User blog:DaWalkinWaffle/King of Steel: Part XXXll

11 ~ s

After his units had been healed, Winter had de-summoned his units. He and Kajah had left St. Lamia Palace back to their former camp. They talked along the way.

"If you aren't my unit, why was I able to de-summon you?" Winter asked.

"I am a god. I simply disappeared and spoke to your conscious." Kajah replied.

"So I never de-summoned you?" Winter asked and Kajah shook his head.

"And you fought in the God War?" Winter asked.

"Yes. I chased after....a rebel goddess to the Bariura Kingdom. Then I was forced to judge the people there. After I finished that I went to the Sama Kingdom and fought Uda and stopped the kingdom from complete obliteration." Kajah said.

"Why?" Winter asked.

"I am the God of Judgment. What Uda and the rebel goddess did was unfair. All sentient beings have the right to live."

"What was the goddess's name?"

"I don't remember. It was a long time ago." Kajah said.

"Why did Maxwell call me King of Steel?" Winter asked.

"You wield the steel energy. My guess is she said it to mock you." Kajah said and turned towards the path they were going down. Winter could just barely see figure coming up the path. He struggled to remember the spell Chaos had told him.

"Sze-neren. Is that...Karl? And Seria?" Winter asked incredulously.

"I believe it is." Kajah said. Winter dismissed the spell and broke into is jog. Kajah floated behind him.

"Winter! We heard that you were going after Maxwell! Is everything alright?" Karl asked.

"I'm fine." Winter said.

"And Maxwell?" Seria asked.

"Escaped. But-" Winter began but Seria cut him off.

"What do you mean escaped? How did Maxwell escape? Gods aren't cowards!" she shouted. Karl held up his hands in a peacemaking gesture.

"Calm down Seria. He's clearly got more to say." Karl said and Seria grumbled something inaudible.

"Maxwell resurrected the gods form the God War. And-" Winter had barely started before Seria interrupted again.

"Impossible! Any magicians, gods, and whatnot that knew necromancy were killed!" she shouted. Karl sighed.

"Can you just let him finish before you start shouting?" Karl was more or less resigned to Seria's shouting. She grunted.

"She plans to start a second God War. She is leading them to destroy humans." This time Winter made it through two sentences before Seria interrupted.

"Where is she going? How many are there? Who are some of her right-hand men?" she demanded. Karl sighed again.

"I assume that she resurrected the gods that died in the God War that weren't "traitors" as she says. She was heading towards Palymna. Crusher God Uda is her appointed leader. We don't know what happened to him though." Winter said.

"Crusher God Uda? I read about him. He nearly destroyed the Sama Kingdom. We don't know how he was killed." Karl said.

"Kajah killed him." Winter said. Karl frowned. Seria immediately began shouting.

"You said you don't know what happened to him! And we are talking about the non-resurrected one, not the resurrected one!" she shouted.

"Kajah did kill him. Kajah sided with the human in the God War. He was never killed." Winter said and had the satisfaction of Seria being unable to speak.

"So this is Kajah, God of Judgement?" Karl asked. Winter nodded.

"I survived the first God War. I can survive another." Kajah said.

"Well, it is nice to know we have a god on our side. Is it true that you expect almost no deference from humans?" Karl asked.

"I expect the normal respect you would give to another human, at the least." Kajah said.

"And what about the respect of a friend?" Winter asked. Kajah cocked his head at him.

"I expect the same. Perhaps more." Kajah said.

"Enough blabbering! We need to find Maxwell! If she is heading towards Palymna, she will try to free Cardes the Malevolent! And something tells me she won't fail." Seria said.

"Seria is right. We need to get moving. But first, we should get back to the Summoner's Hall. Well, me and Seria do. Can you track Maxwell Winter?" Karl asked.

"I can do that." Winter said.

"Good. We'll meet in Palymna then. See you there!" Karl said. He and Seria ran back the path.

"And don't get yourself killed, ok? You are still a newbie and it would be a shame if you were killed with vital information." Seria said. Winter grinned.

"Aw, so you do care." he said. She glared at him and scowled. Then she ran off after Karl.

"I think Chaos has left a bad impression on me." Winter said. Kajah regarded him dryly.

"I think so." he said. Winter summoned Will, Rowgen, and Hadaron.

"Need something?" Rowgen asked.

"Let's get tracking Maxwell. Karl thinks she is going to go free Cardes." Winter said. They nodded and turned to the path. Winter and Kajah followed.

"Do you know how to track?" Kajah asked.

"No. Never came up at the orphanage." Winter replied.

"Orphanage?"

"I went to an orphanage in Ryvern. Near the Stokhelna Forest. Why? Does it mean anything to you?" Kajah shook his head thoughtfully.

"No. There were many orphans after the God War. The gods did things to orphans. Usually did something that kept them from aging, or just killing them." Kajah said.

"Why keep them from aging? And where? And how?"

"Presumably in a magic place. Probably the gods wanted them as disciples later. If they sleep in a place of magic, the magic could have joined forces with the child. As far as I know, there are no strong magic sanctuaries in Ryvern, definitely not the Stokhelna Forest if there are." Kajah said.

"Huh. Would it matter?" Winter asked. Kajah nodded gravely.

"If you were an orphan from the God War, the god who put you there would have a permanent mark on you. That god would have complete control over you. You could do nothing. That is why it matters."