Or was it Wizardress? The thought popped up, and I quickly dismissed it. Despite the combination of a strange word and some sort of ingredient, I couldn’t be sure.

  “Pack Matron, are you a Wizard?” I asked as she removed the collar from my neck.

  “Yes, Mage. That is my class.”

  My body shuddered as I was suddenly flushed with energy once more. I had gotten used to the cold and empty caused by the seliestarium collar’s influence or sucking up of my magic. But the difference was night and day. I was ready for anything. Anything but what came next.

  “Before you leave, there is one last thing that you must do,” the Pack Matron said. “You must face the Matrons.”

  “Face them, like in battle or discussion?” Harper asked.

  The Pack Matron grinned at the question. “Sometimes, friend Harper, there is no difference.”

  At my mental request, Vessa left her play with the gnoll pups to join us. There was a reluctance in her, but once she was aware of what was happening, all she wanted to do was be with me.

  The Pack Matron led us through the town to a circular building in the middle of town. Many gnolls watched us, primarily male gnolls, watching after or carrying their pups. There were a few female gnolls, but they were young and not quite ready to leave their father’s or older brother’s sides. I recognized one as a Bone Shaman from the battle and later man-versus-gnoll fight, and had to assume that most of them were among those that we had fought.

  With horror, I realized that there were gnoll pups running around that were now fatherless because of me. And wondered how that was dealt with. I didn’t want to ask out in the open, so I held my question in, feeling more of a monster than I had before. It’s one thing to know you are killing someone’s sibling or parent philosophically, but to have your nose rubbed in the grim and messy aftermath of such an act…

  I would have to make up for it, I thought. I didn’t know how, but I would figure out something that I could do for the tribe and the fatherless pups. Losing a father was something I had experience with. Nothing I could do would ever replace those I’d killed, but perhaps I could help ease the pain.

  The inside of the circular building was well-lit, clean, and very pleasant. Several gnoll women stood around talking in small groups. When we walked in, they all turned to look first at the Pack Matron and then at me.

  It was like I was a juicy steak and they were a pack of predators starved for three days: very uncomfortable.

  “Matrons, this is the Mage,” the Pack Matron intoned. “He is coming before you for judgement and instruction.”

  This set off a flurry of nods.

  One of the gnoll Matrons stepped forward and addressed the Pack Matron. “We will take this from here, Pack Matron. Your part in this is complete.”

  The Pack Matron bowed and left without a word. Harper and Arilyn stepped up next to me, like it was rehearsed.

  The gnoll Matron looked at my two friends standing with me and nodded. “It is good that you look to protect this man, but he is in no danger here. Please feel free to leave him in our care.”

  Arilyn stepped forward, shaking her head. “I’m afraid I have to disagree, Matron. Finn is not prepared to face something like this alone. After all, we are his team. A Mage alone cannot do what the Voice wants.”

  “And what would you know of the wants and plans of the Voice, little Cleric?” asked another Matron. This one was older than the others, and a scar covered half her face. “The Gods themselves have no sway over the System.”

  With a smile and a bow, Arilyn addressed the older Matron directly. “Eldest Matron, I am the only Initiate of the Goddess of Knowledge. There is much that I know about the System. Perhaps as much or more than you?”

  The Eldest Matron attempted to stare down my lady of the sun-kissed curls. Arilyn snorted and seemed to grow taller. “Do you seek to challenge Knowledge, Eldest Matron? I am filled with her Divine Will.”

  The old gnoll woman kept up her glare for a moment more before bowing her head and stepping back. “Oh, I think not. I respect your mistress of Knowledge and Love too much for that.”

  Another gnoll Matron stepped forward, her eyes angry and full of hate. “I do not. As her representative in this world, you allowed the death of my husband at the hands of this Mage,” she said, straining to keep her emotions in check. “He humiliated and butchered my Anksol!”

  There were whispers of “Calm yourself, sister!” and “You are not the only widow, behave!”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  She became enraged at the words and howled her pain at the other Matrons and turned her gaze upon me and screamed. “I feel my litter quickening within me. They will witness their father’s murderer punished!”

  As she took a step toward me, and the other Matrons restrained her, my heart broke. Vessa, head to Harper, I thought at my ward. I need you safe, and I don’t know if you’d get hurt or not.

  She nuzzled me and did a little hop over to Harper’s shoulder, who looked at her in surprise and then at me.

  But before Harper could react further, I stepped forward.

  “Stop! Let her go! She’s right,” I exclaimed, falling to my knees. “Everything she said was true. I slaughtered several of your men. Even if it was in defense of my friends and myself, I feel responsible. I don’t want to die, but what I did to them was wrong. Cruel even. I’ll accept whatever punishment she wishes.”

  I bowed my head and waited. Tears ran down my face and splashed on the floor. For her and the countless gnoll pups for whom I owed for taking their fathers from them. I embraced my shame and horror at my actions. I barely heard her footsteps as she approached me, grabbing the front of my poncho and lifting me off the ground until I was at her eye level.

  Her hot breath blasted my cheeks as she bared her teeth. I looked into her eyes, seeing the pain there of her loss and her desire to rip out my throat. She searched my face, and her eyes softened slightly. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, and she dropped me, turning away.

  “I can’t forgive you. I’ll never forgive you. That you let Nasca’s husband live, blinded as he is, and smashed mine into the dirt…” she broke off into sobs, finding comfort in the arms of another Matron.

  Splayed on the floor, I stayed where she had dropped me. “I’m sorry. I wish I could blame the Voice and this stupid test he’s forced your people to do over and over again… but it was my magic, my intentions, that killed him.”

  Sobbing, she cried out, “I v-v-vote for supporting the Mage!” She was escorted out by a couple of other Matrons, who added their support before leaving.

  One by one, they all added their votes of support. The Eldest Matron nudged me with her foot. “Well, Mage. You won us over far quicker than I expected. The Pack Matron was correct about you and your willingness to stand up to women. Though I am old enough to know that your people’s culture differs from that of the gnolls. Men in control and whatnot. All of it is quite silly when you get to my age.”

  I looked up at the old gnoll woman. “So what? Just because I have a heart and recognize the pain I’ve caused, I pass your latest little test?”

  “Essentially. Or at least, they all bought it,” she said, laughing. More of a cackle, really. “Ahhhh. All the Matrons are so young, so uptight. Here’s the truth, Finn. Our little task that has practically destroyed the gnoll people directly results from something we did to piss the Voice off. I’m probably one of the last to know and understand that.”

  “I’m sorry?” I asked, confused.

  “Oh, don’t you go apologizing to me, boy. I don’t need some young male trying to get into my pants. I prefer my men older at this point!”

  She laughed so hard at her joke, I was beginning to wonder if she was going to have a stroke. But she was able to get control of herself.

  “Eh. So. Your task is to help the Voice, right? That’s a double-edged sword. The system gets more functional, and we get more stuff. For killing or finishing quests. Then what? The Voice only exists for bringing the System fully online, whatever that means.”

  “I hate to be that guy, Eldest Matron, but it sounds like you’re just rambling,” I said. “I wanted to be out of here yesterday.”

  “For a rude, overly powerful twat, you are not that bad. I like you, Finn. So, here’s the deal. The Frozen night in lace is a person.”

  “I fucking knew it! That stupid doggerel that the Voice is peddling isn’t deep or clever,” I crowed.

  “And you were right. But there’s a catch. This person, she’s a villain from the Third Cycle. Apparently, she was trying to conquer the world, and the Voice didn’t like that. And from what has been passed down, she’s dangerous.”

  Harper smacked the back of my head. “You bastard, you were going to sacrifice yourself! Again!” she growled at me. But she turned to the old gnoll woman. “So he’s being sent to what, kill her? Free her? We might be many things, but we’re not assassins.”

  The Eldest Matron shrugged her shoulders. “How the hell should I know? The Voice never mentioned that. And I doubt the Voice will tell any of us until Finn has made a choice! Because that is what all this is. The Mage is given a selection of choices. Maybe the Mage makes the right choice, and things improve. Mage makes the wrong choice,” she explained, finishing with a drawing of her finger across her neck.

  “Ouch. No pressure,” I mentioned.

  “That’s the long of it, young Mage. Good luck, and I’d suggest leaving as soon as you can. I might not respect the latest crop of Matrons, but I hate to see my girls in pain. They need time to heal.”

  We left, saying our goodbyes to the Pack Matron and Morcus. I was able to get a few bottles of honeywine and a recipe for a basic one type of the brew. It seemed almost fake to me, but I would run it past the Emberveil Brew Mistress when I made my way back to my adopted kobold family.

  Arilyn rode next to me, while Harper rode ahead, deep in her own thoughts.

  “Finn,” Arilyn said. “For what it’s worth, my Goddess agrees with the Eldest Matron’s assessment of the Voice’s intentions. Her understanding of the Voice and System is somewhat limited, however.”

  “How is that even possible? I thought she was part of the whole pantheon of this world. What could prevent the very Goddess of Knowledge from knowing something? And what’s with the whole ‘and Love’ thing that they mentioned?” I asked.

  Arilyn gave out the first embarrassed-sounding laugh I had ever heard from her. “She is a rather new Goddess. In the grand scheme of things, when the Builders made this world and the System, they left openings for Gods and Goddesses to rise up in the world. Those spots were connected to Purposes and Roles that dictated what those who would fill them would be. Would Become.”

  “So they didn’t just pop into being or left behind by these Builders?”

  “No. Not much is known about the Builders, other than that they build worlds. Then they move on. The Gods as we know them now were once mortals. Mostly, they don’t know this anymore, other than Missana, as stories and histories are her domain. Her daughter is the Goddess of Knowledge and Love. There were several domains that didn’t need to be filled at first and are being filled as needed. My Goddess as a divine child, filled a domain connected to her mother.”

  “Okay, that makes… sense. So this is normal. How many more of the Gods' children are aware of their parents' original mortality?”

  “None.”

  “Oh, because they don’t have a domain like Knowledge?” I asked.

  “Because there is only one child of the Gods.”