A Fool's Goddess - Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Don’t say a word, or else I’ll slit your throat before I do the same to your little girl,” Asa hissed into my ear.
I kept quiet and didn’t move. He shut the door behind us and began pushing me towards the center of the studio.
“Good dog. Now, sit.”
He shoved me onto the ground. I dropped my groceries as I hit the floor, bracing on my hands. I tried to stand back up, but Asa kicked me down again.
“I said sit.”
Scowling, I put myself in a sitting position, legs crossed.
“Wonderful. Now, let’s set some rules,” he said. “Rule one: you scream, and I kill the girl. You and I are going to talk, but if you try to alert anyone, I’ll make sure she dies today. And rule two: you’re going to die here, Lior. I’m just going to punish you first.”
“Simple enough. I take it you prefer tag over chess?”
He tossed a rag at me.
“Put that in your mouth and bite down on it.”
“Or?”
“This is not a negotiation, you heretic! Do as I say or I’ll kill that pregnant bitch too!”
I glared at him while placing the nasty cloth between my teeth. I had a sinking feeling, but I braced myself for whatever he had planned. Just like before, the longer he distracted himself with me, the more likely he’d make a mistake. I’d just have to endure anything else in the meantime.
“Now remember: no screaming.”
Asa then pulled a steel mace from the back of his belt, brandished it, then cracked it against my right knee.
I fell backwards, writhing in agony.
I had never felt such excruciating pain before. The kneecap must have shattered. My leg refused move in any way, stuck in a half-bent position. I did everything in my power to hold in my howl of pain, wailing and moaning into that rag. My teeth bit down so hard I feared they might split and break.
“Well done, Lior!” Asa applauded. “Look at that, she gets to live for now and it only cost you a leg! What a bargain!”
The only reply I could muster was a muffled groan.
“Oh, I do hope you manage to stay conscious. I worked hard to earn this moment, so no passing out like last time, yes?”
I spat out the rag. “What the fuck are you planning, you bastard?!”
“Like I said, this is your punishment. Your righteous judgment for following a false deity and for striking an emissary of the Gods. I’m going to take your sentence out on your body so you can experience the full suffering a heretic deserves. Rather than just burn this building and let you die in it, I’m going to destroy you, completely, before I consign you to the flame. Such is the will of the Gods, such is my desire.”
I was breathing heavily, the pain spreading through my entire being. He must have taken my knee to make sure I wouldn’t be able to run. He even positioned me near the kiln, away from the workbenches and my tools.
He meant to ensure my death this time.
“So, we’re going to play a little game, Lior. I’m going to describe something important to you and we’re going to see if you value it enough to sacrifice another part of your body. I’ve been watching you, you see, so I’m quite aware of who and what in this village is important to you.” Asa bared his teeth with a wide grin. “Oh, how I look forward to seeing how you judge each of them! What are you willing to put your body on the line for… and what will you give up on?!”
“You’re insane!”
He looked down at me, his face suddenly slack, frigid, and unfeeling.
“Perhaps. You know, I gave our last talk some thought. And I think you’re right, man is capable of even deeper love for the Gods. I realized that that was exactly what I’ve felt for them my entire life. This unquenchable desire to see their will brought down on this Earth, to ensure sinners cannot threaten the sanctity of our lands, what could it be other than pure love?! If am insane, then it was my love that made me this way!”
He began to laugh insidiously to himself, delighted at his epiphany. The madman I knew had managed to warp himself even further. His twisted views were no longer simple misinterpretations, they were a despicable whimsy, a flagrant excuse for his psychopathy.
I needed to stop him somehow.
I glanced around, looking for something I could use. The nearest workbench was a few strides away, too much for my broken leg to make without Asa intercepting me. The kiln had nothing inside it and wasn’t even warm. I could maybe trip him into falling in and lock the hatch, as it was large enough for a person. But then the question was if I could even get the chance.
The only way I could get an opportunity was through buying time.
“How did you get in here?” I demanded.
Asa stopped laughing and looked at me piteously. “Why would you waste your precious last moments asking such droll questions?”
“I was here most of the time and there are guards patrolling outside. There were no signs of anyone breaking in. It should have been impossible for you to get in here.”
“Tch. Nothing is impossible for those who act in the name of the Gods. A small chat with that cousin of mine won him over to my side. He gave me the tools I needed, and he’s even restraining that tall apprentice of yours for me to ensure we have all the time we need.”
“Then how did you slip past the guard?!”
“Him? I suppose you didn’t have the chance to notice, but the moment you stepped through the door, he went off to enjoy his hard-earned vacation. All courtesy of a well-paying new employer.”
“What the hell do you mean?”
Asa sighed. “You know, I had to kill a merchant in Quatrot to get that amount of coin. I don’t normally like dirtying my hands like that, but he was probably a sinner anyways. Best if I executed him now before he spread his disease.”
He held his mace up, admiring it.
“Besides, his death also helped me procure this. Weapons aren’t the easiest to come by, you know. I suppose I could have used my knife to slowly bleed you dry, but that just felt so… slapdash. Any lowlife can kill a man with a blade, but an arbiter of the Gods should have higher standards than that. I ought to make sure your corpse sends the right message after all.”
My stomach plummeted. All of our plans and preparations, thwarted by this madman. The guard had been bribed away, Hed was being held somewhere, and I could do nothing about it without putting Libi at risk. Instead, I was left to play this zealot’s sadistic game in order to delay my own death.
How could Asa have his way so easily? After everything that had happened, he continued to have the upper hand. How could the Gods allow someone so cruel to do as he liked?
Surely the Gods don’t actually favor this man…?
“Now, that’s enough wasted time. Back to our game.”
“Yeah, let’s play ‘pin the chisel in the eye’,” I said dryly.
“Maybe later, after you’ve run out of bones for me to break. Now, let’s see… how about we wager your left hand against…”
Asa took a moment to ponder before a sadistic smile spread across his lips.
“… Your heretic Goddess.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I know your ego is fit to bursting right now, but surely you don’t suddenly think you can kill a God.”
“No, but I can destroy a fairy tale. All I need is to burn that book and painting.”
Asa then hurried towards my bedroom. As he passed by, he took a second to deliver a swift kick to my leg. I fell over again, taking in a sharp breath as the pain seared out once more.
Moments later, he returned and tossed those precious records of Tornara into the kiln’s open mouth. Standing between me and the furnace, he held his mace in one hand and a box of matches in the other.
“Now then, here’s your choice,” he said. “Either I burn the book and painting of your false Goddess’ existence or I break your hand. Which do you value more, hm?”
“Nrgh…”
“Considering you dragged these items with you all the way through that forest, I can’t imagine you would yield them so lightly. I mean, they are ‘holy’ relics to you, aren’t they? The sacred records of Tornara. But if I break your wrist, you probably won’t be able to carve anymore… oh, but maybe that’s not a problem, since I’ll be killing you anyways. I guess it’s more like, ‘what are you willing to leave behind besides a mangled corpse’? Hehehehe….”
I glared at him with all the loathing I could muster. His threats didn’t mean anything, but his words refreshed that thirst for blood within me.
That unworthy bastard said her name again…
How I wished for my chisel right now.
“Give me an answer, Lior. Tell me in ten seconds, or I’ll burn them.”
“I told you not to say her name.”
“Nine… eight… seven…” he counted down.
My only response was silent hatred.
“Six… five…”
He lit a match.
“Four… three…”
He reached into the kiln, holding the flame just away from the edge of the book. He stared at me, expecting a reaction.
But I gave him nothing.
“Two… One…”
He pressed his match into the book, setting the corner on fire. The ancient cover quickly caught flame, then passed it to the canvas. Within moments, my most prized possessions were burning, irrevocably removed from this world.
Yet I still said nothing.
“How pathetic,” Asa spat. “You claim to love her, but you wouldn’t even give up your hand for her. How absolutely shameful.”
“I would give up my entire body for her.”
“What a blatant lie! You did nothing as I set her painting on fire, yet you insist you’d give so much for her!”
“If she asked for blood, I’d give every drop. If she needed my hand, it was already hers.”
He looked down on me with that detestable eye. “Then explain your inaction.”
“I carry Tornara in my heart. My love for her wasn’t held in that painting or the book; it’s in my very being.” I put a taunting smirk on my face. “Besides, as you pointed out, those records could have been falsified. In fact, you may have helped me release her from her former legacy. She doesn’t need to be held back by the sins of the past. Now the world can welcome Tornara’s return with a clean slate instead!”
Asa’s face twisted with frustration. He had hoped to break my spirit or expose a hole in my faith. But as I told him, he didn’t understand true faith. There was nothing he could do to make me turn my back on Tornara.
Even in this pitiful state, I gladly held this small victory.
“… Bite down on the rag again and stick out your left hand.”
I gave him a disgusted look. “You’re breaking your own rules. You burned the records, so I get to keep my hand.”
“I changed my mind. I’m going to break it anyways.”
“I can see your word is as malleable as your beliefs.”
“Shut up! Do you want that girl to die?!”
Slowly and angrily, I put the cloth between my teeth once more. With as much hatred as I could manage, I stared daggers at him as I held up my left arm.
“Good dog.”
He swung his mace down on my wrist with as much fury as he could muster.
The beads from my old bracelet went flying, scattering across the floor.
I muffled my roar of pain into the cloth. Somehow, this managed to hurt even more than my knee. I instinctually cradled the wounded limb against my chest as bursts of agony exploded in my wrist.
“Now then, what next…?” Asa said as if he was simply picking an item from a restaurant's menu.
I couldn’t even muster a remark. My knee and my wrist hurt too much for me to think clearly at all. All I could do was breathe through my teeth and hold in my groans.
Asa casually stepped around me, walking a circle as he thought aloud.
“Let’s see… well, since you clearly don’t value things, how about we wager a person? How about… your right shoulder versus that tall apprentice? I think that should-”
“Just do it…”
“What was that? It’s hard to hear you from down there on the ground.”
“Just hit me again. Break as many of my bones as you like.” I was panting between each sentence, trying to stay conscious through the pain. “This is nothing to me. You’re too weak to actually hurt me.”
That detestable eye looked at me with repugnance.
“You know, acting tough won’t help you.”
“I’m not acting. A bastard like you who blames his hideous behavior on the Gods can wound my body as much as he likes, you’ll never touch my spirit. Everything you do to me is meaningless. Nobody will accept the views of a violent monster.”
“Then I’ll just show them. They just need to see you as an example of what happens when you spit in the faces of the Gods. They’ll learn to respect the Divine then.”
“No… they’ll fear them. And fear only breeds contempt. Then someone will seek to overthrow you. Respect can only be made when the Gods and man put trust in each other.”
“Wonderful semantics. They mean nothing from a heretic.”
“Like the words of a crazed zealot are any more valuable.”
He sighed with annoyance. “How sad. After all of my hard work, this isn’t remotely as entertaining as I had hoped. I suppose I can admit I underestimated your endurance.”
“You’ve underestimated more than that.”
“Perhaps. But that doesn’t matter; we’ll stop the game here.”
“You’re gonna leave my shoulder alone?” I mocked.
“Correct. I’m just going to skip to the part where I cave in your skull.”
Asa raised his mace once more and moved towards me. His boots echoed in the studio with his approach, counting down to my demise.
I was about to shout, to finally scream in one last act of defiance, when the miraculous happened.
Or, more appropriately, just a bit of cheap luck.
The beads from my friend’s gift, that offhanded souvenir from Chen, dotted the floor. Asa carelessly stepped on them, and with enough beneath his boot, they rolled his foot right out from under him.
Like a bad slapstick joke, Asa fell hard onto his back, knocking the wind out of him. But there was no time for me to appreciate the humor.
Using my good leg, I managed to launch myself towards him before he recovered. And with my remaining hand, I balled a fist and began striking him as hard as I could manage.
My first punch connected to his throat. Asa’s hand then instinctively covered it, but I didn’t hesitate to launch my second attack into his remaining eye. It was a brutal assault on his vulnerable points, but fair play had long since left my concerns. I then made three quick strikes into his stomach before pushing myself away.
Those attacks were the best I had, but I knew they weren’t enough to incapacitate him, not in my wounded state. But they stunned him, leaving him gasping for breath and recoiling in pain. That would have to do.
I crawled to the nearest stool and used it to help myself rise to my feet. My shattered knee wouldn’t allow any weight, so I was forced to lean against the workbench while I searched. In just a few heartbeats, I found my implement of choice.
A chisel, the tool I had used to take this bastard’s eye four years ago.
Now I could take its twin.
Asa had begun to recover, his breath wheezing but improving. I shuffled along my workbenches, lunging from one to the next to keep myself upright. Just as I drew near, Asa began to sit up, opening his reddened eye.
Just in time to see me falling upon him.
I stabbed my chisel through his soft eyeball, lodging the tool in his skull. But without proper balance, I was knocked away and tumbled onto the floor. The impact sent fresh spikes of pain from my injuries, but my decisive attack was worth it.
Asa screamed in anguish and fury. Blood ran down his face, staining his clothes. His hands clawed around his left eye, unable to remove the chisel for fear of destroying his last hope for sight. He breathed heavily, angrily, then roared like the monster he was.
“Liooooorrrr!!”
He rose to his feet, firmly gripping his mace. Blinded as he was, he still had full use of his limbs. He began wildly swinging his weapon, breaking the legs off the nearby table.
“Where are you, heretic?!” Asa bellowed. “Your punishment is at hand!”
Now possessed of an even greater mania, Asa began moving through the studio, bashing his mace against whatever was in reach. Even though he couldn’t see me, he still sought to kill me. He intended to keep attacking until that mace found my flesh.
It would be too much to hope that he would trip on those beads again. Instead, I began dragging myself towards and under a workbench, as quietly as possible. If Asa happened to step on me, it would be over. One mistake would tell him where he needed to swing his weapon. I needed to get upright before then.
After that… I didn’t quite know yet.
“Lior! Show yourself! Face your judgment!”
Obviously, I didn’t respond. Giving into his goading would be tantamount to suicide. Asa stormed past me, just missing my hiding place. I then climbed back out and grabbed a stool to help myself get upright again. My attacker continued his rampage, only stopping when his weapon struck the distant wall.
But as I was getting back on my feet, the stool shifted and creaked from my weight.
Asa turned like predator who smelled its prey.
“There you are!”
I looked at the workbench for something, anything that could help me. What I saw wasn’t encouraging. My chisel was gone, currently stuck in Asa’s eye socket, while the hammer was nowhere to be seen. And I severely doubted I could stop him with sandpaper or a dry ball of clay.
All that left me was my unfinished sculpture of Tornara.
I tested its weight. It wasn’t impossible to lift with just a single hand. A quick, if unpleasant, plan came into my mind.
“Please forgive me,” I whispered under my breath.
Asa was drawing near, not even swinging his mace anymore. He was grinning as if he could still see me. I grabbed the clay and waited for him to get closer.
Soon, I could clearly see the crimson slithering down his neck.
Another step and I could smell the blood.
Yet I still waited.
Just as he was about to enter my reach, I tossed the lump of clay over him. It pounded against the wall behind him.
The beast turned to face the noise.
I picked up my unfinished sculpture, the beloved image of my Goddess. I then swung at Asa with all the force I could muster, crashing the stone against the back of his head.
“Grrk!”
Unceremoniously, Asa fell over, collapsing on his side. And he laid there, quiet and unmoving. Blood continued to drip from his gouged eye, but he did not stir.
I could scarcely believe it.
I kept watching him, expecting him to stand up and continue his assault. Going from a deadly struggle to this uncanny silence felt jarring. But as much as I waited, he remained silently incapacitated on the floor.
Finally, his madness was over.
If it wasn’t for that slight rise and fall in his chest, I would have thought I had killed him. I wouldn’t have been upset if I had, but no, the bastard was just unconscious. Perhaps there really was a bit of the Gods’ love in him, enough to let him survive getting brained with a marble sculpture.
I still threw a stool at him to see if he was faking it.
No reaction.
I sighed with relief. Now I just needed to get some help before Asa woke up again.
I hopped over to the neighboring workbench and grabbed its stool. I then leaned on it and slid myself towards the door. It made a screeching racket, but noise was no longer a concern.
As I slid closer, I could hear someone yelling outside my door, a young man with a Tresety accent. I couldn’t make out his words, but he sounded angry, like he was arguing.
I could already guess who it was.
Someone then began banging on my door. Not a heavy-handed knock, but a legitimate attempt to break down my door. It sounded like they were throwing their entire weight against it. I hurried over, hoping to prevent the needless destruction.
A few more pushes and I was at the front door. I quickly unlocked it. There was a pause in the slams, a few more words, then a cautious, slow opening of the door.
Hed poked his face in, scanning the scene. Once he turned and saw his master, wounded and leaning, he pushed the door wide open and rushed in.
“Master! What the hell happened?!”
“No time for questions,” I panted. “Go tie up the bastard on my floor.” Still leaning on the stool with my good hand, I shakily pointed my shattered wrist towards Asa’s unconscious form.
“Holy shit…”
Thankfully, he didn’t need any more information. He ran to our supply closet and retrieved a coil of rope. Without hesitation, he began wrapping it around Asa’s wrists, tying them behind his back.
And while Hed was busy, another person entered my studio.
This time, it was Niv. His usual stony face was gone, replaced with a pale expression of fear and anxiety. His hands were held in front of him, unsure of what to do, and he slowly walked further in, failing to notice me leaning next to the door.
“Niv, help me up,” I called to him.
He nearly shot out of his skin. “Master Lior! You are all right!”
“Not quite. I’m pretty sure my knee and my wrist are broken. Help me stand up.”
“O-of course, Master Lior.”
He sidled up on my right side and crouched down, offering his shoulder. I reached across and held on, and he in turn gripped me around my waist. With that, Niv lifted me up and supported my weight. My ruined knee pulsed with fresh pain, but it wasn’t as intense as before. Or maybe I was just getting used to it.
“Thanks. Can you help me to my bed?”
“Yes, of course.”
We moved carefully towards my bedroom. As we passed Hed, I could see he was just finishing his bindings around Asa’s ankles. He glanced at his fellow apprentice, then me, furrowing his brow.
Once in my room, Niv set me down on the edge of my bed. I wasn’t going to lay down or anything, but I wanted something soft to sit on until more help arrived. I laid my wounded leg on the mattress and held my left wrist close. Niv took a few steps back and looked at me uneasily.
“Master Lior, I-” he began.
“Master, I’m done tying that fucker,” Hed said as he pushed into the room. “If he wakes up, he won’t be going anywhere.”
“Good work. Now, I need you to go get help,” I replied tiredly.
“What?!”
“Just go get the shaman, a guard, and maybe your mother. Tell them to get their asses here, but let them know we’ve already got the wanted man under control.”
“What about Niv?!”
“He’ll stay here and keep an eye on me.”
“No, I can’t allow that. Master, you don’t know it, but he-”
I held my good hand up.
“I’m aware. But you don’t need to worry.” I looked over at Niv. “He’s not going to do anything else… right?”
Niv said nothing, barely managing a nod as he grimaced.
“Master…” urged Hed.
“I’ll be fine. But I won’t be for much longer if I have to keep dealing with this pain. Please, go get help.”
He stared at me, clearly unhappy. He then spat a disgusted curse at Niv before hurrying out of the room, breaking into a sprint once he was through the front door.
I let out a sigh. I could understand his position, but we would gain nothing by having him stay here. Leaving me behind was probably the last thing he wanted to do, but it was what I needed.
It wasn’t like I could trust Niv with the job. He was too much of a flight risk right now.
“So… Niv.”
“Master Lior, I am beyond sorry.” He hung his head, beyond ashamed. “What I have done does not deserve forgiveness. I betrayed you and this studio and I… I…”
He began to shudder and cry, unable to utter another word.
I couldn’t tell him it was going to be okay or even accept his apology. Though I didn’t hate him or even wish him any ill will, at this moment, the best thing I could do was let Niv suffer in the consequences of his actions.
He made his decision. If he regretted it, he needed to feel that remorse.
After a few moments, I took a deep breath.
“Tell me, Niv… when did you agree to help Asa?”
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