Book 5: Chapter 3 - Castigation (RAW)

In the name of the Goddess, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Blessed be upon Her Heraldn and Prophet, who journeyed to the lands of the people of the Tides. They heard his words, yet they did not believe. They witnessed his divinity, but their eyes deceived them. They scourged him and bound him in chains, but by a miracle was he set free. For who can bind the judgment of the Goddess?

- The New Surahs by Cordelia de Aserac.

Music floated through the air, the soft strumming of zithers intertwined with the sharp, rhythmic beat of drums. A girl, her skin a rich shade of brown-gold, sang in honeyed notes that seemed crafted to please our ears. Though I could have understood the words with magic, I chose not to. There was a certain charm in leaving their meaning a mystery, in letting the song's emotions speak for themselves.

And speak they did. The melancholy in her voice revealed that this was an old love song, tinged with bittersweet sadness. Despite the depth of her performance, not a single fighting man in the hall seemed to care. Their attention was elsewhere, that much was clear.

Now, we had truly made an enemy of the Adventurer’s Guild, or at least their Guildmaster. Jangling now on a string was quite the collection of badges I had taken as trophies from the corpses of various adventurers. I would see to it that once the fighting was over, I would return them to the Guild. Copper, Bronze, Iron, Silver, and Gold, they made for quite the collection. Thanks to our efforts, being an adventurer in Al-Lazar was growing to be a very dangerous profession indeed.

“You know they will be targeting you, I am sure there is a big fat request for your head on their board,” remarked Damien, taking a sip from a wine glass.

We were at a feast, a ‘small’ gathering to celebrate the forceful overturning of Adventurer’s Guild’s decision to cast me out. It must have been quite humiliating for them to not be able to cast out a simple Copper. Most certainly mud in the face and the Guildmaster’s authority must be under question. The question was, when and if he would send out his little pet enchantress.

“For defending myself? For fighting in a sanctioned war? That does not sound very sporting”

“Quite, but the Adventurer’s Guild were never ones for fair play. For all their claim about being ‘adventurers,’ they are quite a stolid lot. You are very much either with them or against them,” added Damien, his grey eyes sparkling.

“They are forming kill squads just to target you, boy!” quipped in Calder, his expression dour, his voice cutting over the music of the afternoon’s impromptu celebration.

“Do not call me boy, Calder. It is disrespectful. I represent the Salahaem in the fight. Do not forget that,” I growled.

“Right prickly one you are, taking offense at every little thing. You intend to take insult from every friendly jibe? Wound that tight up are we? What… are you going to go through life striking down anyone that offends you?” 

“Trust me, Calder, boy. That Gil over there, that is exactly what he intends to do I think” said Elwin with a small laugh, appearing from behind Calder.

I snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. “I am not that vicious.”

The Rogue gave me a long look and we both laughed as he sat down at an empty chair, patting Calder’s cheek. 

“As I was saying,” Calder continued in a cold voice, ignoring Elwin. “They are starting to form kill squads. They know all too well the Fae magic that you possess Gilgamesh. Bronze, they will bring against you. Ensorcelled, but still bronze. Then there is the matter of your healing magics…”

“Meaning?” I asked in a more relaxed manner, Elwin’s earlier antics having drained much of my ire. 

Calder coughed. “The men will have an advantage wherever they go up against such equipped soldiery. That being the case, the lads have been clamoring to be the Scales that fight at your side. Our other engagements without you or the girl present, have not been so successful.” 

Of course, they would. In my desire for experience, I had already been doing the majority of the killing. It was an easy duty. I had been charging two gold pieces for the use of my Heal spell, a Mercenary’s monthly wage. Word had been getting around, and I swore some of that stupid lot had been getting injured on purpose.

“As the sun stands alone in the sky, so too must the best stand alone among the many. What would you have me do? I can only be in one place at one time,” I remarked idly, rolling my shoulders inside my armor.

“Perhaps if you would wear armor similar to ours, you could maintain the element of surprise while making sure our enemies…” the older man began to suggest.

“Out of the question, Wing Leader Calder. You have nothing in your armories that can hope to match the level of protection my current gear affords me. If as you say, they are specifically targeting me, then it stands to reason that I am protected as well as possible. And, why change tactics now? We are winning are we not?” I remarked dryly.

Heavens, I wanted this war between the Houses to be settled soon through Arbitration. While I appreciated the dearth of experience points I was reaping from all of these continued engagements, I felt that it was distracting me from my main quest of dealing with Kaila the Enchantress. I needed to deal with her before I received the Necromancer’s scroll.

“Have no fear! I will lend my spear to your little warm lander disputes. We will tear them up like fresh grass after a winter’s thaw!” exclaimed Kidu, almost spitting out a mouthful of meat. “It will barely be a challenge and not worth much honor!”

The giant of a man looked positively happy as he tore into a massive haunch of meat. At times like this, I envied his more simplistic view of things.

“Then there is the matter of overall command…” muttered Calder, ignoring the barbarian’s words.

“Are you dissatisfied with my orders? Do you have problems taking orders from a woman?” cut in Aelayah archly, floating up to us from seemingly out of nowhere with all the grace of a swan.

“No, of course not Lady Aelayah. Just that without a Captain to lead us, things have been what the high sort call ‘fractious’ even though we have been winning…” Calder stated.

The highborn lady looked as if she wanted to roll her eyes. “Then surely it is time to promote someone from within your ranks? As is normal in times of conflict such as this. Is that not why you have a chain of command?” she commented, exasperated.

“My lady, that is not within our remit, we need the full…”

Then everything seemed to stop—or at least slow down so drastically it was as if time itself had frozen. People stood like statues, trapped in mid-motion, each suspended in a single moment of activity. The scene felt strange, unsettling, like reality itself had been paused.

The song had faded.

Sound, light, and even sensation had been stifled, as though the world was holding its breath. I tried to rise, but it felt like a mountain was pressing down on my shoulders, an unrelenting weight pinning me in place. Words failed me, my thoughts reduced to a single overwhelming notion: Pressure. A constant, crushing force, pushing me down, squeezing the life out of me.

"After all I have done for you, I am disappointed in you. Disappointed," whispered an alluring yet chilling feminine voice just behind me, sending a cold shiver down my spine.

Only a deity could manifest like this. The goddess Iasis had come for another visitation.

Summoning all my willpower, I managed to rise slowly to my feet, feeling my very Health drain away with even this slight movement.

"And how have I disappointed you?" I retorted, infusing my voice with as much sarcasm as I dared.

"Come now, surely you know you must never shirk your duties to outsiders. There are Rules, after all," she remarked, drifting into view as she floated upon invisible ethereal currents. The air around her shimmered unnaturally, distorting reality itself.

"And what if I have no idea what you're talking about?" I replied defiantly.

She fixed her gaze upon me, her eyes dark voids that reflected nothing yet seemed to pierce into the depths of my soul.

"You truly do not know, do you? Or perhaps your talent for deception is otherworldly," she laughed, her voice a haunting melody that was both beautiful and terrifying. "You have traveled so far—for a mortal. It would be a shame for your thread to be cut too soon, as the wild men of the North say." She paused, spiraling languidly through the air like a predator circling its prey.

"The challenge—you should have accepted it yourself. It was expected. It is part of the Rules," she declared, her tone cold and unforgiving. Her words sent a chill through me, stirring a deep-seated dread I couldn't suppress.

"Ezlas? The Guildmaster?" I blurted out in surprise. "But he refused to face me himself!"

She drifted closer, so near that I could see every flawless pore on her luminescent skin. "Names. Titles. Excuses. Do you think I care for them? They mean nothing to me. We care for our offerings, little mortal, and your actions have tainted what was meant to be mine!"

A cruel smile curved her lips. "I have come to punish you. To put you in your place..."

"How was I supposed to know? Are you truly so petty?" I shouted, my voice echoing futilely in the oppressive silence.

The air grew heavy, pressing down upon me as shadows deepened around her form. The very atmosphere seemed to conspire against me, amplifying the terror that gripped my heart.

As sudden as this episode was, it hardly compared to what happened next. In this frozen world where time stood still, where even the air seemed suspended, a haunch of meat came sailing toward the goddess. It was a sight so utterly incongruous that it defied all comprehension—a crude object intruding upon this surreal moment. Against all reason, the hunk of meat hurtled through the stillness and smacked into Iasis's back with a resounding impact that shattered the eerie silence.

The collision echoed, rippling through the still tableau. The goddess stumbled forward, her ethereal composure disrupted by this unexpected assault. The sheer audacity of such an act left me breathless and disbelieving. In that instant, the world lurched back into motion, time resuming its relentless march for a moment, before the stillness reasserted itself with a vengeance.

"INSOLENCE!" shrieked the petty godling. Her eyes blazed with dark flames, exuding nothing but the promise of death. Whether it lasted a moment or stretched into eternity, the flow of time lost all meaning to me.

Then suddenly goddess composed herself, quelling her divine rage as only a deity could, and prepared to pronounce her punishment.

"I have found it," she said coldly, pointing a delicate finger at the frozen image of the wild man, his arm outstretched as if throwing something. "His life will be forfeit unless you willingly return the Blessings I have bestowed upon you. All of them. There is a price for defiance."

In that movement, she was terrifyingly beautiful—a masterpiece beyond mortal artistry. Her presence rocked me to my core, and in utter shock, all I could do was sink to my knees in a mock semblance of prayer. The weight of her judgment resounded in my ears, filling me with dread even as she vanished and time reclaimed its place in my world.

Kidu crumpled to the floor. A woman shrieked something, but it was all meaningless.