A. F. Kay
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Divine Apostasy Book 9 - Prologue
🕑 Added 2023-07-11 05:06:51 +0000 UTCPrologue
[Author's Note: I'm not 100% positive about this prologue, but I rarely change them. Also, this might be a tad rougher than normal as I didn't get a chance to revise it much. I'm excited for book 9!]
Naktos materialized fifty miles from the meeting point the summons had detailed. He glanced down at the slowly turning planet of Grave, the vacuum and coldness of space irrelevant to his Divine body. Terror still filled him, and not only from the impending meeting with the adjudicator.
Less than a day ago, Naktos had witnessed two peak deities killed in moments, while a third suffered grievous spiritual harm, the damage beyond repair. Worse, he had no idea how it had happened, which made defending against such an attack impossible. Adding to the confusion, Lalquinrial had abandoned them almost immediately.
Naktos folded his stone wings around his body, providing additional protection against any kind of attack. The brightly glowing form of Miranda hung in space like a miniature star, and despite every instinct telling him to flee, he teleported to a location just two miles from the serious looking deity.
The summons had gone out to everyone, because Naktos glimpsed many of the weaker deities he’d not seen for thousands of years. That relaxed him a little as it was unlikely Miranda would attack them all.
Izac hadn’t come, despite the danger ignoring a summons from the Adjudicator created. Naktos had spoken with Izac briefly and would go to the god directly from this meeting to update him on what transpired here. Assuming Naktos survived.
Dozens of gods and goddesses hung in a semi-circle in front of Miranda, none of them closer than a mile. A sphere five miles in diameter surrounded them with air and warmth.
Miranda didn’t look at Naktos, but she spoke as he appeared. “The quorum is met, and I decree the ninth conclave in order. All present bear witness or state your objection.” She waited for ten seconds before continuing. “In direct violation of the Pact, members present and absent conspired with an outside force against the interests of a fellow Pact member. In addition, this same intruder orchestrated an attack on me directly, effectively keeping me from interfering.”
A chorus of gasps filled the space, but the revelation didn’t surprise Naktos. Izac had insisted Lalquinrial join them on the attack against the Starfield boy. Naktos had strongly argued against it for this very reason, but Izac wouldn’t budge. He believed Lalquinrial should only receive the benefits of taking Eiru’s lands if he shouldered some of the risk. Izac reasoned that with Starfield and those surrounding him dead, no one would even know of Lalquinrial’s involvement.
Eventually they agreed on two mechanisms to make the plan safer. First Lalquinrial would create a critical distraction to take the Adjudicator’s attention, and second, they would initially send in the Infernal Realm’s Aspects. Based on the interaction with Starfield just days before on Savage Island, the Aspects alone should easily kill him.
Naktos had thought it worked, too. Eiru had appeared to protect her people, obviously weakened by the loss of her Architect Role, and Starfield had been with her in his Uru’s Shadow avatar. As expected, the Aspects had easily killed the disguised Starfield, and even managed to kill Eiru, the Material Realm depriving her of any regeneration.
That should have been the end of it, but Lalquinrial’s Aspects had moved to attack the gathered army, and everything had gone sideways.
Confusion and muttered questions rippled through the gathered deities, and Miranda held up a hand to silence them. “Izac, Naktos, Haffa, Quintyn, and Wenquian cooperated with Lalquinrial in a direct attack on Eiru.”
“They killed her,” Kartyr said, opposite of Naktos. “And why are so many of the accused absent?”
Wenquian, not hiding her shock and fear as well as Naktos replied to the god. “Eiru’s death is not confirmed, and we didn’t attack her. Lalquinrial’s Aspects did. We were there for her Champion who is fair game, and not a violation of the Pact.”
Kartyr responded. “Fifty thousand witnesses plus the Aspects believed Eiru died. Multiple sources confirmed it, and you never answered why the others are absent.”
Wenquian stared at Naktos, obviously reluctant to continue, so he spread his wings and answered. “The answer to their absence lies at the heart of our actions.” Silence followed his statement as the deities focused on him.
Naktos contorted the truth with the facts they’d learned too late. Perhaps he could survive this conclave after all. “It is true,” he said, looking around at his peers. “We enlisted Lalquinrial’s help. My friendship with him is no secret, and considering the danger to us all, I felt compelled to recruit him. What danger, you’re asking yourself. What could justify subverting the Pact?” He paused for a few seconds to let the tension build. “You asked why the accused are not all here. The answer is simple. Eiru’s Champion, the Starfield boy, killed two of them and gravely injured a third.”
Disbelief and confusion erupted as the deities muttered to each other. Naktos glanced at Miranda, who stared at him with a grim face. He swallowed his fear and continued.
“It’s not impossible,” Naktos spoke over the conversations. “Eiru has secrets of her own. Behind our backs, she engineered a weapon to kill us all. You know how she holds herself apart from us, and now the reason reveals itself. She created a Divine Apostasy.”
Shouting erupted and Naktos let it continue for twenty seconds.
“It’s true,” Naktos shouted. “The proof is the death of Haffa and Quintyn, and the destruction of at least one of Izac’s pathways.”
Gasps of horror filled Miranda’s sphere.
Kartyr spoke again. “And you left them in the Material Realm?”
Naktos looked down for a moment before responding. “It is no secret I dislike direct conflict. I am ashamed to say I fled the Material Realm immediately, terrified I would be next. Even so, I returned an hour later to retrieve our brothers, hoping I could take them to their Divine Realms, but the apostate had taken them.”
“Taken them where?” Kartyr asked. “That much Spirit and essence should take weeks to consume? Perhaps you did find the bodies, and plan on Harvesting them yourself.”
Naktos didn’t react to the obvious baiting. He remained focused on surviving, and that meant not getting distracted from his narrative, so he only briefly answered the other god. “You all know I would find the idea of feeding on another deity abhorrent. I might be a coward, but I am no scavenger.”
Naktos waited a few seconds to see if anyone else wished to comment, and then continued. “With our brothers’ deaths, you can see the need for Lalquinrial. How better to fight a god killer than with another god killer. In fairness, Eiru’s creation of an Ascended Harvester trained specifically to kill us, had to be dealt with by any means necessary.”
“Such noble motivations, Naktos,” Miranda said. “What a pleasure to see your selfish nature mature into this valiant protector of your brothers and sisters. I’m curious. What happened to Lalquinrial? How did you convince him to help you? The Divine Apostasy sounds dangerous after all, and we all know Lalquinrial would not help you for free, friendship or not.”
“Indeed, Adjudicator, although the price was lower than you think. Lalquinrial’s wife was the first victim of this killer. As the vulnerable woman transitioned from Gem to Divine, this vile assassin ripped the Core from her body, destroying her center completely. An act of unheard brutality.”
Naktos waited for the alarmed conversations to quiet, before continuing. “I agreed to research an elixir to ease his wife’s constant spiritual pain, along with a small amount of personal terium.”
Naktos could see the gathered deities’ anger had turned to understanding and even sympathy. He had worried his brothers and sisters would demand his death for breaking the Pact, but now, he had likely gained many allies. They could continue to use the umbrella of the Pact to safely pursue their goals, protected by the same rules they subverted.
This victory would surely infuriate Miranda, and Naktos carefully kept his gaze away from her. She could still punish them for breaking the Pact but killing them at a conclave would require a majority vote, and his manipulation had circumvented that outcome.
Something about this bothered Naktos. Miranda hated, or at least disliked, all the deities here on Grave. She had never hidden that fact. Why had she allowed him to twist events she surely knew the truth about? Did she want all the deities here on his side? How did that benefit her?
Naktos frowned and risked a glance at Miranda, only to find her smiling at him. The expression of an apex predator finding her prey trapped and vulnerable.
“Is there anything else?” Miranda asked.
Naktos paused, desperately trying to understand how the wyrm planned to benefit from this. Eventually he was forced to respond. “No.”
Miranda flicked her gaze around the gathered deities. “Are there any dissenters to this compelling testimony? Any who wish to exact punishment for these Pact violations speak now.”
Miranda waited a few seconds and nodded. “Let us move to the second item of business.”
Naktos felt immense relief, both overjoyed and worried at the turn of events. Somehow, he had turned his imminent death into uniting the deities against Ruwen Starfield. Did Miranda have some reason to hate that boy?
Miranda looked upward, and a scene appeared, the projection massive and visible to everyone. “This is deep within the Black Pyramid. Specifically, in the dimensional vaults I keep for your followers as part of my obligations under the Pact.”
The scene above Miranda flickered and came into better focus, the view from somewhere low to the ground. A gigantic crossing ring, leaning against several identical rings, suddenly came to life as a surge of white energy was sucked from somewhere above but not visible. The area inside the crossing ring glowed brightly.
An infernal Dread Lord stepped through, looked around, and stepped back through the portal. A moment later it returned, followed by a familiar figure: Lalquinrial.
As small group of demons exited the portal and the ten of them waited on Lalquinrial, who had stretched his hand upward in the direction the energy had originated. He clenched his hand, and the scene shook as if an explosion had occurred. Lalquinrial nodded at the demons, who rushed away, and Lalquinrial stepped back through the portal, disappearing.
“Moments later,” Miranda said.
The scene changed, this time the view showing a massive group of people. In the distance, six deities appeared, including Lalquinrial. A lone man strode toward the deities, and Lalquinrial moved forward to meet him.
“The attack on my domain was coordinated to distract me from the battle that occurred on Grave. Naktos and Wenquian along with those absent, whether knowingly or not, participated in this event, making them guilty by association. This conclave, having been informed of the Pact violations, including a direct attack on the interests of the Adjudicator, chose to enact no punishment.”
Dread filled Naktos, as Miranda emotionlessly delivered these facts.
“As such, in accordance with the Pact, the Adjudicator is powerless to overrule the conclave’s will. However, the Pact offers relief to the Adjudicator when a clear violation exists against said Adjudicator and no punishment is executed. I hereby invoke section one hundred twenty-six, paragraph fifty-seven, line thirteen of said Pact, and dismiss myself as Adjudicator, dissolving the Pact. Your followers have thirty-six hours before their dimensional storage is revoked.”
Shocked silence met Miranda’s statement.
“I forced this Pact on you long ago,” Miranda continued, “to save what remained of Grave. The Pact no longer serves its intended purpose, and in fact, sheltered many of your misdeeds. The time for refuge has passed. War has arrived once again, and all of you need to pick a side. Your choice will determine your fate.”
Miranda disappeared, and Naktos stared dumfounded.
The Pact had kept Miranda from directly acting. Now that she had found a way to dissolve it, her claws were no longer tied. It meant circumstances had become even more dangerous, if that was possible.
Worse, Miranda had played Naktos beautifully. Outsmarted him using his desire to avoid punishment. It reminded him, a reminder he shouldn’t need, of her brilliance and cunning.
Desperate to salvage this disaster, Naktos spoke to his brothers and sisters, urging them to band with him in defiance of the Divine Apostasy.
Only overwhelming force might succeed now, but secretly, Naktos worried it would not suffice.
Comments
Asheron Wilder
True. She groused a good bit about the bands, in particular. I think she was especially peeved at Bliz...lol. If she does offer this service in the future, she will probably amend the terms a bit. I wonder if she'll negotiate something short term for Uru's followers, since she "hated her the least?"
Bob of Doom
The storage does all that, but it also appears to cost her. We don't know exactly what that cost is, but I assume it isn't low. Also, it solves a lot of logistical issues that arise. All the deities probably don't have logistic trains prepared having become used to the benefits the free storage grants them. So she just basically forced them to build everything they need in 36 hours.
Samuel Strode
The prologue has me hooked the adjudicator is unchained let her furry be felt across the universe
Joe
This is just wonderful. Just wonderful. It's also nice to hear book 8 in Travis' voice - and to go over the whole thing again once it has been finished.
Joe
I think Miranda is just facilitating this time of transition. I suspect that after things calm down, she will offer that service again in some form. What that form will take, I don't know; perhaps she'll offer it to Ruwen's new pact.
Nick Pincus
As to them being not replaceable that also might be true. I have not read that section in a while.
Nick Pincus
I think naktos void bands were the same as uru's just not class linked, there was some comment about both have the same rules within the pact back in book 5? And being part of the pacts rules on power. But I might be miss remembering that or taking it out of context.
Samuel Strode
Of course I would never harvest one of us (minions move that energy source to my private dining room) they would never admit doing so openly but in private…
Karatelax
And the planet used to have 12 moons, which were his meridians, but they harvested them...
Asheron Wilder
Good point. It will certainly create immense challenges for the deities in the Pact, so if you looking to consume their attention, energy, and make their people hate them, removing the convenience of dimensional storage is an extremely effective way of doing so. I didn't think about that angle. Also, I'm not sure that the other deities can really replicate the capability, since Miranda could only do so because of her excellent ability to manipulate dimensional space. Naktos may be able to, in a limited capacity. I wasn't clear on the nature of his void bands (whether it relied on Miranda or not).
Nick Pincus
I see it as a long term lost of free info for maranda for a short term huge pain and a long term huge cost to other gods.
Asheron Wilder
Valid point, but in the prologue to Book 7, Naktos, Izac, and Lalquinrial were discussing whether or not Ruwen was actually an axiom. Lalquinrial didn't seem entirely sure at the time, but it seems that he was at least sharing some information. Lalquinrial did make the statement that "I now believe Simandreial that the boy is a true Axiom." I was speculating that he used that information to finally goad them into action, but it was pure speculation on my part. I realize that little information was probably shared with the broader population of deities. They are probably largely out of the loop.
Nick Pincus
Anyone in que losses everything to Miranda, also anything store for long term use in also gone. She just made a logistics nightmare for all the god. That's the petty part. The more painful part is imagine all cars just disappeared no mortal can really act until they replace that good other then who Miranda does not take the power from aka uru's people. This includes spys and many others, she just made a information black out for all non gods. Also took a way a huge part of there wealth. On other notes mortals can now level fasters with less arbitrary check and more roots can exist.
Pannath
I think only the few that attacked Ruwen might know, but I'm not sure. They had been talking for some time saying that if the gods knew he was an Axiom they would stop beating around the bush and just attack him straight away. They couldn't tell because his soul was hidden. Which is why he ascended in Miranda's realm.
Asheron Wilder
Excellent prologue! Miranda is absolutely my favorite character. I have mixed emotions about revoking the dimensional storage, since it serves as an excellent way of getting access to knowledge, material goods, books, etc. that people might store. That said, it also serves as an attack vector, so I can understand moving it off-planet. That should be an option now with the dissolution of the Pact. Anyone see anything I'm missing with the above logic? Given Miranda's reach, the benefits of offering storage may not be that much of an "add" for her anyway.
Asheron Wilder
I'm under the impression that Lalquinrial shared this with them earlier, probably as a means of goading them into rash action. He knew that Ruwen was an axiom because of Simandriel (spelling?).
Robert Gunnlaugsson
How can such conflicting emotions abide in one’s person, excitement that this story is moving to its finish while also dreading the same?
Nick Pincus
I mean people are hypocrite, no surprise there.
Nick Pincus
But we also know that gods have a tendency to kill anyone they see with 7 or more meridians for fear of losing power. There can't be that many around as the majority die before becoming gods and likely the rest never have the spirit or education to start cultivation.
Pannath
The only gods we'd known about before were Penn's disciples. But it turns out there were plenty of others, since it's the culmination of the Cultivator path, that makes sense. There were likely quite a few gods around before all of them too.
Pannath
Oh, such a beautiful moment to shake all the deities further was lost. They're already after Ruwen, and saw his wings. So they know he made it to Deity, and is a Divine Apostasy... if Miranda happened to mention he was an Axiom as well, the deities would all probably soil themselves.
Lukas Eagleton
Exactly, they can justify the actions as long as it's not being done to them.
Austin
It's interesting that they find harvesting dead dieties abhorrent but they live on a planet created from the core of their former leader.
Nick Pincus
Well I only really have one major question after this, how many gods are there? It's way more then I thought but a rough number would be nice. Also fuck yeah maranda. I know how hard it is to write a hyper intelligence entity in fiction and maranda achieves it so well, just the right amount of never being blindsided and knowing what others will do and having a response planed without seaming contrived.
Suzette Johnson
This is sooo freaking AWESOME!!!! How do you always manage to make your characters so freaking lovable??? I cannot wait for this book!! But please don't burn yourself out, I love your stories but I'd rather wait and get more of them than get a whole bunch now and have you get burned out T^T
David Carr
Sweet!!!!! Super excited here too!!!!!!!!!!!
