Sego, now covered in green ooze, began to flail his arms the best he could within the confined tunnel. Globs of the permeable creature painted the stone walls like moss. Unable to advance, Zilliad turned to face the entrance of the tunnel. The creature that splattered behind her had now taken its form.

The green ooze had collected into a circular puddle. In the middle of this sludge stood a single column that rolled over itself like a waterfall. The end of this slime column swayed and swiveled like a tongue, as if the creature was tasting the air. The creature began to sluggishly inch towards Zilliad and the daughter of Haboo forced as much wind as she could muster towards the creature, and it burst and splattered over the walls, proving the weakness of its structure. Just as quickly as the creature was obliterated, it began to culminate once again.

By this time, Sego had successfully cleaned all of his fur of the green creature and the small particles of its ooze began to collect, except when the green ooze that landed on Sego formed, it didn’t look like the helpless, limp slug that formed next to Zilliad. Instead, the creature’s ooze grew tall and began to morph. Its green, flowing composition turned into thick, brown fur. Its watery structure grew two arms, two legs, a head, and a pair of wings. Now between Zilliad and Sego stood a complete, carbon copy of the deity of time. Sego’s doppelganger immediately lunged for him, recklessly reaching for his neck.

Sego dodged the creature by pulling himself up, using the narrow walls he was confined in for leverage. Poised above the fake Sego, the real Sego attacked his twin by plunging both of his heels through his copy, resulting in an explosion of ooze. The creature began to revert to its gelatinous form and then started climbing up Sego’s legs, rooting the deity. Zilliad ran to Sego and grabbed him underneath his armpits.

“This is Gruk, a failed creation of the Makers,” Sego said in Zilliad’s ear as she wretched him from the slime. “It was intended to be a system of fungi that spread over the mountains of Lamia, given the ability to change its shape and color to the dead organisms and vegetation it ate to attract more diverse consumers. But the Makers didn’t expect all of life in Lamia to migrate to the wetter and cooler parts of the continent. Without a food source, the system of Gruk ravenously searches for anything to eat, even if it isn’t dead.”

Sego quickly followed Zilliad as she shuffled down the tight pass, eager to get away from the carnivorous fungi. Some of the Gruk had forced themselves down the fissure ahead of where the pair was, so Zilliad sent constant pulses of wind to clear their path, painting the walls like rain staining copper. Joeb was nowhere to be seen.

After another hour of quicker paced shuffling through the fissure, Zilliad finally found the exit. Like a baby exiting the womb, Zilliad exited the tunnel into a paradise. The daughter of Haboo found herself inside a rainforest, tucked inside an inaccessible valley within Lamia's sharp mountains. Trees climbed straight up the slick, rocky surface and opened into a canopy that blocked out the sky, only showing angelic beams of light that shined from the gaps within the leaves. Just below the canopy of the rainforest, Zilliad saw hundreds of humans walking along rope bridges and lounging in wooden shelters.

“Welcome to the hidden city of Noigrat,” Joeb announced, leaning against the entrance of the tunnel.

Zilliad quickly turned towards the deity of craftsmanship, “we have to protect this place! The Gruk are coming!”

Joeb raised his hand and signaled for Zilliad to wait. With his other hand, Joeb produced his chisel and hammer from within the folds of his garments. Moving with unbelievable speed, Joeb hammered at the surrounding rock while simultaneously crafting with his chisel. Joeb returned to Zilliad wielding a miniature version of the iron cylinder Zilliad had examined within the deity's castle.

Once Sego finally vacated the fissure, struggling for air, Joeb walked in front of the opening and pointed the iron cylinder into the cut in Lamia's crust. Joeb then dropped several different colored stones into a small opening on the top of the cylinder and latched the opening shut. Flames spewed from Joeb’s weapon like a dragon breathing fire.

Zilliad could hear the agonizing screams of dying creatures reverberating throughout the tunnel. Several of the humans looked down from the treetop city of Noigrat to observe the commotion. Two deities flew down from the wooden structures to further investigate. One of the deities was a male and the other a female. The male deity didn’t land on his legs, instead, he remained suspended in the air, his wings in constant motion.

“Sego, you have returned!” hailed the male deity. “What news from Glotpon?”

“Grave,” Sego replied as Zilliad followed the deity of time to meet the two new deities.

“Do the others stay in Kahetic?” the female deity asked, “I long to see my husband, Sab.”

Sego looked to the floor, “I am sorry Xle, but the others you speak of are in Kigulbisis. Isaa, Sab, Haboo, and even Foal.”

Zilliad watched Xle’s face turn from soft and smiling to blank and hardened. As the deity of healing and medicine drooped her head, her lavishly jeweled, crimson and golden crown slouched slightly and Zilliad could hear faint whispers of sorrow emenating from within Xle.

“Then there is a change of plans?” the male deity asked.

Now that Zilliad was closer, she could see that the male deity’s legs were thin and devoid of all muscle. This deity also had bald spots caused by some sort of burn that scarred his entire body in patches.

“No Lind, the plan remains the same,” Sego snapped before Joeb joined the group, “we press to claim Mount Caxpa and conquer any Maker present there. Where is Noies? I must speak with her immediately.”

“She is in her chambers,” Xle said, “allow me to take you there.”

Zilliad, Sego, and Joeb followed Xle and Lind as they flew up into the canopy of lush trees. Now that Zilliad was within Noigrat, she could see its true splendor. There were dozens of levels built in a layered fashion all connected by rope bridges and elevtors. Small carts were moved around the city using an advanced pulley system, delivering humans and supplies throughout Noigrat.

Along the rope bridges flowed an aqueduct set in a narrow bed of hardened clay. Like a river falling from the sky, water flowed throughout every level of Noigrat, dropping in dramatic waterfalls. The flying river flowed from the top of the trees, created by funneled rainfall, and delivered water all the way to Noigrat's base level, where the plants that supplied the humans with sustenance grew. All of the humans that Zilliad passed on her walk through the maze of rope bridges and rope carts were smiling and happily talking amongst themselves. There wasn’t any fear present in their eyes like the humans Zilliad saw in Glotpon.

Eventually, Xle brought Zilliad and the others to a circular wooden building in the center of the city. The structure was built to encompass the trunk of the largest tree in the rainforest. There were rope bridges that came from every cardinal direction of the building, making the tree house resemble the crosshairs of a bullseye. Zilliad could hear muffled moans coming from inside.

“This is Noies’s chambers,” Xle announced before knocking on the wooden door.

“Yes?”

“Sego arrived not long ago, and he’s requested your audience, Noies."

There was a long silence inside the chambers followed by the ruffling of cloth and hushed voices. Two male humans and one female human exited from the wooden doors, naked as the day they were born. Zilliad couldn't help but stare at the bare humans as they passed.

Once inside the circular structure, Zilliad found Noies's chambers were completely open, constructed as one room. In the center of this massive room were four beds forming a square around the tree trunk which the house was built around. The only other fixture in Noies’s chambers was a table with two chairs set to mirror one another. A cold dinner was set on the table, served long ago, but never touched. On one of the four beds lay a naked female deity. The deity propped herself up on one elbow to greet her guests.

“Ooh, Sego,” the female deity said lustfully, “it’s been soo long.”

“Not long enough Noies. The least favorable of futures shown in the hourglass has been chosen. The holy trinity has fallen into Kigulbisis and we need the rest of the humans if we are to succeed in our capture of Mount Caxpa.”

Noies got out of her bed and walked towards the deity of time. Noies's large breasts swayed with her every stride, mirroring the motion of her hips. The way Noies's body moved captivated Zilliad, then abruptly, Noies locked eyes with the daughter of Haboo. Noies changed her trajectory to approach Zilliad, causing her to blush and divert her gaze.

“Such a pretty face,” Noies said as she reached out a hand to caress Zilliad’s cheek, “let’s hope you don’t have your father’s fury.”

Unlike the other deities Zilliad has met, there was something about Noies that made her not question the deity of love’s intent. Zilliad felt oddly comfortable in Noies's presence and wanted to spend more time with her. When Noies finally removed her hand from Zilliad’s face, Zilliad longed for the deity's touch.

“You would rid me of my fun with the humans?” Noies asked, turning to Sego. “You’ll have to repay me, personally.”

Noies placed two fingers on Sego’s chest and began to walk them down his stomach. Sego slapped Noies’s hand away from his body, his furred face turning crimson. Noies's lips curled into a playful smile.

“The humans aren’t your playthings,” Sego growled. “We leave at first sunrise tomorrow.”

Sego darted out of Noies’s chambers in a stomping flurry and Zilliad quickly followed after him, leaving Xle, Lind, and Joeb with Noies. As Zilliad chased after the deity of time, she passed a group of humans that were joking with one another, gossiping, and flirting. These humans must be a different subspecies compared to the humans who are fighting in the war, Zilliad thought to herself.

“Spare me from their lack of urgency,” Sego huffed when Zilliad finally caught up with him. “These deities, Joeb, Lind, Xle, Noise, even Tete, Enia, and Guth have yet to learn of the callousness of the Makers.”

"Do you envy them?"

“Yes, indeed," Sego replied, stopping briefly in his stride, "I remember a time when life was full of peace and progress. This war has brought nothing but death and destruction to Garsuna. It's a horrible thing we must endure to return to the days we once cherished.”

“If life was peaceful before the deities started this uprising, why revolt in the first place?” Zilliad inquired as the pair approached a rope cart that would carry them down to a lower level within the tree city.

Sego whipped his head around to shoot a stare at Zilliad that pierced through her, “watch your tongue,” was all he said.

Zilliad followed Sego in silence until he brought them to an unused shelter, right above Noigrat's farms. The pair found sleep quickly in Noigrat. They were woken at the crack of dawn by a loud ringing produced by a bell tower that was erected next to the lake found below the city. Zilliad and Sego exited their temporary abode to behold thousands of humans standing in ranks at the floor of the rainforest.

All of the humans were ready for battle, clad in armor, their swords sheathed. Some humans also had the same iron cylinder that Joeb used to roast the Gruk strapped to their backs. The humans' faces were completely concealed by their plumed helmets. Joeb, Noise, Xle, Lind, and another female deity that Zilliad assumed was Enia, the last of the fourteen deities, stood at the head of this great human militia, facing the giant fissure that will lead them north into the deserts of Lamia.

Zilliad and Sego leapt down from the rope bridges of Noigrat and hovered to where the other deities stood. Now that she was near the tunnel, Zilliad could feel a warm draft flowing from the other side. Zilliad took a deep gulp as she prepared for another confrontation with the Gruk.