Rathica silently gazed at the broad back of the Stone as he stood before the pattern. He was arranging array after array of gray runes, every single one so complicated it might shatter a mortal's mind.

When he finally stopped, one larger, oddly round cluster sat in the center, with a scaffold around it and three empty spots inside, one below, one to the left, and one to the right. The Stone's symbol sat in the middle of the round cluster.

How can he possibly have this Karma left? Rathica thought as she stared at the completed work.

She knew what the three openings were for, but she hadn't expected them. They meant that not just her but the others would be easily able to break free of the Pantheon if they ever wanted. That was if they knew how to.

Flowheart was the first to move, stepping forward towards an opening, and a wave of blue Karma burst from her, arranging into a watery sword made of runes. Then she looked triumphantly at The Stone, who held her gaze before turning to Wyerg, raising a hand with the palm forward.

The canine Deity stepped forward, and a stream of gray energy rippled from the Stone's hand toward him. Like a stream of murky light, it continued for a while, and when it stopped, Wyerg stepped to the righthand opening. A duller, lighter brown Karma erupted from him, creating tiny glyphs that created a fang shape. When Wyerg finished, he moved forward, next to The Stone.

He seemed fine, but Rathica knew he was completely drained. The amount of Karma from the Stone had been impressive but also barely enough for what had been needed.

The Stone turned to her, and with a wave of a hand, another stream of gray Karma rushed out. Seeing it pool before her, Rathica let it coalesce as she inspected it. She was stunned to find it was free of any hidden influences she could detect. Free Karma. She couldn't recall ever having gained any from another Deity.

She accepted it and watched as her almost depleted reserves refilled halfway. It took effort to keep her mortal mindset under control as she felt it burst with angry indignation. She only had a few Prime's, and her maximum capacity was limited compared to the others. If they weren't inside this barrier, deprived of the powerful Karma production from her Realm, she could beat all of them, but her capacity for Karma was still far too low. She'd have to make a point to do something about that in the unlikely event something like this would happen again.

She looked at the last free spot below the center and began shaping a connection to the pattern. Like the others, she chose to shape it into something familiar, and runes formed a black shield with a red ax in the final open slot.

As the shape rapidly congealed, she saw Flowheart and Wyerg stare at her with barely hidden annoyance. This was the difference that her greater experience and well-focused realm granted her, something they would never be able to emulate.

After making sure not to create any unwanted bindings, she added multiple ways of breaking free, creating a pattern that was ready to be ripped free at a moment's notice. As soon as she finished the last rune, the completed pattern started glowing brightly, and a thin connection appeared, linking her to the Stone. It resembled what connected her to her Primes, except now she was on the receiving end. Outside of her control, a portion of her power was opened up to another being, and she could sense The Stone draw from it, inspecting it before letting it hover in between them.

The sensation was not just annoying. It angered her.

Once, and never again, Rathica thought, inwardly gnashing her teeth.

Anger bubbled inside a part of her mind that she was usually easily able to control. It was the part of Est's being that had shaped her, and except for the anger, she was surprised. She had thought she had fully grasped it, but as it exerted itself, she realized there was one element about what had formed her that she hadn't noticed before or perhaps suppressed.

Est, and she by extension, hated not being in control!

For Est, this was no problem, as he had learned to live with it, but for her? As one of the most powerful beings in known reality, it was horrible, and she knew right away this meant she would never be able to be just part of a Pantheon.

As she reeled in her emotions, Rathica reframed her future ideas and concepts rapidly, fitting the new variable into it. As she did, she also left room for others, as she knew that if she had missed one aspect, it was wholly possible that there were more layers she had yet to discover.

"You will all fail and return to nill," Fin'r said with a crazed laugh, his voice breaking the other Deities from their contemplations.

The Stone turned to him, his placed face showing no emotion, but Rathica felt him draw from her and the others' power. The pattern began glowing silvery as raw power revolved around the slate gray Deity. Most of it was from himself, but by removing her own from the equation and knowing Wyerg had nothing left, Rathica quickly calculated how much came from Flowheart, and she felt astonished. Although the cold, watery Deity was already starting to lag behind her in terms of raw power, her capacity for Karma was double. Something that surprised her immensely. How had these young ones gained such large realms?

"Perhaps, but how about you go there first?" The Stone rumbled as his second hand joined the first around the neck of Fin'r.

A bubble of silver light appeared around him and Fin'r, blocking Fin'r's sudden and insane screams of pain and terror as his body began warping, shrinking further and further. The other Deities quietly looked on as Fin'r slowly vanished while a sparkling silvery gem appeared where he had been, still shrinking. When it was the size of The Stone's hand, it stopped and solidified. Then it lay there, jittering on occasion while a bright spec of red light rushed around inside, like a trapped hornet.

"Flowheart," The Stone rumbled as he tossed the gemstone to the watery Deity.

She grabbed it, looked at it with a cold grin, then made it vanish. Something unspoken moved between her and The Stone before the latter turned to the barrier.

"Stay here," he rumbled.

Rathica felt another pull as power was taken as the Stone moved to the barrier, then through, appearing in the mass of swirling chaos beyond. He froze, and a frown covered his face as he looked into the distance, then he disappeared in a gray beam.

What happened that he couldn't control his mortal influences? Rathica thought as she felt her own mortal emotions try to rear their head again. The Stone hadn't shown as many emotions as the others, so whatever had happened must have startled him. For a moment, she contemplated rushing out, then she saw the primal chaos cloud and shook her head. Without a Pantheon leader's power, she would be infected and potentially torn to pieces within moments.

"I forgot how powerful they become," Ulderion muttered as he stood beside her, almost echoing her thoughts. "Perhaps I need to find some youngsters, cultivate them and create my own Pantheon. With The Stone and the others around, there should be space for that."

Rathica didn't react, quietly staring at The Stone as he disappeared. She didn't think Ulderion had the patience for it. Besides, any plan like that would take decades, if not centuries, to complete. Who knew if they were even still around by then?

Screams tore through the chaotic swirling clouds of primal chaos, followed by bursts of green and silvery light, illuminating parts of the gaseous clouds. Rathica's gaze flickered around, rapidly following the blasts as she detected minute karma outbursts even inside the barrier. If she could feel that, it meant Lischen wasn't willing to go down without a fight.

The explosions and flashes lasted for long minutes before a final, agonizing scream came.

"Pathetic rigid fool! I should have ended you a hundred years ago," Lischen screamed. Her scream changed in pitch before abruptly falling quiet.

A minute went by, then The Stone appeared, a thin, pale arm in his grip. A golden ichor oozed from the stump, dripping on the ground, creating dense patches and clusters of mushrooms. Around him, the chaos clouds began dissipating now that the force that was holding them there had left.

"Lischen got away," he said solumnly as he rushed to the barrier and pressed his hand against it.

Rathica wasn't surprised. She was surprised he had managed to take such a large chunk of her essence. It would take her decades to recover.

The arm in The Stone's hand began disintegrating. A silvery-gray light flashed outward, covering the barrier and pushing out watery blue and leaf-green remnants until it burned bright silver, enough to blind a mortal's eyes. Then it slowly faded from view while The Stone moved through and towards them, Lischen's arm gone.

"Before you go out and do something foolish, listen," he said, projecting a calm, commanding presence while looking at Rathica and Ulderion. "Ux'dsir'lar is after something inside the demon sea, and you will realize what it is when you exit the barrier. Don't just rush there! We need to-"

Ulderion vanished, a green leafy stream rushing through the barrier. He appeared outside, and a wave of anger flashed across his face. He turned to Rathica, almost growling.

"There's a bloody Despotin corpse in the demon-sea!" he roared, then his eyes widened, and he turned to The Stone. "You… that's why you three are so much more powerful than you should be! Are you crazy?"

Flowheart stepped forward, her eyes shimmering pools of frozen water.

"Be quiet!" she snapped, her voice like a glacier rumbling forward. "You have been hiding for centuries while we were trying to eke out an existence below those three ancient wretches. We had to deal with their constant harassment, as they hunted our Prime's, the few followers we had! Nothing we built ever lasted. And, now, when we finally have a chance, an opening, you don't even want to join us? Because of some perceived fear that you will lose your freedom? Why should we tell you anything at all?"

Flowheart's eyes glazed over even more, and a thin aura of blue surrounded her as a promise of violence hung around her.

Rathica readied herself to leave the Pantheon and flee with Ulderion.

The Stone stepped forward, appearing beside her in a rush and putting his massive hand on her shoulder. "Calm down," he said, his voice so emotionless it did nothing to make Rathica relax.

Then The Stone turned to a fuming Ulderion.

"You too," he said before he sighed. "Yes, we knew. As Flowheart said to survive for over two hundred years, there was no choice. I've seen over a dozen Deities come and go, hunted down and killed by Cinderage and the others. But we have taken steps to control the demons. We are not-"

"You have been absorbing the Despotin's remnant energy," Rathica said quietly as she floated up and through the barrier, no longer interested in listening to the discussion. Instantly she sensed the revolting and familiar energy madly erupting from a place far to the west.

Memories of long ago, from her last moments in her previous form, and battling the Guidar surfaced. Back then, two Despotin had appeared together with an elder demon, joining their fight against the Guidar. Although not as evil as the demons, the Despotin, with their insatiable battle lust, had managed to corrupt a few of the weaker Deities, turning them into loose canons.

Vaguely she sensed Est there, almost in the middle of it. She tried to contact him, but the torrent of rampant energy washed it away. The tiny aspect of herself that had been governing her Realm reconnected to her, and she grunted when the information mingled with her own.

When she realized Elliandra had been awoken and was helping control her Realm, she was surprised, but not as much as what she saw after.

Est actually managed to get a messenger skill! she thought as she hung beside Ulderion, ignoring the stern looks The Stone was giving and the glare from Flowheart. To her surprise, Wyerg was calmly standing to the side, seemingly uncaring.

Mindscape Messenger skills were rare amongst mortals and locked by the rigid rules she had to abide by, ones that stated that mortals were only allowed to discover them on their own. If he had one, it had to be because Raparion had given it to him. It seemed that now the ancient Deity was no longer truly a Deity; he was capable of skirting the rules far more than she could. As soon as the thought came, her mind split off into multiple tiny streams that started analyzing a plan. With this, a new path had opened up, one she hadn't imagined possible before. A single partition remained with her main form, staring at the others that hovered behind the barrier.

"I'll go to my realm for now," she said.

She wasn't interested in telling The Stone, Flowheart, or Wyerg how dangerous their actions had been. Either they knew and had done so anyway, or they didn't, and it was too late now. Besides, they could have already been corrupted by the Despotin's warlike mentality. In that case, she would need any advantage she could get.

"I expect you near the coast when we confront Nimron," The Stone said, his silvery eyes still emotionless as he looked at her.

Rathica looked back, her knowledge of how he had gotten his strength dulling her respect for his continued existence. She didn't attempt to hide the way she felt, and the gleam in The Stone's eyes dulled. He turned to the others, and without a word, they vanished, leaving Ulderion and her alone.

"Make sure you leave them soon. They will destroy themselves like this," Ulderion said as his anger vanished, replaced by his normal calm look. "Worse, now we have to create a third Pantheon because of what these three fools might become."

"Is your outpost in the foothills still secure?" Rathica asked.

"Yes, it's still fine," Ulderion said.

"Then, bring the mortals there. I don't have the time to guard them here, so I'll lock this place down after we leave," Rathica said as she looked at the massive city below.

"Alright… sure. But then we will share this place afterward," Ulderion said as he grinned.

They exchanged a look, and Rathica finally laughed, her eyes burning brightly again. "Deal, you sly old fox," she said.

Ulderion looked at her, then shrugged. "I don't know what that is, but sure."

Rathica watched as he moved towards the city, waiting as he spoke with the mortals, who were huddled together, hidden in the buildings. As soon as Ulderion and the mortals vanished, Rathica focused on the barrier.

Although The Stone had finished it, he had left control to her. She knew that he was trying to pander to her, but she didn't care. She quickly changed the controlling patterns, finding a few poorly disguised loopholes and two much better-hidden ones.

After she wiped them away and locked the pattern so she would be the only one to remove it without brute force, she took one final look around.

Now, let's see what my Prime's has been up to, she thought as she vanished.

Below her, the enormous, partially ruined city of Boglodon remained, once again empty and uninhabited.

--

I stared ahead, wondering how long we had to continue.

To our left, the seemingly endless water, dark and cold, seemed to continue on indefinitely, so dark even my vision couldn't pierce far enough to see anything but more water, while a cliff of jagged rock, demonic plants, bones, and purplish growths sat on our right.

How does he even know where we are, I thought as I gazed at Lark.

We had left the V-shaped caverns a day before, going through a few caverns that ended up here. A few hours ago, we had passed a massive cavern. Lark had said it was the exit we would have come from if we had taken the path with the demon corpse filled with Xandi leeches.

According to Casiron, we were a few days from the central conflict, but how he could tell, I didn't know. All I knew was that I was bloody happy for my map, as without it, I'd have had no idea where the mainland would even be.

I sense something, Casiron said, sounding confused.

He was swimming slightly to the right and above me, his head turning around as he seemed to try to find what had drawn his attention.

I looked ahead, up, then below, but saw nothing. There also wasn't anything like the dark illusion Lark had used. Just the chaotic stone, purple growths, and some yellowish tendrils covered in white hairs that bordered the black nothing of the abyss.

"Stop hiding," Lark suddenly roared, just as something flashed in the corner of my eye.

A hard-to-track streak rushed one of my Armedsharks, then a blurry purple shape struck the wooden head, which exploded into splinters. The blur changed into a triangular purple demonic shape, a massive mouth on one side and a flat tail on the other, both making up eighty percent of the body. Tiny, red eyes sat on the points of his flat head, and he moved rigidly.

"I am Vile Sssnake! Ssstop, or I'll dessstroy you all," Lark roared as more popped up around us.

It took me only a moment to realize the demons were hiding between the purple growths, their coloring the perfect camouflage. More movement came from all across the wall as dozens of shapes flashed forward and rushed towards us.

It's an ambush, I thought angrily, as I saw that the nearest four rushed towards me. My Armedsharks rushed forward to intercept them.

There's a bigger one coming from above, Casiron hissed.

His words barely registered when a deep, hollow laugh echoed all around us.

"Kill them and bring me their heads! Qyolix will reward us handsomely for bringing her the killers of Yox'plir!" a gurgling voice sounded from everywhere.

My skin went all tingly as a dull red light poured down from above. I looked up and saw a massive behemoth, slowly distancing itself from the wall where its growth-covered body had hung, well camouflaged like the smaller ones. It was almost formless, and only a mouth on one side gave any idea of what the front might be. I didn't see any limbs, but it somehow floated down, almost like a giant jelly.

Hissing, screaming, and tearing noises erupted everywhere as rapidly moving purple blurs slammed into Casiron, Lark, and my cordon of Armedsharks. The wide gaping mouths bit down on flesh and wood each, holding on almost like giant insects trying to suck their targets dry.

"Get off me," Lark roared as he squirmed around, the heart in his mouth preventing him from biting back. "Kineater, how did you find usss?"

"You think Qyolix doesn't keep track of her lieutenants? Fool!" an insane laugh bubbled down as the mass of purple flesh and growths floated towards us.

I heard Casiron roar something, but I had no time to spend on the others. My mount dodged one of the triangular demons, and I looked around at the swirling mass of movement. Triangular demons were actively attacking the heads of my tiny army, and I ordered them to pull closer together, backing each other up while focusing on ripping the demons apart as fast as possible. The last few days, weary as I'd been, I'd made a few more Armedsharks, and now I was happy I had because three were already reduced to rubble.

My arms raised automatically and shot bolts at the nearest triangular demons. My bolts blurred through the water, hit, and thudded uselessly against the thick skin, only puncturing a few inches.

Shit! Thick-skinned bastards, I thought as I tried to determine how many demons were ambushing us. When my guess reached one hundred, I felt the color drain from my skin. We were in deep shit!

The fear and worry faded with a sudden, jarring sensation, and my mind turned crystal clear. At the same time, it was like a static that had been in my mind for a long time had disappeared.

Rathica freed herself, I knew immediately. The sensation was unmistakable.

I'd felt it a few times before, but it was far stronger this time. If it was because our connection had been interrupted for a lot longer than the previous times or because my mind had been in such turmoil, I couldn't say.

I did know that with the slight veil of confusion torn from my mind, I realized I'd been acting way too reactive the last few… days? Weeks? Wait, had it been that long? The shock as I realized how long I'd been down here, almost aimlessly wandering about, made a slight fear grow.

Rathica? I screamed in my mind.

There was no response from the connection, but a trickle of surety and support came through, showing she must have heard me. I could use some help! I shouted again, not interested in letting her brush me off. Again there was no response, but I shouted a few more times until I finally stopped. Perhaps she was fleeing from whatever had locked her up? Nimron or Ux’dsir’lar?

As I hung in the water, thinking, a movement blurred to my side. I cursed myself for zoning out mid-combat and looked up. Two triangular demons had slowly changed course, somehow dodging through and around the chaotic mess of Armedsharks and other demons, and now blurring towards me. Their inflexible bodies looked like a gaping maw lined with teeth and two red eyes on the ends.

How do they even move, I thought suddenly, while at the same time, my four hands blurred effortlessly through the motions of Controlled Conflagration.

The demons reached me with a final burst of speed, but my mount grabbed one, instantly chomping down on it.

Green fire erupted from the palms of my hands as the other appeared to my left like a dark red gullet lined with teeth. The water around my hands was heating up rapidly, the scorching sensation painful against my skin, but I ignored it. My hands blurred forward as fast as the demon, and a ball of flickering green flames toppled from my lower hands, slowly crossed the last two feet, and slammed into the middle of the demon's mouth.

A dull screech almost deafened me as the demon's maw slammed shut while I commanded my mount to dodge, but too late. The cow-size demon slammed into my shoulder, almost dislodging me. It shuddered but wasn't dead, and I shoved it away with my upper hands. It felt like pushing against a solid wall, but the green fire melted through its quickly darkening skin as oily bubbles appeared. The demon shuddered while my mount pulled away, and suddenly the demon howled, the flesh in its mouth a blackened, charred mess as it rushed past me and away.

My gaze flashed around as I searched for the second one. Relieved, I saw my mount still had it in a death grip, the dark wooden claws holding it tight and ravaging it with its massive mouth. Blood, dark and purple, burst out of gashes while the demon struggled against the grip.

Seeing the arms shiver and struggle, I realized my mount wouldn't hold out. My fingers flickered, and more green fire appeared in my hands as I commanded my mount. Shakily it pulled the demon up just as I tossed another ball of green fire. It moved slowly, creating a stream of bubbles, but easily covered the six feet. When the green fire flew into the demon's maw, it howled, closed its mouth, and struggled hectically. Sensing it might break free, I ordered my mount to toss it away while backing up.

The triangular demon was launched away and disappeared in the chaotic battle happening before and around me.

Rathica, I don't know what you are doing, but I need to talk to you! I shouted in my mind.

If she was free, that meant she could just tell me what was going on, and I didn't have to risk myself helping Lark. Damn, I might not even have to stay here! The prospect of leaving made me look around, realizing how fuckedup the situation below the sea was.

There was no response, and I growled in anger.

How the hell do I get out of here?