We stepped out of the portal, a familiar feeling now that we’d done it a few times in short order, and saw that Q had dropped us on the outskirts of another city, albeit a smaller one this time. The surrounding landscape wasn’t too different from the place we started our misguided journey at, and I could infer that our new location wasn’t too far away from there. Well, the clouds of black smoke from the still-burning city and the supernaturally encroaching darkness just off the distance also helped.
Molly had put on her disguise again and we all glanced at the distance. It was worse up close.
“We’ll have to limit how we travel going forward,” Q said with a shake of his head, “Even that short trip almost caused… well, that.” He pointed at the disaster on the horizon.
“Right,” I muttered, “Let’s stick to walking then.”
That would greatly limit how much we could do, but if the alternative was the literal end of this world, then we’d have to make do. However, if there was one good thing about the horrible fissures in the sky and all the implications that meant, it was that it made sneaking into the city almost comically easy. Even the most veteran of guards and gatekeepers were wide-eyed and staring lifelessly at the distance. No one questioned our presence.
The unfortunate part, however, was that once the initial shock of seeing the literal end of the world spread from their neighboring city, all of the noncombatants in this city panicked. Mass hysteria, looting, and every kind of unlawful behavior spread at an insane rate as people’s inhibitions went right out the door. It didn’t help that a lot of the people who should be in charge of keeping peace were still staring into the approaching darkness with numbed expressions.
The four of us had to avoid unscrupulous individuals from trying to rob or harm us, and we quickly rushed closer to the heart of the city. At least the people in charge should regain some semblance of order and hopefully stabilize the central regions first, or so we hoped. We saw some disturbing sights as we pushed through the throngs of aliens, but eventually, we did make it to the largest building that overlooked the city.
An important-looking individual - I was fairly certain it was a man this time, I’d gotten a little better at telling these people apart - was standing on a large platform as he shouted something to the growing crowd beneath him. One of his staff passed the two bodyguards on each side of him and brought him a little box, which, after turning it on, amplified his voice so that even the people gathered near the edge of the square like we were could hear him.
“People of Argent!” he shouted, his voice calm and commanding, “Do not fear the coming of the dark! The prophecies speak true, but we have not stood idle! Believe in the Lord and we shall make it through this trial!”
I saw him silently signal some of the guards and other palace staff to surround the area while others quickly jogged out through the various streets and thoroughfares to establish much-needed order elsewhere.
The man continued, “I know that this is a stressful time for everyone involved, and the rumors of a schism within the Holy Pantheon run rife within the masses but know that those are nothing but baseless heresy told by those who would want to profit off this calamity!”
I arched an eyebrow. A schism within the pantheon? Now that was interesting news to hear, and somehow I don’t think they’re just baseless whispers. If this world’s gods were like the lesser gods that I knew of, then they were bound to be a dysfunctional bunch, and it didn’t take much even at the best of times for them to disagree. When they’re faced with the looming threat of four invaders of unknown power? Well, I can imagine the sheer chaos and confusion that would cause within the pantheon. This is something I’ll need to follow up on.
“So rest assured, fellow citizens, for we stand united against this coming foe!” the man continued. “I have assigned the best of the best to safeguard you are yours! The looming darkness is but a test of will and faith from our glorious Lord of Justice, and I know that you, my faithful subjects, are the purest of the pure.”
Small cheers started to come from the now rather large crowd. Even as he spoke, more of the people in the immediate vicinity started to come listen to the one bastion of peace in the chaotic city.
He smiled at the gathered people and continued to speak, “And I see that many among you still believe! I could not be more proud of the people of our glorious city! I know, in my heart and soul, that as long as we have faith, then we-”
The leader’s words were cut off when the box in his hands exploded without warning. The sudden release of so much energy sent a wave of force that it instantly vaporized the people closest to the speaker and injured the unlucky few in the front rows. Everyone else was slammed into the ground by the shockwave, and looks of shock and disbelief were plastered on everyone present. Well, almost everyone here.
“The… the mayor!” someone within the crowd shouted, “How…”
That was the signal for the coconspirators to act. Some of the guards that were supposed to keep the peace stabbed the ones actually keeping the peace in the backs, while some of the late mayor’s aids that had conveniently stood way to the back threw more of those cube things into the crowd. They started to glow a disturbing red but everyone was still too shellshocked to react in time.
“For the God of Darkness!” one of the rebels shouted, “For Aaxanomis! The world must burn for it to be reborn! Rejoice in the birth of a new world! Rejoice for the end of the old! Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!”
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“For the Death God!” another screamed as she lobbed more cubes into the crowd, “Flaax and her kin will reign supreme in this new world!”
“Slaughter! Trakar will get his fill today!”
“Death!”
More shouts of worship sprang out, all for gods with rather disturbing titles, as the hidden rebels started to come out of the woodworks and assault the still loyal citizens. There was clearly something in the background that we weren’t privy to, and these hidden cultists had chosen this time to unleash their plan. It was working rather well as I saw similar things play out all across the city.
“Should we… should we help them?” Xalla asked as she pointed to the cowering people. They were so taken aback that the few battle-capable individuals couldn’t even get their weapons up in time before getting slaughtered.
“Yeah,” I muttered, “Maybe saving these guys will give us a little bit of wiggle room for negotiations later on. You know, to show them that we’re not here to just end their entire world and all.”
I was about to act but Molly stopped me. “Hold on a moment, Walter. While your intentions are well and good, and I do appreciate the sentiment, we have to think of the larger picture. Anything we do here will be close to insignificant after destroying that holy city, and I highly doubt it would change their perceptions of us. But if our goals were to meet the gods, and they’re as divided as I think they are… then why not change our plans and meet a different set of deities?”
I nodded slowly, digesting Molly’s idea. “Yeah… that could work. Your thoughts, Xalla, Q?”
The two thought for a moment before nodding as well.
“Yes,” Q said, “That would be the best course of action. I find that the more chaotic deities are often the more logical ones of the bunch. They tend to listen to reason and understand the need for sacrifice. Free thinkers if you will.”
Xalla agreed, “I haven’t worked too closely with the lesser gods, but from what little I’ve seen, Q’s assessment of them is correct.”
“Alright,” I said, “then we wait this out and meet with the rebel leaders. Let’s go from there and seek an audience with these, uh, evil gods. They’re considered evil gods in the mortal sense, right?”
“I believe so,” Q answered, “Although that is a crude way of putting it. Creation needs to be balanced with destruction, life with death, growth and decay. One cannot exist without the other, and labeling all the chaos deities as evil is rather insulting, but that’s the limitations of the lesser species I suppose.”
“Very philosophical,” Molly smiled, “I can see why the leaders of the Central invaders would want to get rid of you. A pity.”
“But we’ll get him his job back,” I added, “And knock the damned Overseer down a few notches.”
“Let’s celebrate after we find Stanton first,” Xalla interrupted, “We still have to convince him to help us, and then there’s the actual appeal process, let alone any plans to overthrow the Overseer himself. We have a lot left to do.”
“Okay, fair enough,” I sighed, “Let’s deal with one thing at a time then. At least the rebels seem to be quite capable here, I don’t think we’ll need to wait long.”
And we didn’t. All told it took only a handful of hours for the entire city to fall under the influence of the cultists. Sure, a few of them had tried to attack the four of us, but a slight change in their emotions or perceptions had allowed us to remain bystanders in relative peace. We only had to act once the clear leader - or group of leaders in this case - stepped up to address the newly conquered city.
As much as Q wanted to say that the gods associated with death, decay, and destruction shouldn’t be labeled as evil, the same could not be said about the people who worshiped them. The three leaders of the uprising were all kinds of screwed up.
The woman in the middle was a deformed mess of a creature. Instead of the usual shade of red that made up the normal skin color of the people here, she was the sludgy color of putrid black. Miserable pustules pulsated on her exposed skin and her left arm had atrophied into a small stump of an appendage, however, her right arm looked like it took all the nutrients from its twin and had grown to strange proportions. Its length had stretched to reach almost twice the woman’s height, and long talons lined each of her fingers. She was dressed in a large black robe that concealed the rest of her features.
To her left was a hulking beast of an alien, it was easily twice the size of a normal mortal and maybe five times as thick. He looked remarkably like a red brick humans used for their houses. Its massive form was hunched over and a tiny head - well, tiny relative to the rest of him in any case - was almost swallowed by the sheer muscles that lined it. Its beady little eyes told of an intelligence and cunning that was a stark contrast to its physical appearance. This man also wore a black robe, although it was more like a small cape in his case.
Finally, the last individual that stood where the mayor used to be was a withered husk of an individual. Whatever meager abilities that I had to tell genders apart was lost on this individual, because they were so skeletal thin that all identifying features were gone. They wore a similar robe as the other two, although in stark contrast to the brick dude, this cloth hung comically loose. Most starkly, they were also floating just a few feet above the platform and a disturbing miasma was leaking out from every pore of their body.
“Okay,” Q admitted, “Maybe evil is the right term for those three, but I’m sure that the gods themselves shouldn’t look quite like that.”
“The most devoted followers of the gods generally assume the appearance of their patron deities,” Molly added, “So I wouldn’t get our hopes up.”
“Anyway,” Xalla said, “I’m sure they’re lovely people to talk to…”
The withered one noticed a struggling survivor and let out a horrid screech. They pointed at the individual and the lifeforce of that poor citizen flowed into the other person. The huge guy laughed and bellowed in amusement and slammed the ground beneath his feet, causing a large portion of the raised stone platform to crash down onto the ground. The debris even crushed some of his fellow cultists, although no one seemed to care.
“Probably… Um, how about we go and make our introductions?”
I sighed as I was already starting to regret my decision to work with these “lovely” individuals, as Xalla put it. Let’s get this over with.