I AM A GOD

Chapter 2

They held him down from every side, tying his hands and feet together.

Henry struggled, trying to break free from their strong hold, but every attempt ended in failure.

Compared to these mages who had real power and could control the mana around them, he was nothing.

His world was restricted to the rough bark of the wooden stake pressing against his back and the coarse rope burning into his wrists.

"This is going to be fun," Oregon whispered under his breath, snickering like an evil scientist who had just come up with another evil invention.

Oregon and his lackeys had not stopped at beating him. They used their combined mana to levitate the stake, suspending Henry five feet in the air directly over the centre of the rushing water.

"Please, Oregon," Henry gasped, his voice cracking as they circled him with high-pitched mockery. "Get me down. The ropes are too tight.

"At the end of the day, we are still classmates!"

"You are exactly right!" Divia’s voice turned grim and dark. "And that is what we are correcting. By the time we are done, no one will have to call you a classmate again."

A chorus of mocking laughter erupted from the bank. Oregon stood with his arms crossed, a cruel smirk playing on his lips.

"Why are you begging us, Stormlight? Use that legendary magic of yours."

"I can think of a few options for you," Shong added. "Burn the ropes, float yourself down or summon the wind to carry you. Oh, I forgot, you can’t do any of that."

"There’s something you could do, though," Oregon said. "You could whistle that cheating tune to your brother so he can spell you out of here!"

Their laughter echoed across the water.

"Or are you waiting for your twin to come and tuck you in?"

"Maybe he’s waiting for the water spirits to save him," Divia jeered, tossing a small pebble that struck Henry square in the forehead.

"Look at him, hanging there like a piece of salted meat."

Henry squeezed his eyes shut. He reached deep inside himself, searching for that spark he had practised thousands of times.

‘Just one spark,’ he pleaded internally. ‘Just enough to singe the hemp.’

He felt the familiar strain in his spirit, but it hit the same wall. Every incantation died before the magic could reach his hands.

"Look at his face!" Shong pointed. "He’s actually trying! He looks like he’s about to pop a vein just to make a candle flame!"

"Or maybe he’s trying to poop!" Bel added, sending them into another fit of laughter.

Henry’s breath became shallow. The combination of the tight ropes and the mental strain was becoming too much. His head slowly lolled forward.

They combined their mana again, and the temperature of the water began to climb, slowly at first, until steam rose from its surface.

Now, Henry understood what they were trying to do, and panic broke across his face as fear gagged his throat.

"You aren’t going to boil me alive, are you?" He could feel the warm steam against his skin now, and his heart pounded loudly against his chest.

"Did you think we brought you here to give you the warm bath you can’t get for yourself?" Oregon laughed. "Wake up from your sleep, boy!"

"We weren’t joking when we said you looked like salted meat. If you weren’t so slow, you would have known what the stake was meant for. Besides, you came out here yourself, so no one will ever know what happened here.

"That is if they even care enough to find out!"

Their laughter rose with the temperature of the water.

Henry’s skin burned, his eyes ached and his heart pounded painfully against his chest.

"Please, stop this!" he begged quietly as the water boiled beneath him and his life gradually drained away, but his words were lost beneath the echoes of their laughter.

‘I hate this,’ he thought, his consciousness flickering with anger, frustration and self-hatred.

‘I hate them. I hate my life. I hate being so worthless.’

His skin felt like it was boiling as the steam rose no longer only from the water, but from his body.

Henry held on until his body passed its limit.

‘I wish I even had a chance!’

With a final gasp of breath, he passed out.

On the bank, the laughter died.

"Oregon, he’s not breathing," Bel whispered, backing away from the water.

"He’s faking it!" Oregon snapped, but his face had turned ghostly pale. "Nobody saw us. We were never here. Let’s go!"

The bullies turned and bolted into the woods, leaving Henry hanging silently over the dark, boiling water.

A golden glow appeared between the trees a few moments later.

Alistair stepped into the clearing, but he did not call Henry’s name.

His brother’s pain had been screaming through their link for several minutes. Alistair had felt every second of it from the lodge, but he remained there until the pain suddenly disappeared.

Only then did he follow the connection to the stream.

He moved closer to the water and stared up at Henry’s limp body. There was no panic in his eyes. Instead, the tension slowly left his shoulders.

"Finally, you’re out of my hair," he whispered, his lips curving into the smallest smile. "Being your perfect brother was becoming exhausting. But now, I would have to find another means for PR.”

Branches suddenly snapped behind him.

His parents were making their way down from the lodge, while two academy patrol guards rushed towards the stream from another path, drawn by the violent disturbance in the mana.

The smile disappeared from Alistair’s face so quickly that it might never have been there.

"Henry!" he screamed, panic suddenly breaking through his voice.

He hardened his mana into a golden blade and sliced through the ropes. Another wave of mana caught Henry before his body could fall into the boiling water.

"Stay with me, Henry!" Alistair pleaded loudly as the guards entered the clearing. "Please don’t leave me!"

His fingers pressed against Henry’s neck.

A faint pulse beat against them.

For one brief moment, Alistair’s jaw tightened. He had expected silence, but Henry’s stubborn heart was still beating.

Too many people were watching now, and he could no longer leave Henry there.

"Henry is still alive!" Alistair shouted, pulling him against his chest. Relief filled his voice, even though none appeared in his eyes. "We need to get him to the clinic!"

One of the guards reached out to carry Henry, but Alistair pulled him closer.

"I have him," Alistair said, lifting Henry onto his shoulders. "He needs me."

"See what you caused?" he yelled at his parents, making sure the guards heard every word.

Both parents exchanged nonchalant glances.

"If you had shown him a little kindness, he would never have wandered out here alone!" Alistair continued as he rushed towards the school clinic.

"Does it matter?" Mr Maxwell finally blurted out.

"There’s no need for you to keep carrying him everywhere," Mrs Maxwell added, rolling her eyes with utter disgust. "If you ask me, it would be better for nature to take its rightful course and save all of us from this problem."

"He is my brother," Alistair declared, his voice breaking perfectly as the guards followed behind him. "I will never abandon him."

To everyone watching, he looked like the devoted brother who had arrived just in time. None of them knew that he had waited for their link to go silent before coming.

Meanwhile, Henry found himself in a shimmering dimension between worlds.

It was calm, the weakness that had always clung to his bones was gone, and the plane was beautiful. More importantly, it felt friendlier than the world he had just come from.

‘Death isn’t so bad after all,’ he thought, without the slightest feeling of missing the place he had left behind.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you are not dead. You are standing on the path between life and death."