Page 28 of Lost and Stolen Gods
The woman’s eyes darted over us in quick hungry motions as she handed a small silver bowl to Umbra.
“Thank you, Kalla,” Umbra said.
The woman bobbed her head before dipping out of the building.
“Everyone step forward.” Umbra held up the bowl. “Take a seed and swallow it.”
“What is it?” Eve demanded.
“Nourishment,” Umbra said. “All that your mortal bodies need to function is in this seed.”
Saying seed over and over wasn’t making it sound appealing, and everyone else’s expressions echoed my feelings.
Umbra tutted, clearly impatient. “The food of Aakaash will be too rich for you at first. But as your essence grows, you will be able to consume it. A night,maybe two, and your bodies will have acclimatized. Take the seed or starve, it is your choice.”
“You mentioned essence before,” Dharma said. “What is that? Is it like our power?”
“No, it’s your nature. You have the blood of gods in your veins, but the mortal world you come from will have stifled it. Here in Aakaash, that essence will flourish. Eat the seed, get some rest, and you will feel the difference.”
We lined up and each accepted a seed. It tasted sweet like a berry. Soft, chewy, and not entirely awful, and I did feel full after consuming it. Full and sleepy.
I wandered over to the nearest bed and sat.
“That’s right. To bed. All of you. Tomorrow, you will be educated on the hierarchy of power here. Tomorrow, you will begin your journey to finding your place.”
Dharma climbed onto the bed next to mine, and I lay down, facing her, eyelids heavy, drifting closed. The seed…there must have been something inside it to make us drowsy, but I was too tired to vocalize my thoughts.
“Goodnight, potentials,” Umbra said. “May the dawn bring a new beginning.”
A new beginning and a path to vengeance.
Part Two
Grandmother always told me to turn the other cheek. To not let anger rule my heart. Forgive and move on, she said. I’m sorry, Nani, but that’s bullshit.
Chapter 11
WHAT FANTASY NOVEL HAVE I STEPPED INTO?
Clean clothes waited for us when we woke. Gray uniforms of tunic, pants, and soft leather boots. There were three small washrooms, so we were forced to take turns to shower and do morning business, and I’m not sure who I went in after, but boy, these toilets could do with some freshener.
Umbra returned to collect us for orientation once we were done. This morning, she was dressed in a dark green robe over black slacks with knee-high boots. The robe came down to her knees, folding around her upper body and hiding it from view. She could be carrying an arsenal of weapons beneath it for all we knew. Her staff poked up over her shoulder, the shaft hidden beneath the folds of her robe. The outfit was obviously carefully designed to assimilate a holster.
She led us through the double doors set in the archon the other side of the courtyard and onto a platform that ran along the lip of a vast arena.
Figures moved about below, already in mock combat—several males and a couple of females—drohi, if their size was anything to go by. But I spotted some smaller figures watching from the sidelines. More demigods like us?
“You’ll join them soon enough,” Umbra said. “Come along.” She ushered us across the platform and through another door then down a flight of steps and into a stone corridor that curved around the arena, past windows that sat under awnings supported by thick pillars.
Metal clanged on metal as two drohi sparred—a woman with azure hair and pale blue skin and a male with deep brown skin and close-cropped silver hair. They moved like silk, fluid and fast, wreathed in a mist of arena dust as they clashed in a dance of unrestrained aggression.
Umbra led us away from the sight and deeper into the white stone complex. We passed through another archway, then clambered up a flight of steps into a room that looked like a university lecture hall with ascended seating. We’d entered at the upper level, looking down on a lone podium. Tall, arched windows sat all along the right-hand wall, giving us a view of a crystal blue sky.
Umbra instructed us to sit as the door below opened and a tall man entered.
He was an older guy, probably in his forties, dark hair threaded with silver, eyes like chips of ice as they looked up at us. He was dressed in a black armor outfit like the elites and Guru Mihir, but he didn’t have wings, not that I could see, anyway.
“Good morning, potentials.” He didn’t raise his voice, and yet it echoed around us. The room had great acoustics. “My name is Guru Chandra, and I oversee all training here at Aakaash Sansaar. I’m sure you have questions, and I hope to answer the majority of them today, but if you are still in doubt about anything after we’ve spoken, please feel free to come see me in my office.” His gaze swept over us, intense and almost probing, making my skin prickle with unease.
