“Why are you immune to magic?”

The introductory sentence of the Imperatrix let Nay immediately understand why Defin wasn’t present during this lesson on the miraculous power.

“I’m too powerful?”

Hyn shook her head left and right. “Then why would enchantments continue working when you touch them, or even that you recharge them when doing so, but then your touch prevents mages from suddenly using all and any spells?”

“Erm…” Nay was stumped. She did not understand the difference between spells and enchantments enough to even hazard a guess.

“It’s less about your power, but more about the space that power takes. An enchantment is already there, which means that the magic is already present when you arrive. As such, you have no influence over it. But just like a warrior cannot hit his enemy if there is a mountain between him and his target, a mage cannot create a spell when you are between him and the external world.”

Nay frowned. “How is that any different from what I said?”

“Ah, but, aren’t you keeping the mountain inside yourself? Close and deep? What do you think would happen if you let it loose? Do you think that there weren’t any Touched in Gite simply because of the Carradins?”

Hyn’s smile was full of second meanings.

The thirteen lessons of the Imperatrix.

Nay had a bad feeling. Many reasons could explain that unsettling scratch in her belly, but she had the distinct impression that none of those could explain that feeling entirely.

The more than certain arrival of one or even many Angels was without a doubt responsible for the fear gripping her core, her unleashing of her power and the heavy toll it cost, the number of dead not yet fully known, was the cause of her guilt, and Trinne already completely healed as well as her sister and mother safe and sound was what brought her relief and calm. A weird mix of emotions, to summarize, but none of those explained that weight in her belly.

Nay was inside the Imperial tent, and she wasn’t alone. Hyn was sitting not far from her, at the back of the tent like the Legio. In the middle of temporary strategic headquarter stood the Emperor, a few of his generals, the Sergeant-General Grenat, who had her right arm in a sling and a mean purple hematoma on her jaw, and that was it.

Trinne, as God-Touched, had been requisitioned by the priesthood for a prayer of rejoicing.

Because the Carradin army had fled.

An entire day had passed since the coming of the terrifying night on the coast of the Refugees, Nay having slept most of it while being treated for her wound on her shoulder. According to the Lebe priestess that had taken of her in less than fifteen minutes, the arrow had barely pierced her leather armor and was a superficial wound. The Legio had of course been lectured by her mother when the latter had visited her, despite Ra’fa looking even more exhausted than her elder daughter. Lisana came as well, and had shown reddened eyes, but a firm and unflinching expression.

Taking care of the wounded had not ended with the war.

The Carradin flotilla had vanished beyond the western horizon, all the ships had, except one. The golden war ship was being carried around by the wind, clearly abandoned, and in the following days, it would crash on the coast somewhere.

No one dared to go on the ship to take command of it, for the same reasons the Carradins had let it drift there. After taking time to check it, using miracles Nay did not know existed, the God-Touched had apparently noticed that the horror of the night rolling in Gite had surged from the ship of Vahamut Shroediker, but even without the miraculous power, rumors were circulating amongst the sailors, saying that the ship was haunted. As there was no one more superstitious than seamen, none accepted to go to the ship.

After all, except those that knew of the Legio’s potential, no one understood what had happened.

As she was thinking about all this, Nay blinked in realization.

Those that knew that she was responsible could almost be counted on the fingers of one hand, right? Hyn, Jarl, her mother and sister, and Trinne.

And one other person.

Someone who should have been in this tent talking about the after-war with the Emperor.

And instead had organized a giant prayer reserved for the God-Touched and the high ecclesiast dignitaries.

As if to answer her fears, the two guards that stood guard outside the tent burst in their room.

“Emperor, archbishop Defin is asking for an audience outside.”

Jarl’s left eyebrow rose, clearly annoyed by the distraction.

“Outside? Why can’t he come inside? We need him to discuss what to do with the mage prisoners.”

“Erm…he’s accompanied by God-Touched, my Emperor.

“Which ones?”

“All of them. Oh my Emperor. All the ones stationed in Gite.”

One of the generals showed an expression of fear. “Rebellion!?”

No one answered him, only silence for a few minutes. During which Hyn and Jarl were staring at Nay.

Finally, Jarl turned to face the guards and sighed.

“Fine. I understand the situation. This is not a coup. Nay, if you would please follow me?”

It wasn’t an order, but a very polite demand and everyone in the tent except Hyn showed clear surprise at his tone of voice.

Nay nodded. She knew that something strange was occurring, and had a good idea what it was, but she was still too taken aback to understand everything going down under the scenes.

She followed the Emperor outside the tent, Hyn and the generals close behind. Immediately, as she exited the protection enchantments of the Imperial tent, hundreds of Rreicos assaulted her senses. All of the rhythms, or close to all of them, were Rreicos of God-Touched.

The men and women of Ja’s faith were standing on the crushed grass around the tent, overflowing to the road a bit further away, and all were staring at the Archbishop of Lebe and the Archbishop of Ja, standing a few meters away from the Legio. Trinne was amongst them, but as soon as Nay exited the tent, the Duchess walked towards her to stand on her right.

“Trinne?” Nay whispered. “What’s happening?”

“He wants to prove your divinity. Sorry. The Archbishop of Lebe told Defin what she saw, even though I tried to tell her to keep it to herself and…”

“Oh, Biach.”

“I know.”

“My friends! My friends! I gathered you all here today to celebrate our victory, to show how we rejoice to our Gods, and how we punished the heretics!” The Archbishop began, his voice cutting through the hubbub and conversations of the God-Touched crowd.

“And how does he hope to prove that, exactly?” Nay asked, her voice still low.

“I don’t know.” Trinne answered.

“Defin? What are you doing?” The Emperor asked with strength in his tone.

The Archbishop turned around, his face like a madman. “Oh, my Emperor, you are blessed by the heavens! Not only are you loved by Ja, not only are you the Emperor that brought us victory, just like your mother brought us victory a century ago…not only that but you are blessed! Because without even realizing, you were listening to the gods, and your reward is that a Goddess was born during your reign!”

That announcement brought a collective gasp throughout the crowd.

For a fraction of a second, a grimace burst through Jarl the Bohemian’s neutral expression, but quickly, it was replaced with an enormous smile.

“Oh? I am unworthy of such honor. The war would have continued without the Night of Day.”

This was the first time Nay heard her miracle be described with those words. She was well aware that now that the Emperor had called it like that, that would be how it was going to be called in the future.

“But my Emperor, the Night of Day is proof in and of itself that a new Goddess walks amongst us. Or rather, how she unveiled herself to our eyes. Because, just like all the Gods, she has always been with us! Yes!” He turned around, facing all of the God-Touched. “Our Archbishop of Lebe saw it with her own eyes. The Goddess is her, and she saved us. She punished the warmongering because she hates war and is a loving One. But do not think her weak or indulgent, you have witnessed the Night of Day! Just like the other Gods, betraying her tenets will have a heavy toll. She was merciful with us because we were only defending ourselves, but gaze upon our enemy, see what happened to the ship of their king, and understand that shall you succumb to the thirst of blood, she will be harsher than even Vanni !”

The whisper in the crowd was now filled with fervor, and the God-Touched priests, animated by the promise of seeing divinity, started talking louder.

“Archbishop, we want to understand. Is this Goddess truly amongst us?” One of the God-Touched shouted.

Defin had a demented expression. “She’s here, in front of you! Darae, if you would, I beg of you.”

Nay clenched her hands, and felt Trinne gripping her arm.

“The Darae?” She heard echo through the assembly.

Despite the number of people around her, she felt the trouble in Hyn and Jarl’s Rreico. They had been blindsided by this turn of events as well.

“What do I do?” She asked in a whisper.

Trinne hesitated. “I don’t know. He can’t force you to show your miracle, so I have no idea how he thinks you won’t just ridicule both him and yourself.”

Nay nodded, still worried, and decided to walk next to the Archbishop.

“Yes! Our Darae is in truth a Goddess. The Duchess of Gite and another God-Touched, that we believed to be touched by Jormun, were in truth touched by Her!”

“I don’t believe it…” The voice had been soft, but Nay heard it come from one of the high priestesses of Lebe, in the front row of the crowd.

“Archbishop! We need proof that…”

“PROOF!? A Goddess stands before you and you DARE doubt! By Ja, a stone flies!”

Nay tensed up, and she wasn’t the only one. The God-Touched priests may not be able to feel the Rreico, but everyone understood what power the Archbishop of Ja had, and his miracle was known by all.

The God-Touched who had spoken last started to run away, but was a clear target as the men and women around him had immediately started to pull away from him when Defin had started to chant.

And yet, nothing happened.

Defin smiled, showing all his teeth, then lowered himself, as far as he could go, in front of Nay. She was feeling increasingly uneasy.

“Behold!” Shouted the high ecclesiast. “In presence of the Goddess Nay, miracles are outside our reach, as she represents peace and calm. But she is more than that!” He then stopped talking, letting the Archbishop of Lebe speak for the first time.

She was less exuberant than her peer, but in a way, her serene explanation of what had happened the day before convinced the crowd much more than Defin’s previous speech.

Once her story finished, Nay felt the surrounding Rreicos less and less chaotic. More and more convinced. And she hated that.

“We cannot ask our Gods for proof, as it is our responsibility to believe, but today I am ready to give my life to reveal the gift that the Goddess Nay has given us. Katrina, if you would.”

The Archbishop of Lebe met his eyes. “Are you certain?”

Defin nodded.

Nay had only one desire, and it was to flee, to create a door and disappear far away. She restrained herself though because showing such a miracle would definitely not prove her normalcy.

The Archbishop of Lebe stood next to Defin. “Oh you, God-Touched! Witness how even the repudiated miracle of Lebe, the one only reserved for monsters, is not permitted next to Her presence.”

Nay stared at her, shocked. There was one reason, one miracle explaining why the criminals of the Empire were more scared of the Lebe church and its judgment than even Vanni’s.

And now, Nay’s plan in restraining her Rreico to let miracles be chanted normally was completely ruined.

There were shouts of protestation rumbling in the crowd, most coming from the Lebe God-Touched, who knew the miracle of the Empty Mind the best out of all those present.

But Lebe’s Archbishop did not pause. She pointed her right palm towards Defin’s forehead, still kneeling on the ground, and then started singing.

“Oh Lebe, Goddess of life, in front of you stand the antithesis of your quest, it submits to your vision, and accepts your punishment.”

Seconds passed…and nothing happened.

The hubbub became deafening, and when the Archbishop of Lebe knelt in turn, some of the priests and priestesses copied her. Most of them stayed still, in chock.

Nay really wanted to leave now. She met Trinne’s gaze, but in the current circumstances, her friend could not help her, and the Duchess of Gite was only clenching her teeth in anguish and turmoil.

Then the Legio noticed Jarl’s rhythm of life. He seemed to have taken a decision.

“By Ja, I am the sun, the only, I create and destroy. Today, I pray to annihilate my enemy.” His chant was grave and slow. His hand aimed at the sky. At the first word that escaped his lips, everyone stopped talking.

When his chant ended, at the tip of his fingers, a little flame appeared, one of bright violet color, and as soon as it appeared it was gone again.

“By Ja! The greatest of the God-Touched…?” The man who had asked for proof and had been targeted by Defin’s miracle shouted in disbelief.

The Emperor, his acting impeccable, stared at his hand in surprise.

“It is true! I am blessed by the presence of a Goddess. Oh, thank you! Thank you for saving my Empire, Darae. Or should I say, Goddess Darae, the one who commands peace, calm…and night.” And he bowed.

And with him, doubts had dispersed. The Touched, even the generals and Grenat knelt in front of the Legio.

She was the last standing. Well, her, Trinne…and Hyn.

The Imperatrix gazed at her for a long moment. Her Rreico troubled but with a very clear message.

‘Undermine my son, and whoever you may be, goddaughter, Goddess, or master Legio, I will kill you.’

Then, finally, she knelt as well.

The Legio met Trinne’s eyes, who was clearly abundantly swearing internally.

“Oh…Goddess. Please, guide us out of our infinite wandering.” Defin had raised his head, his expression of adoration even worse than usual.

But the Duchess of Gite stood between them and Nay. The Legio was paralyzed by all of these Rreicos seeing her as something else, making her feel anything but where she should be.

“Defin. Nay has no wish to be worshipped. She does not want to command, and she certainly does not want to guide the Empire. But you are right on one point, she hates gratuitous violence and war.”

The Archbishop finally looked at someone other than the Legio, at first obviously very angry at being interrupted. But then he noticed Nay’s reaction, and his expression went back to the one of an ecstatic zealot.

“As you are the Goddess of the Night’s God-Touched, do you speak for her?”

“Oh Biach, really?” Trinne didn’t try more than that. She turned toward her friend. “Time for us to go, we have a much bigger issue than those idiots.”

“But…without the box? And where?”

“At this point, I don’t think the box is going to change a thing. And not counting Hyn, I only see one man capable of helping us with the Angels. Deep in the Hymere.”

Nay nodded. She then took Trinne’s hand and started chanting the miracle of the Door.

As she sang, Defin rose, as well as most of the hundreds of people surrounding them. No one tried to intervene. The Archbishop simply shouted: “No wait!? N…ah…” He was obviously fighting an internal conflict between his desire to keep the ‘Goddess’ by his side and the realization that it would go against that same ‘Goddess’s wishes.

Nay sang the last note, and a crystalline door appeared in front of her. The miracle was so impressive that people started exclaiming in surprise and wonder. All could see through the door that had burst into existence an image of the infinite sea of the Hell of Trayx. She ignored the supplications and prayers and grabbed the glass handle.

She and Trinne disappeared without a sound.