Chapter Eight (Part 3)

Ren came back to get me after a few hours. I had tried to nap to get some energy back, but rest wouldn’t come to me even with the soft, clean bed soothing away the aches and pains I’d grown used to after living in the forest.

Night was just starting to fall when we left the dormitory. The moon was full that night, casting a buttery glow over our path. Ren led me through what looked like a small village. It was the primitive beginnings of what would eventually become Esen, Idris’s kingdom. Low brick buildings were scattered about in clusters. Lamps filled with light energy lined the path, chasing away the darkness. The figures of a few people darted back and forth across the path, and I wanted to ask if they were gods or something else but couldn’t bring myself to voice that question. In the distance, I could see the looming, brightly lit shape of a large structure with five spires stabbing into the sky, and found my voice to ask Ren what it was.

He glanced over, disinterested. “Oh, that’s Anastasia’s palace. Anastasia is the goddess of rebirth. Her and her siblings came around about a week after the universe created Idris. They all live there together for now, but once her siblings discover their own desires, they’ll spread out and find their own place in paradise.”

“Siblings?”

Ren nodded. “Idris created me out of a flower he saw in the meadow. Hence why I’m the god of flowers. Idris didn’t create Anastasia and the others that way. When he brought the light with him, they followed soon after, one after the other, which is why they’re siblings. Anastasia was first, but after her came Hari, god of protection and fatherhood, Amani goddess of dreams and travelers, Wynna, goddess of purity and redemption, and Calix, god of wealth and inspiration. Anastasia is the head of the family. She babies her siblings, and she can be quite wrathful, so you would do well not to antagonize any of them.”

I nodded, trying to take in all these names and identities. And now that I thought about it, no one had asked me what I was the god of yet. I wasn’t sure if that meant they didn’t care, or if they were afraid to know the answer. Idris must already know, of that I had no doubt. And though I saw nothing wrong with being the god of darkness and death, some small self-preservation instinct within me told me to keep it to myself nonetheless. So if no one asked, I wasn’t going to tell.

“Are there other gods besides those five, you, and Idris?” I asked. Ren nodded.

“More and more pop up every day. I know Idris is working on another god made the same way as me. He’s going to call him Nen, god of flowing water and agriculture. And more gods are being made of Idris’s light all the time. They find their way here eventually, just like you did. You’ll meet a few of the others tonight.”

I didn’t have the stomach to tell Ren that Idris’s light didn’t create me. Something like me could never be made of light. I let him go on thinking that, though, feeling safer under that assumption.

Ren eventually led me to a large clearing outside of the little village. Blue and white lights were strung up in the trees around the clearing, twinkling like the stars that were starting to appear in the darkening sky. Soft music made on string instruments floated through the air, though where it was coming from, I couldn’t tell. It was gentle and calming, like a lullaby.

And already filling the clearing were about a dozen gods, laughing, drinking from golden goblets, hugging each other. A few were dancing, clutching each other close as they spun through the grass. It was the most people I’d seen in one place before, and abruptly, I was overwhelmed again. I shied back a little behind Ren and he looked at me curiously. However, Ren seemed to understand that I was nervous, and his expression softened.

“Come on,” he said, “I’ll introduce you to everyone. They’re excited to meet you.”

I swallowed hard. Well. I had to get it over with sooner or later. And surely, these gods would not be so disheartened at my presence as Idris had been. They didn’t know me, so they couldn’t possibly hate me.

Ren brought me over to a cluster of gods near the center of the clearing, and they all stopped talking to stare at me as I approached. I felt strangely…uncomfortable under their stares, in a different way than I thought I would be. Possibly it was the way their eyes raked me up and down hungrily, even while they seemed to shy away.

There were seven people in the group, four females, and three males.

I dropped my eyes to the grass and Ren made introductions.

“Everyone, this is Rook. He appeared in the meadow today. Rook, this is Amani, Anastasia, Hari, Namir, Wynna, Eri, and Calix. Namir is the god of animals and hunting and Eri is the goddess of strategy and thoughtfulness. I already told you about the others.”

Amani stood on the far left. Her hair was longer back then, tied back in a sleek braid that fell to her lower back. Her skin was a rich shade of caramel, features sharp and delicate, and her eyes were a hypnotizing shade of silver. She was also the smallest in the group, standing at only about six feet tall. She wore a gray halter style top and pink pants, delicate silver necklaces hanging around her neck. She offered me a nod of greeting that I returned.

Anastasia was a tall redhead with pale skin and orange-brown eyes that seemed to dance in the lights. She let her curly hair flow freely about her head like a lion’s mane with little gold decorations woven into a few of the strands. She wore a long, flowing red gown that hugged her figure perfectly. She eyed me distrustfully, but not hatefully. Not at first.

Hari was about my height, with black hair cut close to his skull, smooth tan skin, and dark brown eyes. He had a comforting presence, and he was the only one who smiled at me. He wore a robe similar to mine but it was green with black edges.

Namir was only slightly taller than Amani, his brown hair just as long as hers, tied back in a low ponytail. He had sharp vibrant green eyes, warm brown skin, and seemed uninterested in pretty much everything around him. He also appeared to be cradling a small rodent creature in one arm like a baby.

Wynna favored Anastasia in coloring, except her hair was a much darker shade of red and her eyes were bright turquoise. She wasn’t as flashy as Anastasia either, wearing a sedate brown long sleeved top and a blue skirt. She nodded to me politely as well, but seemed to flinch when I met her eyes, so I quickly looked away, feeling something twinge inside me at the thought of scaring her.

Eri was as tall as myself, which was rather impressive. Her hair was black and wavy, falling to her waist. She had lavender-colored eyes, her skin a luminescent shade of olive. She seemed to find my eyes as fascinating as I found hers, studying them curiously.

Calix was definitely the weirdest member of the group. Also about my height, but muscular kind of like Idris, he was a bit intimidating, despite being the youngest of Anastasia’s siblings. He had blond hair that fell in waves around his face, lightly tanned skin, and gold eyes. He stared at me unblinkingly, but for the life of me I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He wore a simple black shirt with blue drawstring pants, casual and comfortable, but he carried himself with such dignity that you almost didn’t notice.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Anastasia, surprisingly, said first. Despite her wariness, she came forward to shake my hand, and though it was silly, I felt incredibly relieved. Though they were all a bit stiff and stilted in my presence, none of them seemed to hate me right off the bat like Idris. It gave me hope that I would be able to fit in.

I took Anastasia’s hand, and she drew me into a hug, her hair tickling my nose. I remember being startled, eyes going so wide in surprise that Amani actually giggled.

“You can tell he’s brand new,” Amani said. “This is how we greet each other here. We’re all family.”

I was shocked again as Amani came up to give me a hug too once Anastasia had let me go. And then one by one, they all gave me hugs in greeting. Some were soft and warm, others quick and brief, particularly in Namir’s case, but I took no offense to it, feeling like I could cry just from having people hold me like this.