Page 76 of Bought to Break
Suddenly both gods burst out laughing, and Lana turned on them with a scowl.
‘I don’t understand what’s so amusing.’
They laughed harder. Bastian took a swig of wine from a skin. Before she knew what she was doing, Lana had marched over to them and snatched the skin from his hand.
She threw it down in disgust. ‘Look at you. You’re not gods. Two drunken fools wasting all the time in the realms onnothing. I am weak and dying, but still not as pitiful as you!’ With a growl, she turned away from the men, who now looked genuinely shocked at her outburst. ‘You cannot help me,’ she muttered, sure that at any moment she would be reduced to a pile of ash.
A tinkling laugh cut through the babbling of the water. A woman stood not far from them in the same sort of flowing dress that Lana had been divested of earlier.
‘Well, she told you two wastrels well enough. Don’t listen to them, girl. What is your name?
‘Lana.’
‘You are right, Lana. They cannot help you. They wouldn’t have the first idea of how.’ The woman raised an eyebrow. ‘But I can.’
‘Who are you?’ Lana asked suspiciously.
‘Gaila. The first.’
‘The first?’
‘I was there at the first dawn,’ Gaila said airily and rolled her eyes at the other two gods. ‘These fools and others like them just appeared one day and I haven’t been able to get rid of them. Ignore them and come with me, child.’ She held out her hand and Lana took it. The goddess she’d never heard of led Lana up some worn stone steps she hadn’t noticed before.
‘Perhaps we can help each other, my dear.’
Lana was taken through a door and found herself in a room with three stone walls. The fourth side had no wall at all and looked out over a sunny valley as if the room was built into a hillside. The furniture and the walls reminded Lana of her father’s house in that every piece of decoration looked expensive.
Gaila flopped down onto a plush settee with a sigh. ‘The Mount. Such a taxing place,’ she said, closing her eyes for a moment.
‘We aren’t on the Mount any longer?’ Lana asked.
‘Oh no; this is my private realm away from the others’ petty squabbles. Do sit, Lana. Would you like wine? Food? No? Well, if you do change your mind …’
Lana sank down on one of the other chairs, all facing the outside. A few moments passed quietly and Lana, for once uncomfortable with the silence, grasped for something to fill it. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she murmured, gesturing to the tree-covered hills and the sky.
‘Yes, it is, isn’t it?’ The goddess smiled somewhat sadly. ‘That’s my window into your realm. I can see whatever I like from here, but I cannot set foot there.’ At Lana’s expression of curiosity, she waved a hand. ‘A bargain I made long ago. It doesn’t matter now. Only the highest priests remember me there anymore. My devotees are all Dark Realm these days. I intend to hold up my end of the deal I made, but, you see, that’s why I need you.’
Gaila sat up suddenly and stared intently into Lana’s eyes, reminding her of a feline about to pounce. ‘Something’s been stolen from me and I need it back.’ She grasped Lana’s hands in her own. ‘You arriving just at this time was fortuitous for both of us, so this is what we will do. You will find what was taken from me and restore it to my caretakers and, in return, I will help you with your little problem.’
Lana had begun to nod before the goddess had even stopped speaking. There was nothing to consider. ‘If you can truly save me, then whatever you ask of me is yours. You have my word.’
Gaila nodded. ‘An object of mine was recently taken from its hiding place under a temple in the Islands.’
‘The Vessel,’ Lana breathed, remembering what Greygor had wanted.
‘Yes. At the moment it’s in the hands of this man.’ The view of the hills changed to one where Greygor sat writing inside his tent, a black, rotund urn with a handle sat on the desk in front of him. The Vessel. ‘But soon he will sell it to another.’ The pictured shifted to a thin figure standing in shadow. ‘I cannot see his face, nor where he is. Almost everything about him is hidden from my sight. This man is the real threat. He has accumulated many, many potent artefacts from your realm as well as others. He has become very powerful and he’s starting to realise it. Soon even the gods won’t be able to stop him.’
‘Stop him from doing what?’ Lana stared at the shadow. This was the Collector, she was sure. This man had tortured Sorin, made him a body slave and made him kill his mother. He had burned Viktor’s children in their beds. He had done something so awful to Kane that his entire life had become simply an avenue for revenge. How many countless others had been hurt or killed because of him?
‘Amassing power – as much as he can. If he gets strong enough, he could take the Mount itself. He would become a god, stronger even than I, and many more would die than have already been killed by him.’
‘You only want me to take the Vessel from him?’ Lana asked.
‘You won’t be able to do much more. He has protection. The only thing holding him back is his own ignorance. That is why the Vessel is so important. It is knowledge. With it, he could destroy the portals, the realms, meld them together, kill anyone – everyone.’
Lana looked back at the goddess. ‘The Brothers –myBrothers want to kill him.’
Gaila stood. ‘I hope they’ll succeed, but it will be without my aid. I am forbidden to act directly.’
