"Come again," I said as I scrambled up and looked at Rathica in disbelief. She had not just said what I thought I heard.

"You heard right, Est," Rathica said as she looked at me in sympathy. "Most of the other humans are either dead or captured by Preyatar or Lischen."

"How? Why?" Eliandra's angry shouts mirrored my thoughts perfectly.

Rathica looked between us, and for the first time that I knew of, she hesitated. Then she glanced at the entrance for a moment, and the light and murmurs from outside died down. It felt like a massive blanket covered us, even the light dimming. Immediately, memories about my conversation with Rathica only minutes before resurfaced.

I didn't even notice they were gone, I thought in surprise.

"Neither of you three will remember any of this in a few minutes. All you will remember is that you have heard why."

Rathica looked at me, her gaze serious as her dark eyes gleamed.

"Remember what I told you about Karma? There are ways to determine how much Karma a follower will generate for a deity. Painful ways. Preyatar found one of the humans early on and was probably shocked by the amount of Karma the human generated. I know that he began hunting for more shortly after that, and soon those other two old fools started copying him. You didn't notice any of this because we are on the least populated and least civilized continent of Kernstalion. Those few humans that came to this continent were snatched up quickly and quietly."

I shook my head in disbelief. "How did we not get caught?" I asked, indicating Eliandra.

"In your case, it is because you annoyed the Guidar that was placing you into a body. He put you in the most backwater place he could think of. With Eliandra, I can only guess, but I know of a few other humans that are following the Stone and Percussion, so I guess she was quick enough to follow another deity."

"Why didn't they just grab me anyway?" Eliandra asked in confusion.

I knew the answer and sighed. "Because deities can't forcefully take followers from each other." Then I turned to Rathica.

"You said dead or captured?"

Rathica nodded. "The earthlings that eluded those old monsters were mostly in similar situations as you, in some wild rural areas. However, without a deity connection to guard against the Guidar…" she left her words hanging, but I needed no elaboration and shivered.

"There are more things going on, but it wouldn't help if I told you. Suffice to say that there are a few hundred earthlings left of those that came here together with you. Strangely enough, most are followers of the Stone now. It seems many people from your world were drawn to him for reasons I can't figure out. They are spread across the other continents, but I know of two that are in the far south of this one."

It was quiet for a bit, and I noticed that Laurel seemed confused. I'd have to explain the situation to her later. But for now...

"Are they also working towards a way to save the rest of the people still on earth?" I asked. For a while now, I had the feeling I was the only one, and carrying the proverbial weight of a world on my shoulders wasn't my cup of tea.

"I don't know. I've tried to get into contact with that rugged youngster, but he keeps fleeing when I get too close. I have no idea what he is up to," Rathica said, and my hope withered away.

"Est, don't worry," Rathica said, and a wave of warmth and power came from her, washing over me. "I am sure he is acting. With those few hundred earthling followers, his growth has gotten a significant boost. Even if only for that, he will be trying to gain more."

I nodded, straightening my shoulders and grabbing Eliandra's hand.

"Take today and rest," Rathica said, and the damping field she had put around us vanished. The sounds of the city returned in force. Rathica stepped forward, and a pouch appeared in her hand. Without hesitation, I took it.

"Buy new equipment, armor, and weapons. It won't do for my most powerful Prime to walk around shirtless all day," Rathica said with a grin before becoming translucent.

"I need to go before those three try to cordon off the area to prevent me from leaving. Tomorrow you need to head to the Harrowing Hills. Use this route. It's the fastest, although not the safest."

A map appeared in my mind with a snap, showing the city I was in and a large area around it. A red dotted line moved along the coast southward before heading inland towards a spot at least three days' travel away. As I looked at the route, Rathica disappeared, and Laurel slumped to the ground with a sigh.

"Incredible! That was so intense! I can't believe I'm a follower now! And can you believe this? She spoke to me, to me! I've never heard about normal followers communicating with their deities before. She even said that if I performed well, I could be her third Prime!" Lying on her back, Laurel struck all four arms into the air and whooped.

Seeing how happy she was, I grinned and shook my head. "If you like being a follower so much, why didn't you join the Stone? From what I've heard, that doesn't sound too bad?"

Laurel shook her head, looking at me with a grin. "Hell no. Those guys have no idea how to have fun! I'd have joined Percussion if he wasn't so close to that old hag, Lischen." She pushed herself up, her eyes suddenly sharpening on the bag I was still clutching.

"So, how much did you get?"

Opening the bag, I looked at the twenty finger-length pieces of wood inside. "I don't know how much this is," I finally said, shaking my head.

Eliandra took the bag from my hand before shouting in joy and amazement. "Twenty soul-wood fragments! I'm rich!"

I blinked and tried to take the bag back, but she dodged out of my way, a wide smile on her face, and shining eyes. "No, no. You're far too bad with money to let you handle this. You got a day off from the boss-lady, so you're all mine. We are going to spend this wisely," her voice cracked into laughter, and I could only laugh back. Seeing her so happy, the tension from before gone, was infectious.

"Come, come. Make sure you keep some to buy me armor," I said, straightening up and patting my naked arms and stomach. You heard what she said. I can't go walking around like this all day!"

Eliandra moved closer and placed one calloused hand on my chest, pressing gently. "Why not? I like it!"

"You're just saying that because you want to spend those fragments on something else," I snorted back.

"You got that right, boyo!" she shouted with a sudden predatory grin, and she shoved me back hard. I flailed around, trying to keep my balance. At the same time, she ran past me. "Come catch me if you can!"

Finding my balance, I turned and ran after her through the corridor that led to the city. It, too, was covered in green vegetation, bulbous red fruit hanging from the sides. They reminded me of grapes, but were the size of apples.

Eliandra shot out of the entrance and began running towards the bustling downtown. Dozens of people were still standing outside, gazing into the temple as if afraid to enter. I turned around, looking at Laurel, who was following our antics with a half-smile on her face.

"You can take care of this place for now? I'll bring you back something nice!" I shouted before turning and sprinting full speed after Eliandra.

Within a hundred meters, I had caught up with her, grabbing her around the waist and hoisting her up on my shoulder. She began beating my back, but it felt like gentle paddling.

"Let me go, you brute! Just because I'm a bit weaker than you are now!"

I laughed at her pretend outrage until I saw a few mercenaries look at us with frowns. Seeing their swords and daggers and ugly scowls, I quickly put Eliandra on her feet. She was about to continue when she saw my serious expression and followed where I was looking. When she saw the mercenaries, she laughed.

"Nothing going on here," she shouted, waving at them. The mercenary leader, a small woman carrying more daggers than any person should need, looked at Eliandra intently before her scowl turned into a smile. She waved back and moved away along a side branch of the network of slopes that led deeper into the city.

"Better keep your hands to yourself, big boy," Eliandra said as she turned to me and wrapped her arm around my waist.

As we moved down, we passed a stream of other people, and my eye fell on an older woman walking hand in hand with two little boys. They were chattering to her non-stop about some playground they were going to, and she just smiled at them lovingly. Looking at them, I thought of Nana and how she took me to the arcade games museum when I was small.

"Est, what's wrong?"

I tried to blink quickly, not sniffling, but nevertheless tears began quietly flowing down my cheeks. Raising my two right hands, I wiped my eyes, forcing a smile to my face.

"Rathica found Nana. She is dead now," I said, my voice cracking slightly at the end. I grit my teeth, staring straight ahead, breathing deep through my nose as I tried to contain the grief.

There was a sharp gasp from Eliandra, and then she snuggled up closer to me. Her head on my shoulder, which made for awkward walking, she remained quiet.

We continued walking entwined, and a few hundred meters further I had managed to calm a bit, and I sighed. "She managed to survive for a long time, a rugged old lady she was. When Rathica found her and tried to talk with her, it was the last straw…"

"She had a long, great life!" Eliandra said. Her words weren't spoken gently, kindly, or comfortingly, but stated as if they were an undeniable truth. "She lived through the riots after the botched colonization of Mars, survived the great viral outbreaks, and through it all still managed to give her children a good upbringing, all on her own. Then she survived through half a decade of Alzheimer's until they finally found the cure, after which she recuperated and lived for another two decades, taking care of you."

Listening to Eliandra continue describing Nana's life like a list of achievements in a game, the tears began streaming again. This time I let them come and continued walking. At some point, the tears stopped, drying up, and I realized we were at a familiar intersection. A small library sat on one corner, and I noticed a few people looking at me askance, before quickly turning back to what they were doing.

"Don't bother with them! If you can't even cry over a lost loved one, what is there to live for?" Eliandra said, putting a hand on my chin and turning my head towards her. "Stop bottling everything up, Brewcanon. It's going to explode out of your ears someday. Now, are you going to bring your lovely, beautiful, and sympathetic girlfriend out shopping, or what?"

Knowing she was purposefully changing the subject to distract me, I closed my eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and blew it back out. I knew what I was going to do. I would make a memorial for Nana. But not right now. Opening my eyes, I looked around in mock surprise.

"What? Where is this magical girlfriend you speak of? I need to find her quickly!" I knew Eliandra was still being influenced by Flowheart, making it hard for her to connect with me, but she was clearly trying.

Eliandra punched me in the shoulder before standing on her toes and kissing me on the lips. We stood there for a moment until I heard people begin to mutter around us. Looking up, I saw two old women looking at us scandalized and couldn't help myself. I grinned and blew them a kiss. They screamed in outrage, turning away and walking off.

"Come on, crybaby. Time to do some shopping."

"Hey, you said it was alright to cry," I said, as Eliandra dragged me away to a shop that had leather armors on display.

"Of course it is! So is bullying you with it relentlessly for grabbing me just now!"

I sped up, and hand in hand, we began walking from shop to shop, looking at the wares. I had never found shopping with Eliandra bothersome, not like with my mother. Eliandra never took longer than me in deciding whether she liked something, and she never bought more than she needed.

As we flashed through the dozens of small shopping streets, I was slowly getting decked out. The most obvious improvement was a leather armorset, specially crafted for grablons with matching wrist guards studded with miniature demon craniums that seemed too tacky to me but apparently made minor demons flee at their sight. I also had a belt with a nifty clip system on my back that was meant for axes and swords, so I could finally stop carrying my ax in hand all the time, and a smaller one around my waist from which the pouch Rathica had given me now hung.

I was lugging around a big bag of seeds mixed with scraps of wood we had managed to gather from the different stalls, and another bag filled with food and drink.

Eliandra had a bigger bag with her that held her old armor, the Flowheart one, and she was now wearing a tight-fitting leather bodice with matching armor leggings. According to the most muscular elf I'd ever seen, it had belonged to some cult of elf assassins, but that was probably just a sales pitch. The leather was special, though, and it better be as it had cost an entire one of the soul-wood fragments. It was far more flexible than normal leather, allowing for free movement while fighting. The elf had demonstrated how resistant it was to fire by pressing a burning torch against it with no negative effect on the leather.

It was still morning, and as the sun crawled higher up the blue sky, we passed a fish stand. A balding man with a crown of grey hair remaining was frying dumplings. As the sweet and savory smell reached us, my stomach growled.

"Let's grab a bite," I said.

"Alright," Eliandra said as she was looking at the bag in her hand. "What should I do with this," she said, her distaste obvious.

"Bring it back to the Flowheart temple?" I commented while holding up four fingers to the old man, who shook his head and pointed at a sign that showed the prices. It said six was the smallest order, costing the smallest soul-wood fragment I had.

"I don't know if I want to go back… I've never heard of followers that leave their deities' service before. I'm not sure they will handle this well."

I nodded, frowning. "Do you want me to bring it back?"

Eliandra sighed, shaking her head. "No. Can't have you get me out of trouble all the time-"

"All The time?" I interrupted her with a snort. I handed her a few of the dumplings. "When have I ever gotten you out of trouble? It's the other way around, remember." Making up my mind, I stuck out my only free hand. "Give me the bag, girl, let me act all manly for a change!"

Eliandra giggled, something she didn't do unless completely comfortable, and handed me the bag. "Fine. But only this time."

I nodded. "Of course. Wouldn't want you to get all lazy!"

In the end, we each ate six of the dumplings. They were a bit salty and oily, but the crust was crispy, and they tasted better than most of what I had eaten in this world so far.

Satiated, we continued our browsing.