13 Godslayer

Aaron made his way down the road and toward the village. The road hugged the tall structure that hid all light from him before, leading to a gate that barred his way. He couldn't help but admire its majestic presence, and the protective feeling its tall walls gave him.

It was a wide stone fortress with two large towers that rose from within. Aaron counted six floors on one tower and twelve on the other. Staring at it made him feel small, insignificant. The walls of the fortress, however, were much smaller. They were still as tall as a two-story building, but they were nothing compared to the large structures within.

He followed the road until the wall met him, barring his way behind a wide metallic bar. Men in blue uniforms walked along the wall above. They shot Aaron one look then one of them blew into a horn. It wailed for a short while, then the metallic bars rose, leading him into the fortress itself.

He walked under a tunnel manned by two guards. The sound of screams and grunts reached his ears.

His heart was conflicted. On one hand, he wanted to explore this new land, to see the secrets it hid and the wonders he had yet to see. On the other hand, the witch's shadow was too large to ignore.

'If we're in her world, she's sure to find us sooner or later,' he thought as he crossed the tunnel.

One of the guards shot him a side glance as he approached the other side. The sound of grunting and loud yelling was getting closer. Aaron felt like he was walking into a dojo.

The guard pointed with his spear beyond the tunnel. "Follow the road, you'll find another gate. Go through it and down into the village."

Aaron nodded. "Thanks."

He shielded his eyes as he left the tunnel. Strong sun rays illuminated a wide clearing before him. Wood enclosures separated square upon square, where men stood and trained.

They were all bare-chested, despite the biting cold winds. Some held wooden swords and danced around each other, trying to disarm one another.

Others fought with their fists, attempting to break each other's guards. Another team practiced in a group. They executed some moves, as though they were practicing some strange form of Tai Chi.

"Oy, this is not a show, move it!" the guard who pointed the way for Aaron screamed.

"Yeah, yeah," Aaron replied.

He kept walking along the road and soon crossed the second gate. The village welcomed him with another view. From where he stood earlier, he could only see half the place due to the fortress blocking his field of view.

More buildings rose to the eastern part of town. Further down, he saw windmills and open fields, with grass rising to half-human size. He saw a river splitting the village in half, leaving the pastures and fields on the other side.

He spotted a tall structure east of the village. Most people seemed to converge there. 'Damyan said she'd be in the temple. I bet that's the place.'

He walked past a tavern, a row of two-story houses, then turned left and toward the tall structure. The streets were muddy and slippery. People walked them in a hurry, brushing past him, not paying him any attention.

Horse-drawn carts took the right side of the road, while pedestrians took the left, walking in all directions. Aaron made his way to the tall structure, and his jaw dropped as soon as he reached it. It was a big rectangular stone building with marble pillars surrounding it. Each pillar had runes inscribed at the top, each one different from the others.

The temple had a triangular roof with a marble statue on top. It depicted a man with wings, holding a book in one hand and a scepter in the other. A rune, a familiar one, was inscribed on the statue's book. It was shaped like an S, with three horizontal lines crossing its curves.

"It's quite something, isn't it?" a familiar voice said.

He turned to see Sofia. She looked like her usual self, save for a wardrobe change. She wore a long white tunic that extended beyond her knees, like a short dress, and black leather boots. A leather belt was attached to her waist. A small dagger hung on her side.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're alright. You left without a sign. I thought something happened to you."

She gave him a wide smile. "What're you talking about, silly? This place is safe." Her eyes lit up. "Come! You have to see this."

He frowned at her and opened his mouth to speak, but she grabbed him from his arm, his human arm, then led him inside the structure.

Gigantic stone doors stood on each side of the entrance. Beside them stood two statues depicting a man and a woman holding swords in the air, their faces contorted into a grimace of fury.

"This is temple Venn," Sofia said as they crossed the doors. "This place represents their god's unwavering will to stand up to the witch, to eradicate her from existence. It's his magic that protects them, hides them from the witch."

The temple was wide and its ceiling too high. Aaron felt like a minuscule insect walking into a human house. Long, multicolored windows at the top of the temple's walls let the sunlight in. The place was bathed in warm colors, giving the temple a serene and calm feel.

Tall pillars, similar to the ones that surrounded the temple, split it in three wings.

Wooden benches were neatly placed in the central wing of the temple, where people prayed in hushed voices. It ended in a wide marble altar, with a statue on top. A man with a long gray robe stood there, polishing the statue.

Sofia led Aaron to the left wing. He followed her, half amazed, half confused. He squeezed her arm and stopped in his tracks. "What are we doing here Sofia?"

She brought her forefinger to her lips. "I'll explain soon." She gestured for him to follow her.

He scratched his head. 'What's gotten into her?'

She led him through the wing and before a large painted picture.

"Whoa!" Aaron said.

The picture's frame was made out of a crystalline substance that shone like LED lights. The frame wasn't the only thing that amazed him, however, it was the person in the picture. It depicted a beautiful woman wearing an ivory dress. She let her silver hair fall over her shoulders and beyond her hips.

Her blue eyes shone, even though it was just a picture.

"Is that her?" Aaron asked.

Sofia nodded. "This painting's almost two hundred years old."

Aaron's head snapped toward her. "What?"

"I kid you not, people worship these paintings. They take their teachings as facts," Sofia said.

"Like some religious text?" Aaron asked.

She nodded. "They have texts too, but these paintings have been preserved through time to tell her story."

"Why bring me here?" Aaron asked.

Sofia grinned. "Because it's sacred ground. They don't spy on anyone here."

Aaron looked behind him, and Sofia quickly pulled him toward her. "Don't make it obvious," she said through gritted teeth.

Aaron scratched his head. "Sorry, this whole mess is still hard for me to digest."

Sofia frowned. "I guess I had time to go through what happened again in my head while you slept. Maybe I'm going too fast for you."

Aaron shook his head. "It's just that…"

He looked down and instinctively reached for the bracelet on his wrist, but only found his gauntlet. The runes shone a faint blue light in the darkness. They still showed the V with two points on top, and the diagonal Z with the curvy line on top. They hummed to him, whispered words he couldn't yet hear properly.

He sighed. "This place, this thing…" He frowned at his gauntlet. "Pete and Karla… We shouldn't be here."

Sofia crossed her arms. "It's a little too late for that, don't you think?"

Aaron sighed. "I know that…" He turned to look at the witch. Apart from a wardrobe change and a style makeover, she didn't seem to have aged at all.

"Two hundred years…" he said, absentminded.

Sofia waved a hand before him. "Earth to Aaron!" She clicked her fingers before his eyes.

Aaron looked at her. His eyes regained their focus.

He clenched his fists. "This is all my fault. I dragged us into this."

Sofia put her hands on his shoulder. "For the last time, you didn't drag us into anything Aaron. We got ourselves into this mess. Now it's time we got out of it. Do you hear?"

Despite her reassurances, he knew. He knew that deep down, she blamed him for their predicament. She blamed him like his sister did, like Peter and Karla did.

He admired her strength, however, and her unwavering spirit.

'She's right. This is no time to skulk. We fought hard to stay together. I'm not giving up, not now, not ever.'

Sofia clicked her fingers before his eyes. "You gotta stop doing that dude."

He shook himself awake. "Why did you bring me here then?"

"Remember our visitor yesterday?" she asked.

"Yeah, the lady with the mask?"

"Right. She brought me here this morning and showed me the history of her people. The paintings around here tell of a long story of oppression and terror under the witch's reign," Sofia said. She shivered. "According to these teachings, she's worse than we thought."

"Who is she, really?" Aaron asked.

"In this world? She's known as Hera, the one and only goddess," Sofia said.

Aaron cursed under his breath. "Did I stab a goddess?"

"The people around here only call her by her human name, Elena Locke, the Godslayer," Sofia said.

Aaron's heart leaped to his throat. "Godslayer, the chief said it earlier, we're in deep shit, aren't we?"

Sofia winced. "The legends here say she attained a step before immortality. She's very close to achieving it, to ascending to true Godhood."

Aaron gulped.

"Long ago, the Gods teamed up against her, and imprisoned her in the spirit realm. It's said the key to free her was broken into pieces, scattered in remote corners of the world, tightly guarded by the Gods' champions," Sofia said.

Aaron raised a questioning eyebrow. "What do we have to do with all this then?"

Sofia shrugged. "Mask lady said there's a prophecy, about the witch's captives running free in this land. The prophecy warns of the chaos they'd bring."

"No wonder those guards tried to kill me this morning," Aaron said through gritted teeth.

"It also predicts a hero to emerge from her unlikely band she calls the Apostles. The hero is said to be the only one capable of banishing her soul, forever sealing her. That part is a little hazy on the details though," Sofia said.

Aaron's eyes widened. "Let me guess, they think we could be the ones?"

She shrugged. "They think we may pull the hero to them."

He frowned. "How so? Isn't this place a secret?"

"I don't know, man. They said they'll tell us more after the ceremony," she said.

"You can't be thinking about teaming up with them!" Aaron said. "For all we know, they can be worse than her."

Sofia shrugged. "We have the same enemy, and they saved our lives. They're not bad people. We just need to get to know them better."

Aaron looked around, afraid someone would still be listening. "Sofia, they tried to kill me this morning. They want your head too!"

Sofia met his eyes with a challenging stare. "Do they scare you more than her, the Godslayer?"

He took a step back.

"Aaron, these people saved our lives and offered us a home. They're good people, despite what a minority might think. We can't beat that witch alone, can we?"

He shook his head.

"Then what will it be? Will we join them, learn from them, and fight against her with all these people at our backs, or do you prefer the woods?" she asked.