Holy Opposites 47

	“And now you will become one of them.”  She removed her hand from his back and stood.  He quickly did the same.  He towered over her, and she dwarfed him.  “This is only the beginning.  Eyes that never suffer from light or darkness, dreams that see the future, blood that boils… more is coming.”

	“My blood boils now?” Axio asked helplessly.

	“It will soon.  You could even weaponize it, if you’re crafty.”  She wasn’t making fun of him.  He just stared, inexpressibly distressed.

	She could sense his discomfort, of course.  The demigoddess took his hands and clasped them between her own.  “Axio, I know you do not like that you are destined for so much,” she said gently.  “I know what the cleric of Ilmater told you.  A death, brought by the blades held in many hands.”

	“How could I like knowing that?” Axio asked miserably.  “I’m not the master of my fate, but you say I can avoid it.  What am I to do?”

	Ryaire held his clasped hands to her cheek.  “Know that I love you very much, and that though your star shall not burn forever, my dear Axio, the light you cast shall draw many souls from the dark,” she said, and her voice rippled with power.  “Nor shall these prophecies all come to pass.  As I say, you have the means to foresee the worst possible outcome of your decisions.  Who is to say that Ilmater’s man saw the same flow and shift of prophecy you have?  I do not know your death.  Ao, Mystra, Chauntea perhaps, they are the only ones among us who can see the future to perfect precision.”

	“But… now I will be second-guessing myself forever,” Axio said.  “I can see the worst ending, but not see how I got there.”

	“True, but you will learn to interpret them,” Ryaire countered.

	Axio looked down.  “Am I selfish to want to avoid such a burden?” he asked.  “Surely avoiding nightmares is not a sin.”

	Ryaire smiled.  So honest.  “No, my son, but I am not giving you a choice.  Your hard work will not be unrewarded.”

	Axio frowned, but said nothing.  The silence dragged on for a moment before she released his hands.  “Now, my Chosen one, I know you have other questions,” she said.

	Suddenly, he didn’t feel like sharing his self-conscious reaction to Cavria’s taunting.  “This spy of the Baneites, Suivi Embersson,” he said instead.  “He gave me his confession.”

	“I was listening,” Ryaire said.  “I suppose I should grant him forgiveness if he works to earn it, though it’s not my approval he seeks.”

	“No?”

	“If he dies in this state, it’s off to the Hell with him,” she said flatly.  “Let him serve you, maybe he’ll earn something better.  He’s got a hell of a lot of work to do before he earns a place in the Arbor, though, I will say that much.”

	“Right.  And how, if I may ask, are things with Eilistraee?” Axio asked carefully.  “We did rather waylay two of her servants.”

	“Well, one servant and an admirer,” Ryaire said drily.  “And things are fine.  She can hardly disapprove of our work to stymie Bane.”

	“Very well.”  Axio bowed.  “I think I’m done here, your Ladyship.  Thanks for taking the time to speak to me.”

	Ryaire held up a finger.  “No, there is one last thing to discuss,” she said.  “The souls of the children taken by the cult.  I am afraid your words in Undermountain were quite correct; many are lost to me forever, though not as many as you think.”  The quiet grief in her voice made Axio shudder.  She probably knew better than he did what the daemons were doing to those innocent children.  “Only a few of each sacrificial batch are actually consumed in the process of the ritual.  The rest are arriving with me piecemeal.  I am entering them into the process of healing.  However, one or two have given me some knowledge I may use to assist you.”

	Axio inclined his head.  “Thank you.”

	“The leader of the cult is a man the other cultists fear greatly, though why, the children did not know.  His name is Darius Vorthane, and he is a deadly cleric of Hate.”  Ryaire conjured an image in the air of man in black robes with a friendly smile and little glasses.  “He does not appear to be so openly and unapologetically evil as his counterparts in the service of Orcus, but perhaps that is why he is so dangerous.  He inspires absolute terror in the minds of the beasts his cult has enthralled, including the undead.”

	Axio stared at the picture.  “Why would that be?  The only thing the undead fear is death.  Does he have some necromantic powers?”

	“He does, though it seems that fear stems from some other cause, as well,” Ryaire told him.  “Regardless, he never sets foot outdoors any longer, but he does have some hidden means of escape.  So the children heard in whispers amongst his cultists.  The cult itself is mostly humans and half-elves, with a few halflings and a dwarf or two.  The second-in-command is a female half-elf named Drentil, whom no child who has passed into my care has seen.”

	Axio rubbed his forehead.  “And the location of the temple?”

	“Somewhere deep underground and very hot,” Ryaire informed him.  The light threw a dazzling gleam of rainbow color off her earrings as she turned.  Given her diminutive stature, it would have been able to forget she was a goddess, had she not been radiantly gleaming with her own internal power.  Her words shook the air, even in a quiet conversation like this one.  “The ritual seems to be undertaken in pieces.  Children are being shipped in by gate spells from some great cult-hold in the south or from Waterdeep, and then sacrificed in lots of one hundred, but the intervals between lots seem random to the children.”  She turned to see a group of kids bounding up the cliff face, bobbing and leaping as they navigated the gravity shifts.  “Speaking of.”

	A pack of eight or nine children sprang past the edge of the pit.  One half-eladrin landed first and pumped her fists in the air.  “Woo hoo!” she cried out, as the others fell about laughing.  “I told you I’d get here first!”

	She spotted Ryaire and bowed.  “Hello, mistress,” she said, still panting.  The other scrambled up and bowed as well.

	Ryaire smiled.  “Hello, Lyafe.”  Axio had to turn away as his heart shattered.

	The children sprang back into the pit and fell slowly.  The entire pit was charmed with feather fall, so that no kid would hurt themselves while moving around the great three-dimensional playground.

	Ryaire turned back to see Axio holding his hands over his eyes.  “I didn’t plan that, Axio, I promise you,” she said gently.  “I know you encountered her brother.”

	Axio heaved a wet sigh and brushed his eyes dry.  “Yes.”

	An awkward silence filled the clearing near them.  All around, petitioners wandered and chatted, played and danced, slept, or cavorted with the nymphs in their pools, but Axio just felt the awkwardness weigh on them both.  “At least she found her way here,” Ryaire finally said.

	“At least.”

	After a moment more disquiet, Ryaire raised her hand, palm up.  Two shining pieces of metal sat there in her palm.  “Take these, my son, and you will find them when you awake.”

	Axio took them from her hands and looked them over.  One was a copy of Cavria’s collar pin badge, increased in scale to match his, and shining with a protection from evil spell.  The other was a copy of his Chosen badge of office, and he felt a spell of hybridized bless and aid woven into its metal.  “These are to be your new badges of office when you go forth in battle,” Ryaire said.  “You will need them soon, my dear Axio.”

	Axio felt the remarkable precision of the casting – both of the metal and the magic – and looked up at her.  “Did you make these yourself, my Lady?”

	“I did.  Do you like them?”

	Axio smiled.  “They’re a lovely gift, my Lady, thank you so much.”  He put them in his ethereal pocket and bowed deeply.  “I will ensure their use.”

	“Good.  Now, my son, awaken, and prepare to face the day.  It shall be eventful.”


	Axio’s sapphire eyes snapped open.  He sat up in his bed to see Cavria at the door, just having opened it.  “Hey, Axio, sorry to wake you,” she said.  “It’s almost breakfast time.  You coming?”

	Axio looked over at his bedside table and sighted two metal badges he had not left there before.  “Yes, Cavria,” he said.  “I’m coming.”