Page 7 of When Death Called Life Home (When Deities Awaken #1)

Chapter 7

A Grotto Of Stone Bones

ASCIAN

T here was no way to tell how much of the forest Ascian covered before the sky darkened and day fell into night. He switched to relying heavily on his guardian to lead the way back to the Grotto. Her pace had slowed to a trot, golden eyes still vibrant in the dark of the night.

In truth, he hadn’t known exactly where he’d planned to head after realising who the woman before him had been, but Alamea took him where she thought necessary and they’d brought home with them a bounty of rabbits and poultry to store for food. Not that they needed it. Osiris hunted plenty of boars to tide them through a long winter, let alone summer when the animals were constantly out and about. The others would still appreciate a change of taste, though.

Each stride across the leaf covered ground brought him closer to the Golden Grotto, and back to his team. He needed to speak with Osiris, hear what the Elders had to say then come up with a plan for the morning. He had suspicions, and the group splitting up was highly likely if his suspicions were proved correct.

A large skull shaped rock came into view. It stood half the height of the cliff behind it, and where a hole for an ear would normally be was an arched, open gap. A subtle path led up to it, covered by large fern leaves that pulled away as Ascian and his guardian approached. The man slid off his beast when they reached the entrance, scratching beneath its massive chin before entering the space.

There was nothing special for a start, just a dimly lit foyer-like space, but then turning left and walking along the cheek of the stone triggered glow worms along the rock face to light up and illuminate the connecting halls. Ascian could see through the eye holes when he looked up. Stars littered the sky behind treetops that slowly grew big enough to also hide his reapers’ main home .

When he reached the midline he turned again, this time going right and keeping his gaze down towards the spaced out stones that grew more and more surrounded by water the further into the skull he headed. Glow worms still illuminated the space around him, providing enough light so that he wouldn’t misstep and end up in the water. At this stage, Ascian didn’t believe it was actually possible for him to do so. He’d taken this exact path every day, multiple times a day for Death knew how many years of his life. For as long as he could walk, perhaps? His steps across each stone had become muscle memory. He didn’t need to think about it, he just did it.

Soon enough the glow worms dulled to nothing, and the small stone steps stopped at a ridge along the furthest wall, water stretching before it in a sweeping circle around the exact space that gave the place its name; the Golden Grotto. Glowing algae covered the expanse of the underground spring, lighting up the area in a way the glow worms would never be able to. Golden light bounced from the wet, stone walls where water seeped through and across the floor into the spring. Even Ascian admitted the setting was beautiful.

He took his time walking around the edge, breathing in the damp, mossy air with just a tang of mineral. A breath that felt like drinking cool, refreshingly clean water. It cleansed the memory of the soul field. Of all the bodies he sliced in order for their most important possession to be set free.

There were rumours of how the rock skull came to be. One, and the only one Ascian felt could be true, was that an ancient reaper laid down to rest after protecting the creatures of the forest and never woke up. The forest possessed their body, claiming the nutrients and growing the flowers, bushes and trees that now surrounded it. It turned their bones into rock, and within that rock remained their soul which created the cleansing spring. Something about it made Ascian believe the rumour because why wouldn’t a soul wish to help its descendants with a stress it knew all too well? A mountain covered the majority of the rock skeleton now.

Ascian ducked beneath a lower lying archway and into the hallway that led to the shared kitchen. He had his own, they all did, but he wanted to check how many of the others had returned and make sure no one was missing. Chatter from within suggested most of them had found their way back, and upon entering, confirmed he was the last to arrive.

Verena leaned against the opposite door, leaving the instant she saw he was in one piece. Maelo had Emilia on her lap with a grin larger than he’d ever witnessed on her before, and five others surrounded Osiris playing Death knew what liquor game they’d come up with in the last couple of hours. That put a pause on asking about the Elders. Osiris barely gave any important information away when he drank. It was, perhaps, one of the better qualities about him.

Upon spotting Ascian step into the room, Maelo drew her attention from Emilia and that wide smile dropped a couple inches. She moved to stand, to lift the human from her lap but Ascian silently shook his head. They could speak about the situation in the morning, for right now despite the urge to check if the others had found any new information, he would not be the one to put a dampener on any of their nights. Not when there’d be plenty more opportunities in the future to do so.

A knock on his door in the early hours of the morning drew Ascian from his restless sleep. At some point during the night, Alamea had found her way inside and into his room, now laid curled up at the end of his bed. Her eyes peered open as he passed and opened the door. There, fully clothed with her twin, curved blades, stood Maelo.

“I don’t believe I gave you any order to wake me up this early,” he grunted. He turned from the door, knowing she’d welcome herself in as he moved to grab his own clothing and get dressed.

“Verena returned worried about you, and I doubted you’d be having a good sleep anyway.” Maelo scratched the puma’s head on her way to Ascian’s bed, hoisting herself onto the edge of it. “Apparently Kallias was the one to have the portal opened.”

Ascian glanced over his shoulder at her before pulling his hooded cloak over his head. Their damn gossiping drove him mad. “As you would have learned when I woke myself at an appropriate time , yes, Kallias was apparently the one behind the open portal. It doesn’t change the rules, though. No one is meant to open those portals, not unless it’s an emergency, or planned out.”

His sister nodded along to his words, rolling her eyes at his annoyed remark. “And your previous inseparable friendship with his sister won’t affect how you deal with the situation?”

“No.” Ascian lifted his scythe from its bracket on the wall and turned to face her completely. “Now can we stop with the interrogation and go get food?”

Maelo’s eyes narrowed while she assessed him further. Ascian simply raised a brow in turn and let out an impatient breath. A very exaggerated, impatient breath.

Finally, Maelo shrugged and pushed herself off his bed. “Sure. You’ll tell me the plan going forward while we eat?”

Ascian gave her a gentle shove out his bedroom door, following closely behind. Alamea remained, closing her eyes again the moment he stepped through the archway. They walked in silence for some time, knowing there were multiple other occupied bedrooms down the hallway and Ascian didn’t wish to wake any others just yet. There was a peace to the early hours of the morning, just before the sun displayed her brilliant light through the cover of the trees on the horizon. Even the creatures within the forest rest for that precise time, relishing in the quiet, new day ahead of them.

However, Ascian preferred this time at the opposite end of the day. Just as the sun disappeared beneath the line of ground, and the moon brought out her prettiest colours. Like life and death working together, but a star and planet. Did they also fight for what was right? Whether light trumped dark, or did they accept there was a time for both?

Ascian rubbed his hands over his face, acting as though he simply wiped the sleep from his eyes when Maelo glanced his way from the movement. He shook his head when her lips parted, stopping any thoughts from being voiced into the still dawn. It didn’t stop her from pursuing them, though, her eyes narrowed again just slightly.

He broke the silence the moment they walked into the kitchen. “I need to speak with Osiris first, but we will likely be splitting into groups and tracking down Kallias and the nymph that opened the portal.”

“You don’t think it was the one Verena found yesterday?” Maelo asked.

Ascian shook his head. “No. They were too far from the portal used, and wouldn’t have enough nymph energy to do it.”

“So find Kallias first, then question him about the nymph?”

Ascian nodded in confirmation.

“And you want to interrogate him yourself, I assume?” Maelo asked carefully.

“You’d assume right,” Ascian replied. “ I’m the commander of this group. I’m the one responsible when rules are broken.”

“Kallias is not your responsibility, Az. He’s the Vitarce Elders’, and in turn, the forest spirits’.” Maelo reasoned with him, but he knew it didn’t work like that.

“It was my portal he used, Maelo. I didn’t have anyone guarding it like I should have, so it’s my responsibility. If you’re worried I feel guilty over that, I don’t. I learnt from it and will make sure there isn’t a next time.”

“You don’t have to. Osiris and I are happy to step up.”

Ascian’s head started shaking before he could even command it to. “No. You and Osiris enjoy carrying out the decisions I make, but I can assure you right now, you wouldn’t enjoy the decision making process that comes with stepping up. You’re too impulsive. Him, too weapon-happy.”

The full body flinch told him he’d hit a nerve. Maelo’s impulsivity was a touchy subject that everyone always danced around when indirect comments were made. Ascian didn’t see the point. His sister was an incredible warrior, and that impulsivity was a strength when it came to carrying out the tasks he set her, but not so much with his job .

“What do you feel like eating?”

The dullness in her eyes brightened slightly from the subject change. She slid onto one of the carved wooden stools and leaned against the stone bench. Ascian could see her brain ticking through their options and deciding which one would satisfy whatever she currently craved.

“Bacon and eggs, please. Osiris caught another boar, so you might as well use up the rest of the bacon,” Maelo answered, tapping her fingernails against the bench. Ascian nodded and got to work, rolling his sleeves up to just below his elbows and cooking a massive feed atop a large, heated iron plate.

By the time the last slice of bacon was cooked, the bodies of the other reapers had filled the shared kitchen. Verena and Osiris included. They all grabbed a wooden plate and loaded it up with food, then stood around the stone counter Maelo sat and ate while Ascian addressed them. He’d eaten as he’d cooked, knowing it’d be easier to address them while their mouths were full.

“Yesterday, I asked Osiris to visit the Elders for me and ensure they hadn’t received a request to open the portals. Was I right in assuming they hadn’t?” Ascian asked Osiris directly. The man’s chewing slowed then he nodded. Ascian let out a sigh. “From this assumption, I knew the Elders would wish to call a council and have whoever opened the portals stand before them for questioning.”

Osiris swallowed his mouthful of food, scratching his chin through his beard. “They asked for you, specifically, to bring them, since it was your portal they went through.”

No one missed the sheer delight that laced the man’s voice. Ascian drew in a breath, allowing himself a second before he responded, not that he should. Osiris deserved his soul removed, far more than Verena did, but despite Ascian being given the commander position, Osiris still held the Elders’ favour.

When Ascian finally spoke, the room was already silent, everyone waiting for a fight that he wouldn’t let arrive. It’s what Osiris wanted. “As I expected they would and I am happy to do so, however, I will need all of your help to find and obtain those responsible.”

A leaf could float down from a branch in that moment, and everyone would hear it land. Ascian had had stare downs with Osiris before, but something about this one felt different .

“Do you know who opened it, yet?” Kaida asked, breaking the silence as she drew her eyes from Osiris. She’d barely touched the food in front of her.

Ascian glanced towards Verena for a second, her own focus on her empty plate. He looked back to Kaida.

“We received information from our new recruit that Kallias Vaine organised for it to be opened. They didn’t, however, give up the forest nymph who helped.” Ascian paused and took a moment to look each of them directly in the eye before he spoke his next words. “If you come across Kallias, or the nymph involved, there is to be no torture until I have arrived and spoken to either of them myself. Is that understood?”

While everyone else agreed immediately, Osiris’ group looked between each other then to their leader. He didn’t break Ascian’s intense gaze. His lip curling into a defiant smirk that matched his eyes. A defiance that was the cause behind Ascian getting the commander position and not him.

“Is that understood?” Ascian asked again with more force.

“Sure,” Osiris answered. He lifted his last piece of bacon to his mouth and ripped into it before turning for the door and leaving with his group. Ascian’s gaze followed them until they were out of sight.

Ascian turned to the rest, jaw clenched and fighting himself with not trailing after Osiris to knock his head into the stone walls. “Split yourselves up between Verena and I. Maelo, you’re with me on this one.”

“Yes, sir,” she hummed back.

Ascian ran a hand through his hair. “Go.”