CITY OF THE GODS: FORGOTTEN (43 page)

“It . . . it said that I was the one responsible. That I came from outside this experience. But what does that mean?” she asked with a puzzled look on her oval-shaped face.

“I can only guess, Aavi, but I think it means you are not native to the City of the Gods.
 
Maybe you are from one of the outer realms, or maybe Earth. Did the Oracle tell you anything else?”

Aavi looked up in the air as she tried to recall the events of that night, which now seemed so long ago.
 
“It said that maybe I was dropped on my head and that I didn’t belong here.”

“That certainly confirms that you aren’t from here, then. Anything else?”

“Yes. The reflection told me that I had to find my companion and that I can’t go to Earth alone.
 
I think you are my companion D’Molay. Who else could it be?” Aavi seemed uncertain, like she might have missed some detail. At length she shook her head and admitted she remembered nothing else. Aavi looked up expectantly at D’Molay, hoping for affirmation about what she had told him. He was the first person she had trusted, and she was sure he must have some insights that might help.

“I don’t think I’m your companion, Aavi. While we were apart, I was hired to track down something else that appeared in the realms the same day you arrived here. Like you, it seemingly fell from the sky, with no hint of where it came from. That can’t just be a coincidence. Perhaps you and this creature are related in some way.”

Aavi started when she heard this. “A creature appeared here the same day as me?
 
What can that mean?
 
What kind of creature is it?”
 

“We captured it two days ago in the Olympian realm. It’s a large beast of a type not seen before. It has six limbs, is very nasty and seems to attack humans.”
 

“You think my companion is a monster that attacks people?
 
Why would I be with a creature like that?”

D’Molay put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her intensely. “It’s nothing like you, Aavi, nothing like you at all. But it did appear here mysteriously much like you did and on the same day that I found you. Maybe it was chasing you here.” He paused, unsure if he should suggest their next course of action so soon. He gave in to the urgency he felt and laid his plan before Aavi. “I think you ought to come with me and see this beast.
 
Maybe it will remind you of your past or open your memories.”

“I - I don’t know. I don’t think I’m ready, not yet. It sounds dangerous.”
 
Her voice held an edge of fear and apprehension as she looked pleadingly back at D’Molay. She had thought all along that D’Molay was going to be her companion and that they might go to this ‘Earth’ place together. Now that whole idea was falling apart. She certainly didn’t want to go anywhere with a ravenous beast! Aavi finally felt safe again now that she was back with the man who had found her that first day. She didn’t want anything to separate them now.

D’Molay could see fear and uncertainty in her eyes and knew he had given her too much information too fast. “Don’t worry, Aavi. You don’t have to do anything right now. Just rest and we’ll worry about the beast later. For now we’ll just talk and rest.” He patted her on the shoulder and smiled reassuringly, suppressing the instinct telling him they should be immediately on the move. “Have you regained any memories about yourself?”
 
He hoped it was the right time to ask.

Aavi reached up to fiddle with the bone necklace that Kafele had given her.
 
She thought carefully about D’Molay’s question. “Well, sometimes I say things that I shouldn’t know, but they aren’t really memories.”

“What kind of things?”

“Measurements, the names of animals, random things.
 
But I don’t know why I remember them. And then there’s . . .” Aavi stared at D’Molay’s glow for a moment, its kind and reassuring color convincing her to tell him everything. “I can see into other people’s feelings. Maybe I’m even seeing their souls. Which means I have a soul too. You can’t see other souls if you don’t have one, right?”

“What exactly makes you think you’re seeing souls?” This was something new he hadn’t heard her say before. He wondered how she even knew what a soul was. He wasn’t sure he could even provide an accurate definition.

“Sometimes when I look at a person, I can see a glowing color coming from inside them.
 
The colors are different for different people. At first I only saw it a little bit, but now I see more and understand what the colors mean, too.
 
I just know I’m seeing their soul.”

“So can you see this in anyone? What does a good soul look like?” he asked, unconvinced she was actually seeing anything. She had been through enough in the last few days to unhinge her mind. She could even be imagining things to compensate for her lack of memory.

“Good people have light colors. You were the first person I saw the glow in, that first day we met. I just didn’t know what it was then. Your colors are light and warm, but there’s emptiness in your glow, like something is missing. But you have a good soul.” Aavi noticed that a few dark green flecks had appeared in D’Molay’s glow, and wondered if he was angry with her for some reason. “Set’s glow was so black and dark and he was terrible.” Thinking about D’Molay’s aspects, she added, “I think the colors match the way a person is, but they shift based on how they feel, too.”
 

When Aavi described his emptiness, D’Molay had to admit she was might be seeing something. How else would she have known about the emptiness he felt? He had never mentioned it in the time they had spent together.
 
If she did have this power, it could certainly help them avoid trouble in the future. “Maybe this skill is a clue to your past, something you did before you woke up in the City.
 
Aavi, if you see a glow you think is bad, be sure to let me know.
 
There’s no point in taking chances.”

Aavi looked at D’Molay with relief and admiration as she noticed the green flecks were fading out of his glow. “Thanks for believing me. That means a lot, it really does.
 
I’ve met a lot of people since I’ve been here, but you are very special to me, the most special.” Then she blushed, slightly embarrassed for reasons she didn’t fully understand. But encouraged by D’Molay’s faith in her, Aavi soon told him about everything that had happened since they had parted, from the trip to the Oracle and being captured by the bat-creature, to Namtar and the terrors of the slavers’ den, and finally of the cruelties of Set and the explosion. D’Molay was very keen to hear about the energy blast.
 

“I saw it as we flew to the prison. If it hadn’t been for that explosion, I doubt I would have gotten past the guards. Most had been turned to stone, including Set. What could cause such a thing? Some other god must have -”

“No.”

The denial flew out of Aavi’s mouth. She stared past D’Molay with eyes wide. She suddenly knew, knew without the slightest doubt, that somehow she had caused the blast. The memory of power flowing out of her was undeniable.

“I did it. I don’t know how, but I did it. I killed all those people.”

D’Molay wasn’t ready to believe that this waif of a girl who wouldn’t harm a fly could harness such destructive power. “No, you couldn’t have.”

Aavi spoke quickly, fearing that her story would be drowned by tears if she didn’t get it out.
 
“Set kept hurting me and trying to force me to remember. He wanted me to tell him what I was and why I was here. He even said he knew who I was, but he wouldn’t tell me. And I couldn’t tell him - I still don’t know! Then just as his tortures had almost killed me, there was a huge flash. I was so weak when I woke up, and I just know that was because the power had come from me!”

D’Molay saw no point in arguing against her theory. She was either right or wrong, and in either case he realized they needed to move to a safer location. In the best case, Aavi would be hunted as merely a fugitive slave. If what she had just told him was true, however, the whole Egyptian power base might want revenge for her destruction of their property and people. Aavi sat crying silently as D’Molay quickly rose and began packing supplies and considering their next move. He was surprised when he turned to see her standing, composed and resolute.

“I’m ready to go see the beast,” she declared. “The Oracle said I have to find my companion quickly. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

D‘Molay sent a messenger crow to summon a horse-drawn carriage to his home. He rarely used the City carriage service, preferring to rent a cart, but the Oracle’s warning about haste and the likelihood that Set’s henchmen could suddenly show up to take Aavi back convinced him they needed to leave as discreetly and quickly as possible. After the knapsack was packed, D’Molay put a hooded cloak, some pants, and boots on Aavi. The clothes were too big for her, but they would have to do. D’Molay changed into a clean and more stylish outfit. With a dark suede vest, matching pants, shiny boots and a burgundy dress shirt, he looked more like a traveling man of gentry rather than the scruffy woodsman he usually appeared to be. He retained his favored knife in a leather sheath strapped to his leg in case trouble reared its head.

“Hopefully we can slip out of town without being noticed,” he told Aavi. “Be sure to keep your head down when we go out. I don’t even want the coachman to see who you are. We don’t want him telling Set he saw you. And don’t say anything to anyone about where we’re traveling to.” He was taking no chances with her safety this time.

D’Molay rummaged through a pile of notes and items on the table and pulled out a piece of parchment. “We’re going to need this as well. It’s a map of the realms made by a cartographer at the Great Library.” Aavi caught only a glimpse of the drawing before it was securely packed away.

It was mid morning when a shiny brown coach arrived to pick up them up. “Wait here, Aavi. I’ll wave for you to come out when I’m sure it’s safe. Then walk straight to the coach, get in, and do not speak. Understand?”
 

“Yes, I understand,” she answered. D’Molay was creating many rules for her to follow, but if being a slave to the High Sulgi had taught her anything, it was sometimes best just to follow the orders.
 

D’Molay walked up to the ginger-haired coachman to confirm their arrangements. Holding the horse’s reins and a long thin whip, the man looked somewhat bored as D’Molay pointed down the street and spoke of his desired destination. Once he was up in front of the coachman and partly blocking the man’s view as they talked, D’Molay put his arm back and waved to Aavi to come forward. As she approached she heard the coachman say, “Aye, I can take ye that way. Makes no difference to me.”

“Good. We have no baggage other than this, so we’re ready as soon as we get in.” D’Molay held up the knapsack to distract the coachman as Aavi approached. She followed his instructions to the letter. Silently she walked over and entered the carriage, moving quickly and keeping her head down.

As D’Molay turned from the driver to board the coach, he thought he saw something move in his peripheral vision. Quickly he scanned the rooftops across the street trying to see what had caught his eye. But as he stared across the street, he saw nothing.
 
Finally he got in the carriage and sat next to Aavi.
 

“And we’re on our way,” he said, hoping the feigned confidence in his voice would keep Aavi calm. The horses whinnied and the carriage began to roll along the stone-paved street.
 
Aavi looked around the inside of the coach. It reminded her of the ride she had taken with Kafele after he bought her at the auction. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine and she suddenly felt a little panicked as she felt the pain of his betrayal. She forced herself to concentrate on the appointments of this carriage to keep her mind occupied. This one was plainer than the other one she had ridden in. The seats weren’t as padded and it seemed a bit more used, or older.
 
There were no pretty carvings or gold decorations.
 

D’Molay noticed her nervousness. He patted her on the knee. “Don’t worry, Aavi. We should be fine for a while. Still, we should speak quietly just in case the coachman has sharp ears.” He then pulled the curtains shut to hide them.
 

“You mean talk like this?” She half whispered and leaned closer to him. As the wheels rolled along and the horse’s hooves made a steady beat on the stone pavement, it seemed to drown out the slight sound of her voice. Being near D’Molay made Aavi feel safe, protected by his mere presence. He was nothing like the other men who had been this close to her. They had only strange stares and groping hands to offer. D’Molay’s company was gentle and caring. He made her feel respected, and she liked it. His soft blue glow was comforting and even his smell was soothing to her.