Rise

The humid summer air was gone. For a second it felt like there was no air at all. Then, the rhythmic clop of hooves on cobblestones and a sharp scent of smoke. She was in a wooden carriage that jolted at every imperfection in the road.

Across from her sat a woman who was eyeing Sally. They didn’t seem surprised or curious. Their expression could be summed in a single word—disgust.

Their apparel seemed casual and modern; a black sleeveless top and slim black trousers.

Their head tilted, violet hair falling aside to reveal toxic teal eyes which locked at Sally’s hands, holding the ring she was about to return to its owner. Without unlocking their eyes, their hand stretched forward, several nails were black, they seemed scorched rather than painted. “May I?” the woman asked with an elegant voice.

“Please don’t…” A different voice begged from the other side of the carriage. Only then Sally noticed the other woman sitting beside her, concerned and dressed in white, the two seemed polar opposites.

Frustrated, the woman across grabbed the ring and stood up to face the door at the back of the carriage. The door had no handle, only a lock. The window at the front of the cabin was barred, it was clear they weren’t here voluntarily. They put the ring on their finger, readied their footing and punched at the lock with full force. Their hand mangled with a loud thud, the door didn’t budge. The woman’s features didn’t as much as flinch as they sat back down and threw the ring to the ground, keeping her hand raised, clearly injured.

Outside, distant shouts called about a fire, it was a city street in disarray.

After seconds of silence, the woman dressed in white turned to Sally, “I see you’ve met Locust.” she said. She offered a handshake which Sally hesitantly accepted. Her arm, similarly to Locust’s, was covered completely in rings like those in tree-stumps. “My name is Ember, what is yours?” she smiled warmly.

“It’s Sally—I don’t think I’m supposed to be here…”

“I think you are right. I think—though…” her hand squeezed and shivered. “I’m afraid you are trapped here like us.” closing her eyes while maintaining her kind demeanor, “Could you explain us what happened?”

Sally explained about the serpent, the robed man and the rings. The woman across seemed to get more frustrated ate every other sentence. Ember, through her smile, was noticeably hurting at the same sentences. “Then when I handed him the ring, I heard, or—”

“Ah!” Ember cut her off, “It’s clear then, thank you.” She turned to the other woman who then curtly replied: “I don’t want her.”

“Could you at least introduce yourself?”

…

“You want an introduction?”

“I can do it as well if you—”

“No.” they shushed, and for the first time looked Sally in the eyes, seething. “I, am a god. I am the strongest being this side of reality. You are now my champion. I am your past, present and future destiny. If I die, you die. If you die, I replace you.” They stood up and pointed at Ember, “My single purpose is to destroy the other gods, like that one. Your single purpose is to not stand in my way.”

Ember buried her face in her palms, the weight of her disappointment pressing her down. “You didn’t even give her a name…”

“Mara!” they added and fell back on the bench, looked away and crossed their arms like a pouting teenager.

Ember lifted her head, disheartened, “Sorry… that’s more or less the situation, yes. Nice way to rip the plaster off… Are you okay?”

Dumbfounded, Sally considered where she was in relation to her world, whether her car was still parked illegally and what people will think when she’s missing. But besides that,

“I don’t much understand what a god is, but if it is like you say and I have no choice in it… I think I’ll… be okay.”

“—Really?” Ember asked, concerned.

“Well, I have questions…”

“Questions can wait.” Mara butted in, “I want you to get us out of this cart—”

“—I will get us out if you would just—” Ember protested in vain.

Mara continued, “Gods and champions alike have abilities, powers, magic. On your first instance you will have generated powers to match your personality. So, get us out of this cart and I will answer your questions.”

Sally inspected her hands, if she had gained any tattoos or weird fingernails like the people she had met so far, but they were clear. “I don’t really know what I’m looking for…”

Ember: “You don’t have to—”

Mara: “Just do what you normally would! Be yourself!”

If she was going to have to rely on Mara, it made sense to listen to her. What would she normally do? Abducted by gods you mean? Something told her calling the police wasn’t an option, but it’s worth a shot. While the gods bickered about carelessness and exchanged nasty looks, Sally took out her phone. Of course, no signal… but a text bubble showed a new message from Momo. She decided to wait for a better moment to read it.

A packet of gum, eye-liner, hairbands and her house and car keys. Perhaps the locks were crude enough to force them open with any key. She fiddled a bit with the shackles around her wrists but they didn’t give.

She examined the car key. It was the last of its kind as she lost the backup just recently. She didn’t have the courage to tell her parents and intended to get a new one made… some other time.

She traced the grooves that were identical on either side of the key, and remembered what it was like to open her car door.

Tracing the piece of metal to the tip of her index finger until neither of them could be traced further, until neither of them could. They were stuck. The tip of her finger had fused with the key. The gods watched in suspense. Startled, Sally shook her hand, trying to eject the metal. The object, against the forces of gravity and nature, injected itself into her finger, parting flesh and bone in the process, which briefly dangled aimless from her palm.

She let out a sharp screech and grabbed her finger in pain.

While Ember leaned over to try and comfort Sally, Mara blankly stared at the ordeal.

The fusing finger felt like it was put in boiling oil, she felt a stinging pain emitting through her elbow all the way to her shoulder.

The pain quickly hid itself behind shock and adrenaline, she stopped feeling her finger and forgot why she was holding it altogether. She removed her hand and examined her index finger. It was a key, emitting straight from the palm of her hand. It was about the length of her other index finger and, though she had never used it before, it felt as familiar.

The end of the metal finger attached to her wrist like the others. Her wrist was free to move, unlike the metal rod itself which was stuck like she was always pointing somewhere.

She moved the tip to the shackle on her left wrist and opened it, like she had done it many times before.

Pointing her new finger to the door, she looked at Mara and asked: “You wanted to leave?”

Mara held a cold stare and nodded.

As Sally stood up, the cart made a sharp turn, throwing her over Mara to the front of the cabin.

The cart came to a standstill as the galloping of horses faded in the distance.

“Just in time…” Ember sighed in relief.

“Open the door quickly!” Mara hurried.

Sally stepped and opened the lock. Mara pushed it open revealing a long street of stone, medieval-looking buildings in front of an orange evening sky. Ember gently grabbed Sally by the shoulder, gesturing her to wait as Mara jumped out of the cart. In the air, something to their right caught Mara’s eye, and they tried to angle away from it mid air. A small arrow shot into their neck.

Mara hit the ground and tumbled like a stiff doll.

They rolled to their back, and tried to raise their injured hand to point into the carriage, shuddering and shaking as it went up.

“Just… die… already…” they said, as Sally watched her twitch and struggle to stay lucid.

Their hand fell back down and their eyes closed.

Ember put two fingers in her mouth and let out two sharp whistles. She jumped out of the carriage and two plant-like golems of about a meter high walked up to her. She snapped off a small branch from both of their heads and gently put it on the body of the immobile god. “We don’t have much time before more guards arrive, come with me.”

Ember offered her hand to help get her down from the carriage. It felt… unfamiliar, taking someones hand with only four fingers.