The Drow coughed as he lay on his back in the middle of a burning field. He felt power coursing through his body and grinned. Someone stirred next to him, and his satisfaction grew. Good, at least one of his lieutenants had survived. Replacing Fonir would be a pain, but ultimately, his sacrifice had been worth it.

“See, I told you it would work,” Voritor smirked, and winced as his head spun from the exertion of speaking.

“I still think we should have taken our chances with the soul gems,” Steven groaned. “We were seconds away from being buried.”

“But I got the teleportation spell off in time.” A smile crossed Voritor’s face. “Why take the chance when two sure things had fallen into our lap?”

“Why indeed?” Steven ventured as he gingerly got to his feet.

Voritor concentrated briefly before leaping to his. He looked over his shoulder and smiled when he saw a pair of black leathery wings sprout from his back. Tremendous magical power was necessary to bring about the Chosen of a minor goddess and using the power of an Avatar was the only sure way to complete the spell. Of course, challenging an Avatar of the Pantheon before becoming Chosen had been a risk, but Agni had been weakened considerably with the loss of the orcs’ devotion and, being as impulsive as he was, had been predictably easy to provoke into action. He had counted on Treto being too cautious and pragmatic to take control of His Chosen this early on, which had also proven correct.

“Using the soul gems could have backfired,” he said, as he felt the power flow through his body, “Yes, our gambles have paid off splendidly.”

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“Should I kneel?” Steven asked dryly as he clutched his ribs.

“I hadn’t thought about that,” Voritor admitted and looked over his shoulder at the wings on his back, “These are distressingly similar to those Treto’s Chosen was sporting, aren’t they?”

“The Night Goddess and the God of Light are siblings, after all,” Steven pointed out, “And the Night Goddess came first, so if anything, He is the one doing the copying.”

Voritor grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

“What now, Chosen?” Steven ventured.

The Drow liked the sound of that even more. He looked around to take stock of their surroundings. They were somewhere in the Southward Expansion, which was where he was aiming. Teleportation spells were always a risk, especially ones cast that quickly. They could have easily been teleported a thousand feet into the air, or a thousand under the earth, or into the middle of a mountain, or a tree… That he had teleported them about twenty feet over this field was a testament to his control. The fall had hurt but appeared to have them caused no lasting injuries.

“We go find our people,” Voritor replied, “And then we hunt Varuna’s Chosen.”

“Ah, a homecoming,” Steven said and broke into a malicious grin. “Won’t that be fun?”

Voritor nodded. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Effulian.”

“And what about Treto’s Chosen?” Steven asked, “He should still be in the city.”

“I am not strong enough to challenge Treto’s Avatar yet,” Voritor replied as he fingered his sword, “And there are two Chosen still in the city.”

The half orc’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “Are you talking about Agni’s Chosen?”

Voritor nodded. “It seems she managed to overpower Agni and regain control.”

“That’s surprising,” Steven remarked, “Isn’t that all the more reason to deal with her now?”

The Drow shook his head. “Agni has grown weak. That he could be overpowered by that girl is proof of that. He and his Chosen are no threat to us now."

He paused and broke into a wicked grin.

"I don't like that look," Steven sighed.

"I think I’ll save her for last as thanks for the favour she has done us.”