Lokir’s POV

Bored. Why was everything so boring? I know I blessed that champion to be interesting, but I couldn’t find him! Neither could Ariana or the others, and they were well and truly freaking out, but still. I was bored!

Slipping through space, I appeared in a ruined temple. Black scorch marks marred the white marble, and several columns were missing chunks. Of the twelve original seats, only four remained. Bruin and Shalora were sitting in their seats, but Ariana was pacing back and forth in the middle.

“Where could he be? Surely he would have to have been seen by one of our priests!” Ariana cried out, throwing her hands in the air.

“He isn’t dead, is he Ari?” I asked, concerned. That would definitely ruin any fun we could have.

“YOU!” She shouted, turning to stare at me. “This is your fault!”

“Me? How is it my fault?” I asked, picture of innocence as I strolled to my seldom used seat. “All I did was give him my blessing.”

“And interrupt our summoning! We nearly missed the planet!”

“Ari, it’s not my fault you lost concentration.” I tried to console her. “How bad is it?” I asked after a second.

“He has a point Ariana.” Bruin rumbled from his seat. “Even we can tell that your church has been having issues. Do you know how many of your priests have been corrupted?”

“I. I can’t talk to my high priest anymore.” She sobbed, flopping down onto the ground. “My divine sight is blurry, and I can barely manage the power to do a miracle per month.”

“Oh hun.” Shalora said, slipping down and hugging Ariana. “You know we can help.”

“No you can’t!” She wailed. “If you use your power to help me, more will break through! Summoning a hero was my only chance!”

“As long as he’s still alive, there’s a chance.” Bruin said.

“I can at least tell that. But how can he progress? If he doesn’t enter any of my temples, I can’t finish my blessing! And without that, he can’t know that he needs to cleanse my temples.”

“Did you summon an idiot?” I asked, confused. As the other gods glared at me, I explained. “Listen. Surely he will see that something isn’t right? He’ll have to enter a temple eventually. If nothing else, then to figure out what we actually called him here for. You can bless him then, and it will probably be stronger because he will clear out a bit of the corruption.”

“What do you know, Lokir?” Shalora asked. She was always the most perceptive of the remaining gods.

“Just a little bit. One of my priests received a birdie from a scout we had sent into human lands. Apparently in Three Rivers there is a false champion rallying humans to invade. Non-humans are being blamed for everything and enslaved.”

“So how did your scouts escape?” Bruin asked.

“They couldn’t say. I can tell that they are enslaved though. The odd thing is, their message is true. And it contained the hidden code that let us know the message is authentic and not coerced.”

“I thank you for the message, but do you have any resources that could help clear my temple?” Ariana asked.

“You should find your champion. I’m sure he’ll make things interesting.” I said. “Besides, I want to see what he’s been up to. I bet he’s had a lot of fun.”

“Thanks Lokir.” Ariana grumbled, slumpind down in her throne. “Sorry I couldn’t do anything about your boredom.”

“It’s ok Ari.” I said sadly. “I’ll find us a great game to play.” I smiled, hiding my pain. I could tell Ari was feeling the strain, and the lack of a hero was weighing on her. It just seemed like shadow had backed her into a corner, to no matter what she did she would only hasten her doom. None of us had expected them to infiltrate our clergy, but I should have.

“Damnit, I’m the God of Tricks!” I slammed a fist into a rock on one of the desolate wasteland world’s that I still had access to. I couldn’t stop the tears, or the feeling of failure. Ari had been my friend for longer than I cared to count! “AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!” I screamed as pain shot through my body. I didn’t know how long it lasted, it is hard to keep track of time when you are writhing in agony. Panting as it finally subsided, I lifted my shirt a bit. The massive dark spot on my abdomen had shrunk a miniscule amount, which was good. At least I was healing from that blow.

“Croea, had you told me that I would hurt this much, I never would have gone with your plan. Goddess of foresight or not.” I muttered.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

?????? years earlier

“Lokir.” Croea spat my name with distaste. “May I speak with you in private?”

“Croea my dear, if you want private time with me all you have to do is ask. Though why must you always call my name right after you have eaten a bug?”

“Don’t get your hopes up. No matter how many times you ask, it isn’t happening.”

“But I have some new tricks guaranteed-“ I started to cajole.

“And I have seen all your tricks. Goddess of foresight, remember?” She snarked back at me. “Now. I have something of vast importance, and no matter how I look, the weave of fate is insistent. The only one who may save our world, is you.”

“Ooooh, I love it! I get to be the big hero at the end that tricks the bad guys into their own downfall, don’t I?” I smiled, practically dancing as I wove together intricate plots in my mind.

“Hardly.” She said. “What you need to do is something far more difficult. You need to trick Ariana into summoning someone other than her first choice.”

“Interfere with a summoning? Oh, now that’s something I haven’t done yet!” I was starting to get really excited. I hadn’t ever thought of getting in the middle of a summoning, those were usually sealed up tightly. “Which one? She hasn’t needed a summoning in millennia.”

“Here.” She said, handing me a stack of sealed envelopes. “These will unseal and point you in the right direction. I can’t say more than that for fear of changing the future and dooming even more.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Present day

The memory hit me hard and fast, and I cursed myself. “Why didn’t I pay more attention to those last words she muttered? Looking back, the haunted look on her face should have given me a warning.” I muttered. At first the requests seemed innocuous. Sneak a sample of divine essence from seven gods, Croea having already given me hers. Hone Drevor’s spear to an unbelievable sharpness. It wasn’t until the invasion that I realized why I had to do some things. All of the god’s whose essence I had taken were slain.

Drevor was the first to fall, his spear piercing three of the enemy and dispatching them. Alas, he couldn’t recover in time from the unexpected power of the blow and was overwhelmed. Gramash went on a rampage when she saw her husband fall, cutting deep into the enemy lines. Too deep. She was encircled and slain. Croea fell third, smiling at her counterpart as they were both culled. The rest I only heard about, my tasks taking me away from the field of battle.

At least the majority of my parts were done. The last envelope had unsealed itself months ago, telling me how to do three things. First, it showed me how get around their protections and enter the summoning room. Despite all my powers, it still took split second timing. It also showed me how I could mark and follow a divinely summoned hero, despite the normal protections.

Sneaking in was fun, and I actually learned quite a bit. I was fairly certain that at this point, there was no protection that I couldn’t get around or through. Though I wished that I hadn’t marked the new target. His life on Vitae was depressing! Even with my blessing! Sure, he got enslaved but his escape was truly masterful! I still don’t know why he is resisting the elf that is practically throwing herself at him. Have some fun!

Shoulders slumping, I remembered my third task. I had to get captured, let slip a bit of information, and get away unscathed. Missed that very last bit, but that would heal. Normally I was all about misinformation, and knew all too well that the best bits contained a portion of the truth within them. I just. Why, Croea, did I have to let them know about the summoned hero? Not that he was already summoned, but where he was from? Of all the remaining gods, I could easily go and check. I did have a connection to him, and was the best at divining magics. I was just. Scared.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bruin’s POV

“Ariana, what’s your brother up to?” I asked.

“What do you mean Bruin?” She asked, finally stopping that infernal pacing.

“He’s up to something. He should be here, helping us find that damn hero.” I grumbled.

“He’s got his priests out searching the same as us.” She replied, narrowing her eyes. “Just what else do you suggest we do? Descend?”

“We all know that descending would put us at far too much danger.” Shalora interrupted. “The snake would be upon us in moments. That would be far too distracting.”

“Ya don’t always have to play mediator.” I grumbled. “And don’t think I don’t realize the dangers of descending right now. But your brother is the trickster for crying out loud! If there were any of us with a chance to get around the rules, you know it would be him.”

“I do.” She replied. “Trust me, I do. But I also trust him, and believe with all that I am that he would let us know if he had some way of determining where the hero is.”

“He tells you everything?” I asked. “Did he tell you about his injury?”

“Injury?”

“Ah, so he hasn’t. He might be able to fool you all, but he can’t hide it from the god of medicines. He’s hurt himself, and it is a painful one. Lower right portion of his abdomen, deep bruising. Every step, hell every breath must be agonizing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She shouted, crossing the floor between us in moments.

“And do what? We can’t hold him down to treat him. He won’t tell us how he got hurt, or else he would have asked for my help already. Or are you afraid that your brother has turned?”

Divine power flooded the room, as Ariana glared at me. “Watch. Your. Words.”

My power flared to match hers, and I didn’t back down a bit. “Watch. Your. Brother.”

“ENOUGH!” Shalora’s power cracked like a whip between us, sending us both stumbling back. “We have enough problems with the shadow pantheon, or do you wish to do their work for them? I’m sure that gluttonous snake would love for you two to weaken each other further, so that he may feast upon your corpses!”

“Very well.” I grumbled, letting my power fade. “Though I’ll not trust your brother at my back until I know his game.”

“That’s fine.” Ariana growled. “He can have my back in battle. I trust him.”

“I really hope you are right. For if any of us fall, the rest won’t be far behind.”

“Must you always get the last word in Bruin?” Shalora said, exasperated. “Now, both of you relax. We can’t find the hero, and we can’t do anything other than order our priests to look. Instead of worrying about things we can’t change, let’s work on something we can fix. How are we going to purge Ariana’s church of shadow?”

“I still don’t get how they managed to infiltrate.” Ariana grumbled.

“Humans.” I said. “They don’t live long enough, and their memories fail. They can’t remember long enough about the previous Greater Shadow, nor how much damage it caused.”

“But they have the books! And the words of their grandparents!” Ariana protested.

“We know dear.” Shalora said. “But they are mistrustful of things they can’t confirm, you know this. The Greater Shadow comes every 250 years. At the end of a hundred years, all those humans who participated in the battle have died. At 120 years, those who were children under the Greater Shadow pass. At 140 years, those who have heard their parent’s stories of battle, and the horrors that they held back have died. At 160 years, the children of the humans that were alive while the Greater Shadow threatened have died. Beyond that, the only link the humans have are the war stories of their grandparents, and they seem far too troubling to be real for them. For this generation has grown up without a true threat, safe within their cities. Sure, the occasional monster incursion will trouble them, but that is child’s play compared to the true threats.”

“The second tier-“ Ariana started.

“Are often disconnected from the lower tiers, and are the favored targets while the Greater Shadow attacks. Even if they remember, they can’t reliably pass on the information of the true danger.” I said in a soft voice. Though adaptable, the human’s short lifespan was a huge detriment. It was also something that couldn’t be rectified.

“So what do we do?” Ariana asked, tears in her eyes.

“I’ve sent word to my priests.” I said. “And while they will do what they can, we will have to hope in a missing hero.”