Numheia was practically glowing in the sunlight. Meera concentrated a little harder and she truly was glowing with a golden hue. She was tall and must've been over six feet. Her eyes were an uncanny shade of green. They were like the color of leaves, not something you saw in most people. Her dress was not so simple either. It had some intricate designs and a symbol stitched in silver thread, or maybe it was silver itself.

It was a shield made of delicate vines with a burning torch inside.

Meera figured that was the symbol of justice in these worlds—the symbol of Numheia.

The goddess affixed the Cosmarian with a killing stare. If Meera were the center of her attention, she would have pissed herself and, needless to say, not be able to move at all.

"You broke the p-pact," Doromar stammered.

Numheia's expression turned even harder if that were possible. "You speak of the pact. You? A Cosmarian having possessed an innocent soul to continue to unleash your cruelty upon the worlds." She took a step and leaned down.

Doromar, who was already on the ground, shuffled back quickly.

"Tell me, Cosmarian, was this your king's doing? Did he command you to do this?" she asked.

"N-No, I did this all by myself," Doromar said, finally finding some courage. "You imprisoned me to that tree for millennia. What was I to do? Spend eternity there until the worlds were nothing but ice and dust."

"Yes, that is exactly what you were supposed to do as per the pact." Numheia walked around him. As she walked, gold dust fell off her pretty dress. "But it surprised me that not only you but your wife Erenyx had attained freedom as well. So, not one but two of your kind attained freedom from their bonds."

"But we didn't violate the pact." Doromar shot back. "We're not back in our bodies, so we can never regain our full powers."

Numheia set her jaw. "And that is, okay? You taking over this poor woman's body is okay?" She pointed towards the fighting. "The living fighting the dead is okay?" She shook her head slowly. "The way I see it, no, this is you breaking the pact. Tell me one last thing, and maybe I will go easy on you when my brother sends your soul to me for judgment. Tell me, is Rothedon behind this? Did he prompt you to do this?"

Beads of sweat rolled down the side of Doromar's head. Meera felt like an outsider in all this. She knew she was not in any trouble, but she still wanted to bolt. She feared the goddess might think she was in cahoots with the Cosmarian or, worse yet, that his soul had transferred to Meera, and she might cut her down along with him.

Doromar laughed shakily. "Y-You cannot threaten me. You lot think yourselves so much better than us. Don't forget, were it not for the pact, it would have been you lot ruling the worlds and not these pathetic humans. And as for you judging my soul…my soul is immortal. You can do nothing to me."

Numheia shook her head. "That is where you are wrong. Every soul is immortal. You've just found a way to avoid going to the halls of my brother, but I will fix that promptly."

She extended a hand towards Doromar, and Tekton's sword, which was in Doromar's hand, shivered. Doromar tried to hold onto it tightly, but it was as if the weapon wanted to go to the goddess. He held onto it with both hands and skidded forward. Eventually, the weapon flew out of his grip and landed in Numheia's hand.

"You have no power over this weapon," she said. "After all, it is called Numheia's Vengeance. How fitting. Now, on your knees, or should I cut you down like the mongrel you are."

Doromar got to his knees, his whole body trembling, and lowered his head.

Numheia moved to the side and set the great sword over his neck, ready to part the queen's head from her body. But it would not be Doromar's head that would be parted. It would be the queen's, Delkoris's mother. Meera wanted to object, and the goddess must've suspected as much because she gave her a hard look, and Meera almost wilted.

"Y-Your…Godliness… I'm sorry, but I don't know the right term to properly address you," Meera said, unable to match the goddess's intense gaze. "I-I just wanted to…please spare Nisaya's life. That's the woman, he's currently—"

Doromar laughed as a dark shadow rose from the queen's body. Nisaya dropped to the ground, almost as if she were a corpse herself. She looked like one, with her ashen white hair and pale skin.

The dark shadow coalesced into a ball and flew off toward the fighting.

Numheia smirked. "How predictable."

She extended her free hand toward Doromar and clenched it into a fist. A large golden dome that covered the entire clearing shrank at lightning speed to catch Doromar in a gold orb the size of a bowling bowl. His dark soul thrashed around in the orb, unable to break free. The orb floated through the air and rested in Numheia's hand.

"That's one of your generals off the map," Numheia said to no one. She bounced the orb in her hand and shot it into the sky. The orb shot high into the clouds, arced toward the Mirithia, the planet, and vanished out of sight.

"Thank you for the distraction, Meera," Numheia turned to her with a smile and offered Meera a hand.

Meera took it gingerly, expecting to get shocked, but her hands were soft and warm to the touch, totally in contrast to the woman's overall look. Meera was wrong about her height. She was much taller than six feet, though not as tall as Pallas or even Melas in his enraged form.

Meera frowned. "You wanted this to happen?"

"I knew you would stand up for this poor woman." She looked at the unconscious Nisaya. "Her fate…is a sad tale, but in the end, she saved more people than you will ever know."

Stolen novel; please report.

"Will she be okay?" Meera asked.

The goddess gave her a solemn look. "I am no healer, Meera, so I cannot bring her back. Tell Brison, when he is back, that I have given permission to take Nisaya to the Master Keeper. If anyone in my order can heal her, it's her."

Meera bowed. "Thank you, Your Godliness."

"My Lady is enough."

"Yes, thank you," Meera said. But something she said about Brison being back made her do a quick sweep of her surroundings. "My Lady, if I may, when you say Brison will be back…has he gone somewhere?"

"In a way." A playful smile spread across her face. "Oh, I'll just tell you. Being all coy is not my forte. I am currently inhibiting Brison's body."

Meera's eyes popped open. "What?"

"After all you've seen, you're still surprised. If the Cosmarians can take over other people's bodies, then why can't the gods? However, I am merely borrowing Brison's body. I fully intend to return it to him once our conversation ends."

"If you don't mind, My Lady, I have a few questions. I would be eternally grateful if you can answer them."

"This is why I'm still here. Walk with me. I haven't had a chance to walk in these woods in some millennia."

Without waiting for a response, Numheia started walking towards the forest, and Meera quickly fell in step with her. Walking beside the goddess was like walking beside a lioness—an immortal, all-powerful lioness who wouldn't hesitate to rip her apart if she said something wrong.

There was a silence that permeated the air. Meera quickly took out her Gem of Echoes and attached it to her armor, and right away, the world came alive again. She was surprised at what she heard, or rather, what she didn't hear.

"Doromar's horde is no more," Numheia said. "His spell broke as soon as he left Nisaya's body."

Nisaya still lay on the ground. She was breathing, which Meera could tell by the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

"Do you mind if we don't stray too far from Nisaya?" Meera asked. "I wouldn't want to tell Delkoris that some wild animal made off with his mother's body."

Nisaya stopped and looked down at her with those dangerous eyes, and Meera almost fell to her knees, about to beg for forgiveness. But Numheia smiled. "This is why I was happy that Brison sent you to aid my Wardens, and I was happy that you survived till the end because I did wish to speak with the savior's sister and secondly…I will allow your request."

Numheia walked to the edge of the treeline and stayed where they were well within sight of Nisaya's unconscious body. Meera had a bunch of things running through her mind. She drew a deep breath, steeled her nerves, and asked her first question.

"I'm sorry, My Lady, but I need to ask this. Earlier, you said you knew I would cause a distraction, and now this. How did you know that?"

"Because you're compassionate, far too much for your own good. It, more often than not, gets you in trouble. But I thought Midiea must've seen something in you that she brought you over, and after following your travels for a while, I see it too. Deep down, you're a good person and good people always make things harder for themselves." She patted Meera's shoulder. "So, learn to be a little selfish, or your journey from here on will be quite difficult."

Meera just blinked as the goddess continued walking. She knew Numheia was right, but would Meera admit that out loud? Probably not. If being more selfish got her closer to Neel faster, then it couldn't hurt, but could she screw over people that didn't deserve it. I guess I'll have to learn that too.

"Are you coming?" Numheia called.

Meera ran to her. "Um, my next question is, how did you know to come to my aid?"

"Through Brison, of course," she replied. "Think of the Keeper of Records as my priests. Whatever they write, I read. When Brison mentioned your discovery of the Heart of Doromar, it got my attention immediately."

Meera started. "You were his plan all along."

Numheia chuckled. "That's correct. I was the plan all along."

"But how are you inhibiting Brison's body?"

"The same way those Cosmarians were, though I am not forcing my way in. Brison offered his body to me with complete trust that I would return it to him. This way, I'm not breaking the pact by forcing myself into the worlds."

"Doromar talked about the pact, as well. What is this pact?" Meera asked.

Numheia walked several steps before looking up. "I'm sorry, that does not concern you…oh, who cares, I'll tell you. Promise me that you cannot tell anyone, or I will come after you personally, and you know I can."

Meera gulped. “I promise.”

"Towards the end of the Eclipse, we gods defeated Rothedon and bound him and his horde to what is now Rothedon's Forest. But to do so, we had to make a sacrifice, which came to be called the Pact of Dalleria. Don't get me started on her. There is enough bad blood between us. It's a good thing the worlds are rid of her. The pact states that the Cosmarians will stay confined in their forest, and we will stay up there." She pointed to Mirithia. "That we will not interfere in the mortal's affair directly and keep our interactions only as much as our roles allow."

"But you just took down Doromar…"

"This constitutes as a godly matter," the goddess replied. "I thought he died when I shot out his heart, but he was a crafty one, and I didn't know about Erenyx as I wasn't the one who imprisoned her. The way she whittled down the will of that poor man. Oh, I wish she was still here. I would've loved to take out the wife in front of the husband."

Meera gulped. The look on her face sent a shiver up Meera's spine. "But I've seen or heard about Rothedon and his fiery riders attacking villages on the borders of this world."

"As have we," Numheia said. "Don't worry, we're looking into the matter quite closely. You just focus on finding your brother."

"Can you tell me where he is and save me a heap of trouble?" Meera asked.

Numheia opened his mouth to reply but looked up, and the clouds on Mirithia shifted violently into a storm. "Sorry, that's off-limits. My brother doesn't like it when someone tries to play with prophecies, and this will be me thrusting myself into one. Not to mention, this is a mortal affair." She squinted her eyes. "Though, I can tell you this…" She leaned in. "The great prophecy you've heard is not entirely accurate or complete."

"What?" Meera cried.

Numheia shrugged. "It's the truth."

"But Kalrina said it's the most accurate version I could find anywhere."

"How should I put this? You mortals have very short lives and even shorter memories. When you have so many oracles adding and taking lines out of something as important as the great prophecy, things that need not be omitted are forgotten or changed." Numheia patted Meera's shoulder. "Though, you don't need to worry. There are some who still remember the original prophecy of Serenya, and that is the one that will come true."

"Can you at least tell me who remembers the true prophecy or where they are?" Meera asked.

Numheia looked up, and the storm on Mirithia was still raging. "Sorry, lass. That is off-limits, too, but you can ask my brother directly."

Meera searched her memory, and she was sure Dirik had told her about this. "Your brother…Lorendor?"

"That's right—the God of Oracles, the knower of past, present, and future. The one who knows all, sees all. The Arbiter of a soul's worth. Who decides where your soul will go—Heaven, Hell or back down here. All mortals see him eventually. All you have to do is die."

"You're joking, right?"

She smiled wide. "Well, that's all the time I have, and you don't have much time either. Seeing all this commotion, the opposing enemy king has come to pay a visit, and your friend Narikas has gone to treat with him. You better hurry, or your one chance of knowing where your brother went might get himself killed." She tilted her head slightly. "I'll be seeing you eventually."

Meera almost disregarded the last comment, but since Numheia judged the souls of those confined to hell…she started. "Wait, does that mean I'm fated to go to hell?"

Numheia smiled as she vanished in golden sparkles, very reminiscent of fireflies, and Brison groaned weakly as he fell forward. Meera caught him, activated Druvis Power, and hefted him over her shoulder. She rushed to the unconscious queen.

Now, Draros…how many enemies do I need to deal with in one morning…