she caught at his arm, crying “No!” They could not afford to offend the goddess with his violence. The dead man swung his maul. Hands entangled, Gamarron took a punishing blow to the ribs from the war hammer. The thing was stronger than any living human could be – Gamarron’s feet lifted off the ground, and he tumbled to the ground several meters away. Gasping, unsure of why she had interfered, Renna stumbled back over some dead idiot’s leg and fell. The green monster lifted its weapon. She couldn’t look away.
Kest barreled into the revenant full-force, knocking it back. It brought the haft of its maul down on his back, but the Beast Rider was too close for the blow to be effective. Wrapping his arms around the dead man, the powerful young man gathered his legs beneath him. He lifted his opponent’s feet clear of the ground and dove forward, driving all his considerable weight into the prone soldier’s sternum with his shoulder. There was a wet crack that sounded like breaking bones, but the dead man made no sound as he continued to thrash.
Clambering astride the thing, Kest got his hands on the dead man’s wrists, trying to immobilize him. For a moment he kept the monster’s arms pinned. But then, incredibly, the dead man pushed back from his spread-eagled position, lifting Kest’s weight along with it. The Beast Rider’s corded arms were trembling with effort, but still the green-infected hands advanced. He switched grips, but still lost ground. He drove his forehead into the thing’s face, and it only cost him leverage. “Help!” he cried, and then the dead hands closed on his throat.
Suddenly Gamarron was there, kneeling beside the dead soldier’s head, and with claw-like fingers he ripped the vines out of the thing’s eyes. Blood spattered all three of the combatants, and the animated soldier fell still, its arms going limp. Kest slumped to the side in relief.
Gaia had watched the ordeal in avid silence. With a frown, she said, “You resist.”
Panting and holding his ribs, Gamarron replied, “That’s what humans do.”
“If I had one of the Devourers in thrall, I could turn your will and make you give it to me. A pity. Brute force will have to suffice.” The earth avatar spread out her hands, and dozens of bodies around them started to twitch, tendrils of green creeping on their faces and hands. The others stumbled back in fear, but Renna couldn’t move. We have been judged, and death is our reward. But suddenly Gaia grimaced with effort and pain, her cheeks rapidly hollowing and her hands trembling. In a moment, the green creepers faded to brown, and the jerking of the dead men ceased.
The now-gaunt Gaia spoke in a whisper, panting with exertion. “Too soon. I will not waste what essence I have just to collect your paltry bits. You die so quickly anyway; I will have it in due time. Once I have enough, resistance will not matter.” She turned away from them, gliding across the field.
Full of confusion and guilt, Renna cried out after her. “Mother, what did we do wrong? I don’t understand! How should I worship you? Tell me, I beg you, and I will follow!”
The Earth Mother replied without turning. “Why would I want your worship?”
The utter disregard of her Goddess left her weeping. She wanted to hide. She wanted to set the creature on fire. She wanted to be enfolded in the Mother’s love. It all clashed within her. She meant to keep her silence, but somehow she was on her feet, calling out again, her voice hoarse. “Please, Mother Below! Let me serve! Let me preach! I will repent! Teach me what to tell mankind, and I will shout it to the end of my days!”
Turning back to her, those empty pools of night transfixing her soul, the apparition said, “Tell them to bring me their essence… and die.” She turned her attention back to the corpses and wandered into the mists.
Chapter 15 Beast Rider
Kest flipped up his eyepatch and peered carefully at the ground before him. He took the opportunity to massage the itching flesh at the edges of the bulbous thing stuck in his face. He was well ahead of the others or he’d have never dared. Though at the moment, they might not have noticed – they were all still shaken by their encounter with the “goddess.” In Kest’s case, the bruises on his throat left his voice raspy and his thoughts jumbled. He’d let his body do the work of seeking out tracks while his mind pondered what
