It felt weird wearing a wristpad on this body. Though he’d had many in his other lives—or, rather, in his dreamskins’ lives.

Cora had insisted he get one. How else would they communicate? What with everything going on, she was worried they’d lose contact.

He was happy now to have relented as he stared at the message she had sent him.

It was just two lines. One was an address, the other simply read: “This is where Jack is hiding.”

Perhaps she could help him after all.

Though how she had gotten that information, he had no idea.

Xian laughed as he hurried down the streets of Joqqal, looking for the house.

There were people everywhere, most of them looking either scared or upset. Some might argue they always were one of those, but never to this degree.

The disasters were taking their toll. Not only were the events themselves frightening enough, but the extremists used it as an excuse, claiming the gods were angry, that they were demanding immediate action.

It was important to stop the renegades quickly, not only to stop them from destroying the planet, but also to stop this madness from spreading. It could do as much damage to the psyche of the people as the disasters could to nature.

When he finally found the house, in the heart of the poorest neighborhood, the door was open.

He stepped in and searched through every room.

But it was empty.

If Jack had been here, he no longer was.

He would keep an eye on this place, though, in case he returned.

As he stepped out, he heard an explosion.

It came from across town.

He ran to the site.

Another hotel was in flames, windows shattered, walls cracked.

A mob chanted in front of the building, insulting the foreigners who were still on Qojja, threatening them with bloody murder if they did not leave immediately.

The gods were angry and they would not stop until all offworlders were gone.

Later in the night, as he watched the news, he heard one of the victims had been identified as a detective from Exudia.

His heart sank as Brian Ward’s name was displayed on the TriVid screen along with a picture of his former partner.

***

There were many temples in Joqqal. How could it have been otherwise, when there were so many gods and with so many fanatics to praise their names and powers?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Most of the Zendaar found this to be either amusing or profitable. But all agreed it was convenient. Or, rather, it was the accepted law, even if not everyone necessarily approved. But going against this—by, for instance, denying one’s supposed godhood to one’s followers—could potentially damage the Zendaar’s prestige and influence over the human population. Thus, such behavior would have been not only frowned upon, but strongly denounced and likely punished.

Leaning on his cane, Evken stared at the temple across the street. It was not a large structure—there were much bigger ones in the neighborhood—but it was a popular one.

The cult of Norkh was widespread and some came from quite far to praise his name and bask in his holy presence—spiritual, if not physical. Though it was rumored their patron god would, occasionally, come here to speak to the faithful.

Today was such a day.

With a heavy sigh, Evken stepped in.

When those inside saw him, there was immediate praise and awe. All knelt and bowed before him.

It had been over a century since he’d last come here.

He was among the rare of his people who did not think much of this whole “we-are-gods” approach but reluctantly went with it, because what else could he do?

In truth, he would have been perfectly happy avoiding the temple another few centuries... or even not returning at all. But if these people believed in him, adored him, praised him, then he felt a certain amount of responsibility toward them.

The world was spinning out of control. With all of the recent events, tensions were flaring. There had even been another bombing. Not from his followers, thankfully, but he feared they might also become violent at some point. Maybe he could avoid this from happening.

If the Zendaar wanted to be gods, then he felt like they all should be more solemn about it and demand their priests and priestesses condemn violence and be more tolerant of foreigners.

As if foreigners had ever been a problem!

He sometimes did not understand his own kin. How could they not speak up against what was going on? Chaos was not good for them. It did not serve them in any way. If anything, it made their lives more difficult.

They had the power to control this behavior, and yet none of them seemed to care enough to do anything about it.

Well, he would do his part, at least.

By the time he’d reached the stage in the main hall, a crowd had gathered to listen to what he’d have to say.

And so, with a heavy heart, he spoke.

***

From his vantage point, Xhoras looked upon the world.

And what he saw made him boil.

It was an abomination in the eyes of the One True God.

This planet, like so many others, would have to be cleansed.

They had tried once before and failed because of that traitor, Xian. He had caught them by surprise. But he would not again. Nor would he have the mask, this time.

Xian had foiled their previous attacks, but they had been warming up, testing him.

He was just one Rissl, while there were three of them.

It would be easy to achieve their goals.

There was much work ahead of them.

It would take time.

But they were in no hurry.

Had they not slept for millennia?

What did a few days, or weeks mean to them?

They would take their time.

To do things right.

He walked up to the top of the hill, hating every second of it. How could his people have been so presumptuous as to think themselves worthy of creating worlds? Would they be gods, then?

They would erase these abominations from existence.

Even if it took a hundred thousand years.

The One True Good would bless them for it.

It was their divine mission.

Once he’d reached the top of the hill, he crouched and pressed the palm of his right hand against the moist grass.

At the same, in other parts of the world, Verlhynn and Udrak made the same gesture. They were in constant contact, coordinating their actions to the second.

Closing his eyes, Xhoras sent the energy flow through his arm and into the earth. It grew until it spread through the entire valley below. The ground began to shake. Though his eyes remained closed, he could see the trees tremble, the stones crack... A nearby village would soon experience its first earthquake in a quarter of a century.

His two companions were proceeding likewise, initiating simultaneous cataclysms in two other locations, millions of miles away.

Xhoras smiled.

“Now try to stop this, Xian.”