Blackhand by Matt Hiebert Read Free Book Online

around the rooms. Fur tunics and a small coal stove set in one corner helped fight the cold. They never spoke of comfort, or the lack of it.
    For a time, Quintel studied the game fanatically. Its patterns and combinations dominated his waking thoughts. He saw the grid of the board in the stone work of his cell. Strategies would appear in the lattice of the iron door. Its depth and complexity drove him insane, yet he loved it.
    After a year, they had played thousands of games, sometimes finishing dozens in a day. In that time, he had never tallied a single win. He understood the principles behind the game, but its mastery was beyond him. At last, he grew bored with facing inevitable defeat and one night declined to play. Surprised, Siyer sat staring at him.
    “All right,” the Vaerian said. “I suppose you've grown tired of losing.”
    “Perhaps later,” Quintel offered. “Let's just talk for a while.”
    Siyer moved the game table to the edge of the room. He pulled his tunic closer and sat against the wall.
    “What do you wish to talk about?” he asked.
    Quintel didn't have a pressing topic; he had only wished to avoid playing the game.
    “I don't really know,” he said. “Tell me more about the war of the gods.”
    “Very well,” Siyer said. “What would you like to know?”
    Quintel reclined on his straw mattress and locked his fingers behind his head.
    “I don't know,” he said. “Tell me the entire tale.”
    Siyer laughed. “I hope we will not be here long enough for that. Let me tell you the parts I believe you would find interesting.”
    And so, Siyer told him the story of the gods and their conflict.
    Once, the world had been round, Siyer explained. Millions of people had lived upon it. A giant ball of fire had burned in the sky casting heat and light over its surface. Then a great catastrophe shattered the world, breaking it to pieces. It had been the end of Mankind.
    “But Sirian Ru intervened,” the Vaerian said.  “He could not let Life perish. Without Mankind to worship him, Ru feared he would disappear. Despite protests from his fellow gods, Ru managed to preserve a small number of humans upon this broken piece of earth. He gained greater control over the laws of nature and provided new laws where the old ones no longer held. In time, he entered the world and demanded worship.”
    At first, humanity had answered the god's bidding without question, grateful for Ru’s intervention, Siyer explained. Then something terrible happened. Ru knew that living creatures must breathe, drink and eat. But the god did not know how men would react when they discovered what sustenance he required.
    “Ru chose human beings as his diet,” Siyer said.  “He not only fed upon our flesh, but devoured our minds and souls, as well. Lesser animals did not satisfy him. Only human spirit could fill his hunger.”
    Siyer stood and interlocked his hands behind his back. The tale brought forth emotion in his voice.  An edge of defiance laced his words.
    “At first, men allowed Ru to consume their sons and daughters by the thousands. Then, at last, the people of the west revolted. Our people. The Abanshi, the Vaerians and the Lanya. They wounded the god and sent him retreating to the far side of the world.”
    “Much of this story is new to me, but I have heard of the Lanya,” Quintel said.
    “The Lanya were the greatest among us,” Siyer said. “They sailed upon a floating island beyond the edge of the world. They were the ones who introduced the Vaerians to Yuul. They’ve not been seen for more than a century. I fear they may be dead. “
    Quintel listened with rapt attention. Siyer recited the tale as if he had witnessed it with his own senses. He welcomed all of the knowledge, but there was something specific Quintel wanted to know more about.
    “Tell me more of Yuul,” he asked. 
    Siyer looked at him as if weighing his words.
    “Yuul does not have the strength to cross the fabric of existence at will.