Chapter Thirty-Five
Mhenlo was a man of sound and rational mind. He had always felt with his reason and the favor of the gods, that all would end well, a philosophy that had been reinforced for the most part countless times over the rough decade of his many adventures. From the deepest depths of the underground to the highest summits of the Shiverpeaks, from the coldest climes of the north to the boiling heat of the Ring of Fire, from Tyria to Cantha to Elona and Tyria again, even into the hellish den of corruption and evil of the Realm of Torment itself… his mind and his faith had never faltered completely, and with those tools, he had always survived and persevered.
This nightmarish space had certainly tested his reason… but even then, he had the unyielding faith in the gods that they would guide him through this most recent trial…
… but even unwavering faith could be shaken…
The young monk with enough experience for three lifetimes knew better than to assume he had seen the worst of this twisted reality he was wandering within. But he hadn't been expecting this…
"Oh, gods… spare us…" Cynn croaked, and Mhenlo could hear as well as fear her fragile composure shatter as her arm hooked around his tightened to the point where he was afraid she would dislocate his shoulder.
They had found Aidan… or… at least half of him. The other half, from his left shoulder down across the groin and the lower part of his right leg, seemed to be fused with the wall in front of the party. His right arm hung lifeless, and his face was firmly locked in rigor mortis, trickles of dried blood in a red-brown trail to the floor matching the stain underneath his head on the floor.
"He's dead, Coran." Vekk said matter-of-factly.
"Thank you for that astute observation, Vekk." Coran grumbled, "I don't suppose you have a plan to remedy that unfortunate state?"
"I'm a technician, not a doctor."
Mhenlo raised a steadying hand, "Allow me, gentlemen. May Dwayna smile upon us this day."
The monk found it difficult to stare into the lifeless face of his comrade, the contortion of shock on the ranger's face. How long had Aidan suffered in this state before what remained of his body had finally yielded to the trauma it found itself in? How much time had he to come to terms with the hopeless situation? Or had it been sudden, the candle of life snuffed before he even realized it was over?
He raised his staff to the heavens, his lips moving with practiced ease through the words of the prayer of Rebirth that would bring their deceased comrade back to life, out of the wall, and with Dwayna's blessing, in one piece.
And when the prayer ended… nothing happened.
Dwayna's touch did not channel through his body; her holy power didn't cascade and restore what had been lost. Instead, Mhenlo was pointing his staff ineffectively at his target, looking rather foolish.
Aghast, he tried again, and again, his prayer went unanswered. Mhenlo dropped to his knees, silently pleading for Dwayna to answer him. He finally felt the presence of the goddess then, but he couldn't seem to focus it, as if Dwayna was keeping her power out of his reach. He could sense her displeasure in him, but as was normal with such channeling, he had little specific. Had he become too confident in his favor of the Goddess? Had he done something wrong?
Balthazar wasn't much of a god to restore life, but with Dwayna's reluctance and seeming animosity… he didn't have much other option. So he again issued the Prayer of Rebirth, calling out to the god of war and fire.
And Balthazar answered, but not in aid. Mhenlo's staff ignited in flame, and he jumped to his feet in shock and howled in pain as he dropped the burning shaft, his palms severely and hideously burned within the short time. There was no question to the god's response, Balthazar was angry, and angry at him specifically.
And if that hadn't been enough of a clue, a phantom growl resounded within his ears, the deep voice of Balthazar itself. Even for a monk such as himself, the gods had never spoken to him directly.
"Your friend has paid the price for his trespass. Leave here now, and consider yourself lucky that it wasn't you."
With that, the god of war left Mhenlo, and the monk collapsed to his knees, drained of his energy and spirit.
"Mhenlo… was that…" Devona asked, her voice shaken. "Was that who I think it was?"
The monk started in astonishment, "You… heard that?"
Coran remained neutral in expression, but Mhenlo found it hard to believe that he was truly unfazed. "I'm fairly certain everyone did. Balthazar was not receptive to your prayers, either, I see."
Vekk shook his head, "And now you see why the Asura would prefer to leave such powers out of our daily lives. They are fickle and cannot be trusted."
"So what do we do?" Cynn asked, her voice trembling, "Are… are we… really going to leave Aidan… here?"
"No, we are not." Mhenlo replied with an assurance he wasn't entirely certain he felt. There was one more option… even though he was not officially of her order of believers… surely she would not deny him…
He took up his burning staff once more, forcing out the pain in his seared hands, and again rose his staff with the head pointing towards the heavens. His voice barely a whisper, he prayed once more.
"Kormir… I understand that I have angered you and your new kin. While I do not know exactly how I and my friends have wronged you, I beg you; do not let my friend, and your old ally, suffer this fate. I have not asked anything in return for our efforts to aid you during the dark times of Elona, but I ask now. Return Aiden to us, give him his life, do not make him pay for whatever wrong I have committed."
And this time, when he issued his staff forward, he felt the familiar flow of power through his body, the conduit that he knew well, but even more to his surprise, he felt none of the animosity from the Goddess of Truth that he had felt from her brethren. It confused him more than relieved him.
"Mhenlo, my friend, you have done nothing wrong." The voice of Kormir eased into his mind. "Nor have any of your allies. But you are in a place of great peril; peril possibly beyond even my comprehension. I will guide you and aid you as much as I can, though my power in this place is greatly limited."
The monk was so awestruck by the apparent dissention among the deities that he never even processed that Aidan was alive, lying prone in front of him until Devona nearly bowled him over to come to the ranger's aid.
"At least one of the gods is still with us." Coran said, his flat countenance cracking under the relieved tension in the air.
"It is not enough." Mhenlo answered grimly. "We don't belong here… this is not a place meant for us, and we must leave as promptly as we are able."
"I am more than welcome for any of the gods to give us the path in which to depart." Coran snorted disdainfully.
"Yeah, good luck with that." Yue's voice sniped bitterly. Whether her abrupt appearance was due to her skills or by chance of the realm around them was anyone's guess… perhaps even to the assassin. "How do we get out?"
Momentary cheer that the party had been fully united once more turned to fear. Yue looked horrible, slashed and gouged in several places, bleeding profusely from her right shoulder, the cut so severe that the arm attached to it swung limply from the socket.
Mhenlo jumped quickly to her aid, channeling Kormir's power to tend to the assassin's wounds.
"We might not belong here, but the beasts I met apparently do." Yue hissed as the pain slowly began to lessen. "Oni... I ran into a pack of them… and they seemed to know exactly where they were going, unlike us. We're not alone in here, ladies and gentlemen."
"At least we stand more of a chance moving together." Aidan finally spoke. "I'd say we pray to the gods that we make it out of here, but judging from what I've been hearing, that would fall on mostly deaf ears."
"Nonetheless, we do ourselves no good dallying here." Devona grimly declared, finding silent agreement when she locked eyes with Coran. "I hope I don't come across as uncaring, Aidan or Yue, when I say we need to be on the move. Keep tending to her as we proceed, Mhenlo. We cannot afford to stand idle any longer."