Interlude 3

Nergal, an ancient Mesopotamian god stepped back from the unholy abomination in front of him. “You want to do what? When Gaia does what?” Even the ancient deity of war and death could barely stand the thought of what he was suggesting. “That doesn’t gain us anything! The number of people flocking to our temples is already below what we had hoped. I won’t help you this time!”

The god felt dozens of eyes focus on him, as the High God said nothing for a long moment.

“I must admit, I am disappointed to hear that. I had hoped for a different response from one of your ilk. No matter though, I will still manage. However, as a warning, do not stand in my way. It would be an incredibly bad idea.”

A doorway opened behind him, and Dantanian stepped through it.

Nergal gasped, sweat suddenly coating his clothes.

“You did well,” His wife Ereshkigal said hoarsely, stepping out from a statue to the side. As the Mesopotamian goddess of the dead, she was normally naturally pale, her current state was beyond that. “Nothing good would have come from us joining together with him on this errand. That ‘boy’ alone sent droves of spirits to all the underworlds with his little stunt before. Now he is no longer alone.”

Her husband tugged her gently to his side. “Don’t worry my love. I have no desire to interfere in the dealings of the High Gods. Far too much can go wrong.”

“True, very true. Something is wrong with him; he has changed from before. His aura is chaotic and strange. Before it was always so constrained like he kept it on a tight leash. Now it’s almost as though he has lost all control.” Ereshkigal shivered at the thought of what might be able to do something like that to a High God.

They weren’t indestructible, but outside of fights amongst themselves, they had few other adversaries.

“I think we should bring everyone into the towns and build up the walls. They might be the only thing that keeps them safe by the time this is over.” Nergal suggested in a soft voice.

***

Dantanian mentally revised his plan for the tenth time. Yet another spineless god had refused to participate in his plan. This was proving harder than he had anticipated it would be. His grand plans were changing shape and decreasing in scope with each god that refused to join.

It was infuriating!

Maybe he had been focusing on the wrong group of gods this time around. He needed to look at a different demographic. Not the ones who had settled down and were content to create kingdoms and temples. They were the ones who were trying to recreate what they had once had in the past.

No, he needed the loners, the ones who had chosen to fall originally. The chaotic gods, who didn’t care about worshippers or any of that other nonsense. Yes, those were the ones he needed.

Now he just needed to decide which one he should visit first?