If it was a dream, it was a strange one. Usually, when Kiyora dreamed, she saw all kinds of exciting things. This time, though, she felt at peace. She was lying in a field of flowers; they weren't the flesh-eating kind she'd seen either. Just regular, ordinary flowers.

The aches and pains from constant running were gone. So was her sense of divine supremacy. Standing in this place, she felt she was as real or fake as anyone else. It was hard to describe.

"You've done well, Kiyora," said a voice.

Kiyora turned and saw her. She was as beautiful as the descriptions of her indicated. More beautiful. Her hair was as golden and bright as the sun, yet it did not hurt the eyes. Her eyes were as blue as the brightest oceans, and she wore shining white garments.

"Alchara?" asked Kiyora. "What is going on?"

"You have exceeded my expectations," said Alchara. "Laughing Wraith's hold over this world is now broken, wholly and completely. Yet your task is not yet done."

"What do you mean?!" asked Kiyora. "This is the second time I've had to kill him!"

"Things have a way of getting resolved the third time around," said Alchara. "This will not be easy. His efforts in this world were, in their way, a success. The horror and fear he has inspired in those he possessed have made him strong.

"Now he has broken the seal on the god Typhos."

Kiyora blinked. "Who?"

"Typhos," said Alchara. "The goddess of monsters whose temple the paladin repurposed for your worship."

"Oh right, him," said Kiyora.

"Her," said Alchara.

"So, um, you want me to stop this Typhos person then?" guessed Kiyora.

"Let us say I would prefer you to be present at the final confrontation," said Alchara. "Elranor will make his move soon, and I want you to be there to observe it."

"Great," said Kiyora. "I thought we were almost done."

Then Kiyora awoke. Or going to sleep, or whatever. She realized she should have post-traumatic stress disorder. Yet she wasn't feeling it. She pulled herself up and found herself in the middle of a city. There were people all around her, but they were all sleeping. Some were writhing on the ground, and others had looks of absolute horror painted on their faces.

The sky above them was black with unnatural darkness. It wasn't like a cloud; you couldn't imagine rain falling from those clouds. Or even acid. The very presence of the clouds hurt, and Kiyora averted her gaze. Yet that meant she had to look at the people suffering.

William appeared, kneeling by her. "Kiyora, are you alright? Can you stand?"

"Says the person who took two blasts of a shotgun to the face," muttered Kiyora as she stood. "What happened?"

"You collapsed, and then I found myself here," said William.

"Where is here?" asked Kiyora.

William looked around. "This is Arsheen, and I think we're in the Merchant district."

"What makes you say that?" asked Kiyora.

"Look there," said William, pointing to one of the unconscious people. "There is Vensus."

"Okay," said Kiyora, "so what do we do now?"

"Typhos' energy escaped Wraith, but I think I know where it will go," said William. "To the Temple of Typhos. Your temple. Let's move."

Kiyora walked with him in something of a daze. She felt lightheaded as they stumbled on as if the air was too thin for her. Her head hurt. Looking at the people around her, she began to feel what they felt. Falling to one knee, she gasped as she saw horrible images.

She wished she could help them, but she needed more power.

"Kiyora, we have to keep moving," said William.

"I can feel it," said Kiyora. "They are... they are having nightmares. Terrible nightmares, worse than anything you've ever felt."

"Whatever they are feeling, it will stop once we kill Laughing Wraith," said William. "Now, come on, we have work to do. Can you teleport us there?"

"I..." Kiyora hesitated. "No. No, I can't. I've barely got any power left."

They picked their way through crowds of unconscious people. Then, suddenly, there was a long howl. Up from the bodies of the people emerged shadows. They danced along the walls as glowing red eyes peered in on them. Then they lunged at them, coming off the walls with gaping jaws.

Then they recoiled at the sound of music. William played his harp and kept walking. Kiyora could see a sort of shield appear around them, one of pure white light. The monsters reeled against it, tearing and snarling as they burned away. Yet, for every one that fell, more and more of them poured in.

This was far from the worst thing she'd seen today. Kiyora wasn't feeling up to getting scared. "Wow, that harp of yours comes in real handy. What are these things?"

"Undead, I think," said William. "Rusara taught me of specters who some monsters can summon up. They ultimately belong to the Withering."

"What the heck is the Withering?" asked Kiyora.

"An impersonal manifestation of entropy," said William. "I think."

Well, that made sense. Not. "...Meaning?" asked Kiyora.

"You could call it the god of undeath," said William. "But it isn't a god; it is more like an evil force that possesses various champions. Those champions wield their power for their ends and determine its policies. Then it consumes them."

"So what are they doing here?" asked Kiyora.

"Laughing Wraith might be one of the Withering's manifestations," said William. "It would explain a great deal. Or perhaps Wraith made a deal with the Withering for further power. I suspect he is getting desperate at this point."

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"Not really," muttered Kiyora. "We shouldn't be talking like this. We've got to move faster."

William gave her a look of irritation. "Do you know how hard it is to do this while walking? Playing the harp takes concentration and skill. If I run, I'll make a mistake. Can't you use your magic like before?"

"No, I'm saving all I've got for Wraith," said Kiyora. "Damn it; he sent us these things to slow us down!"

"Quite possibly," mused William.

And then, down from the rooftops bounded a golden blur. It roared with the voice of a goat, a lion, and a dragon. The wraiths scattered and retreated before it. Massacre had come, and she was glowing with a green light.

"Bah," said Massacre, turning her back to them and lying down.

"Massacre?" asked William. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know, but she wants us to ride her," said Kiyora.

William hesitated as the wraiths began to return in ever greater force. A great wave of shadow was approaching them from behind. The street was shrouded in darkness. Quickly, William put away his harp and leaped onto Massacre's back. Kiyora did the same, and Massacre was off like a lightning bolt.

She scaled up the wall of a building and was soon leaping across one rooftop after another. The air was flowing through Kiyora's hair, and despite the darkness, she found it excellent. This was so cool. "Wow, Massacre can run fast, can't she?"

William didn't answer.

"William?" asked Kiyora.

William was clinging to Massacre's back. The boy was shaking visibly as the chimera leaped from rooftop to rooftop. "I'm trying not to fall to my death."

"Wimp," said Kiyora. "I hope Brinsiege and the others are alright. Do you think they were there when Wraith got there?"

"I don't know," admitted William. "I can't tell what time of day it is. But I doubt anyone is alright here."

Massacre soon passed into the temple district. She scaled over the domed roofs and leaped from steeple to steeple. Finally, they saw the Temple of the Dreaming Goddess coming up. Massacre leaped down into the courtyard. William dismounted, drawing his sword as Kiyora followed.

Together, they rushed up the steps. It was funny. Although Kiyora knew she should feel worried or afraid, she wasn't. The hundreds of people in the streets unconscious didn't worry her. She felt like it was all just a passing thing. Within her temple, she saw her statue, true to form, pointing a sword at Typhos' statue. The blade was shining with the colors of the rainbow.

Laughing Wraith was standing in the shadow of Typhos' statue. Yet his image was hazy and indistinct. He seemed to be struggling to stay where he was. He almost huddled up against the figure, which looked more alive than he did. Kiyora realized that she was not afraid of him anymore.

But Wraith looked afraid. His form was shaking somehow. He'd lost twice to them now, and he was banking everything on Typhos. Yet Typhos remained silent.

"So you have come," said Typhos. Her voice was a hollow thing that couldn't really be described. It combined the hiss of a snake, the roar of a lion, and many other voices. "As I thought. Will we now engage one another in battle, Lord of Knights?"

William's eyes flashed with light. And then Kiyora realized she wasn't looking at William at all. He seemed suddenly clothed in a pale light, and his hair and skin appeared white as snow. "I should avoid such unpleasant battles, Lady Typhos."

"You... Elranor!" said Kiyora. "What are you doing! Where is William?"

"Here," said Elranor. "I am merely speaking through him. Lady Typhos, I wish to cease hostilities between our faiths and reinstate you as a household god."

Typhos loomed higher. "Speak, Elranor. What reason could I have to forgive you?"

"I'm not asking you to," said Elranor. "When I took Zeya's side against you, it was strictly impersonal. Her enemies were my enemies. Since that time, we have drifted apart. I see no good reason to subject my people to a bloody war without at least trying to prevent it."

"And what terms do you offer?" asked Typhos.

"My agents have already begun to restore your temple," said Elranor. "As you can see."

"And placed another god in it," noted Typhos, turning her eyes to Kiyora.

"That is to your advantage," said Elranor. "By having a god with an established market, you will attract more attention. This will allow you to grow your church. I am sure you could establish yourself as an influential figure in Seathorius. There has been something of a power vacuum there recently."

"And what do you desire in return?" asked Typhos. "There is always an exchange in such arrangements."

"Standing in your shadow is a monster, Typhos," said Elranor. "He has done great harm to many innocents. You must know his kind, surely."

"It is true." mused Typhos. "However, he has been instrumental in my full restoration. Without him, I would have had to work for many more years to gain the power I do not."

"I assure you," said Elranor, "Wraith loves nothing but the suffering he inflicts on others. It was not done out of any goodwill on his part. He merely desired to use you as an ally to cause further destruction and agony. He hoped you would have no choice but to turn to him and Baltoth for support against the God Triumvirate.

"It did not enter his mind that we should seek a peaceful solution."

"Would you have me slay him, then?" asked Typhos.

"No," said Elranor. "Merely pass him into my hands for judgment. Aside from that, I only ask you not to pursue the old vendetta."

Laughing Wraith looked terrified. His form was looking here and there as the light of Elranor pressed in steadily closer. Typhos looked down in contempt at Wraith, Kiyora, Elranor, and finally back to Wraith. "Very well, I accept your offer, Elranor."

Elranor smiled. "Excellent."

He raised a hand. There was a burst of white light, and Wraith screamed as it consumed him. His form became nothing more than a shadow in the morning. It stretched and twisted until nothing less of it destroyed it utterly. Finally, he was gone. Laughing Wraith was dead. Kiyora knew it.

"Wait..." said Kiyora, "you just killed him? I thought gods weren't allowed to do that!"

"He had launched an attack on a city filled with the Temples of many gods," said Elranor. "He more or less declared war on all of us. The western gods despised him, and he was useless to Baltoth. We agreed to destroy him before I even came here."

"But how?" asked Kiyora. "Do you have any idea how much trouble he gave us?!"

"Kiyora, you are young, so I will forgive you for your ignorance," Elranor laughed. "I was old when the stars in the sky had not yet been formed. My power exists across innumerable worlds where I am worshipped under countless guises. Compared to the unbridled majesty of my hosts, the most terrible nightmare is but a passing fancy.

"Besides, you wouldn't have had much trouble destroying him. His plans were largely foiled. His power was spent on his atrocities, and he relied wholly on Typhos' power to give him the edge over you. Terror is a passing thing and rarely lends itself to long-term gains. He would have fallen quickly."

"But what about all the energy he got from inflicting all that suffering?" asked Kiyora.

"Much of it was used to free Typhos," said Elranor. "You destroyed a great deal of the rest."

"But this is so anticlimactic!" said Kiyora.

"You seem to have mistaken Laughing Wraith for the true threat," said Elranor. "He wasn't. This was but a distraction to draw our attention away from the river. And it worked. None of the soldiers in Arsheen will be in any shape to march to war." The light faded, and there were no more gods in the world.

"William, you and Kiyora have only begun your journey." Elranor's voice echoed. "Climb atop Massacre; he will lead you where you need to be.'

"Just tell me where to go, and I'll head there." said Kiyora, "I can teleport, you know."

"Unfortunately, that is not possible," said Elranor. "Look to the sky."

Kiyora and William turned around and saw the sky. Where once it had been a void now, the clouds were a fiery red. And they had formed into the shape of a tremendous clawed hand. There was a presence in those clouds. Kiyora felt that it was stronger than anything she had ever felt. She also felt like it was only the tip of the iceberg.

"The claw of Baltoth is stretching out over Artarq. Even as we speak, his will is manifesting upon the land," said Elranor. "You will not be able to go anywhere directly. I will do what I can to speed up your progress, however.

Go quickly. While there is still time."

William shook his head. "That was strange. Very strange."

Massacre had been waiting by the door and came forward to kneel. They climbed aboard her, and she turned to rush back through the city. Wherever they went, people were waking from the darkness, faces filled with horror. It was the look of people who had been having a terrible nightmare and had woken up in an unfamiliar place.

Which, Kiyora supposed, was what had happened.