Tag: god

Silent Serpent Under Sea

“Some of the tunnels in other regions have been closed. Some even filled in. We’re lucky that the ones in our region have not.”

“The magic shoring up these walls is ancient, Gramps. Are you sure it’s safe for us to be down here?”

“You’re the one who wanted me to bring you,” my grandfather said. “Anyway, I thought young eyes would be sharper.” My grandfather banged his fist against a seam of enchantment. It glowed a bright turquoise in response. New magic. The afterglow softened to a whisper of pink that signified the ancient magic that I had just doubted.

My young eyes traveled up to the low arched ceiling of the tunnel, the transparent ceiling past which I saw nothing but darkness, and the occasional shadow flitting by, belonging to the strange and hardy creatures that somehow lived at the bottom of the deepest ocean.

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The Sandalwood God

“I have heard of the great battle in the sky!”

The man with the cinnamon hair and the walnut-wood beard turned to the boy who had spoken.

“Have you?” the man said. “How curious? Tell me of it.”

The boy raised his arms to the sky and began speaking.

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The Once-God Rampion

She was far too kindly, and therefore looked upon with disdain by her fellow gods. The other gods feared that the balance of power was being tipped too much toward mortal creatures, to whom the kindly god had given many gifts. The kindly god argued that what she had given the mortal creatures shifted the balance by such an infinitesimal degree that all the gods could give what little she had given to the mortals, or else she could give all her power, and it still would not equal what the gods possessed.

To teach her a lesson, the other gods diminished the kindly god by half.

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The Thief, the Fairy, and the Raven

The thief fell from the tower’s upper window.  She had lost her precarious grip on the pitted brick.  She remembered that she should roll herself up into a loose ball to protect her head and neck.  But by the time she remembered, she had already struck the first branch of the tree in the orchard below.  Then she struck another and another.  Scratched and thrashed and bounced about, she finally reached the ground, thankful that the soil was soft.  She lay there for far too long a moment.  The breath had been knocked out of her.  And she feared moving for fear she might discover that she could not.

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The Hollow Temple

When the young woman appeared, garbed in robes of green and a wide belt of scarlet, the two treasure-seekers understood at once that she was the temple guardian.  And they did not hesitate to approach her.“Greetings, travelers,” the temple guardian said.  “Give me your names.”The two treasure-seekers gave her their names freely.She did not return their offer of names, nor did she return their smiles.“Turn back, travelers,” the temple guardian said, her voice calm and measured.  “Go no further than the spot where I now stand.” 

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