Another flash fiction piece about unearthing that which should remain buried.
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Aenda’s laborers spent weeks hauling the idol from the sand-buried temple. Finally, they wrestled it onto the sledge, behind an endless line of oxen. He had never managed a rig this big before.
Aenda was no expert in Azza’at religions. He didn’t recognize this foreign winged god, or what it held in all those hands. But he was spooked.
He wasn’t alone. The locals wouldn’t touch it bare-handed, babbling about being possessed. Aenda’s mage found no magic, no curses, nothing to fear. Still…
Did it move? It seemed turned toward him more.
It occurred to Aenda to move closer. He climbed onto the sledge, hesitated, flattened his hands against the silver surface.
Thoughts of his god Sambar tingled through Aenda’s mind, a twitching almost-recognition of something vital.
It occurred to him that the idol should not leave. Of course.
It occurred to him that he should call the lightning. But he couldn’t—
Lightning rained from a cloudless sky, blackening bodies, incinerating tents, shattering the sledge.
Aenda wobbled, hands fused to the statue, eyes cloudy white.
It occurred to him that he was not finished.
…
The bones left behind posed a mystery. Why so many oxen, pulling an empty sledge?
word count: 200
This story was inspired by the Sunday Photo Fiction challenge. Click on the blue frog below to read the wonderful stories submitted by other authors. There you will also see the REAL photo prompt, which is of a big rig truck (inspirational, but not something we have in Eneana, so I substituted the closest I could to stay on theme).
Nice take on the prompt. 🙂 Aenda is off to a great start…a powerful one!
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Thanks! As for Aenda, it’s always hard to say when you start messing with the gods — this is either an incredibly powerful new beginning for him, or a terrible end.
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Yikers! That seems like a very powerful idol. Even his mages saw nothing dangerous in it, but it was very powerful to possess him nonetheless. A very imaginative story. I really enjoyed it.
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Thanks! Yeah, that’s the catch with magic in the world of Eneana. Your ability to detect, identify, counter, etc. other people’s magic is affected by your relative magical strength. So just because you don’t see anything, it doesn’t mean nothing’s there. Beware the “false negative”.
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Most interesting. I must explore this world of Eneana further. 🙂
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I’m curious whether you all read the “disturbing” in the title as a verb or an adjective… 😉
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Heh I like that. The way you adjusted it for what you needed, turning it into the big rig of its time. The machinations of the Gods are not easily understood.
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I’m glad you like it, thanks! When I first saw the photo of the big rig I thought there wasn’t any way I could make that work for my world, But then, hm, if Sunday Fiction doesn’t mind me stretching it a LOT, then okay….
And yes, gods in this world are also hard to understand sometimes. Like, if I was an intelligent idol stuck in a buried temple, I’d think it would be an *improvement* to be rescued and taken to somewhere that has people – i.e., potential followers for the god I represent. But noooo, this one only wants to go back into his temple and stay there. Go figure.
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The God of procrastination 😉
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You painted a very vivid and slightly alarming scene. I enjoyed reading this!
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Thanks! But only slightly alarming? Hm, maybe I need more gore next time. 😉
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