Chapter 696 - Devotion

Silik looked much the same as he did in Zeke’s memories, but the kobold carried himself with an entirely different demeanor.  At first, Zeke had trouble figuring out precisely what the difference was, but it soon became obvious.  Before Zeke’s descent into Hell, the kobold general had been knocking on the door of sapience.  Or perhaps he had one foot inside.  But now, he’d fully arrived, and it showed in his every movement. 

The same was true of his mate, Kianma, who’d been instrumental in keeping the city – indeed, the world – running smoothly.  By class, she was a spiritual leader, but she’d adapted well to her role.  She was also clearly sapient, though Zeke had difficulty putting his finger on why he was so sure.

Eveline provided the answer when she said, “It’s in the eyes.  You can always see it in the eyes.”

Of course, her evaluation remained in his thoughts.  The kobolds accepted her presence, but they tended to treat her flickering form with just as much reverence as they aimed at Zeke himself.  And oddly enough, that left the mind spirit more than a little disconcerted. 

That was a far cry from her former attitude, which seemed to dictate that she revel in attention.  That was back when she presented as a succubus, though, so clearly that shift had changed more than her form.  It was growth, as far as Zeke was concerned.  For her part, Eveline just ignored it as if talking about it was beneath her.

“Funny how that works though,” he remarked in his own mind.  “You’re perfectly fine discussing me and my mindset, but when we turn the spotlight on you, you start to clam up.”

“I do nothing of the sort.  Now pay attention.  You don’t want to be seen drifting off in front of your worshippers,” she said.

That brought Zeke back into focus, though it didn’t seem that anyone had noticed.  In fact, most of the gathered people stared at him with unabashed adoration.  Or adulation might have been a better word.  Regardless, it left him feeling extremely uncomfortable, though he had no idea how to stop it.

Perhaps that was the reason gods typically eschewed contact with their worshipers. 

“All but the worst sorts, you mean,” Eveline remarked.

Zeke almost let out a shiver as he imagined the sort of person who might actually enjoy such attention.  Narcissism didn’t even begin to cover it, and Zeke hoped to never meet that kind of god.

“It’s kind of in the name though.  Gods are meant to be worshipped,” Eveline stated, enjoying his discomfort.  “One could argue that it’s not narcissism, but rather a simple acceptance of reality.  You are better than them.  They acknowledge it via their continued worship.  Perhaps you should too.”

“Not having this conversation,” Zeke said.  He would accept the faith-borne divine energy they sent his way, but he didn’t want to accept that they actually worshipped him.  It just wasn’t in his personality to enjoy it. 

So, he turned his attention away from Eveline and studied the gathered representatives of the population living in the tower.  Closest to him were Silik and Kianma, though they weren’t the only kobolds at the enormous table.  Instead, a full half of the attendees were the lizard people.  However, to Zeke’s surprise, they were far more varied in appearance than they’d been when he left.  Not only were there hulking warriors like Silik, but there were plenty of smaller versions represented as well.

And contrary to his initial impressions, those small kobolds had not been pigeonholed into becoming non-combatants or scouts.  Instead, their professions were varied, and some had even become renowned fighters or tacticians.  And unlike what had been the case before his descent into Hell, they weren’t segregated by gender. Upon his return, he’d quickly discovered that females were just as likely to be fighters, merchants, or traditional mages as they were to be Spiritweavers. 

The males were not accepted among those ranks, though – the only remnant of gender roles that seemed to remain. 

Beyond the kobolds, the next largest group were the beastkin.  That wasn’t surprising, considering they represented the second-biggest population group.  After having left their enslaved past behind, they’d quickly embraced their freedom and become quite a powerful faction in their own right. 

Oddly enough, they tended to eschew combat-focused roles, though. 

There were plenty of other races present as well, including humans, elves, dwarves, and a host of others for which Zeke had no names.  There were even a couple of centaurs toward the end of the table. 

In all, it seemed like diversity was the rule in the tower, and when he remarked on it, Kianma said, “It is.  We take great pride in incorporating anyone who wishes to join the Crimson Tower.  Fortunately, we have ways of detecting infiltrators with impure intentions.”

“Oh?  You do?”

“Of course.  As do you, Ak-toh,” she answered.  “Our power within the tower stems from you, after all.  You need only concentrate on an individual to discern whether or not they remain loyal.”

Zeke decided to try it, and as he narrowed his eyes, he felt the tower all around him.  It was sold.  Real.  But he could also tell that it was just a construct.  If he looked deeper, he felt certain that he could see the underlying runes – or perhaps the very building blocks of energy – that brought it life. 

He chose not to.  Instead, he turned his focus on the nearest kobold.  A petite spiritweaver with blue and orange plumes.  She froze mid-conversation, shivering as his attention bore into her.

Immediately, Zeke could see her loyalty represented by a dense white aura.  So, he pulled his focus away and turned it on the next person in line – a beastkin that looked like he could trace his ancestry back to a goat.  This one’s aura wasn’t quite as bright, but it was still pure white. 

Over and over, Zeke focused on the people present, and one by one, he established their loyalty.  But he’d expected as much.  If they were disloyal, they certainly wouldn’t have made it into that room. 

“Stop.  You’re making everyone uncomfortable,” Eveline interrupted.

“Huh?”

“They’re about to keel over.  Stop it,” she insisted.

Only then did Zeke truly notice the effects of his focused attention.  Everyone there looked as if they were on the verge of collapse.  Whether that was due to ecstasy or strain, he wasn’t certain.  Perhaps both, given that most of those people literally worshipped him. 

He tried to put himself into their shoes and imagine what it might feel like to suddenly receive the focused attention of a god, but he had difficulty following that line of thought.  Still, he pulled himself back and instead studied the food on offer.

It was just as varied as the representatives, and most of the dishes were entirely unrecognizable.  However, considering that he’d barely eaten in Hell, he very much appreciated whatever proper dishes he could find.  So, distracting himself from uncomfortable topics was easy enough so long as he continued to stuff his face. 

“You are such a barbarian,” Eveline said.

Zeke ignored her.  Instead, he tried to focus on the food while half-listening to Kianma explaining the inner workings of the tower’s economy.  Apparently, they were entirely self-sufficient, and to a degree that included home-grown natural treasures.  Some were quite powerful, rivaling some of the strongest in the Eternal Realm.  However, they also stood at the center of an extensive trade network that spanned the entire world.  It reached across the whole continent, even crossing the sea. 

Meanwhile, their military reach was far more constrained, though they’d fought campaigns more than five thousand miles from their established lands.  Something about someone attacking an ally – Zeke wasn’t quite listening to that part, largely because he’d found some dumplings filled with some sort of spicy sausage that were distractingly flavorful. 

After that, the meeting devolved into a sort of meet-and-greet where Zeke was expected to entertain each of the representatives for a few moments.  As it turned out, that ended up wavering between incredibly embarrassing to extremely tedious, with very little in between those two poles.  So, when the time came for the entire affair to end, Zeke accepted it with no small degree of eagerness.

Once he’d finally made it back to the Lord’s Manor, he felt his shoulders droop with exhaustion that had nothing to do with his physical state. 

“Judging by what’s going through your head, you’d rather go back to Hell than endure anything like that again,” Eveline said, flitting beside him.  He couldn’t be sure, but the way she bounced up and down made her seem almost giddy.  Perhaps it was his discomfort that had put her in such a good mood.  She just giggled at that.

“So glad my suffering can amuse you.”

“It always has,” she responded without a second’s hesitation. 

He sighed, then headed to his favorite spot beneath a sprawling oak tree that reminded him of the home he’d left behind so long ago.  He could barely remember those old oak trees that had once been so very memorable.  In fact, he had difficulty remembering any details of Earth at all.  Sure, he could rattle off facts, and there were moments when something sparked recognition.  But at the end of the day, a millennium had passed – for him at least – since he’d lived that life.  Things inevitably faded in that amount of time. 

Leaning back against the oak, he said aloud, “You know what’s weird?”

“Everything about this.  You being worshipped is the oddest thing I’ve ever seen,” she answered.  “It makes sense in its own twisted way, but I have quite a lot of difficulty seeing you as a god.”

“I’m not, as you keep reminding me.  I’m a primordial.  Whatever that really means,” he said.

“True.”

“Are you going to answer my question?” he asked after a few moments.

“Oh.  Sure.  What do you find so strange?”

“I wish you’d be serious.  I wanted to have a real conversation about something that was bugging me.”

“Go right ahead.  I’m all ears.  Well, I’m a mind spirit pretending to be a ball of light and mana, so I don’t technically have ears.  But you know what I mean.”

“The moment has passed,” Zeke sighed, raking his fingers through his hair.  It felt almost odd that it wasn’t greasy.  It had been dirty for so long that he’d gotten used to it.

“Just tell me, Ezekiel.”

“Fine.  What I think is weird is that I don’t remember my mom’s face.  Tommy’s either.  They’re just sort of…I mean, I remember how I might have described them, but not the real picture, if that makes any sense.”

“That’s not weird.  A long time has passed, Ezekiel.”

“No, I know.  Better than most, I know.  But what is weird is that I can remember my dad’s face as sharp as ever.  Maybe it’s hate that makes it so clear.”

“Maybe.  It’s a strong emotion.”

“Stronger than love?”

Eveline gave the impression that she was shrugging.  “Maybe.  Sometimes.  The kind of love you feel for your mother and brother – that’s comfortable.  Comforting might be the better word.  It’s a soothing feeling, easy to forget it’s there.  But what you feel for your father?  That’s sharp.  Grating.  It’s repeatedly stabbing you in the mind.  Ironically, it’s not so different than your feelings for Abby.  Two sides of the same coin.”

Zeke frowned. 

He didn’t like the notion that hate was more insistent than love – at least for him.  But he couldn’t really dispute Eveline’s point.  Either way, it was more complicated than that simple explanation.  It was about the urgency of the emotions, he thought.  Not what they meant for him. 

He was busy thinking about that when he felt someone approach.  He didn’t need to look up to know who it was, either. 

“Talia,” he said. 

“Zeke.  We need to talk.”

“Figured as much,” he acknowledged, finally looking at her.  She appeared disheveled, like she’d been fighting.  That probably wasn’t so far off from the reality of it, either.  He hadn’t seen her much since his return, and that would explain it. 

He pushed himself to his feet, and then, without hesitation, embraced her. Her shoulders were so narrow that he could easily wrap his arms around her.  For a moment, she was stunned by the show of emotion, but then, she returned the hug with one of her own.  Before Zeke even knew what was happening, she was sobbing. 

“I was so worried,” she managed.  “Don’t ever leave me like that again.”

“Talia…”

“Promise.”

“I can’t do that.  You know I can’t,” he said, pushing her to arm’s length.  “Let’s talk, though.  We need to talk.  I want to know what you’ve been up to, and I need to know that when I leave again, you’re going to be okay.”

“I…I can talk.”

“Good.  That’s good.”

Though, as much as Zeke knew he needed to address Talia’s clear issues, he wasn’t certain how he might do that.  In the end, he decided to simply make it up as he went along.  That seemed to work in a battle, so it would probably be okay when dealing with Talia’s problems.