“This is Shipwreck Cove,” Oriana broke the quiet. “I come here to clear my head and think.”
“Yes, I remember it well from my last journey into the forest. It’s beautiful,” he said, voice low and calm.
She smoothed out her skirts, blowing out a breath before looking up at him, her green eyes boring into his silver ones. “The cosmos is far more vast and complex than you know. This world and the people in it know only of the Six Eternal: Zanos, god of life and death, Linea, goddess of nature and harvest, Hylda, goddess of magic and beauty, Mathis, god of storms and wisdom, Petra, goddess of fertility and wealth, and finally…” She closed her eyes tight, almost choking on her next words. “Anthes, god of war and trickery.”
A spray of sea water rained over them at that moment, as if Mathis understood her anger and wished to cool the heat rising within her, telling her he understood. Anthes was an enemy to many, friend to none.
She swallowed before continuing. “They are the six ruling Gods who reign over the cosmos and, as you well know, are worshipped and regarded as divine rulers in Svakland. But that is not only true here. It is true throughout the entirety of the universe. The Six Eternal have made it so. They want you and everything that exists to know of their almighty existence. They have invoked fear in the worlds, forcing praise and seeking glory. They drink it all in like fine wine, getting off on the worship they receive out of the people’s fear. The cock sucking bastards,” she added, pointing a lewd gesture up toward the heavens.
She watched as Garren’s eyes widened at her insult. She knew that he did not worship the Gods, that he held no affinity for any of them as much of Svakland did. But during the past weeks in which she had known him, he had not once insulted nor spoken ill of them. She wasn’t sure if he believed the Gods existed, but his expression showed her that he at least would never outright disrespect them as she had just done. Even so, he didn’t say anything, just continued listening to her tale.
“There are not only the six Gods as the people of Svakland believe and worship, but an innumerable number of Gods,” she continued. “Most are lesser Gods who follow the Six Eternal with the utmost fealty, allowing themselves to be used as puppets on the end of the Six Eternal’s master strings. But there are also some Gods just as powerful, even beings more powerful than the six ruling Gods.”
“How do you know that there are other Gods? What proof is there?” he questioned. “There isn’t even definitive proof of the Six Eternal’s existence.”
“Because I am one. I am a goddess who has been cursed for eternity.”
Part Three
Gods and Curses
18
Garren
1st day of the Twelfth Month, 1774
Garren’s mind reeled. A goddess?
It couldn’t be possible. There were no Gods; he never truly believed in their existence. The idea of powerful, otherworldly beings living in the sky was preposterous. But here he was, listening to this woman, this person he had come to care for so deeply over the past weeks, saying that the Gods were real, and she was one of them. A cursed one at that. It was all too much. He bent his head, digging his palms into his eyes as his head throbbed.
And yet the more he let the idea sink in, toying with the possibility that there were in fact Gods who existed and ruled over the world, everything that had happened in the past few days began to make more sense. It crept over him like a shadow in the night. It was as if a fog was being cleared from his vision, no longer clouded by ignorance. He was beginning to see things clearly for the first time.
“Your brother,” he finally said. “He is a god also?”
“Yes,” she said as she threaded her pale, slender fingers with his. “May I tell you my story? And the story of the Gods?”
He laughed a hollow humorless sound, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head in disbelief. “Why not? Might as well uproot my entire world and everything I’ve ever believed in further.”
She squeezed his hand, a sad smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. “I know it is a lot to take in, and not only hard, but life altering to believe when you have so firmly been against our existence, but I must tell you the story of the Gods. I must tell you my story.”
He stared down into her sweeping green eyes, into their impossibly vivid glow and nodded for her to continue. Even though his head screamed that there was no way what she was about to say, what she had said already was true, he knew in his heart that she was telling the utter and complete truth. Just one look at her graceful features, flowing white hair, everything about her screamed goddess. A memory suddenly stirred of the first time he had seen her, when he had aimlessly followed the blinding light through the forest; he had thought her a goddess.
“How old are you?” he blurted.
She snorted, instantly bringing her hand up to her nose to hide her embarrassment at the crude noise. “That’s what you want to know? Out of all the things you could ask me, and you want to know how old I am?”
He smirked, exhaling on a titter and shaking his head in comprehension of how dumb a question it was in the larger scheme of things. “I’m not sure I want to know the answer to any bigger questions just yet. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you are a…” He trailed off for a moment before whispering, “...goddess.” The word felt strange on his tongue.
She huffed a small laugh. “Fair enough. I’m older than you, let's just leave it at that.”
As the sun moved further above the horizon, the colors of dawn faded away and the light blue of the morning sky took their place.
Oriana sat quietly for a long moment with her eyes closed and her head tilted toward the heavens–toward her true home, Garren realized. It was strange, but the budding realization that Oriana was a powerful immortal being possibly thousands of years old didn’t scare him. On the contrary, it felt almost like a relief. It meant that everything he could do wasn’t all that odd. But that also brought up more thoughts of why he was so different. What did it mean?
He watched as Oriana inhaled deeply, her chest rising in a steady motion. She seemed to brace herself before releasing the breath, and her entire body relaxed before his eyes with that one outtake of air. He found himself wondering how she felt after a long day of fighting and changing into that…thing.
A curse. She said she was a goddess cursed. He had so many questions, needed so many answers, but now was not the time to seek them. He would let her begin the story of the Gods and hope all his questions would be answered.
