The Path To Magic Book 1: The Sorcerer's Curse

Chapter VII

Izoztea sighed as she made her way into the walls of Sorkuntza's Palace. She didn't want to see any of the other deities - and now the all-mother, Sorkuntza, was forcing them together to talk about the Magix.

Seriously, was having Magix on Athia that dire of a situation that all of the dragon deities had to gather together when they hadn't seen each other for almost a thousand years?

The only beings that Izoztea had seen in the past couple of hundred years were Izdajica, King Kralj's former advisor, and Sai, the thief who sought refuge with her after he stole King Juliankli's staff before being betrayed and locked away by his master.

Those two had kept Izoztea plenty of company over the last few years, and she had no interest in seeing anyone else. Alas, Sorkuntza didn't see it that way, and she was the all-mother, and her will must be obeyed.

"Izoztea!" Izoztea heard a deep, booming voice call out.

Glancing over, Izoztea saw the broad, gray shape of Bitci. "Bitci," Izoztea greeted.

"I haven't seen you since last century!" Bitci said, laughing loudly.

"Same here," Izoztea said, nodding to the louder deity. "How's the warfare been treating you?"

"Not much has been happening since that new elf emperor took over," Bitci said, frowning. "Scratch that. Nothing's been happening since Zlato's war with Callon."

"I would expect as much. Since magic's been banned, everything on Athia has been pretty much calm."

"I still get some power from the Earth World," Bitci corrected. "They still have wars and violence over there."

"The planet that Zrak is forced to circle?" Izoztea asked.

"Yes, that one," Bitci said absent-mindedly, glancing over at where Zrak's twin brother, Vjetar, was staring up into the sky, probably hoping to get a glimpse of his twin, who could sometimes be seen in the sky above Sorkuntza's Palace.

"I feel bad for Vjetar. His brother only made the mistake of siding with the wrong person during the war, and now they are forced to never see each other again," Izoztea said, trying to make it seem that she was feeling sympathy for the other deity. "What if it had been Argia who had sided with Zli'Mrak? Sorkuntza surely would have let her off without punishment."

Izoztea couldn't help the venom that laced her voice as she spoke about the Light Dragon Goddess. She hadn't been on good terms with Argia since the 'accident', and Izoztea was prone to outbursts when someone mentioned Argia's close connections to the other deities - as well as the Elves and other beings of Athia.

"Well, I'm sure that Argia would have been punished the same," Bitci said, shuffling his wings nervously. The war deity knew about Izoztea's hatred for Argia, and he knew from experience not to mention it around Izoztea.

"Bitci. Izoztea."

Turning, Izoztea's gaze caught on the ocean-blue and rusty-coloured scales. "Plima."

"Hello, Izoztea. It is good to see you again," the water deity said. "Bitci as well."

"Plima! How's the blood flow coming?" Bitci asked with a hearty laugh.

"Bitci..." Izoztea said in a warning tone.

Plima had always been soft for the humans of Earth and the creatures of Athia. She had been willing to bleed for eternity to give the beings of both planets water to drink, and whenever someone asked about it, Plima felt that they were mocking her choice.

"It is fine. The creatures are enjoying their water- though they keep polluting the water. I almost took my gift back. That is until they realized their mistake and cleaned out some of the trash." Plima's voice was steady, and the water deity's eyes blazed with defiance as she locked eyes with Bitci.