“Tell me more,” Devryn said. “I don’t want a short answer.”

“Alright then,” Maren said before clearing her throat. “I know you’ve heard of the gods, everyone has. But do you know much about them?”

Devryn shrugged. “I know what everyone else does,” he said unenthusiastically. “The gods are the great cosmic entities that formed the world. They also guide the affairs of us lowly humans.”

Maren broke out in laughter. “What did you say?” she asked, the amusement on her face very much evident. “The gods made the world? That’s blasphemy, boy. Even the gods are incapable of such a feat.”

Devryn defended himself. “It’s what the stories say,” he said with a scowl.

“Ah, I see,” Maren said. “It has been quite some time since I last listened to people’s takes on the gods. I didn’t know that was what they were saying nowadays.”

“Anyway,” the old woman continued, “Allow me to correct your erroneous beliefs. The gods didn’t form the Earth. In fact, the opposite is true; the Earth formed the gods and everything else in it.”

Devryn was confused. “I know I’m not an expert on the Pantheon, but I’ve got to say that my theory makes more sense.”

Maren chuckled. “Your false theory makes more sense to you because you think of the Earth as some large inanimate object. You think of it as though it isn’t alive.”

Devryn let out a sigh. “Now you’ve totally lost me.”

Maren smacked her forehead. “Focus on my words, boy. And stop interrupting me; voicing your thoughts won’t help you understand me any better.”

Devryn gritted his teeth. He wasn’t interested in listening to any stories regarding the gods. All he wanted was to know how Maren was breaching his mind. He would’ve considered protesting, but he reasoned the old woman would simply compel him to remain silent and listen anyway.

“Great,” Maren continued, “Now, let’s begin our lesson. The Earth is the source of everything we know. No one knows how it came to be, not even the gods.”

“But if there’s one thing they do know, it’s that the Earth has a mind of its own. The Earth is the source of imagination, and it creates whatever its mind conceives. It imagined the gods—four immortal beings capable of manipulating nature—and it created them. It imagined humans and created us as well.”

Maren shrugged. “Nevertheless, the Earth doesn’t seem to have a rationale for what it does. It simply creates whatever it pleases.”

Devryn raised a hand. “Alright, I think I got you. The Earth wasn’t created by the gods. Mind you, I never believed that stuff anyway.”

Maren rolled her eyes. “I’m glad you’ve got that part nailed down. Now, let’s talk about the gods. After their creation, they spent hundreds of thousands of years alone before the first of our kind was made. Seeing how they’d been alone for so long, it was only natural that they began to dote on us. They ruled over us justly, taking it upon themselves to ensure that all humans lived in perfect bliss.”

“But everything went awry about a thousand years ago, when the gods decided to let all humans share of their power.”

“The gods had never craved superiority; they wanted us humans to feel equal to them. But things didn’t go exactly as they planned. The humans revolted after a while and they went to war with one another.”

“The Champions of the Pantheon,” Devryn chipped in. “It’s just like in my dream.”

Maren clicked her tongue. “That wasn’t a dream, boy. That was a memory of things past.”

“Wait,” Devryn said. “You know about the dream?” He paused for a moment. “Don’t tell me you were involved in that too.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Of course I was,” Maren said with a smirk. “My storytelling skills at dinner last night wouldn’t have been enough to give you such a vivid recollection of our history.”

Devryn frowned. “You’ve got to explain how you’re doing all this.”

“We’ll get there in no time,” Maren said. “Just keep on listening. Once the gods granted people their power, there was no going back. It was impossible to break the link they’d already created. They couldn’t take back their gifts.”

“The gods would’ve stepped in to restore order, but they were loath to harm their beloved humans. Instead, they watched the carnage unfold while hoping the people would come to their senses.”

“The solution to the violence finally came after a while. Right from their creation, the gods had been subject to a recurring period of sleep which they referred to as The Cycle.”

“As The Cycle began once more and the gods fell asleep, the humans lost their divine abilities and the wars finally came to an end.”

Devryn raised his hand again. “Wait up, how do you know all this?”

Maren scoffed. “A lot of people may think the gods are made up, but trust me, there are still some people out there who truly believe in the Pantheon. As one of those people, I can assure you that we have always known the true history of the gods. The Pantheon may have been asleep, but their essence was still enough to guide us to the truth.”

“Okay,” Devryn muttered. “So, how does the story explain your, um, abilities?”

Maren glared at him. “Don’t be daft, boy. Put the pieces together.”

“Alright, alright,” Devryn said slowly. “From what you’ve told me, I’d say that the gods are the source of, um, human magic. And that magic fades when The Cycle puts them to sleep.”

“Good,” Maren said. “That means the only explanation for my abilities is that the gods have woken up. The Cycle is finally over.”

****

The sun was beginning to rise higher in the sky. Ryker stood in the clearing and took a look around. Most of the people were already packing up; they would soon be resuming their journey.

“We’ll be home in a couple of days,” Ryker said aloud.

So far, he had loved every second of the trip, but he wanted to get back home as soon as possible, so he could hit the workshop. He needed to prove to his father that he was finally ready to work on his own.

The thought of going back home reminded Ryker of his twin sister, Aria. He squinted as he searched the clearing for her. As her elder brother (even if it was just by a few seconds), he tried to watch over her as much as he could.

Ryker searched for some minutes, but he wasn’t able to find Aria. He groaned as he realized that she’d probably taken a walk, just like she usually did in Baynir.

His eyes fell on Gregor. “Hey,” Ryker called out to him.

Gregor turned. He had been busy trying to disassemble the tent that he shared with his elder brother. “Hey,” he repeated in response.

“Um, I was wondering if you saw where Aria ran off to?” Ryker said.

“Oh, I didn’t,” Gregor replied. “She only told me that she wanted to take a walk.”

Ryker sighed.

“You want to go look for her?” Gregor asked.

Ryker nodded. “Yeah. She might get carried away out there. I don’t want her delaying the caravan’s journey.”

“Give me a minute,” Gregor said. “I’ll go with you.”

As Gregor spoke, Aria walked back into the clearing.

“Seems there’ll be no need for that anymore,” Ryker said to Gregor. “Aria’s back already. Thanks for offering the help though.”

Gregor shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

“Hey,” Ryker said as he walked up to Aria. “Where have you been? We’re about to leave.”

“I was taking a walk,” Aria answered as she looked around distractedly.

Ryker placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, what’s going on? You seem rattled.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Aria answered. “It’s nothing. I think I’m just overreacting.”

Ryker raised an eyebrow. “Overreacting? To what?”

Aria sighed. “I came across someone on the travelling path. He seemed kind of suspicious to me.”

Ryker frowned. “Where is he? Did he follow you here?”

“No, he didn’t,” Aria answered. “I saw him walk off, but I still don’t feel comfortable.”

“Calm down,” Ryker said. “I’ll go check the path before we move. I’ll make sure there’s no one lurking around.”

“Whoa, hold your horses,” Aria said. “It may be unsafe out there, I think we should tell Father about it.”

Ryker scoffed. “We don’t need to tell Father about this,” he said sharply. “Come on, it’s just one guy. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Aria protested. “I’m not sure if he’s the only one out there. There might have been others hiding in the trees. He could be a part of some rascal bunch.”

“That’s just ludicrous,” Ryker said. “Eldon’s guards patrol the woods daily, there’s no way that a group of guys would be able to hide out here unnoticed.”

Aria sighed. “You’re right. I don’t even know why I’m acting up.”

Ryker laughed. “Whoever this guy was, he sure managed to get you worked up. You know what, I’ll take Gregor along with me so you don’t worry too much. Just don’t tell Father about this, okay. Let me handle it myself.”

Aria nodded silently.

“Good,” Ryker said before he turned around and walked to Gregor.

“Hey, is Aria okay?” Gregor asked as he saw Ryker approaching. “She doesn’t look too good.”

“Aria’s pretty much okay,” Ryker replied. “Thing is she came across someone a few minutes back, and now she’s feeling unsettled. I’m about to check the woods to see if it’s all clear, and I was wondering if you would be down for it too.”

Gregor’s eyes flicked towards Aria, who stood a few feet behind her brother. “Alright then,” he said with a smile. “Let’s get on with it.”