It was a major blow that time would now pass in my world when I traveled to Elias's world. We had planned to deal with the guild threat here in Elias's world and then return home, but now that would leave the valley undefended.

The pressures of both worlds pushed against my skull until I felt certain my brain would explode. How could I fight wars in two worlds at the same time?

I had Dr. Drake return me to Elias's world first. We would need to go home and finalize the deal with Gael so that his people would help defend the Valley while we were gone. We all felt that he was trustworthy. I had no choice except to put faith in our gut and partner with him.

Elias was in a bind in this world, though, with his guild becoming suspicious and wanting answers. We couldn't freely travel back and forth.

The worries spun my stomach into knots, but it lessened some when I saw the people in the world dearest to me.

Leif slapped my back hard as soon as I entered the room. "You won't believe it, girl. I felt the power."

"You did?"

"I did. I didn't manage to draw it out, but I could feel it inside of me, like this other being that now dwells alongside my spirit."

Interesting how it felt differently for everyone. "What about you?" I looked to Wren.

"I think I'm picking it up quickly."

When I looked to Nash, I could tell by the sharp determination in his eyes, the confidence in his form, that he had been excelling while I was away. "Are you ready to fight?" I asked.

"Absolutely."

"No," Piercey said. "None of you are ready to fight with your powers yet."

Nash raised his twin blades and stared intently at the one on his right and then left. A subtle flutter, like a breeze, swirled around his blades. He thrust them both forward, piercing the air far faster than he should have been able to on his own. That was power.

"Holy shit," I said. "You already can wield it in battle."

"I've spent time with you while you trained." Nash nodded. "I'm prepared. I may not be ready to fight with my full potential, but I won't waste time. We battle side-by-side now."

His words melted my heart. As much as I wanted quiet days alone with him, the thought of fighting together with both of us wielding our power and learning how to draw it out of ourselves felt exhilarating. I grinned and nodded.

"I think there's going to be plenty of battles for us to fight very soon."

"Agreed, unfortunately." It was Elias, standing at the end of the room with his arms crossed.

Now was the time to move forward. My people needed me back in my world and I couldn't waste any time here. After I updated everyone on what happened with the gods, I cast a glance at each one of them.

"The gods aren't happy. We've escaped the worst consequences, but time will now pass in our world when we're here."

Leif unleashed a string of curses and twisted in a circle, scratching at his beard. Nash lowered his head, eyes closed.

"We need to go home," I said.

"But–" Elias drew back, looking shocked.

"Our world isn't prepared for us to disappear. We need to get back home and figure it out there. Can you get us home without raising too much suspicion? Dr. Drake can't keep helping us with the Collective not wanting her to intervene."

Elias crossed his arms, looking like he was in thought. "I can kept you home and bring you back again. It'll be hard but I can do it at least one more time."

"What is it exactly we're doing here?" Leif asked. "Do you really need all of us?" It wasn't that he had no idea. We'd shared openly, but I felt the criticism in what he said. The skepticism that this was simply we could even accomplish.

"We kill another god." Elias spoke soberly and with conviction. "If we don't, my guild will invade your world, and they'll continue their corruption in mine."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"It would be nice to know what your guild did," Leif returned.

Elias breathed in deeply and looked to Piercey before nodding. "Fine. We've come this far. I won't scare any of you away now. I'll tell you everything when we return to my world. But when I do, I only ask that you understand I did what I felt I had to."

Nash looked at me with a pensive expression. Elias really didn't want to share this story with us. He'd dragged as long as through this journey as he could without telling us.

"There's something I've been thinking about." Elias focused on me now. "When you're back in your world, maybe you can work on figuring out whether you can do this. There's missing pieces to my story, things only Ashton knows."

A sinking feeling weighed down my stomach.

"You're identical to her. Your code must be the same. If you can travel through your life–"

"You could travel through hers," Piercey finished, eyes wide.

"With my story and hers combined, you'll know everything you need to know about the guild."

It felt like a hot needle poked into my chest. Ashton and I might have shared a soul but we'd lived different lives on different planets with different people. Her life was not mine to take.

Would that even work?

"I'll think about it. First, I need to go home."

----------------------------------------

Fortunately, over the short time that we'd been in Elias's world after the gods had essentially ruined our cheat code to pause time in my world, nothing really had happened here. It had only been a few hours at most.

We now sat with Gael and a group of his warriors in a conference room at the Sacred School.

"You're saying you want to go forward with the partnership?" Gael watched me with a brow raised in skepticism.

"You've had a year to watch us and decide whether to trust us. I'm confident you've had the time you need to decide. In ideal circumstances, we'd like more time as well." I breathed out slowly, nervous to trust Gael with this information because it showed a vulnerability. This was part of trust, though, right? When I'd met Nash and struggled with deciding to trust him, I'd had to choose to follow my gut at some point. Now was time to do the same with Gael. "We're dealing with a threat that will take our attention off the valley."

Gael and several of his warriors exchanged glances. "Something we should be worried about?" he asked.

Instinctively, I wanted to lie and dismiss his concerns. That wasn't fair though. We were about to build a partnership. "It concerns all of us if we fail. I can't share everything right now. It's not that I want to hide anything, just that we have to be careful to not create more conflict for ourselves than we already have."

Gael drummed his fingers on the table, looking lost in thought. "You have dealings with the gods that no one else in the world has. I suppose that is a blessing and a curse that comes with the Sacred School. We'd already considered that you'd have some limitations imposed by them."

Piercey leaned forward at that. "I promise you that we want to tell you what we can. Angering the gods will benefit no one, however."

"We understand. Don't think that means we're happy about it or that we are not going to press for answers."

Fair. They couldn't allow us to live in secrecy with no questions asked. It was too easy for us to offer the excuse that the gods forbid us from saying something. We really couldn't tell them about Elias's world, though. Not without telling so many more secrets that came with it.

"There could face a terrible enemy, like nothing we've ever faced before." I hoped that Gael could hear the sincerity in my voice. "If we can't stop them and they attack, it'll take us all to defeat them. I've dedicated myself to protecting the Valley. To do that, I have to leave to fight this battle."

"You can't tell us where you're going."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I can't."

"Will you warn us if you fail? Will you tell us what to expect?"

"Absolutely."

Gael sat back and looked to the man on his right, the two of them speaking quietly. "As our partnership grows, we would like for us to share more. For now, we'll accept the limitations you say you have."

"Thank you."

"How soon do you need to leave?"

"As soon as we can safely leave the Valley. It would mean having your help patrolling because you can portal when no one else can."

"We've agreed to this. That's fine. If you need increased support for a short time, we can work that out. I'm sure that you'll do your part when you return."

"If you help to take care of the valley while I'm gone, I will be personally indebted to you for as long as our partnership continues." Thinking about leaving my world entirely and not being here to protect my people made me sick to my stomach. I didn't try in the slightest to hide that emotion from my voice. Gael needed to see my desperation to understand that I really meant what I said. "I never forget when someone shows kindness to my people."

He spoke more quietly now. "I imagine that you don't, Eclipse. Why don't we plan to bring our students for training at the Sacred School when you return. In the meantime, our trained warriors will make preparations here for them and help patrol the Valley while you deal with your battle."

I could have cried at his words. I didn't feel comfortable leaving the Valley still, but this was a significant help. Piercey began to write as we hashed out the details and made plans for the future of our partnership.

It felt strange inviting outsiders into our Valley and trusting them with security. At the same time, it also felt like one step toward the future I wanted for our people. I wasn't sure how would find our way out of the darkness chaos had brought. Surely, we would need connections beyond our small piece of the world to do that.

It seemed unwise to issue any kind of threat so that Gael knew now to turn on us. Still, I couldn't help feeling tempted to let him know how badly I would fuck him up if he did anything to hurt my people.

Sitting back in my chair, I closed my eyes for a moment and calmed myself. One day, I had to learn when to stop fighting.