He would never be in danger from any mundane peril, nor from sorcery, either, for the Four had obviously decided to leave him well alone. He had many empty centuries to look forward to, until he grew older than Bright Water.
Before noon he was riding through a narrow valley, following a dry streambed, with sere brown slopes rising gently on either hand to the drab hills. Horse and dog were thirsty, and he was hungry. He decided to take a break, conjure up some water and a meal.
Before he could act on that resolution, he felt an eerie awareness, an imminent sense of the numinous. He reined in Firedragon with a mental command and glanced around uneasily. Premonition burned hotter, the ambience began to writhe and shimmer, and finally blazed.
A God stood athwart his path, brighter than the sun.
Rap cursed silently. Stiff from riding, he slid from his saddle and sank to his knees before the towering figure. He bent his head in submission. He had already closed down his occult senses, for the power lashing the ambience was more than mortal mind could stand. Even his mundane eyes could not bear to look at that coruscating glory, although its light cast no shadows, nor brightened the hills.
Firedragon wandered off to graze.
“You must go back!” The voice was male, and thunderous.
“I do not wish to go back,” Rap said, staring at the yellow grass.
“You are defying the Gods?”
Yes he was, so there was no point in saying anything.
“You are a fool!”
Yes again.
“You love her!”
“I do.”
“And she loves you!”
Undoubtedly. And undoubtedly this was the God Who had appeared to Inos once, long ago, on that eventful day that ended their childhood.
“You are defying Us and spurning the destiny We chose for you both. Go back!”
Rap said, “No.”
Risking a tiny glimmer of farsight, he saw the God put Their fists on Their hips in an oddly trivial gesture. A wave of divine fury washed the valley. Strange that the very grass did not burst into flame!
“You are a stubborn fool! You know the formula! You know why the casement could not prophesy for you? You know why the sorcerers could not foresee you?”
“I do.” And he knew now what Bright Water had guessed from the inexplicable blocking.
“So you know why a God is always described as `They’?”
“I do.”
“We have promised you this, and you are defying Us!”
To be a sorcerer was bad enough. To be a God would be infinitely worse. Rap set his teeth and said nothing.
Apparently They decided that blustering was not going to work, for suddenly the God became soft, and feminine. The sunlike glare became suffused with pearl, the strident call to duty yielded to the appeal of love. They moved closer, until Their toes were within Rap’s field of mundane vision. They made his eyes hurt, but he had never seen anything lovelier.
“Oh, Rap, Rap!” the voice said, gentle now, and coaxing. They sounded like his mother, and he felt tears of sudden anger start. “Is this fair to Inos?”
“She agreed. It is what she wants also.”
“Maybe she agrees now, to humor you. How will she feel when she is old, when her beauty is gone and age begins to gnaw at her flesh? How will you feel when your manly strength fails you and your eyes water and your back aches? Will you both start patching yourselves with sorcery, like Bright Water, to load a few more years onto your brief span? Repent, Rap! Go back to Inos, Rap, so you can put on immortality together!” Rap said, “No.”
“Five words, Rap! Five words destroy, but when two people who love each other are armed with the strength of five words shared—those make a God. Few are the mortals given this chance. “
Again he said nothing. There was evil in every good, and good in every evil. Bright Water had guessed, and tried to help him in her muddled way; tried to bribe a future God so she would have a friend at her weighing.
Suddenly there were more Gods, uncounted Gods, male and female both, blazing beauty all around, filling the dusty little valley with glory, so that the air rang with music and purity and love. The very sunlight seemed drab by contrast.
“Join us, Rap!” They chorused. “Your coming was ordained at the birth of the world. For centuries we have waited on you. Now the time is ripe, the prophecy fulfilled—be one with Inos and join us in glory for eternity!”
Rap said, “No!”
A great wail filled the whole world. “You can be any of Us, Rap. God of Love, God of War, God of Healing. Any of Us will step aside for you. Or be a new God. God of Horses, Rap?”
Rap said, “No.”
Anger shook the hills, bringing maleness, stern and deadly, so that the company of Gods assumed a presence like a horde of armed warriors all around him, vast and mighty in Their wrath. Pearly glow became metallic glint, song became fanfare and beat of drum.
“We all must seek to aid the Good, Rapt Think of how a God can aid the Good, and how much They can accomplish; set that beside the trivial powers of a sorcerer. If you and Inos dedicate your whole mortal lives to serving mankind, you can hope to achieve nothing compared to what a God can achieve throughout eternity. Repent, and come!”
“What a God can achieve?” Rap yelled, wishing he could bear to look upon Them so he could pull faces. “Healing babies, relieving famines, stopping wars? Oh, very worthy! But who made the babies sick in the first place? Who blighted the crops and started the wars? When prayers are answered You expect thanks. When things go wrong anyway, that is because we mortals are wicked. You have the game stacked so You can score in both goals, can’t you? The nice things are Your blessings, and the bad things are our sins. What do You do the rest of the time, when You’re not answering prayers? You go around making trouble, and I don’t know whether it’s just for Your own amusement or to humble us so You can—”
“SILENCE!”
He waited for the lightning, but instead he felt a great loneliness and weariness.
“We love you, Rap. We have been waiting for you. Your troubles are over now. Join with Inos and come to us and never again will you—”
Rap said, “No!” He felt terror . . .
“Gods are not mocked, Rap! Fear what judgment will come upon you if you deny Us now!”
Rap said, “No! I will not go back to Inos. Slay me if You choose, but I am not going back. I do not wish to be more than human. I shall live and die a mortal, and Inos also.”
He felt fury—and then sudden despair.
“No more time!” one of the Gods cried. “Look, Rapt Look at what Inosolan is doing!”
Rap sought out Krasnegar with farsight. He saw the castle as a great shielded blank, except for the chamber of puissance at the very top. He saw the steep little town all spread out below it, with every corner visible to him. He saw the people like ants, scurrying up the streets and alleys, and then he heard the great bell booming, summoning them to the castle.
Inos! What was she planning?
“Hurry, Rapt Go back and stop her before it is too late!”
She would kill herself! For a moment his resolution wavered, and he felt the rising surge of joy and triumph from the Gods assembled.
No! “I won’t!” he said.
For a moment he really thought They were going to slay him. He fell forward to the ground as Their rage roared and buzzed around him; but then it slowly sharpened to a howling dirge of farewell, fading away in echoes of eternal sorrow for his folly.
So much for immortality.
He was alone in the valley, lying on the grass. Firedragon was peaceably munching. Fleabag had lain down to lick his paws, and the Gods had gone.
And Inos, crazy Inos! . . . She would kill herself. It was impossible!
He staggered to his feet, and just for a moment he hesitated. He could move himself to the castle yard. He could run in through the gate; he could flash instantly to the Great Hall.
He could stop her. No!
It was her decision. This was why she had demanded two more words. She had guessed why a God was called “They.”
Two people and five words, plus love . . . She felt as he did. But what she planned was humanly impossible! To tell a word of power to one person was an agonizing experience. To tell it to more than one was unbearable—he recalled how he had been unable to share a word with Rasha when Azak had been close enough to hear.