The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2 novel Chapter 116

Part 18

“Raising children has been the most wonderful and beautiful part of our lives, and it’s also been our greatest accomplishment. As parents, we hoped to produce children who were greater than ourselves, and we did. Though our children are only seven years old, already they’ve surpassed us in most areas of endeavor. They’ll accomplish more, and help all of Kellaran more, than we ever will.

“But I’ll return to the subject of our children in a few minutes. For now, suffice to say that today they and others helped me fulfill the task that had been set for me by the gods.

“Before The War Of The Founding really got going, after I Healed Dalia and Bezedil, a bunch of us went to Hilia to relax for a few minutes, and we were visited by the gods. The gods told us that we were Candidates for Divinity, that we might become gods ourselves, and that I’d probably have to get it first for it to work for the rest of us. They encouraged us to try to attain divinity as soon as possible, so that Kellaran would have more gods when we faced the demons. But they couldn’t tell us how to do it without thousands of years of study.

“Today, with the help of my family and closest friends, I discovered how to become a god. And I discovered how to help anyone who has the potential for it to become a god as well. Soon, there will be new gods of Kellaran.”

The crowd had been silent and attentive, but now a murmur of many quiet speakers began. Mark continued as the sound and excitement of the people rose with his every word.

“I also discovered how to tell if a person has the potential to become a god, and I designed a spell that will automatically check every person in the world, and give me the identities of everyone who has that potential.

“When we’re all done speaking here, I’ll cast the spell that detects those who have divine potential. Three minutes after that, I’ll know who all of them are except those in the other time-bubbles, and each of them will know that they’ve been selected.”

The buzz of the crowd was getting loud now, but Mark just increased his own volume and kept going.

“It’s a big step, becoming a god. And to be honest, I’m still a little hesitant about taking that step. I made an agreement with the gods where I didn’t have to start working on it until the end of the two-month duration of the time-bubbles, and I’m sure they expected me to take at least a week to get it, so I’m going to wait until then. When the time-bubbles end, we’ll take a week to welcome their occupants back to the world, and to start integrating what they’ll have discovered with our efforts to prepare for war against the demons, and check them for the potential.

“So most Candidates will have about seven weeks to prepare themselves. One week after the time-bubbles end I’ll call them to me, and we’ll all become gods, unless they absolutely refuse it. And those who refuse had best prepare to be extensively debated by the Pantheon about it. If any need more time before they agree, the gods might provide it for them in another round of time-bubbles. But one way or another, we have to maximize our capabilities before we face the demons.”

He took a long pause to give them a chance to absorb what he’d said.

“Now I’ll return to the subject of our children. Like all parents I suppose, I could go on for hours and hours about their abilities and accomplishments, but they deserve to present their own accomplishments, so I’ll merely introduce them. And in this case, our children includes Povon and Kragorram’s son.”

He paused for a moment as the three moved away from the center of the dais and were joined by a beaming Povon and Kragorram, then raised his hands and announced with a booming voice and a joyous smile;

“Good people of Kellaran, we most proudly introduce; The Governors of Hiliani!”

The four youngsters appeared in formation on the center of the dais facing their parents, and bowed to them with happy smiles.

Mark formally introduced them with their full names and every honorific they had, and each bowed again as they were introduced.