back for more

As Rory had spent most of his life not praying—not actively avoiding their capricious deities, but not exactly looking for them either—he had also spent most of life avoiding ethical questions about sessions with them. Did one pray for one's own gain? Was it, ultimately, selfish to ask for their attention? Or did they enjoy dropping by on countless mortals, offering advice, guidance, or the occasional verbal lashing?

Was what Rory was planning to ask for selfish—to ask for more of what made the Gods ignore him anyway?

The answer was probably yes.

He had a complicated relationship with that knowledge, even as he thought of the many things that had happened recently, ranging from the blight and the Undine to Zariah apparently making some unsavory threats, and the attempts to close the Loreseekers down, Jigano being more or less underground...

Rory was already lost, so why not lose himself a little more in the process?

This time, as he lit his candle among the stones, his offering was an apple. Perhaps it was more of a Frey thing, but it was a good apple and it wasn't like anyone ever showed up to take his offerings anyway. He placed both candle and apple at the altar. "Ludo," he said, knowing that what he wanted wasn't exactly in the realm of any of them, but the ragged death-child maybe knew other things he needed to ask. "Please, if you have a moment to spare, I would like to talk with you."

Shadows race across the ground and in an instant, the apple has a bite taken out of it. The white flesh immediately yellows, and there is smugness in the air. Why break the streak of silence now? The shadows withdraw.

His previous sessions had been uneventful vigils, perhaps his hair tousled by wind, but nothing substantial had happened—nothing that wasn't more than just a quiet night, undisturbed and uninterrupted by other humans. This one was slightly different: shadows rushed in, tangible and unreal and not cast by anything his eyes could see. They swarmed onto the apple, a chunk of it suddenly missing like the darkness had taken a bite out of it, leaving yellowed flesh in its wake.

And then...

Nothing.

The shadows pulled back, leaving only the apple with its odd bite, and the silence with Rory's heart thundering in it. Was this-? Was Ludo here? Was—

The minutes passed in uneventful silence. Rory's heart calmed down. His brain caught up. He would not be heard today either. So he remained a little longer, before bowing his head and touching his forehead in quiet salute, and leaving the shadows and their apple behind.