“We can, but it won’t work,” the goddess said, turning her black beak toward Gilgamesh’s gleaming towers. “Everything you see in front of you is an illusion built to flatter the gods’ vanity and serve their convenience. Gilgamesh divided Paradisein two so that it would be easier to oppress Ishtar’s demons, but what he calls ‘Heaven’ is just another factory for processing human souls, same as the Hells. Even if I flew you to the top of the tallest tower, Gilgamesh would not be there, because overseers do not live with workers.”
“Then where is he?” Bex demanded.
“Somewhere else,” the Morrigan replied, searching the empty sky with her beady eyes. “This is my first time setting foot in the folly known as Paradise, so I don’t know where that is, but Idoknow there will be a gate. The gods have always created divisions and hidden places to suit their needs, but even their most secret spaces must always have a door or a bridge back to the living world. The connection can take many forms, but if they don’t have something tying them down, their creations would be washed away by the stream of time that flows through the void.”
She snapped her beak back to Bex. “My suggestion is to follow the chains. They also can’t be interrupted or the strength that binds the Wheel would snap. Follow them, and you’ll find Gilgamesh.”
“If we’re looking for chains, I know where they are,” Adrian volunteered. “But I’m not clear about what’s going on. Why are we in such a hurry all of a sudden?”
“Because Gilgamesh is probably about to end the world,” Bex explained.
Adrian’s already pale face turned ashen. “Why would he do that?”
“So he can restart it anew,” the Witch of the Present replied with a sigh. “For all that he claims to hate the gods, he always did love pretending to be one.”
“He’s about to stop pretending,” Muriel warned, gazing into the middle distance like she was staring down a horror only she could see. “I’ve never been able to foresee exactly whatGilgamesh is plotting, so nothing is certain, but resetting the world would be the most efficient way to solve his problems, and he’s always been an efficient man.”
“Whatever he’s working on, I don’t intend to let him finish,” Bex said as she turned back to Adrian. “Can you fly me up to somewhere everyone can see?”
“Of course,” he said, pulling his broom off his back and dropping it to the ground so it could turn back into a raven. “Hop on.”
Bex was already stepping onto the broom’s wings before he finished. Nemini got on next, followed by Adrian, who still looked confused but determined not to slow things down despite that. He had them twenty feet off the ground in seconds, giving Bex a high platform to address her people.
“Children of the Riverlands!”
The chaos in the plaza surrounding the entrance to the Hells paused as all the demons stopped what they were doing and looked up at their queen. When Bex was certain she had everyone’s attention, she drew her sword and pointed him at Gilgamesh’s fortress.
“Our enemy is on the move,” she announced. “We’ll have to go even faster if we want to stop him, so I need everyone who’s willing and able to fight to meet me on the road to the palace. Those who cannot join the battle, your job is to get down the roots to safety as quickly as possible and deny Heaven the opportunity to attack our flank. Our allies, the witches, have food ready to help those who are too weak to make the journey. Do whatever you must to get back on your feet, but donot stop movinguntil you’re out of Heaven!”
You should command them by your name,Drox suggested as the plaza exploded into chaos.What’s the point of taking Ishtar’s power if you don’t use it?
“Because I don’t want to use it like that,” Bex grumbled, pulling him back into his ring. “My people gave me a name so I could set them free. I don’t want them to spend what could be their final hours scrambling to obey an order they can’t ignore. If I do things this way, at least they’ll die free inside their own heads if we fail.”
She’d been talking to Drox, but Adrian was the one who whirled around. “Okay,whatis going on?” he demanded. “What might we fail? How is Gilgamesh going to reset the world? And while we’re at it, why do you have six horns now?”
Presumptuous human,Drox muttered.You don’t owe him an explanation, my queen.
“Yes, I do,” Bex said with a scowl. “Adrian told me what he was doing before he did it. I’d be a terrible partner if I didn’t give him the same courtesy. Also, no matter how hard we rush, it’s going to take at least thirty minutes to get the first attack force in position so we’re not running into battle one at a time like a bad kung fu movie.”
“I’m curious as well,” Nemini said from the back of the broom. “Not that knowing the future changes it, but it’s still comforting to know what to expect.” Her yellow eyes flicked up to Bex’s horns. “I’d also like to know your new name since it feels like you’re officially my queen as well now.”
“Wait, I am?” Bex said, shocked. She hadn’t had time to think too deeply about what accepting power from all nine varieties of demon actually meant on a metaphysical level. Now that Nemini mentioned it, though, Bex realized she could feel the pride demons the same way she normally felt her wrath demons. She could feeleverysort of demon, actually, which was pretty overwhelming now that she was paying attention to it.
I don’t see why you’re so surprised,Drox said as Bex grappled with the new sensations.What do you think all those extra horns signify? You took Ishtar’s place. Her demons prayto you now. Not that that changes much since you’ve been acting like a queen to every demon you’ve met since the fall of Paradise, but it’s nice to have some new powers to go along with all the extra responsibility.
Bex hadn’t even considered that angle yet. She knew her firepower had gotten a boost, but the way Drox and Nemini were talking made her think that her new name had much more to it than four extra horns and bigger flames. There was no time to sit down and figure it all out, though. The demons in the square below were already scrambling to obey her orders, and Nemini and Adrian were still waiting for their explanation.
She really did owe them one. They’d been nothing but patient, and it wasn’t like her new crown came with an instruction manual. She’d figure herself out eventually. Right now, though, the people she depended on most had to come first, so Bex put her arms around her allies and pulled them close to explain all the world-upending things that had happened to her in the last twenty minutes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Well,” Adrian said shakily when Bex finally finished, “I’m very glad we never managed to cut more than one chain now.”
“It was a good plan given the information we had at the time,” Bex said, reaching out to pat his arm. “How were we supposed to know that Ishtar was planning to destroy everything the moment the gods came back? She wassupposedto be on our side.”
“The gods have never been on anyone’s side but their own,” Nemini stated in a matter-of-fact voice.
“So much for the ‘Merciful Mother of the Riverlands’,” Bex agreed bitterly. “But at least we know what we’ve gotta do now.”
