The Gates of Troy (Lopez Time Book 3) Read online

  That didn’t happen.

  Not even a tiny bit of it did.

  Chapter seven

  “Ah! What a lovely space this is. Stone and lovely art carved into the walls. Is this a temple? I do not wish my presence to detract from whomever is worshiped here. I could step out into the hallway and call out, so as to not spoil the space.” The being, Ganesh, sounded incredibly happy. Peaceful at the same time.

  In fact, both things seemed to radiate from the man. He sounded like a person anyway. There was nothing about the elephant headed fellow that detracted from that for Troy at least. Oh, sure, he had giant floppy ears and a large gray trunk but those didn’t define what a person was. Not for Troy Lopez. He’d met too many individuals that looked differently for that to make any sense at all.

  “Hello! This is a node transfer business, not a temple. That’s basically a shop where you can purchase passage to almost anywhere. You’re more than welcome to come in. We try to keep places like this peaceful, when possible. This one is run by The Line Walker, Zack Hartley. He’s a greater demon, but don’t let the name fool you, he’s a good person. There’s a bookstore next to us, with a café at the back. Do you need anything to eat?” The guy was an elephant, after all.

  Suddenly, the large gray hands spread outward. Troy moved back, startled by the light and sound that came from the air in front of the fellow but it was just a circular rainbow with the sound of a bell. Nothing else at all happened. Just the special effects. He waited for the other shoe to drop but if that happened it was done in a subtle fashion that Troy wasn’t able to find.

  It seemed, at least on the surface, to be art work. A thing that faded after a moment, designed only to lift the spirit.

  So, Troy smiled. The being, so far, didn’t seem to be intent on killing him at all. It was a bit different than he would have figured. It was clear that not all of the gods that had been released had the same kind of philosophy.

  Not directed toward him, at any rate. So far, two of them had been rather different than the one in front of him. Though Loki wasn’t one of the released gods. That part was still bugging the crud out of him.

  This god, if that was what he truly was, made a pleasant noise that reminded Troy of an elephant’s trumpeting. At least if the old movies had that basic sound down correctly.

  “That would be a wonder to have food, alas I have none of the tokens used in this modern world. I was walking in my old homeland, when I noticed that my wife, Mohana, was passing by. She looked most different than I’d last seen her but I know her delightful spirit. I wasn’t able to catch her however. Her way of walking on the edge of the world is most speedful. She came in here, then was not, when I entered. Is that due to this node? I have seen the spaces of opening before but did not know that any owned them. In my time, long ago, no one could use them without many killings of their own kind. I do not see a mountain of bodies here?” He looked around, as if that might be hidden in the back. There was only Zack’s office space, with it’s see through windows, which seemed to reassure the creature.

  Troy grinned then.

  “Some of us have learned how to use them for travel, using only thought and concentration. It takes a while to learn. About a thousand years, in the void that exists outside of time and space. It isn’t easy to do but a few have managed it.”

  There was a knowing nod then, as the man folded his large hands together in front of his body. He was large, as in kind of muscular but not that tall. Five-ten or so. He felt larger than that but Troy was as tall, if slighter of build. The feet on the marble floor were in sandals, not proper shoes. Those seem to be woven out of some kind of reed or a similar plant. How they were holding together under the giant gray feet, Troy couldn’t tell. There was no hint of magic to them. That meant it was just good work, most likely.

  For the first time, there was a slowing of the god’s aspect, and a sinking feeling, instead of energy being projected outwardly.

  “There are new gods, then? Beings that can pass between, without the hardships of old. That is a thing I cannot credit. Such beings would rule openly, would they not?”

  Troy shook his head. Then he realized that the elephant headed man might not get what that meant.

  “Nothing like that. We’ve had to change what being a god means, to help the people. We still have them, gods, but they’re not real, like they used to be. It’s the new order of the world.”

  That got him glared at, which was a bit strange seeming. Almost goofy.

  “But… The small person, the low, they don’t have the ability to rule themselves. Their minds are small and weak. If beings such as myself, or these new gods that travel between spaces, do not rule over them, they will suffer and die in their masses. They need to be cared for. Can we leave our children to suffer the cruelty of the world?”

  It was kind of clear that the being meant it. Troy got what that was going to mean, without having to see it first-hand. This was a wonderful person, in front of him. One that had been locked away in a cage for thousands of years. Not because he was evil at all but because his very being would, eventually, turn people into slaves. Troy could feel it himself. It would, as Ann had hinted, be very easy to just go along with whatever Ganesh wanted.

  A feeling of love pulled at him, constantly. The desire to kneel down and do whatever the being wanted of him was mixed into that at the same time. Even the greater demons would probably understand that sense of things. Which would be why they’d tucked a nice being like this one into that cage, along with others that might have been more like direct competition for the demons.

  Worse, he couldn’t even hate the man for it. The sense was that Ganesh was just that easy to love.

  “Once they had the chance, people learned to be stronger, on their own. Not all of them, or all the time but enough that they didn't need their hands held constantly. I don’t want to be mean or anything here but you can’t really do things like that here. If you try, it will start a war with the greater demons. I don’t suppose you can change a bit, so that we can avoid that? At least take some time to look around at things and think about what we have going on here, before enslaving minds and insisting they worship you? Not that you have to insist. Your very being seems to do that for you. Can you rein that in a bit?”

  There was another flash of light. This one blue, that came with a soft roll of thunder.

  “I cannot. It isn’t a thing asked of me before. Why will the new gods not rule? Are they… Evil? What kind of parent would not care for a child?”

  He smiled, getting that a short discussion wasn’t going to be enough to fix this being. He could try but if that were going to be enough, then Tarsus would have managed it, thousands of years before. This wasn’t a being that needed to be feared. He also wasn’t one that you could be around and still maintain your own mind.

  Troy had to hold a sense of himself, then push a bit of magic at it, in order not to just be this guy’s new footstool, or whatever he wanted.

  “Let me get you some food? I’ll pay for it, so don’t worry that way. Then… Would you like me to find a good world for you? If you stay here, we’ll have to fight. Not you and I but the demons here. They’ve become a lot more than they used to be. Stronger and more powerful by far. The Trickster told me that if you were allowed to fight them, the ancient gods from the cage that was pried open, that the world would end. Being destroyed in the battle to come. I was put in place to find a way to fix that. I can’t move all of you but…” He stopped then and tried to focus. It was harder to do than it seemed like it should be. “But… You seem like a good person. Not someone that should be locked away or hurt in a fight. There are other worlds. In some of them… Well, there are people that truly will need you, I bet. Far more than we do here. Would you like to help those people?”

  He didn't have any place in mind, in particular but he was willing to bet there was someplace not too far from the reality they stood in where the Nazis had won the second world war, or where so
mething even worse was going on. Troy had accidently been past some of those places before. Dropping a Genesh on them wouldn’t hurt their realities that much.

  Well, that wasn’t really true. It would damage and enslave them. That was just better than what they currently had, to his opinion and way of thinking.

  The being just stood there for a moment. What he was thinking didn’t come through at all. If he had body language, Troy couldn’t read it yet.

  “Why would you suggest that?”

  The sense in the words weren’t hurt, thankfully. Instead it seemed slightly baffled. As if it didn't make any sense at all.

  “Because the world is very, very big now, and what is going to hurt us here, in this part of it, can help in another. I want you to be yourself and to spread the love that you seem to broadcast all the time. Even The Rotted, your wife, told me that she didn’t want to be near you, not because you were bad but to hold to her own mind.”

  If Genesh had been a vampire, those words would have started a fight, Troy didn’t doubt that at all. In fact, he was kind of worried for a moment when the being started to glow. It was just another bell tone with a rainbow that grew like a flower opening up in the air in front of his trunk.

  It was lovely. Entrancing. So much so that Troy had to hold back an urge to lay on the ground and start heaping praises on the being in front of him. That took magic and focus to make happen.

  “Hey, cut that out. I’m trying to find an option that will work for everyone here. If you take over my mind…Well, then you’ll probably end up dead. We all will.” He rushed his words, fearing the being would decide he was being threatened by Troy, when that wasn’t what he meant. “If I go down, then the greater demons will fight. Work with me here, won’t you?”

  His words weren’t sharp or angry sounding. In fact, he felt happier than he had in years. Ten or more. Since before he knew that vampires were real at all. Before he’d been enslaved to The Mind Taker, not knowing that it was an option.

  It was a shining thing. One that left him feeling good. Happy. Loved…

  The only problem was that it wasn’t real at all, just a mental effect from the man in front of him.

  Genesh, the elephant headed god, his tusk broken on one side, tried even harder to take Troy then. There were rainbows in the air, the sound of tinkling bells… And a sense of peace that was so powerful he nearly folded and started to worship the guy. It was tempting beyond all reason to give in and let go of his free will.

  Locking that down, Troy undid the effect, then, holding a sense of calm, projected it over the god of old that wanted to take him. It was, for a long while, a battle of wills. A being who was used to getting his own way, and being revered, going up against a dead man that knew all about nothing, on a level that had left him very different than what could be expected.

  Finally, there was a pop in the room. A sense of peace enveloped it but no more lights came at all. The other being just stood for a while. Finally, a single tear fell down his cheek, on the right. It wasn’t a sad thing.

  “I understand, great one. This is not the time for those such as myself. Not in this place. I stand defeated, without a single blow being taken. Without a spear being shown in anger, even. Is this the way of things now? Such… restraint?”

  Troy shook his head again.

  “Not even the slightest bit. It’s why we need to find a better way. I’m using trickery and skills I don’t have to attempt to save us all. Please help me with this?”

  For a long while, the elephant just stood. Then, slowly, his face melted. It could have been gross or scary but when the end came, the point where nothing else was left, the face underneath was just that of a man. One who was fine enough looking, without it being a statement of power. His skin was brown, being slightly darker than Avery was, though not much. There was no facial hair, and he seemed to be about forty-five or a little less. There were no lines but the bone structure was heavier than a young person would have.

  The robes, made of silk, stayed. They were looser though, since the man wasn’t big in any way, now. Shorter, by a few inches, and lighter by about half.

  “I shall do as you say and find a new place. How can I do this? I lack the power to find other worlds, on my own.”

  “No problem. I can take you. Through the node here?”

  A mighty laugh came then. There was no booming behind it. Nothing like a roll of thunder. Instead it was just loud, causing the fellow to bend in half a bit as it happened.

  “Of course! You are one of these new gods? I should have known, if Mohana brought me to you. I think, perhaps, she still loves me, do you not? She was always one of great differences. She destroyed and reveled in the dead but she also loved deeply. More so than anyone else I have ever met.”

  Thinking, Troy nodded, then used his words. After all, when someone asked if you were a god, the correct answer was to say yes. Even if it wasn’t true. Naming him as one was probably in that same vein. At least if he didn’t want to fight a giant marshmallow man in the next few minutes.

  “I don’t know. She came to me though, instead of one of the others. My goal is to do all of this as peacefully as possible, which she knew. She’s… Kind of my teacher?” He didn't know if mentor would be understood completely. Then, the man seemed to understand him perfectly, so far. His accent had faded, as they’d spoken.

  Really, if anything, he sounded like his English was that of a slightly pretentious native speaker, now. It was a bit different but Troy didn’t want to risk what was going on, by talking for too long.

  To that end, he moved to the node, and looked into it. That was a thing that Zack could do. Seeing far off places through the void. Holding the right idea in his mind, Troy tried to do that. Nothing happened at all, of course. It would have made him look cool. Instead of lamenting that, he decided to do it from the void. That was easy enough to do.

  “Come then. I think we have a good spot for you.”

  The man walked forward, trusting him. Taking him by the arm, Troy nearly dropped the guy in the void. It wasn’t out of anger or fear, just raw size. He was a giant, in a true fashion. The sense of his being had to be surrounded to prevent it from drifting away into nothingness. That meant stretching and becoming far bigger himself, in order to save him. It only took an instant but nearly wasn’t enough. A bit desperately, he managed it. Barely.

  Then, holding them both together, constantly bringing their information to a single point, he cast out for the perfect place for the other being to live in. That place, the one that he found, was dark, violent and the people suffered, constantly.

  At the hands of other people. They lived in a world of spears and clubs but without any restraint or love at all. Opening a node, away from anyone that lived there, Troy glanced at the blood red sky.

  “This… They truly can use someone like you, here. Thank you.”

  There was a lovely smile, then a slow move that was the man putting his other face back on.

  “Why would I be thanked?”

  “For not forcing me to kill you.” It was clear to him that he could have done that, in the void. Just by letting the man go. Without any danger to the world at all.

  That got a bow.

  “I will do my best here, to aid these children. Might I learn your name?”

  “Troy. Troy Lopez. Some call me The Officer. You mentioned that when you walked into the node room? Troy works though, if you have to curse my name over the mess here. I wish you the best of luck in this.” Then, not drawing it all out, he left the strange place. Hoping the man could help them, at least a bit.

  Moving through nothing was relaxing. Troy took a few years to just sit there, focusing on nothing except holding himself in place. Time passed, in the void, though it was very different than what happened in the outer world. It varied as well. One time, a year in the nothing could take a minute on the outside. At a different point, it might take a fraction of a second. It depended on what you did on entering, really.
What you set the flow of time to be.

  He’d been focused enough that it wasn’t long at all. To most it probably seemed like he’d been gone for a few minutes. Most of that had been settling the old god in his new home, far away.

  Zack came back, stepping out behind him. They hadn’t crossed inside the void but a lot could be in there, without ever bumping into anything else. There was only one void, after all. Meeting anything there was incredibly hard to do. Not, he’d heard, impossible.

  So far, he’d never seen anything in the void at all. If you didn't take it with you, it wasn’t there, as far as he’d ever found.

  His old friend smiled at him.

  “Did Genesh decide not to show up? I’d figured there’d be a bit more damage to the place, from what Ann told me. That or to come back to find you washing his feet in a bubble bath. From the way she made it sound, that last one was the most likely outcome.”

  Zack walked into the room but didn’t try to touch Troy at all. There was a buzzing though, along his dead skin, which he blocked, using nothing other than focus. After all, even able to take power from the world around him, it wouldn’t serve to waste it. The move got a sharp laugh.

  Sighing, Troy moved a bit himself, then looked at the demon. His friend.

  “He came. A great guy, really. We had a discussion and decided that he’d be best off helping people in a different reality. Ann… She wasn’t really wrong. I beat his influence but it was close. I can see how he could have taken the entire world, Zack. Just by being himself and meeting people. Eventually everyone would love him. Love and serve, without question. Except that, like I told him, that wasn’t going to work on you and your people. I don’t know, I thought it would all be about fighting, and me pulling some kind of massive trick to get them all taken care of.” He smiled, meaning it, still feeling the effect of Genesh. “Then, I doubt that most of the other gods will simply be willing to relocate for the greater good. He wouldn’t have, if I hadn’t…”