“Where is this Grandfather that Ahraan spoke of?Where?”Saer lifted his arms and gestured.“Did your god save you when Ahraan showed his true colors?Did the Grandfather come to your rescue when your loved ones were at the mercy of a great golden beast?Where was your god when its wicked teeth intended to rip your flesh from your bones?”
No voice rose to answer.
Arms falling to his side, Saer’s voice lowered.“The Grandfather isn’t here, because that god doesn’t exist.”He touched his chest.“Yet, I do.”He motioned to the two demonesses at his sides.“We do.”The declaration stretched through the townsfolk.“You’ve seen what we three can do.Because we embrace the godliness within ourselves.Because we aren’t blinded.It’s also what each and every one of you are capable of!”
Saer paused once more for good measure, assessing the silence, pleased with it.With his words, he weaved tendrils of pride through and around the villagers.Tugging with delicate intent, he forced them to feel his given sin with increasing intensity.“Do you wish to join us?”
Another short pause settled over the crowd before quiet assents spread throughout.Saer increased his pull on their pride, twisting as he brought it forth.
“Do you wish to join us?”Saer shouted over them all, raising his arms high, this time wrenching on the sin of his making.
The audience shouted back this time in full agreement and Saer smiled for the first time.
They were his.
He lowered his arms and nodded once, a slow incline of his head.“You’ve seen what we can do.You’ve come together as one, uniting with us, ready to join rather than oppose us.Listen closely, for I’m prepared to reveal this difficult secret not because you’ve all gathered today, but because of the statement this gathering makes.If any still harbor doubts, speak now.”
He allowed ten full breaths to pass.
As predicted, not a word rose against him.
Saer inhaled, long and slow.“This next truth isn’t an easy one to bear, and your minds will reject it.But know it is the truth.Know it’s how we three”—he gestured again to either side of him—“came into being.Know this is how you become gods among men.”Still tethered, he pulled on the innate pride within each and every one of them, noting how the crowd stood taller.
“The first step is mortal death.”
Quiet whimpers escaped a handful of throats, and Saer leapt atop the sliver of doubt, his shout smothering would-be protestors.“Did you not witness Neyu’s death and rebirth last night?”
Silence fell once more.The villagers glanced at Neyu with newfound awe.One by one, heads began to nod.
Saer’s voice quieted with reverence.“Then you know I speak the truth.”
With an encompassing gesture, he motioned them closer and the crowd obediently drew nearer to the remains of the stage.With one hand, he motioned Neyu to attend one side of the group, and Kalia the other.Once they’d moved, his voice rose again.“I need you all to make a promise to me, lest we become separated in the afterlife.Together, you must promise to follow me, Neyu, and Kalia when your time has come to separate from your mortal body.Do you all understand?”
Some hesitant nods all around, but most were strong and sure.Pride rode them all like a strong wind in a ship’s sail.
“I need to hear your voices!Trust us to guide you to greatness!Will you join us?”
The unified holler of assent from the crowd came punctuated with several fists in the air.
“Do you swear to follow us in death and beyond?”
The cheer rose again.
“Do you promise your afterlife to us so that we might show you the way?”
A final roar, louder even than before, swept through the villagers.
Saer waited for the noise to taper, smiling at the end.
His voice lowered to a pleasing hum.“Your dedication speaks volumes, your courage boundless.”
Head jerking to the left, Saer lifted that arm.“Neyuukhan!”Then the same motion towards the right.“Kaliaspher!”
The demonesses lifted their hands, having formed a perfect triangle around the villagers.
Saer tilted his head back, nostrils flaring with a sharp inhale.
Flames erupted from the three demons’ outstretched arms, arcing, connecting the First, Second, and Seventh with white-hot, blazing cords.The heat choked those in the crowd who stood closest.Those who could, screamed.
