“My disciple who fought against the Water Snake was named Gunnodoyak. Despite being human, he had managed to awaken divine power and control thunder,” Hé-no explained to the members of Orniskem.
The Iroquois god was inside his cave with the four members of Orniskem. They were eating a large roasted turkey with boiled corn and fruits, while servants brought jars of fresh water for them to drink.
“However, my disciple attempted to face that snake, but he stood no chance against it and ended up impaled by one of its venomous fangs,” the thunder god continued, recounting the life of his fallen disciple.
“At that moment, I arrived and attacked the snake to save him. I fled from there with him on my back, without caring about what his poisoned blood might do to my body,” the Iroquois god continued.
At that moment, Tania remembered the kiss Epona had given Rodrigo while he was still in his tannin state. It should have been impossible for the equine goddess to come out unharmed after tasting Rodrigo’s venomous saliva… but what if Rodrigo was truly different? After all, he wielded sacred power—something that should have been impossible for any tannin to control.
“I took refuge in this cave, cleansed all the poison from my disciple, and extracted the tainted blood. Once I was certain he was completely clean, I performed a ritual to bring his soul back from the abyss. But when he returned to life, his consciousness was gone,” Hé-no explained.
“What do you mean his consciousness was gone?” Rodrigo asked, unable to ignore the look of remorse on Tania’s face.
“When someone dies for too long—whether god or human—their soul may return to the body, but not their consciousness. Something happens to it… it becomes void. The body remains as an empty shell,” said the Iroquois god.
“If that’s true, even resurrection itself can be meaningless,” Rodrigo said.
For a moment, the young tannin recalled what he had been taught about Jesus as a child—that He had risen on the third day.
“If He was dead that long… then His consciousness should have been gone too, right?” he wondered silently.
“I once met one of my sister Astarte’s lovers,” Tania interrupted. “He was the protector god of Sidon, named Eshmun. Before becoming a god, he was a effeminate human prince, but my sister desired him for his beauty.”
Tania continued her story.
“Because of his condition, he did not desire my sister. To escape her pursuit, he castrated himself, dying from blood loss. However, he was brought back to life by my sister’s power, which allowed him to awaken his divine strength. But he once told me what he experienced when he died.”
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“What happened?” Rodrigo asked.
“He said he was in an empty world—completely white. After drifting aimlessly, he saw something calling to him. He couldn’t describe it, but it filled him with terror. Fortunately, before he could approach it, he returned to life,” Tania explained.
“Yes, we have also heard tales of beings that wander in that empty world,” Hé-no added. “But those who encounter them and are revived in time never regain their sanity completely.”
“Sometimes they appear within minutes, sometimes after hours or even days. It is entirely unpredictable,” he continued.
“Now that I reflect upon the matter… ere I drew my first breath, my Okasan… my mother… did perish in the act of giving me life,” Susanoo said.
“My father ventured into Yomi, that most dread abyss, in a valiant quest to retrieve her soul. Yet though he did discover her spirit, her consciousness had been rent asunder, shattered into a thousand fragments. What remained was naught but a monstrous void shell—a demonic being of such fearsome aspect as to inspire unutterable terror and profoundest dread. My father was compelled to flee, though not before he managed to rescue me and my siblings from that benighted underworld,” the eastern god concluded.
“Eshmun… also became a monstrous void shell, just like you said. That thing destroyed his sanity, and his soul became corrupted,” Tania added somberly.
“In any case,” Hé-no said, “I am deeply grateful that you helped me defeat the Water Snake and finally avenge my disciple Gunnodoyak. I am forever in your debt.”
Sitting where he was, Hé-no bowed his head in respect.
“We could not have done it without your thunder powers, Hé-no-sama,” Susanoo added.
“Well, without wishing to offend your hospitality, we would like to visit the Iroquois kingdom tomorrow to continue our journey south,” Anpiel said.
“Of course. I will give my recommendation to Sawiskera so that you may pass safely through the kingdom,” Hé-no replied.
“It seems there will be no trouble with the Iroquois, even though they are allied with Lel… we might pass unnoticed,” Tania thought with hope.
Hé-no’s servants brought mats and blankets so everyone could sleep together. The gods rested in the large chamber until morning.
The next morning, around six o’clock, Hé-no woke his guests—though only Tania, as the other three members of Orniskem were already awake.
The god accompanied them outside the cave and, repeating the same trick as before, split the waterfall in two and created a bridge of clouds—this time lower than the previous day. The bridge reached the opposite side of Lake Ontario, and the gods crossed it.
Rodrigo could not help but notice that the lake had turned a deep purple, tainted by the snake’s venom. The decapitated corpse of the monstrous creature floated on the surface, alongside thousands of dead fish, birds, and other animals.
The tannin felt sorrow for what had happened… and also unease knowing that his own blood carried the same destructive poison—capable of causing an ecological catastrophe of that magnitude.
“I need to be careful not to bleed,” he thought.
“Unfortunately,” Hé-no said, “we will not be able to cleanse this great lake until the venom’s effects fade. It is a terrible pain to witness what these aberrations do to our fellow animals and plants.”
“I wish we had been strong enough to drive the snake away and kill it somewhere uninhabited,” Tania said with regret.
“What is done is done, young Tania. You must not regret your decisions,” Hé-no replied as they continued toward the far side of the lake.