Devryn felt a little bit nervous as he walked into Maren’s tent. As usual, the old woman was seated on the ground. Next to her was a man that looked like he was in his thirties.

“I’m guessing you’re the Champion of Chronos,” Devryn said as he stared in the man’s direction.

“That’s right,” the man said as he stood up. “I have been chosen by the new god, Chronos.” He extended a hand towards Devryn, “My name is Thorold, by the way.”

Devryn took Thorold’s outstretched hand. “You’re younger than I expected. I thought you would be as old as Maren here.”

Thorold smiled slightly. “Why don’t you have a seat, Devryn? We don’t have much time to discuss.”

Devryn sighed as he sat down. “I think I’ve talked more today than I have in my entire life.”

Thorold nodded. “Maren told me that she already filled you in on the future.” He turned to the old woman, “I’m still quite intrigued by the abilities given to you by Cerebrus. Though I’d already seen that you would use your mind links to feed off my power, I was still unaware of the exact time that you did so.”

Maren shrugged. “I can’t take any credits.”

Devryn butted into the conversation. “Why am I even here? Why don’t the two of you just talk about whatever it is you want to? Do I really have to sit here and watch as you fawn over the gods?”

Thorold smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, Devryn. I forgot that you’re not a follower of the Pantheon, and you don’t have much interest in them. Anyway, I do have something for you.” He chuckled, “I’ve been waiting for this moment for months.”

“Months?” Devryn repeated.

“Yes,” Thorold answered. “Chronos showed me the visions of the future two months ago. He warned me of the rogue god and the troubles he would bring. He also showed me your group of heroes; the humans that were likely to ensure the survival of mankind.”

Devryn scoffed. “Heroes indeed,” he muttered. “Anyway, I guess it must be nice knowing how everything ends. I bet you already know the outcome of this war that’s coming.”

Thorold shook his head sadly. “Actually, I don’t. You see, Chronos’ abilities doesn’t work that way. At the present moment, there’s a number of choices that each of us can make. Those choices lead to a number of possible futures.”

“Chronos lets me see those possible futures, and he tells me the ones that are most likely to happen. So, I can’t say I know how exactly how the impending war ends. There are different ways in which it could finally go down. It could end well, or it could end badly.”

Devryn rubbed his jaw for a few seconds. “If you can’t tell exactly what’s going to happen in the future, how were you so sure that you’d come across Maren and I at this point?”

Thorold smiled. “Some events are sure to happen. In every possibility I saw, you and Maren were on the road to Baynir, and she told you about the gods. That’s how I knew I was sure to find you here.”

“Oh, I see,” Devryn muttered.

Thorold continued. “What I wasn’t sure of was if Maren would tell the others of their futures as well. In one possibility, she told all four of you currently present in this clearing.”

“Wait a minute,” Devryn said. “Did you just say four of us?”

Thorold nodded in affirmation.

Devryn scoffed as he turned to Maren. “I thought you said it was just the twins and I.”

Maren scowled. “It’s what I saw in the vision.”

“Never mind,” Thorold cut in. “Maren is no Champion of Chronos. We can’t blame her for not being able to see the vision in its entirety.”

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Devryn frowned. “Yeah, I guess so.” He took a deep breath, “So who’s the last person in our group of heroes?”

Thorold shook his head. “Don’t misinterpret my words, Devryn. I never said there would be only four in the group of heroes. What I meant was that four from this camp would be a part of that group.”

Devryn smacked his head. “Things just keep getting more and more complicated.”

“I’m sorry that you feel that way,” Thorold said.

Devryn exhaled. “So, other than the twins and I, who else from the camp is going to sign up for our little suicide mission? Please don’t tell me it’s Gregor.”

“Gregor?” Thorold repeated in confusion. “I didn’t see anyone by that name in any of my visions.” He cleared his throat before saying, “The last hero from this camp is a girl called Gwyneth. From what I saw, she seems to be a Champion just like Maren and I.”

****

Gwyneth frowned as she walked through the trees and left the caravan behind. The moon shined brightly, but its light was mostly filtered out by the tree branches that hung above her head. The darkness didn’t deter Gwyneth though. In fact, she could see perfectly.

“Haven’t you heard a word I said,” she repeated sarcastically. “You’ve got to leave this campsite immediately.”

“You do know I can hear you, right?” Luna said.

“I don’t care,” Gwyneth replied.

Luna sighed. “I’m doing this for your own good. You never know what those other Champions would have done if they’d found you out.”

“I know, I know,” Gwyneth said as she wiped sweat off her forehead. “It’s just that it’s been a while since I was around nice people.” She exhaled loudly. “Some of those campers back in the clearing were quite friendly.”

Luna laughed. “Do you think they’d treat you the same if they knew you were a Champion?”

Gwyneth shrugged. “Maybe they would’ve. Not everyone has a thing against the gods, you know.”

Luna scoffed. “I just knew you’d say something like that,” she said. “I can’t believe that you still haven’t learnt anything after last night.”

“There was nothing to learn,” Gwyneth said as she came out of the trees. The traveling path seemed a little bit eerie under the soft glow of the moon.

“It was your fault if you ask me,” she added. “You should’ve been able to tell that there were other Champions in the city. Then you could’ve tried to conceal your presence better.”

Luna didn’t respond.

“I thought so,” Gwyneth muttered.

Almost twenty four hours earlier, Gwyneth had been at the residence of Eldon’s duke. Under normal circumstances, the Duke’s castle would’ve been inaccessible to a girl of lowly status, but she’d gotten a job there a few months back.

Her full time job as a serving maid had included a live-in clause; she could only visit her mother once a week when she was given leave. Work at the castle had gone quite smoothly until two months ago when she suddenly started hearing a voice in her head—Luna.

Gwyneth had always believed in the gods; her mother had taught her to. So it wasn’t too much of a surprise when Luna introduced herself as one. Luna proclaimed herself the goddess of the Night, and said Gwyneth would be her Champion.

Gwyneth had been thrilled. Champions were the stuff of legends.

Over the next few weeks, Luna taught her how to wield the abilities she’d been given as a Champion. The goddess only did so at night because she claimed she couldn’t project her presence during the day.

“I’m the goddess of the Night,” she’d said. “What were you expecting?”

Gwyneth had tried to keep Luna a secret—as the goddess herself had instructed—but somehow, the people at the castle found out about it. The castle guards had come to her room just the previous night and seized her forcefully.

They took her to the Duke, who demanded that she demonstrate her abilities. Gwyneth did as instructed, but the Duke was visibly scared when she showed what she could do. He ordered the guards to throw her in the dungeons.

Gwyneth couldn’t let herself be taken hostage; Luna was against the idea as well. She fought back with her powers and escaped the castle. It was only when she was out in the open that the goddess began to say that she’d felt a Champion within the Duke’s residence.

Luna figured that the Champion was probably the one who’d sniffed Gwyneth out.

Gwyneth had barely listened to the goddess while she spoke. She had run for her mother’s place like a woman possessed; she knew the guards would probably be heading there once they regrouped. They would probably try to use her mother to lure her out.

The house had been empty when Gwyneth finally got there; the only thing she’d found was a note on the floor. The note had the words “Come to the city of Alderan if you want to see her again. You have four days, Champion.”

Gwyneth had felt enraged; someone had taken her mother. Luna had said that she suspected it was the handiwork of yet another Champion. Gwyneth hadn’t cared for the goddess’ theories; she made for Eldon’s gates and forced her way out of the city. Alderan was a three day ride at best; she wanted to get there as soon as she could.

She’d walked for most of the night and only slept when exhaustion claimed her. Morning had already come by the time she’d woken up. She hadn’t been able to feel Luna anymore.

She then tried to get back on the travelling path, but the Eldonian guards had been on her tail. She’d had to run into the trees once again for cover. It was shortly after that moment that she’d come across Ryker and Gregor.

“Heads up, Champion!” Luna suddenly said, dragging Gwyneth out of her thoughts. “There are people in the trees.”

Gwyneth groaned. “Not again,” she muttered tiredly.