Short Little Stories

Her scream echoed through the jungle, and Stanley knew the birds and the beasts of the wild were fleeing from that awful sound – not by their own cries or the rustle of their passage through the woods, but by the terrible stillness left in the wake of the scream.

Aubrick seized his arm, his grip tight, his eyes fierce. The power that surrounded Rowen was invisible to the naked eye, but Stanley knew that Aubrick had a lifetime of experience that would let him sense the magic silently boiling in the air. “What did you do?” the warrior demanded, and there was little room for mercy in his voice.

Stanley met his gaze without fear or remorse. “I did what needed to be done – offered a slumbering god a deal to take us to your world. Without his power, there would be no way to save your lands – we had to pay whatever price required.”

Not a worshipper, though that had been what he had told them. No, a sleeping god wouldn’t rouse for that alone.

But for a host, and a world of ripe believers who gods had abandoned them? That was far too great a temptation to pass up – and would ensure they could call upon the full measure of the god’s power for their mission.

The mage, Tailos, had seen it coming – and he now placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. Rowen’s scream had died off, and the form of the woman now stood staring at them, though the light of another burned within her eyes – and the smile she wore had no place on any mortal face.

Aubrick opened his mouth to speak – and the god-given-flesh raised a hand, and his power swept them away into the eternities between all space and time.