Page 23 of The Gods Veiling (The Valorian Veil #1)

My chest heaves as I flatten my hands on the railing a few feet from him. Those ridiculous tears threaten to fall, but I slam my lids shut. I refuse to let them cascade down my face.

He knew…of course he fucking did.

I’ll never forget the day I called out his name. He called out right back.

Why makes more sense now.

Meridamus and I were in the library. This was very shortly after my parents left and I was firmly in my angry phase. I’d thrown a massive tantrum about him trying to get me to work out, so he compromised. We’d run to the library, stay there for a while, then run back .

He was going over the Beginning Gods with me. Something my parents up to that point had only touched on. I knew there were seven of them, but not their names or what they ruled. We only got through a few and Derivius was the last of them.

Meridamus instructed me to return the books to their spots and on my way to do so, I tripped, knocking an entire five shelves down.

In my ten-year-old mind, add in the embarrassment from everyone looking and fussing over me, plus my anger, I wanted someone to blame for that. I didn’t just trip over myself.

I mentally yelled out, “Derivius, you stupid God of Chaos. This is all your fault.”

The laugh I’ve grown so used to hearing now filtered through my mind. At first, I thought it was someone in the library laughing at me until he spoke.

“I didn’t do anything today, little troublling.”

Fuck…the door I opened.

Years ago, his temples were destroyed. I still don’t know why, and he’s never explained the story. All I know is the gods basically sent the message to the realm, he may be a Beginning God and is crucial to our way of life, but he isn’t to be prayed to or worshiped anymore.

I technically break that godly decree every time I call upon him.

I’m starting to believe there’re different definitions of prayers as well.

“So what does all that mean? What does this mean for me? Why would any other god do this? I don’t pray, worship, or even think their names from fear of them hearing it. I need you to tell me what’s going on.”

“I’ll tell you the things that I can. I need something from you, though, Thayla.”

“What could you possibly need from me?”

His eyes soften. “You have no idea the amount of power behind the words you’ve said to me over the years. I’ve always been too selfish of a god to explain it to you.”

Well, there’s my fucking answer. Great going, Thayla.

You’ve disobeyed the laws of the gods and your parents.

Before I can lay into him about keeping that from me, he continues, “When a god is no longer worshipped by their people, the extra boost of power we receive from the realm begins to decline.

I had gone years without an ungodly being calling upon my name.

You may have spent many moments throwing those foul slurs my way, but each word directed at me has kept my extra power flowing .

“I didn’t care what came out of your mouth.

The good or the bad. Truth be scribed, I quite enjoy your brand of chaos.

It’s different from my own but much appreciated.

You and an incredibly small number of others haven’t shunned me completely.

That may not seem important to you now, but once you become a fully powered god yourself, you’ll understand the significance.

“Take the High Chancellor for example. No one prays to him other than a few of his associates, so he’s resorted to secretly syphoning power from the Gods Veil.

At least he thinks that’s what he’s doing.

Really, I’ve given him bits and pieces to hold over his head.

I’ve kept that little tidbit to myself and hid it from the others, so use it wisely. ”

My mouth gapes open and my brain completely blanks on anything to say. If I had known my words, just talking, not praying or worshipping, gave him power, I never would’ve said anything else to him ever again. My promise to my parents was and is far too important to me.

I guess that doesn’t matter much now, though, does it?

I know for a fact, though, he only dropped that piece of information on the High Chancellor for me so he could cover up the thankfulness in his tone. He can’t let it seem like I’ve done something for him and he not return the favor.

God logic…ridiculous.

I clear my throat and shake my head. “So you need me to continue talking to you. Is that it? You know I can’t do that. It was really shitty of you to keep that from me when I’ve literally expressed to you why I don’t pray to the gods.”

“It’s habitual now. I don’t believe you’re done cursing me just yet. I give it a few days and you’ll stub your toe, then blame it on me.” He smirks, and I snort before I scald myself.

That’s happened a few times, actually.

“I need your forgiveness. For a couple of things.”

My body instantly tenses. A prickling starts at the back of my neck and runs all the way through my spine. Every strand of hair on my skin stands.

“What do I have to forgive you for other than you keeping that from me?”

“For what I’m about to do.”

My voice barely lifts above a whisper. “I’m going to need a little more than that.”

He nods like he agrees, but he pinches his lips together and stares out over my mountains. I can’t bring myself to look at them. I don’t want to taint this beautiful image I’ve created by whatever he’s going to say and do .

“You know that some odd two hundred years ago, there were portals that connected five of the realms, and they closed. Those realms are Essemist Keep, Colosyree, Mystara Hollow, the nonmagical, and of course here. There was a time we connected to a sixth, Elementra. It closed even longer ago.”

He says the last realm’s name with both reverence and something akin to fear like speaking its name could be heard. That’s the only realm I couldn’t remember the name of. We have so little information on it, I’ve never put much effort into learning about it.

“We don’t know very much about it.”

“That’s correct and a grave mistake on our part. Millennia ago, our egos truly blinded us. We thought we were above all and any below us didn’t deserve our attention. We spent more time making our presence known to the nonmagical realm than our very powerful counterparts.

“The Valories crossed a line with their creator, Elementra, once upon a time. She swore that her power would be found in every realm from that moment on, and she’d make sure none of the other creators stepped out of line again.

She’s the being who created all the portals in every realm. Every passage is because of her.

“As godly of me as it’d be to sit here and tell you the Valorian Veil is the most powerful of all the realms, that’d be untrue. We aren’t far behind, but she’s still more powerful. As are her beings.”

I’m hypnotized by the soft story he’s telling. I’ve always had a desire to learn about the unknown. It’s what brought on my curiosity with the Unclaimed. I’m positive now, the being that placed the barrier separating them from us is from this realm he’s speaking of.

“I’m fascinated, really, and I’d like all the information on this realm that you have, but what does this have to do with anything?”

“When the portal to Elementra closed, it caused an uproar with the Beginning Gods and the Domain Gods.

Relationships were already strained. That was going to make or break us.

Many ideas, plans, and nonsense were thrown around as we tried to figure out a way to preserve the power we had been receiving from that realm.

It was pure and raw. Not something we wanted to give up.

“After we came to an agreement, we also decided we’d try to replicate their power system.

The beings from there that were stuck here went into hiding as soon as the portal closed.

Those that were found, refused to speak about their creator.

They warned us that she’d know if something happened to them at the hands of the gods.

We listened to that threat at the direction of the Valories and…

another one of their creations. So we kept searching for answers .

“Very minimal was found, yet a single page that was ripped in two held a firsthand account of Elementra’s dynamic.

It was the only source of genuine information found within the Valorian Veil.

One of her beings had written it. They have what they refer to as a Nexus.

It’s a unit built by four men and one woman where their power is interwoven irreversibly. It makes them many times stronger.”

My eyes bug out of my head as the dots connect. “The gods copied them and created the Valtrue.”

“Correct, but we didn’t fully understand how connected those four men and one woman truly were.

That’s why our Valtrues haven’t worked. Sure, some of them grow close and create a very functioning group that operates better than others.

Yet they aren’t as powerful or cohesive as a Nexus seemed to be.

We were missing information on why that was. I was gifted that missing piece.”

His hand dips into his pocket and my heart attempts to crawl out of my chest. He pulls out an ancient-looking piece of parchment and smooths it out. It’s been folded pristinely, and the ink is still as black as I’m sure the day it was written.

“That’s the other piece of that page,” I whisper.

“It is. It appeared to me many, many years ago and within it held the answer to why the Valtrues weren’t working.

We’ve been tying them together solely based on similarities in domains, Designations, and power strengths.

That was inaccurate. They need the same level of strength but should’ve been built diversely elsewhere.

Their differences should complement each other, not compete.

The other difference is, they’re truly bonded together.

Their female isn’t just the center focus. Her soul ties them as one.”

My body freezes like I’ve just been thrown into the Lost Sea. Everything within me screams to run.