My mouth was dry and my head was pounding as I attempted to open my eyes. I hated the thought that I was lying there completely vulnerable, but for the life of me I couldn’t get my damn eyes to open. There was something soft beneath me, but not too soft. Almost like a thick rug. Reaching out, I couldn’t feel anything else around me.
Finally—with considerable effort—I managed to get my left, swollen eye open a pinch. The light burned, bringing tears, which blocked my vision for many more clicks. By the time it cleared I had both eyes cracked open, and I was rolling over to my side, trying to heave myself up. I got to my knees, taking in the wide expanse of cloudy sky around me, before my stomach rebelled and I started dry-heaving. I hadn’t eaten much that sun-cycle, so I ended up gagging and spluttering up nothing, before everything stopped rolling in my body.
Wiping my mouth, I stumbled to my feet, my arms instinctively wrapping around me, trying to hold my chest together. I was on one of those floating platforms, high up above Topia. The air was sweet, the sun was shining, the fluffy clouds drifted lazily around me.
I had an insane urge to run and jump off the side.
Shuffling closer, I peered over, wondering if I would survive it.
“Please step back from the edge, you will not survive that fall.” The robotic voice had me whipping around to find a Jeffrey standing behind me.
It wasn’t the actual Jeffrey from last time—this one was a little wider, more hair scattered across his body, and only half a weird skin suit. He was also male. Which made me think the males might not need the entire suit.
“I’m Wanda, I’ll be your server while you are here. The Great One asked that I give you whatever your heart desires, except you cannot leave.”
Wanda. Of course.
“And where is this great one, Wanda? Shouldn’t he be here, acting creepy, beating up dwellers?”
I almost chuckled when he let out a mechanical gasp. So predictable. I continued quickly. “On second thought, what I really need is Abil. Can you get him for me?”
I didn’t trust the Trickery god, but he was the only god I could think of who might be able to help me. Or at least get a message to his sons. My heart sank when Wanda shook his head.
“I’m sorry, the gods have not returned from Minatsol.” He bowed low then, genuflecting before me.
“Please, stop. You don’t need to bow to me.” I was mortified, and the whole servant thing was making me want to throw up again.
As Wanda straightened, I licked at my dry lips, desperate for some moisture. My mouth tasted salty, and I realised that I was crying. Tears were silently dripping along my cheeks, dropping onto my lips. It was a reaction to the intensity of the pain in my chest, the part of my soul that was tied to the Abcurses was slowly ripping into even smaller pieces. Come to think of it: how was I still alive? I was in a different world to them. That sort of distance should have destroyed me. Maybe Rau’s magic was still working a little.
Or maybe … maybe the Abcurses were already in Topia.
Fifteen
Wanda ignored most of my other requests, even though he’d apparently been ordered to give me whatever I desired. It seemed that ‘everything I desired’ meant ‘water and nothing else.’ Because ‘can I have some gods-damned water?’ was the only request that got a response out of him.
After he disappeared, I explored the platform, dragging myself from one end to the other, weaving through pillars and poking at greenery. There wasn’t much happening. Low, marble boxes held all kinds of plants, and vines were everywhere, twining up the columns and dangling over the edges of the platform. It was a strange, marble jungle. There were a few benches to sit on, and one little area that might have been a meeting point, since the benches there were arranged in a circle, facing an empty centre. Eventually, that’s where I curled up on the ground to wait. On a bed of vines, in the centre of the circle of benches. The pain was unbelievable, tearing right through me, but I had managed to get a handle on the crying.
I didn’t want to be weeping when Rau finally turned up again.
Or when the Abcurses came to rescue me … because they were coming.
I hoped.
“Oh, that’s just pathetic,” a voice declared from behind me.
I quickly uncurled and jumped to my feet, though it required a lot of wincing and wobbling. The god standing before me was familiar, although I was starting to wish that he didn’t look familiar. He had pale eyes that were almost white, though I was pretty sure that there was some blue in there. His hair was silver, and his face was almost too young-looking for all the silver and white. It was also a mean face. His brows were dark, to contrast the white hair, and they were pinched down into a frown right now. The god was so perfect-looking and so angry-looking that just facing him felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.
“You’re the Neutral guy,” I spluttered, taking a step back.
His eyes widened a little, but I didn’t think it was because I had correctly guessed his status. I was pretty sure it was because I’d called him ‘the Neutral guy.’
“I am Cyrus. I deal in the disputes of the gods.”
“Profitable job you got there.” I took another step back, and he matched it with a step forward.
“I don’t get paid for it.” Now he looked even more pissed off.
“You should take that up with someone!” I tried to sound genial, as though he had come to me for help, but I was still stepping back and he was still stepping forward. “Like … I don’t know … is there a council or something you gods go to when you’re not happy about something?”
“Yes.” His lips twitched, just a little, but his eyes were still cold and mean. “Me.”
I took another step back, but my foot didn’t come down against marble the way I had been expecting. It came down on air, and then I was toppling backwards, over the edge of the platform. Or, I would have been, if Cyrus hadn’t jumped forward and grabbed a handful of my dress. He jerked me forward and twisted right before I would have crashed into him, sending me sprawling onto the vine-covered marble instead.
“Get up,” he growled, stalking towards me again. “We need to anchor your soul before it begins to feed on itself and you die.”
“Whoa.” I was scrambling away from him again, but this time on the ground, and I stopped to hold my hands up before me, to keep him back. “What the hell did you just say? My soul is trying to eat me?”
“That is not what I just said.” He reached down, caught my arms, and hauled me to my feet. “But essentially … well yes, I suppose you could put it that way.”
“What the fuck!” I struggled to get out of his grip, because I was starting to freak out just a little bit, but he wrapped both arms around me and hauled me up so that my feet were dangling above the ground, my arms trapped against my sides.
“If you’re not going to cooperate long enough for me to create a soul-stone, I’m going to have to do it this way.” His grip was getting tighter, his words growled out against the top of my head, and then, all of a sudden … the world was white.