Devryn frowned. “The god of Time?” he said exasperatedly. “Your story gets crazier by the minute.”

Maren was unfazed by Devryn’s statement. “Stay with me, boy. Quit the interruptions.”

“You know what, Maren?” Devryn said, “I think I’ve heard enough stuff about the gods. Right now, I just want to know why you decided to pull me into all this.”

Maren sighed. “I will not be hurried, boy. I’ll answer your question soon enough.”

Devryn scowled. “Fine,” he hissed.

“Be patient, boy,” Maren said quietly. “I won’t skip any parts because you need to hear everything. It’s important that you understand everything about the gods as quickly as possible.”

“I would’ve asked why I need to hear it,” Devryn said sarcastically, “But I’m gonna assume that you’ll answer everything soon enough.”

Maren nodded, oblivious to Devryn’s tone. “That’s right, boy. Where was I? Oh yes, I’m meeting with the Champion of Chronos, but I think he is unaware of my impending visit.”

Devryn raised an eyebrow. “If you didn’t plan a meeting with this Champion, then how are you two ever going to come across each other? Do you even know where he is?”

Maren smiled. “Cerebrus has been helping me track the Champion’s divine aura for weeks, and just this morning, I finally got close enough to sense him for myself. I can tell he’s just a few hours ahead.”

“Good for you,” Devryn muttered.

Maren shot him a disapproving glance. “Anyway, I felt the Champion using Chronos’ gift this morning. I was curious as to how the god of Time’s power worked, so I created a mind link with the Champion; just like the one I did with you. The link helped me understand Chronos a bit and even let me use his gift.”

Devryn found that his interest was piqued, but he didn’t want to give Maren the pleasure of seeing it. He nodded as casually as he could.

Maren continued, “It turned out the god of Time has the ability to look into the past, and also get glimpses of the most likely future occurrences. It was with his power I was able to show you the memory of the fighting Champions and the four gods.”

“Wait,” Devryn said slowly. “You pulled me into the past?”

Maren waved her hand. “Yes I did, and I’m about to tell you why I did so. Before going back in time and pulling you in, I glanced at the possible futures of our world, and it turned out Cerebrus was right. All possibilities show danger for mankind; danger caused by some of the new gods.”

“However, in every version of the future, I saw a group of young humans banding together to avert the danger. You, Devryn, were an important part of this group every single time.”

Devryn was taken aback. “Me? That doesn’t make sense.”

Maren shrugged. “Maybe it doesn’t right now, but I think it will later. Somehow, you’ve got a significant part to play in ensuring humanity’s survival, and that’s why I had to tell you everything I know about the gods. You’re probably gonna need it soon.”

Devryn scoffed. “This has to be a mistake.”

“It isn’t a mistake,” Maren countered. “Chronos’ visions of the future will happen. I’m totally sure of that.”

Devryn bowed his head. “This is crazy,” he muttered. “I suddenly discover the gods are not just a bedtime story, and now I have to take a stand against them.”

“Don’t worry too much, Devryn,” Maren said. “You won’t be doing it alone.”

“Yeah, right,” Devryn said immediately. “I’ll be banding with a group of people around my age. That’s just great news. I’m sure these people you speak about will be very experienced at fighting evil gods.”

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“Don’t be discouraged, boy,” Maren chided. “I’m sure you will all learn what you need to.”

Devryn smacked his forehead. “Do you even have any idea who these people are? Am I supposed to go find them? Or are they gonna come to me?”

Maren shook her head. “There will be no need to go find them. They’re right here in this caravan.”

Devryn sat up. “What? Who exactly are you talking about?”

Maren smiled. “I’m talking about the twins—Aria and Ryker.”

****

Gwyneth sat behind Ryker as they rode on his horse. The evening wind howled in her ears as they thundered down the travelling path. The caravan was still on the move even though it was already getting dark.

Ryker’s horse was almost at the rear of the group. A boy around Gwyneth’s age and an old woman were the only two riders behind them.

Almost twelve hours had passed since she came across Ryker and Gregor in the woods. The boys had taken her to their camp where she met the other members of their caravan.

Cromwell, Ryker’s father, seemed to have been suspicious of her at first. He’d asked her a couple of questions before he finally agreed to let her travel with them.

“Just a precaution,” he’d said to her. “There’s no such thing as being too careful,” he’d added.

Ryker had come to her a few minutes after that. “Hope you didn’t mind my father asking questions,” he’d said apologetically. “It’s nothing personal. He usually gets like that when he meets new people.”

“I don’t mind,” Gwyneth had said, and she’d meant it. “He’s right, you know. You can’t be too careful.”

Ryker had smiled. “What did he ask you, anyway?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Gwyneth had answered. “He wanted to know where I was from, and where my parents are, seeing that I don’t look old enough to be traveling on my own.”

“I guess that’s fair enough,” Ryker had said. He looked over his shoulder, towards his father’s tent. “I should go prepare the horses now, we’re about to hit the road.”

“Alright,” Gwyneth had said. “Thanks for taking me in, Ryker. Give Gregor my thanks as well.”

Ryker gave her a curt nod before walking off towards the horses that were tied to the trees at the edge of the clearing.

Cromwell’s questions came back to her as soon as Ryker had left. She’d told the man that she was from Eldon, which was true. She’d also told him that she turned eighteen some months earlier, so she was certainly old enough to travel on her own; that was the truth as well.

She’d been grateful that he hadn’t asked why she was on the road. She would’ve probably told him that she wanted to search for greener pastures, but that would’ve been a lie. If there was one thing she hated, it was lies.

Gwyneth was dragged out of her thoughts and back into the present by the sound of Ryker’s voice. “Are you okay?” she heard him ask. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“Yeah, I think I am,” she answered.

Ryker chuckled. “Good to hear. We’ll be stopping soon, though. There’s a clearing up ahead where we can camp for tonight.”

“At last,” Gwyneth said in response. “I really need to get off this horse.”

Ryker laughed. “I guess you don’t ride horses too often.”

Gwyneth smiled. “You got that right.”

“Hey,” she called after a few seconds of silence.

“Yeah?” Ryker answered.

“Thanks for this,” she said. “I really appreciate the help. If I hadn’t met you, I’d still be further behind, trying to travel this distance on foot.”

Ryker scoffed. “You don’t need to thank me, it’s nothing really. Besides, the more people we’ve got, the more fun the journey’s gonna be. That’s a proven law of caravan travelling.”

Gwyneth laughed lightly. “You’re certainly fun to be around.”

“I try my best,” Ryker said. He paused for a moment. “You know what, Gwyneth? I’ve got something I’ve been meaning to ask you. But you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

Gwyneth frowned. “What’s that?”

Ryker cleared his throat. “Why did you decide to travel alone in the first place?” he asked. “You could’ve joined a caravan that was heading out of Eldon instead of going off on your own.”

Gwyneth chuckled uncomfortably. “Why do I feel like your father put you up to this?”

“Probably because he did tell me to do this,” Ryker said after a couple of seconds. “You’ve got good instincts, you know.”

“Yeah, I do,” Gwyneth replied.

“So what’s your answer?” Ryker pressed. “Or are you taking the no answer option I offered?”

Gwyneth shook her head. “I think I’ll just give you a response. I didn’t travel with a caravan because there were none available at the moment. Besides, I mostly prefer keeping to myself.”

“Oh, I see,” Ryker said. “I’m sorry if I upset you,” he added after a few seconds.

Gwyneth smiled. “Hey, it’s okay. There’s really no need to apologize.”

Ryker laughed. “If you say so.”

“Rein in the horses!” a voice at the front of the group yelled. Gwyneth immediately recognized it as Cromwell’s. The merchant continued, “The clearing where we’ll be camping is just beyond these trees. Let’s hit the sack early and get enough sleep, so we’ll all be ready to get back on the road by first light.”

Ryker slowed his horse down as they joined the others who’d already stopped.

“Finally,” Gwyneth said as she got off the mount. “I’ve never sat for so long.”

Ryker got off the horse too and held it by the reins. He smiled as he said, “I bet tomorrow is gonna be much worse. We’ll probably travel further than we did today.”

Gwyneth groaned exaggeratedly. “If that’s the case, then I fear you may have to take me back to Eldon.”

Ryker laughed. “Come on, let’s get moving. You heard my father; everyone needs to hit the sack early.”