The Power and the Glory

Book 2 Chapter XVII: Abi Beyond

"In the Land of the Dead," the woman said. She held a scythe in her hand and idly twirled it as she spoke. "Well, not the Land of the Dead itself. This is my throne room. I suppose you could call it an entrance hall. If you were an ordinary soul I'd send you on into my realm itself. The problem is you're not going to stay dead."

None of that made any sense to Ilaran. "What do you mean, I'm not going to stay dead? Dead people don't come back to life."

In hindsight that was a very foolish thing to say, considering how he had died.

The woman grimaced. "Unfortunately they do when there's a necromancer around. That woman is an infernal nuisance and she's just going to get worse."

If she was talking about Abihira, he had to agree. "Then why don't you do something to stop her? You're a god, aren't you?"

"No," the woman said. "I'm just a... What's that fancy word I heard recently? Oh yes. I'm a psychopomp. You could call me a guide of sorts."

Did she say she's a psychopath? Ilaran wondered, increasingly bewildered. He was starting to think this might actually be hell after all.

"In short, I'm Death. Technically I could stop her, but I'm forbidden from directly interfering with the living world. My interference could cause even more damage than a zombie apocalypse. Unless Abihira tears reality apart there's nothing I can do."

That was a most unsatisfactory explanation. Ilaran gave up and changed the subject. "Well, what am I to do? Just stand here and wait until I stop being dead?"

How was he going to come back to life anyway? None of Abihira's previous creations were living people. They weren't even sentient. He didn't fancy eternity as a mindless corpse.

"She'll be along to collect you soon," Death said. "In the meantime... I don't suppose you know how to play chess? Winning or losing won't change your fate, of course. You've no idea how many people challenge me to chess in the hope I'll send them back if they win. It'd be a nice change to play against someone without that motive."

Ilaran thought of his abysmal chess skills. "When will she be here? What do you mean by "she'll collect me soon"?"

"I call all times soon," said Death maddeningly. "Oh, and I hope you have no embarrassing memories you don't want her to see. She'll be in your mind, you know."

Certain memories crossed his mind at those words. He blanched. Suddenly staying dead didn't seem so bad. Losing a chess game now seemed like just what he needed to stop him thinking about Abihira rooting through his memories. He could only pray she would keep her mouth closed about whatever she saw there.

"...All right, I'll play. But you'll win."

Death looked surprised. "I don't want you to let me win just because--"

"I won't let you win. You'll win anyway because I'm terrible at chess."

~~~~

Siarvin left after he finished stitching Ilaran's neck. Abi sat down in the chair beside the bed. She stared thoughtfully at the body. Obviously souls went somewhere after death. Where did they go? How could she follow?

She closed her eyes and reached out with her magic. Ilaran's body was an empty shell. Yet there was the faintest echo of his soul, like a pathway leading out of the world. She followed that trail. Her body stayed in the chair. Yet some part of her -- her mind, soul, or magic; she didn't know which -- actually walked along the pathway. It was even but narrow. Walls of grey mist surrounded her. She walked slowly, peering blindly ahead.

Without any warning she walked into the equivalent of a closed door. Abi yelped and stumbled back. This might be a magical journey, but the pain in her nose was all too real.

Abi glared at the mist in front of her. She held out her hands and walked forward again. There was that wall. Now that she knew it was there, she could tell it wasn't as solid as it had felt. Her nose throbbed again. Clearly it felt the need to remind her that the wall had indeed been very solid a minute ago.

She leaned against it with all her weight. The wall turned out to be a door when it pivoted inwards. Abi stumbled forwards into a riot of brilliant colours.

Chapter Footnotes:

[1] the goddess Abihira = According to legend the Sinistrah family are descended from Abihira, goddess of retribution, through a marriage between one of her sons and an immortal. Because of this legend, the goddess Abihira is considered the patron god of the royal family, and many Sinistrahs are named after her.

[2] Lashkó = Goddess of death in Saoridhin religion. She is believed to have seven personalities or faces, which she uses depending on how a person died.