Relief to be back among my friends was muted by a pressing need to return to Far Reach. It seemed there were no complaints, even from the Nystiobek and Wultr who I asked to carry passengers again. The pace we had been setting had been slow for them in general. So, even burdened, they were happy to run.

I flew above with Sania and Olata, neither of them brought up my fuck up. Nor did I inspect Kalabri further with my Protectorate sight. I would give that my full attention when we rested that evening.

The rest of the day was uneventful as we ran at a steady pace into the early evening, setting up camp along the banks of a wide stream. We may not have had a great deal of food but at least water wasn’t something we struggled for overly much. As the camp was set up for the night and campfires were built, I spoke with the others.

“We did well for the second half of the day,” Danivra said. “If we can keep up with that kind of pace, we could be back to Far Reach within a week. Providing we face no obstacles.”

“I want to check out the Palathi Peaks, but I’ll also assess the full route home. I’ll check it every day as we rest. Just the route and things to avoid. No more distractions or detours, and I mean it this time.”

Those sharing my fire nodded. Nobody wanted to be out here any longer. Being constantly on edge took its toll on even the most stoic of souls.

I leaned back on the bank and closed my eyes. Bringing up the Map of the north in my mind. I could have gone directly to the Palathi peaks, but I wanted to get a feel of the situation in general and so I soared across the surface of central plains looking for signs of battle. With the Protectorate title came a sensation of where power was being expended. So many locations, it was impossible to take in at once, but I could follow a rough route north within my mind that passed a good many places that battles had taken place. Pockets of Justice and Destruction lay dead scattered all across the land as soldiers of Darkness swarmed in huge numbers. It was a grim sight.

As I approached the Palathi peaks where I could feel the densest concentration of power usage, I discovered a huge battle still raging. Though battle was the wrong word. It was a slaughter

Only the remaining forces of Destruction were visible, facing the storm of Darkness, with troop numbers in the hundreds of thousands as they dominated the jagged peaks and surrounding land, in full control of the battle. What I was witnessing was just the clean-up. A brutal and efficient deep clean.

I actually felt a little sympathy as my eyes landed on a massive body that could have been Prince Kraeyuk. He’d been strangely decent to talk to, not that I wouldn’t have attempted to kill the massive Demon Lord myself if the occasion arose. Having seen enough I dismissed the sight and opened my eyes.

My friends sat around watching me as I shifted. I waved tiredly to indicate I was back with them.

“Yep. Darkness looks to have hit everywhere at once.”

“We should hope they don’t come for us,” Grigor said.

“Yeah, that’s why I want to get our arses to Far Reach as soon as possible,” I replied.

“We’ll be in a much stronger position to defend, especially if Malatia assists,” Danivra offered.

“I hope they will, with the bond I made with Devotion. We’re really in it together now.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “We are. And I hope that others will join you from Far Reach and become followers, when we return.”

“Funny you should say that. Hek said he would join if you gave him permission,” I replied.

“Of course he should, in fact…” she said, and fell into an abrupt silence, closing her eyes. We all watched her, waiting expectantly. As the silence stretched on for what felt like a short eternity, we began chatting among ourselves again. It invariably fell to how we would defend Far Reach or ourselves if the worst came to pass and Darkness came for trouble.

Recalling the conversation with Sania, from after our own battle at the Palathi Peaks, I turned to face her. “Have you tested to see if you can use my Ethereal power yet, Sania?” I asked.

She smiled sadly. “I have, but it’s completely inaccessible at the moment. I can feel it and that we can transfer energy to one another, but that is all.

“It could be that your body is not capable of processing it because you do not have an Ethereal spirit,” Ewan said bitterly. “I can remember when the ability was blocked from the mortal realm. One of my many grievances I have against the damn gods.”

“I was able to contact him,” Danivra said, interrupting Ewan’s blaspheming, with her wide, relieved smile. I still didn’t understand how she had the ability to contact Hek without soul bonding, but they had clearly worked out an alternative.

That is fantastic news, I said, clapping my hands together. “I bet Hek was absolutely buzzing!”

“He was. As am I. He is going to pray to you, as are the other Dokalfar from Far Reach. You will grow in power again.”

As she spoke, I felt the first tendril of power reach me. Knowing intuitively that it was Hek I latched it onto my core with barely a thought and received the notification for him becoming an aspirant. There was a flurry of tendrils after that, and they kept coming. After a few minutes, Hek moved up to Cleric, and I received a grand total of one hundred and ten new aspirants.

“1,853! Nearly at the two thousand mark,” I explained, in case anyone had trouble with numbers.

“You seem awfully at ease bonding people, Clive,” Ewan said.

“I’m definitely not, but I know Hek was happy to do it and we live in a shitty, bad time. While I’m not going to make anyone do anything they don’t want to with the power I hold, what I do intend to do is save them should they die or damn close to it. It’s worth it just for that. Obviously, the flight is a bonus,” I grinned.

“Indeed it is. I would appreciate the skill myself, though more for me than for Wind of the Wild, but alas, I could not bond myself to you. Nor could I allow my pack to do so.”

“That’s fine by me, mate. Don’t want anyone joining up to follow me who doesn’t really truly want to. But that’s how I see it. A joining, not a subjugation.”

“Yes,” He said languidly. “I can see that and I admire you for your lack of aggression with the bond. Yet, it would be anathema to me to put myself at the mercy of one such as you.”

I looked around worriedly. “Fucking hell Ewan. Don’t be upsetting the followers I’ve already got, will you?”

He smiled and nodded.

“I’ll be honest. I never expected you to join me in that way. Not least because I'm a human demon hybrid, but because of the alpha conversation, we had. Yet, I’ve been thinking about this for a little while. I know you’re proud of your independence, but would you bond a Wultr God?”

Ewan laughed. “A Wultr god. Yes, you find me a Wultr God and I will follow them, for certain,” he said, continuing his mirthful chuckling.

“I reckon I can do you a future Wultr God,” I said, nodding at Sania. “That’ll do, right?”

Ewan’s eyes widened. His laughter stopped. “You can’t be serious. She won’t be able to make the bonds. We’re blocked, remember? Despite her connection to you, I doubt very much that will have changed.”

I held my hands up defensively. “Hey, I’m just pointing the obvious out. If she can bond, and I suspect she can, then we have another option.”

I felt Sania’s eyes boring into me. “What are you talking about, Clive? You are the sapling of Creation. Not me. I am Sania, your Soul Mate and that is enough. We need all of the followers to be yours, so you may get stronger and help us all.”

I waved off her defense. “You heard him. He’d never ever follow me, anyway. And I'm already at Ethereal stage two. In a week or two I’ll be able to make the second phase of Immortal Shell. What I really need are the strongest allies possible, and what better person than the most kick ass, most loyal person I know?”

“It matters not anyway,” Ewan said. “As I do not like the idea. I am an independent spirit. To even consider submitting myself to another is against my nature.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to, Ewan,” Sania said with a touch of panic in her voice. “If anyone should ascend to a higher Ethereal Stage among the Wultr it should be you.”

I watched the exchange, not at all convinced that Sania was right. I personally thought she would be a much better choice. I thought she would do some good with power. I didn’t get the same sense from Wind of the Wild. I felt he was an opportunist and deep down his motives were ultimately self-serving.

He sighed, irritably. “I agree, Sania. Yet I cannot create followers. Even were the gods to loosen their grip on the power available to us in the mortal realm, it would not be given to those of Neutral alignment. I would have to become a Soul Mate with Clive. And even if he agreed to that, there is no guarantee that it would bypass the block.”

He looked at me, then. So intensely I thought laser beams were going to shoot out of his goddamn eyes and lance me through. That didn’t happen, but his deep brown eyes briefly cleared to the color of a pale blue sky. The same color his wolf eyes were.

I wasn’t sure if he was waiting for me to offer the Soul Mate bond. If he was, he’d be waiting a long fucking time. If he wasn’t willing to show trust in me or Sania, I damn sure wasn’t going to show trust in him. Helping him ascend instead of her. He must have sensed that somehow and turned back to Sania finally.

“I will do it. I will follow you and help put you up as a god for the Wultr, for all beast kin. If we are to survive this war of gods, then raising you up alongside Clive is a promising solution. And a Wultr god is a god I could follow.”

“No! This is insane,” Sania protested. “It makes no sense.”

Shaking my head, I laughed at the terrified Wultr. “All of the things you told me, while I had to undergo this transformation and now you’re trying to protest!”

I noticed Danivra nodding seriously in agreement as Sania looked like a rabbit in the headlights. “If it’s possible, and you wish to give everything to try and save this broken world of ours. Then you absolutely must do this, Sania.”

She looked at Ewan with a terrified expression. “I can feel it,” she said sadly. “I don’t think I can take your bond like this.”

“You can and you will. Then you will look after our people in a way I never could.”

She looked over at me, completely lost. Part of my mind told me I should feel guilt for putting her in this awkward situation, but the main part of me pointed out that she would achieve an Eternal Soul after she made ten willing bonds and I realized I didn’t give a damn about her qualms if I could ensure she couldn’t die by someone trying to hurt me. I really did want someone along on this journey who could support me properly, too. Because right now- power wise- I was leaving everyone behind and as long as I survived, and I wasn’t put in a sleep coma like Kolo had been, that would only continue. I knew my enemies would come up with other ways to take me out, too. Just like the powers the Triumvirate access to. The gods weren’t just going to let me freestyle all over their Falritas fairground.

“You need to make sure there are ten Wultr available to willingly bond with her,” I said to Ewan. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck as a bonded servant.”

He waved off my concern. “There are many who will follow. Now take the bond if you can Sania, before I change my mind.”

She looked no less certain of what we were asking her to do. I figured that was a good thing, and another distinction between her and Ewan. He thought he deserved the power. He wanted it with a burning hunger. I was fairly certain he saw this bonding with Sania as a pathway to it. I had no doubt he’d be calling on Sania to Soul Mate him before long.

“Sorry Ewan,” she said reluctantly. “I promise I will still honor you. You will always be the father of the Wultr.”

“I know,” he said simply.

I watched the two of them with Singularity sight active. Focusing on the bonds, intrigued to see the act performed by someone else. I saw the thin meandering gray tendril of Ewan, reaching toward Sania’s chest. I saw her expression puzzle over it for a moment, before it snapped straight, connecting to her before fading to a barely perceptible line.

Her eyes glazed over as she received her Soul bound achievement. Her level jumped up to 72 from 65 in one move.

“It is done,” she said calmly. “We should take nine who will willingly join me, and ensure you receive the Aspirant as quickly as possible, Ewan.”

Looking a little queasy, Ewan replied. “Yes, I think it would be a good idea. This current state is… unsettling. ”

He began shouting to the other Wultr, a clear sense of urgency in his voice. “While we suspected the day might come where we thought we would have to follow Lord Clive for the good of Falritas, with our support, a new god can be raised! Not just any god, but one of us! A Wultr! A Beast kin. Something we could only dream of in the past. But now the day has come. Save our world and join together to follow Lady Sania into a brighter future. One where we are not shunned and where our numbers cease to dwindle year by year!”

The Wultr, all in wolf form to sleep more comfortably on the floor, got to their feet and as one in the dying sunlight, they howled a long piercing sound. A mass of gray tendrils spread toward Sania. My skin tingled at the spectacle, and I suddenly felt a little less lonely.