“What have we done?” one of the men cried out, stepping forward from the others. “We’ve served the sols and kept to our jobs and our towns. What have we done to anger the gods so much?”
“A great river once ran through this land,” I told him, deciding on a story that was short enough that it didn’t contain all the details, but still long enough hold many truths. “It connected to several other waterways, but if you traced each of those waterways back to their source, you would find that they all led into Topia. The water is what gives Topia its magic, and Topia itself powers the magic of the gods. But when new gods ascend, the Creator has to share his magic, his energy, with those who were previously sols. Just as he took the water from Topia to make himself more powerful, he is now wiping out the people of Minatsol to keep it all to himself.”
“But we aren’t sols,” the man replied in despair. “We can’t ascend anyway.”
“I was a dweller,” I told him. “Of the seventh ring. My father was a god, and so I became one when I died. When my sister, another dweller, died, I turned her into a god. It has never been just the sols that have threatened Staviti: there are powers at work that none of us understand—possibly not even him. He won’t wait around to figure it all out, though. It’s faster and more effective to just kill everyone. To put an end to ascension as a whole. An end to sharing his power.”
“How do we fight them?” a new voice asked, and I turned to find Leader Graham walking through the gathered people, Leader Chet, Leader Julie, and another man who I assumed was Leader Yennek followed him.
“We aren’t going to wait here and fight them,” I said, and even though I was repeating myself to these leaders, I assumed that they had forgotten most of the plan in their initial panic and doubt. “We’re going to evacuate everyone to the sol cities. They have warriors, guards, and weaponry. The sols are all trained in fighting and defending; they’ll be of more use in the battle. What’s important now is to get all of you to Soldel, where you will be safest. Gradually, we’ll evacuate everyone—including the sols—to Blesswood. It’s a large island surrounded by water, and the only way to get there is by train or barge on one side. On the other side there is another group of the undead coming from one of the biggest rivers. They should all arrive more or less at the same time, since that river was further away from Blesswood than the other was from the Ninth Ring.”
“The sols will never allow us in,” Leader Graham said, shaking his head.
Even though I was no longer the dweller fuck-up who had once lived in his village, he was still staring at me as though I was. I could see the disapproval in his eyes: he thought it was a terrible plan.
“The sols have no choice.” Siret’s voice boomed out, and I was surprised for a moment that he had been the one to answer. “They will accept you all and protect you, or we won’t help to protectthem. If they want to survive, they will have to survive alongside the dwellers.”
An actual cheer rose among the people, and I reached out for Siret’s hand, turning my attention back to Leader Graham.
“Everyone will rest here for the night. We’re waiting on others to join us. When they arrive, we will move everyone inward.” Turning to the one leader I hadn’t yet met, I raised my voice a little so that a few of the surrounding dwellers would hear. “Leader Yennek—will your people open their homes to the escapees from the outer three rings?”
He bowed his head graciously. Whether it was genuine or because he didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of the people who had heard my question, I wasn’t sure.
“We will do our part,” he promised, before lifting his voice. “Everyone back to your homes! We will assign people to your household and have them sent over shortly! If you have any questions, please wait until your guests are brought to you. Prepare to leave early on the next sun-cycle.”
He walked away, drawing several people with him and muttering instructions to them.
“Let’s go find somewhere quiet,” I muttered to the Abcurses. “If we keep standing here, they won’t go back to their houses.”
Yael pointed to a nearby hill, where only a few scattered houses were sitting amongst scraggly brush. “If we go up there, we should be able to see when the gods arrive.”
Agreeing, we followed him through the people and up the side of the hill, sitting along a few larger rocks to wait. I was starving, because a single cake wasn’t enough, but Donald wasn’t there to magically produce food anymore. I wondered briefly how she was getting along with Jakan, and whether they’d be the first gods we saw this sun-cycle.
We sat there and watched as the dwellers all filtered back to their houses like ants disappearing into dirt. It struck me, then, why people had always called us dirt-dwellers. There was no colour where we lived. No water, no greenery. It was all dust and dirt.
Gradually, the dirt roads cleared again, and the houses grew quiet. The escapees from the previous rings were divided up by the leaders and escorted to their designated houses for the night. The lights stayed on and the smell of hundreds of different meals being cooked wafted up to us.
The arrival happened as the lights in the houses began to die out, and we all jumped up, recognising the colours of the robed figures. Abil and Adeline had come, appearing in the centre of the town, by the town’s well, their appearance lit by the outside lanterns that had been left burning. Another appeared a moment later: Terrance.
That hopefully meant that Haven, Ciune, Lorda, Jakan, and Gable were in the other rings moving toward Soldel, where we’d all meet with Emmy and Cyrus.
We rushed down the hill to meet the others just as the leaders rushed toward them from the hut they had all been convening in. We ran into the area a few clicks after the others, and I caught the tail-end of Leader Graham’s words.
“—all under control.”
“Nothing is under control,” I announced, as the three gods turned their attention our way.
“Willa,” Terrance greeted. “I see the storm has finally come.”
I blinked, and then realised that technically, he was right. Ihadmanaged to “wash” something through the lands.
“Are the others in the next ring?” I asked.
“Ciune, Gable, Lorda, and Haven are all there,” Abil confirmed, watching me closely. “And now everyone will have to excuse us. We need to have a family meeting. Where may we go?”
“My house is on top of that hill,” Yennek offered, pointing to the hut that was really more of a house, sitting on the highest part of the hill. “You may all stay there the night, and I will share with others.”
“Thank you,” I quickly muttered, mostly because I knew that nobody else was going to thank him.
“I think I’ll take a stroll around,” Terrance offered, giving me a wink. “Enjoy your family time.”
“Come,” Abil ordered, ignoring the other god as he turned and strode off toward the base of the hill.
Adeline followed, and then Coen, Rome, Aros, Yael, and Siret. I stood where I was, unsure, until the guys all turned around, waiting. When they stopped moving, Abil also turned around.
“You’re part of the family, are you not?” he barked. He didn’t wait for an answer, only turned again and continued on his way.
“What’s his problem?” I whispered to Siret, catching up with them quickly.
“I don’t think he’s angry at us,” Siret replied, his eyes concerned as he watched Abil lead the way. “I think he’s afraid.”
