Rogue Magician (The Magician Rebellion) by Curtis Cornett Page A

where he had wakened and standing beside the fair-haired woman
on a dirt path. Taking a larger survey of his surroundings Byrn realized the
dirt path extended ahead and behind him going into the horizon, as did the
“beds” of flowers that were actually never ending fields.
    “ Do
you understand why you are here?” asked the woman that Byrn was sure must be a
goddess for no human could be so beautiful.
    “ My
lady, I do not even know where here is,” he
confessed.
    “ Well
at least you have some manners,” scoffed the goddess.
    “ See.
He is not so bad,” replied the goddess's voice this time from his opposite
side. A moment ago there had been no one else for as far as Byrn could see, but
now there was another woman standing to his right. She was the twin of the
goddess, but her dress was black and her hair was a striking red. Her beauty
was almost as intoxicating as her sister's, but she had a sly smile instead of
a scowl.
    “ Do
not take his side,” the blonde one said petulantly crossing her arms. “What he
did was sacrilege plain and simple. You should take his life here and now for
such an affront.”
    “ Oh
dear sister,” the redhead said in a placating manner, “He is just a stupid
human. He does not understand what he is doing. Honestly, I can not recall the
last time I saw you so eager to end a human's life.”
    “ And
I fail to recall the last time you were so quick to spare one,” the golden
goddess' eyes burned with fury.
    An
uncomfortably silent moment passed that felt more like an hour to Byrn before
he dared speak. He had no idea what was transpiring or what he had done, but he
was confident that he was in way over his head and a misstep could mean his
life. “Pardon me, my ladies,” he began more than a little unsure of himself,
“but may I ask what is going on here?”
    “ See,”
the red-haired one smiled triumphantly, “I told you that humans were simple
things.”
    “ Do
not act so self righteous, Kassani, you're just taking his side because he is a
deranged, sacrilegious murderer and you think he will drive more souls to you!”
    Kassani
laughed. “Please, sister, you wound me. I have more souls than I know what to
do with. Why would I care about a few more?”
    If
the red-haired woman was Kassani, the goddess of death, then the golden-haired
one must be Ashura, the goddess of life. That answered one question, but raised
another, “Why does the goddess of life think me a murderer?”
    “ Why
do I think you are a murderer?” Ashura scoffed in disbelief. “Well that could
be because you are a murderer! You killed nine
people... including your father... at my temple... and you used
magic, a gift I gave you, to do it!
    “ Do
you not see how that is a direct insult to the gods and me specifically? I have
no illusions about the higher races and their love of war, but I can not turn a
blind eye to what you have done on my very doorstep.”
    Byrn
refused to believe what he was hearing. He never killed anyone certainly not
his father. He killed animals while hunting with his father and more recently
two ogres, but never a person. “But I have never killed anyone.”
    Kassani
laughed, “There is no need to lie to us, human. Your guilt is not in question.
It is only your punishment that has yet to be determined. My dear sister,
Ashura, wants me to send you to the underworld whereas I would very much like
to see you go on living.” The irony of the goddess of life wishing him dead and
the goddess of death wanting to spare him was not lost on Byrn. If it were not
his life in the balance, he might find it absurd.
    “ I
swear I did not kill anyone,” Byrn protested tension filling his words.
    Ashura
relented, “Perhaps he believes he is speaking the truth. Let us begin his
sentencing then he will understand what he has done... and why he is too
dangerous to be allowed to run amok in the world of the living.”
    “ As
you wish, sister,” Kassani said amicably.
    Suddenly
Byrn found