Embers in the Dust
Beyond the Gods

Lyla woke up the following day. It had been a long night. After some time with Sam being around, she eventually went up and posted herself in the corner of a hallway and watched Leaf’s room. Between the mental conversations and the ones they could have when alone, Lyla felt like everything had to be connected somehow. It made perfect sense for Zarin to grow his following, and opening a new temple in one of those places was an ideal way for him to keep an eye on the other Hounds of War.

She looked over to Rho, who was still sleeping. She felt the frustration still inside her. They would have had to deal with Ramona no matter what. But if it weren’t for Ana, they never would have been swept up in this business. They could be comfortably at Stillmight Campground. She could be sitting outside Lopper and Rags cabin, an extra set of chairs on their porch for her and Rho, just layered in blankets in the cold winter months… Ana took that away from them.

She wrote a quick note and left it on the bed, telling Rho she was going for a walk. She quietly grabbed her things and fought against the creaking noises of the door as she closed it behind her. She figured it must have been later in the day than she imagined, as Sam and her drake, whom they introduced as Emmi, were nowhere to be found. As she made her way down the steps, she looked at the clock to see it was well past eight.

“Another everything omelet?” Sarnorin asked, seeing her coming down the steps.

“Not right now, but thanks.”

She walked out and was surprised by the warmth of the morning. While it wasn’t unusual for warm days in winter, she could take her cloak off without being cold. She traveled West, keeping a berth from the large dome in the city’s center. It was a quiet morning, so she let herself get lost in her thoughts as the sun rose slowly behind her.

She wasn’t sure if she ever turned at an intersection or if this was just where the road ended, but Lyla found herself in front of a large building. At least sixty feet high and triple that in width and length, the front of the white stone building was a large set of steps that moved up to a covered entrance. At the top of the stairs were twelve columns, at least twenty or thirty feet high, carved to resemble various humanoids. She walked up the stairs, unsure of the purpose of the building.

At a quick glance, Lyla could see inside the building at the top and realized it was a church of some sort. She stepped inside to replace the same humanoids carved into the columns spread out in a circle around a large room as statues. Beneath each was a name.

Poseidon

Demeter

Apollo

Artemis

It took a moment for the names to rattle in her brain, but with eyes wide, she realized her location—the Duodenary. The main church in Cecela celebrated and worshiped the Olympians. She looked at the rest of the names, then stopped when she had made a complete circle.

Alyk isn’t here. As Alyk or Hades or The Curator. Nothing…

“Excuse me.”

Lyla turned to see a bronze dragonborn. They were tall and broad-shouldered, with bronze scales. She wore a red dress that fell to the ground, where her bare toes appeared.

“Sorry,” Lyla said as she stepped back to get out of the way.

“No reason for apologies. I just wanted to see if you needed anything.”

“No. I mean, actually, yes.”

“What is it that brings you here today, miss?”

“Lyla.”

“Miss Lyla. I am Belsira.”

“Hi. Um… It’s been hard lately. I’ve been frustrated at something for a while, and it doesn’t seem to be going away.”

“Have you tried the normal things? Meditation, therapy?”

“Yeah. I’ve tried a little of everything, and nothing seems to be working.”

“Well, maybe you’re here to replace a deity that can grant you the ability to let things go.”

“I don’t really know any of these… I wasn’t religious growing up.”

“That’s okay,” Belsira said while gesturing to the nearest one. “Why don’t you take another look, and we’ll see what we can do.”

“Who is…?”

“My deity?”

“Mhm.”

“Ares.”

Lyla looked at the placard below the statue Belsira pointed to.

“It says that Ares is the God of War?”

“He’s more than that, but it is one of many names he was given.”

“Oh.”

Lyla walked around the statues again, taking in their names, reading their placards, and trying to see if anything reached out to her. While she walked, Belsira stayed nearby, staying just a short distance from Lyla. After a second and then a third round, Lyla could feel her frustration rise again.

“Nothing seems to be calling out.”

“That’s okay, Lyla. It could be that your deity is not here. It could be that your purpose lies away from the deities altogether. It might just be that you aren’t ready, but there is a way we can replace out.”

“Yeah?”

“Let me speak to one of the Archbishops and see if they can assist us.”

Lyla waited while Belsira walked to a door and walked through. A few minutes later, a human man and woman walked out and smiled. They stepped forward with Belsira, and Lyla walked over toward them.

“Hello. I am Eadal, and this is Darsi. We are the Archbishops of The Duodenary.”

“I’m Lyla.”

“Belsira told us that you’d like to try and see if one of the Olympians has a connection with you?” Darsi asked.

“If it’s not a big deal to do.”

“Finding one’s connection to the divine is always a big deal, but we do it freely here. Follow us,” Eadal stated.

Lyla followed through the door and into a hallway. All of the doors along the hall were closed, but she could see symbols representing a different deity on each one. They stopped at one she had seen before but couldn’t remember where. It had an eagle resting on a cloud, like a nest, its wings stretched outward. Connected to the cloud at the bottom was a giant lightning bolt that scattered down.

Eadal opened the door and gestured for all of them to step in. Inside, the room contained a few shelves along the left and right walls and a small table with a sheet and pillow on top of it. Darsi started grabbing a few items off one of the shelves and placed them in a mortar. As she used the pestle to grind the ingredients, she turned and spoke to Lyla.

“Checking your connection to a deity is simple enough. You will lie on the table, and we will perform a small ritual. You will be awake for the whole thing, so there is no worry of safety. From there, we will see if a divine thread is connected to your destiny.”

Lyla laid on the table. Around her, she watched as Belsira, Eadal, and Darsi lit incense, gathered other components, and grabbed identical books with a chanting ritual in them. Once they were ready, Eadal looked down to Lyla.

“You are trying to let go of things. If touched by the Gods, they can reach out and touch your soul if you’re willing.”

“I’d like to be.”

The chanting started, and Lyla closed her eyes. Somewhere above her, she could feel something looking down at her. She raised her arm, trying to feel for anything there, but nothing was near her. The chanting quieted down rapidly. Silence filled all of her senses, and she noticed something near her. She concentrated, trying to pull her Ki toward it. As if grabbing her shirt, something pulled her up. She opened her eyes, ready to swing.

Instead of staring up at the ceiling, she noticed that she was floating slightly off the ground, her feet an inch or two off the ground. In front of her, a woman sat with her back to her. She had dark skin with curly white hair tied up in a single ribbon behind her head. She raised her hand in front of her, as if reaching into the void of black, and plucked one of the stars out of the sky. She turned slightly as Lyla floated forward, revealing hazel eyes. As she watched, comets seemed to pass through them.

“Hello?”

“Hello.”

“I’m Lyla.”

“I know.”

“I, uh… I’m not sure how I got here.”

“I know.”

“I’m not really sure why I’m here either.”

“You are here at the end of your life because this is where you die.”

The woman reached up and plucked another star out of existence. Lyla wanted to respond, but the woman stopped her.

“This is the place where all things die. In the end, you all come to me.”

“I’m not dead, though.”

“Not yet.”

“That’s… comforting.”

“One day, you will return here. You came here to learn to let go, and I’m showing you.”

She plucked another star out of the sky.

“In the vastness of nothing, there is no reason to hold onto anything but love. Everything else can be let go of. One day, you will come here, and someone you care for will be asked a question. No matter how angry you are at that moment, understand that you have already forgiven him.”

“One day?”

“Use the last year of your life to heal and love others. Make your life worth every second.”

“Wait, a year? I die in a year?”

“You almost died today.”

The woman reached out to Lyla’s chest. She touched something roughly a foot away from her, and Lyla watched as it shattered into a million glittering pieces. She closed her eyes, unsure of what was happening to her.

When she opened her eyes again, the pieces of diamond fell onto her clothes. Eadal was standing above her, casting a spell over her body. Slowly, painfully, she sat up.

“What happened?”

“You died for a moment,” Darsi responded. “Eadal revived you.”

“Are you okay, Lyla?” Belsira asked with concern etched over her face.

“I think so… I need to go replace someone.”

Getting off the table and stumbling slightly, she approached the door. As she exited the room, she turned back towards the three of them standing there.

“Thank you.”