Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Tom shuddered as the memory passed. That hour, excluding the days after Pinkwing died was amongst his five worst memories from the trial.

You did not commit blasphemy!

It was that simple. It was a mistake. Most people only broke once and one that everyone should have known. 

He glanced at Sven and then back at the clouds. Remembering Harry’s statement. ‘They have come up fast,’ followed by a speculation about blasphemy.  

They had gathered from nowhere and they were almost physically darkening in front of his eyes.

The answer was pretty clear, but he didn’t want to come out and say it and nor had Harry. Internally frowned Harry was even more introverted than he was.

“It looks suspicious.” Tom confirmed, catching Sven’s eyes and then refusing to break eye contact. “If that storm is as bad as appears the shelter will be collapsed in moments.”

Sven turned and studied the massing clouds and blanched. “You don’t think?”

“I do.” Tom said grimly, deciding that now was not the right time for diplomacy. “And I’m not happy. None of us are.”

“It was a mistake, and I said sorry.”

Harry shook his head. “It doesn’t usually work like that.” The ritualist spoke with the authority of someone who had been on the receiving end of a punishment.

A gust of wind whipped past them, strong enough to stagger Tom slightly.

Sven kicked the ground. “I didn’t mean it.” 

“No one cares.” Tom said. “And you’re going to owe me for this. You’ve put all of us in danger because you wanted to behave like a petulant child.”

“You don’t know what I’ve been through.”

“I imagine it’s no worse than any of the rest of us. I don’t get angry easily.” It was a lie, but it was convenient to say. “I’m furious. Do you understand! You’re going to owe me!”

“Owe what? Owe you why?”

“You’ll see.”

“Why are you angry?” Sven asked. “This isn’t about you.”

Another of blast of wind threatened to pull apart the shelter.

Tom shook his head. He could already see how this mini-catastrophe would play out. “Are you really this dense?” 

“No.” Sven slapped his leg and studied the nondescript grass like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Then up at the clouds “Am I going to be exiled?”

Tom broke eye contact, embarrassed by the almost plaintive tone of the other man. Lost. 

“Because I will if you tell me to.” Sven’s voice got stronger as he switched to owning the decision. “I can walk away. The storm will follow. It’s a punishment for me, my fault, and I can make it good.” Sven studied them at the two of them. “You guys are doing more than just considering throwing me out aren’t you?”

Tom dropped his eyes.

“Wouldn’t you too, mate?” Harry asked compassionately. “There is no way we should all risk our lives for your mistake.”

“You know banishing me is a death sentence?”

“What is it to the rest of us if you stay?” Harry asked.

Sven threw his hands up in the air, and it was like the wind was waiting for it. It slammed into the three of them and Tom stumbled away. Sven caught him with a brawny hand. Sven pointedly looked at each of them. “Apparently, I’ve committed blasphemy in front of the wrong people.”

“What?” Tom asked.

“Saying it in front of you is the problem. Both of you are weak analytical fucks, but you have wills of iron. No one else would send me away.”

“It’s the only choice.” Harry repeated defiantly. “You know it.”

“Yes.” Sven agreed. He pulled off his sword and placed it on the ground.

“What are you doing?” Harry asked. Tom didn’t bother inquiring he already knew the answer.

“It’s valuable, and it’s better you guys keep it.”

“I’m sorry mate.” Tom said, patting the broad bicep that had stopped him from sliding away in the previous burst of wind.

Sven shook his head bitterly. “Not your fault. Nor yours, Harry. This is on me and frankly it’ll be a relief.” With his head slumped, dejected, he strode away from the camp. Sven was a brave man. Tom knew he was walking away, knowing that the wasps would get him. His leaving was a life sentence. It was also not how the GODs were supposed to react to blasphemy. 

“Wait.” Tom yelled after him. “You don’t have to go.”

The spell sword stopped. “Useless, you don’t strike me as a bleeding heart. You know this is required.”

“But it’s not.” Tom blurted out while trying to get his thoughts in order. “DEUS doesn’t kill for blasphemy and you leaving now is a death sentence.”

Sven looked thoughtful. “Maybe,” he shrugged, and then his eyes flicked to the growing storm. With an earth lens, it appeared impressive, a sort of one in a thousand years occurrence. Hell, even compared to the trials it was threatening. “That is not a summer squall. If I’m in the shelter and that hits it’s going to be torn to bits and we can’t afford that. If all the cloth gets blown away, even with your enmity, people would die.”

“Agreed.”

“Explain to the others what happened and make sure they all know it was my decision.” Sven told him quietly, though Tom would have sworn that half the camp would have heard such was the focused attention upon them.

The other man started to walk away once more, but it wasn’t right. There was no way a minor outburst, a small infraction like what Sven had committed would be viewed by the GODs as a death sentence, but Tom had to find the words to stop Sven and convince him of that fact. The other man seemed all too eager for self-sacrifice.

“Sven wait. You don’t need to go.” Tom called out once again.

Sven didn’t slow. “I’m not doing that Useless.” He yelled over his shoulder the word were caught by the now whistling wind and barely reached his ears. “I won’t stay. I won’t have the destruction of the shelter on my conscious.”

Tom started jogging after Sven. “Wait.”

There were yells behind him. 

“Tom, what are you doing.”

“Tom, get back here.”

He seized Sven by his shoulders and spun him around. The bigger man let him. 

“You can’t change my mind, Tom.”

“DEUS does not kill for Blasphemy, but nor can you avoid her judgement. Don’t go into the shelter. She will not punish others for your stupidity. Stand in the storm’s face and endure. It won’t be pleasant and if she wants to kill you, she still will. You don’t need to guarantee it by sacrificing yourself to the wasps.”

“Or I can walk away.”

“If you leave me, the wasps will kill you. DEUS won’t kill you, but nor is she allowed to protect against your stupidity.”

“I…”

“You know I’m right.”

“I’ll let it go to a vote.” Sven declared. “If the majority wants me to go. I’ll leave otherwise I’ll do what you say and stand outside the shelter and endure.”

“Good.” Tom said with a tight smile while internally cursing the man. If Sven had to suffer the elements, it meant Tom had to, as that was the only way to keep the wasps off him.

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The wind was now whipping them. The wasps had retreated their tiny insect brains feeling the divine province in the unnatural storm and causing them to react instinctively and cower down and hide.

“I screwed up.” Sven yelled to get over the roaring of the wind. “I committed blasphemy.” 

Most people already knew, but Tom saw a few flinch in surprise. No one took the statement lightly. After all, he was pretty sure that all of them had come up against DEUS wrath. It was natural. Western culture committed blasphemy regularly. ‘My God’, ‘Jesus Christ’ yelled out in anger. Even Christians did and if they were in the trial, then DEUS was not even their god and it was pretty easy to accidentally target her when you were angry.

Other religions might not be so prone to such outbursts, but even if they weren’t, they were still human. They had been torn away from their lives and forced to fight monsters. If they were normal, they would have cursed and from the looks on everyone’s faces they had done exactly that. Asian, African, Indian, Caucasian the ethnicity did not matter. They all felt fear that could only be taught via experience having heard Sven’s confession.

They all knew.

“I’ll walk away if you ask. If not, I will stand and face the storm on my own two feet.”

“Send him off.”

“Appease her.”

“NO!” Michael yelled. “DEUS is not like that.”

“She is! I’ve never felt such agony.”

“No! She does not punish others. If Sven takes the punishment, she will spare everyone else.”

“We don’t know–” 

The protestation was cut off as a heavy gust of wind almost knocked everyone off their feet, yet somehow the shelter survived when, by rights it should have been torn out of the ground and pushed far away.

“We’re out of time.” Michael pointed at the shelter that was still standing. “We need to vote. If you want Sven to walk away raise your hands.”

A surprisingly large number went up, given the signal DEUS had made with that last gust of wind that the shelter would be spared. Tom counted them. One in three, maybe, possibly a couple less. To many people being stupid anyway for his liking. Unfortunately, all he could do was work with the people he was placed with.

“He stays.” Michael declared and then with the wind still pickup everyone started moving into the shelter.  

The wind made him shiver. Someone hugged him from behind. 

He jumped.

“You need to buy some extra Skills, Tom,” Everlyn whispered into his ear. 

“I know.” 

“Now I have a gift for you.”

“What?” Tom asked, turning around in surprise. 

She held up a small wooden container. “Ta da.”

“What’s that?” Tom asked.

She smiled. “Can you activate your defences?”

“What’s happening?”

She just smiled.

“They’re deactivated.” 

Evelyn opened the container and there was an immediate buzzing noise and three wasps came out. For a moment it looked like they wanted to return to their hives, but he spotted the moment they saw him and they plunged into attack. Instinctively, his hand jerked up to defend himself, and he needed to actively suppress Spark before he used the spell to destroy them before the stings landed.

They gleefully attacked the offered hands.

One bite stung far more than he expected.

He winced.

Even as Healing Tranquillity leapt into action to ensure there was nothing too sinister about the venom.

Tom reacted as he assessed the changes. Most of the venom types were identical to the ones he was already gained immunity to. His body automatically adjusted to mitigate them. The intense pain was a new version of the pain venom. With a thought, he blocked his pain receptors, and the agony vanished.

“Sorry,” Evelyn mouthed to him. “Michael believed this was for the best. Get you exposed to them one at a time before subjecting yourself to an entire hive’s fury.”

He gave her a thumbs up.

“Hopefully your trait will give you immediate immunity, but if not we’ll know to take it slow till you gain it with the more natural but more painful method.”

“Yes, it’s a good idea. Just more warning next time.” He smiled at her to make sure she knew he was not upset.

“What caused that?” Everlyn asked and pointed at the dark clouds.

“Who said anyone…”

“I’m not stupid Tom. We’re in the middle of nowhere, and that’s not natural.” Her eyes looked around at the people crowded into the shelter and Sven off to one side. ‘Sven,’ she mouthed questioningly.

Tom nodded in resignation. “Idiot committed blasphemy.”

“And?”

Tom looked up at the rapidly approaching storm.

“He’ll stand penance.”

Tom watched the distinct emotions flit across her face. The state of confusion did not last for long. “And we’re sure that’s definitely from his blasphemy?” she asked him.

“I’m very close to a hundred percent certain.”

She shrugged. “If that’s the case, the shelter will hold. Hope you enjoy the balmy weather, Sven.” Everlyn smiled brightly and walked to the shelter and then held the flap open. “Tom, you coming?”

He looked helplessly toward Sven.

“If I go in the shelter then…”

“Are you planning on staying out here to stop the wasps from killing him?”

“Yeah. I think I have to.”

Everlyn laughed. “I don’t think you understand how much the wasps hate you. Come in and stick a leg out. They’ll feast on that.”

“But then my leg will get cold.”

She laughed. “Come on.” 

He hesitated looked at Sven. Already looking miserable as he struggled to stand upright in the wind that was striking the other man far harder than it was Tom.

“Have fun mate.”

Sven stuck up his finger at him, and Tom retreated into the tent.

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