Well… huh.
…
So what happens now?
Most of the fae mob is still ravaging the stone countryside, obliterating if not outright devouring the local populace…
But my wife has clearly lost at least part of her interest in it. I can still feel the madness pulsing in the back of her mind, but she’s maintaining her grip on sanity…
For now.
Wrapping her up in myself seems like something that would help in the moment, so it’s exactly what I do. I pull my second first wife into our impromptu sort-of huddle as well.
And it seems to be working at least some, although oddly enough Izahne is more agitated than Arty at the moment.
“WE WERE THIS CLOSE?” she rumbles in what is apparently her natural voice, hollow and deep.
“I guess so,” I reply. “But…”
Hmmm.
I wonder…
“Let’s not disrupt the mana here too much, maybe I can…”
Without another word, my fox wife immediately and obediently sits. I… didn’t expect that, but that’s fine.
She’s a good girl. She wants to help. Her fixation on me, now brought to the forefront, seems to be helping to rein in the effects of the wild hunt even better than her earlier efforts.
So now it’s my part.
And so I imitate Livvie’s earlier behavior, in effect if not form…
Sure enough, there are a number of scents of mana in the area, flavors even. The richest one… is probably a god of some kind, which doesn’t surprise me much.
The bastards just can’t leave us alone. They really can’t, can they?
I’m going to kill whoever did this.
Although…
No. I can do better.
Even though we’re still wrapped up in a big ball together, I can feel Izahne glance my way curiously, but I’m going to let her wait and see. I think it’ll be a fitting punishment.
Maybe too far, but so was taking my child. A precedent needs to be set, and oblivion is too good for them.
But now that I have their scent…
Huh. What’s that other one? The faint one… Someone else was here too. Another god.
…
A familiar one, the bastard; but I’d had a feeling he’d had a hand in this, considering his scheming ass is always buzzing around my domain like a mosquito. I’ll deal with him later though, I have higher priorities.
After all, I’ve already got my wives wrapped up in myself…
So I pull us all into the space between space and activate my divine sight.
…
…
…
THERE!
***
I can’t believe they found me. How the hells did they do it? I had to flee, of course; not even I am foolish enough to think combat with that horde would have any result aside from my death, even if rebirth is always an option.
…
No matter. It’s not like the crags was my only plane. It wasn’t even my true seat of power, more of a vacation home. That’s what happens when you’ve had the time to accumulate enough power to conquer these many planes yourself.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
The awful little creature continues to angrily squirm and tear about the gilded cage I’ve confined it to, occasionally stopping to fruitlessly tear at the similarly gilded collar about its neck.
I’m honestly not sure why exactly the creature bonded to this thing, but as long as I keep moving it should be fine. How they found me is still a mystery though… or at least would be if I hadn’t already been tracking the fae mob’s movements.
They’ve just been razing heaven after hell after heaven seemingly at random.
It’s actually rather impressive. Maybe I should follow their example at some point.
…
I’m getting tired of waiting though. I thought the monster was bonded to this thing? Shouldn’t I have heard something through the others about a conflict with Lamashtu by now?
Something?
Anything?
…
…
“Be patien’, ol’ friend. Ih’s comin’.”
My compatriot’s unexpected arrival almost makes me jump… almost.
“Aha, I see. Just a matter of time, then? Good. I was starting to think-”
“Bye!”
“Eh!?” I blurt as Dolos vanishes just as quickly as he’d appeared…
Only a moment before an intense tearing sound fills my inner sanctum, followed by a wave of spectral creatures washing over the well-appointed space. With a mighty bellow, I draw my war axe from my dimensional storage and cut them down in wave after wave after wave.
…But they keep coming.
They just keep coming, and I keep swinging. If it weren’t for my divine stamina, I would have long since run out by now.
***
The swarms of fae make a wonderful distraction. We let the arrogant bastard think he’s making headway long enough for Hades to slip around the side and-
“Gotcha!” my wife exclaims before teleporting behind me.
Why not just leave and go home?
It’s obvious.
She wants to see this idiot suffer.
The same idiot who’s worn through a solid third of the mass before Artemis herself stamps the blade of his axe flat to the ground, nearly planting his face to it as well.
“Woah, what do you think you’re doing!? Why are you even here? You’re light pantheon, this isn’t even your business! Shoo! Shoo! Go home!”
…Which of course only causes her eyes to narrow. I can feel how much harder it’s getting to resist her destructive urges… so now is my time to intervene.
“That’s enough dear, I’ll take it from here,” I say, delicately placing a hand against her face.
The divine beast’s eyes swivel toward me for a moment before she lets out a heavy huff and hesitantly lets… whoever this is, back up.
“Well then! This was quite a to-do, wasn’t it? I’ll gracefully concede defeat here and congratulate you on your victory. Well done, I’d truly thought I’d had you cornered! Although I’ll admit though, I certainly didn’t anticipate your choice of allies-”
“You are mistaken,” I interrupt. “I am her ally, and you took our child.”
A confused expression crosses the beefy man’s face. “I… see. Or I suppose I don’t, but I can take your word for it as the loser in this conflict.”
I sigh. “You seem to be misunderstanding something. I am not finished here.”
“Yes, you are. By treaty, once a divine is cornered within their domain or one of their domains, battle ends and negotiation of compensation begins.”
“Again. You are mistaken. Livvie here may be bound by your ‘treaty’, technically… but I most certainly am not. I am not one of your pantheon’s lackeys. I’ve long since been abandoned by the dark pantheon, and I’ve abandoned it in return. And so… hmmm, what to do with you then? My wife here certainly wants to eat you entirely. Does that sound acceptable? Does that meet your ‘treaty’?”
The other god shrugs idly. “If that is what it will take to placate her, then so be it, but I’ll simply reincarnate and return. It’s not a difficult thing.”
Huh.
He’s just going to return, hmm? Doesn’t sound like a punishment. If anything it sounds like an offer of entertainment for this… whoever he is.
Not that I even care who he is. It doesn’t matter.
And so without another word…
Well, other than “{freeze}.” Ah, I’ll never get tired of that look of terror in their eyes!
“Never do that to me again. Please?”
“Ah, I’d forgotten you were here,” I reply without looking at the pink demoness.
“That’s mean!”
“Hush, I’m busy.”
…
Huh, that worked. I’m not used to her listening. Well, whatever.
Anyway, on to the fun! As my wives (and Eros) look on, I remove the artifact gadget from around my squirming progeny’s neck and place it around the offender’s.
“You brough this on yourself,” I say quietly in his ear in the most syrupy tone I can…
And then open a rift behind him and… huh. That’d just kill him, right?
No.
I can do better.
So I line the rift like I did my throne room, creating a transparent tube with a round end. Then I gently shove the frozen form down to the end of it until it stops with a clunk.
And now, the finishing touches! I seal off the end room like a bubble, separating it from the real entirely, and yet is still holds in space as though the bubble itself was fixed…
Which is just fine with me.
“How is this, my dears? He’ll be trapped here forever, and no one will be able to find him. Sound good?”
Izzy grins. “Perfect.”
And while Livvie is still radiating hostility and a need for violence, there’s an undercurrent of satisfaction. As much as she wants him to die a horrible death, she’s even more pleased at the idea of him suffering forever.
So that’s what he’s getting. I give one final smile and a wave goodbye before I close off the space entirely, met with panic and horror in the eyes of my foe.
***
What… just happened?
Where am I?
…
…
…
I can’t move, I can’t blink or breathe…
…
Silence surrounds me, so much more silent than anything I’ve ever known. Not even the sound of moving air reaches my ears.
And the darkness, the all-consuming darkness around me…
…
I’m powerless, that much is clear. Just what was that power the thing used against me? It couldn’t have been a Skill… ancient magic then? Forbidden magic? Nobody told me anything about this… nobody warned me.
Just how long will I be trapped here?
…
…
…
…
Wait, no. There’s… something.
Something in the distance, disrupting the infinite blackness.
…
And then it opens.
A single, massive eye, staring mirthlessly and disinterestedly.
…
I suppose this is going to be my companion…
For however long I’m here.