Nepherel remained standing at the head of the table while the silence lingered among the gathered rulers, Paladin leaders, and divine beings.
His normal serenity had become difficult to read, and for once there was no trace of the playful attitude he sometimes used around the recruits; He looked from one person to another before finally speaking like he had already rehearsed these words in his mind, and still hated every one of them.
“There is information I have been keeping from all of you. I am well aware of your concerns regarding this new initiation sequence for the recruits, especially because we have never done anything like this before. There is a reason for that. But I will get the major stuff out of the way first.”
Nepherel placed one of his hands against the table while the others remained at his sides, He began naming the kingdoms whose influence had been growing throughout the continent of Skaldr, each one representing a different source of power and culture across the continent.
“Skjaldberg, the kingdom of stone. Eldrvegr, the eternal flame kingdom. Vindríki, the kingdom of wind, storms, and sea. Huldamörk, the kingdom of nature. Ísreyör, the kingdom of eternal winter. And Gullmark, the golden kingdom; Several other kingdoms across the continent have also grown stronger. They are joining one another, expanding their alliances, and crushing kingdoms that refuse to stand beside them. Beyond Skaldr, other continents are seeing alliances form as well, and many of them share one purpose. They intend to unite and eventually kill my father. A foolish but brave attempt to slaughter Alpam.”
The people around the table had already known about the Coalition, so none of that information truly surprised them.
What concerned them was the way Nepherel had spoken, because the Coalition itself was not the secret he had been withholding. His face was noticed to become sorrowful as he prepared to reveal something far more personal, something that had clearly weighed on him for a long time; it had to be if he kept it a secret for so long.
“But that is not what I have been keeping from you.” Nepherel lowered his head. “Alpam is sick.”
The table gasped, and Cassius stared at him like the words themselves had become impossible to understand, while Sugrid’s hand stopped halfway toward his drink.
Nobody there had been prepared for such a statement because Alpam was not a mortal king, an ordinary creature, or even a lesser deity.
He was one of the most powerful gods in existence, a being whose Divine Authority had shaped civilizations and whose presence alone could overwhelm mortal minds, so the idea of him becoming sick sounded absurd on a level that made the entire courtyard feel unreal.
“Sick?!” Cassius said, scratching her hand.
Sugrid shook his head, his disbelief immediately turning into irritation. “Bullshit. No way. Alpam? What about his Divine Authority?”
Across the table, the Son of Revelation leaned forward; His lion-like head was crowned by a distant pair of horns, giving his regal appearance an imposing quality that made him stand apart from the other Paladin leaders.
His name was Balan, and unlike Sugrid, he didn’t speak as though he wanted to dismiss the matter. “It can’t be, right? Revelation comes from Alpam himself. If his authority is the source through which truth is uncovered, then how could something remain hidden within him?”
Sugrid rubbed his beard and looked toward Nepherel. “Ehhh, I still don’t believe it. Since we alllll know Nepherel likes to joke around and stuff, tries to anyway. He just needs a drink…”
Cassius kicked him in the leg beneath the table, saying, “Shh! I don’t think he’s playing around this time.”
Sugrid looked at Nepherel again, The Demi-God’s face held none of his usual humor, and the sorrow there was too genuine for Sugrid to dismiss.
He took a drink, leaned back, and turned his attention toward the courtyard. “Fine, fine. Continue.”
King Solomon leaned forward, his face becoming increasingly severe as he tried to understand what he had just heard.
His fingers closed into fists against the edge of the table while Queen Icaris remained beside him, listening without interruption. The king had lived through wars, political upheavals, and the rise and fall of kingdoms, but even his experience offered nothing useful for a situation where a god could become afflicted by an illness.
“What do you mean, sick? What sort of disease infects a literal god? A god who is part of the Highest Ones? The ones who were created by XXI, the creator of existence itself? Tell me!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The Highest Ones were known to everyone gathered around the table. They were the seven strongest gods in existence, the first seven gods created by XXI, and each represented one of the seven principles that formed reality itself: Light, Darkness, War, Love, Stars and Space, Time, and Fate.
Their existence reached back to the earliest days of creation, before mortal kingdoms had names and before most divine beings had ever existed.
Yet XXI had vanished many years ago, leaving behind one of existence’s greatest mysteries. Nobody knew where the creator had gone, not even the seven Highest Ones themselves, and the absence of XXI had become a question so ancient that generations of gods had inherited it without finding an answer.
Nepherel’s eyes lowered toward the table, saying, “I know. I know exactly what you are asking.” He inhaled slowly before beginning. “I was only a small child, really. But this Sanctuary was where I was born, born from Alpam and the womb of Silja, the goddess of the void. I remember a little, but as the archangels surrounded us during the end of my mothers labor to bring me to life, something came. It was strange…the sun here went dark red, and something descended from it, like a parasite. A large one.”
Nepherel paused, struggling to put the memory into words. “It was massive, and it had red and black massive tentacles spraying all over the place, it had dark wings all over it, and a presence and body frame that nearly consumed this entire domain. A fight began, and Alpam, Silja, and the archangels fought against it. Many archangels died, including Silja. But Alpam had to hold back because his power could have erased all of humanity and us, and since I was a child, I wouldn’t have been able to survive it. The fight was….incomprehensible. It was a battle between gods and a creature no one understood, and even now I struggle to explain what I saw.”
As Nepherel tried to continue, blood appeared beneath one of his nostrils.
He lifted a hand and touched beneath his nose, staring at the blood with quiet surprise before wiping it away.
The effort of remembering seemed to have affected him physically, despite the fact that he was a Demi-God who had saw countless supernatural events throughout his existence.
For several seconds, he remained silent, apparently trying to determine which parts of the memory could safely be spoken aloud.
Cassius watched him carefully, thinking, ‘Even if he tries to explain the battle, it takes a toll on him that much? It’s expected, a god like Alpam fighting against an unknown creature who could stand against him is surely incomprehensible.’
She finally spoke, her voice considerably quieter than before. “What kind of being can stand toe to toe with Alpam and even kill Silja?! Even with Silja’s Divine Authority?”
Silja had possessed the Divine Authority of the Void, an authority that allowed her to command emptiness itself and manipulate the absence surrounding existence.
Her power was capable of erasing matter, swallowing spaces between worlds, and reducing the distance between places to something meaningless, making her one of the most formidable divine beings ever known. Yet whatever had attacked the Sanctuary had survived her authority and ultimately killed her, leaving the gathered leaders with the disturbing realization that even the Void had failed to stop it. Nobody knew how that had been possible, and Nepherel’s memory offered more questions than answers.
Then out of nowhere, a deep voice came from across the table. “Maybe that is what war does.”
The speaker was Chariot, the Paladin Son of War. His red hair literally burned with living flame around his head, matching his red flaming eyes, while four arms hung from his broad, shirtless body and red fiery tattoos and runes covered his skin.
He carried himself with the strange combination of a warrior who seemed born for battle and a man who could fall asleep during an important meeting if nobody bothered him.
Despite his lazy demeanor, there was something intensely regal in the way he spoke whenever the subject turned toward conflict.
“War has never cared about what should be possible. A stronger fighter can lose to someone weaker. A kingdom can fall because one soldier makes a mistake. A god can possess an authority capable of destroying worlds and still meet something that understands how to survive against it. If Silja died and Alpam could not unleash everything he had, then maybe that creature found the one circumstance where even divine strength was limited. It was strong enough to kill her, but not Alpam, not immediately anyhow.”
Sugrid immediately turned toward him. “That sounds convenient. You’re basically saying war can explain anything.”
Chariot scratched the side of his head with one hand. “Pretty much. That’s why people hate it.”
Sugrid frowned. “That is not an answer.”
“It’s an answer you don’t like.”
“You’re treating Silja dying like some lesson about warfare. Pretty sure Neph doesn’t wanna hear about that. Kinda inconsiderate.”
“I’m saying war does not care how impressive your authority is. I’m just being honest, you drunk.”
“What was that?”
“In this war against the unknown, it seems our enemies are on par with the Highest Ones. And if the disease started during that fight, then it can only affect gods, because neither Nepherel or any surviving Archangels are infected. Or doesn’t seem to be anyhow. War is unpredictable, and a divine war is incomprehensible in itself….damn creep.”
Their voices began rising as the two argued across the table, and several of the other Paladin leaders prepared to intervene before the discussion became another problem entirely.
Queen Icaris remained perfectly still beside Solomon, listening to both men for several moments before she finally turned toward her husband. “I believe Nepherel has more to say.”
The argument ended immediately, Solomon looked toward Icaris, then toward Sugrid and Chariot, and both men settled back into their seats.
Icaris’ words carried an authority that required no raised voice, and everyone present respected her enough to listen when she spoke. Some of the people around the table even feared her, though it was a fear born from respect rather than hostility, because Icaris possessed the rare ability to command a room without needing to prove that she could.
Nepherel waited until the courtyard became quiet again, He wiped the remaining blood from beneath his nose and looked toward every person around the table, his sorrow returning as he prepared to reveal another secret. “Yeah. All that I spoke about that disease was only the first thing I kept from you all. The second thing I kept from you all is the trials. Regarding the recruits….They’re all going to die.”