3.84 The Finger of Blame

         Life in Tora was working out much better for Bell than it had been in Anur. Never in his wildest dreams had he even entertained the possibility of filling such a powerful position as General, let alone so soon, but here he was, the new General Bell, god of War, Torus's right hand man and poised to command great armies. Adon too was soaring to success, in equal velocity as Bell. Noted for his productive ventures, Malodon awarded him a position in the Firmary. Adon, god of Destiny, was in charge of the New Nefilim race, a challenge that had so far only ever been met by the great Malodon himself.

         However success hadn't come directly to all those who joined the Tora Brotherhood. Things weren't working out so well for Josh. Impressed by his cooking skills, Malodon failed to award him with a position in the Firmary, nor was he offered a role in the New Nefilim Breeding Program, given that cooking fell under the category of slavery.

         Doubtful he would see a Vimana make it this far through all the smog, Malodon scanned the horizon for a ship, daily. Today there was an unmistakable dot out in the grey mass, Torus had spotted it too.

         "It's time for us to pack up" he advised. "I'll be back with materials and supplies in a month, make sure everything is as it should be. Be a Good King. Offer the Lunies some hope. Fetch me Josh."

         "You missed some fat!" Torus hissed as he hovered around the new chef. He had hoped to keep Josh around, he was a fairly good cook but Malodon had other plans for him. "Malodon want's to talk to you" he picked up a slice of meat and slipped it in his mouth. "Once you're done cooking our food, of course."

         "Eternal Elon! Have a look at that!" Seton passed the telescope to Orius. Through the smoggy fog it was hard to tell exactly where they were. For a moment Orius was lost as he studied the mountains on the horizon, there was no mistaking the outline of Kergal. But if that was Kergal then where was Mount Ekar? He checked his compass again, it made no sense. Was it really Kergal?

         He returned his focus to the dark land mass ahead, there was no doubt he was looking at the craggy silhouette of Lemuria... There was only one, shocking conclusion.

         "My god... It's all gone!"

         "Ha-haaaa!" Seton clapped his hands, high on the rush of the shocking reality. Halios was gone too? Losing Halios made losing the Mount Ekar gold mine a worthy sacrifice. "So much for his ridiculous bomb-proof pyramids! Ha-haaa! My, my Nolan, look what a good job you did, I tremble in fear of your wrath!"

         Dumb with shock, Nolan stared out at the void in utter disbelief... What had he done?

         "Look!" Orius offered him the telescope. Nolan strained to focus on the shapes in the foggy distance, He could see Finias and Gorias, but no matter which way he turned the focus the tell tale peak of Mount Ekar was gone, there was nothing but a grey mass of sea… Orius snatched the telescope back to look again.

         "Just think of all those incredible inventions of mine, so safely stored away!" Nolan felt his heart plunge to the bottom of the sea along with them. "Wow... Half of Lemuria's missing too…" Old rage was unleashing, rapidly. "My god, even Crystal Mountain's gone! What the hell did you do?"

         "Let me see!" Nolan snatched the telescope back again, he fumbled with the focus, hoping they were all wrong, but no matter how hard he looked, it was true. That was Kergal and there was no Atlan to be seen, Mount Ekar was completely gone!

         "Mighty Medel…" Seton snatched the telescope from his hands.

         "You can beg Medel for His forgiveness once you've found the gold."

         "Let me see!" Dion snatched the telescope from Seton's hand and scanned the coastline. "My god, it looks like…  A Barren Wasteland… Do you think they even survived?"

         "I don't care as long as we get our gold" Seton reminded, snatching the telescope back. "Look at that landscape" he remarked. "Burned to a crisp! They may have plenty of gold, but they'll need our food and supplies to survive!"

         "You best be careful" Orius advised, "if any of those two-faced aribu survived, they will hold you responsible for their loss."

         "It wasn't my fault!" Nolan protested. "It was only supposed to flood the Underworld! Besides. I’ve got friends in Lemuria."

         "If they survived."

         "Friends? Like who?"

         "Josh, for one" Josh was the only Ace up his sleeve.

         "Josh?" Dion chuckled. "For all you know, he's the one who took the gold. You may have to kill him when you get there, are you prepared to do that?"

         "Why don't you trust him?" Nolan snapped. "Look how well he managed the Soloha, not one slip, he's one of the best dealers we had!"

         "Josh is a liar" Dion replied. "And a damn good one. Was he working for you or was he working for Torus?"

         Nolan didn’t want to hear anymore. "Do you really think Josh could have taken the gold? How would Josh be able to pull something like that off?"

         "Oh, I doubt it was Josh." Dion smiled, the idea was entertaining but not plausible. "I said he was a liar, not clever. There was only one weak Nefilimish link in the plan, hopefully you covered it with the wine."

         "The wine…" Nolan wanted to die already. Not only was the Finger of Blame being pointed at him for the destruction of Atlan and the loss of all of those fine inventions, Dion was insinuating blame for the poisoned wine too now.

         "Don't worry, my friend" Dion patted him on the back, propping him up. "I'm on your side. I'm sure you'll find the gold in Kergal just like you said. I'm sure the survivors will willingly give it all back in exchange for some groceries. Don't let Seton rattle your nerves, he's just doing it for fun."