The Scared God [ManXManXMan]

Chapter Twenty-nine: Смысл - Smysl

~Chapter Twenty-nine: Смысл – Smysl~

It feels like forever passes before my shouts are answered, though it is likely less than a couple of minutes. I am not surprised that Perun heard my shouting, as yelling in god form is not dissimilar to rolling thunder, which is the entire reason I chose to remain by Hors' side and call for help instead of rushing off to find it. I am, however, frustrated by how long it took, even if the response was actually rather prompt considering how far into the castle his office is.

Perun appears at the top of the stairs. "Veles, what–" He cuts himself off when he sees Hors, who is still bleeding profusely on the ground. I have no doubt that all the running we did to escape Apollo only made it worse.

The king god does not hesitate for even a second before jumping off the top stair to land not five feet from us at the bottom. He shrinks not even a second later, adopting a height better fit for helping Hors. I hover anxiously over them, unable to do anything else with my magic now gone. If I could shrink, I would, but as I am now, there is nothing I can do to help Perun stop the bleeding.

"Veles," Perun says, and, even though his voice is strong, it sounds as small as his body looks, "You need to get Mokosh. She should be in the hospital wing with the twins."

I only hesitate for a second, staring down at Hors in uncertainty, before I bound up the stairs and head in the direction I vaguely remember the hospital wing being in. I have visited that part of the castle a few times, and I was even a patient at one point, but that was centuries ago, and there is no guarantee it is even in the same place as it was the last time I was here. That does not stop me from running down the halls in search of it.

It takes more time than I probably have, but I do manage to locate the hospital wing without shouting for the goddess while running down the halls. I shove open the doors to the main medical room. "Mokosh," I practically wheeze as I locate the blond queen standing by the bed occupied by an unconscious Lado, out of breath from my mad dash through the castle.

"Veles?" Mokosh gasps, standing up. "Why are you in the heavens?"

"Hors–he's dying," I hiss with narrowed eyes, pointing down the way I had come. She probably meant nothing by her question, but I don't fucking have time for this right now.

The goddess eyes me in concern, though I cannot tell if it is me she is concerned about or Hors. "This better not be a trick, Veles," she says, but she does not hesitate to run with me back towards the castle's entrance, even though it cannot be easy in her heavy sarafan. She reaches the stairs before I do, as she did not have to run the distance twice, but she pauses on the top step long enough for me to hear her whisper, "Lord Rod have mercy."

Mokosh is down the stairs before I can register the words, but, when they do, I hesitate to follow her. If Mokosh, the goddess of life, is talking like that, the situation cannot be good. Something in my chest, somewhere right around my heart, aches, and my eyes start to burn because...what if she cannot fix him? What if Hors dies because I was not fast enough to save him? What if he dies because Zeus was there for me? Because while Apollo was definitely aiming for Hors, Zeus would have no reason to pursue us in the first place if there was not a prophecy about me.

Movement at the bottom of the stairs draws me away from my thoughts, but I only catch a glimpse of Hors' prone body before Perun shifts back into god form and blocks him from sight. Mokosh leans down to grab Perun's shoulder, and I can feel the pull and shift of the wards to match whatever Perun is commanding them to do before all three of them disappear. It takes a moment to sink in, that Perun manipulated the wards to let him teleport into the castle, but I do not attempt to seek them out. Instead, I lean back against the large doorframe and clutch the front of my shirt over my heart.