Caleb PoV
I sat there, on the blanket, it was grey, but really soft.
Heket stared at me, her glare honestly becoming minorly annoying.
“…
Annoying…?” Her eyes narrowed.
… I forgot she could read my mind…
“See what I’m talking about, Heket?
This one isn’t afraid to think about us.
I mean, even people who don’t know we can read minds like to doctor their thoughts so they don’t make any cues, but this guy just presents it all completely naturally.”
Heket scowled at her brother, “Insub….
ORDI-” She began coughing.
“Come on… listen, he doesn’t pass into disrespect, and before complaining about him finding you annoying, you’ve not moved even the slightest bit, and from his mind, you’ve been staring at him nonstop.
The tea is getting cold in your cup.”
Heket let out a deep growl, but drank the tea.
She didn’t swallow, but I heard it going down, like it simply fell.
I noticed that both of their bandages were rather bloody.
Heket’s eyes flicked down.
Then Leshy touched his bandage, “Caleb is right, at least my bandage needs to be replace.”
… Why are they still reading my mind?!
“No… authori-”
“If you’re uncomfortable with it, I’ll stop.
Heket, stop reading his mind.”
Heket glared at Leshy… ok, what is happening?!
It’s odd enough Leshy let’s me call him by his name, but now he’s considering whether I’m comfortable?”
“…
Us….
both….
Mortal.” … Ok, I’m going to assume that means she’s sharing my confusion.
Heket nodded briefly…
Then Leshy turned his head in my direction “though, you are correct, Caleb, these bandages should be changed.”
“…
uhm… okay?”
Heket sighed, it was a deep clear breath, “Change… Leshy….”
“Me?”
Heket looked at me with a mildly annoyed look.
And began changing the bandage around her neck.
… there was a hole, I could see her spine through it.
Something pulsed in it, blood pooling inside…
I forced myself to look away, and I removed Leshy’s bandage, and he gave me the new one.
… there was a hole, and five claw marks, cutting in like the eye was grabbed and torn out.
The hole itself was gaping, and I could see wires, nerves, twitching around.
I slowly wrapped the bandage around the whole, and I had to do it 10 times, before I could cut the bandage and hand the roll back to him.
Then I stepped away, “Alright, done.” I felt sick… that… that was horrible… “…
does it hurt?”
Leshy softened, “Always, one problem with being a god, if you receive a true injury, it never fades.
It never heals.”
“…
That seems really dangerous.”
“Oh do not worry, not every injury does it.
It takes one, fueled by another god, to do it.
And even then, it has to be severe.
Otherwise we can heal it.”
“Anyways, I brought sandwiches, let’s eat.”
“…” I stood there… thinking….
They were in perpetual pain… that didn’t change what they did… but if people knew that… would that change how the Bishops were seen?
“Caleb, come on”
I followed Leshy to the blanket, and Heket examined me, “Don’t… secret…”
“You have nothing to fear from me, Heket.
I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.” I was confident, and Heket seemed to acknowledge that.
“Leshy… commander… mortal?”
Leshy grunted, “Heket…” his voice was a warning.
“Gift… of… … ascendance?”
“Heket, you don’t need to ask him, not here.
We are supposed to be eating sandwiches.”
“…
I’m sorry, but no.
I don’t want to be a commander.
Because… then I would feel duty to serve.
I don’t want Leshy to feel like I only do these things out of duty.”
Heket blinked, and considered me.
Then she ate her sandwich.
One of her eyes never left me but Leshy seemed to enjoy the rest of it.
Heket never stopped reading my mind, that I could tell.
Even as I think of it, she’s raising a skeptical brow in response.
Eventually, she stood up.
“Go… harvest….”
“Ah, yes, go on, sister.
Me and Caleb may attend the festival.”
Her eye twitched, “…
… perhaps…”
Then a pentagram formed under her and she sunk into it.
“…
What festival?”
“Oh, Heket’s Harvest Festival, it’s an annual event where a tenth of the entire harvest is set aside for famine, and another tenth is sent to the temple and prepared into a massive ensemble of meals.
Then, the whole plains is called in to be blessed with prosperity and constant feasting, and they eat it all.
It’s one of the few time when Heket actually is in a good mood.”
That… actually sounded like a fun event, but Leshy tilted his head in my direction, “Well, thank you for coming, best be off now.”
“I can help clean.
And, yeah, that does sound like something fun to go too.”
He smiled and I rolled up the blanket as he picked up the trash.
Then he took it, and he handed me something.
“What is this?”
“It’s my sigil.
If ever you run into a problem with a subject of mine, show them this, and either they’ll believe you have my respect, or they’ll believe you’re strong enough to beat the few who have it.
Either way, they will not bother you after that.”
I looked at the Sigil and it was a tree emblem, with a worm coiled around the tree.
The tree itself was leafless and instead had one eye and antlers that resembled Leshy.
The material seemed to be gold, but I felt like it wouldn’t break if I stomped on it.
“Thank you, Leshy.”
“No problem, Caleb, have a wonderful day.
Come to my temple sometime, it would be fun to have you there.”
“Oh… uh, where is it?”
“Oh, it’s… let me think… about a four days walk eastward.”
“…
oh, how do you get between here and there.”
“Oh, either the portal system, or I just run. Get faster updates on g.com.
Me, myself, I can get here in only 10 seconds… OH, that’s another thing.
That sigil will give you access to my portal system, and, yes, it can be disorientating at first, but you get used to it.”
“…
Thank you, I don’t know what I did to deserve this trust…”
“Being you.” Then he showed me the portal point, it was underneath the lilacs, and was actually rather interesting.
He waved at me as he sunk into it.
I walked out of the garden, pocketing the Sigil.
I could not show that off, Ceres would kill me… and I don’t even know if that would be metaphorically.
As I walked, I got 30 minutes away from the camp, when I felt a chill.
it wasn’t the bishops… no… this was pure malevolence.
It wasn’t behind me, either… it was in front of me.
“Hello… pet of Leshy, scout of the Lamb.
Quite the game you play.” Before I could blink, the Red Fox was behind me, “With knowledge of the cat, and the sigil of the worm, what happens if both paths intertwine.
How the Lamb would hate her scout, if she knew of his deceit, and how the worm would loathe himself as another betrays.”
I couldn’t stand this anymore, “I’m not deceiving or betraying anyone!
I care for both Leshy and Ceres, I want both to survive, both to be happy.”
He smiled, and I wondered if I’d become the predator’s next meal, as he clearly wasn’t scared of the bishops… in the game, this guy ate Ratau, so he clearly was no pushover.
“My, oh my… what if… I decide to gift you a way to get there.”
I knew what came of these from the game… only death.
“I won’t make a deal with you, fox.”
He smiled, his grin making me aware of his size… he was only slightly smaller than Leshy.
“You are no fun, so I’ll make you fun.
No deal, except the intrigue I get in seeing who among the unobtainable you seek first.” Before I could speak, I felt a clawed paw spear through my chest.
Blood foamed from my mouth, but rather than fading… I became far more aware.
Both fox and injury vanished, and I staggered… I needed help… I became aware of the difference of light and darkness.
I saw the trees roots, no they were in the dirt.
The world began spinning as I saw all too much.
I tumbled through the orchids into the lilacs and I felt the portal, a network I could now see… IT WAS TOO MUCH!!!
Pain, light, darkness, life, death, chaos, order… It all kept coming at me!!!
I CAN’T-
“Breathe…”
The familiar growled voice cut through the overwhelming, I was laid in Leshy’s lap, his hand on my stomach, a whistling sound flowing through the garden.
“I-It hurts… what is… happening… Leshy…”
“Who did this to you?” his voice was dark.
“Fox…” I was shaking, but the energy I could see flowing from his hand calmed me.
“I see…”
Off in the distance, through the portal, I heard someone calling for Leshy, it hurt… I could hear too much!!!
Leshy tensed… “You should be fine for now, drink water and rest… your body is transforming without your consent… but I must go.
Someone killed Valefar, go home for now.”
I breathed, and nodded, and walked.
Not feeling time pass as all I could see through the sheer overload was my two feet…
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
… I saw the camp.
“Ceres…” I collapsed and Felen ran up, and checked my pulse.
“Caleb?!
What’s happening?
… SOMEONE CALL AMDUSIAS, WE NEED A DOCTOR!!!”
The world did not fade, but instead collapsed into a blur.