Page 37 of The Merciless Ones
That pitying smile sharpens into a predatory one. “Simple child,” Elder Kadiri tuts. “Did you not know? Gods require worship, and the purest worship is sacrifice.”
Before I can move, he grabs the awakening girl by the hair, unsheathes a dagger from his side. As he jerks her head back, he looks up at the sky, a frenzied gleam in his eyes. “Divine Father, I give you this offering to add to your power. May her blood fill you. May her spirit nurture you. May you be nourished.”
He slices the girl’s throat with one quick swipe.
Screams pierce the air, most of them coming from the other now-awakening girls, the rest coming from me, a distant echo in my ears. Golden blood is pouring onto the platform’s wooden boards, so much of it, a puddle begins spreading around Elder Kadiri’s feet. And yet, I can’t move. I’m frozen there, heart pounding frantically, breath heaving in great, laboured gusts, and all I can do is watch that blood as a strange, subtle glow rises from it, accompanied by the intense sensation of evil, of creeping fingers reaching towards the dying girl.
Deka! Ixa rumbles, panicked. He can feel it too, the malevolence rising in the air. It’s as if we’re somehow sharing the same mind, experiencing the same things, except we’re doing so through two different bodies.
His cry forces me to move.
But as I finally stumble towards the girls, my atikas limply gripped in my fingers, dread jolts up my spine. I glance down to find that the blood on the boards is shining so fiercely now, it almost rivals the sun in its brightness.
“What is that?” I ask, horrified. “What’s happening?”
But Elder Kadiri’s smile widens further, his cheeks stretched into a macabre mockery of pleasure. “So you can see it. He said you would. Proof of his existence, of his divinity.”
Beside me, Keita is confused. He shifts, uncertain, as he glances in the direction I’m staring. “What’s happening, Deka?”
His question causes every muscle in my body to stiffen. Keita can’t see the light coming from the blood, can’t see it shining so brightly even though it’s right in front of him. It’s the same for Britta and the others, still huddled in their battle stances around me, their eyes on the as-yet-unmoving deathshrieks; they still all have the same expressions, the same horror, they had just moments ago, but none of them seems startled or shocked. They can’t see the glow, even though it’s obliterating in its brightness. A chill envelops me. That glow is like the river of stars in the Chamber of the Goddesses: only I can see its true nature. And that means only one thing – it’s the work of the divine. This, whatever’s happening in front of me, is of a celestial nature.
Elder Kadiri seems to notice the moment I realize this. “You’re finally understanding, Deka,” he says, almost giddy now. “This isn’t the work of some arcane object, as they would have you believe. It’s Him, the true god of Otera, Idugu.”
Everything in my consciousness is shrieking in protest of his words, but the truth in them is undeniable. Even now, I can see the blood’s glow dimming, disappearing as if something is sucking it in, slurping up every last drop. And with every drop that disappears, that malevolence grows around me, seeming to get more and more powerful with each second that passes.
If I wasn’t certain before, I’m certain now: Idugu truly does exist. Only it isn’t an arcane object, as the mothers said, and it certainly isn’t some benevolent being – some protective hidden version of Oyomo, blessing its worshippers with the power to fight against the mothers. It’s a vengeful and parasitic monstrosity, gorging itself on the prayers and energy of those stupid enough to follow it.
And it feeds on the blood of fledgling alaki.
How is its existence even possible? The mothers told me to expect the angoro, told me it imitates divinity, but this creature truly is of celestial origin. This is no mere imitation, I know this as suddenly and deeply as I know the colour of the sky or the wood beneath my feet. And yet somehow, the mothers did not know of it.
Or did they?
Suddenly, I remember the conversation I had with Anok, the one I had on the—
The thought slides away so quickly, I’m left blinking. Confused. I shake my head to clear it. This is not the time to lose my faculties. Whatever the reason for their silence about Idugu, the mothers must have a good explanation.
The jatu, however, do not. They’re the true villains here.
For centuries, they’ve been accusing the Gilded Ones of being monsters, immortal demons who prey on the lives of children. But they themselves not only resurrect now; they can become deathshrieks. And their god consumes children the way gobbler hens consume grain. Young girls – most of them barely old enough to defend themselves. Already ostracized and punished by their villages, their families; already at the edge of the blackest despair. Girls like I once was. Hopeful, trusting – innocent. My fury swells, every inch of me filled with righteous, reckless determination. No matter what happens from now on, I know one thing to be true: I will find this false divinity, this monstrous charlatan of a god and I will destroy it until nothing is left but just enough of its essence for my mothers to crush beneath their heels.
No matter what it is, no matter what its origins, I will have revenge for my fledgling sisters, I vow it upon my soul.
I return my gaze to Elder Kadiri as I lift my atikas. “God or not, it is an abomination, and I will exterminate it from the face of Otera.”
But the elder’s smile just widens. “You’d have to meet Him face-to-face to do so, then. Perfect. He’s expecting you.”
He looks up, his eyes meeting something only he can see. Then I feel it, the gathering in the air. A door. But this one is different from before. Instead of something emerging here, it’s more like something is reaching for us. Trying to snatch us in its web. I whirl to the others, alarmed. “It’s another door! Melanis, you must take Elder Kadiri now!”
“As you wish, honoured Nuru.” Melanis dives towards the platform, wings folded close, but before she can even reach the elder, he vanishes. Disappears into thin air, just like that. All that remains are those strange deathshrieks, who watch her, unmoved as she flaps back up, growling her frustration.
And now, doors are opening all around us, the air tearing, sucking at our bodies. “Secure the girls!” I shout, and Melanis nods, plummeting towards them.
She grabs all three in her arms and wings up just as the nearest opening tugs for me. “Deka!” Keita swiftly grabs on to me, as do my other friends.
“What’s happening?” Katya asks as she leaps over to my side, Nimita with her. The other deathshrieks are on the other side of the platform, too distant now to reach. “What’s happening, Deka?” she repeats, bewildered, as the air swirls brutally around us.
“It’s a door!” I shout. “We’re in the middle of a door! Hold on tight!”