Chess of the Gods

It had been days in the Nexus. Watching my screen, it seemed that days matched here with my core world. Even to the point it was daylight here when it was daylight there. What if some familiar was from another part of the Nexus. The connection might adjust some how or when that familiar came into the Nexus. The days would sync for every non estranged familiar here. This magical place was a miracle. rugging my chiseled chest I thought the gods gave this place as a great gift to us.

We built a an altar in my space. Jinx was not sure who Bralm was but helped me construct and art it up perfectly. Wasp imagery covered it. Pieces reached out like stringers ready to sting. Not related to wasps but some piece in the back looked like a honeycomb, dripping with honey. To make this some symbol of all insects, we added some beetle designs to one side of the altar. The altar almost hid the door to the god realm. In the past no unwelcome familiar would enter someone’s space, but with the recent changes that had all changed. The Altar now stood to mask it.

Jinx left for work, “I will see you later, I am going to help the Sherriff.” I looked at every detail as she left. I was looking for signs of the curse. I gave her a true smile as she left. I was not seeing any of it. Even after she closed the door I could smell her. Every bit of her was on me. Even fur could be found in the gaps in my exoskeleton.

I slid past the altar and headed into the tunnel to the gods. The door to the core world is such a short tunnel it feels like a magical portal. It has almost a zero length. The tunnel to the gods is a clear tunnel. It is bland bright white tunnel. Once in, you must crawl to the far side of the tunnel. It was not a long crawl but for a portal it felt like a lifetime. The ends could close leaving you in the tunnel alone for the rest of time. You feel outside of life and death. Alone forever.

The door opened without a sound on the far side of the tunnel. I stepped out into a upper level of the black tower. I headed up to the broken top. It felt changed. The multiple light plains stretched out in all directions. Gaps still existed. There were more gaps then the last time I was here. The number should have been higher. It seemed the destruction of the god realm was reduced. Those gaps have strange light connectors, holding the edges of them. Everywhere was covered with this harsh light, somehow the light was not harsh to the eyes.

I barely peered over the partially broken wall, looking out over the plain. None of the gods noticed me. They were all busy. Seeing all these creatures gathered as they would be for themselves was unsettling. Creatures seemed like the wrong word for the gods. Their power pulsed through the place. It could be oppressive if you let it. They were so much more than the word creature described. They had been wearing masks in all the times in the past when I had been there. Looking over to see a dawn among other indescribable entities brought on feelings of awh and fear. The orange and yellows dominated in this realm owned by the Dawnfather.

In an area to what I call north was a giant checkerboard pattern. I am calling it north as that is the direction that the main exit from the tower went out on to the plain. This felt like something I should not see. It was something just for the gods. Huge shapes or pieces were spread out all over the board. It could be described as a chess board, but the board was at least ten times the size. Whole sections were missing from the board. Floating over the board was a ball of brown, that had to be our world.

From my position I stared almost directly into the eyes of a winged deity. He or at least it looked more male than female was looking out over the board and the world between us. He reached out to a piece that looked pyramid in shape. He changed at the last moment and grabbed a piece that looked more like a man and child. It looked familiar to me. It dawned on me as he moved to piece over to some pillar, knocking it down. It was Wink, and that fop from Raam. Niki I think his name was. Once the Reddish Pillar fell over it disappeared.

That is when some winged piece moved on its own. This caused the entire group to look at the board in a new way. It was unexpected. The piece moved into a space next to the Wink piece. The light from the Dawn dimmed a little. An entity that looked like an old blind woman covered in snakes smiled as she moved a piece that looked like Vashir in purple armor next to the winged piece. Where the Dawn was always adding new light around it, she was always removing light around her. She was not making dark, but making blue, purple and green around her.

Another move happened on its own. A piece like a dragon shifted next to the winged piece. Two sides were playing but only one side was here. An old man with living plants all over him reached out and moved a winged horse towards the now grouping of pieces. He held his hand on the piece as he scanned the board. He was looking for a better play. His fingers twitched but stayed on the winged horse. He looked to a place hidden by his own arm. He moved the piece over to be next to a giant palm tree. The piece came down hard and he removed his hand so he could not rethink his move. The dragon followed it and it moved to the palm as well.

A snake man with a jackal of a head slithered up to the board quickly. The other gods moved from its path. They created a distance between themselves and this snake man. Whispers gathered between the other gods. He grabbed a piece that looked like a combination of two swordsmen. He moved it to the gathering of pieces. He made up his mind with uncaring quickness. His fingers slid away from it and he moved off to the far side of the board. He was pulling the dragon back to the gathering of pieces. The dragon moved by itself again. They were moving pieces into place without letting them get overwhelmed.

As one of the gods was the dawn, and I knew him as the Dawnfather, Lathander, another was equally the moon and stars. It seemed even more diminished then some of the others. It grabbed a piece that looked more like a caravan than a person. It did not pick it up but instead slid it on the board without letting it leave the board. He slid it next to the enemy dragon and winged man on a path over to the palm tree. I could almost see the path on the desert globe as it moved to the palm tree. It looked to move in anger as the dragon moved back to the palm tree on its own.

They made room for another god as it stepped forward. It was as if the different gods had to make their own moves as no one of them was strong enough to make all the moves. As the others clears a path and space a fiery dragon came up. Seeing to into its fire like eyes, I could see its pain and suffering. It was going to bring destruction with its move. It moved a piece that looked like a praying mantis. He moved it just behind the dragon on the board. A second dragon that had a slight blue hint moved up to the other dragons flank. That second piece was moved to support the first dragon. This god stood with pride. Whatever his goal, he seemed to have achieved it.

A new type of creature came up to the board. This did not seem like a god, but still some powerful being. It split into four pieces. One of its being was living water. I could not see its move. It seemed like a secret move. Maybe only the moves of the gods themselves could be seen. But after it reformed a new piece like a man made of water was now next to the gathering of pieces. Everyone watched but no other piece moved. Their opponent never saw that move of this spirit. They had just received an extra move. Most of the deities did not need to breath but a sign of relief went over the entire group.

It was now a short females choice to move. She looked similar to Nomli but she had a great beard of red. She smiled as she walked up and grabbed the winged piece at the palm tree. She grabbed it and moved it to the gathering of pieces. She hardly stood back as she folded her arms. She and all the rest were now waiting for something. They wanted something to happen.

I turned with the sudden noise of a throat clearing behind me. I made sure to keep low behind me to not reveal myself. In front of me was some form of a wasp mixing with beetle and other insects, dripping with a sticky yellowish liquid. As much as it could smile it smiled, “well you were not supposed to be here my minion.” Fear welled all over me. I looked over to the ruined steps. Bralm spoke again in a waspy voice, “no need to run. You do need to go.” It antennae pointed to the steps, “in the future, now with our connection you cannot just come here. You and I are now bounded and you must be invited.” Both of us heard some sound behind me as we both twitched a little. “Now you must leave, before the other know you are here.” I looked over to the steps again and shuck a little. My feet would not move so it spoke a again, this time with a little annoyance, “I said go.”

My feet started to move. I was sprinting down the stairs. My door and tunnel beyond was still present. I grabbed the door and pulled myself into the tunnel again. A sound of laughter came from behind me. The tunnel was longer. I closed the door and crawled twice as long. I hit my side of the tunnel and with no grace at all flung myself to the other side of it. I closed the door with a new click. The door now had some lock over the entire thing. I knew I would never be able to pick that lock. I had been locked out.