While everyone else was recovering from the blinding and deafening deific smite - I was deafened too but I heal super fast - I felt my spirit being lifted from me. It was my favorite curled-beard god. Present not in body but in mind. Our conversation was purely mental and took no time in the real world.

"Delete the books," Tarhun said, visibly annoyed and worried.

"I vow to never proselytize other deities," I swore solemnly, "but these books have important facts and information. I won't ever mention them or let anyone else see them. And they are in a language that does not exist. If I do, our treaty is off and you can smite me."

I could see he was reluctant to agree. Tarhun went away from Earth and could take only a handful of followers along with his pantheon when he moved. He wouldn't want the other deities and pantheons sharing the profits from operating a world. I was playing with fire and could very well have ended my second life with that play. But that was not the way his worshippers should be treating me. There was also another issue I had to take care of.

"Can you talk to your clergy? Can you please tell them I am a friend you invited to live in your world and not some sort of holy maiden or divine envoy?"

"I might. Otherwise, you'd do more harm than good."

Not my fault, is it? Better if I change the subject.

"Say, do you want to tell me what kind of good I can do? Because I don't think you took me by accident and last time we talked I wasn't able to think straight."

"Can't."

Can't. Not don't want to. My theory that he was bound by some other power seems more valid now.

"Peace, Tarhun. Just to be sure, do you have any problem with changing the political, social, and legal systems?"

"No. The people are free to do what they want to."

"Right. One more thing, who's the Harbinger?"

The link was forcefully cut. Not by Tarhun though. I felt myself being slammed against the ground forcefully.

The smell of burnt flesh was the first thing that assaulted my perceptions. I looked around and saw everyone kneeling. The only ones standing up were both priests, Brandon and me. Bero-Mabii was with his arms open, face transfixed staring at the sky. No light shows through. Ruto-Ka was contrite, head down in prayer. Brandon was frozen.

Enki Es-Kina was dead. Burnt by the divine smite. I felt terrible. Minutes ago I was reaching out to him offering friendship. Now he's dead and we have an army at our doorsteps. The city was about to be torn asunder by either the succession or the siege.

I could hear the prayers and the sound of flickering torches dancing in the night wind. I tapped Brandon's hand.

"Are you okay, Brandon?" I asked him.

No answer. I escaped his grip and his arms went limp by his sides. He was alive, blinking and breathing. But his mind seemed to be far away. Slowly, He raised a finger and pointed at the remains of the Enshi.

"Tarhun did that." He stated. "At your request."

"No. He made that because the Enshi violated a covenant. Tarhun and I are allies. I can't hurt his people, and his people shouldn't hurt me. Es-Kina did that. He wronged me. And it is not just some mere offense or slander."

"You told me to stop. Would that make any difference? Was I wrong in following orders?"

I shook my head. "There is a thinker in my world, he spoke once about this. It goes like this,

"The general who does not advance to seek glory, or does not withdraw to avoid punishment, but cares for only the people's security and promotes the people's interests, is the nation's treasure."

"You should use your own head. The Enshi was acting on fear. Even though he was advised by Abil-Kisu, the priests, and by myself. Was he right? No. His actions would make me miserable and change nothing. We are still going to suffer a siege. Forty thousand. How strong are we?"

Brandon shook his head. "Six thousand. If we have time to call back the ones stationed in the satellite villages, nine thousand. But it would take days to send messages."

"How far are they? How long do we have?"

"At a normal marching pace, they will be upon our walls in a week. Scouts might come to harass us earlier. Then they have to build siege equipment, another month or so. But once they are upon us, there is little we can do. But now, without the Enshi and no clear successor, I don't know. People will desert. We won't have much personnel to rely on."

That much was right. I could see some merchants dismantling their booths and there would probably be a massive exodus to the north toward the capital. People would surely rather risk the grasslands to flee the siege than stay.

Abil-Kisu recovered and stood up, "Ah... The Enshi!!"

I wanted to go home more than anything else. Just sleep out the problem and pack up to go away tomorrow. I couldn't. I was part of the problem and I had a duty to be part of the solution.

"Abil-Kisu, we need to do something," I told him. "Otherwise the city will be up in flames tomorrow morning."

"Yes, yes. You are right. The Enshi has no successor, that's another problem," The merchant said.

"What about the nephew? The former magistrate?"

Having that guy become the ruler would be disastrous. Not only for me, surely. He was beholden to Prince Marduk-Raidsalot. He would just open up the city gates.

He shook his head. "He has fallen from grace. The senior magistrate destitute him and made him a slave of the captain here. No. He can't raise to the station of Enshi, and he must be sent to his trial."

He said the last part with a lot of gravitas. Not just seriousness. I understood but did not agree or accept. The nephew inside that hole was the best for everyone as he wouldn't come back to claim the throne. I didn't want him to die. I wanted him to suffer, but not die or become a slave.

I thought seriously about suggesting a change of government. Shift from absolute monarchy to some sort of parliament. I kept my thoughts to myself though. I said I wouldn't spark a revolution and now it was not the time.

"What happens then?"

Ruto-Ka, the priest of Enki, the god of water, knowledge, and crafts answered, "Usually the Lugal would assign another person. But the process will take more time than we have. I'm afraid our best choice is to abandon the city.

Chaos was brewing in the great market. People were breaking into houses, attacking each other, probably to settle old grudges.

"I have to mobilize men. This will be a sleepless night," Brandon said. "You there! Stop guarding charred corpses and move!"

Corpses... I took my hand-crank flashlight and the lantern and turned them both on. The lightning killed some of the Enshi's aides. I mentally called Penny and Dime.

"I will head home, honorable Abil-Kisu. I don't think there's much to be done now."

"Yes, you do that. I'll have my men escort the priests back to their temples, but there will be chaos tomorrow."

I summoned my phone and showed it to him. "Tomorrow, I'll send you Bloodstone here with this device. If you talk to it, we can hold a conversation even though we are apart."

"Yes, let's."

I stored everything, pulled the cheongsam up and jumped on Penny bareback. I sent her the image of home and the mare galloped ahead. I turned on the flashlight to see ahead but there was no problem until I reached home.

Someone shouted from the roof, "It's Sandra! Open up!"

I entered and dismounted. My dress had climbed up entirely and I took my time to pull it down. Penny walked on her own to the stables and Dime flew to his perch. After making myself presentable again, I went indoors and removed my high heels. Everyone was awake, huddling in the sitting room.

"Sandra! What was that thunder?" Arwia asked.

"That was Tarhun punishing the Enshi. He smote the man. Arwia, lead the children to their room. Rimush, look after everyone else. You become an adult in two months. Take as many cushions and pillows as you want to.

I waited for the children to file out of the room before giving more orders. Everyone else, we are conveying by the front gate. Send word to all adults. Wake up whoever is sleeping.

A few minutes later, I had the twelve guards, the five elders and the two young ladies with me.

I retold them everything that happened. Including my conversation post-lightning with Brandon, Abil-Kisu, and the priests.

"You are right, the city will wake up in flames tomorrow," Nanna stated, fatalistic. "People will pillage and sack everything they can. You should send word to those smith friends of yours. The first place they will hit is the smithy in search of weapons."

"What should we do? Should we flee?" I asked them.

While I had no duty to the city, I knew that going away was the wrong answer. It would mean saying goodbye to everyone. Brandon would die fighting. If only to save him, I'd stop this siege somehow. I wanted someone to tell me it would be okay, that there was a way to avoid chaos and bloodshed.

"I think we should move. Go away. We leave all this behind and rebuild in another city," Kanu-Kasu suggested. He was a caravan guard and merchant. To him, life on the road wasn't that bad.

"We have no provisions for traveling," Belle noticed. "And I doubt we can buy anything tomorrow. It will be chaos as people try to flee north. There will be bandits and raids. The children will be endangered."

Arwia shouted and covered her mouth, "My siblings. Sandra, my siblings. Please. We need to take them."

"Whatever you are going to decide, Sandra, we will all be with you," Aristunn declared.

"I don't know where your house is, Arwia. And I won't take you with me."

"I know where her family lives, Sandra," Zinwa-Seli said. "I escorted lady Arwia there a couple times."

"Okay. Then you are coming with me."

Nanna pointed to the south, "But whatever you want to decide, you better do it fast. The fires are already starting."

I looked and saw. There were orange lights to the south and not a single spot. The vulnerable wattle and daub buildings huddled closely together would spell disaster. I knew what I had to do.

"Okay. Here's what we will do. I am going out to check on the smithy and rescue Arwia's family. Does anyone else has anyone that needs rescuing?"

They shook their heads. Arwia was currently supported by Belle and Sere-Naha. She was bawling. "Sandra..."

Nanna pulled my arm. "You will paint a target around your back if you go with a light, girl. Don't be crazy."

"I'll go in the dark and take a guard with me, is that acceptable?"

"Your life," She scoffed.

"Zinwa-Seli, it is time you prove you really have night eyes. I'm going to change into clothes better suited to moving around. You gear up but don't put on anything that makes noise."

"He does have night eyes," Nanna replied. "I can see his talent."

I kissed the witch. "Love you, Nanna. Thanks for your advice. Arwia, teach Zinwa-Seli how to get to your family's house."

I went into any room and stored the clothes I was wearing. I needed to go the stealthiest possible. My brown cargo pants, Sports bra, leave the granny panties, sneakers, a black t-shirt, night vision goggles. I also prepared some incendiary phosphorus bombs. Yes, I know. People were burning the town and I was making incendiaries. The world was doomed, right? No.

My rationale was that I needed something to scare away thugs and looters. We were going to meet them sooner or later. So I took a washed condom and used Decompose to put white phosphorus inside olive oil. Then I added magnesium and aluminum shavings. My last act was to drain the excess oil and tie up the bag. I made eight bombs out of four condoms. I stored the bombs and the rings. They would burn like a flare after it left my hand and the latex disintegrated. The condom would regenerate from the stored ring.

I went outside and had to wait for Zinwa-Seli. He had to take off his armor. He was wearing a dyed set of tunic and trousers that were dark brown.

"Let's go. Aristunn, keep a patrol all night. Everyone is to stay in the villa. We are not departing tomorrow. There will be too much chaos."

Zinwa-Seli and I left and I lowered the goggles, turning them on. The green image of the road appeared and I pointed forward. We moved, avoiding people. There wasn't a lot of people but the streets weren't deserted. Some vandals were throwing torches into houses. I could hear screams, sounds of fighting. I had to move. The slums where Arwia's family lived were extremely vulnerable to fires.

We ran to the southwest portion of town, exactly the direction where Prince go-besiege-your-mom would come from. We reached the slums and several houses were on fire already. People were making a bucket brigade. We couldn't stop. there was too much to do.

Screams, moans of pain. I ignored them. I also ignored the budding feeling of guilt. If it were not for me exposing the Enshi's plot, the people would have at least a quiet night. Only to be slaughtered, starved, or enslaved by the incoming army.

It wasn't my fault. Of that I was sure. I followed Zinwa-Seli as we navigated the maze of the slums. Then it happened. It was bound to happen.

Some ruffians blocked our path.

"Hey, hey. What a beauty here. The world is ending, would you like to play with us?" They were way more vulgar than this portrayal.

One of them had a torch. "Get out of our way or I'll have to hurt you."

They didn't. I heard a woman scream. That triggered me and I threw one of my incendiary pellets at them. The condom dissolved moments after it left my hand, but it didn't burn. The pellet hit the guy and smeared his clothes with olive oil. Then gravity took hold and it fell down, drying the oil and exposing the phosphorus. Then the whole thing caught on fire, sending a shower of harmless sparks everywhere. The ruffian screamed and ran, hitting his friend and making him drop the torch.

"Zinwa-Seli, move past them. Go."

I went forward and kicked the shin of the only guy still standing. Zinwa-Seli threatened with a knife and he relented. We moved past them, the third guy too worried about his friends to give pursuit.

We went past people running away, kicked the head of a guy raping a woman. It was a terrible night. Then we reached the general area of Arwia's home and I saw a girl that looked exactly like Arwia in a bucket brigade. They all had their ankles tied to a rope.

"Hey, you!" I called out the girl as I approached. "Are you Arwia's sister?"

"I am Zuska, milady Sandra," She replied politely after passing another bucket down the line. "What brings you here."

"I came to take you and your family with me. Where are your siblings?"

"Hey!" A strong man holding a torch shouted. "Stop talking and work or I'll give you ten leashes."

"Are you a slave?" I asked, shocked.

Zuska nodded. She didn't open her mouth though.

"Hey, you. Woman. Stop disturbing my slaves!" The man roared.

I waited for the next bucket to pass and crossed the line. "That girl, Zuska. How much did you pay for her?"

"Five silver mina," The man boasted as if it was a good business. I should know, being a chartered slave merchant but I didn't.

"Do you know where are her siblings? Are all these your slaves?"

"No. I bought only her," He licked his lips. Disgusting. "Yes, all of them are mine. Gotta keep them busy so they don't think of escaping."

"I'm taking her with me. I'll pay you one gold shekel now."

"Go away, woman. Before I show you what a real man can do."

"You are probably deaf," Zinwa-Seli said, appearing behind me without a sound. "We are taking the girl with us. You either take the money or not."

"Two gold shekels!" He chortled.

"Four silver mina. When I reach zero, I might release all your slaves. I have a seal of release."

Zuska didn't have a brand because she was a temporary debt slave. But several others did.

"Fuck off, woman!"

The man swung his torch. I moved inside his reach and sent an uppercut to his jaw. Sagat style. Then he froze. Zinwa-Seli had his dagger poking the skin over his kidneys.

"You heard the lady. Now, will you take a single silver shekel for the girl and let us go on with our lives or will you just die here today."

"Don't" I was about to tell him not to but my eunuch companion winked at me.

"Okay. One silver mina. please. Don't kill me."

"Here," Zinwa-Seli passed him an octagonal and big silver coin. "Now run until I tell you to stop or you take the dagger too as a bonus."

He took the coin and bolted, his torch fluttering over his head. Zinwa-Seli shuffled a coin pouch I was sure he hadn't before. There we were. Civil disorders turn us all into thugs. I would talk to him later but now we had a humanitarian mission to do. The slaves were in a state of unrest.

"Zuska, where are your siblings?"

"At home. Father was able to sell only me."

I went over the line and Decomposed the ropes. "All of you that are branded slaves, stay with us. I'm going to carve the release seal. Zuska, come with me. Let's get your siblings."

I swore that I'd pay the man if I found him again. The slaves fled, only Zuska stayed behind.

Zuska pointed in a direction and we moved. "What fire were you fighting?"

"None," She spoke, clearly tired from overworking. "We were filling buckets in Mauro's courtyard so he could use if a fire broke out."

We crossed a few streets and back alleys then reached a house. Zuska beat on the door. "Open up! It is me, Zuska."

The door opened and a man without trousers showed up. He was wearing a tunic so his modesty was protected but it was ugly.

"What are you doing here, girl? Did you run away?" He was raising his hand to slap her but Zinwa-Seli threw a dagger at the door.

"I bought her, mister. And I want to buy the other three children you have. I'll pay you one gold shekel on all three. Two if you sell me all your five children, permanently."

They had a wick burning in a table, shedding less light than a candle. I could see the three small children peeking through a curtain leading to the second room of this house.

"Three," the man answered.

I summoned my handbag and took the gold. He looked inside and his eyes went wide. I extended the coins to him. "Three and you never again show up. I know your story and I don't like it. Zuska, call your siblings. We have to go."

"I don't want to go!" One of the little boys shouted.

"Muksu! Come now! This nice lady here is with Arwia. We are going to live with big sis in a huge house!"

"Go, you brats. I'm tired of taking care of you. I can finally turn my luck around. Pay my debts and then gain my money back," The father said between hiccups.

I had to abandon the night vision goggles and take the hand-crank flashlight.

The children ran. None of them had shoes. I summoned the bag of left shoes and found some sneakers that even though they were too big for them, I could tie the laces tight and it was better than going barefoot. The two little kids were eight and seven. Zuska took the younger one on her tired arms and we went back. We had to stop several times and change streets because there was a riot going on.

I looked at our guard and asked, "Zinwa-Seli, can you go and scout a path for us? The kids can't walk anymore."

We huddled in a side alley. A stinky side alley. I used Decompose to clean up the filth but it wasn't enough. I also raised a bench made of silicon.

"Let's introduce ourselves while we wait, okay? That guy is Zinwa-Seli. He is shady but he has a great heart. I'm Sandra Rinaldi and I am from another world. Your turn, Zuska."

"I'm Zuska, Thirteen years old. I was sold two months ago by our father as a debt slave."

"I am Ivanika, Eleven. I was sold today... Oh."

"That's fine, Ivanika. I just paid your father to stop bothering us. Arwia will explain everything to you. And you, brave young man. Who are you?"

"I'm Muksu and this is Tuwazi!" Muksu spoke fast.

"Hey! I am Tuwazi. Let me talk too!"

I ruffled their heads. "It is fine. Now let's wait for Zinwa-Seli to return."

We waited for one hour. The small kids were sleeping on their sisters' laps and even Zuska and Ivanika were having trouble staying awake. I noticed that all of them were malnourished, and Tuwazi had a serious case of intestinal parasites. The two boys also had some serious rashes, probably fungal. I could treat all that. If there was a city still standing tomorrow.

Zinwa-Seli returned. "Sandra, the situation is dire. The army blocked the slums, to prevent pillaging. The people here are all trapped and they are letting nobody through. In some cases, blood has been shed. The houses at the edge of the slums are burning and there's a terrible smoke cloud. We are trapped here. If it were you and me, we could breakthrough, but with four children? Impossible."

"Do you think we can wait until morning?"

"I don't recommend staying here. The fire is spreading and soon everything will be burning. What can we do?"

I looked up. Dark clouds from the fires were already hiding the stars. Shouts and screams were the background noise.

"We go down. We are going to dig. I am going to dig a tunnel."

I went to a dead-end that connected to two houses that were abandoned, their doors open. I used Decompose on the ground to first raise a lip then dig down. I moved the hole three meters deep and created a ladder. Then I expanded into a two-meter cube underneath the hole. The walls were pure silicon. I didn't gather the other materials, opting to just bury them under the silicon. I made a hook on the far corner and hung the LED lantern there.

I returned to the surface. "Zinwa-Seli, go down and prepare to get the children."

We moved the children down and after a few minutes, we were all in the hole. I created a side tunnel leading to the bottom of one house. This way we would have air without revealing our presence. I closed the first access and moved dirt from under the other house to cover the silicon. The fact I couldn't move compounds with precision was a bother.

"What are these walls made of? They are so pretty!" Muksu exclaimed.

"Silence!" Ivanika chided her brother. "We need to keep quiet."

"Good. Thank you Ivanika. Now I am going to create a hole for us to move. We are going straight home. We are going to walk through a narrow passage. I am going in the front, then Tuwazi, Zuska, Muksu, Ivanika, and Zinwa-Seli." If the person in front of you stops, shout. I'll say 'halt' and everyone stops. Okay?"

I first made a passage large enough for us to stand up. Everyone here was short and slim. Some too slim but I could fix it when our lives weren't endangered. I set the LED headband on Zinwa-Seli's head and retrieved the lantern. I would use the hand-crank flashlight.

But before I went ahead to dig, I had to lower the floor of the box I dug. There was a risk that the house above us would catch on fire. If it happened, debris would fall down the hole. I needed to make room for this debris so they wouldn't block our way back or our air vent. I lowered the floor by one meter and a half and collected some silicon and other materials this time because it was a bother to compact all this silicon. For every three cubic meters, I would need to dispose of one cubic meter of silicon.

I needed a boost to return up. If anyone fell down, it would be a bother but there was little I could do. I hope someone doesn't fall down. Or the house above doesn't burn. I would try to return and fix it later. The air was okay, there was a lot of oxygen but not enough to become toxic to us. I intended to release any nitrogen I found as we dug to help balance it but there was not much I could do. My method of digging released a lot of oxygen.

I took my phone and started a stopwatch app. I needed to know how long I spent digging.

I moved to the front and started digging. The tunnel was not wide enough for me to walk normally so I was advancing sideways. It wasn't tight but I had to make the smallest tunnel possible. I knew what direction to go thanks to my adventure in the underground.

Two hours later, we had advanced about six hundred meters. I had no idea if we were out of the slums yet but the children were too tired to continue. About our location, the only thing I knew was that we had little danger of surfacing as the slums were in the lowest part of the city. I expanded a room and took my bedroll and the thermal mat. we stuffed the children inside the thermal mat and I used my clothes as a cushion for me and Zinwa-Seli to sit on.

"I'll sit on the ground. I can't spoil the lady's clothes," He protested.

"Nonsense. These clothes repair themselves with my magic power. Don't sit on the cold ground. Come here, it's an order."

He sat by my side. "You can sleep if you want. I'll call you later."

I was tired but my body kept fixing itself. I drank some water and passed him the canteen.

"What you don't have with you wherever you keep all these things?"

"Food," I replied right away, "And that sucks."

"Was this how you survived the depths? By digging tunnels?"

"Yes, it played a big part in it. I am going to dig the tunnel ahead. You lie down and rest."

"Okay, you're the boss."

I stood up and kept digging the tunnel. After another hour, I had nowhere to put the excess silicon so I went back to the start, dumping almost all the silicon there. The remainder I used to block the passage for people. Another hour, another three hundred-ish meters. We should be out of the slums, but I had no idea where. Anxious to get out and return home with my new wards, I dug up. I exit in some street and close the hole immediately. I hope nobody saw the light. I switch to the night vision and peek out again. Utterly deserted. No fires too. I shut the hole again and return to wake everyone up.

We exit the street and after a while, we find our bearings. Not far from home. I hide the cap I put on the hole the best I can and we move around the streets carefully, with our rogue scouting ahead and making signals with the flashlight when it is safe.

After another twenty minutes, we reach our gate. Our neighborhood is all made up of wealthy people and all of them have torches along the walls and guards manning the gates on both sides. Some even had archers. We could walk normally because of the torches. At our gate, Arwia was kneeling. Ananu, Shamash, Huzzi-Ya, and Lipit-Ea were manning the gate, armed to the teeth.

The girl sees her siblings and runs. I step aside and let them have their tearful reunion.

"Where is Apparu?" She asks.

Ivanika answered, "Big brother went out on his own and left home a month ago. I don't know where he is and he didn't visit."

"Inside, everyone. It was a long day and I am exhausted."

We go inside. Four more children to look after. The town still burns. Tomorrow will be a hard day and I have to be on top of my game. I retreat to my room and fall asleep as soon as I hit the pillows.