Chapter 34

Filaments of Destiny

Ghospo

Worshippers and subjects prayed to me. They flocked to my temples and I bestowed blessings and wards upon them. My influence was growing and I could not have been more pleased with that progress.

The ease of summer weather brought many people to my temples. More adventurers than last year. A few dozen quests had been completed and I recovered precious legendary items that had once been stolen from me.

Hundreds of thousands of poisonous artifacts were donated this season. I destroyed them all, growing in power. My power grew from destroying such evil magic. I had earned enough divine power that I could build a new temple. I put the temple at sea, between continents. Today was the day for the next stage of my plans.

I listened to the prayers. I could hear them all. All the time, but I tuned out hundreds of thousands of praying voices and focused on only one. I transported both my consciousness and form from my temple in Honeybush near Klayvale, to another one of my temples in the rocky golf of San Array. San Array was as far south east as my influence covered. A man was kneeling in that temple, hands clasped in supplication. An old lady swept the floors just outside the room, ignoring the man’s prayers. I listened.

“...and cure Felke of poisons. My dedication to you is unending. My faith in you has been forged from our allegiance and your influence. I hope to serve…”

Biebirch Closs. A man deeply devoted to me. A legendary adventurer. It was good to see him again. Especially since he was just returning from a year long quest with something I needed.

I gathered my form so that it was humanoid shaped yet still invisible. When I walked, my legs wrinkled the air. I stepped down from a green temple chair that sat upon a plinth of melting green marble. I descended the steps and Closs lifted his head, sensing my presence.

“Lady Ghospo,” he said.

“Biebirch Closs of the purifier class,” I said. “I am pleased to see you again. You have something with you. A violet petal of Wes Bear’s flower.”

“I do.”

From a pocket on the inside of his thick tunic, he brought out a package. He spent several minutes tediously opening the package. He was careful and methodical, pulling away paper and unraveling cloth until he got to the center. Inside was a delicate violet colored petal. It was only a single petal from the entire flower. A single stripe of green ran the length of the petal.

I felt its potent damage as soon as I saw it. The veins in Closs’s face bulged and pulsed. His face grew red, then nearly blue. His tongue and eyes swelled nearly twice their size. He put a hand to his chest and started wheezing.

“You’ve suffered more than you should have to acquire this for me,” I said, taking the petal and storing it within me. Within my plane between worlds. As soon as the petal was gone, Closs collapsed. I fetched a few subjects in the temple to help the unconscious Closs to a room and bed. Then I sat upon the bed and stroked Closs’s temple as he slept soundly.

“Thank you, dear Closs. Only a purifier could retrieve such a potent item. I knew I could count on you. I witnessed your achievement in the filaments of my destiny.”

The filaments of my destiny.

The petal of Wes Bear’s flower was powerful enough that it could diminish the effects of poisonous items in the world of Felke by half. All I had to do was consume it.

“Retrieving the petal was not entirely selfless of me,” Closs said.

“I know. I knew it wouldn’t be, and I have your reward. Tonight, when you sleep, I will tattoo one third of Ghospo’s Living Cure around your arm. There are three strands that intertwine to form the complete braid. The complete symbol. The first braid is anti-venom, the second is anti-poison, and the third strand is a toxin charge. Once you have all three, any toxins that would afflict you instead are absorbed to improve your vitality. Which would you rather have first?”

“I’ve thought about this for many years, my divine,” Closs said, bowing deeply. “I am humbled to request the anti-poison.”

“Then it shall be. Before the summer is over, I will send you on another quest. When you successfully return, I will grant you a second strand.”

“Will I be successful? Have you seen this in your filaments of destiny?”

Closs could not see my form avert my eyes.

“I have seen it, yes.”

He smiled and rose to his full height, then bowed once more.

“I eagerly await my next quest,” Closs said.

He left.

All I could think about were those filaments of destiny. I already had to deal with the ire of divines and gods. Tosin Siege was placed in the center of all this. I don’t know what demi-deity Vicen did to fool Tosin into seeking him out, but it worked. I knew where Tosin was at all times. Since my charm hung from his flagstaff, I could sense him with but a flicker of thought.

I didn’t have much time to feel for Tosin before another presence entered my temple. A divine presence. I knew exactly who it was and they couldn’t have reach out to me with better timing.

“Musewa,” I said.

“Sister,” Musewa said, though we weren’t sisters.

“What information has the dream maker learned?”

Musewa made herself known as she entered the domed chamber. She was the old lady who’d been sweeping along the corridor earlier.

“I’ve learned that your alliance with Closs has strengthened. That you’ve acquired the petal of Wes Bear’s flower. I’ve learned that you’re going to consume it. Very brave. It will kill you, but you already know that.”

“I’ve died a thousand times. What’s one more for the good of Felke?” I said.

“One more is another death filled with pain and suffering.” She was right. Most of my deaths so far were filled with suffering. Consuming the petal of Wes Bear’s flower was going to be one of the most painful, if the myths were to be believed. “I’ll be with you while you eat it. I’ll wait for your revival. That way you dont die alone.”

“I have a wide influence,” I said. “Worshippers who love me. Subjects. Alliances with people who respect me.”

“You’re not stupid,” Musewa said, apraoching the steps that led to my chair and sitting on the second one. “Don’t treat me like I’m stupid either. Read between the lines. When I say I’ll be with you so you’re not alone in another death, you know very well what the ‘alone’ is that I refer to.”

“You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. Anyways I’m here because I’ve seen some new filaments of destiny.”

“The fact that you’ve come to me in person means that this involves Tosin.”

“Yes. I’ve brought my tapestry too.”

“You did not bring your tapestry. It wouldn’t be safe outside your plane of dreams. We would have barricaded ourselves in my temple and I would be transporting you to my temple upon the sea. Why do you say you’ve brought your tapestry when you know how dangerous that is?”

“I did bring it. I wanted to show you something.”

“Your lying. I know you. You wouldn’t risk it.”

“I brought it. I brought it to show you what Tosin will face when he travels by sea to Vicen’s island.”

Musewa unraveled a magic tapestry and threw it up in the air. It hovered and wavered. The threads were made of light. One side was unraveling. The other was stitching depictions of near future events. I looked on with trepidation when I realized that Vicen was not actually a demi-deity of light healing. I gasped in horror when I saw Tosin entering Vicen’s temple. I saw myself too, crying upon the sea with no land in sight.