Wish upon the Stars chapter 1082

We should go back,” Brad announced boldly as we followed the arrow of Heretic Fire towards what I was assuming was the Temple Mount. “We can totally get in and out without him noticing! I can make a big hole in the tower!”

“He IS the tower,” I groaned. “How would he POSSIBLY not notice that? Also, we barely got out last time. We’re not going back. Trust me, I WANT that cinder, but it’s not worth the risk. He’s too big of a threat.” It took a serious effort not to say Drexel’s name, but now that we were clear of him I was taking no chances.

Which was why I refused to entertain the idea of raiding the tower for that cinder. I wanted to. I wanted to do it SO bad, but I knew that it wasn’t responsible. Chloe had almost died and taken Deanna with her, and I wasn’t risking anyone else. Even my demons weren’t safe.

“It’s just not fair,” he spat angrily. “You did the right thing! You cared about your friend and helped and you LOST out because of it. To have a treasure that was in your grasp snatched away like that…it’s unimaginable!” His voice was almost shaking with rage, which seemed odd…until I remembered who Brad was. Brad was a pit. Specifically one that had held treasure. For him, possession was more than just an act, it was his nature, and now he was part of my Domain. I was his king, so handing over the arrowhead wasn’t too big of a taboo, but the idea of someone stealing something he considered mine was anathema.

I clapped him on the shoulder gently. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m not too upset. Easy come easy go. I know about the cinder now, and I can look for another one, but I can’t replace a friend so easily. People aren’t like items, there’s only ever one of them.”

It was easy to forget Brad was essentially a newborn. The pit had gained sentience recently, and gained form even MORE recently. He had essentially only been a person for a few weeks. As his king, it was my job to teach him about life, and that included more than just showing him around and laughing when he tried spicy food for the first time (which had been hilarious).

Brad nodded seriously. “I see. So friends are a different kind of treasure.”

“You could think of it that way,” I nodded. “Let me put it this way. A pit isn’t just a place to conceal objects, it can also be a refuge. The high walls can keep away predators, and the overhang can be used to get out of the rain. In fact, lots of defensive emplacements are built inside of pits. Cellars, bunkers, all sorts of things. You can’t just think of a pit as an absence of material, you should also think of it as the presence of absence. Empty space can be used to create living areas, fortifications, all sorts of things people need in their daily life.”

He bit his lip. “Presence of absence,” he said slowly. “Fascinating. I feel…drawn to that idea.”

“I’m not surprised,” I told him. “Pit of Despair, who you merged with, is a part of Agares. In terms of seniority, you could consider Agares your big brother, and Agares’s whole worldview is about construction. You should get in touch with him, I bet he could teach you a lot.”

He nodded thoughtfully, strolling ahead. I hung back, watching him go with a smile. Brad might be a little odd, but he was a good kid. And it was nice having someone look up to me. Not like the demons did, that was a little uncomfortable, but like a kid brother. I’d missed a lot of sibling interaction with Chelsea growing up, and seeing Chloe and Deanna’s relationship made me with I had a younger sibling like that.

After a few weeks of travel, I was getting fond of the kid, but time would tell. Dayna, meanwhile, was staring at me oddly, and I cocked my head as I settled into step next to her. “What’s up?”

“You meant that,” she said bluntly. “About not being worried about the cinder. About friends being more important. Despite how much power it would have brought you. I’ve been around you long enough to know you REALLY wanted that thing, it must be a huge opportunity, and you’re just…giving it up. To keep us safe.”

I laughed at that. “Of course,” I said cheerfully. “Do I want that thing? Hell yeah. But don’t get it twisted. Power is for protecting the things you care about, the things you care about aren’t for protecting power. Getting too obsessed with how strong you are isn’t a good thing. I want to gain power to live longer, to protect my loved ones, to enjoy life. I want to help my family and keep them safe, make sure innocent relatives don’t get separated from their parents because of some nonsense game. That’s why I became the Wishmaster.”

She just blinked at me. “I…don’t know how to respond to that. That’s madness. You’re aiming to become a GOD, right?”

“Sure, because gods are immortal. I want to achieve divinity with my wife and all my friends. Not sure if I can DO that, but I want to try.” I shrugged. “That and I think growing and learning is fun and interesting. Like I won’t pretend I don’t LIKE being strong. Obviously if I have a chance to get better I’ll take it. But you have to remember what you’re fighting for. Otherwise you’re not fighting at all, you’re just throwing a tantrum.”

She was staring at me like I was a lunatic, and I just laughed. “Look, I’m not some kind of saint. That’s my mom. I’m a selfish guy. My friends make me happy. I love them. Love having them in my life. If something happened to them I’d feel like shit, so I do my best to get strong enough that it doesn’t. Same with my family. I care about them, gods know WHY because they’re all assholes, but I do. I want to make things better for them because it’ll make ME feel better to do it.”

“I’m not sure there’s a difference,” she said wryly.

“Like hell there’s not,” I snorted. “I know people who do good just to do good. My wife is like that. Despite all the bullshit her dad put her through, Callie cares about other people. She genuinely wants to help. To make the universe a better place. She makes me a better person just by being near her, and I doubt I’d be even as concerned with people as I am without her. But that’s not me. Callie is a hero. I’m just a stubborn asshole with a possessive streak.”

Dayna was staring at me now, and I could see something like…awe on her face. I looked away. I didn’t like that. Dayna was a friend, I didn’t want her looking at me like the demons did. “I think,” she said quietly. “That you give yourself too little credit. And that maybe I see what Lady Bethany sees in you.”

“None of that,” I said with an uncomfortable laugh. “Helping out a friend isn’t some big achievement. Besides, you’ll change your tune the next time you have to save me from the idiotic consequences of my own actions. It happens a lot.”

I glanced back in time to see her bare her teeth in a wolfish grin, the odd look vanishing as she barked out a laugh. “Now THAT I believe. So, what did that spirit give you, anyway?”

“Kane?” I asked. “He gave me a fragment of Deveskane’s soul. A very small one, from what I can tell.” I reached into my Domain, withdrawing a shard of mirrored glass about the size of my palm. “It doesn’t seem to be aware. Or maybe it’s sleeping. He didn’t tell me what to do with it though, just said he could sense I would be able to put it to use.”

She stared at it in fascination. “A shard of a dead god,” she muttered. “Strange.”

“Very much so,” I agreed. “But it’s not like this is the only one we’ll be running into. While he couldn’t tell me where it WAS, Kane did tell me a bit more about the Temple Mount. Apparently, in order to enter, we need to pass through a place called the “Valley of the Broken Gods”. It’s some kind of repository for trapped fragments of the various dead gods inside. You need to pass through a gauntlet of them to enter.”

She flinched. “A GAUNTLET of gods?”

“Heavily suppressed ones, I suspect,” I reassured her. “Given where we’re headed. And at the same level I’m not scared of anyone. It’s lucky the Temple Mount is in here, because a defense mechanism like that would be impassable in the outside world. Anyway, once we’re through there, we enter the outer layer of the mount, the mortuary. Beyond that, and up the slope, is the Acropolis. He’s not sure what’s in there, since he’s never been, but he said if Atlas left behind some sort of backup plan, it would probably be in there.”

That seemed to give her pause. “If you’re sure,” she said after a moment. “I promised Lady Bethany I wouldn’t let you get yourself killed. If this was before I’d have been hesitant, but you HAVE just dealt with two different gods. I guess you know what you’re doing.”

“Let’s not go crazy,” I said wryly. “I wouldn’t say all that. But I like the confidence.”

We both laughed, and then we settled into a brisk walk, not bothering to talk anymore. We’d said what needed saying, and we were both fascinated by the surrounding environment of the Chaos Chasm. As we walked deeper in, the scenery changed. First a forest, then a meadow, then a canyon. The changes were dizzying, far surpassing variety you would see in a natural world, but the deeper we got the more variety there was.

More than that, I could feel the pressure mounting, the force of restriction from the vortex growing as we approached the center. By the time we spotted the mountain in the distance, it was at mid C-rank. My stats were only that high, though I made a mental note to check on that. After becoming Wishmaster I probably shouldn’t wait too long between stat updates, otherwise I might end up biting off more than I could chew. My thoughts were drawn away from that concept though, by the appearance of the Temple Mount.

The Temple Mount, contrary to what Kane had implied, was not ONE mountain. Rather, it was a whole RING of them. A huge wall of nearly sheer cliffs piercing the sky. Directly ahead of us, set into the side of the cliffs, a single crack extended into the depths of the mountains. Outside it, a pair of huge statues towered like silent guardians, faces long since worn away by wind and rain.

I held up the pointer. “I think we found it,” I said dryly. I moved it back and forth, and sure enough, the arrow remained locked. “Alright everyone, Domain time. This part I need to do alone.”

No one argued, though a few of them looked unhappy. In a blink, I was alone, and I strode forward toward the crevice with unwavering purpose. Whatever waited in there, I would get past it, I would help my friends, help Atlas, and hopefully resolve the burgeoning Void War while I was at it. Then, once everyone was at peace, we would all be able to relax and live our lives, and I could get down to the business of fixing my family. On second thought, maybe I would prefer to deal with the war after all.