Mortal Gods (Mantles of Power Book 2) Read online

  Mortal Gods

  Benjamin Medrano

  Contents

  The Story So Far

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Epilogue

  Hell’s Ascendant Prologue

  Mortal Gods by Benjamin Medrano

  © 2019 Benjamin Medrano. All rights reserved.

  Contact the author at [email protected]

  Visit the author’s website at benjaminmedrano.com

  Sign up for the author’s mailing list at http://eepurl.com/cGPT-b

  Cover Art by Nguyen Uy Vu

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For my family and my beloved.

  The Story So Far

  Violently betrayed and stripped of her wings, the angel Isalla was cast down into the hells by Haral, a woman she’d believed a friend. Isalla was saved from death by Kanae, a demoness and healer in the hells, who nursed the injured angel back to health and taught her about the hells, which was a different place than Isalla had imagined. Many demons in the hells lived normal lives, though it was still a dark and dangerous place.

  Over time, the two women grew close, then their relationship blossomed into a hesitant romance over the course of weeks, at which point Isalla confided in Kanae that she’d been betrayed because she’d found signs of a conspiracy in the heavens, one that seemed to have designs on overthrowing the current ruling council. Concerned about the plans of the conspirators, and the likelihood that a radical faction would destroy the fragile peace between the heavens and hells, Kanae agreed to help Isalla contact her old commander and lover, an angel named Roselynn, who Isalla had informed of her investigation.

  Unfortunately, Haral had learned that Roselynn was making inquiries of her own after Isalla vanished, and the angel had acted swiftly and ruthlessly, drawing Roselynn into an ambush by demons, who then sent Roselynn into the hells for interrogation. Roselynn woke in the comfortable Spire of Confession, and the unwitting angel was slowly, gently brainwashed by another angel and two succubi into effectively abandoning the heavens and making herself more beautiful. A visit by the demon queen Estalia caused Roselynn, now going by Rose, to fall almost entirely.

  Meanwhile, Haral had sent assassins to finish off Isalla, as she had learned that the angel had somehow managed to survive the fall. As Kanae brought word that Roselynn had been captured in a demon raid, one of the assassins attempted to kill Isalla. The attempt failed, but the assassin perished as she tried to flee, leaving the two with unanswered questions. With few other choices, the two women chose to seek out Roselynn and attempt to rescue her, despite Kanae’s deep fear of Queen Estalia.

  Their rescue attempt brought them near the Spire of Confession, where they waited to strike once Roselynn was being taken to the capital of Estalia. Their attempt worked nearly flawlessly, despite one of Rose’s guards managing to break free of the hypnosis that Kanae had inflicted on them. Kanae teleported the three of them to near her home, and her explanations managed to raise questions in Rose’s mind, and also prompted her to guess that Kanae was Queen Estalia’s lost daughter. While Kanae didn’t confirm her guess, her lack of response told Rose that she was correct.

  Kanae distanced herself as Isalla and Rose rekindled their relationship, the demoness avoiding being drawn in due to worrying that any relationship couldn’t last, and believing that, soon, Estalia would come for her. Unfortunately for Kanae, Estalia had already known that she lived, and immediately set out to meet the three at Kanae’s home.

  Estalia’s arrival threw all Kanae’s plans into disarray as the queen revealed that Kanae’s true name was Kitania, and the two managed to somewhat reconcile, though Kanae revealed that Estalia’s goal was to end the war by manipulating angels and demons alike to worshiping her. Estalia soon departed for her palace, leaving behind armor and Ember, the legendary weapon that belonged to Rose, as well as a few guards to keep the angels safe while the plot in the heavens was unraveled.

  Before the group of women could come to a final decision on what to do, and even as Kanae was disposing of the last of her things, Haral’s third attempt on Isalla’s life arrived, an attempt which was also intended to kill Rose, and even Estalia if she was in the way. A group of angels attacked Kanae’s home, and the demoness fought a delaying action as the guards left by Estalia and the angels alike prepared themselves for battle. Just as Isalla and Rose came to her aid, the attackers shot Kanae with an arrow that had been intended for Estalia. The arrow teleported her to a fortress in the mortal world, where Kanae was torn apart by a hail of magical arrows.

  Enraged by the apparent death of Kanae, Isalla and Rose fought desperately, heavily injuring several of the attackers, but would have lost if Estalia’s guards hadn’t reached them in time. Their grieving was interrupted by the information that Kanae had been teleported, and the guards took custody of the assassins and transported all the angels to Estalia’s palace, where the two angels hoped to learn what had become of Kanae.

  In the palace, Estalia informed the two that Kanae doubtlessly lived, for Kanae was truly immortal, capable of regenerating from any known attack. Bolstered by the knowledge that even the angels couldn’t kill Kanae, the two angels vowed to rescue her and to drag the conspiracy that had been trying to kill them into the light.

  Far away, Kanae woke in a cell, chained to a wall, and with the transmutation that had disguised her for centuries broken, revealing her original body. With an elven guard nearby, she decided that it wasn’t worth hiding who she was anymore and introduced herself as Kitania. Then she settled in to wait for the mortal god who ruled the land to interrogate her.

  Now their story continues.

  Prologue

  “What do you mean, you can’t find her?” Isalla demanded incredulously, and Rose’s worry spiked as she saw her beloved’s fingernails biting into her palms. “You don’t mean she’s dead, do you?”

  The two angels were standing in a small but ornately furnished room, with Estalia nearby, distracting as always, and the tall, imposing figure of the demon queen’s archmage in the middle of the room. Veldoran was handsome, Rose admitted to herself, though she didn’t care for the demon’s almost blood-colored skin, and it was more of an academic appreciation for her. She just wasn’t that interested in men, an
d never had been. Veldoran also looked slightly annoyed by Isalla’s interruption, which helped Rose focus on the conversation.

  “Calmly, Isalla. Please give Veldoran time to explain, he has my full trust.” Estalia interrupted gently, stepping forward to place a hand on Isalla’s shoulder, her pale blue skin glowing from within, her presence distracting beyond belief as everyone looked at her, and Rose felt herself relaxing at the sight of Estalia’s smile. “He wouldn’t say something like that without good reason.”

  “I… you’re right, I just…” Isalla began, then took a deep breath and bowed her head. Rose smiled in relief as Isalla’s right hand slipped into her own, and she gave Isalla’s hand a gentle squeeze as her friend raised her head and spoke to Veldoran apologetically. “My apologies, Sir Veldoran, I’m just… anxious. Kanae… no, Kitania, saved my life, and I’m very worried about her.”

  “Your apology is accepted,” Veldoran replied after a moment, nodding as his expression softened slightly. “However, please don’t call me sir. Archmage is my preferred title. Now, as for Kitania… it isn’t that I’m not getting a response from her. She’s obviously among the living, but despite that, I can’t find where she is.”

  “May I ask what that means?” Rose asked softly, frowning as she tried to recall her old lessons on magic. It had been so long that she was rusty, and she hated that she’d forgotten so much. “While I have some grasp of magic, my training was in fire, not in divinations. I remember being told that divination is among the more difficult types of magic to learn.”

  Veldoran smiled slightly, obviously pleased at the praise as he nodded at her in approval. “That’s very true, it is a difficult field of study. I see only three possibilities, two of which are quite similar. One is that she was deposited in an area where divinations are unreliable. While rare, such places do exist. Another possibility, far more likely considering the nature of her departure, is that she’s in an area warded against divinations. Unfortunately, defending against divinations is easier than casting them, and it takes a significantly more powerful diviner to defeat well-crafted shields. Kitania is only of moderate skill, nowhere near an archmage, and she was capable of giving me trouble on occasion.”

  “That means that there are hundreds of places she could be, if not more,” Estalia murmured, squeezing Isalla’s shoulder gently before letting go as she frowned, sparking a bit more worry in Rose’s mind. Fortunately, the queen continued a moment later. “What’s the third option, Veldoran?”

  “That is the one I consider least likely, Your Majesty, but it must be said. She may have been transported beyond the borders of the heavens, hells, or mortal world,” Veldoran said, his smile fading entirely, and Rose’s anxiety spiked at the unfamiliar idea. “I don’t believe such is likely, as there are only two locations in the mortal world where travel beyond is said to be possible, but it is within the realm of possibility.”

  “That… would be truly unfortunate,” Estalia murmured, and Rose’s tension grew even more as Isalla’s hand tightened around her own, feeling much like a coiled spring.

  “What’s beyond the borders?” Rose asked, struggling to keep her voice from trembling. She didn’t want to make Isalla’s worry even worse. As much as she’d come to like Kitania, they hadn’t had much time together. “I mean, I’ve heard a few bits and pieces about the borders, but no one really talks about what’s… beyond.”

  “A world that is enormous beyond imagining, Rose. Multiple worlds, really, some of which would swallow all of our own inside them like they didn’t exist. They’re vast, and home to the rumored Ephemeral Gods… but no one knows much,” Estalia said, her voice soft and musing, and she shook her head as Isalla inhaled sharply. “No, I don’t think she was transported there. Even if she was, it would only be a matter of time before she found her way back.”

  “I believe that you are correct, Your Majesty,” Veldoran agreed, to Rose’s relief.

  Rose felt herself relaxing again slowly, opening her mouth to speak, but Isalla beat her to it, taking a small step forward to draw their attention. “Well, if Kitania probably isn’t there, how can we find her?”

  Estalia looked at Veldoran and tilted her head slightly as she asked. “Is there a way to do so, Veldoran? You’re the one who found her to begin with, after all.”

  “There is, though it is… extremely difficult,” Veldoran admitted, frowning unhappily as he stroked his chin. “I’ll need to do some research first. I have a ritual which is supposed to empower locating spells to pierce almost any barrier, but such will be difficult to perform.”

  “Is there anything we could do to help, Archmage?” Rose asked, looking at him in concern. If she could help, she’d certainly do so, but she doubted she’d be much use.

  “No, I’m afraid not. The preparations will take most of a month, I’m afraid, perhaps a bit longer. I’m going to have to look over the ritual and refresh my memory first,” Veldoran explained, then grinned as he straightened, his eyes flashing with enthusiasm. “I’m not going to let some paltry barrier prevent me from finding Kitania again, though; don’t you worry about that. The difficult part is going to be some of the ritual components.”

  “They aren’t going to bankrupt me, are they?” Estalia asked, a smile playing across her lips as she looked at Rose and Isalla, adding in a gently teasing tone. “I do love my daughter, but there are limits to what I can afford to spend on her.”

  “No, not that difficult, Your Majesty,” Veldoran said quickly, his smile widening. “They’re going to run about, oh, half my annual stipend.”

  “Ah. In that case, let me know what you need and I’ll have them found for you,” Estalia said, and looked at Isalla sympathetically, adding softly, “I promise, we’ll find Kitania. It’s just going to take longer than I’d hoped.”

  “Alright. I just… worry,” Isalla murmured, looking down as she shuffled her feet. Rose wished that she could do something to ease Isalla’s worries.

  “You aren’t the only one, Isalla,” Rose assured her quickly, letting out a nervous breath. “Now, let’s go. I’m sure that the Archmage and Her Majesty have things they need to be doing.”

  “Alright,” Isalla agreed, and nodded her head to Veldoran and the queen as she said, “Thank you for everything.”

  Rose gently escorted Isalla out, and as she did so, she saw a brief, uncharacteristic look of worry cross Estalia’s face. It worried Rose as well, but she wasn’t going to tell Isalla about Estalia’s concern. Her friend didn’t need more reasons to worry, after all. Rose did hope that Kitania was safe, though.

  She may not have had much time with Kitania, but Rose had enjoyed Kitania’s steady, soothing personality. She just wished that they’d had more time to learn about one another.

  Chapter 1

  Kitania stretched as much as she could, then frowned at her arms in annoyance, murmuring. “Well, that’s going to be awkward.”

  A large part of Kitania worried about Isalla and Rose. She hadn’t been able to see her mother’s guards before she’d been shot, but she had sensed her wards go off to the south, so it was likely that they were safe. It relieved her, at least somewhat, but there was no telling whether either of them had been injured. Guilt at how she’d pushed them away ate at Kitania, but she couldn’t change the past. And since she couldn’t change anything, she was trying to distract herself by examining the changes she’d undergone. Not the least of which was abandoning the name Kanae, since that version of her looked like it’d been destroyed.

  After centuries being four inches taller, abruptly returning to her original body was something of a shock, and Kitania could already tell that she was going to have to take a few more days adjusting her sense of balance. That wasn’t the only problem, either. Her arms and legs were both shorter, which made figuring out what she could reach more of a conscious decision than it had been. Not that there was much to reach in her jail cell.

  The guard was studiously ignoring Kitania, which amused her, since the el
ven woman was also blushing. Obviously, Maura’s replacement was somewhat prudish or easily embarrassed since she was so put out by Kitania stripping naked to look herself over. Part of Kitania took some glee in embarrassing the woman. In any case, it was just as well they seemed to have destroyed all the enchantments on Kitania’s bones, since having some of them intact without the others could have caused significant problems.

  Kitania’s skin was now a soft pink rather than the pale white with a tinge of purple that it had been, and her figure had adjusted a bit and now took more after her mother’s voluptuous figure. It relieved Kitania that she hadn’t lost all the muscle she’d spent years building up, which would have been distressing in the extreme. Kitania wasn’t absolutely sure, but she thought her face was back to normal, which meant that she had a finer, more delicate bone structure again, along with ears that were similar to an elf’s, though they were at more of a horizontal angle than vertical. At least her hair had regrown quickly and was the deep purple she remembered, though it now reached her waist instead of the middle of her back. Her tail, though… it was longer than she liked, long enough that a foot or so of its length would drag on the ground if she didn’t hold it up, and the tip swelled outward before turning to a spear-like point, much like it had originally.