The Magicians (The Magicians, #1)(116)

This would have worked better with a big ballsy shit-eating grin attached to it, but instead it was coming out shivery and a little teary. He was saying “I mean” too much. But he wasn’t backing down. Ember made an odd, nonverbal bleating sound. His mouth worked more sideways than a human mouth would. Quentin could see His thick, stiff, pink ram’s tongue.

“Show some respect,” Penny muttered, but Ember raised one black hoof.

“We should not have to remind you, human child, that We are not your servant.” Ember spoke less gently than He had before. “It is not your needs that We serve, but Our own. We do not come and go at your whim.

“It is true, We have been here under the earth for some time. It is difficult to know how long, this far from the sun and his travels, but some months at least. Evil has come to Fillory, and evil must be fought, and there is no fighting without cost. We have suffered, as you see, an embarrassment to our hindquarters.”

He turned His long, golden head half a degree. Quentin now saw that one of the ram’s hind legs was in fact lame. Ember held it stiffly, so that the hoof only just brushed the stone. It wouldn’t take His weight.

“Well, but I don’t understand,” Janet spoke up. “Quentin’s right. You’re the god of this world. Or one of them. Doesn’t that make You basically all-powerful?”

“There are Higher Laws that are past your understanding, daughter. The power to create order is absolutely sureR at thev with one thing. The power to destroy is another. Always they are in balance. But it is easier to destroy than to create, and there are those whose nature it is to love destruction.”

“Well, but why would You create something that had the power to hurt You? Or any of Your creatures? Why don’t You help us? Do You have any idea how much we hurt? How much we suffer?”

A stern glance. “I know all things, daughter.”

“Well, okay, then know this.” Janet put her hands on her hips. She had struck an unexpected vein of bitterness in herself, and it was running away with her. “We human beings are unhappy all the time. We hate ourselves and we hate each other and sometimes we wish You or Whoever had never created us or this shit-ass world or any other shit-ass world. Do You realize that? So next time You might think about not doing such a half-assed job.”

A ringing silence followed her outburst. The torches guttered against the walls. They’d left streaks of black soot on them all the way up to the domed ceiling. It was true, what she was saying. It made him angry. But there was something about it that made him nervous, too.

“You are incensed, daughter.” Ember’s eyes were full of kindness.

“I’m not your daughter.” She crossed her arms. “And yeah, no shit I’m incensed.”

The great old ram sighed deeply. A tear formed in His great liquid eye, spilled over, and was absorbed into the golden wool on His cheek. In spite of himself, Quentin thought of the proud Indian in the old anti-littering commercials. From behind him Josh leaned into Quentin’s shoulder and whispered: “Dude! She made Ember cry!”

“The tide of evil is at the full,” the ram was saying, a politician staying relentlessly on message. “But now that you have come, the tide will turn.”

But it wouldn’t. Suddenly Quentin knew it. It all came to him in one sick flash.

“You’re here against Your will,” he said. “You’re a prisoner down here. Aren’t You?”

This wasn’t over after all.

“Human, there is so much you do not understand. You are still but a child.”

Quentin ignored him. “That’s it, isn’t it? That’s why You’re down here? Somebody put You down here, and You can’t get out. This wasn’t a quest, this was a rescue mission.”

Next to him Alice had both her hands over her mouth.

“Where’s Umber?” she asked. “Where is Your brother?”

Nobody moved. The ram’s long muzzle and black lips were still and unreadable.

“Mmmm.” Eliot rubbed his chin, calmly assessing. “It is possible.”

“Umber’s dead, isn’t He?” Alice said dully. “This place isn’t a tomb, it’s a prison.”

“Or a trap,” Eliot said.

“Human children, listen to Me,” Ember said. “There are Laws that go far beyond anything in your understanding. We—”

“I’ve heard pretty much enough about my understanding,” Janet snapped.

“But who did it?” Eliot stared down at the sand,n. He sneezed.

Quentin felt a prickling in his shoulders. He looked around at the dark corners of the cave they were in. It wouldn’t be long before whatever had broken Ember’s leg turned up, and they would have to fight again. He didn’t know if he could take another fight. Penny was still on his knees, but the back of his neck as he looked up at Ember was flushed crimson.

“Maybe it’s time to hit the ol’ panic button,” Josh said. “Back to the Neitherlands.”

“I have a better idea,” Quentin said.

They had to get control of the situation. They could quit now, but the crown was right there, right in front of them. They were so close. They were almost home; they could still win it all if they could just figure out a way to push through to the end of the story. If they could gut it out through one more scene.