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Home Index of Tales of Strange Adventures
"Call of the Dragon, Part I"
"Call of the Dragon, Part II"
"Ruins and Hopes"
"Shield Maiden" Cornell #3
"Warrior Eternal" Cornell #4
"Childhood of a Fighter"
"The Pledge" Cornell #5
"The Rock of Discontent"
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"A Tale of the Gods"
- Read in HTML (from Part One)
"The Miracle of Solstice Day" Cornell #6
"Life's Values"
"Tangled Elves"
"The Pilgrims' Trial and Faith"
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by
Marc H. Wyman & Chris Bogues
Maidoyú
loved walking the streets of the Eternal City at darktime. The marble
ground looked so different without the resplendent light of day. The
buildings seemed to loom so much taller, their façades dark and almost
menacing. Even the gargoyle statues that she found so cuddly and cute in
daylight seemed ready to spread their wings and fly off their perches,
much like their living counterparts in the mortal world. She remembered
the flock of gargoyles she had joined a while back, having taken their
shape, and how she had played with them. In form like them, their tough,
rock-like skins had felt so soft and pleasing.
A
pity that her current form disallowed her that pleasure. Oh, she preferred
this shape, much like everyone else in the Eternal City, including even
dismal Shenaumac. Mannannan might change into a fish or some of his more
bizarre sea creatures now and then, but most of the time he held onto his
bipedal form.
As
did Maidoyú. She felt most like – well, most like herself with two legs
and two arms, two eyes and two ears, one nose and one mouth. Wearing a
light yellow dress, white sandals on her feet, and a smile on her face,
that was so comfortable and pretty. Some of the others might call her
carefree, and Koultirsp had compared her more than once with Alyssa. Not
that the comparison was apt, but what did Koultirsp know? She was so
concerned with her own business of toying with the mortal creatures,
flinging fire their way or enciting them to hurt each other. Oh, yes,
Koultirsp was the one to levy judgment on others, sure.
Maidoyú
grimaced and shook her head violently. She didn’t want to think about
things like this now. Not when darktime was so nice, and when she could
permit herself to feel thrilled by the menacing shapes around her.
Sometimes she pretended she was mortal, and that she could not defend
herself against an evil foe, against a monster, and that she would have to
cower in fear. That was fun!
Of
course, she thought a bit more soberly, there had been more than one
occasion when she had lost herself in that scenario of fright so much that
she had truly felt threatened. And then her self-defense had kicked in, so
that she had lashed out at her surroundings, leveling several of the
blocks of buildings around her.
Every
single time Decirius had called her to his place and told her that she
should finally stop playing. “Find a purpose for yourself!” he had
shouted in the end, throwing up his hands in exasperation. “You can’t
just walk around all day and play! You are a goddess, Maidoyú. Try to
prove yourself worthy of what you are.”
That
had most definitely not been fun. Why should she even want to find
a purpose? The other eight had selected their own preferences, and that
was fine. Their purposes reflected who they were – Mannannan, the sea
lover; Decirius, always oh so just; Haguen at the gate, with his sense of
duty; Koultirsp who always enjoyed the pain of others; Darawk who loved
knowledge so much that he could spend mortal years studying a single
plant; Shenaumac, the brooding one who always blustered about how strong
he was; Taurkémad, the frail one; Lonapal, the airy, effervescent one;
Alyssa who… Well, she also liked to toy with the mortals – but unlike
Koultirsp’s playing, the mortals usually seemed to enjoy her games. As
far as Maidoyú knew, anyway, which wasn’t a lot. Somehow that topic –
romance, love, and so forth – had lost a lot of its appeal to her once
Alyssa chose it for herself.
She
walked over to a plaza, adorned by a beautiful fountain, water spewing in
magnificent colors from shells. She watched the water rise and then fall
in its arc into the pool, its iridescence sparkling in the darkness.
“Why would I need a purpose?”
“Because
you’re a goddess, that’s why,” the fountain said.
Maidoyú
grimaced. “Will you stop listening all the time? I wanted to be
alone.”
The
water stopped spewing, instead it flowed together into a humanoid figure
that slowly stepped out of the fountain and coalesced into the shape of a
fully human male, with tanned brown skin that seemed wrinkled by long
exposure to light. He wore a dark leather shirt and short breeches of a
blue cloth Maidoyú didn’t know. Behind the man, the water resumed its
merry flow once again. “You must not forget what you are,” Mannannan
said and folded his arms before his broad chest. “That is what we are
all concerned about, child.”
“Don’t
talk to me as if I were younger than you!” Maidoyú shouted and pointed
an accusing finger at the marine god.
“You
act as if that were true,” Mannannan replied calmly. Water dripped from
his breeches, forming a pool around his bare feet. “Look at yourself.
You run around the Eternal City at darktime and pretend that you’re
mortal. That there is some reason to be afraid. Why? Because it’s fun?”
Maidoyú
rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t understand,” she muttered and turned
away to leave. It was bad enough that she couldn’t have just enjoyed the
sight of the fountain, now there was one of her fellow gods pestering her
with this endless tirade. If it had been Shenaumac, that might have been
well enough. His purpose was so ridiculous, The Great God of
Sharpened Things. What good was that for, anyway?
“Try
to explain it to me,” Mannannan challenged her. She turned around to
look at him with a sneer. He raised an eyebrow, then sighed and said,
“Please.”
Maidoyú
opened her mouth to speak, but then she closed it again. Pouting, she
leaned against the nearest wall, staring past Mannannan at the fountain.
The
God of the Sea shook his head, raised his hands exasperatedly – and
dropped them when he realized how much that gesture made him resemble
Decirius. At least, that was what Maidoyú thought. How could she
explain herself to him? Or to any of the other gods. She didn’t quite
know herself why she hadn’t selected a purpose to dedicate her existence
to. The others hadn’t dawdled much, after all. Not even Shenaumac!
But
Maidoyú had enjoyed herself too much to care about that. There was always
something new to explore, be it here, be it in the midrealm, or in the
mortal world. Her fellow gods were so busy creating new things every day,
and she wanted to see them all.
“Please,”
Mannannan repeated and sat down on the edge of the fountain.
Again
Maidoyú was about to speak, but stopped herself. “You’re annoying
me.”
“And
that is supposed to be an answer?” Mannannan shook his head. “Don’t
you want to do something with your powers. A goddess should not waste
herself like that. Child, look at this fountain! You adored it before, I
know. So often have you looked at it and enjoyed it, this that is my
creation. Don’t you want to give an experience like this to others as
well? You have it in you to be a creator! Use it.”
Would
I then have time to still enjoy the sights? Maidoyú wondered. Or
would I spend all my time being ‘creative’? She shrugged emptily.
Mannannan
got up from his perch, slowly came over to her and placed his hand on her
shoulder. She flinched a little, but his grasp remained strong. “Try to
find something for yourself, child. Please do that. Don’t make everybody
worry. All right?”
“Why
should you worry?!” Maidoyú exploded and shook out of his grip.
“I am a goddess, as you are so fond of reminding me. What need
do I have of this fabled purpose of yours? A goddess needs nobody, hear
me?”
“Child…”
“And
stop that condescending attitude!” Maidoyú yelled, then ran down the
nearest road to someplace else. It didn’t matter where that someplace
was, as long as it was away from Mannannan. Or any other of her pompous
fellow gods.
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