Page 64 of The Merciless Ones
“No, Deka.” Britta shakes her head sternly. “Just no. Ye’ve just had a lot to take in. I know ye might be feelin’ overwhelmed, but remember, yer part of a family. An’ family steps in when yer not all right, an’ Deka, yer not all right. Let us take care of things, at least for the rest of today. Ye eat an’ then ye rest.” Her expression is immovable.
Finally, I sigh, nod. “I hear you,” I say.
“Wonderful. Now let’s go get dinner. But afterwards, it’s straight to sleep for ye. We have a busy week ahead of us.”
As I nod, I suddenly notice something. Britta’s robe is very, very pretty. Much prettier than what she usually wears. “You’re all dressed up,” I say, curious. “Special occasion?”
“Ye mean like the funeral we just went to?” she asks drily. Then she huffs. “Stop bein’ all nosy, Deka. Are ye comin’ to eat or not?”
I look down at the ansetha necklace. “I think I’ll remain here,” I say. “I’m not very hungry.”
“Suit yourself,” Britta sniffs as she herds everyone out.
And then I’m finally alone with the necklace.
It’s in the blood… The words whisper through my mind as I pick up the ansetha necklace. Its thousands of interconnected flowers gleam in the low evening light, the ichor inside them seeming to slither almost sinuously. And yet…no memories rush into my mind. No strange feelings overtake me. I sigh, staring at the necklace with disappointment. Of course, it wouldn’t be as simple as that. The Gilded Ones are gods. They’re not easily deciphered, the way mortals are.
I have to go deeper.
That in mind, I inhale, swiftly sinking into the deep combat state until the ansetha necklace glows as bright as the midday sun in my hands. But even then, no memories surface. Not even a hint of them. I growl in frustration. How am I supposed to make this work? How am I supposed to see into the Gilded Ones’ minds if I don’t even know how to start? I try to think back to the two times I sank into another person’s consciousness. What was the commonality in my brushes with Melanis’s and Katya’s minds? What was the common thread that bound them together? Both of them were bleeding, and I— Wait… Both of them were actively bleeding! Their blood was still liquid, which means that perhaps I have to make the ichor flow.
Hands trembling, I make a small cut in my palm and wait until the blood begins dripping to press it against the necklace. A tingle shivers through my body as the ichor immediately begins to melt, the divine blood slithering down my palm. One moment passes. Two…
And then raindrops are falling around me.
No, not raindrops – golden orbs, each one perfect, each one divine. The mothers in their purest forms. The knowledge slides into my mind as easily as water over glass. I watch them shimmering in the air, the goddesses, all of them so close, I could touch them. But I know better than to dare. Just one stroke would be enough to incinerate me, burn my body to ash.
Except I don’t have a body… Golden light is shining from me – the same gold as all the other orbs, only this one is threaded with darkness and shadows. This is Anok’s light. Which means I am her, and she is me. A thrill courses through me at the thought. It’s getting easier now, this transition from my own mind into another person’s memories, their innermost essence. Or is it perhaps because Anok wants me in her mind? Wants me to see her memories?
The more I think about it, the more likely it seems. There’s a strange feeling vibrating between the mothers. A sadness, almost. Regret, perhaps? It overtakes me, and suddenly, I am completely one with Anok as an enormous rift splits open the ground, thousands of tiny figures tumbling in. Horror shatters through us in fierce orange bursts, clouds roiling, lightning sparking.
So this is what we’ve done, me and my sisters. This is the atrocity we’ve committed, the reason our sons now despise us.
“No!” I shout to them as more figures go tumbling in. “We must not do this!”
But they just stare at me, their eyes determined. “This is our only path, Anok,” they intone, their meaning clear: they are one again, and I am alone. Forced apart from my sisters by my decision.
But that does not mean I do not have power. I push my mind forward, glorying when it brushes against the veil, the barrier of stars separating us from the other realm. Galaxies swirling together, nebulas exploding and contracting around blue-purple stars. It’s always there, just as we agreed all those moments ago. Or was it eons? The time, it all whirls together – a blink of an eye, as the humans say. And yet the veil is still there, separating us. Holding us in place.
All I have to do is reach for it.
I turn to my sisters. “Hear me,” I shout. “There is another path!”
“We will not be swayed from this one,” they reply.
Again, they are a monolith. A single organism. And I am separate.
Sadness falls over me. Stars falling from the sky. A thousand flowers dying crystalline black deaths in a field. My sisters are too far gone now. But I have to pull them back – for everyone’s sake. I push my thoughts forward again, so powerfully, they move straight through the veil to the other side. To the Other waiting there.
“No!” my sisters roar. “What are you doing, Anok?”
I ignore them as I reach out my hand, about to extend my power to the Other. He is alone, just like me. Separated, just like me. Together, we can be one. We can be limitless, as we once were. But as I extend my hand, I feel it, the anger, the malevolence, stirring deep in the darkness. The madness, so similar to that of my sisters. Terror rises inside me in jagged whites, stomach-churning oranges. Volcanoes erupt under the force of my fear.
My sisters and I are not the only ones who’ve changed. The Other has as well.
Before I can recoil, he’s already there, pushing against the veil. “A Gilded One,” he sneers. “That is what you have chosen to call yourselves, is it not? I also have a name. I am the Merciless One. Always remember that, Anok. And remember that I no longer welcome you.” He pushes again.
And then pain slams into me with the force of a thousand lightning bolts, knocking me out of Anok and back into my own body.