Chapter 3

The valley of the spirits

This time, the portal brought them to an isolated island surrounded by a seemingly endless abyss, a fairly large village that seemed completely cut off from society. In that eerie silence, all he could hear was the soothing sound of bells in the gentle wind. Instead of houses the island was full of stone tombs, some bigger and imposing while others were much simpler but each had one thing in common, a symbol and a family name. Once dead, the souls of the most important sorcerers rested here until they were reincarnated. Of course, it was not only sorcerers there but also common mortals who were under the protection of the goddess of death, Elysian.

The Netherworld, as people like to call it, was a small sanctuary created by the first goddess of death, Amurg, to protect the souls of the dead from astral creatures. It was a small oasis of light and safety in a dark, cold desert that hid creatures unknown to the human eye. Before this place, people’s souls wandered aimlessly in the astral, falling prey to spiritual parasites.

A building on top of the mountain stood out for its simplistic yet elegant architecture. Above it, he could see a ray of light emerging from the dark abyss that fell right in the middle of it. Small spheres of light floated from the temple and the tombs into the beam of light, disappearing into its brightness. The soothing light passed directly through the spherical roof of the temple serving as a bridge between the two worlds through which spirits could pass.

“Listen to me carefully. Don’t speak without permission. Do you understand?” Mana looked at him with his big red eyes and said nothing, which made him snap out of it. “Speak!”

Out of his mouth came a small ‘yes’ that could barely be heard, but was enough for the man to leave him alone. Seneca grabbed him and dragged him to the temple on the mountain, the place from which the goddess of death watched over the souls of the dead.

Once inside the temple, Mana was smitten by the fine details that were carved into the columns which held the temple. Each column depicted a story, some that dated back to the time of the first generation of gods. But his eyes unintentionally fell on a scene, one that unlike the others seemed far more detailed and depicted the first gods gathered against what appeared at first glance to be a red-eyed man playing a flute above a pile of skeletons sticking out of the ground. The next scene was the same red-eyed person, but this time, a creature from the depths of the ocean had ripped and eaten his body.

His fingers gently touched his eyes made from ruby and in the next second his mind was filled with voices, so many voices that Mana couldn’t hear anything else. There were cries and shouts that sounded like an echo inside his mind, but none of them spoke a word. The sounds were monotonous and almost identical and kept repeating endlessly.

The voices suddenly stopped, and the boy awoke from what seemed like a nightmare. Seneca’s face dissolved and then rebuilt itself until there was nothing left that resembled the man who stood before him a few minutes before. His aura, this time brighter and stronger, revealed his true identity. Seneca, a mere doctor, had now been replaced by one of the most powerful gods known as Anki.

“This is not the right time to daydream.”

“I’m sorry.”

Beside the massive throne made by crystals showed two enormous wolves stood slightly taller than Seneca, with red eyes that watched them obediently. The ray of light amidst the temple faded until there was nothing left but a pond of water where tiny orbs of light could be seen moving, eager to receive their new body.

“Mana.” A whisper could be heard in the temple, soft and warm like the voice of a mother calling her child, “Don’t be scared, I’ll be done soon.”

The boy didn’t have time to react as he felt something enter his mind, followed by a headache and a burning sensation all over his body that made him let out a cry. The whole torment lasted a few seconds, during which Mana almost passed out and it was only after the goddess’s soul left his body that he calmed down.

On the stone throne, a translucent female figure made of water appeared. Her body was ten times the size of a normal human, with a white owl mask that covered her face. She was Elysian, the goddess of death, one of the six supreme gods of the second generation. But she wasn’t the only god to make an appearance. Around him gathered other colossal figures, each wearing a mask representing an animal. And even afterwards he could see pairs of eyes in the dark corners of the temple that watched him with an eager curiosity.

“Thank you all for taking the time to come. As you know, today we have gathered to decide what we will do with Manna. His unconscious is sealed, but I don’t know how much longer it will last,” said Elysian, slightly worried.

“Can’t we use litha water again to put him to sleep?” asked one of them.

“Unfortunately not. His mind is still fragile, which makes him already open to attack. Litha water is far too dangerous and cannot be used twice without destroying the person’s mind. If we do this, we give Miazanoapte a chance to escape or take over his body.”

“Then, just kill him!” a male voice rang in Mana’s ears like thunder. The god wore a goat mask and from his body came great blue flames so fierce and radiant that Mana could not even look in his direction without being blinded. “The chances of finding another voratomore’s body compatible with his soul are far too small. I haven’t seen a pure one in hundreds of years.”

“Well, you’ve found it now. It’s right here. A pure voratomore with no trace of human blood,” said Anki. “The problem is that we don’t know exactly where he comes from. As far as I know, they have vanished long ago and the remaining ones are half human. Mana may have come from an unknown tribe or might be in hibernation since the time when the voratomores lived among humans. If it’s the latter, there could be other voratomores we do not know about.”

“He could have come from the astral,” Orionis replied.

“No. Wild voratomores can’t speak any human language and don’t communicate in the same way we do. Amurg told me that when the first colony came to this world, they needed several generations to copy human behaviour. His speech and behavior are on the same level as a human child. He must have grown up in the presence of humans from an early age.”

More whispers from the darkest corners of the temple began to be heard all around. The fox-masked goddess bent over him. She looked at him coldly, as if he wasn’t a child but a monster. “It is too dangerous to be left alive. Miazanoapte must never have a living body again. What will you do if he gets stronger? Don’t you remember how hard it was to defeat him then? Or how many gods have fallen just to seal his body!” Meraki cries out in utter rage.

“But do you know what his death comes with? Once he dies, his soul will be free again and who knows where he will find another sleeping voratomore. Then I want to see how you’ll find him.”

This time, no one said anything, and the temple went silent again. But Meraki was known for her stubborn personality and didn’t give up easily. “That child is far too spiritually weak to fight an advanced sorcerer, let alone stand up to a god. How long do you think you’ll keep him there? How long is that child going to last until his consciousness is crushed?”

“This is where you’re right. Miazanoapte can’t be killed, and the only way we can put him to sleep is to make him surrender his title to Mana.”

“You’re delusional. Do you really think he is going to hand over the title of god so easily?”

“It’s a far better option. At least for now.”

Elysian stood up from her throne and decided to speak her mind to calm the spirits. “Everyone has good reasons to kill or defend him. That’s why I thought I’d let his destiny decide his fate. In a month’s time, during the summer solstice, there will be a competition to recruit novices. If Mana makes it to the top six, he will be spared.”

Meraki disappeared without another word, and other gods followed suit. It wasn’t long before only Mana was left, along with the two gods, Elysian and Anki.

“I will send someone who specializes in destructive magic to teach him. More than that, I cannot do to help him.”

“That’s enough. Don’t bother too much with that. You have more important things to do.”

“Then I can only wish you luck.”

The goddess opened a portal that teleported them into a large conical shaped tent where the beds were already prepared. Anki immediately changed into his human form and sat down at a table where his disciple had prepared his tea.

“Mana, it’s time to talk. I suggest you take a seat. You’ll need it.”

The boy hesitated for a second, but took his advice and sat down with the others.