Page 126 of Lost and Stolen Gods
“The other tests?”
“Yes.”
We continued into the afternoon, carts trundling over a bridge beneath which a river raged, then onto flat lands once more.
It was here that we spotted a pack of beasts that looked like a cross between a wolf and a lion. The elite were on alert instantly, tracking them as they tracked us from a distance.
“Will they attack?”
“I doubt it,” Araz said. “They are merely curious. Not hungry.”
“How do you know for sure?”
“This area is rich with prey. They will have been well fed. Do not worry.”
He was right. The pack got bored of us after half amile and dropped back. We stopped at the edge of an abandoned village so everyone could eat and take a toilet break before continuing the last stretch of the journey.
As the sun began its descent to the horizon, the new settlement came into view on the plains below us. It was huge, not one dome but three interconnected ones. They glinted orange in the setting sun, and it seemed that everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
This wasn’t a settlement. This was the beginnings of a city. “Araz, this is a city, isn’t it?”
He smiled down at me. “Civilization must go on. Humanity must have its chance to evolve.”
“Without technology? I mean, you said it doesn’t work here.”
“Technology will not function here because this world is saturated with jadu, divine and otherwise. Svargana is a place for the gods to live alongside mortals. Technology breeds contempt of the divine. It allows mortals to believe that they have the power, and when that occurs, there is no need for gods. And despite what gods might want us to believe, they need mortal faith and prayer. There can be no gods without mortals to serve them, and so for now, the gods serve man.”
I stared up at his profile. “How do you know all this?”
He blinked, snapping out of his reverie. “My mother spoke of it once, a long time ago…”
I wanted to ask more about her. About his life before he came to Aakaash, but his expression had closed off, making it clear that his past was not a topic up for discussion.
Guru Mihir called out instructions to watch the carts, to be vigilant as we made the descent toward the settlement, and the atmosphere became charged with the buzz of excitement.
“It’s beautiful.”
“We made it.”
“Our new home.”
The people’s excitement filled me with a sense of achievement. “Is this what it always feels like when you deliver people to their new homes?”
Araz smiled down at me, the warm honey smile that he’d gifted Aradha last night, and my insides went all gooey. “Every single time,” he said. “Every single time.”
“Everybody move!”Guru Mihir ordered. “The vortex lands in two hours, and we need to be there to take it.”
Without our cargo to slow us down, we ate space, jogging in the same formation that we’d arrived in at Nahee Aasha.
The plan was to bypass the valley nestled betweenthe mountains up ahead and cut around it and take a trail that backed onto the cliffside.
We got onto the trail and were making good progress when Guru Mihir called a halt.
“What’s going on?” I looked from Pashim to Araz. “Can either of you see?”
“It’s a landslide!” the elites called from up ahead.
“What does that mean?” Priti asked.
