Mantle of the Gods

They’d resurrected Wurn.

As far as Gods went, it seemed like he wasn’t fully brought back, because he didn’t have legs. He was also not moving or looking around or anything. It was like they had summoned the image of him.

I knew what was about to happen as I tried to get to my feet.

“RIX! DON’T!”

There was a spark as Rix activated her ability and shimmered into view behind Wurn. She had aimed for his neck, but her blade didn’t go through him. Instead, there was a loud BOOM and she was knocked back twenty feet. She rolled on the ground. When she stopped, she was smoking and wasn’t moving.

“Gesai!” I looked around for the redhead as I ran towards my teammate. When I got to her, I checked for a pulse. She started to glow green as Gesai ran over and knelt beside her and began healing her.

“She’ll be okay.” Gesai looked at me, “What happened?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

“Stop him!” A brown-haired, green-eyed woman in her eighties wearing a medical jacket was pointing at Aryne.

I stood up and saw the black-haired man was running towards whatever the thing in the middle of the circle was.

Whisper tried to intercept him, but a red-haired man and a red-haired woman intercepted him. He was having trouble taking both of them on at the same time. The blonde Bandit was stronger than them, but they were working together so well that they managed to keep him busy.

Aryne reached the ghostly image and instead of being repelled by it, the ghostly image began to crackle purple sparks as it shrank down to cover him as he hovered just above the purple pool.

The Cultists began falling down at once chanting their praises while the Adventurers stared in complete confusion.

“Arrest them all!” The brown-haired woman that I assumed was Peregrine Publian grabbed the nearest cultist and started to put restraints on him.

A bolt of purple lightning shot through the air and hit her in the chest. It knocked her back and left a black mark on her white jacket. Peregrine dropped to one knee as she began healing herself.

YOU SEE?

Aryne’s voice was almost like there was a deep echo as he talked. It was hard to focus on him as the purple glow shone in the darkness.

BOW TO YOUR NEW GOD!!!

“You’re not a God.” Peregrine sneered, “You’re just a weak man with an ego that’s too big for your head. I think I even see some leaking out.” She stood up and locked eyes with him.

YOU WILL OBEY ME!!!

The force of his voice was enough to drive most of the Adventurers to their knees. Except I didn’t feel anything. I mean, I felt the vibrations around me, but it was like this order was passing right through me.

Gesai grabbed my arm and yanked me down. She glared at me, grabbed my head and shoved my face into the ground.

As soon as she let go, I lifted my head a little to see what was happening.

Whisper, Tophua, Peregrine, and a red-haired, brown-eyed woman in smooth leather armor were the only ones not on their faces. Tophua was on a knee, but he’d managed to mostly resist.

Rix started moving and Gesai held her down. I guess I needed to count Gesai among those who could resist too because she was sitting down between myself and Rix.

IF YOU WILL NOT BOW. YOU DIE!