War God for Hire- Gladiator by David Burke (books under 200 pages .TXT) 📕

operated. It was as though that other part of him had felt such indignation at being treated in such a way, that he lost control for a second.

It made him again wonder if some part of Krig truly was inside him. Or worse, he was being transformed into a duplicate of the war god. If that was what he had gotten into, he didn’t intend to go quietly.

The ladder was dropped down into his cell and he began the climb out. As he did, he called out in his head, “Hilde, are you okay? Something happened last night. At least I think it was last night.”

An instant later, he heard the sultry voice of the celestial. Except it was slightly off. It had that particular timbre that a woman’s voice had after she had been crying. “I was so worried.”

Then that moment was gone, and her mocking anger resurfaced. “That was really stupid. You have no idea what could have happened to you. Why would you take such a foolish risk?”

“I’m glad that you are okay, too,” Kyle replied, as he followed the guards through the halls. He was getting better at talking to her while also paying attention to what was going on around him.

“What do you mean? The last thing I remember was…” Kyle’s thoughts froze as he remembered the strange gray place and the way he had parted it to see the fiery angel. “Was that you?”

“Yes, you saw me in your mantle. But that isn’t what’s important. You nearly expended all of your essence. I don’t know what would have happened to you if you had spent the last of it,” Hilde replied.

Even as she spoke, he could tell there was something more she wasn’t telling him, but he had to check something first before asking her anything more. He pulled up his character sheet.

Raw Essence: 1,907

“What are you talking about? I have more essence now than I did yesterday.”

“Shows what you know. You were down to less than ten raw essence and were expending it as War Essence as quickly as you could spend it. You may think that you just over-extended yourself and can sleep it off, but you aren’t some mortal. Your very being is composed of that essence, at least in part. You can never let yourself get that low again. Certainly not because you wanted a peek at me.”

“I just was trying to push the meaning of what I was saying more strongly at you, but then I saw this gray stuff and it was everywhere, and somehow I knew I needed to push through to the other side,” Kyle said.

“That gray stuff, as you so lightly called it, was the void. The complete lack of essence that the very planes of existence float in. Your divine mantle is a pocket dimension that holds the idea of war. You are a manifestation of that idea, or Krig was. Now you are something more and less at the same time. But the point is that you are nowhere near ready to pierce the void, let alone travel through it, no matter how much I might wish the truth were different,” Hilde said.

Kyle could hear the fear and anger competing in her voice.

“The way you describe Krig, you make it sound like he was just some war elemental, which brings up the question about what an elemental is, but don’t think this conversation is over. I know that something scared or upset you, and we need to talk about it. My reincarnation resolution is to build better relationships. I never really listened to the women in my life—at least not in my old life. Well, now you’re stuck in my head, and there isn’t anything for me to do but listen to you. I have to think there is some cosmic humor behind that.

“Oh, and was that the real you that I saw sitting on the throne?” Kyle asked. He realized he was rambling a bit, but something about the night before had him all worked up. He felt a true connection to Hilde that he hadn’t felt before.

“That is my physical manifestation. I’m sorry that you saw me like that, m’lord,” Hilde replied.

“Sorry that I saw you like what? You are stunning. I can’t imagine that you could possibly look more beautiful. So don’t give me any of that just rolled out of bed BS. And what’s with the m’lord all of a sudden? Trying to change the subject?”

“Not at all. I just realized something. At first, I was shocked by what you accomplished, and then I was worried for you. Now though, I feel guilty for doubting you. Only one of the gods could have accomplished what you did on mere instinct. It isn’t a minor thing. I have been treating you disrespectfully and I apologize, m’lord. Krig liked to be called Lord Krig, Lord Battle, or War God. It is clear that you aren’t there yet, but equally clear that is what you are destined to become,” Hilde replied.

Kyle wasn’t quite sure how to take that. Sure, he wanted her to stop holding back and work with him more, but that didn’t mean he was ready to have someone bowing and scraping before him, even if it was only inside his head. Not that he couldn’t imagine some fun things she could do on her knees if she really looked like what he had seen. The irony being that he was a slave now, even if he felt like that was only a temporary situation.

“How about for now you just call me Kyle and we figure out the rest of it? I have so many questions, that I’m not sure where to begin. I want to know why you were crying, and don’t try to deny it. I know what I heard in your voice. But as much as I want to know that, I need to know what an elemental is, since I got identified as that