Biting her lip and holding her hands tight Mia focused her thoughts and spoke the words aloud. She would not be told what to do by anything that wasn’t genuine.

‘Stop. Telling. Me. What. To. Do.’

At this point she heard a low buzzing sound in her bedroom as though an alarm had failed to be turned off.

Rather than go searching for the source Mia instead loaded up her music player and turned on the latest Jaja Swag song to listen to.

Then she turned up the volume just enough to cover the bothersome noise. Not loud that it would affect her parents, especially in Mum inside her workshop although Mia was certain that she’d had the entire interior soundproofed.

Her younger sister would just want to tell her Dad that Mia was playing loud music and her Dad would likely just smile and give her a hug in response.

The fact that they’d given her enough space to breath a little in her room and hadn’t pushed for questions and answers had made her day.

Mia walked over to the freezer she kept in the corner of her room right next to the desk before taking a pillow from the chair she was sitting on and throwing it right over the small metallic cube sitting on the cushion of the other red chair in the room.

Shut up, oh you stupid thing.

The pillow muffled the sound a bit, and Mia breathed in and out as she tried to ignore it as best as she could.

‘Out of sight, out of mind. Sound good Shadow god?’ said Mia.

The buzzing sound intensified as though in response to the sound of her voice, so Mia just made a clear decision and turned up the volume of her music.

One of the benefits of having her bedroom on a separate floor was that loud sounds were harder to hear unless you listened out.

She wouldn’t be bothering her Mum or Dad with the loudness of the music. A little bit but not too much in her view.

Well, maybe my Mum. Sis wouldn’t like it.

Besides this was her personal space. She grabbed an ice-cold drink from the mini fridge that she grabbed under her desk and lay back on her chair, slowly sinking into the soft cushions and enjoying listening to the music as she adjusted it to a more reasonable volume.

The soothing beats of Jaja Swag and her beautiful demi-goddess voice came into her ears. The lyrics didn't matter, not to Mia, but the tone and the sheer amount of emotion that the singer packed into her songs was simply amazing.

Mia knew that part of the package that was Jaja-Swag was the fact that she came from a distant country and spoke a language that few in her own had barely heard before.

She thought it was called Alor but she wasn’t entirely sure and the fact that she singer had refused to discuss it further even for godspeak interviews only made it come across as all the more mysterious and intriguing for her fans.

Contact between countries was usually initiated by the demi-gods or the direct servants of the gods and travelling between each wasn’t overly encouraged.

Shame I don’t even understand the language but that’s just how it goes for good music. You just need to feel the true beat in your heart.

Not unless they had been invited of course to attend events from other gods in their respective countries.

She didn't even need to become a demi-goddess. I should check out her early mortal stuff, maybe try and compare it with Dad sometime. See if he spots the differences in ability.

Due to the volume of the music that Mia never heard the soft knocking sound at her door. There was a lull before it resounded again, this time in a fixed pattern which was repeated several times and a voice began to chant softly.

Nor the noise of an ornamental necklace of a beautifully ornate silver crow with sharpened thorns buzzing away in a distant corner of her room under a pile of t-shirts.

The knocking on the door increased in intensity as Mia continued to listen to music and relax. Given that it was loud enough for her to fail to hear the door slowly creak open.

She had closed her eyes at this point and was allowing the voice of the female rap artist to wash over her tired body. The lyrics were slightly too fast for her to pick up straight away, but she was trying her best despite half the words being sung in Alroet.

Jaja-Swag has a smooth voice. She’s beautiful as well. Does becoming a demi-goddess make you gorgeous or does it simply enhance her natural beauty?

Mia recalled the appearance of the singer in the celebrity images that had come up, luscious green lipstick with her hair a shocking mix of white and black with half-shaved. Her skin was ivory white in contrast with her darkened golden eyes.

She would be a great lead for one of those films where a priestess tried to root out corruption and internal conflict in a temple. As far as Mia knew Jaja-Swag wasn’t a demi-god but carried herself with the grace and dignity of one.

A trial candidate maybe. She had the grace and poise for it.

Earlier if she had carried on listening to her younger sister and her friend Fiona, she might even have picked up some gossip about it the current candidates. If there was a chance during dinnertime, she would them if they had heard about any news on it through gods follow. Mia herself had lost interest in following popular media trends about the same time that her particular opinion on the gods came around.

Some things just weren’t worth the time and energy to focus on. Not worth going on a religious crusade over it either. She’d try her best to get past today and the embarrassment of having to express a private opinion aloud in her home room earlier and take tomorrow with a brighter start. It’d be an even better day if she didn’t have to run into the priest who thought he could identify with kids her age by having a stupid nickname.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Her sister would find it pretty funny but the level of religious adherence at her school was scaled down according to the age of the students. She’d have a few more years before she was in the same year as Mia.

The door to her room swung open and a man whose appearance was covered entirely in shifting shadows that reduced his appearance to an outline of a person which caused a slight distortion in the air.

‘Hey kid, sorry to bother you but-‘

The man stopped talking and the shadows vanished as abruptly as they had first appeared leaving an older man in his late thirties dressed in a smart suit that showed the strong outline of his body.

Turning towards a corner of the room he stretched out his hand and a small pile of clothing began to shift and rumble before a silver necklace flew out and wrapped itself around his fingers.

He felt a little bit surprised that his attempt at a decent entrance had gone ignored but it also might have been the fact that his niece was going through her teenage phase.

He’d been a right firebrand when he’d been her age. Got into more trouble than the priests would tolerate with all his questions and actions about why the gods failed to do more in human lives.

Interesting how the Nightbringer wanted someone who was fiercely independent.

I can see why he likes her.

Either that or she felt worn out from the events of today. The applicant's brother-priest had informed him that she had a trying day, to say the least.

Weak but with a fire deep inside him. We’ll see how he withstands absolute darkness when his prayers are met.

Hallucinations and all.

‘I know, I know.’ The smartly dressed man muttered aloud. ‘She doesn’t listen to anyone. I’d say that she gets it from me, but her Mum and Dad would argue with me on that point. Especially, her Mum, that is one lady I am not going to get into a serious discussion with.’

The ornately designed crow with thorns jabbed into the palm of the man’s hand with hard purpose but failed to draw any blood or immediate reaction.

‘I told you that trying to make her listen doesn’t work. Look, I’ve followed your approach and came to her room wreathed in night shadows. She didn’t even open her eyes, kids this age need to be more understanding. Wait, is that rap song she’s listening to in Alroet?’

The crow began to jab the man’s palm even harder with an increasingly stronger intent to gain attention.

‘Nice, I haven’t heard that language sung for a long time. The singer must be from the caste system back in that country. Uh, she’s singing some pretty strong words about falling in love and then having her heart broken a few times. Aloret was always an emotional language after all.’ said Felix.

The crow squeezed the man’s palm tightly with both claws before his eyesight began to darken and he lost visual sight.

‘Stop it. You know that your power doesn’t work on your high priest. The rules apply to you in the same way they apply to me, I can’t cause you any grief either. Now, unless you want me to take a long walk flight as the sun sets let’s try it my way. Yeah, I’m sure some of those words are in Alroet. Good song. You should teach me that language, to convert new believers. Not to impress my niece. Nope. Or to find how talented the singer is, she could be a candidate for you with that voice.’

A crow formed out of a shadowy flame and covered in fierce thorns alighted itself on the shoulder of the man. Claws dug deep into his shoulder not causing him to feel physical pain, but he felt the strength implied through his connection with his god. It was displeased. Quite displeased.

‘You’re welcome to show your power but in the case of my niece, she isn’t going to do what you want when you want. You trying to tell her what to do through that necklace that Eunice built for her specifically at my request didn’t take. She’s an extremely talented woman and every object that she makes channels the energies of the chosen god easily. But, seriously, knock it off for a bit. Let her finish this song and we can have a quick chat.’

The shadowy crow fluffed its feathery form as the thorns adorning it flexed and then relaxed. It let out a silent caw and it gripped the shoulder of the man with several tight motions before releasing and settling down near his neck.

‘Thanks. Tell you what, I’ll owe you one for this. If you want me to go on a live stream or whatever is popular these days to promote your name, then I’ll do it. Blessed be the Nightbringer, crow of thorn and shadow.’

Giving one more glance towards the chair with the pillow on the man decided to leave the small metallic cube covered rather than use his power to retrieve it. He felt that it would be a polite conversation starter and finisher, also she might not want her privacy interrupted any further than he’d already done.

Mia with her eyes still closed remained completely oblivious to her Uncle standing in the doorway to her room still listening to the rich, deep sounds of the female rapper. She had finished her cold soft drink earlier and was letting it rest in her lap and she sank back into the chair.

The door gently closed as her Uncle stepped outside and closed in using the stealth abilities that had been granted by his god. Any average human wouldn’t be unable to detect his presence unless allowed a priest or another ordained who had the power of faith had a small chance, but Felix liked his chances.

In this household, there was only the earth god with a shrine, Hortius, but he doubted that it would want to be involved with the Nightbringer. That sort of deity was a quieter type with more passive powers.

The quality of the roof shrine was a whole other issue, he wasn’t sure how much faith his sister in law Alison had in that god. Damage limitation wasn’t his strong point. Also, Danny would be even more annoyed with him than he was already. It’d be best to discuss this with Mia early on and then with the rest of her family at dinner.

If Felix was still welcome in their house by then, she remembered the heated argument that he and her father had earlier. It was pretty unusual given that although her parents were both occasionally strict, they never raised their voices at home. Not under any circumstances, despite any arguments she had with her younger sister.

Mia felt an ever-bigger chill come into her room. The music was playing but she had this sensation that a person had hauled up a giant fridge and just opened the door straight into her face.

Not unpleasant but noticeable. If the fact that gods had been built and not born was true when the wondered to herself who would have the idea to build a god of avocados when perfectly good chocolate and music existed.

She knew that companies benefited from sponsorship deals with certain high priests of religions. Either the gods didn’t mind being monetised as it paid off in return for faith and resources or some elevating people held close connections.

Either way, it had nothing to do with her. Pure entertainment and hoping to become a demi-goddess weren’t in her life plans.

Spending your time looking at GodSpeak and keeping up with the latest gossip wasn’t her thing. At some point it had simply stopped being important, it wasn’t like she had a profound shift but more like the colours of the world shifted a little and she had changed along with them.

Not these days anyway, she had been a different person a few years back when those sorts of things mattered to her.

‘Hey. Thorn-Crow Shadow Dark thing. Sorry, I’m pushing it too far. Nightbringer. Don’t expect me to praise you even if my Uncle needs to but can you give it a break with the cold now? The buzzing was annoying enough.’

She realised that even with her eyes closed and trying her best to filter through the loud rap of Jaja-Swag’s feminine tones the faint buzzing sound had completely stopped.

Better. So much better.

‘Finally. A reasonable response. Don’t tell my Uncle Felix thanks, he’s important to you. As a god, you’re being reasonable. Not that I get the chance to hear from any gods.’