One Day in a Small-Town Desert, chapter 7, page 7

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Bhanar Narak called out to the retreating High God of Fire. “Return at once, Zhíanoso! As You Yourself implied, the imperial lineage of Narakamíníkı-Sarıma and Zhuphío is directly tied to You. You are our god. I am the emperor. You are my god!”

But Zhíanoso disappeared amongst the omnipresent flames. Bhanar was alone in the inferno, left adrift by a god he had until moments ago failed to acknowledge as existing.

The god was obviously a product of his subconscious, brought about by the stress of two broken legs. But why Zhíanoso? Usually it was Bhanar’s dad who yelled at him in his dreams.

The fire swirled around Bhanar, spinning him in place, then flipping him end over end. He tumbled through the flames, immune to their destructive power, feeling only their warmth and comforting.

Those dreams with his dad always were harsh and cold, though, not like this. He felt comfortable within these flames, like this is where he was meant to be. If Zhíanoso was truly real, if He was truly the personal god of the Narakamíníkan lineage, then it only made sense that Bhanar would feel at home within His embrace.

Bhanar swam through the flames, floating on the raging heat, luxuriating in the orange glow, almost forgetting all his troubles.

Two broken legs and a madman with a handgun danced ahead of Bhanar in the fire. There was no getting around them. Bhanar stopped.

If Zhíanoso was real, He should come when Bhanar called Him. If Zhíanoso wasn’t real, He was a figment of Bhanar’s imagination, and thus should come when Bhanar called Him.

“Not quite,” replied a voice behind Bhanar.

Bhanar turned to look, but he was always tumbling the wrong direction so he never could get a clear look. It sounded like Zhíanoso though. The same mischievous chuckle.

“Why not?” shouted Bhanar. “It sure seems like I succeeded in calling You back.”

The high god appeared before his face. Zhíanoso shook His head slowly, His red eyes penetrating deep through Bhanar.

“What do I have to do to convince you of My existence?”

A broken bone melded back together, quickly coated by layer after layer of muscle and finally skin.

Bhanar tilted back away from the vision, but it stayed within his brain.

“Fix my legs? Of course! I asked for that an hour ago.”

Zhíanoso snorted a laugh from inside Bhanar’s arteries. “Simple magic tricks prove nothing. I’ve met human beings who can do this stuff.”

A lumbering beast leapt through the spiraling blaze. Body of a bear, head of a giant wolf, eyes of a lion, wings of an eagle, the monster towered over Bhanar, reaching out its enormous talons to envelop his soul.

Before Bhanar could flinch away, a gout of fire burst forth from within himself, aimed directly at the animal. The beast howled, standing on its hind legs, clashing together its shark teeth.

Bhanar fell backwards against the solid flames, tucking his head in his arms, praying the beast would go away.

Another geyser of flame shot out at the monster, singeing its fur. The god Zhíanoso stood above Bhanar, protecting him, lashing out at the multi-faceted monster.

The beast tucked its tail between its hind legs and whimpered.

The fire god had saved him. Bhanar sat up, awe in his eyes. Even if this were all a dream from Bhanar’s subconscious, his subconscious sure seemed to want Bhanar to honor and appreciate the High God of Fire. Bhanar closed his eyes and shook his head. This wasn’t making any sense.

Zhíanoso scowled at the beast. “Just who are you supposed to be, anyway?”

The monster straightened up proud on its million legs and intoned, “I am Névazhíno, God of Animals! I was called here to aid this young man, to heal his legs.”

No sense at all.

The fire god scoffed, His eyes firmly on Névazhíno. “Go play dress-up somewhere else, boy. This one’s mine.”

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