The Devil's Smile

Chapter 7

Red started dragging me to the now waiting transport her grip on my hand tight with nervous energy. People reached out and touched us as we left. Dwellers were superstitious by nature as far as I could see and believed that these were the actions which would garner favour with the gods. This was why reserved the Demi gods the way we did. I mean other than the fact that the Demi gods would probably burn our villages to the ground if we didn’t. We wanted our the gods to reward us to see our views and to recognise our people. So when any of the dwellers were chosen to serve the Demi gods the others always made us so show of their support. They hope that eventually the dwellers would find themselves recognised as more than just the bottom wrong of sentient life in this particular world.

I had never reached out to touch any of the previous dwellers because I assumed differently. I was the bottom feeder of the bottom feeders and in these 18 years of this particular life in this world had taught me anything worse that nothing ever changed. Dwellers will always going to be worthless to the world and I was always going to be the worthless to the worthless.

As if I had summoned the accident by thought my feet tangled in a rough section of the brush by the side of the dirt road and before Red could balance me no doubt the reason she had chosen to utilise her crazy muscle man strength and manhandle me in the first place the back shot from my hand and hit the side of the card. A cart which board the very regal Crest of Godville the mark of the creator. The original God. His mark was staff with the spearhead made of silver. always silver because silver was the colour of the creator. I had heard ones that all gods were defined by certain colours but the only particular lesson that had stuck with me that the fact that deaths colour was black. It seemed so pRedictable. Where was the creativity gods? I didn't see why did couldn't have pink. Or purple. Or what if he liked glitter?

I was distracted from my thoughts as my backdrop heavily onto the dirt beside the cart bellowing up a plume of dust. And actual gasp overslept out in mass on shock due to what I had done wore off. Come on people. As far as Red told me I had been clumsy an accident prone my entire life. They couldn't be surprised right? Did they just think by being chosen I would suddenly emulate the grace of a demigod? Well that would have been nice but I was a pragmatic sort of dweller. The clumsy curse that I had been born with was going nowhere although I did take a moment to be grateful that I had neither killed anyone nor disabled the vehicle in a way that would render it completely useless.

“Charm!” Red hissed. “What the hell is in your bag?”

I took a closer look at the Crest. There was now a dent in it right in the centre. Knocking the pain street tough all little off kilter. s**t. Striding a few feet forward dragging Red with me a smashed my back up again.

“I think it was the saucepan,” I whispeRed.

“Why is there a saucepan in your bag?” She asked glaring at the bag in question.

“Won’t we need to cook with it?”

She slapped a hand before she could laugh but I had caught the start of her laugh. I brandished my bag at her fully prepaRed to wake her with it and gatheRed people gasped again.

Red only shook her head at me.

“How many strikes do you get before they bleed you?” I was half joking as we were forced to turn at the gatheRed villagers and wave.

She blinked a few times her mouth opening and closing before she was finally able to say ,”it's your own fault Charm. What did I tell you about walking?”

“That I should leave it to the experts,” I stumbled trying to sound chastised.

the stark white of her skin was a little to pronounced and I knew she feared for me even though she was teasing me in the same way she always had. I wasn't the only one who had kept up last night by visions of many ways in which I would almost definitely be tortured. Dwellers might live simple minion task driven lives but it was reasonably safe in the villages. My curse was barely tolerated here but there was nothing that could be done to actually get rid of me. Most dwellers figured that one year soon I would simply take care of the problem myself by tripping into one of the spiked pits that bordered the village to protect us from animals and accidentally stumbling into untamed Bullock territory. Been there done that wasn't even that close to dying.

“Come on.” Red dragged me the last few feet.

My bag was now being stored in the back by the guide. Though not before he searched his suspiciously. He didn't even open hers. Hardly surprising. One look at Red and it was pretty clear that the most important illegal thing that she would be capable of smuggling tune into Godville would be a pair of underpants with not even an accidental rip in them. Not even a deliberate rip and accidental one.

The guide was probably employed by Godville Academy full he would take us across the 7 rings and a journey which would take many days and then he would deliver me to my doom. I examined the card what did that you told we not sturdy enough to withstand my bad luck. It was one with a covered Round Top cargo hold. I would be there when the night fell full 2 blocks for secured with multitude of bells which had been woven from the strongest vines. Vines which I knew only grew in the 2 rings out from Godville. Not much else was able to contain the huge black beasts. I passed a moment to admire them because they could do know harm to me ultrasound up in leather harnesses. They were relatively hairless or they had really short shiny coats.

Greetings dwellers. The guide was younger than I had expected probably around 30 years of age with a full head of orange hair and a spattering of birds spot across his nose and light blue eyes. My name is Sarath I will be escorting you safely to Godville where you will begin your blessed service to the Demi gods.

At cheer went up from my village. It wasn't the first one.

Crying would be much more appropriate eyesight whispered to Red they could at least fake sadness until we left.

With the shape of her head she nudged to me forward and both of us claimed on to the back bench of the seat the guide had the front and he would use the belts to control the card. From this high vantage I could see the crowds and the people of the village whom I was leaving behind.

The bullocks upted from the drunken crowd. They had to be drunk. There was literally no other excuse for the grown as dwellers to act so freaking happy about us leaving. Nun. They had definitely moved past their shock of me being chosen and even now taking it as a gift from the gods.

The bastards.

Sarath was now speaking with corporal Thomas. I saw the exchange of goods and probably tokens. Villages earn tokens for their hard work and something like a mean one million tokens got you the grand prize of moon dwellers to do more work. Hardly worth the effort if you asked me by tokens where life around here. I was pretty sure that our leader slept in a bed of round shiny disks.

Sarath climbed back onto the cart signalling the fact that it was now time to go corporal Thomas stepped to our side. “The 7th ring wishes you a long life of servitude. You have been blessed. You must do everything in your power to bring pride to your people. Anything you do reflects on us. Your village is rewarded for your hard work.”

Right. Give me a moment to wipe my tears.

Red gave him a genial nod. “We will make our village proud. You can expect many tokens for our service.”

So many. Except all those subtracted away when I accidentally glued one sacred demigods head to another secret demigods backside.

Sarath lifted the belts and with one last wave we were moving. I sent a single glance bag silently bidding the woman whom I had come to know my mother in the past few hours. She was a bit of a drunk fluency. I had very few things which were mine. And I hope that she was one of those things. Red squeezed my hand and it was enough for me to turn in my seat and face towards new future. Everything was going to change now. Whether it was for better or worse no one knew but only the gods.

In the first 4 days of the journey we had suffeRed 2 cracked cartwheels and escaped Bullock and 3 wild animal attacks. Considering my propensity for disaster I was considering it adoring success. We were now in the 3rd ring and it was the first time I could see the difference in the land. The 6th 5th and 4th rings had been much like hours. With yellow dirt roads hard unforgiving land, stone buildings and bulls in pens. Shirt their villages might have a few more trees extra water wells may be a sandwich could be used for breathing but for most part it was quite similar.

The 3rd drink was however when the world started to change.

The roads were paved. The houses had proper glass windows set into decorative mansion work skills and the people barely blinked at the passing transport card even though it had the symbol of creator on 8. It was something that the apparently saw often.

“This is Tridon.” Red whisper to me even though nobody could hear us over the noisy turning of the wheels against the paved road,” the first demigod city. Or the last actually depending on which way you are coming from. The next is Dwelvdon and Soldon and then we will be in Godville.”

I didn't bother to ask how she knew that. She knew everything because she clearly stole all the good jeans from the rest of the pathetic villagers. I set up higher in my seat peering at the faces that were so completely oblivious to ask the Demi gods and their families didn't look any different to us dwellers not really. I was staring at a group of them now as they gatheRed in front of a shopfront waiting in line for something with hempen sacks in their produce loaded up into their arms.

“They don't look that sacred,” I muttered to Red.

She followed the direction of my gaze and then started on a laugh ,”those are dwellers like us Charm. The Demi gods keep slaves even in Tridon.”