Chapter 20

The cool water brought clarity to Belili's thoughts. 

She emptied the whole bucket over her head before throwing it back down into the well to pull up another. Without the Urk's intervention, the water had fallen to its regular level again and she had to use the rope to get to the refreshing wet.

She used half the bucket's contents to clean herself thoroughly and filled the rest into a waterskin she had found in the kitchen. Unfortunately, between the farm's fled inhabitants and the raiding bandits, all stores had been emptied and there was no food to be found. 

When was the last time I ate?

Between constantly being on the run and sleeping whenever exhaustion overpowered her, she had missed a lot of meals in the last couple of days. 

Walking back to the main house she couldn't help but wonder how the night she had first met master Jas'ar felt like something far distant now. 

It is me, she thought, stepping through the doorway. I changed.

At first, it had been just curiosity. Talking to the mysterious magus had given her a glimpse of a world she never could have imagined. And then she had met gods. Not just in worship - she had talked to them, even bargained with one. It was insane. But here she was. 

She parted a curtain and stepped into the room that housed the main building's altar. Unlike the rest of the house, this one had not been ransacked. Of course, the family had taken away the idols of the gods they worship and any valuables that might usually adore the altar but the dutifully decorated furniture itself had not been touched. Neither had the clay vessels that usually contained the daily offerings been smashed.

The men who had turned the rest of the house upside-down might be thieves and murderers but they weren't fools. They had to survive in these lands too.

Belili kneeled in front of the altar and began to pray. It was the prayer she had recited more often than any other in her short life. 

But it feels different now, she thought while she called upon Urk to give his blessing and protection. 

'Now you plead for my mercy?' Urk asked, his voice coming from somewhere behind her. 

Belili fought the urge to look over her shoulder. She knew there was nothing to see but empty air. "I am grateful you granted me the rest I needed."

Urk sneered. 'Mortals are fragile.'

Belili bowed her head. "It is as you say." Judging by the position of the sun, she had awoken about an hour after dawn. Despite his inpatients and worry over losing most of his worship when the town fell, the god had let her rest. Only a day ago Belili might have panicked at the thought that the hopes of her people's protective deity rested entirely on her. Since then, her world had shifted. Between master Jas'ar's words and her own interaction with the god of the wells she had gained an inside into the world, a mere slave from an isolated farm could never have hoped for. 

Or wished for, she thought.

'Now you shall share your plan with me,' Urk said. 'How will you protect my people and my worship?'

Belili lowered her head, outwardly presenting herself as a meek devout subject. "My god Urk, the magus Jas'ar made me his apprentice but there was no time yet for him to teach me. I ask you to grant me power so I can save your town."

'This is your plan?' Urk asked angrily. 'I told you it is not wise for me to act directly against these Epi-khmet. Even if I could teach you enough in a couple of hours to stand a chance, they would see you as my avatar and move against me.' He paused for a heartbeat. 'You must understand. A conflict between gods would be detrimental. It must be avoided.'

Belili had been at the gate when the young Epi-khmet woman had threatened Urk, something she didn't intend to share with him. You didn't challenge your betters like that. Embarrassing the god wouldn't get her anywhere. 

"You are right, of course," she said. "And I swear, I will not use magic against the Epi-Khmet. Or do anything that could start a conflict between you and the Ka. But I need… I need strength. I need magic to protect myself and to get my brother back."

'What do I care about your brother?' Urk thundered. Seemingly out of nowhere a gust of wind rushed through the room, whipping Belili's hair across her face. 'He is but one insignificant mortal. We are talking about the preservation of my entire worship.'

Closing her eyes, Belili waited for the god's fit of anger to blow itself out. Having suffered Ninkar's rage a thousand times, she had learned to keep her head down and take the beating. It was the fastest way to exhaust the raging. 

It didn't take long for the wind to blow itself out but Belili waited three more heartbeats before speaking again and when she did, she tried to sound timid. "Great god Urk, you are right, Saras is just a mortal. But he is everything to me. He is the only family I have left."

Her words seemed to reach Urk since he didn't respond right away. Belili hoped that evoking her familial connection would have some weight with the god. 

Nobody would deny the importance of the bonds of family as it was inseparably linked to the gods. Children inherited their worship from their parents after all. 

Come on, Belili thought. You have nobody else.

'So be it,' Urk eventually said and then his voice turned solemn. 'I, Urk, who is worshiped as the god of wells, will grant you my protection and magic and teach you its use until sundown of this day. You shall then go forth and preserve my city and worship. Should you fail me in this task or use any power I grant you against the servants of the Ka, a curse of thirst will strike you down where you stand. This is our compact. Do you accept?'

"I accept," Belili said relieved. "And I am grateful."

A sudden hot sensation made her yelp. A tiny tendril of smoke rose from her chest where a thumb-sized area of her tunic quickly turned black. She hastily retrieved the simple protective amulet her mother had left her.

The carved symbol representing Urk was gleaming as if it was burning into the wood. Like the magus' staff, Belili thought. 

'Now, what magic do you wish to learn?' Urk asked. 'You only have until sundown.'

Still staring at the lines on the amulet Belili found herself caught off guard. How should she answer the question? She didn't know anything about magic. "Maybe something that can help me defend myself?"

'I am not a patron of war,' Urk said. 'My powers are as vast as the water flowing under my lands and many things can be used to maim and kill but if you hope for magical weapons, you should turn to my more brutish relatives.'

Belili pondered over the god's words. Urk was neither helpful nor forthcoming but by now she suspected strongly that his pompous behavior served to hide his insecurity and ignorance. On the farm Ninkar held a lot of power, bulling everybody but old Mortar. But the old cook quickly bowed her head when Tala or Zabu were present. 

Urk was a god, immeasurably more powerful than she, a mere mortal, but he was still afraid of the young Epi-khmet woman and the gods she represented. And he doesn't know what magic could help me so he does not suggest anything. I have to come up with something by myself.

Belili set back and crossed her arms, carefully considering. Master Jas'ar had used magic to destroy the Epi-khmet chariot in a spectacular fashion. Then he had used it to hide himself and Saras during the nightly assault on their camp. Would she have the strength to strike somebody down if she could get close enough?

She shivered at the thought of pushing a weapon into a person's flesh - of feeling the quivering of their struggle through her hands. 

Uneasy with the idea, she turned her thoughts to the powers Urk had displayed. As the stories said, the god of wells appeared to have domain over all the water in and around the town. He had made it rise and fall, allowed her to walk on it, and even pulled her through it for several miles. But how helpful was this? Unless Harbis and his men all fall into a well, I cannot drown them, Belili thought. 

Thinking about the guards, brought back the memory of the poor fellow who had fallen victim to whatever curse master Jas'ar had put on the wooden box. 

Belili's hand clasped her mother's amulet. She had looked into the man's eyes and seen his fear, his pleading, as he was dying, lying in his own vomit. The ghastly picture was burned into her memory.

Nobody should have to dye like that, she thought, a shiver running down her spine. Would she ever be able to forget those eyes?

And then she had an idea.

"Urk," she raised her head, "you have power over all the water around here, right? You can change it as you wish?"

'It is my domain,' the god said.

The rest of the day Belili spent memorizing endless incantations in a dialect of the old tongue so foreign to her, that it might as well have been a different language. While behaving in his usual condescending and inpatient way at first, Urk surprised her – and maybe himself – by being an attentive and enthusiastic teacher once she started to show progress. They only interrupted their work twice, once for Belili to empty her bladder and once to search for food both the inhabitants of the farm and the bandits might have missed. Unfortunately, the only thing Belili could find was a small pile of grain that must have spilled out of its container. With nothing else available she chewed two hands full and washed it down with lots of water. It didn't satiate her hunger, but she hoped that it would at least help to maintain her strength. 

'Sundown is near,' Urk said after Belili had successfully repeated the latest incantation for the third time. 

Belili didn't respond right away. She hadn't allowed herself to think about what was to come, nor about the people she had left behind. A day was a long time and she hadn't asked Urk any questions about their fate. Once she had decided what to do, she tried her best to stay focused - to ban all distractions from her mind. It had been difficult at first but the more they immersed themselves in the lessons, the easier it had become to blend everything else out. 

But now it is time, Belili thought, the knot in her stomach she had ignored all day making itself known.

She rose to her feet and left the altar room. "Please tell me what happened since I fled the town."

'I wondered when you would finally ask,' Urk said. 'Your brother remains untouched. So does the magus.'

Belili stopped, closing her eyes and letting the relief wash over her for a moment. "Are they still in town?"

'Yes. It seems the healer and his accomplices were too afraid to leave after you disappeared,' the god said, with a hint of satisfaction. 'They fought off two half-hearted attempts to take the wall today. But only against the bandits.'

"The Epi-khmet must be angry," Belili said, retrieving the cloth bag from where she had hidden it behind a turned-over kitchen shelf. 

'They will surely do something tonight,' Urk said darkly. 'It is time for you to uphold your part.'

Belili picked up a long wooden spoon and walked out into the courtyard. Looking around she decided on the area between the well and the main house. The ground was flat and trampled hard. 

This should be fine, she thought and dropped the bag. Then she took two long steps and began to draw a wide circle. 

'What are you doing now?' Urk asked. 'If you want to reach the city before the sun is gone, you have to hurry. Unless you want me to bring you back underground.'

Belili had considered sneaking back in that way but had quickly dismissed the idea. I never want to go through that again. And even if I could, what would I do then? It would be me alone against Harbis and all his men and all the enemies surrounding Urk. She had already decided that she needed more help. More power. If Urk was unwilling to give it, she only saw one place to turn.

"I need your help with this," she said, closing the first circle. "I only tried this once before and I failed." She focused on her task, trying not to recall the fear she had felt that night. Leaning on the spoon, she carved the first symbols into the earth. 

'I want you to get rid of the Ka and their servants,' Urk said, as the summoning circle began to take shape. 'Not to bring more outsiders here.'

"We need more help," Belili said through her teeth. The ground was hard and her writing tool was short. "If you cannot challenge the Epi-khmet, we need somebody who can."

'Who?'

She told him.

'…I am not staying around for this,' the god said, his voice faintly shaking. 'If this is the way you want to go, you have to do it alone.'

"That is fine," Belili said, hiding her own fear. "Just help me with the right symbols and the incantation. Once the circle is finished, I will do the rest."

She took a break while she waited for the god to make up his mind. In the east, the sun was slowly sinking behind the horizon. 

Will I die here?