Ok, hi everyone!
I know I haven't posted anything in ages, but I've been
busy. I also know that most of the
stuff I've posted sucks. Therefore, I'm
going to post something that actually belongs in the Tammy section. Without further ado, let me present to you…
an alternative ending to In The Realms of the Gods.
Our story begins seconds before Daine makes the critical,
yet seemingly obvious decision to remain in the mortal realms with Numair…
"Our daughter is going home," Sarra told the gods,
chin high, "to the mortal realms."
Mithros looked at Daine. "Is it so?"
The girl considered. Cloud, Numair, Zek, and Onua would all miss
her, but the chance to make up all the time she had lost with Ma, to really get
to know her father… If she went back,
she would never see Broadfoot again, never again see a sunbird show off its flames.
And if you stay here, you'll
never see Tortall again, part of her mind reminded her. You'll never see Numair again except in
your dreams.
She realized that Mithros and all the other gods
were staring at her, waiting.
"Well, Veralidaine?" the sun god
asked expectantly.
Shoving away thoughts of Numair,
Tortall, and Cloud and embracing ones of Ma and immortality, Daine shook her
head. "No. I am home. I wish to stay
in the Divine Realms with my parents," she said softly.
"No!" Sarra said sharply. "Daine, you have everything you could ever
want down there! You have a man who
loves you, a man who has nearly died for you ten times over! I would miss you, yes, but…"
"Sarra," Weiryn said to his
wife, "Though I agree with you, the girl must make her own choices."
"Daine, please don't do this because
you promised me. If you went back, I
would still be able to visit you."
"Ma, it's not that," Daine said
softly. "I would regret going
back. Tortall is beautiful, but-"
"But nothing! You have a life down there, sweetling!"
"Enough!" Mithros said sharply. "I have no time for such arguments! Choose, girl!"
"I have a question before I
choose, Daine said, facing the head god.
"Would I be able to visit the mortal realms at any time, should I choose
to become a goddess?"
"Not for a hundred years."
Daine sighed and nodded,
understanding. Mithros couldn't just
let any new goddess do whatever she pleased.
She had to prove herself worthy.
She then uttered the seven words
she would regret for a very, very long time.
"I wish to become a lesser goddess."
"Very well. And what shall you be the goddess of,
little one?"
Daine thought for a few
moments. "Can I be an animal goddess,
but still keep my human form?"
"Oh, I suppose so."
"Good. I shall be the goddess of all living creatures." She heard one or two of the other immortals
standing around chuckle a bit, but Mithros nodded his head, approving.
"And what shall you be called?"
"The Daughter of Nature."
Sarra looked at her daughter in
astonishment, but said nothing.
Instead, she buried herself into the consoling arms of her husband.
"So mote it be," said the sun
god, and all the gods there, including Daine herself, echoed him. "Now, we have some more important matters to
attend to. You are dismissed."
Daine bowed respectfully and
then took her leave, her parents bringing up the rear.
~~~~~~~~~~
Numair lay on the ground, utterly exhausted from his
fight with Inar Hadensra. He wondered
it Daine was all right. He prayed she
hadn't done something stupid like trying to take down Ozorne single-handedly.
He heard hoof-beats coming in
his direction, but he didn't really care.
He was tired . . . so tired . . . he had to rest . . .
Suddenly he stared into Onua's
worried eyes. His head ached; he must
have passed out. "You didn't have to
kill me, you know," he croaked.
Onua sighed with relief. "Thank the Goddess. Tough fight?"
Numair nodded grimly. "Where's Daine?"
Onua looked very grave. "No one knows what happened to her,
Numair. Last time anyone saw her, she
was chasing Ozorne. We found his body,
but not Daine's."
The mage felt his legs give out
under him. Mithros! No! Luckily, Onua steadied him. "Are you going to be able to walk back? You look rather pale."
"I'm fine," he lied. Every movement was agony, but he certainly
wasn't going to tell her that.
"Don't give me that crap. You are anything but fine. Horse Lords, you could be dead and you'd
still insist that you were fine!"
Numair was far too tired to point out that if he were dead he wouldn't
be able to insist anything. "Get up
there, you old stork," the K'mir added, helping him up onto Spot's back. Watching the lanky man mount was a agonizing
thing at the best of times, but now he was so tired that he had to literally boost
him up. He didn't even question the
horse's safe return from the encounter with the Skinners. Onua sighed, mounting her own pony, and they
rode off, Numair slouching over his mount's neck.
~~~~~~~~~~
Daine watched her mage friend
from the safety of the Divine Realms, in her mirror. Her heart ached. She
missed Numair so much, and she hadn't even been here for a full day. Already she regretted her choice. Her mother's home wasn't nearly so inviting
without him beside her. Numair,
forgive me, she said silently as a single tear flowed unbidden down her
cheek. I still love you.
Sarra came over to stand beside
her daughter. "Daine…" she said
softly. "I'm sorry. You missed him already, don't you?" Nature's Daughter nodded.
"Why did I leave him?"
she asked no one in particular. "Why
did I abandon him when he needed me most?"
Sarra could say nothing. She only held her daughter close,
reassuring. "You'll love living in the
Divine Realms, dear."
"But what if I don't? I'm
certainly not enjoying it now!" Daine cried.
"I want to go back, Ma. Please,
take me back!"
Sarra felt herself start to get
upset too and rebuked the part of her that would make Daine even more
unhappy. "Please try to put a good face
on things. I hate seeing you like this."
"I'll try, Ma," Daine said,
though she didn't think it would do much good.
"That's my girl."
~~~~~~~~~~
Outside the palace, Numair sat on the grass, watching the
moonrise. He remembered how Daine had
sat with him here so peacefully, never saying a word because words were not needed. He felt an involuntary tear fall from his cheek,
but didn't bother wiping it away. He
missed her; oh, how he missed her. He
clearly recalled every moment back in the Divine Realms, how he had kissed her.
. . .
Stop it! he told himself
firmly. She's gone and nothing can
bring her back; they didn't even find her body.
At first, since there was absolutely no trace of
her, he had dared to hope that she was still alive, however unlikely it might
be. But now, two weeks later, the
battlefield had been cleared and that hope lay dead, just as dead as his
love. She was gone from his reach.
Why? he asked himself and
the gods. Why? What did Daine do? She was only sixteen; most people consider that far too young to
die, but apparently the gods think otherwise.
As he sat there and cried, Onua came and squatted
beside him, saying not a word.
Silently, she handed him her handkerchief. Gratefully, he wiped his eyes.
"Why, Onua, why? Why did the
gods take her away from me?"
She studied him for a few
moments. She didn't have to ask who he
meant. "I don't know, Numair. I wish I did." Numair saw the tears in the K'miri's eyes. "She was the best assistant I ever had. But she was far more than that; she was the
best friend, the most understanding person, anyone could ever want to know."
With a sigh, the horsemistress
pulled herself together and rose.
"Don't stay out here feeling sorry for yourself too long," she
ordered. The mage nodded, and offered
her the handkerchief back. "Thanks, but
I think you're still going to need it."
He thanked her, and she went back into the warm peacefulness of the
palace.
He considered following her, but
rejected the idea almost at once. He
didn't belong there now; he would just be intruding on their happiness. He buried his head in his hands.
What should he do? He was utterly alone in this world now. The fact that he had Onua and Alanna and
even the king never occurred to him; he was too busy mourning and feeling sorry
for himself.
A horrible thought came to his
mind. He would kill himself; then he
could be with Daine.
He shook his head, trying to rid
himself of that awful feeling of dread, yet couldn't. What was he, mad? To even
consider committing suicide was true, utter madness. Yet the temptation of seeing Daine again, even if it was in the Black
God's realm, was too much for him.
Grim with utter determination, he began to pull as
much magic to him as he could. When he
got to the point that he thought he could take no more, the physical strain
making him bare his teeth like a man possessed, he forced himself still onward,
till he held more power within him than any man could possibly hold and still
live. Still, he forced himself to
gather more, more, more! The strain was
far, far beyond unbearable.
There was a moment when he no
longer felt the strain of the power that he held within him, a second that
seemed to last years, in which time stood still and the gods allowed him to see
through his pain and his grief. He realized what a stupid thing he had done,
but by then it was far too late. Gods,
forgive me! What have I done? he wondered, as time seemed to stretch out
forever. Then he fell to the ground,
dead as a doornail before he even landed.
~~~~~~~~~
Alanna was in bed, sleeping. She tossed and turned, dreams of grief for
Daine invading her mind. Suddenly, she
sat bolt upright, fully awake. She had
sensed power like she had never felt before, someone drawing more magic than
was humanly possible to them.
Hurriedly, she threw on a robe
and ran out of her room. Every mage in
the palace, no matter how petty, had felt that shock. Even many of the non-Gifted people were up, wondering about the
electric feeling in the air. Carefully,
Alanna tried to make her way toward the source of all this madness.
One thing worried her: she
didn't see Jon or Numair, the only two people she could honestly believe were
doing this. Not a good sign, she
thought worriedly.
She made her way to the head of
the curious crowd. There was the king,
standing over a black figure lying motionless on the ground. She shoved a few people out of her way and
went to stand by him.
She gasped; the figure was
barely recognizable as Numair. She
hurriedly made the sign against evil.
There was no possible doubt that the mage was dead; no one could hold
that much power and live to tell about it.
"What happened, Jon?" The king
hesitated, obviously unwilling to tell her something. "He killed himself, Alanna, just pulled everything in. He knew what he was doing, I think."
The King's Champion gasped
again; she had never dreamed her lanky friend would do such a thing. "Why?" she choked, turning away from the
body. Death was no stranger to her, yet
seeing Numair lying there, without a scratch evident on him and a look of peace
on his face, scared her dearly. She
felt hot tears of grief roll down her cheek and brushed them away.
"I don't know, Alanna. Probably grief for Daine."
"He really did love her, in
spite of everything, didn't he?"
The king nodded. "All right, everyone, it's late; go back to
sleep, all of you!" he shouted loudly over the speculation of the crowd. Unhappy but obedient, they did so slowly,
still gossiping about the meaning of all this.
Jon placed a kiss on his
Champion's cheek. "You too,
Alanna. Something tells me we have a
busy day ahead of us."
~~~~~~~~~
