Deity 2.316

The desert warrior with the turban and tattoos on his face was named David. As he had told Viggo, his people were at war with other peoples.

The desert was an inclement place, especially the central region of the Kaios Desert, a sprawling place plagued by monsters living under the sand. However, humans have managed to live in underground caves. Some are so large that cities were formed under the Kaios Desert. These caves have a crystal like that in the dungeon of Orario and emits a brightness like that of the sun during the day and a faint darkness at night.

However, water is always a limitation and there are some who go from city to underground city consuming resources. That's why David and his people were at war. Now they had become the target of a huge nomadic clan.

David took Viggo to his underground city while explaining this. Usually, David would not take strangers to his underground city, but seeing Viggo in the eyes, he was moved. No god had ever visited his underground city. Although Viggo said that he was not yet a god.

David advanced on his horse while Viggo and his wives followed him in those strange luminous mounts. At the same time, the warriors of the underground city surrounded Viggo and his wives as a security measure. Just Viggo's stature was already intimidating, not counting his red hair and golden eyes.

David spotted in the distance the access cave in the middle of the hills. The entrance had the shape of a half point with four meters high and six wides. On the sides of the entrance were four standing guards, sheltered from the sun inside the cave.

Once they reached the entrance, David gave a slight nod to the guards and let them pass. However, none of the guards could ignore Viggo with his large stature and red hair. Then they looked at the runic mount and were one more astonished. It looked like a bluish light in the shape of a horse, but you could see through it.

For his part, Viggo followed David, the man in the black turban. The cave had a slight slope and widened as they went. After thirty meters, the cave had reached six meters high and ten meters wide. The cave was illuminated with torches resting on the walls until twenty meters beyond (fifty in total from the entrance), they saw daylight and went out into a wide space.

The light at the end of the cave was not daylight, but was as David said, crystals that emitted their own light as if it were sunlight. Ahead stretched a huge cave as if it were an underground dome with the roof covered with clear crystals.

Ahead was a dirt road twenty meters wide that stretched to the end of the city. The houses on the sides of the street were made of adobe and wood with flat roofs. For some reason, Viggo was reminded of the houses of Greece. On the sides of the street were businesses selling vegetables, meats, cloth, and books. People wandered here and there, but noticing David, they knelt and waited for him to pass. It was a long road guarded by dozens of people.

Viggo from his runic horse caught everyone's attention. In addition, he could see that even from the surrounding streets people came to kneel in front of David. Was it reverent respect or fear? Viggo wondered.

Viggo followed David on his horse to the only two-story house in the entire city. It stood out at the end of the city, almost touching the back wall of the cave.

Because of the size and breadth of the cave, a thousand people should live, Viggo estimated.

Once they reached the two-story house, they stopped. The building had the same architecture as the rest of the houses. Adobe walls with wooden beams and painted white with a flat roof where they could perfectly mount a terrace.

Viggo, Ana, and Sakura got off their horse's while being watched by twenty desert warriors who were still watching over them. However, these men let out an —ooooh— of astonishment when they saw how the runic mounts vanished and flew into Viggo's hand in the form of medals. Viggo gave them a look and all of them, despite being adults, were embarrassed and looked in another direction.

At the same time, David looked at his warriors, smiled and said to them —You can retire, remember your guard shift, and don't fall asleep—

—Yes— replied the warriors, a little worried about their leader. However, if it was as they thought, Viggo was a god and there was not much to do to him. Terrible stories were told of a goddess who devastated entire countries during her whim. They hoped not to end up like those countries.

Viggo looked at David, a head lower than him.

David was dressed in a turban and a black robe with a sword hanging from his waist. He looked young, one step away from thirty. His face was shaved, his eyebrows thick, black, and his cheeks tattooed in a strange language.

—Shall we go?— asked Viggo.

—Sir— said David.

—Yes?—

—I, you see, I don't want to be rude, but...—

Viggo smiled and said —Your worries are normal, but a man who has faced danger and fought in war can feel danger, right?— he keeps silent and then continue —I have no bad intentions with you or with your family, David—

David looked at the huge red-haired god wearing a black hood. He wore his hood down and showed his red hair. With his huge stature he looked like a dark mountain with the top covered in blood.

Viggo curved the right corner of his lips upwards and added —This visit is personal, my brother, he, will not return and I want to protect what he leaves—

David looked into his eyes, but he was still suspicious. They spoke of his younger sister and son, David's only family.

Viggo let out a sigh and raised his huge hand and rested it on David's shoulder. Then David could see the images of his sister in adventurous clothes next to a tall, bearded, and serious-looking man. They held hands, nodded, and kissed. Then his sister turned around and traveled.

Viggo pushed his hand away and asked —Now you understand?—

David was cold and looked Viggo in the eye. As he thought, Viggo was a god —why are you coming now?— he asked —it's been years since my sister has been waiting for the father of her child. She has even been reviled for being a single mother. If she weren't my younger sister, she would have been thrown out of town—

—I'm sorry, before that, I don't have a good excuse. I can only say that now, luck smiled, and I could find them— Viggo answered truthfully. Well, to begin with, no one in his family and even his father, Odysseus' teacher, knew that the latter had a wife and was going to be a father. No, well, Odysseus was always reserved and resented by women who believed that, because they were associated with him, they could do whatever they wanted in Orario. So, it was not strange that Odysseus' wife kept a low profile to please him.

The front door of the house opened and a woman with a child in her arms walked out of the house. She wore a dark robe with a cloth covering her head. Only her face was visible, but to the naked eye she was quite pretty. Brunette, slender looking and green eyes. At the same time, the child in his arms must have been two to three years old, almost the same as Bell and Uriel. His hair was dark as night, covered with curls and fair skin. His eyes were dark like two olives, with an innocent luster.

—Brother— said the woman in a soft voice, pleasing to the ear —How was it all? And these people?—

—They are— David said with difficulty —friends— for a moment he looked at his sister, wanting to tell her the truth, but he shut up and looked in another direction.

That seemed strange to his sister, his brother was a serious and firm man, without those qualities he could never be leader of the underground city. Then she examines the red-haired man more. The hair and features seemed familiar, but she did not remember where she had seen a man with those qualities. He was quite tall and stocky looking.

—Good afternoon, I'm Sara— said the woman.

—Good afternoon, Sara— Viggo said, stepping forward as he patted David on the shoulder and approached Sara —I'm Viggo Dragonroad—

Sara smiled upon hearing that last name, not because of the last name itself, but because it had remembered who it was associated with. Then it made sense to her to think of Viggo as someone familiar, the features and red hair —you are the son of the goddess Hephaestus, right?— she asked with a smile.

—Yes, I...—

—"The great Viggo"— added Sara with a funny smile —Odysseus told me about you, he...— then she fell into consideration of all coincidences and the smile on her lips faded until she put a neutral look —you— said in a low voice —do you bring news?—

—I think it would be best to talk inside the house— Viggo replied and looked at the child in Sarah's arms. Unconsciously he began to look for similarities with Odysseus. There was lighter skin than desert people and curly black hair. No, maybe the hair was something of these people, but the features. Viggo shook his head and stopped looking for matches. Even if they didn't look alike, there was a bond between Sarah and Odysseus.

David and Sara invited Viggo, Ana, and Sakura inside the house. The child in Sara's arms stared at Viggo, fascinated by his vibrant red hair. He was a quiet child, whether in his mother's arms or sitting on the floor, playing with a wooden horse carved by an amateur. It had quite rustic finishes, but you could tell that it had been made with love.

—What's your son's name, Sara?— asked Viggo, sitting at the table with Sakura, Ana, and David.

Sara was in the kitchen, but she was close enough to hear him and respond —Diarmuid— said.

—Diarmuid— murmured Viggo, a rather odd name for a boy whose uncle is named David and whose mother is named Sarah. Viggo sensed at the time that he was a reincarnated, one strong enough to keep his name, but not strong enough to remember who he was. At first glance, the boy looked ordinary, calm, and full of imagination.

Now Viggo was on another level and no longer wondered superficial things like the way of life that souls had before dying, but what happened to them before reincarnating. Within his children were several reincarnated, all who bore his blood were redheads except Dante, who had white hair. Now, he wondered about the state of the soul of this boy named Diarmuid so that he retains his name, but not his memories.

Lunch was a silent event mixed with cordiality and discomfort.

At the end of the meal, Sara invited Viggo to the roof of the house, where there were a couple of cushions to rest. From that height, they watched as the underground city extended. All the houses, except David's, were one-story, so it was easy to observe their distribution. A main street and endless alleys.

Viggo looked at Sara, she was dressed in the dark robe that covered her from head to toe —from your expression— he said —you guessed it—

Sara looked at the city, she didn't want to look at Viggo, but hearing his words, she nodded —yes—whispering. She was silent for a long time, a tear fell down her face and she smiled, but she pressed her lips together not to cry —he said, that the most sensible thing was to leave the family before the expedition— more tears fell from her eyes and continuously —that it was going to be dangerous. That would be the last time and we would come to live together. I wanted to stay, but he insisted—she looked at Viggo with tears in her eyes —you know? I always won the arguments. He always accused me of being irrational and that my arguments were invalid. However, this time I wanted to let him win. If I had known this was going to happen, I would never have let him go alone—

Sarah broke down and covered her mouth as she wept bitterly.