Chapter 039:

Anton awoke, after a rather passionate night, feeling rather odd. Not from exhaustion or satisfaction but it was as if the air itself had changed. As his eyes opened he was treated to a strange scene.

Verona lay sprawled half naked on his body, her head resting just below his own, sound asleep. Every few seconds she would murmur something and try to bury herself deeper into his body. Her arm was lying on his chest as her fingers scratched lazily about. It took him a moment before he realised what was wrong. She had no marks. Not on her arms, her shoulders or what little of her front was exposed. Her body had returned to her normal and unblemished pale white.

"What?" He mumbled groggily, his mind still foggy from the sleep.

He forced himself as awake as he could. There was no indication that the marks had faded or had been removed, rather it was if they had not been there in the first place.

Why are they gone...Is her glyph still there?

He could not see the glyph on the small of her back thanks to her head obscuring his view. Trying very hard not to wake her he moved his head around to get a better look, using his arm to move her sleeping body. At the base of her back lay the blood red tear mark with the spear running through it. But there was only the mark, there were no tribal marks spreading out across her body. Only those that grew straight out of the glyph remained.

Nothing was making sense.

Despite feeling like it was still early in the morning, before there should be light, the room was very well lit. He knew that he had put out the candles before going to bed, but it was not the expected orange light. Whatever it was it was not coming from a fire or from the stars. Everything was covered in a strange light blue hue.

He had seen this before. They were in the gods realm.

I guess that message I sent to Stratos and Esperit worked.

The weight in his arm began to stir, slowly rocking back and forth to wake herself.

Looks like Verona is coming along this time. I wonder if Jira is going to join in as well, like a mediator. Or agitator.

Verona mewled and turned so she lay on her back. Slowly her eyes, still dull and lacking their usual intensity, began to focus as she stretched out her body. She turned her head up to him and smiled slovenly.

"Good mornin.... What's wrong?" There was still the drowsiness to her voice. She must have seen the odd look on his face.

She pulled herself upright and looked down. Bewilderment painted on her face as she glanced around her body. Small gasps of surprise emitted from her mouth as hands explored her now mark-less body, her hands reaching all over her front and back. Her hands travelled up the front of her body and stopped at her breasts, her fingers digging into the soft flesh. They looked just like they did the first time, lacking the swirling red marks. A look of stupefaction graced her face as she looked down at him. She was back to normal, apparently.

"How... Did you?"

"No." Anton replied.

His words gave her pause as she looked around.

As she saw the eerie blue light emanating through their window her body tensed. A hand grabbed his shoulder and dug in sharply as her head snapped around. He could feel her fear and anxiety through them, not that he did not have those feelings as well.

"What's happening?" she asked in a panicked whisper, pulling on Anton's shoulder hard for him to get up. "Is this some attack from Nithroel?"

Anton pulled himself up and wrapped his arms around her warm and soft body. He stroked her head to try and calm her down, not that it really worked.

"I don't think so. I've seen this once before. The night after I told everyone that I'm from another world, I met my gods in this dream world."

Verona did not look happy and pulled herself even closer in Anton's embrace.

"I can't use it." Verona whispered. "I can't turn on my power."

"I don't think we can here." Anton said as he stroked her hair.

He looked at the end of the bed. Lying there were both of their clothes, neatly folded. It was certainly not how they left them last night.

"That's really creepy." Verona had seen the folded clothes as well.

Her face scrunched up in a mixture of fear and disgust.

"Has someone or something been in here? While we were sleeping? While we were..."

The thought was not a pleasant one.

"Honestly, I don't think so. I don't think that they have any sort of desires. But we are going to be expected soon." Anton said, patting her on the back as he moved to get out of bed. "I think it's just one of the ways this place works. But if they did then that's really sick."

Verona did not look happy or relieved. They quickly put their clothes back on. Verona's armour pieces were not present, for whatever reason. There was little they could do a the god normally and a piece of leather armour was certainly not going to stop the power of a god striking them.

As Anton opened their door, Verona ran over and tired to open the window. No matter how hard she tried she could not make it budge, despite many heaves and groans. He smiled as warmly as he could as she made her way back to his side.

"I just wish I had my spear. I feel so naked and helpless without it." she said as she passed him, turning backwards as she walked. "And the armour helped with there things."

She picked up her breasts with both hands through her shirt and let them drop. Not very far though, Anton had often wondered about the genetics that she had.

"We'll see about getting some seamstresses to make you something." Anton bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "Who actually makes the clothes here?"

Verona paused before answering.

"There were some people to the south that did that before. Now I think that it's still some of the older people but they're getting help from some of the soldiers that aren't on guard duty."

"Huh. We might want to look into that."

The other doors they passed, which had been left slightly ajar when they had gone to bed, were shut. Anton tired to push on one as he went part. His hand did not even budge it. The door was held back by the same mysterious power that governed this realm.

The front door lay right infront of them. Verona took a deep breath and pushed it open.

She gasped as she saw the outside.

It looked as if time had stopped in the middle of an explosion. Broken and fragmented buildings floated in the pale blue light that surrounded them. Even the ground was broken and appeared to drop off into the blue nothingness below. He glanced to the west while Verona was still stunned by what she was seeing. The road extended for another few meters then stopped, all the buildings in that direction were broken. It appeared they did not want them to head that way.

"Wow. Are... Are they all dead?" Verona asked, still unable to believe her surroundings.

Anton shook his head, Verona took some relief that everyone she knew was not dead.

"This was just a dream world the last time I was here. The whole village looked like this. When I woke up it was all back to normal."

"So... Now what?"

"Last time they were waiting for me in the central plaza when we were still in the Main Hall." Anton looked around for any sort of side paths or alleyways the gods may have overlooked, but there were none. "We might as well head that way, they won't be coming to us."

Verona turned and led them both towards the central plaza.

About twenty meters later Verona came to a grinding halt. Anton was distracted looking around at the bizarre architecture of this world, his mind wondering how it will change with time as the village grew, and did not notice and bumped into her. Even though their contact was fleeting he could feel her apprehension.

Leaning against a building, one which obscured their view to the central plaza, was a woman. She was wearing a large brimmed leather hat with bloody bones sewn into the rim. Underneath that was shoulder length brown hair, followed by a blood red vestment with more bloody bones sewn into it. Droplets of blood fell from her hat but disappeared before they could reach the ground.

Anton recognised her instantly. There was no way he would forget their first meeting. It was Jira, the Demigoddess of Blood, and Verona's contacted god. Verona groaned, reaching back and grabbing his hand.

"That's her." she mumbled. "That's my goddess. Look at her. She scares the crap out of me every time she tries to talk to me. Just sort of yells at me..."

"That's not a nice thing to say, after all the nice things I've let you experience."

Jira moved very quickly infront of them. Her face hid something, like it had the first time. Something deep was going on underneath a facade of a simple smile.

Verona frowned and moved closer to him, using his arm as a sort of shield.

Jira sighed as she lent down so her eyes were at the same level as Verona's, the bones attached to her clothes rattling with every movement. Small drops of blood continued to fall from the rim of her hat and fade into nothingness. Verona tracked one as it fell, her eyebrows frowning at the sight.

"It's such a shame." Jira continued in her fake and sickly sweet voice, glancing up at Anton. "She barely speaks to me. After what you two managed to do to me, the least you could do is say hello when I try to talk to you, Little Verona."

Verona's body became even more tense as she growled back. Jira thought it was funny and laughed lightly, never breaking eye contact.

"When you do come into my dreams," Verona began, "You always show me death and destruction."

"The world that you see now is a reflection of the mind of the person we are contacting."

Jira, still leaning down, looked either side.

"Right now we are in your boyfriends mind. It was like this the last time. Yours is a little more... Chaotic."

"Why are you here?" Anton asked. He did not like how Jira was speaking to her.

"I wanted to see how my little disciple was doing."

"Well, you have."

"And... I'm also here to keep your gods and her from tearing each-other apart. As someone that really doesn't have an interest in your little rivalry, I was chosen to mediate."

"So we-"

"Why didn't you warn me about the drinking the blood?" Verona sharply cut in, even Jira seemed surprised. "That blood got into my mouth and then I..."

Jira smiled warmly, like a mother to a child. It was disturbing to say the least.

"Did you enjoy that?"

Verona, through his arms, felt like she wanted to punch her.

"No. I did not enjoy it." she said through gritted teeth.

"You say that, but... I thought you might enjoy it since it was so long since you had been with a man. Being all alone in that big house."

"What if it had distracted me and I died?"

Jira shrugged.

"Then you would not have been worthy of being my disciple, of being called a 'Blood Berserker', like you mortals call them. Besides, you have done very well, killing so many Kobolds so quickly, and still just a novice. You have made me very proud."

"Is that what the marks are?" Anton asked.

Jira nodded, a seemingly genuine smile on her face.

"They are a sign of ones' strength and devotion. You, Anton, should....Well, they also will help her to control and use her power with greater efficiency. Although..."

"It covers most of my body." Verona said quite angrily. "Only my face is free. I didn't exactly ask for that."

Jira shrugged again, far more dismissively this time.

"There's nothing I can do. They have been etched into your very soul so they're with you for life. I suppose you could cover them, but they will always be there. Etched into your skin. All of my other disciples would kill anything I asked, even a dragon or twelve, if they could even got a hundredth of what you have now. But, since it irks you so much...."

Jira lent down again to Verona's level. He did not like the expression on her face, a mixture of contempt and annoyance.

"I'll make sure they stay no matter what.” she flicked Verona's head hard, something that stunned them both, "That's what you get for keep being so disrespectful to someone that gave you unimaginable power despite what you did to me, you dumb little cunt."

Verona shouted with rage, pulling herself off Anton and threw herself at Jira. She threw her fist at Jira's still bent down face but it never connected. At the last moment, with inhuman speed, she righted herself and moved out of the way. Verona kept moving forward with her fist, skidding to a halt a meter away. She turned to see Jira smirking at her.

Jira chuckled as she threw up her hands in defeat.

"You silly little thing. You can't hurt me in here. But I will say that I went too far," she turned to face Anton, "Otherwise your boyfriend is going to try and hit me too."

He only realised it then but he had taken a step forward, both his hands were curled into fists. Part of him did want to punch Jira until she was unrecognisable blob but the other part knew that she was going to be needed for whatever his gods had planed. Not that he could have been fast enough to catch her or nor use his magic in here. He would need to let it go.

"Jira, you've had your fun. Stop antagonising her."

Jira smiled.

"Of course. I'm still a little bit cross is all."

Verona walked back to Anton's side, keeping her eyes firmly on Jira.

"Little one, if you want to remain in control of yourself you will need to properly understand and master your power. Right now you are using it well. Very creatively actually, I liked your spinning spikes, very deadly. But, you allow yourself to loose your mind in the revelling and bloodshed. Work on that and it will become easier to control."

So basically loose the 'Berserker' part of being a 'Blood Berserker'.

"How do I do that?" Verona was trying her best to remain calm.

Jira chuckled.

"I'm not going to tell you. You're going to have to figure it out on your own. Just like Anton does...except for a few hints here and there."

She looked at Anton.

"All gods are governed by a set of rules. Remember that..."

Was that.... That was a hint of some kind, wasn't it? But you won't tell us these rules. Still, should be helpful when dealing with Nithroel.

"Where are the others?" Anton asked.

"Just up ahead." Jira answered. "I just wanted the chance to meet you both first."

She started walking away, humming a tune as the bones rattled on her clothes. Anton recognised the tune, it was the one Verona hummed from time to time. Verona was furious, her face and fists clear with anger, but let it slide as she came back to his side. She grabbed his hand tightly and they both moved forward in silence.

She squeezed his hand even tighter again and brought his head down so she would only have to whisper.

"She's a bitch." Verona mumbled. She watched Jira's back with outright hostility.

"Yes she is."

"You believe what she said, about the marks being carved into my soul?"

"I... I don't know. Probably."

Verona did not seem any happier. Jira continued to hum the tune, her head bopping from side to side. He had no idea if she was listening in. Judging from her previous performance she probably would not care, but that all could have been a ruse.

"But, despite how she acted to you we did get a few pieces of information."

"Like how the gods have to follow some sort of unknown rules?"

"That, and something else."

Verona titled her head but Anton did not answer, fearing that Jira might be listening in.

She said that she could not be hurt by us in this realm. So it means they can be hurt. Tethra was left in her crippled state since she had no real followers, but I think that she meant something different. Here, in this world, gods can bleed.

---[]---

Jira stopped humming the tune, to Verona's great relief, as they entered the central plaza. In the middle was a giant round table with seven chairs spaced around it. Three were unoccupied. He could see his three gods sitting on one side of the table, two empty seats to one side. There was another empty seat a quarter of the way around from those. That was presumably Jira's seat. Another quarter way around, and opposite his gods, was another chair but this was occupied. There sat a woman with long flowing blond hair and a slim green dress. She did not even look at them as they approached, keeping her attention firmly on his gods. Tethra, still covered in chains, appeared to be receiving the brunt of the attention.

So you must be Nithroel. You look quite stuck up, to say the least.

"They're here." Jira said to his gods, the false smile and sweetness returned.

All three of his gods looked over to them, Nithroel kept her attention firmly on them. Jira stopped and turned to Anton.

"I'll take my seat so Nithroel doesn't get out of control. Again. Just don't take too long."

She looked at Verona.

"Remember what I said."

Verona grunted in response. The moment that Jira turned away she shuddered.

"I really hate her." she whispered.

His own gods rose from their seats and walked towards them. Stratos was the first to greet him, giving Jira a respectful nod as they passed which she returned.

So you can be civil.

He wore his usual white toga with a purple sash, along with a wide smile on his elderly face.

"Hello Anton." He began in his old and wizened voice. "Seems that someone has not taken our burgeoning resurgence well."

He held out his hand which Anton shook.

"I hope we can make it continue."

Stratos smiled.

"I certainly hope so."

"So this is Verona, Jira's little annoyance.” Esperit spoke with a giggle as she emerged from behind Stratos. “She's very cute in person."

He saw the flaming and flickering hair first. Gone was the ridiculous dress she wore the first time, replaced with something more akin to a red sun dress. It still revealed a considerable portion of her cleavage and only covered down to her middle thigh as well as exposing her arms.

It was more alluring than the first time.

There was a pain on his side. Verona was grabbing his shirt, and the skin underneath, very hard. Her face was burning with jealousy. She must have caught him looking.

Esperit laughed.

"There's no need to look at me like that. I have no interest in your partner, Blood Berserker."

Hearing that word again made Verona's grip even tighter, enough to make him wince from the amount of force she was putting into him.

Both of them laughed as Anton squeezed down on her hand. She mumbled an apology as she let him go.

"It's good to see you. A shame that things could not have continued peacefully." Anton said as he shook her hand as well, it was less firm than Stratos. "But now-"

"Can powers be traded, or swapped?" Verona cut in.

Her eyes stared at Esperit with such an intensity that her head backed away slightly, all previous thoughts of jealousy had gone. Esperit smiled bitterly.

"I'm afraid not. Once a glyph has been implanted on a soul it can only be removed-"

“Yes?”

"By destroying the soul. Or at the very least leaving it incredibly damaged. Barely usable."

"Oh."

Verona did not sound as dejected as he thought she would have been. Part of her may have already known it, she just needed to hear it. He rubbed her head and brought her into his side, still hurting from when she had grabbed him.

"If you don't like your powers, then why did you choose Jira?" Stratos asked.

Because it was her subconscious, the one that ripped power from Jira and that's why she's pissed?

"I don't really think it was my choice." Verona mumbled.

Anton looked over at the table. Jira was talking to Nithroel, not showing any sign that she was listening in. Nithroel was looking at Jira but also at them. He caught her eye for a second. It was filled with utter contempt for everyone, even for Jira.

Let's hope this whole thing doesn't backfire.

"Jira must have gotten to you at the exact moment when you were searching for power. Although, it should not have been that simple..." Esperit trailed off at the end.

"Then how come Anton has all your powers then?"

Stratos and Esperit looked at each-other and smiled.

"He's different." They both answered.

"Yes. Yes he is." Verona added, with a warm smile.

Anton felt quite embarrassed by to this when he heard the clinking of chains. Tethra was finally close to them, it seemed that she could not even walk that fast.

"Hello Tethra." Anton said as she joined the other gods.

"Hello." came her reply.

It was not as hoarse or as strained as before. Now it seemed like she was slightly ill.

I bet this is a reason why Nithroel tired to attack us.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Tethra nodded. The chains which covered her body and kept her alive, if what the gods said was true, rattled with every movement and breath. The metallic clinks worked their way into his mind.

"That's very good to hear."

He could not see her face, it too was covered in cloth, but from the way her body moved she seemed to be happier.

"Will we have time after this to talk a bit longer?" Anton asked.

All three gods nodded.

"In that case, we should not keep them waiting much longer. I take it that is Nithroel?"

"The same piece of ass she always was." Stratos said in a huff.

"She's been nothing but angry and annoyed since we gathered." Esperit added, Tethra nodding in agreement.

"Is there anything that we should not talk about?"

Stratos nodded to Tethra. Tethra shrugged apologetically.

"If you weren't here it may be insulting to her. I take it from the way she is looking at us that she has a massive...?"

Stratos and Esperit could barely hold in their laughter.

"She thinks she is the most powerfull god to have ever existed." Stratos scoffed.

“Is she?” Verona asked, she seemed quite worried.

Tethra waved her hand, letting them know it was not exactly true.

"Regardless... She is stronger.... Than all of us put together." It took great pains for Tethra to speak but she did it any way. "But... She is not invincible."

"She may be trying to flatten a bug before it becomes an issue." Anton offered.

"But... " Tethra started speaking again. "Her followers are battling the demons right now."

"And the other heroes are on her side as well." Esperit added.

She was still annoyed that she had been unable to seduce any of them the first time.

"We need to do our best not to antagonise her any more than we have. We'll have to play it by ear, but I'm worried that she might just not care and declare total war....perhaps we go could go with something along a lines that while she could destroy Atros, maybe, she would not be able to guarantee that she could get me. And if I live, I think she's smart enough to realise that I'll do everything I can do to hurt her back. With my magic that would be quite a bit."

"That's a really bad...plan if things go wrong." Verona paused and looked him in the eye, "I don't like it. I like being with you and you've only just gotten back."

He lent down and kissed her on the forehead, her face flushing as he did it infront of others.

"It won't come to that."

I hope it doesn't.

Verona did not seem entirely convinced, neither did his gods. It made him worry as to what sort of person Nithroel really was.

He took a deep breath and stared walking towards the table, the other gods and Verona following. They said nothing as they took their seats. His gods took their seats, leaving two between them and Jira. Verona took the seat closest to his gods leaving him as a buffer from Jira. Jira smiled and chuckled as she looked at Anton as he sat next to her. The smell of blood filled his senses, it seemed to be emanating from her. It was no wonder that Verona wanted to keep her as far away as possible.

As everyone got settled in it gave Anton a chance to properly study Nithroel. He started from the top. Her face was beautiful, in a hard and classical way. Her high cheek bones and a pointed nose gave her an odd, striking and sharp demeanour. Golden wavy hair flowed down to her waist. If she had not been a god it would have taken many hours to get it just right. There appeared to be something like a light mascara around her pale green eyes. He did not know of what to make of that, the other gods had nothing to do with make-up.

But, it was what she was wearing, as clothes, that gave him pause.

She really was not wearing anything. A thin green silken dress hung loosely from halfway down her shoulders, a thin white strand went over from the top over her back to keep it positioned. The skin underneath was incredibly pale, even lighter than Verona's skin.

There was no way for Anton to adequately describe what lay below. Esperit's first dress would have been considered quite conservative in comparison. Many sections looked like they had been cut out but enough remained for it to be just called clothing. It did an adequate job of covering her breasts, larger than Verona's or Esperit's, but left little to the imagination.

He could not see lower down, as the table hid everything from her stomach down. He guessed that it was just as little.

A single thought flashed through his mind.

I don't really get it. This.... This is the goddess that is giving us all this trouble? At least I can sort of see why the men would have been seduced, but not the women...maybe. Verona was cross when she saw me looking as Esperit, so we see the gods the same at least. Does she have some power that we don't know about?

He had no answer. Verona made an odd noise. She was studying Nithroel as well, and judging by the way she was looking at her, quite annoyed.

Verona saw him looking and pulled him down so she could whisper in his ear.

"She looks like a whore."

Verona said it with a perfectly straight face. Anton could not bring himself to disagree, especially since this was meant to be a peace meeting. He moved his hand onto hers and gave it a squeeze. Nithroel made no move to let them know she heard but he did not want to risk giving away any hint of what she said.

Jira raised both hands and clapped them loudly over her head.

"Now that everyone has settled in, shall we begin?"

Any remnant of how she treated Verona was gone, her facade was back.

"Now as the... Mediator of this little gathering, I-"

"There is nothing to discuss."

Nithroel spoke with a light but authoritative tone. She seemed like she was used to getting her way, though that did not explain her dress sense.

"Well, Nithroel," Jira raised her hand towards her, "I think there is."

Nithroel frowned, almost scowled, but at them and not at Jira.

Esperit was the first to speak.

"Our... Joint... Disciple, Anton, has had his home attacked by Kobolds. Many Kobolds."

Nithroel scoffed.

"Joint Disciple...” Nithroel scrunched up her face. “An abomination that you allow to walk and defile our world."

That's pretty rude.

"Do you deny that they were yours?" Esperit asked.

"Everyone knows that the beasts of the forest worship you." Stratos spoke with an unusually calm tone.

Nithroel said nothing, tapping a finger on the table. There was no other noise in their dimension.

She stopped, and looked towards him.

"How did I miss your soul?" she asked. "I was certain that I had gotten you all."

All eyes turned to him.

"I woke up in that strange realm when you were leaving with everyone else.” Anton explained flatly. “It must have been that I was that disoriented by my arrival that even the gods could not see me. I know that I was probably the worst hit by that bus.”

Nithroel made barely any movement, barely even blinking her eyes.

"Pity. You would have done much better under my leadership."

I'm not sure about that. At least according to my own gods the last time I talked to them in this realm.

"Regardless, I am enjoying my time here.... Which may be difficult if thousands of Kobolds are sent to kill us."

"The Kobolds... Are not the most intelligent beings. Like those to your side."

Hostile.

"Even if I told them to do something through a vision, like the one you are in now, they are not smart enough to follow it through...exactly."

Nithroel looked very smug. The corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly.

"What about something more certain, unlike a vision." Anton said.

The smirk started to fade.

"Even if I was not very smart I would like to think that I would still have the brains to follow something written on a piece of paper, especially if it had a map attached."

The smirk disappeared completely.

"Are you sure you are smart enough? You picked them as your gods over-"

"In the first Kobold camp we destroyed, near the lake, the ones that tried to attack and kill us without provocation-"

"They were not unprov-" Nithroel started.

"There was this stone totem in the middle."

Nithroel lent back into the chair, folding her arms underneath her breasts.

"I have been told that the symbol on top, a large leaf surrounded by antler horns, is your insignia."

Nithroel stared at him silently for some time.

"You trust the words of a mangy rat too much." Nithroel looked dismissively up at the blue sky.

"She has a name." Verona said rather angrily. "And she is not a rat. Her name is Kal, and she is a half breed beast-kin. And she is my friend. "

"She is still a freak, even some of you humans can do the right thing by removing them from existence. The fact that you would even consider a creature like that a friend is..."

Verona breathed in to verbally fight her but refrained. She exhaled slowly and kept her eyes firmly on Nithroel. Right now, she was not going to rise to the challenge. He too felt angry that someone as brave and troubled as Kal was being insulted and there was little that he could do right now without jeopardising what they were trying to accomplish. He said and did nothing.

Nithroel shrugged, perhaps annoyed that it had not gotten a larger response. Anton could see Jira out the corner of his eye looking rather proud. He was not quite sure why though, perhaps that they did not rise to the challenge.

It's no wonder the beast-kin have no desire to worship her if that's the way she's going to treat them. She must not need it, judging from that attitude.

How much worship and power does she get from the wood elves then? There's also the beasts too....

"I felt something odd coming from it." Anton continued, he was not going to bring up what she had just said. "Like someone was trying to strangle me. Was that you?"

She hid it well but she looked quite uncomfortable.

"And if it was?"

"Well, we found a piece of paper in the camp. A very fine piece of paper, nothing like the scraps that I have to deal with."

Nithroel frowned. She did not like where he was leading this.

Surely she must have known that we found it... Maybe without the totems she is blind, or at least cannot see clearly. So she would not know what happened after we tore them down.

"Now my 'rat' friend told me that Kobolds do not have a written language."

Nithroel opened her mouth to speak but Anton cut her off.

"However some other people said it looked elvish. Specifically Wood Elves. I've been told that the wood elves worship you exclusively."

"They do. But a piece of paper doesn't prove anything. If this is the best you have," Nithroel pushed out her chair, "Then I will be leaving. I have more important things to worry-"

"Nithi, please wait." Jira spoke in her fake sweet voice, "You agreed to have this meeting like the rest of them. You already insulted them by insulting their beast-kin friend so you can at least sit down and wait a bit longer."

“You cannot-”

Jira slammed both hands onto the table. Everyone looked stunned at her. Everything stopped.

“Sit. Down. And. Behave.” Jira ordered, her face was filled with a silent anger.

Nithroel was about to retort but stopped. There was a grumble as she looked back at him. He even heard some light chuckling from Esperit and Stratos.

Wow...Does Jira have some sort of sway over Nithroel...Or is this related to those rules she talked about. Can the gods not go back on their word without consequence? And what would that even mean?

How powerful is Jira compared to Nithroel, or my own gods? Probably, very.

Instead of waiting for Nithroel to speak Anton decided to keep going.

"At the second camp," Anton continued, "That attacked us with several thousand Kobolds-"

"From different tribes that are meant to hate each-other and try to kill one another on sight, all coming together." Verona said angrily.

"Quite. We found another piece of paper. Much more complete this time."

Nithroel stopped. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She must have known, or at least guessed, what they had found.

"This one had the map. A map of the village in which I live in, and there was a mark pointing to where I live. Now, I can't read the writing above it but I'm sure that it won't be an instruction for the Kobolds to gather outside my house and throw me a surprise party. Or perhaps it was..."

Nithroel held his gaze and said nothing. His gods seemed quite happy, even Jira looked like she wanted to burst into laughter. Anton, though, knew they were at a severe disadvantage when it came to strength. He could say what he wanted to but he did not have the power to back them up against her armies. If Nithroel really wanted to she could send an army of wood elves and there would be nothing left of them.

It's time to offer her a way out, one that does not make her loose face. If she actually cares about that...

"In the interest of everyone, I am willing to let everything that has happened remain in the past. Where it belongs."

This got some odd looks, a very unhappy one from Verona. Quite a number of villagers had died against the Kobolds and just saying that it all meant nothing was quite an ask for her. He hoped she understood. Even Nithroel looked oddly at him. She too must have not thought he would say that.

"So, I propose a sort of treaty." Anton continued. "One that clearly states that we do not attack each other."

Nithroel lent forward, not caring that her breasts pushed up against the table.

"Let's, for a moment, say that I did want you dead. Why would I send thousands of Kobolds against you when I could send an army of loyal Wood Elves that would slaughter you all without effort or hesitation?"

Because they are so far away, or you don't want to take the chance that we might be able to kill them before they killed us.

Nithroel continued without waiting for an answer. "It's because you, and your little troupe of idiots on the far side of this world, are so weak that they aren't even worth my time."

I'm taking from that that you did order the attack.

"On another note, how are you going with the battle with the Demons?" Anton interrupted her, mainly to get her off balance.

If she managed to whip herself up into a big enough of a frenzy she may just walk away, even with whatever hold Jira had over her. Then there would be nothing stopping her from sending an elven army. Their lives could get cut very short.

Nithroel looked genuinely happy.

"My armies, and the other heroes, have killed thousands of them. How many have you killed?"

Anton smiled as warmly as he could.

"None, I'm afraid. But I don't see why we need to be fighting. I take it the Wood Elves are taking the brunt of the invasion?"

Nithroel nodded and seemed to be even happier.

“They are. Not that you could even help. So many of your kind stand in-between you and them.”

"Then I think we can live in peace, even if we have nothing more to do with each-other. The last thing either of us want is to be fighting each-other when there are larger threats facing us. I will not seek war with you or your worshippers. We can live in peace."

Nithroel leant back. She looked down at the table and started to tap her fingers again. Was she taking it seriously? And why was she? It actually made Anton quite nervous as her pondered the reasons.

"Very well. We will have this peace treaty you speak of."

Anton felt himself relaxing. Though, he was concerned as to why she would agree so quickly.

"But, I have some conditions."

Immediately his body tensed.

Not that quickly then...

"Here we go." Esperit mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

His gods had been very quiet, seemingly content to let Anton do the talking. They would definitely be a part of these conditions.

"Your old kingdoms' capital, Surdon or whatever. You have control of that, fifty miles south of there, along to the sea and everything north of that line. For some three thousand or so people, that should be more than enough room for whatever it is your kind do."

That is a good chunk of the old Kar Kingdom territory we could not actively control with so few people. The capital is infested with goblins, so it's not exactly like we control it right now. Still, what lies beyond that? Is it just a buffer, or is there something that you want there?

Perhaps the old kingdom had something that could do you harm that they built there...maybe that has something to do why the old kingdom was over-run by monsters and beasts? Perhaps even ordered by you? Something to ask Bertram about.

Anton was about to speak when another thought cropped into his head.

Three thousand? We have one thousand, seven hundred people...Where are the rest?

Does that mean there might be another village or something that survived. If Atros could then another might. We need the map from the Graterious Empire or the Qaiviel Kingdom. Judging from what she said it'll probably be north of that line. I wonder if they'll be friendly.

"What about the Kobolds still in that territory?" Verona asked, breaking him out of his trance. "And any other beast or creature that.... Worships you?"

Nithroel frowned.

"I will tell them to leave the area as soon as they can. It may take some time and not all may listen to me."

"That's fine." Verona folded her arms and leant back into her chair. "We won't seek them out but we'll fight them off if they try to attack. Those won't be yours so I think that that will be fine with you."

Anton did not know if Verona was trying to be combative but she certainly appeared to be. It seemed to work out though as Nithroel nodded her head in agreement.

Did she think that we would overlook it? What Verona said though, it works both ways. It basically lets them fight us with no consequences for her, so long as she doesn't coordinate them. She'll just say those aren't hers. It should mean that attacks of this size are basically stopped...I'll ask Jira if there is some way of writing this all down.

"Secondly..."

She looked straight at Tethra. The prayer goddess had not made a sound throughout the meeting, and that may have been for the best. Her speaking would have given away her small increase in power, and Nithroel was supposed to hate her the most for some, as of yet, unknown reason.

It was not difficult to guess what she was going to ask.

"You swear 'her' off."

"Tethra?" Anton asked as he looked over at Tethra.

Her facial cloth hid her facial expression but it could not hide the way her body twitched. She was nervous and but also determined, determined not to keep being on the receiving end of her attacks.

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

The tone of her voice was unbearably smug.

The reasons were obvious in his mind. It was a very strong and flexible power that, while requiring a considerable amount of mana to use, was able of healing mortal wounds and improve oneself immesurably. Many people were alive just because of that power. He was also starting to understand that there was much more to it than just the ability to heal and modify ones' body. That could be probably be said for the lightning and fire magics that he had yet to explore.

Mostly, he had no intention of abandoning someone who had done him no wrong.

There is so much anger direct at Tethra. I need to know what the cause of all this anger is so we don't make a blunder in the future.

He did not answer and just stared. She quickly understood that he was not going to budge.

"Fine. Since you will not be giving 'her' up, then I would ask that you to cooperate completely with more more intelligent followers. Things like dealing with any Demons that make it to your lands, or monsters like the Goblins that you humans have continuously allowed to infest the world."

"You don't control the Goblins?" Verona asked.

Nithroel shook her head.

"Those things live and die by their own rules. None of us control them."

"I do not see a problem with that." Anton said, "So long as that does not mean subservient."

Nithroel paused for a moment.

"... Of course. But if the Demons do invade through there I want you, and your armies, to help."

"Fully agreed." Anton clapped his hands. "I'm glad that we got this sorted out before this became more serious."

"Since we have settled-"

"Hang on." Verona interrupted Nithroel as she was about to stand up.

She gave his hand a squeeze.

"Now, what you and Anton have agreed to sounds nice, but I don't see any reason as to why you should follow anything you just said about keeping the peace. Why should you follow anything you've just said?"

Jira nodded.

"She's right. Anton cannot announce to the other gods what has happened, but you can."

A pang of annoyance formed on Nithroel's face.

"I think it would be best if you performed the Sacrament of Binding. Otherwise...There is no reason for them to follow the rules either."

He thought she was talking about him for a moment, but Jira nodded towards his gods. They seemed quite resolute in the way they looked at her.

Is that it? That even as weak gods they have extraordinary power that they have all agreed to keep in check. How much of a difference is their between a weak and strong god?

Nithroel's face scrunched up in annoyance.

Maybe it's not that. But there might be something else though...Pride? Or maybe it's just a way to officially limit my movements to the south and make sure everyone else knows? It seems you are taking it pretty serious, for whatever reason it is.

Anton suppressed the desire to smirk.

I thought you were probably not going to follow anything of what you said. I just about to bring it up but Verona beat me to it. I'm glad she did.

"Very well."

Nithroel glowed, a strange golden aura began to emanate from all over her body.

"I Nithroel, Goddess of the Forest, agree to the peace treaty dictated, including the first and third terms of the treaty."

She looked towards him. A strange look of smugness overcame her face.

"May there be peace in our time."

Was that a deliberate reference to Earth? The last time someone said that it really didn't work out for everybody. Do you know about what happened on Earth? Did one of the others tell you?

I wonder how they're doing.

The glow began to fade. Jira glowed a little, a faint red, and then it was gone. He heard a small chuckle from Esperit.

She saw him looking and leaned over so she could whisper to him. Verona scowled, she did not like having Esperit's large breasts pushed into her head that forced her to move slightly closer to Anton.

"Every god heard that, and Jira gave the details of what the treaty actually said. Something like this has not happened in over thirty thousand years."

There was a wicked smile on her face.

"Everyone will be very interested in what happens now. If she breaks it... Well, let's just say that it will not be very good for her."

She resumed her upright position, Verona staring furiously at her chest.

I don't think they're any bigger than yours. Anyway, I guess that sort of answers the question of what will happen if Nithroel tries to attack us. Nothing good, especially if someone as powerful as her actually needed to do it... It fills me with a sense of worry though. What happened last time this was needed? And what lies to the south that is so important to her that she would giver up her attacks?

Nithroel looked thoroughly displeased at what had just transpired.

"Now that I have gone out of my way to satisfy your paranoia, I would very much like to leave."

Anton looked to Jira and his own gods, who nodded. It seemed that this Sacrament of Binding was no small thing.

"Just make sure you do not break it first, human." Nithroel growled at him. "For if you do, I will make sure there is nowhere for you to run and hide."

The anger you have. It would be wrong right now to try and have a go at you.

"I understand the terms. Don't attack anything out of the fifty mile line south of the old capital, Surdon, and help the Wood Elves should there be a mutual enemy."

Nithroel, surprisingly, nodded in response.

The chair groaned as she pushed it back up and stood up.

Anton's guess about her choice of attire had been correct. The green dress left most of her stomach exposed right down to her hips, and so too where most of her legs. Slits opened up to the top of her thighs through the green dress and allowed her to bare almost all of her legs.

What? What compels you to dress like that for a meeting like this?

Somebody sniggered. It was not Verona or his gods, it came from his left.

Jira looked like she was barely able to keep herself from laughing.

"What?" Nithroel asked angrily.

"What the fuck are you wearing?"

Jira started to laugh, so to did Stratos. The old man was red in the face and was desperately trying to hold his laughter in, even bringing his hand up to hold it shut. The frankness of Jira must have been too much.

"You would speak to me like that?"

"Yes.” Jira shook her head. “Because, right now, you look like.... Some...I don't know what sort of look you are trying to go for. Not really something I even would wear normally."

Nithroel started to flush.

"This is traditional elven priestess attire."

Really?

"And not something for you to mock."

Jira laughed as she stood up as well. Nithroel was a bit taller but seemed to be shrinking away underneath Jira's laughing gaze.

"Whatever. My job here is done so I am going myself."

She turned to Verona.

"Despite what I said earlier, it was good to see you in person without you running away. Hopefully you will actually talk to me in the future."

Verona huffed and folded her arms.

"Not if you talk to me the way you did before." she mumbled angrily.

"I guess I'm still a bit cross from what you did. But the number of Kobolds that you killed have started to make up for it."

Verona made no sound but seemed very unhappy, this whole time had just been one bad experience for her. Nithroel looked quite cross at the mention of all her Kobolds being slaughtered by Verona. Jira seemed to be liking that even more.

"Alright, you all behave now. Good luck, Verona and Anton."

Jira gave a final little wave before a circle of red emerged at her feet. A strange squelching sound filled the air as she descended through the circle and disappeared.

She really is one strange lady, a completely different person when nobody is looking. I'll definitely make sure that Verona gets pampered a few times after this.

Nithroel stood alone. She did not have the chance to properly retort to Jira about anything and now she certainly could not.

There was one final glance, still full of contempt, as another ring formed at her bare feet. A green circle formed, vines and branches grew out from it. They quickly grew up and encircled her entire body. As quickly as they came they were gone and so to was Nithroel.

Anton turned to his gods.

"Is she gone?"

Stratos nodded, still recovering from his earlier near outburst of laughter.

"Neither her nor Jira can hear us now." Esperit explained.

"Thank fuck." Anton and Verona said together, a smile forming on their faces.

"Does she always dress like that?" Verona asked, getting off the chair and sitting on the table infront of Anton. She picked up one of his hands and held it firmly, all the while looking at Esperit. A tiny hint of burning jealousy was still evident on her face.

Do the gods even have a desire for sex, or even intimacy?

Verona pinched his hand hard and said nothing.

"Basically." Stratos replied. "Some times she turns up wearing less.”

I think that's an exaggeration.

"So there are Wood Elven women walking around like that?" Anton asked. "That sounds like a bit much for them."

Stratos smiled.

"Out of all the elves, the Wood Elves live the longest. A hundred thousand years is a very young age for them do die, and that's if they really don't try to look after themselves.”

Anton was shocked.

To live for so long...

Even Verona was stunned. He had told her before that a year was essentially the same thing as a winter here, how they addressed the full rotation of the seasons. The idea of living for so long was utterly bizarre.

"I'm gathering that they breed so much slower than humans," Anton said, "Otherwise they would have covered the whole world by now."

All three gods nodded.

"Every couple hundred years they can have a child." Esperit explained. "The signs that a woman is about to ovulate is watched very closely by the community."

"From what I know the..." Stratos looked sheepishly at them, "Act of union is essentially done infront of the priestess. To ensure that there is the best chance of impregnation. That is why they are so highly regarded in their society, as harbingers of the next generation. That's probably why Nithroel copies them, or maybe it's the other way around."

"Wow." Anton coughed as he answered. "That sounds a little odd."

Stratos shrugged.

"They have a very poor change of getting pregnant anyway. Maybe a new child ever thousand years or so. They really need all the help they can get."

"So do they even have sex during the other.... hundred or so years?" Verona was exasperated.

To think about going for so long without some level of intimacy.

"Not like you two." Stratos smiled as Verona flushed slightly. "But... It depends. Some couples really don't while others do. I think they just have different desires to humans, beast kin... And the other elves."

"I might as well ask this know while I have the chance, but I was told there are Dark elves, Desert elves and that there were Fire elves."

Esperit flinched at their mention.

"The others lived for maybe a thousand or so years, but the Fire Elves...they.... They lived about the same length of time as a human or beast-kin. About seventy or eighty years." Esperit explained.

"I was told they were..."

Esperit nodded, her face was full of sadness.

"There used to be over a million of them living peacefully alongside a human kingdom far to the west. Now there are only monsters living there, past the Qaiviel Kingdom. Nithroel got it in her head that all Elves belonged to her, so she sent her followers to force the Fire Elves to reject me and join her. They didn't. They preferred the human and dwarven cities to the Wood Elves and their lives in the tress. And for their defiance against her they were killed. The humans tried their best but could not stand against the beasts and elves she unleashed. They died too. Not even ruins remain."

She bit down on her lower lip as she shook her head.

"Ever since that day I have been waiting for a chance to strike back at her. Forgive me for being rude, but that was why I gave you my glyph and power."

I guess that explains you a bit, but not Stratos. What did she do to you?

Stratos gave no indication that he was going to answer.

"Your power has come in handy many times Esperit.” Anton said, “Soon I'll see about getting shrines devoted to you three and hopefully some new mages even."

She smiled warmly. He looked up at Verona, she was not going to have a go at him now. Verona sighed loudly and shook her head in disbelief.

"What is her problem?" Verona asked.

"That's a very good question." Esperit replied. "But do not be fooled by how she dresses or how she acts on the surface. Many have underestimated her and paid the price. I did, and it nearly cost me everything. If your partner had not gotten angry at her and forced Jira to ask, she would have left without performing the Sacrament of Binding and she would send everything thing she could at you. Many more than just a few thousand Kobolds."

"Considering that we were effectively bent over a barrel with our pants down, I think we came out of it very well." Anton said.

There was something niggling at the back of his mind.

"Why even agree to this meeting then? She must have known that Atros could not hold out against a full elven army, or even a horde of beasts."

"Her armies... Are not fighting as well as she would want you to think." Tethra started to cough violently but it subsided very quickly. Stratos rubbed her back to see if she was alright, Anton could see his hands rise and fall as they moved over the chains.

"Tethra is correct though." Esperit began. "It was a good thing that you only brought up that they were fighting them, not how well they were doing. We can see them and quite frankly.... They are terrible. Especially the 'Heroes' from your world. They are a complete joke."

"They can't be that bad."

"You have killed more than they have." Esperit shrugged.

"Those were just Goblins."

"And Kobolds." Verona chimed in.

"But," Stratos began, "You have virtually no resources or people. You've had to go and buy them from a neighbour."

"Well...true, we did. But still..."

"They just don't seem to be coping well." Esperit said, crossing her arms.

"Does Nithroel allow you to see them? Can we see them?" Anton asked.

He had no news about the others since arriving, the good and the bad ones. It would be good to know.

Stratos shook his head.

"Not yet. But soon. Your body is still adjusting to the vast supply of mana you posses. Besides, you've used quite a bit keeping both of you in this dream world. We should not stay too much longer anyway, for your sake."

"But back to the original topic, why agree to the meeting?"

"The south..." Thethra coughed out.

"Is a Wood Elven kingdom." Esperit continued. "It's a vassal state that is providing Nithroel with quite a large portion of her forces. Now, she failed in her attack thanks to Verona."

Verona smiled a little bitterly. The reason she had done so well was because of her blood power, one which she was still apprehensive about.

"Now that her first attack failed, she would need to bring her Wood Elves out of the forest and into the grasslands to attack you.” Esperit said. “That would negate all of their advantages of fighting in the shadows and twisting disorientation of their forests. She would loose hundreds, if not thousands, of her Wood Elves just to breach the walls.”

Stratos chuckled.

“And you could just kill thousands on your own with your magic.”

"Even more with that beast-kin of yours that'll be able to smell and track them better than any human could. She's quite talented."

Esperit looked to Tethra.

"That was something that I was not expecting." Esperit said with a chuckle.

I guess you guys don't tell each-other everything. Though in Tethra's case that might be a little hard.

"Anyway, it would tie up forces that could be better used elsewhere and it would take an inordinate time to recover. The demons do not have such worries about replenishing their forces. So I'm guessing that's why."

"She did not seem all that concerned when Jira mentioned all those Kobolds getting killed." Verona said. "More of those creatures could still attack us."

“Exactly why you must not delay in anything you do.” Stratos said. “She will not take this well and will move against you.”

“Despite those Kobolds, and quite a few other beastly creatures, worship her like fanatics, she has complete and utter disdain for them." Esperit continued.

"There was not even one mention of how many died from her," Stratos continued. "They are just tools for her to use, she really doesn't care how many die. Compared to the Wood Elves they breed so much more quickly, even than humans."

"That's pretty terrible for them." Anton said. None could disagree.

"Those totems that she had," Verona shuffled to face his gods. "Do they stop you from seeing there?"

Stratos waved his hand in uncertainty.

"Sort of. It makes it harder for a hostile or enemy god to see there. And we are definitely not friends."

“Can you see what's in the south?” Anton asked. “Is there something there that Nithroel wants, or doesn't want us to find?”

Stratos shook his head.

“Not that we can see. There seems to be some sort of haze over the whole region, just as if she had totems covering the area.”

Anton frowned. He did not like that she had already started to conceal the whole area.

“All we can see are ruins of the cities and forts of the old Kar Kingdom,” Stratos continued. “Most of those seem to be infested with Goblins and other monsters, the lands in-between are home to a myriad of beasts...I'm not really sure why she wants such a wild and untamed land.”

“Maybe something was left there by the old kingdom?” Verona offered.

Esperit and Stratos nodded.

“It is a good possibility.” Esperit said. “Unfortunately, we cannot see and you cannot go there without risking annihilation.”

Anton nodded.

"So if we were to build totems to the four of you-"

"Three." Verona cut in.

Anton consoled her as warmly as he could, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Despite how she treated you, we should at least try and show that we are trying to work together. She did give us some hints, even though it was covered in barbs. Jira might change her tune if we try to rectify whatever slight she thinks we have made against her.”

Verona frowned deeply before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Okay. I'll try. But if she treats me like before I'm never going to help her."

"Did she say something bad to you?" Stratos asked.

"Yeah. She said some quite nasty things."

Stratos chuckled.

"That's standard for her. She treats everyone badly."

"Even those that have her mark?" Anton asked.

Esperit nodded.

"She's always been like that. Don't take it personally."

"Kind of hard not to." Verona said in a huff.

"But if we did make something like that... Would it stop Nithroel from watching us?"

"It would make it difficult for her to see. There are other ways for her to see, like if someone tells her." Stratos stroked his chin, "But it may make her think that you are up to something."

"She can if she wishes.” Anton said. “She is. I don't think she's actually going to follow through with that thing she agreed to. Not for long at least. None of us glowed or whatever. She'll probably have one of the Kobold groups stray into the border of our territory and say it was an unprovoked attack, rendering the treaty null. I don't know, but I'm sure she'll try something. One way or another."

Verona tilted her head.

"The Capital, Surdon, is quite far away. About two or three days away from Atros. There would need to be a lot more people in Atros before we expanded that far, not to mention that we have had to dealt with the goblins first. Not that she's going to help with that."

“The longer that she waits, the more people we can get and we'll continue to get stronger.” Anton mumbled added.

“We'll need to work even harder with the kingdoms and empires around us, won't we?” Verona asked sadly.

She was probably looking forward to spending some time together relaxing with him, not having to worry about having to explore. He was getting annoyed that he could not spend some time with her as well. Time without fighting or having to worry. He sighed and held her hands firmly, getting a smile in return.

"I think this whole thing has been a cautious success." Stratos said happily. "Please do not go out of your way to try and break the treaty early."

“Or at all.” Esperit quickly added.

"We won't." Anton and Verona said, again, in unison.

"We'll let you get back to sleep then." Esperit said as she stood up along with Stratos. Tethra remained seated.

"Thank you for your help." Anton said with a bow of his head.

"We all expect great things from you."

Esperit and Stratos gave a final nod before rings appeared beneath their feet. Esperit was consumed by fire and disappeared while Stratos disappeared in a blast of lightning.

That left Tethra sitting alone, with three empty seats between them. With some difficulty she stood up and walked to Verona's seat. No one spoke as she sat down with a groan.

"Do... Do you know what it is like to be... Impotent?" she asked in a croaky voice.

"No." Anton replied truthfully.

He was not going to pretend that he knew or could relate to anything that she had gone through all those years.

"I am the goddess of Prayer.... And for so long I have been only able to hear their cries and screams... Unable to do anything. Until now. Until you."

"You were the one that Kal talked about." Verona said in a soft voice.

"The one that she said she prayed to on a stormy night. And for the first time, you answered." Anton added.

Tethra lowered her head.

"I do not... Discriminate between humans and beast-kin. I had no idea if you would be the same. I'm glad that it's going well for her after so, so long. Spending nearly every waking moment fearing for her life, always on the move, hungry, cold and alone. Never able to trust anyone."

She coughed but quickly recovered.

"Her tears at night are like knives through my heart."

"Are? Not were?" Anton asked.

Tethra shrugged lightly.

"I am glad that she found the both of you... And that you, and you, Verona, are... Accepting of what she is. She deserves some happiness."

“I hope that we can actually do that.” Anton said. “I'm guessing that she has been through some things that nobody in Atros would wish upon the worst people. I hope she can be happy here with us.”

"She is a nice and kind person, even after all that she has been through. She will find happiness here. Of that I am sure." Verona smiled.

She looked up over his head with a peculiar look on her face. It screamed that she was planning something. A moment later it was gone as she looked back at him and smiled. She made no attempt to say what just happened, nor did Anton push.

"Thank you Tethra, for everything and everyone. I hope that we have been a help to you as well.

She nodded.

"I am much stronger, stronger every day. Next year I may even be able to remove... The chains on my face.... If everything goes well."

Anton shuffled around so he faced her, he could feel some apprehension build within her.

"What did Nithroel do to you. I mean, really, what did she do to you?"

Out the corner of his eye Verona nodded as well. Tethra lowered her head.

“Long...Long ago we were friends. Well, rather, we didn't have much to do with each-other. However, she...didn't like that I was helping the humans and beast-kin grow in strength, so much faster than her own Wood Elves and beasts. In a few centuries they would have eclipsed her followers. Some of my best disciples also helped the Fire Elves attempting to escape but they were all cut down. I think that's when it all started to...devolve into open warfare. I...tried to talk her down but she would not listen. So, she destroyed nearly everything I had and made me have to retreat into this...form.”

She reached out and held his shoulder.

“She is quite petty and vicious. Don't do anything to upset her.”

Tethra was silent and gave no further indication that she would say anything more on the subject.

That seems a little bit vague to try and destroy you. But, from what I understood from meeting Nithroel, I don't know if she would go so far just...because of what you said. She was very quick to not have us as an enemy once it became clear she could not destroy us immediately.

Does it have to do with whatever the reason is why we aren't allowed to go past the old capital? Did the old kingdom find something there, or build something, under you three's instructions? I have no idea...It all sounds very vague....There's too little information for me to work on.

Nithroel went through quite a bit of effort to do what she did to all of you, especially since it takes so long for the Wood Elves to replenish. Whatever it was, it cost you nearly everything. And the same thing can be said about Esperit and Statos...

I don't know what to make of what Esperit told me for her reasoning, and Stratos didn't even offer one. But I'm guessing that you're not going to tell me any more.

Are we... Could we be working for the bad guys here? I certainly hope not.

Verona glanced at him, she looked just as unconvinced as he was.

There was nothing he could do to verify it without upsetting his gods, gods that he needed for his power. Perhaps it was just Nithroel getting underneath his skin and making him paranoid.

No. I don't think we are...I hope. But, I'll need their strength for quite some time, so I'll still need to keep a good relation with them for now. At least. I just hope that we are on the right side...not that I've actually given it much thought before.

The thought lingered no matter how hard he pushed it away.

"I will Tethra. May things get better from here on. I hope that you don't have to wear those chains for much longer."

Tethra nodded as his eyes became heavy and closed.

-------------

Hello again.

So, Verona joined Anton with meeting the gods. Jira, Verona's god, is still very annoyed at her but is willing to forgive her. I wanted to give her more of an annoyed and playful personality than just a spiteful one.

Anton's gods are the same, but Nithroel is a piece of work. First itterations of her were far more crude, but I still wanted to show that the complicated nature of who they are going up against. As was stated, she was extremely quick to form a peace deal with Anton despite her overwhelming power, so she's got some serious problems of her own. Also shows that the gods can be petty towards eachother, in this case their appearance. Her time in this chapter may have been a little short but she will be returning soon.

It's also pretty clear that something's going on in the southern half of the old Kar Kingdom. That is locked off though to Anton and Co., so it'll be some time before we get there. Also got an unknown number of goblins in the remains of the cities and the old capital for them to go through as well.

Also not ready to meet the other heroes just yet. Will be doing that at the end of this 'arc', if all things go well. I still need to finalise their personallities, beyond what little was done in the first chapter.

The final bit was a question about being on the 'right' side. Especially since that his gods are so evassive and vauge about their reasons for their hostility with Nithroel. Esperits is a little vauge, Stratos bailed as soon as he could, and Tethra's links into Esperits but seems rather vauge too. He cannot ask Nithroel for the truth, and his own are doubtful if they would say anything other than what they have already said. It means that to find out he's going to have to talk to a neutral god or find some sort of written record to find out the truth, both of which are extremely difficult for him to get at the moment.

So, that's this chapter.

Next two chapters are done but still need editing work, both for this site and just generally. No idea when those will be done.

As I have quite a few chapters, having some cover-art is well overdue. However, I have no idea as to where to look. If someone could help me in that regard I would be extremely greatful.

Thanks for reading, thanks for any and all donations.