Wings and flames

Chapter 27

Sam found himself actually use his nose to track down the dining area. The cave was pretty efficient. The hole they entered from drew in enough sunlight, there was a small pond right under the mouth of the cave. There were several stones around it, Sam made a mental note to chill there post brunch. His room had been further inside the cave. It was a whole ecosystem in there, there were parts of the ruins that were smudged perfectly in a way that they seemed to be a part of the cave. There were rooms, atleast 10 of them. There were odd spaced that were simply rock and then there were walls with odd paintings on them. They were all beautiful. The scent led him to a more open space, there was a large table in the middle - one that seemed to be made of rock. There were benches on each side and the walls were part cave black and stone pale. It was an odd space but it looked good.

"You're up." said a stranger.

Sam just stared at the man. He was definitely older than Sam. Not by much. Not visibly atleast. He had a stubble, dark brown eyes, black hair that was combed in place. The dude seemed like he worked out.

"Is it still in shock or has it only lost it's ability to respond?" it said again.

The boy Sam met in his room laughed lightly. Sam couldn't see him but he was close.

"Shape..shifter?" Sam guessed. The arrogance was too familiar.

"Aah, it talks. Yes. That would be me. Come sit."

Sam sat opposite to the shapeshifter. The dude was the same height as Sam and yet managed to look down at him.

"Where's everyone else."

"They're coming. Or I hope they are. I hope you like deer meat, it's all I could hunt last night."

"I don't mind. I'm starving."

"Perfect." Said the boy, he emerged from somewhere with a tray of food. Meat, bread and cheese. Something that looked like wine was also served. Sam was getting the idea that the boy was kept in charge of hospitality. He arranged the food and sat down next to the shapeshifter. Everyone started eating. Sam was about to take his first bite when he suddenly remembered.

"Where's Viri."

The shapeshifter responded, "In her room waiting for you to wake up."

"She doesn't know I'm awake? I assumed you told her. Has she had anything to eat?"

"This one has no clue, does it? She's not starving. You may visit her once you're done. If you can, that is."

The boy and the shapeshifter looked at Sam with peculiar interest. He assumed they'd seen him faint that night.

"Where's the Aeck."

Shapeshifter chocked on his food and started laughing.
The boy responded, "Allow me to introduce myself, that'd be me. It's a pleasure to meet you, I've never seen a water dragon up close."

Sam took a second to process that information. He took his bite. Slowly chewed it. As he tried to fix this puzzle.

"I'd say the same but you tried to kill me when we met."

"I wasn't expecting you. I may have reacted on instinct."

"The shapeshifter clearly announced our arrival."

"No, he announced her arrival. You, I did not expect." the Aeck said.

"So you attacked me. How?" Sam was very curious about this bit.

"It's quite obvious isn't it? You were in pain."

Sam's heart had started beating quick. When they started looking for Aeck, he hadn't pondered too much about how it did what it did. It was all starting to make sense.

"I was. But how did you do it?" Sam asked faintly.

"Well, the same way your friend does it. Different skill. Same technique." There was a faint smile on aeck's lips.

When Sam didn't respond, the shapeshifter did.

"They're the gods. The old gods the people of Athoms worship."

Sam felt his heart leave his body. He was staring at his plate. He couldn't process the weight of the information. The shapeshifter continued.

"Aeck? Ache? It's really quite obvious. He's the god of pain. See the amber eyes? I'm not sure if you're a believer. He attacked you by making you feel pain everywhere. That's why I suggested I send him word of your arrival. Anyway, I knew your friend would easily protect you."

"My friend. Viridian."

"The last one. Yes. I still can't believe she's real. I was waiting for the other gods but I did not think it would be her." The shapeshifter seemed to be in awe.

Sam kept repeating the reality over and over again in his head. It started making sense. Everyone was always scared of Viri. It was unreasonable, it was instinctive. Her thing was not some temperature thing - it was simply a result of fear. His own reaction around her, the signal at the academy, the general's response to her presence, it all made complete sense. He had tried to protect his friend from the god of pain. And his friend was the god of fear.

He looked at Aeck. He had an devious smile on his face. As if he knew, he knew that Sam was terrified. Aeck was visibly curious about what Sam would do next.

Run?