Chapter Seventy-one

I knew this was coming — despite all the pleasant chit-chat over dinner I had no doubt this was the main reason Councilwoman Korolan Mirei had invited us for dinner.

I neither knew nor cared what Fenar’s wife wanted from Wensah, and normally I would have flat out refused to accommodate her. Sure, she seemed to be an influential figure in Solace’s political scene, but I didn’t owe her anything, did I? Neither did Krissy.

But!

I had a problem of my own that required the annoying godling’s expertise. She never seemed happy having to come here to check on me, maybe because on most occasions it had been because of something stupid I’d done. There was a huge chance Wensah would be absolutely livid if I tried to lure her here by cutting the supply of Essence.

And that’s where the councilwoman fit into the picture — shifting blame was an art, and I was about to become an artist.

‘Okay, I am going to try,’ I said to Krissy, who in turn let Komi know that we had agreed to her request, and were going to proceed right here and now.

***

Luckily, over the past three years I’d got the hang of sensing all the spiritual materials, both in their basic forms and in their composite forms.

It wasn’t quick or easy to find and feel Wensah’s thread. I could just about see threads of my own making, but she had made sure hers was invisible to me. But I focused on its presence until I could not so much see it but know where it was.

When I’d first seen the thread, before she had made it invisible, it looked like a strand of glittery spider-silk, running from me to Wensah’s incarnation. The second time I’d seen it, shortly after the “Kraken-incident”, it had looked the same, but I had had a better feel for it, and sort of understood what it was made of and how it worked.

I shut my vision down and I could almost see it — a microscopic pipeline which Wensah used both to find me wherever I was, and to siphon Essence away from me. The thread came through the little Black Essence portal inside me, ran along my insides, exited my body and stuck out into the air like some antenna, and the point which seemed to be the end of it wasn’t the end of it.

I shifted a tentacle to hover right next to it, pointing at it, and I observed. Black Essence. The thread was going through an even tinier portal than mine. And that was how my hard-earned Essence was finding its way to the god of exploitation.

With ten tentacles at my disposal — with the exception of the one I was using to connect to Krissy — I collected about 15 EP per minute. These days Wensah was taking 20 or so EP from me every six or seven minutes. Now that I thought about this, she was getting over 4000 EP from me every single day. I couldn’t even imagine what level she had to be to have a large enough Essence Pool to store all that. And that was just from me. I didn’t know how many other familiars she had outsourced, but she could be getting as much as a hundred-thousand EP a day for all I knew. That was an insane amount of Essence, and Wensah had never stopped taking it from me, not once. When my comparably microscopic Essence pool was full at 72 EP, my tentacles either slowed or stopped collecting the stuff. Which meant that Wensah’s pool was either bottomless, or she was constantly using obscene amounts of the stuff.

And there it was. I felt it. A pulse. A batch of Essence running through the pipeline, exiting the portal, exiting my body and vanishing into the other portal, going to wherever Wensah was.

Unfortunately, just staring at the thing wasn’t going to produce the desired result — I had to stop the flow of Essence. I guessed the next batch would be sucked out of me in about five or six minutes, so it was time to figure out how to blow up the rails.

But … maybe I didn’t have to blow it up. I wondered if I could block it somehow, or tie the thread in a knot or something

I navigated the tip of a second tentacle to the ephemeral string, and I touched it. The thin wire was running straight — I had expected it to feel taut like a guitar string. Instead, it was slack, and it wiggled as I kept poking at it. Hm. Well, since I didn’t have a better idea, I decided to try to tie it off.

It turned out to be a lot easier than I had thought it would be. Even without fingers. I pulled on the thread, looped it around itself, then I pulled again, and it was tied as tightly as the shoelaces of a kindergartener with an overzealous mother. That ought to do it.

‘Alright, I’ve done what I could. Now we wait,’ I announced, and Krissy conveyed it to the occupants of the room, then urged everyone to help themselves to more Earl Grey.

***

The first batch of Essence came through the portal some seven minutes after I had tied the knot. I wasn’t sure if the substance was running along the wire or through it as if it was a pipe, but when it reached the knot, the Essence got stuck and didn’t go further. Well, I was surprised as hell — I had not expected it to work. I mean, when it came to all these spiritual materials and the nonsensical way they worked, who would have thought something as simple as a knot would do the trick. Just … wow. But success was success, wasn’t it? Just a matter of time now before Wensah came looking and cursing, demanding an explanation why tax collection had stopped.

On second thought, Wensah may have been busy. The second batch of 20 EP got stuck right where the first had. Then, a third blob of Essence.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Councilwoman Komi was scowling, looking like she was about to voice her concern or disappointment about my failure to summon a goddess. As if summoning a goddess was an everyday thing kids did in their spare time.

I was preparing excuses for Krissy to convey when I felt the Essence in the air move.

‘Oh-oh. Here she …’

I couldn’t finish the sentence, and there was just enough time for Krissy to flick her eyes up as she heard my voice.

‘You insufferable, stupid moron!’ Wensah began her tirade even before her body fully materialized right between Krissy and Kiwa’s chairs. And for good measure, she punched me. She literally punched my spherical body with her fist. It hurt. ‘I don’t even know why I’m putting up with you. Out of the millions of souls I could have picked, how did I end up with the one without a brain?’

She pulled her arm back for another punch, her pretty face scrunched into a grimace of the purest fury I’d seen so far. That did not bode well. It was time to start the blame-game.

‘Hey! Stop! It wasn’t my fault. They asked me to do it. Look! We have an audience,’ I yelled, pointing a tentacle at Komi and Fenar.

‘You useless, idiotic …’ she screamed at me, but turned her head to look.

She stopped mid-punch.

Everyone in the room was staring at her with open mouths, which I supposed was a normal reaction when a god appeared in your midst and was swearing at someone you couldn’t see. However, when Wensah saw who our audience was, she stared at them open mouthed just like everyone else was staring at her.

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‘Oh shit,’ the goddess swore.

Komi pulled herself together first. She stood up from her chair, a weird smile appearing on her face. She looked Wensah in the eyes and said,

‘It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Kina?’

***

What is going on? Krissy asked, just as baffled as I was. Or Kiwa and Hisa was.

Wensah had pulled a free chair and sat down at the table, her arms folded in front of her chest, looking at Komi without saying a word. Komi was more or less doing the same, quietly observing the goddess, but she still had that weird half-smile on her face, almost a smirk.

‘I have no idea. Clearly they know each other, right?’ I said.

Clearly. Krissy agreed. But … why did she call her “Kina”?

‘Good question, wish I had an answer.’

It was obvious that Councilwoman Korolan Mirei and Wensah had some sort of history, but it was anyone’s guess at this point. What did an influential elf in Solace — a place famous for its collective distrust of gods and spirits — have to do with possibly the worst god out there?

Minutes passed in awkward Silence. Kiwa had become some sort of statue — it didn’t even look like she was breathing as she sat there completely frozen. Tilry had tried to make herself smaller, and then hid behind Kiwa — not that anyone but me and Wensah could see her. Hisa looked confused, and she didn’t seem getting tired of turning her head back and forth between her grandmother and the goddess.

Master Fenar was the only one who didn’t seem to have a problem with the situation. He took large sips of his Earl Grey, even asked for a refill, which Krissy did for him. Then he just smiled the smile of someone who knew exactly what was going on, but wasn’t going to get involved or give away any information. He was just enjoying the show, wasn’t he?

After five minutes of this staring contest, Wensah blinked first.

‘I didn’t think I’d see you again,’ she said to Komi.

‘So, it is you,’ the woman said, narrowing her eyes at the goddess. ‘I wish you had come to visit sooner.’

‘I’ve been … busy,’ Wensah said. ‘I’m a grand spirit now.’

That was a lame excuse, even for Wensah.

‘I can imagine.’ Komi smiled at her. I wasn’t sure if it was a fake smile or not. ‘How is godhood treating you?’

‘It’s … alright.’

‘Alright? Just alright?’ Komi asked. Wensah didn’t answer. ‘You could have at least come by before we left Fayr-Sitan. If for nothing else than to say good-bye. I thought we were friends.’

‘Friends? I was your familiar, Komi. Did you think I would just casually stroll by for a chat after what you had put me through?’ Wensah snapped, standing up from her seat, her composure gone with the wind. ‘And now you’re using my idiot underling to … to …’

I didn’t know how Wensah had managed to get a body that was so human, so real. The expression on her face, the way moisture glinted in the corners of her eyes, her ears getting red with her rising emotions — if I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have been able to tell she wasn’t human.

‘Kina, please calm down,’ Komi said as she stood up, changing her tone from accusatory to calm and soothing. Komi walked around the table to stand in front of her. Wensah took a step back, lifting her arms as if preparing to defend herself. ‘I just wanted to see you. To see what you look like now. And to thank you for still caring enough about us to help.’

‘Uhm … should I tell her?’ I whispered to Krissy.

No, you shouldn’t. Krissy shut me down immediately.

‘I’m called Wensah now,’ Wensah said, her voice small like a little girl’s who had just been scolded by her parents. ‘How did you even know it was me?’

Wensah stayed still as Komi put her arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

‘I heard there was a god who wore a red dress,’ Komi smiled, her chin resting on Wensah’s shoulder. ‘When I saw it for myself, I knew it was you. I still have that dress, you know. I remember how much you liked it.’

Slowly, as if unsure if it was what she really wanted to do, Wensah lifted her arms and returned Komi’s embrace, lowering her head onto her shoulder.

‘It’s a beautiful dress,’ Wensah whispered, and if I didn’t know better, I would have sworn she was sobbing quietly.

‘I missed you,’ Komi whispered, her hands gently rubbing the goddess’ back.

‘Of course you did,’ Wensah whispered back, and this time I was sure she was kind of sobbing.

Up until now I had thought Wensah had one setting, and that setting was “bitch”. As it turned out, there was a button somewhere, and Komi knew how to find it. It activated another setting I would call … hm … “hurt child”, maybe? Something like that.

Even without knowing the details, this was quite the revelation. Who would have guessed that the insufferable goddess had once been the familiar of Fenar’s wife? I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to process this information.

The only experience I had about host and familiars was my own, and I was sure it wasn’t representative of the norm. Still, it seemed Korolan Mirei had somehow managed to traumatise her own familiar — it really reinforced the notion that the Hellspawn Familiy was not to be fucked with.

I observed quietly as the two women — god and elf — held each other like two long lost siblings who had just found each other after, well, centuries of being apart. This was definitely not the right time to butt in, but I had to ask Wensah about dealing with Mr Instinct. I was slowly gathering the courage to interrupt the two of them, but it turned out to be wasted effort — after a minute of this wholesome reunion, it was Fenar who decided the scene had been going on for too long.

‘Alright, enough of this now,’ he said, putting his tea cup down, looking at the pair as they untangled themselves from the hug, turning their heads to him.

‘How tactless,’ Komi complained. ‘Darling, we were having a moment here.’

‘Moments last for moments, not minutes,’ Fenar grumbled.

‘I never liked you, Fenar,’ Wensah said to his face, then turned back to Komi. ‘I can’t believe you married the brute.’

‘Oh, he’s come a long way since … you know,’ the woman said to the goddess, her smile fading.

‘Long enough to stay away from giant Tentacle Horrors and leading everyone to certain death?’ Wensah demanded, glaring at Fenar.

I gulped. Or wanted to gulp. Giant Tentacle Horror? Whatever the hell she was talking about, I did not like it. Krissy stayed calm upon hearing the words, at least outwardly, but I could sense her heartbeat fastening.

Fenar just waved his hand, as if a Tentacle Horror — contrary to everything I had experienced being one — wasn’t a big deal.

‘It wasn’t all bad, you ended up a god, didn’t you?’ he said.

‘I almost … we almost all ended up dead.’ Wensah countered. ‘We barely made it.’

‘It had to be done,’ Komi came to her husband’s defense.

‘You didn’t even protest,’ Wensah snapped at her.

‘It had to be done.’ Komi repeated herself, her voice softer, and if I wasn’t mistaken, with a pang of guilt.

I couldn’t deny I was curious as to what had happened in the past with these three. But did I really want to know? I had a feeling no matter how that story had ended, the moral of it would be “Tentacle Horror bad, everyone else good.” Yep, curiosity killed the cat, and since I didn’t have any desire to hang around dead cats, or to become one, I decided not to ask. Not here and now anyway.

Fenar seemed to be unwilling to continue the argument.

‘The past is the past, Kina. Unless another evil, tentacled god pops up in the world, we should be fine,’ Fenar said, shrugging, then reaching for the hot water and the teabags to make himself another cup. ‘You haven’t heard about another of those fuckers coming into existence, have you?’

‘Uhm … no. Of course not. There isn’t another one. I would know. The other gods would know,’ Wensah lied.

First time I’d seen her flustered — had it not been a Tentacle Horror related fluster, I would have savoured the sight.

Setting aside that Fenar’s words had pretty much confirmed that one of my kind had achieved a level that was close to godhood or thereabouts, I had to get Wensah to help me sort out Mr Instinct. At the moment, it was a Level 34 familiar-problem, and something was telling me it would be a bad idea to wait until it became a Level 200 or 300 god-problem.

‘Pssst! Wensah! Pssst!’ I whispered, trying to draw her attention.

I didn’t know why I did that — no-one except her and Krissy could hear me, and whispering didn’t make a difference.

What do you want, stupid? Wensah’s thought-voice came.

No time like the present, so I just said it,

‘I have a problem and I need your help.’

‘Well, congratulations on your problem. Sort it out. I’m busy,’ she said, while Komi was saying something about old times and necessary sacrifices.

What kind of problem? Krissy joined the discussion, sounding worried.

‘A Tentacle Horror problem. The creature is trying to take control and I don’t know how to stop it,’ I said. Maybe it sounded a bit more dramatic than it really was, but it got the goddess’ attention. ‘We need to deal with this before it’s too late. From what I heard, an out-of-control Tentacle Horror isn’t something to look forward to, is it?’

For gods’ sake, Kevin! Why didn’t you tell me? Krissy shrieked directly into my mind.

‘Sorry, it’s a relatively new development, and … I was busy,’ I said. Lamely.

That’s not good. Not good at all. Wensah thought-yelled at me.

‘So … what are we …’ I began to ask, but Wensah was already talking to Komi.

‘It was nice to see you again, Komi, but I have some urgent business to attend. I’m taking Krissintha’s familiar with me, so look after her and … the other one,’ she said, pointing at Kitala Iwani, not remembering her name for some reason.

‘You’re taking me with you? Where?’ I asked, but instead of an answer, she simply lifted her arm and shoved a finger into my spherical body.

The next thing I knew was Black Essence flowing straight to the tiny portal within me.

Shit. I knew where we were going.