Alaria was standing behind Bob, watching as the battle unfolded above the table. In the beginning, the gods had been boisterous, talking about how their champion was going to kill the most monsters. That excitement had quickly dimmed and then vanished completely as the fight dragged on.

“How did this happen?” Saraswati asked as she saw Charlotte collapse after using the spells.

“We’re going to lose them all,” Odin remarked with a grimace. His champion Sierra was doing well but he was under no illusion that she would survive if Charles and Kira fell.

Zeus snorted and drank from his goblet. “Makes me glad, I haven’t chosen a champion yet.”

Brigit surged to her feet and threw the closest thing she had on hand at him, a pair of twenty-sided dice. “If you three had chosen your champions like you were supposed to, we might not be in this position!” She was taking the potential loss of Kira strongly. She had truly been hoping she wouldn’t lose yet another character.

“The one I wanted to choose wasn’t ready yet, she still isn’t,” Arinna whispered, feeling for her fellow gods.

Shiva frowned as he continued to watch the battle unfold. “For my part, I have not seen any worthy of becoming my chosen champion. That said I do apologize. Their fate could possibly have been avoided had I chosen in time.”

They continued to watch until the end, where each sighed in relief as they saw Kira finish off the goblin lord. A distant scream could be heard from a room nearby as he died.

Saraswati looked up to Bob, a sad smile on her lips. “I am sorry that your chosen was fated to die this day, it will make his sister most unhappy.”

Bob pushed his chair back from the table and stood, “It’s alright, it is for the best this way,” An unseen glimmer of delight hiding in his eyes. “I think we need to make some changes to the campaign after this, it is abundantly clear that we have been rushing the humans. We need to give them some time to stabilize and become stronger.”

“I think that would be wise,” Odin said pushing back from the table, content in the knowledge that Sierra had survived.

The large door to the room banged open, hitting the god who had been leaning against the wall next to it. Hel stomped into the room and headed for Bob. The side of her body that was decaying threatening to slough off with every step. Her congealed flesh jiggled unsightly with every movement distracting anyone from noticing the other half of her body. It was a thing of beauty, but it was lost in the moment.

Alaria was pushed roughly out of the way, stumbling at the unexpected action. Her head hit the side of the table with a crack and she slumped to the floor as Hel walked uncaring past her body.

The roomful of gods gasped in unison as they saw Alaria fall and quickly scrambled away from the table.

“What just happened?” She screeched with a dry raspy voice.

Behind her Alaria stood and felt at the lump on her head, healing it even as she glared at the goddess in front of her.

Bob stepped back, having watched with relief as she stood. Hel following his eyes turned and saw the bottomless blazing eyes of Alaria.

“Who?” She began as Alaria raised her hand.

With a vicious crack Alaria backhanded the impertinent goddess, sending her flying across the room and killing her instantly. The blow erasing her very being from existence. Such was the fate of a god who dared to strike an actual God.

Alaria had already dismissed the now-dead god, looking inside herself towards where her power originated. Her control had suffered when she hit her head, she would need to spend a great deal of time going through everything she controlled. That lapse of control could have untold consequences otherwise.

All eyes but Bob’s were focused on her, and as such, they all failed to notice the gleam of light that appeared in the corner of the room.

Book 2 End, Arc 1 End