“Gone? Where?” Spence knew the answer before the words cleared his lips.

“What do we do?” Caleb asked.

“Judging by the light outside, it’s a couple of hours past the end of his shift. Depending on when he left, he should be close to the dwarves by now,” Tom said.

Spence walked over to join Caleb and Tom. Morgan followed behind. “He probably just used his amulet to teleport to them. As soon as he arrives, they’ll be preparing for battle. The question is, which race will they attack first?”

“And if that race has no warning, they won’t stand a chance,” Morgan said.

“Thordr didn’t seem too gung-ho on a battle, though,” Caleb replied.

“But he also said they would fight to the death. If Trey tells them one of us or all of us has gone to champion the other races, I think Thordr will be up for it. It sounded like he’d rather attack than defend, too,” Spence said.

“What if we just went south and finished our quest?” Caleb asked. “Maybe the gods will let us return home, and Trey can play warlord until his heart’s content.”

“You could leave all the races to be slaughtered or enslaved by Trey?” Morgan asked.

“Yep. It’s not our fight or world.”

“I doubt the gods will honor their word at this point. It sounds like it’s a war they’ve been pushing for. If they keep you here, you’ll have to choose sides. Or hide in caves with me,” Tom said.

Caleb rubbed his face. “Well, if I can’t go back to Earth, then I’m not going to watch Trey become king. He’ll try either to rule us or to kill us. I’ll go to Argos and prepare the Nephilim for war. The dwarves will probably not attack them first since they would have to bypass the elves or Draconians, so I should have a little time. Lord knows they need all the help they can get.”

“You’re saying we should all just join our chosen people and then fight a big war against one another?” Morgan asked.

“Maybe not,” Caleb replied.

“What else can we do?” Spence said.

“Lead all our people against Trey. Stop him and the dwarves.”

“Then what?” Spence asked.

“Go after the gods,” Tom said softly.

“Huh?” Morgan asked.

“With thousands of armed beings, what could the gods do? We could find a way out of this dome—if it is a dome—and go after them. The monsters wouldn’t be a challenge with a small army behind us. I bet the gods are just flesh and blood if we could get past their technology. Then we’ll figure out how to open a portal back to Earth,” Tom said.

Spence shook his head. “That’s crazy.” He remembered Titus’s words regarding fighting against the gods.

“I like it. What part of this isn’t crazy? If the gods aren’t going to let us go home, what choice do we have? We can all die in a war, hide in caves, keep fighting monsters until we die, or break out of this place and see what’s on the outside,” Caleb said.

Spence felt as if his brain could literally explode and destroy his head in the process. He could lead the Draconians into battle, with the Nephilim and elves as allies, against Trey and the dwarves. None of them knew anything about battles or wars or leading armies. He and Caleb had studied a lot of military history and famous battles and strategies, but this was real. Was there another option? “I suggest a slight modification to the plan,” Spence finally said.

“What?” Caleb asked.

“I think Morgan, Tom, and I should head south to the Draconians. As soon as we leave, you can use your amulet to join the Nephilim. You can gather them together and head north to join the elves if Trey attacks them first. We can complete the quest and find out for sure if they’re going to honor their bargain. If they don’t, then I’ll be there to take leadership of the Draconians. I’ll be ahead of Trey and the dwarves even if he heads south first. Morgan can teleport to the elves. Then we can follow your plan. If the gods do honor their bargain, I’ll ask them to teleport you to join us. Then Trey can stay here and fight to his heart’s content.”

Caleb scratched his cheek for a few seconds. “Not bad. Although the more I think about it, the more I’m not sure I could leave this world for Trey to conquer.”

“Me either. He would create more atrocities and oppression than we even have on Earth,” Morgan said.

“Well, I think we should at least see the quest through, just to know for certain,” Spence said.

“Then I’ll just go with you. If I can teleport, it’ll only delay me getting to Argos by a couple of days. I doubt the dwarves will be the most mobile army. Besides, you might need my help.”

“I’m not sure the gods will be happy to see me,” Tom said.

“I don’t think you have a lot of options,” Caleb replied. “It’s getting ready to hit the fan. What are they going to do? Send a monster after us?”

“True. I suppose this is what I’ve been waiting for. Let’s go kick some ass.”

The four ate, packed their possessions, and headed out of the cave into the gloomy daylight.

***

“Most unexpected,” Enki said.

“Seems you were wrong, brother,” Artemis added.

“That group is somewhat vexing. But no matter. My dwarves have their champion,” Odin replied.

“What do we do with the others? We need to at least eliminate the one that has eluded us for so long,” Enki said.

“I say leave them alone. They still must defeat the last beast, and my dwarves are readying for war. If they complete the quest, we will make them lead their races, or they will never be able to return home. The other one can go with whomever he wants. If they chose to do nothing, their former ally will conquer Nibiru and deal with them as he sees fit,” Odin said.

“Then we have officially initiated phase two?” Ra asked.

The other three nodded one by one.

“So it begins,” Enki said.

***

They used the rope to ascend to the top of the plateau. Caleb started to lead them toward the next section of the trail, but Tom motioned for him to wait. He walked toward the cliff at the rear of the plateau.

“What are you doing? The trail is over here,” Caleb said.

“I think I see a mountain goat at the top of that cliff. It’s a long shot, but if I hit it, it should fall, and we can butcher it. Keep an eye on my arrow. If I miss, I want to know which way.” Tom walked until he was thirty feet from the cliff. He grabbed an arrow, nocked it on the string, and pulled the string to the corner of his mouth.

Spence was puzzled. He couldn’t see anything at the top of the cliff and definitely nothing white like a mountain goat. He peered, blinked, and peered again—still nothing. He shrugged and just stared at the arrow. Then Tom released it. For a moment, Spence lost it against the white rock of the cliff, but then he picked it up again as it cleared the top. The arrow from the powerful bow soared high above, threatening to disappear out of sight. Then the arrow suddenly stopped. A distortion, or rippling, appeared in the gray sky as if a stone had struck water. The arrow hung in the air for a moment and then began falling back. It flipped over and fell tip down, landing somewhere out of sight on the other side of the cliff. The ripples decreased, and then the sky returned to normal. Spence and Morgan were right—an invisible dome covered Nibiru!

“Missed it. Not even close,” Tom said. He turned and walked over to them. He spoke again before Caleb or Morgan could talk out of their open mouths. “I thought I was a better shot. Guess we’d better get to the trail.”

Spence realized what Tom was doing. He didn’t want to draw attention to the fact they had discovered the great secret of the gods and Nibiru. He wondered if the gods would be suspicious that they hadn’t noticed the dome or that there wasn’t a mountain goat. Hopefully not, or they assumed the party would have reacted with shock and amazement if they had. Oh well. The four had no way of knowing and couldn’t do anything about it either way. At least now they knew for sure about the dome.

***

“Very astute,” Ra said.

“That is not good. Now they know about the dome,” Odin said.

“They must have already theorized about its existence. Besides, they cannot surmise the true purpose of it. And there is no way to escape. They will not leave the dome until we are ready for them too. Then it will be time to initiate phase three,” Enki replied.

“I hope you are right,” Artemis said. “They continue to overachieve.”

***

The trail continued, similar to the prior sections, except now it led on a downhill grade. The mountain on their right and the ones around them gradually decreased in height, and the drop-off on the left wasn’t as far. They hiked fast with little talking for most of the morning. Spence knew they were all dying to discuss the arrow, but they couldn’t. Nothing else was worth speaking of.

They stopped for lunch in midafternoon and then continued hiking out of the mountains until the light was fading from the sky. They chose an area to camp where the rocks transitioned to a mostly open space with bushes and clumps of plants. They found a small rock outcropping resembling their previous shelter. Spence and Caleb hung the tarp and gathered wood for a fire. Morgan and Tom went hunting for some of the rabbits they had seen on their trek.

Soon they were all gathered around the fire and roasting two skinned rabbits. Tom had also dug up some thick plant roots like white sweet potatoes. They roasted those on sticks too. Even though the food of late hadn’t been bad, fresh meat was always good. Morgan once again ate the fresh, wild meat, apparently distinguishing it from meat not harvested from hunting. Spence tried the roots and was surprised they tasted like roasted chestnuts.

“I can’t believe Trey accepted Odin’s,” Spence said after they had finished eating.

“Yeah, we all know he’s an idiot, but he certainly kicked it up a notch or two with that move,” Caleb replied.

“I always thought he had a fairly good deal on Earth. I mean, he’s the big man on campus and will probably get a scholarship to play football somewhere,” Spence continued.

“I’d say it’s one of two things,” Morgan chimed in. “Either he doesn’t think we’ll return to Earth, or things at home are even worse than he indicated.”

“Well, I only briefly met him, but I guess you never truly know what’s in anyone else’s head. And we don’t know what Odin might have told or promised him. Maybe the gods all offer different deals,” Tom said.

“Good point,” Spence said. Perhaps the gods were using different tactics and promises to sway each of them. Enki had threatened him with reversing the repairs to his spine. Now, he had to wonder even more about Morgan and Caleb. “Did your gods promise you anything special other than ruling Nibiru?”

“Like we’d tell you if they did!” Morgan said. Then she laughed, right before Spence’s pulse elevated too much. “Nah. Just me getting to be queen—with you as my serving wench.” She cackled again.

“You wish,” Spence retorted weakly.

“Yeah, just ruling the world and the other races,” Caleb said.

They stared at the fire in silence for the next few minutes. “I wonder what the last monster will be?” Spence finally asked. He figured it was pointless to discuss the gods or their offers further. Although Morgan had been joking, it was probably true that Morgan and Caleb wouldn’t reveal if they had received special offers or were considering leaving.

“Hard to say,” Caleb said. “I imagine something big and nasty. Not much good comes out of a swamp.”

“You might have to take a little more heat without Trey here. You’re the only melee we have,” Spence said, referring to the term of a close-range fighter in Warcraft.

“True. So, you and the archers better get the job done quickly,” Caleb replied.

“You missing the goat was crazy, huh?” Morgan asked softly.

“Yeah, appears we were right….” Tom said. “I can’t shoot very well.”

“Yep. It was good to see the fail firsthand, though,” Caleb replied.

The four stared at the fire for some time, lost in thought. The air was a little warmer since leaving the mountains, but Spence still liked the comfort and warmth of the flames. “Well, hopefully, we’ll be going home soon. We only have to defeat the last monster to complete the gods’ quest. Then we’ll be free,” Spence said without much conviction.

“Yeah, won’t be long,” Caleb agreed.

“Do you have a family back home, Tom?” Morgan asked.

“Yep—a beautiful wife and two little boys, Zach and Isaac, six and four. They’re the main reason I’ve tried so hard to stay alive. I hope I can at least see them again someday. Of course, they probably thought I died a month or two ago. Hopefully, the old lady hasn’t remarried yet,” he said, chuckling. He wiped at the corner of his left eye.

“I guess a place like this makes you appreciate what you had,” Spence said.

The four didn’t speak again for some time; the mood was somber and tense. Finally, Caleb said, “Well, we’d better set up watch again. Hopefully, nobody will leave during the night. I’ll take the last watch this time.”

Spence volunteered to take the first watch, followed by Morgan and Tom.