Chapter 24:

Except for the lack of genitals, the God had been born into a human form, just as had Emrys and Megan, even though none of the three were entirely human. 

Megan and Emrys were descended from the original joining of the God with a human female.  She had had twins, male and female.  The twins had been the mother and father of the nobles, who, although they had human form, weren't entirely human.

Were Emrys and Megan to have children -- since Megan's ovaries, along with Emrys's balls, contained the essence of the God -- their children would not be human at all. 

They would have a human appearance, but they would be alien to Earth.  They would be an entirely new species.  Containing wholly the essence of the God, they would be like gods.

When the God was born, he was as helpless as any other newly born infant.  He suckled at Megan's teat and could control neither his bowels or bladder.  He couldn't speak, crawl, walk, or even sit up.  His body would have to mature, just as any other infant's before he would be able to do any of these things; but he never cried -- not once.

He matured quickly, walking at four months and talking by six months.  Still, his growth was limited by his physical body.  It would only grow so fast, even accelerated as it was by the God's magic, which was subject to the physical laws of this universe.  Those laws could be stretched and altered, but they couldn't be broken.  For the God to become part of the world, he had to adhere to the laws of the world.

Even golems weren't a violation of the laws of physics.  They, much as were humans, were made from earthly ingredients, but animated with a god's force, in their case, Nysrogh's.  Who can say that they were -- in truth -- any different from humans, also made from earthly ingredients, but animated with perhaps an otherworldly force?

During the first few months of the child's life, Megan had felt that it was her child; she knew that it wasn't, that, as the God, it contained nothing of her, but because it was helpless, because it suckled at her breast, it seemed like it was her baby.

By the time the child god was six months old, however, and could talk, Megan knew that she was the child and that he was the father.  It wasn't a child that spoke with the child's voice, but a God, a being that had existed beyond space and time.

No one doubted that he was the God.  Even without the magic he could perform, no one would have doubted.   He spoke with the authority of a God.

He called Megan, mother, and Dylan, father, but always with a hint of laughter in his voice.  They were his children, not the other way around.  Rather than call him the God, they gave him a human name, Mihangel. 

When he was two years-old he went to Dylan, "Take me to the coast," he said, "Heddwynn comes with an army of ten thousand golems." 

Dylan didn't ask him how he knew.  He was the God, after all, and he was present on this world in the form of a child, but existed also in the other world.  From there -- freed from the Dark Lord's chains, as he had been by all the males Dylan had cut, by the sacrifice of more nobles to the God than Cadell had sacrificed to Nysrogh -- he could see whatever happened in this world.

Neither he or Nysrogh had -- until now -- ever been able to affect changes, to do magic, except through surrogates, Nysrogh through Cadell, and the God through Megan and her incarnation as Braith. 

Now, however, he was present in the world in physical form, and he could perform magic himself.  Dylan wondered whether Cadell knew what he was up against.

Although Dylan had more than twenty thousand soldiers, they could not have stood against ten thousand golems; and Megan, after the birth of the God, no longer had magic.  Mihangel had reserved all that power to himself.

* * *

Cadell had been hurt worse by the loss of the four hundred noble boys Dylan had taken from the dungeon worse than he had by the loss of the golems lost when Dylan slaughtered their shells and those lost in the sea. 

Golems could be made from commoners, but only the sacrifice of noble boys, and only those with man hair, could grant Cadell, Heddwynn, and Merfyn immortality.  

Also, the blood of a nobly born boy contained much more magic than did the blood of a commoner.  The only real use for commoners was to make golems. 

True, Nysrogh gained power with the cutting of each one, but Cadell was reluctant to cut a boy that didn't have his man hair.  Only those made golems.  If he cut a boy before he gained his man hair, he could never make a golem of him.

That's why he hadn't cut all males as Dylan had.  Merfyn, Cadell, and Heddwyn wanted to rule the world.  To conquer it, they needed a renewable supply of golems.  If they became immortal, they would have eternity to win. 

The loss of the four hundred noble boys had put a crimp in Cadell's plans, though.  The only noble boys left with man hair were the sons of those nobles loyal to Merfyn.  He'd had to sacrifice three of those this year to fulfill his bargain with Nysrogh.  If he didn't sacrifice three each year, Nysrogh would take their souls instead of the boys.

Now, he had less than one hundred noble boys left in the whole kingdom, most of whom wouldn't have their man hair for years to come.

Cadell also had another limitation that Dylan didn't have.  To make a golem, he had to cut the boy himself.  To dedicate a boy's genitals to the God, anyone could cut a boy as long as his cock and balls were dedicated to the God.  Some even cut themselves, as Dylan had cut himself.

In the time since he'd lost the three thousand golems in the sea, Cadell had cut ten thousand boys.  Now, with an army of ten thousand golems, he was ready to attack Anglesey again.  But first, they would have to build a fleet of ships to take them across the straits. 

At least, the golems could also build the ships, and a golem never slept.  Within six months, both his fleet and army was ready to cross over to the Isle of Anglesey.

Cadell didn't know how big an army he'd face, but rightly estimated that it wouldn't be larger than twenty thousand men.  An army of at least fifty thousand would be needed to stand against an army of ten thousand golems.

Too, this time Cadell had brought along six nobly born boys, taken from those nobles loyal to Merfyn.  Each had his man hair and would make suitable sacrifices. 

He hadn't be able to counter the magic that had destroyed his golems because Dylan had taken the noble boys from his dungeon, and he hadn't had any with him to counter Braith's magic.  He was a blood wizard.  He needed blood -- the blood of a noble -- to work his magic.

This time he was prepared.