Darius and the witch travelled on foot, not willing to get any more carts involved.

In the distance stood the mountain they wished to reach.

"You could have drank more..." the witch remarked looking at the potion vial with about one-tenth of the liquid missing.

Darius shook, feeling his still-bruised body ache.

"No way, never again..." he remarked.

The journey to the actual library was rather uneventful.

Once they reached the base of the mountain they entered a cave, the scent of ink and old books led them specifically to the location of the library.

As soon as they set foot within the library the doors behind them shut.

"Welcome!" exclaimed a voice, it sounded rough.

Darius and the witch looked around the room, ready to fight another paladin.

The floors were wood with a red carpet, hundreds of bookshelves stood filled to the brim with books.

The room was lit with magical orbs of light.

"Excuse the mess, I'm going to be redecorating this place soon," said the man wearing the grey coat over grey trousers and a black shirt.

On his head a grey fedora and on his chin a grey beard.

"Who... are you?" asked Darius, his hand was already clutching his blade.

The man smiled smugly as he crossed his arms.

"I am Thal, god of despair and destruction," he introduced himself with a tip of the hat.

He looked nothing like the nebulous form he takes on when in the sky.

Darius pulled his blade out and charged at Thal only to see that his blade disappeared, in its place was an electric eel that shocked Darius.

With a snap of his fingers, Thal released Darius from the illusion.

"What... the hell?!" he asked seeing that he once more stood beside the witch who looked confused at his outburst.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I'm very good at illusions," Thal continued.

He sat down on a wooden chair that definitely wasn't previously there.

"Now, I believe you two and I need to have a chat," Thal said creating two more chairs with a snap of his fingers.

Darius reached for his blade once more, running at Thal and stabbing him through the chest, once again the illusion was dispelled revealing that Darius actually stabbed the witch instead.

"Witch!" he cried seeing the blood flow out of her wound.

With another snap of his fingers, Thal revealed Darius was still standing next to the witch who was equally surprised she wasn't stabbed.

"Next time it won't be an illusion," he continued.

Darius clutched his blade.

"Even so, I won't let you get away!" Darius charged at the god once more, only stop a centimetre away from Thal's throat, his expression didn't change.

"He's hoping I'll go for the hit..." Darius thought.

"Am I?" Thal asked.

"I'm only trying to have a civil conversation, and you can't seem to do anything other than run all over the place swinging that dull sword around..." Thal sighed.

He gestured towards the chairs once more.

"Now then, please do sit down..." he gestured towards the chairs.

Reluctantly, Darius sat down, falling through the hologram-like chair.

"Damn, forgot they're an illusion!" Thal exclaimed awkwardly.

He got off his chair and walked behind a bookcase, returning with two foldable chairs, he placed them next to his one.

"Alright, now you may sit down!" he exclaimed.

Darius and the witch sat down.

Thal leaned back in his seat.

"Now, I see we're not exactly on friendly terms here..." Thal remarked.

"So I'll skip straight to the point,"

The room remained quiet as Thal clapped his hands, trapping them in an illusion free of prying ears.

"You cannot kill the gods," Thal explained.

Darius was overcome with rage.

"You come all the way out here to say that!?"

"Just watch! I'll have all of your over-sized heads on a pike when I'm done with you!"

Thal patiently waited for Darius to finish.

"But, I'd like to help you," he continued.

Darius and the witch went quiet.

"You want to help us?" asked the witch.

"Correct! You see, as a cold, heartless god I have no reason to go along with their plans," he explained.

The witch crossed her arms,

"You make it sound like the gods are the good guys..." the witch remarked.

Thal let out a sigh.

"To a god of despair and a master of lies and illusions, the words good and bad mean very little..."

"You just contradicted yourself, you called yourself cold and heartless, as in - you are in opposition to the 'kind loving' gods..." Darius remarked, still holding back his rage at the mere sight of a god.

Thal placed his hands together.

"That aside, how do you plan to take down someone so far in the sky? With endless range and the ability to annihilate you in an instant if they deem you went too far?" Thal asked.

Darius gritted his teeth.

"You don't, that's the answer you're avoiding," he replied.

"Like a little kid, throwing a tantrum, you're powerless so you'll kick and scream while being ultimately unimportant,"

Darius clenched his fists, his claws digging into his skin.

Thal leaned in.

"The only reason you're still allowed to make a mess in our home is because of your insignificance,"

The witch looked at Darius, his entire body shaking with rage at his powerlessness.

He let out a sigh as he leaned back in his chair.

"But for reasons that don't concern you, I too am opposed to the other gods" Thal continued.

The witch spoke up.

"What do you mean 'reasons that don't concern you'? Of course, they concern us!" she replied.

"It's up to you, if you don't accept my help, you'll die by the end of the week, all the lives you stepped on to get here will be worth nothing," Thal replied.

"Don't worry though, I won't threaten to tell the other god's your location or anything should you refuse," Thal added.

"Why should we trust you?!" demanded the with.

Thal rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I, a literal god, capable of reducing you to ash and probably being praised for doing so by the other gods, will instead trick you for fun just so someone else will kill you,"

"As it stands right now, by the time you leave the library, the gods will consider you too big a threat to ignore, you will be killed on sight," Thal explained.

Darius narrowed his eyes.

"So that act of 'good will' about you not ratting us out to the other gods was redundant?" asked Darius.

Thal smiled.

"Not exactly, I happen to know that there is a book in this library that will teleport you to a place of your choice,"

"It's a red book with the picture of a globe on it,"

He shrugged.

"Of course, it could be a trap since that's obviously more convenient than just zapping you with a thunderbolt where you sit," he added sarcastically.

Darius breathed a long, deep breath, doing his best to think logically.

"Fine, demon, speak..." he grumbled.

Thal grinned.