I glance around. It seems peaceful enough, but there's an angry stain of smoke in the distance that tells me we're not all that far from the burning corpse of Hrit Svala. I watch the griffin as it smooths its feathers with a sharp beak, as if it's just another day. I'm glad he can recover so quickly, at least. I think I'm going to be dreaming about the bodies dangling off the platforms at Hrit Svala for years to come.
Or not…since I can't dream.
I eye Kassam. He's covered in soot and his tangled hair looks wilder than ever. He's still naked—always is—but there's something hollow in those silver eyes, something tired and weary. It calls to me, and I move toward him, taking his hand. "Are you all right?"
He shrugs, his shoulders slumped. "I do not know, little light. Today, I did not feel like myself."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Do you feel like you should, though?"
"Probably." He gives me a ghost of a smile. "Is this a mortal thing? Talking about when you are troubled?"
I shake my head, taking his hand and pulling him toward the stream. "It's a husband and wife thing. You tell me your concerns and I'll tell you mine. Sometimes sharing them helps ease the burden a little." As I move to sit by the stream, a small songbird flutters toward us, heading straight for Kassam's horns. It pauses at the missing one, as if surprised to find it gone, and then settles in atop the other. For some reason, the bird seems to cheer Kassam up a bit, some of the tension in his shoulders easing. "What happened to your horn?" I ask. "Did someone attack you?"
"Many did," he admits. "I defended myself. After a while…I no longer saw faces. It is one of many things that bother me about this day." His thoughtful gaze turns to me. "And you."
"Me what?"
"I felt your pain. When I was in the city, I felt the agony tearing through you. You smiled so bravely for me and said nothing, even as I wrenched and wrenched from you, taking more than I ever should have." He settles down onto the grass next to me, and I notice his hooves are scarred and one is split. "I hurt you for my vengeance. I did not stop to think about how wrong this was, until much later. And now I cannot stop thinking about it."
"I'm okay," I say automatically.
"Are you?" The look he gives me is knowing.
I shrug. "I mean, I'm already dead, so it's not like things were worse. It hurt, but it hurts less now. And I didn't want you to come this far just to have everything fail. I wanted to help you see it through." I pull off my shirt and swirl it in the water so I can wash him off. "I wanted to finish something, you know?"
"Then we were both wrong."
Maybe we were. I shrug and lift the sodden shirt toward him, taking one arm and wiping it clean of ash and blood. "So what happens now?"
"To you and me, or to Seth and Riekki?" His tone is flat. Tired.
"Let's start with Seth and Riekki," I say, wiping down his bronze skin. He's covered in scratches and bruises, and my heart aches for him and all he must have seen today. "Unless you don't want to talk about it."
"I thought talking helped," he muses.
"Yeah, but they're assholes. I get it if you'd prefer not to dwell on them." I move the wet shirt over his chest, trying not to wince at the deep gouge he has across one shoulder.
Kassam chuckles. "They are indeed assholes." He lifts a finger and the songbird hops onto it, and he brings it to his face, rubbing his nose against its feathers. In the distance, I see a hesitant doe creeping forward, heading toward Kassam, and it makes me happy. He needs nature around him to heal, I realize. This is what he should have been doing for the last few weeks—communing with nature, not going on some crazy vengeance quest. I'm such an idiot for not realizing it sooner.
So when the deer moves over toward us and noses me, I scratch her side and then turn her soft black nose toward Kassam to pet. He immediately brightens, tugging the deer against him and tucking it under his arm as he rubs her flanks. Some of the light comes back into those silver eyes of his, and it makes me want to race through the woods, scooping up every animal and flinging it at him, just so he'll smile again.
I don't know when I came to rely on his smile, but my world doesn't feel quite right without it.
"You asked what Riekki will do now that she is cornered," Kassam says, petting the deer. "She will not bend, if that is what you are wondering. She will refuse to back down, because by now, she will have heard that Seth is coming for her position. She might insist upon having her anchor killed so she can ascend back to her realm, but since she has not done that yet, I suspect she knows the High Father would be displeased if she arranged for his or her death."
"How can he take her job from her?" I ask, curious. "How do you transfer godhood from one to another?"
Kassam rubs the deer's neck thoughtfully. "He is going to use her very nature against her." At my confused look, he continues. "He knows the High Father will not be looking upon her approvingly after she has attacked me. She is vulnerable and weakened. She needs something impressive to happen in this Anticipation to get back into the High Father's good graces. Instead, she will likely be put into chains and dragged about the countryside as Seth shows all of Aos that he is the new god of knowledge. That he has defeated Riekki. The more people that believe in him, the more his power will grow and hers will diminish. Then, when he is strongest, he can petition the High Father and the Twelve will decide if he should be the god of knowledge, or if it should yet remain Riekki. And if it goes to that, Riekki knows she will not triumph."
"And that plan will work?" For some reason, I'd thought all this time that we were going to kill Riekki. But of course she can't be killed. She's a goddess. Her anchor can be killed, but that will only send her home. "Just…holding her hostage and dragging her around the countryside until everyone decides that Seth should take her place?"
"Seth is clever. I suspect he has wormed his way into many seats over time." Kassam shrugs. "He knows that the strongest power for a god is that of belief. If no one believes in her and he spreads his name as the new god of knowledge, it will not matter if Riekki is willing to go along with it or not. The truth is always written by the victors."
So basically, he tells everyone that Riekki is powerless, and in doing so, makes it happen. Clever, and awful at the same time. Riekki will be forced to sit by and watch as Seth steals power from her, and because she's been a naughty girl, she can't even get help from the other gods, because she can't be trusted. "That's just so…subtle."
"Is it? It is effective, though. If someone had thought to take my seat amongst the gods while I was missing…" He trails off.
Poor Kassam. No wonder he was so very delighted each time he saw he had worshippers. Each person that remembered him brought power to him. No wonder he wanted to parade the animals through the countryside as we headed toward Hrit Svala. All of it was to tell people that he's returned. "So Seth has stepped on everyone and gets what he wants. And Riekki loses because she's a bigger asshole than Seth."