The Broken World Book One - Children of Another God by T C Southwell

I'm
not a god, and I can't kill."
    "Can't or
won't?" she demanded.
    "Both. Death is
the province of Marrana, Lady of Death, and I don't control it. You
see, she really is a goddess, as is Antanar, Lord of Life."
    Talsy snorted.
"They don't exist. There's only one god."
    "That's your
god, who dwells wherever you come from," he said. "But these are
mine. I've seen Marrana."
    "How can you
see a god?"
    He smiled. "If
you believe your deductions, you're sitting next to one."
    She ignored his
teasing. "When did you see her?"
    "On my clan's
killing fields."
    "What did she
look like?"
    "A mist, a
face... Three faces, actually."
    Talsy
considered that, struck by the strangeness of the Mujar's earlier
statement. "Why did you say, 'wherever I come from'?"
    Chanter's brows
rose. "You don't come from this world. Don't you know that?"
    "Then where do
we come from?"
    He shrugged. "I
don't know."
    "Then how do
you know we don't belong here?"
    "Because you're
different."
    "How?"
    "You don't fit
in." He looked pensive. "How can I explain? Every living thing of
this world relates to it, see? Every creature feels the Powers and
can use them, but you don't, and nor do your animals. Your people
don't belong here."
    She stared at
him. "How long have we been here?"
    "I don't
know."
    "How did we get
here?"
    "You came in a
wingless silver bird that fell from the sky, and my gods remade you
and your beasts."
    Talsy shook her
head in confusion. "But you saw your Goddess of Death on your
clan's killing fields. What was she doing?"
    "Gathering
souls."
    "The souls of
my people, who don't belong here."
    He nodded.
"What choice does she have?"
    "She could
leave them here."
    "That would
probably cause problems."
    "What does she
do with them?"
    "They go to the
Lake of Dreams." He paused, eyeing her, then added, "The silver
bird brought five hundred and thirty-seven Trueman souls here, as
well as several less evolved souls. The gods could have destroyed
them, but they decided to give them a chance and recreated the
forms in which they lived, putting many of them into animals, which
they learnt about from the souls' memories. Souls multiply when
they leave their corporeal bodies, sloughing off sparks that then
start new lives as simple animals. They rest in the Lake of Dreams
until they're reborn."
    "A
paradise?"
    "Something like
that."
    Talsy stared
into space for several minutes while she pondered this.
    Chanter waited,
studying her, then broke into her reverie. "Have I answered all
your questions?"
    She shook her
head. "You don't have all the answers."
    "That's because
I'm not a god."
    "You're a
demigod then. Certainly to me you are."
    He smiled.
"Well, just don't expect me to tear down the mountains or part the
seas, and certainly not solve all the problems of the world."
    "Why not?"
    "Because I
can't. I mean, I could tear down the mountains, but I wouldn't want
to, but I can't solve the problems of the world."
    "Because you
won't kill?"
    "Yes, if
killing is the answer."
    "It seems to me
that Mujar are very gentle people," she said. "To have so much
power, and yet refuse to use it violently, even when you're
tortured and thrown into the Pits, must be hard. My father told me
that you'll never harm a person, and he hates your kind."
    "Your father's
wrong. Mujar can do great harm, very easily. Too easily, in fact.
The mere manifestation of our power can frighten Truemen, as it did
you. But we try not to do harm."
    "How do you
know so much about the silver bird and everything? Who told
you?"
    He looked
puzzled. "No one."
    "Then how do
you know about it?"
    He shrugged. "I
just do."
    "You mean you
were born with it?"
    "I suppose so."
He rose and added more wood to the fire, apparently losing interest
in the conversation. Darkness surrounded them, and Talsy yawned
behind her hand.
    Chanter turned
to her. "Better let me fix that ankle."
    She had almost
forgotten the painful joint, but as soon as he reminded her, it
ached. She cocked her head and smiled. "Do I deserve