(continued from installment 2.21)
"Let me start by telling you about my visit to Mattamukmuk," I told Aylem and Asgotl as I adjusted the cushion behind my head.
"I already know about your trip to Mattamukmuk," Aylem raised one eyebrow at me. "Kayseo wrote down everything you said about your travels with the gods while you were recuperating in Turvos."
"That's the official version," I teased, "redacted for general consumption."
Aylem gave me a look and then rolled her eyes.
Asgotl snickered, "You really are something else. In case I never mentioned it, you are incorrigible, grandma."
"I love you too, blubber brain," I bonked his beak with my foot. "The first thing to say about Mattamukmuk are all the goofy names. How in the word did they ever come up with some of those names? The island of Alkinosuk. The strait of Weekapakwonk. The city of Mattamukmuk. I dare you to say that three times fast!"
"I'll pass on the tongue twister, thank you," Aylem shook her head. "What was it like? Because I believed I couldn't leave the kingdom, I have never traveled, other than to Uldlip and visiting Ud in the Fenland. I must also confess that I'm not good with the geography of places I've never been to."
"Alright, let me start with the geography. Twenty wagon-days off the east coast of this world's single continent is the great island republic of Alkinosuk, separated from the mainland by the strait of Weekapakwonk. The island is big, almost as large in area as all of the Blue Mountains. Alkinosuk is covered with deciduous forests, farms, and fishing towns around its perimeter. In its interior are vast herds of flying horses who are hostile to the Cosm who live along the coast. No roc eagles or griffins or Coyn live there. Nor do the Chem live or visit there because it is too cold from their taste.
"The city of Mattamukmuk is bigger than Is'syal but smaller than Salicet. It overlooks a huge harbor. As you know, it's the capital of the republic of Alkinosuk, which is ruled by an assembly of its wealthiest merchants. In that respect, it resembles the old Republic of Venice, except with magic. Wealth provides an equal path to power equivalent to magic. Like most of the other nations on Erdos, the religious organization run by silverhairs is the lead institution for managing the social safety net.
"It needs to be said, Aylem, that the merchants of Mattamukmuk were no different from a cabal of pirates or viking raiders who occasionally engage in honest trade as a hobby. Mattamesscontess sends its navy every two to three decades to scare the Mattamukmuk pirates away from its merchant fleet. Mattamukmuk usually bounces back after a few years, laughing off whatever treaty it signed with Mattamesscontess. Out east is a pretty wild place.
"The All-Gods Shrine of Mattamukmuk was very different from the shrines of the mainland, though you probably already know that."
"I do but keep going anyway," she looked interested.
"There's just one main shrine which is run by just one clergy. It handles healing, poor relief, education, and nothing else. The roads, bridges, ports and other civil infrastructure are built and maintained by the Assembly. A modest sales tax funds the All-Gods Shrine. Anything not covered by the sales tax has to be paid for through donations or the shrine’s own commercial ventures.
"The problem with the All-Gods Shrine is their main product: the production and sale of charm gems. Any trader from Impotu, Mattamesscontess or any of the east coast or island city states can buy all the charm gems they want, to sell wherever they can make the most profit. The black market in charm gems on the mainland leads straight to the All-Gods Shrine in the pirate capital of Mattamukmuk.
"Erhonsay in her aspect as a giant owl gave me a tour of the island. In was an amazing trip, especially when we were surrounded at one point by a herd of flying horses in flight. That was fun. She also showed me the great markets of Mattamukmuk, where anything that exists on Erdos could be bought and sold with the exception of slaves. Slavery is against the law there, not that it matters there since there are no Chem or Coyn or flying mounts there. It's an unmixed 100-percent pure-Cosm society. They consider the other races to be vermin, by the way. They are much worse than the Cosm here.
"Erhonsay wanted me to deliver a message to the shrine. We created a great stir when Erhonsay in her giant owl form landed in great forecourt of the shrine. Priests and priestesses in their white robes ran out of the shrine to see what caused the great stir outside the shrine doors.
"Unlike Galt, who controlled some of what I said in both Salicet and Toyatastagka, Erhonsay gave me free rein to handle the message delivery however I wanted. She left me off in the forecourt and said the Galt would come and pick me up when I was done. She also chided me not to pity the clergy of the shrine, because their main god was greed.
"One of the clergy who came out was a tall middle-aged lady, a bit on the buxom and portly side, with a gold staff topped by this huge amethyst crystal and a collar of gold plaques around her neck. She had an aide or attendant with her who was a young silverhair guy. He took one look at me struggling up the too-tall steps and said, 'Holiness, that’s a Coyn! Are you really going to let that vermin into the shrine?'
"The priestess with staff looked down on me and ordered, 'Stop and come no closer, Coyn.'
"So I said, 'If you can stop me, then you can stop destiny. Since no one can stop their own destiny, you can not stop me,' and I continued up the steps.
"The priestess made a hand signal and her young aide came running down the steps, snatched me up, and flung me high in the air. Thank the gods he didn’t kick me like I got kicked in Black Falls. I tucked into roll position, turned in the air to face the ground, and watched as the amazing magic of Ud’s shirt floated the ground up toward me. Don't spread it around, Aylem, but that was fun.
"I got up from the flagstones of the forecourt and brushed the dirt off my sleeves. Then I started back up to the steps into the shrine. Oh, the looks on all their faces!
"When I got close enough to be heard without yelling, I told them, 'As I was saying, you can not stop destiny. I am the herald of your future, sent by Sophia Erhonsay to give you a warning. Are you blind not to have recognized the god in her aspect as an owl who flew me to your doorstep? Erhonsay brought me to you, and when I am done, Galt, the god of wrath, will come to take me away.' I'll be honest Aylem. I enjoyed messing with those folks in Mattamukmuk. Not everything about this prophet gig sucks.
"Now, as I was climbing back up the steps, the aide stepped in front of me and attempted to block my passage. 'No Coyn are allowed on this island. Go back to where you came from,' he said.
"Well, at least he was a fast learner because he didn't try to toss me off the steps again. Regardless, it would have been fun to be thrown back into the forecourt a second time. It was a real hoot to see all the faces on the disbelieving Cosm watching this show.
“'Sorry, no biscuit, Rover,' I told him as I slipped a throwing spike from inside my undertunic and threw it into his foot. That enabled me to dodge around him as he fell over, clutching his impaled foot and screeching. I was able to get all the way up the stairs after that.
"When I reached the top of the steps, an older priestess appeared at the top of the steps next to the woman with the gold staff. This older priestess also wore a collar of gold plaques. She asked me who I was and I told her that I was the girl with the golden eyes. Then she asked me to make fire, so I lit a match. Oh, Aylem, you should have seen the gobsmacked looks I got when the flame appeared at the end of the match.
"Since I had their attention just then, I told them the message from Sophie Erhonsay, 'It doesn't matter whether I walk inside your shrine since I already know you have seven great crystals inside your doors. The gods disapprove of the creation and sale of charm gems of control and compulsion. They also disapprove of the sale of the other charm gems but accept the necessity of their sale to fund your shrine. They will overlook the trade in other charm gems so long as you cease the creation and sale of the gems of control and compulsion, starting right now.'
“'And if we do not?' asked the priestess with the gold staff in a haughty voice.
"I smiled as sweetly as I could, tilted my head, put my hand on my cheek, and batted my eyelashes at her, 'These are the consequences if you do not,' I told her. 'You, Holiness, will be out of a job, and maybe even a life. All the crystals of this shrine will be destroyed. This shrine and half of the city will be leveled to the ground. The Republic of Alkinosuk and the city of Mattamukmuk will be conquered by Aylem Nonkin, Queen of Foskos, who is the greatest Cosm mage on Erdos. Yeah, that about covers the consequences.'
“'That’s outrageous!' their high priestess said in reply.
“'Of course it is,' I told her, making sure to smile in a helpful sort of way, 'just like your role in the black market for slave gems is outrageous.'
“Then the older priestess said to her, 'Your political ability always did exceed your magical talent. This child on our doorstep wears the golden eyes of Galt and bears eight other godmarks in her aura. She is the prophet of the Great Breaking and we would do well to heed her. We can not avoid the destiny she brings us, which arrived riding on the back of a god.'
“'Seriously?' their high priestess didn't sound like she believed the older priestess. 'How can we be sure that this isn’t some scam thought up by our enemies on the mainland or our detractors in the Assembly?'
“'Exert yourself and look at her aura, Holiness,' the older woman replied. 'This is no deception. The godmarks are real and this Coyn child is the prophet. How else could she come on the back of a god and survive Priest Mattahotta throwing her off the steps? She made fire without magic. This is surely the same person who started the slave riots in Salicet after the destruction at the Great Library of Galt.'
"The high priestess studied me with less hostility than before. Then she handed her staff to the older woman and got down on her knees in obeisance. She said, 'I beg you pardon for doubting you, prophet. We are far removed from the wars and strife of the mainland. A message from the gods, especially delivered by one who is not a resident of our island, is unexpected and unlooked for. We did not know that the gods were displeased with our attempts to keep our doors open and keep food on our table through the sale of certain magic items. I beg your indulgence so we may consult with ourselves and the Assembly over this circumstance.'
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“I replied, 'On my way here, Erhonsay told me she had little pity for a clergy that placed money and greed of trade ahead of reverence for the will of the gods. Keep that in mind as you contemplate going against their will in this matter. I have now done what the gods requested of me. How Erhonsay and the other gods react to your future actions is up to them, not me. I am not here to negotiate. I am just a messenger.'
"So that's what happened in Mattamukmuk," I exhaled and relaxed.
"That's it? Nothing happened after that?" Aylem demanded.
"Well, Mattamukmuk faded from my sight after that, and I found myself back with Galt who then took me out for frozen custard at a place called Ted Drewes in St. Louis. Galt is really big with the food bribes, not that I'm complaining about that. To be honest, it helps since it gives me something to look forward to. I think it also helps to know that at least one god gives a damn about how I feel being stuck doing this prophet thing."
"Is it really that bad?" Aylem asked, looking honestly concerned.
"Stuff like last night and this morning are not easy, Aylem." I sighed and pondered Galt's systematic program of bribing me with food. I found myself craving the taste of vanilla ice cream and the rich bitterness of real hot fudge sauce. I sometimes wondered what the utility was of being reminded of food from a previous life. The memory of things I would never be able to taste again was hard to live with, knowing I could never again experience coffee or chocolate or key lime pie.
Maybe I was doomed just like one of those characters in a Japanese isekai novel where the Japanese protagonist suffers from the absence of food from Japan because that's the only food worth eating. Without thinking, I sighed.
"What?" Aylem asked.
“Just missing food from Earth,” I leaned my head back and tried to remember what root beer was like. "I miss chocolate."
“I really miss Cadbury creme eggs,” Aylem heaved her own sigh. “At least Erdos has good tea, even if the Sea Coyn do charge a small fortune for it.”
“I confess I’ve gotten used to tea. I still miss coffee.”
“Will you two stop the memory lane trip, please,” the grumpy griffin grumped, “or I'll start my own reminiscence on how much I miss the taste of plankton.”
"Plankton has a taste?" I asked, intrigued by the prospect.
"Like shrimp, only saltier," Asgotl winked.
"Really?" I knew he was trying to fool me again with his tall tales. We stared at each other for a moment, but then Aylem interrupted our eyeball contest.
"So is that it? Mattamukmuk? That's what you wanted to tell me?" She looked at little put out. "By the way, I have no intention of conquering Mattamukmuk or anywhere else, for that matter."
I sighed, "You have no choice, Aylem, just like I have no choice whether to be a prophet. Unifiying the six races and unifying the continent is the destiny the gods have assigned you, just like they assigned being a prophet to me. And no, the bit about Mattamukmuk is just background information for what comes next."
"So what does come next?" Aylem gave me a dubious look.
“Remember your revelation from Tiki?” I asked her.
“How could I possibly forget? My head hurt for days afterward.”
“You get the post-revelation headaches too?’
“I don’t know if I’d get one now, but I did when I was nine.”
“Do you remember the bit in your revelation about destroying the greatest city on Erdos?”
There was an audible intake of breath from Aylem, "Is that what this is about?"
“It's about both Salicet and Mattamukmuk. Galt wants what's left of Salicet to become a vast crater in the ground where once there was a city on a hill. I shared a couch made of cloud with Galt, Giltak, and Erhonsay overlooking the city last night while we discussed the city's demise. It was surreal, to say the least.”
“And this concerns me how?” Aylem asked suspiciously.
“I would like your help.”
“To destroy what’s left of Salicet?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“I thought you would say that. Let me phrase this another way. When you were all of nine years old, you and that reprobate Tiki popped out a revelation that not only saddled me with this crappy prophet job, you stuck me with destroying an entire city. I wasn't even born yet, Aylem. Nobody asked me if I wanted my name associated with the demise of the greatest city on the planet. Do you think I want to do this? Hell no, lady. And it's your revelation that stuck me with this, so yes, I'm asking for some help."
"Get someone else to help you. I find war and destruction distasteful."
"If not you, Aylem, then I'll have to find someone far less qualified. It will be more expensive, use up labor that could be going to beat Impotu, present major logistical obstacles, suck up about a hundred wagons and take a small army to put into place. It would probably use up three years of Huhoti's valuable time too, to make the right stuff without your help."
"Sounds like you already know how to destroy Salicet," Aylem interjected with a rather dry tone.
"I can think of several different ways, most of which would be be difficult."
“And if I help?” Aylem sounded less than thrilled.
I tried not to show the little burst of happiness when she asked that question. "It can be done in an afternoon. All you need to do is separate sodium from chlorine in the salt deposits surrounding the city and then flood them with water. That's all it would take, but only you or Ud can do that sort of magic."
“What about all the innocent people who live there who have nothing to do with the war?” Aylem was asking the questions I wanted her to ask.
“Well, that's the right question. You see, I made a deal with Galt that if I could destroy Salicet before the Convocation met, he would allow me to empty the city before it was razed. Originally, the little bloodthirsty cat god wanted to snuff everyone who didn’t take the warning to leave seriously. Erhonsay helped me talk him out of that."
"Huh," Aylem gave me a thoughtful look. I began to think I might convince her.
"Explosions I can manage, even without the help of Aylem Nonkin, but getting everyone to leave? That would take a charm of compulsion like the one you used at the Battle of the Crystal Shrine, to clear the Impotuan army camp of the Foskan captives. So my options look like destruction of Salicet in the next few days with no loss of life with your help, or blowing the city up three years from now with help from hundreds of people in Foskos and lots of dead people in Salicet."
“Dammit, Em, that’s not fair.”
"I know," I conceded. "It's quite unfair, especially for you, but destroying Salicet with your help will let both of us sleep at night. We would know that we did all we could not to kill a lot of people, including many innocent non-combatants in the war."
“What’s this have to do with the cesspit of Mattamukmuk?”
“Remember the warning to the All-Gods Shrine? The or-else clause of the warning was the destruction of the shrine, the decimation of the clergy, the partial destruction of the city, and its conquest by you.”
“I thought I already said I wanted nothing to do with any conquests,” Aylem sat up and scowled.
“Well, I kinda owe Erhonsay a favor since she helped me convince Galt to destroy Salicet on my terms, not his. The destruction of Salicet is meant to be a lesson for polities who refuse to grant the gods their due, like Mattamukmuk. If Salicet becomes a hole in the ground, Erhnsay hinted that I could go back to the shrine in Mattamukmuk and point out that if they don’t stop the black market trade in charm gems, what happened in Salicet will to them.”
“Oh wow,” Aylem sank back into the arm chair as she thought things over. “What a complicated mess. If you go back to Mattamukmuk, am I supposed to go with you?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what Erhonsay had in mind for getting me back there.”
*Aylem and Asgotl will take Emily to Mattamukmuk.* Erhonsay’s voice proclaimed inside my head.
“I heard that,” Aylem’s eyes grew wide.
“So did I,” Asgotl said.
“Alright,” Aylem actually looked a bit scared, “it seems like it is the will of Erhonsay that I will help you destroy Salicet. If I leave now, I can cast a compulsion later this afternoon on the residents of the city to leave. That way, I can be back before the midnight bell tonight. Then we can return, say, on firstday, the day after, to destroy the place. That way, those who can not walk on their own can get help from others with enough time to leave the city. That will also give livestock, small animals and birds time to leave too. Then you and I and Asgotl can return to the city on the day after and finish up. That will achieve your objective to flatten the largest city on the planet before Convocation.
“In the meantime, Em, I would like you to sit down and go through the revised law with Kamagishi, and Imstay. That way, you will have looked through it before Imstay tells the Convocation and the Lord Holders it is now the newly revised law, effective immediately."
"Aylem," Asgotl picked up his head and looked at her sideways, "I can't fly fast enough to get to Salicet before the sun goes down."
"I know," she smiled and apology, "that's why I'm going alone and you're staying here to keep an eye on this one. Sorry, old friend."
Asgotl's head slumped back down in dejection.
"When is the Convocation meeting?" I asked.
“On fourthday, in Weirgos. The high priestesses have already requested your attendance. Mine too. Twee will be going to the Well of Vassu for his revelation.”
“How can I get out of Convocation and still see Twee receive his revelation?” I asked, knowing that had to be a way.
“If I have to go to Convocation, so do you,” Aylem warned. "I hate having to go too."
“You’re the Queen. I’m just some random Coyn who didn’t even live here two years ago. I wouldn’t live here now if somebody we know hadn’t decided to rescue me after a furnace mishap.”
“Emily,” Asgotl snapped, “you would be dead right now if Aylem hadn’t rescued you.”
“In hindsight, that might not have been such a bad thing,” I said and meant it. "I know if my eyesight had not returned, I would have found one of my tools and used it to kill myself rather than starve to death. I would have been spared the grim fate of becoming a prophet."
"You sound like that jerk, Jonah," Asgotl grumbled. "You are so much smarter and more worthwhile than that asshat. Please try not to give in to those sorts of thoughts. You're not the first prophet to think this way and you won't be the last. Seriously, it's not that bad, being a prophet, and your friends would be very upset if you tried to hurt or kill yourself. Please?"
“What? Jonah?” All sorts of lightbulbs went off inside my head. “Were you…?”
“I thought you already knew. The story that got into the scriptures was all wrong, and no, I did not swallow Jonah. That would have been anatomically impossible. The man got an undersea tour for several days inside his own air bubble on my back while I talked him out of killing himself. What a dreary guy. I was not sorry to see the last of him.”
“You were the whale,” I stated the obvious which I had missed for the last two years.
“Technically, I was a leviathan. We went extinct before Rome was founded.”
“Aylem, did you…?”
“Yes, I knew. I thought you knew too.” She looked surprised at me.
“Nope, just figured it out now for the first time,” I felt a bit befuddled.
"Jonah wasn't my first prophet," Asgotl said. "I've been watching after prophets for eight lives now. Apparently, the gods like the job I do since I keep getting reborn to do it again. I would say that feeling suicidal is one of the most common occupational hazards of being a prophet, followed by social isolation and depression. That's why souls like me get assigned to keep an eye on people like you and Aylem, just because there are so few people who you can talk to. I thought that you knew I was here for that, little one. This is not good because I assumed you knew and now I see that I blew it.”
I was so gobsmacked that I was speechless.
“The two of you should talk,” Aylem got up. “I need to leave so I can get to Salicet and back before it gets much later. If you're asleep when I get back, then I'll see you in the morning.”