Elranor had to admit; this was not how he wanted to spend his time.

One of the problems with being a God of Healing and Death was also one of the main benefits. All the universe was your domain, but that left you with a lot of ground to cover. The truth was his devotion to letting people make their own choices. It was as much pragmatic conservatism as ideology. If he tried to take the active role some of his compatriots had, he'd never get anything done.

There were too many things to be healed and to die in too many ways.

Jaha was perhaps a microcosm of the concept.

"Oh, that witch! That absolute witch!" Jaha cried as she watched the scene play out. "Now Nendas is going to feel obligated to be killed brutally!"

Jaha didn't get angry very often. She had projected her more hostile and combative nature of justice onto Nendas: that and some of her fragments in far-off worlds. Most deities had two domains, each one being the other side of the side coin. Peace and Justice were Jaha's, both requiring the other, even as they were foils.

"In all fairness, Jaha, you did attempt to steal one of her souls first," noted Elranor. "And, this is, at best, a momentary inconvenience."

"That's not the point, Elranor," said Jaha. "She's unfairly pressuring Nendas to act contrary to his nature. He'll have to let himself die to come back to me."

"It will likely save a great many lives," noted Elranor.

"But what about Nendas? He's stuck in a cage, lonely and afraid," said Jaha. "The poor thing.

"He's trying to escape, even though he doesn't want to. I knew this was too much, too fast for him."

"Have you considered letting Nendas go?" asked Elranor.

"What?" said Jaha. "But he's mine."

"In the sense of physical possession, yes," said Elranor. "But you do not seem to have any regard for his own will or desires. You are risking alienating him permanently."

"Nothing like that will happen," said Jaha. "Nendas is my other. He doesn't have a choice."

Elranor would have to do some spannering here, wouldn't he?

The basic problem was that Nendas had absolutely no choice. While he could choose to sacrifice himself or not, it did not affect his fate. Things had been set up, so his own will was wholly irrelevant. Which, of course, was the problem with Jaha's belief system.

When divorced from the earth of justice, mercy could create only a tame and toothless world. One where free will was an illusion and growth was impossible. It was to render sentient creatures no more than mere beasts. Nendas to Jaha was divined only by what had happened to him, not by what he had chosen to do.

But Jaha wasn't going to listen to reason. Her sense of justice was all protected by other fragments. Tamar would only laugh as long as Taha was made her slave. And nothing would get better about how things were operating.

So, Elranor was going to have to employ someone else.

This plan was a risk; of course, it could result in a dangerous dark lord. But the alternative would ensure Jaha and Tamar both became dark lords in their own right. The prospect of Tamar with Taha as a chief lieutenant was too horrifying to contemplate. Taha was nice enough as she was, but she could, and had, been a monster in a different life and time.

Time to pay Melchious a visit.

The domain of torment was as unpleasant as always. Elranor walked through the hells and sent what light he could to ease the agony of those here. As he walked, a strawberry blonde demoness, whose hair fell in waves, barred his path. She was clad in a long, strapless black dress that clung to her shapely form. "Lord Elranor..."

"Where is your master?" asked Elranor.

"Inside," said Rubia, shaking. "Waiting for you."

Elranor entered through a set of black gates and found Melchious within them. Though he was not in the form, he was usually known. He was wearing a bathrobe and sitting on a sofa in a luxurious living room. On the walls were pictures of many victories fought and won. There were also images of starships flying overhead, burning worlds. There were beams of light melting continents. But Melchious was not looking at those, inside reading a book on genetic engineering. Next to him, on a table, were several astrophysics books and a cup of coffee.

Melchious did not notice him at first but eventually put the book down and smiled. "Father?

"I didn't see you there; I focused on some easy reading." And he stood, his outfit changing to white armor. "I wasn't expecting you here. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"There is no pleasure in this meeting, Melchious," said Elranor. He refused to be friendly when making this kind of visit. One should not be friendly with the one you consider evil. Friendliness is an endorsement. "Only necessity. Jaha and Tamar have become intolerable and are liable only to get worse. Samrasa is wholly corrupt and depraved. Impus has decided to stand on his rights and destroy Tarasif.

"The mortals have arranged a sacrifice of three willing mortals. But it will only preserve the flesh. My cult is in hiding, and Jaha is in no position to take over in the power vacuum after Samrasa dies."

"My sympathies," said Melchious. "Get to the point."

"I'm going to offer you a chance to perform a mission of liberation, Anoa," said Elranor. "No doubt you are aware of the one called Nendas?"

"My extension?" asked Melchious. "Didn't he become the Avatar of Jaha somehow?" An 'extension' was a particular kind of spirit. It was a soul Melchious had created ages ago without a demonic taint. It was created with an element of power but had a degree of independence.

Yet it was also tied deeply to Melchious. So long as such a soul was incarnated, Melchious could use them as an anchor to return. He'd used it to survive much death, always returning to bring more ruin.

"Nendas is being enslaved by Jaha spiritually, against his will," said Elranor.

"As opposed to all those who are enslaved according to their will?" asked Melchious.

Elranor did not take the bait. Both knew full well that there were ways to enslave someone without them knowing it. Melchious had worked for people who did that as a matter of course. "I give you leave to cancel the spell."

"And the catch?" asked Melchious.

"There is no catch," said Elranor. "You can take the opportunity or leave it. I'm giving you a chance to do something good and the cover to achieve it because you are the only one who can. After all, you are the Lord of Torment, so his forced misery puts him in your domain.

"Of course, if you wanted to misuse this moment to try and offer a deal with a demon, that is your own business. Whatever you do, I'll plan around it.

"The door is open."

And he walked out.

"Thank you very much," said Melchious.

Realistically speaking, Melchious had much to gain by freeing Nendas. It opened up the possibility for a major disaster if Nendas went off script. At the same time, it also opened up an opportunity for real good. So it was still worth the risk to involve him.

Elranor withdrew from physical form and turned his will toward the three friends. Taha, Rokas, and Nendas had made their way down the mountains. They had journeyed over several days, and now both were exhausted. Nendas stood within his cage, watching beneath a tree's watch.

Then, Melchious' agent appeared.

It was Rubia, one more daughter of Fortenex. She was clad in red cloth that bared her legs, shoulders, and the sides of her breasts. Her golden hair fell around her shoulders. Moving forward with swayings hips toward Nendas, the hawk let out a cry. Yet, the cry did not reach.

"Well, you seem to be having a problem," said Rubia. "Terrified out of your mind to return to the Goddess of Peace. And yet there is no place you wouldn't rather be at her side."

So they intended to offer a deal, as Elranor had expected. Depending on what choice Nendas would make, Elranor would have to adjust his strategy. Of course, on a higher level, Elranor already knew how this would turn out. He existed within time and space and therefore was bound by it.

"Oh, you needn't fear. I'm not here for them," said Rubia, leaning in near the cage. "Believe it or not, I'm here to fight an injustice."

Nendas saw nothing and simply stood there glaring at her. Rubia met his gaze and held it for a time before sighing and turning away. "...Yes, well, I realize it's a bit silly sounding, but it makes sense.

"You see, I was wondering if you might be interested in serving me."

Nendas remained silent.

"Reluctant to give yourself to a demon?" asked Rubia. "I suppose the situation is unreasonable, but let me ask you this;

"What salvation can you expect?

"You're not going to hell when you die. No matter what you do or say, you'll go straight to Jaha. She's completely unconcerned with who you are or what you want. She loves you unconditionally and is never going to let you go.

"Even if you demonstrate your loyalty to her, do you think she'll improve your treatment?"

Nendas emanated a feeling of unease, and Elranor wondered if he should intervene. Perhaps not yet. Mortals were stronger when they rejected demons of their own will. And when they didn't...

Well, the lessons could be useful.

"Oh yes, she'll appreciate your loyalty and be very proud," said Rubia. "She'll let you fly around when you want and take you with her when she visits. But we both know you'll never have the guts to escape again.

"She's already got you almost completely broken.

"You were an extension of her from the moment the brand was put on your head. Her will filled you, took your thoughts and desires, and bound you like a slave. Only your collar was in your mind. All your attempts to destroy her worship couldn't shake her off.

"But, then, you can't make an informed decision like this, can you?

"Well, let's see if we can do something about that."

And then Rubia reached out and took hold of the divine spirit ingrained into Nendas' mind. As he did, the power of Jaha was drawn out of it. Elranor saw Jaha looking up in horror. "Nendas! Nendas, no, stay with me!"

Then her power over him was gone.

"There," said Rubia. "I've sent her influence over you back to her.

"Now, perhaps we can talk. I'm prepared to offer your spirit an escape from your present fate. Swear loyalty to me, and I can shelter you from the Gods. Including one for Taha, if she will accept it. Tamar is a rival of mine, and denying her control of one of her pets would be a golden opportunity.

"You can serve as my agent in all affairs. The three of you could go far in the service of Zigildrazia. We can offer you an opportunity for vengeance upon Samrasa. You could rule over Tarasif yourselves.

"A far better deal than the Gods, who would have you sacrifice everything for a fate worse than death."

Nendas looked at her, distinctly unimpressed.

"Oh, come now," said Rubia. "The least you could do is consider if. I have come all this way and freed you. You might at least pretend to be tempted by what I have to say?"

There was absolute, scathing silence.

"Hmm, so apparently, promises of power and safety are of little value to you," mused Rubia. "I suppose, given your sire, it makes sense. No matter. I suppose you'll be following my will; if you don't want to be paid for it, that's fine by me.

"Be seeing you."

And she vanished.

And no one was the wiser. Taha soon rose from sleep, moving forward with tail flicking in the morning light. "Nendas... did you sleep alright?"

Nendas was silent.

"I guess you can't answer me," said Taha, looking at one hand that seemed somewhat clawlike. "These changes Tamar put me through, I... I hear things and smell things I never did before.

"I get the feeling we're going to have a serious problem soon.

"Listen, I...

"Nendas, I love you, you know that. Before all this happened, I'd been hoping to marry you someday. I mean... I guess we went ahead with things before marriage, but...

"That's never going to happen now, is it?

"Even if we succeed at this, we'll all die. Rokas will go wherever it is he wants. I... well, I guess Tamar will want me back. And you'll go back to Jaha. I... I don't think the gods will let any of us go after this, Nendas.

"But you've got it the worst of us, right?

"I mean, I could run for it now if I wanted to. Delay the inevitable. Rokas doesn't have to go back at all, but...

"You can't do anything, can you?

"If we open that cell door, you must return to Jaha. If I made a run for it... I don't think Tamar would care. I mean, she'd probably really work me a lot harder for a bit, but...

"I guess I'm saying that I swore myself to Tamar.

"I chose to join her cult, even if I didn't buy into it.

"But you...

"You got tricked into wearing the stupid brand, and Jaha entered your mind. You didn't choose to be her Avatar. And you spent your entire life trying to get her to renounce you, but... she never did, did she?

"And now you have to fly back to her, or else what little freedom you've got left will be taken from you.

"And the only thing I can do is keep you in that cage until we all die. Because as long as you're trapped in a cage, you can't be held responsible for not returning.

"I...

"Nendas, I am sorry. I am so sorry.

"But that's all I can say, isn't it? I can't do anything.

"We're just pets, and the gods do whatever they want with us."

And she was silent for a long time. Elranor considered possible responses and concluded the matter was beyond him. Now Rokas had stood up. "Come, we must get up.

"We have a road to travel."

"Right, let's go," said Taha.

Elranor watched, calculating as he did so.

Nendas was approached in his own realm, and Elranor had enough power to observe as it happened. Now it was time to wait and see what happened next. Jaha was appearing, approaching, worried as always.

"Nendas, don't worry," said Jaha. "I'm going to arrange for you to escape soon, then you can return to me."

But Nendas stayed still, staring at her simply.

"What do you mean by this?" asked Jaha. "You have to come back. It's what is best for you."

Nendas said nothing.

"Is this about your city?" asked Jaha. "They were the ones who twisted you into what you are. You don't need to endure the trauma of being killed for them."

"...Although, I suppose that it would take you some time to get back at this rate. It might even be faster this way," mused Jaha. "Alright, Nendas, if you want to do this, I'll let you die like this.

"But after that, you're mine."

Well, that was... fortunate.

Elranor was pleased Jaha had enough composure to not needlessly waste resources. Her consciousness was effectively fractured. The regaining of her divine consciousness had been underway for a long time. Part of the problem was that each piece of her had altered and changed over time. Each one was gaining an individuality of its own.

That made reuniting lost pieces more or less impossible directly. Karus had done her work too well. Even so, Jaha, as she was, could be restored to her old self if she continued to grow. A sense of pragmatism was progress. Her association with Nendas had proven beneficial after all. His experiences and perspectives had been imprinted onto her. It gained her a more sophisticated perspective.

But dealing with those revelations could take time.

It was a shame that it had taken this long. Elranor had a lot of other parts of the universe that dearly needed a Goddess of Peace, far more than one of war.

"Hold, the King's men are ahead of us," said Rokas.

"Um... Rokas, maybe I should do the talking here," said Taha.

"I admit, I have never been one for words," said Rokas, nodding.

The soldiers moved forward and lowered pikes as Taha moved forward. She was changed by her time with Tamar, with inhumane features. They eyed her in fear more than wonder or respect.

"Hold where you are, creature! The King commands you shall not pass!"

"Hello, it's me, Taha," said Taha.

"...Taha, the servant of Nendas, who went mad for heresy?" asked a man. "What manner of devilry is this? You look part animal."

"I got abducted and transformed by a god," said Taha simply. "The hawk is Nendas, and Rokas saved us. We need to get past you."

"In the name of the King, none shall pass!" said the man. "Your unholy temples shall be burned soon, and then the Impus shall have no power over us!" As usual, Samrasa was responding to things out of his control the only way he knew how.

"Hang on, what?" asked Taha in horror. "If you do that, it'll only make him angry!"

"His anger matters not," said a guard. "He has only the power we let him have."

"...Listen, the King can do whatever he wants, but let us through," said Taha. "We're not even going to be staying long. Nendas, Rokas, and I are due to sacrifice ourselves to Impus to appease him.

"We'll be dead a few minutes after they find us."

"You would practice appeasement to such abominations? If you are Taha, you have fallen far!" said the guard.

"Honestly, I never really bought into your religion of god-hatred," said Taha with a shrug. "It just... seemed a convenient ideology to latch onto while I was doing social climbing. I've gotten a bit tired of it, so now that it's inconvenient, I'm throwing it away.

"Look, what do you have to lose here?

"If we go there and your plan works, you can kill us. If we go there and your plan doesn't, you have a backup plan. If we don't go there and your plan doesn't work, everyone will die.

"Just-"

"Enough!" said the guard. "Turn back now, or face our blade!"

Taha sighed. "...Alright, so we're going to do this the hard way, huh? Let's go, Rokas."

Elranor decided to act here.

Raising a hand, he sent forth his will. The cage around Nendas shattered, and the hawk was bathed in light. When the light passed, Nendas was whole again and held in place his sword as he looked at those before him. They numbered as many as had guarded Samrasa on the journey from the Hasafa Clan lands long ago.

They were no obstacle.

"Nendas," said Taha.

The men stepped back in terror.

"What the..." said another. "It's Nendas! The false prophet!"

"That bird turned into a human! Impossible!" said a man.

"They say he condemned the Lord Munsuf to hellfire by word alone!" said another.

"Don't believe in it; it's no more than more god trickery! None of it is real! It's only magic!" said the soldier. "Kill them! Kill them all and consign them to the nothingness of death!"

But Nendas, Rokas and Taha moved faster. They fell on the enemy, overrunning them and scattering them. The Captain had his spear broken and was thrown to the ground. His men fled as Nendas raised his sword. The way to Tarasif lay open.

"Well... that went well," said Rokas.

"Don't kill any of them if they come back," said Nendas. "We have enough blood on our hands. Come, we must reach the city and fast."

"Wait, you're not going back?" asked Taha in surprise.

"Jaha can wait a little while," said Nendas. "I will not abandon my home to destruction so easily. Also... this is probably the fastest way back at this point, so I'm still following her will."

"Good point," said Taha.

Well, it had been set in motion, then. Now the only question was how Elranor was going to deal with Taha. While as normal as any human soul ever was, she was likely to cause some serious problems.*

*I don't care for this interpretation of Elranor. And I care less about Tanith insisting this text be used.

It seems far too long-suffering and put upon. Instead of the majesty of a being equal parts merciful and cold, he comes across as human.

And gods are not human.

Moreover, the idea that Melchious is Elranor's son is ludicrous. The only sons Elranor ever had were Gail Arengeth and Anoa the Bright. The relationship was with a jewelry smith who he loved and remained faithful to. Gail Arengeth has to my knowledge, never spoken of any such third child, and he would certainly know.

A possible way to make this work would be to suggest that Anoa became Melchious. And that is ridiculous; Melchious is not threatening or destructive enough to be Anoa. If someone as powerful as Anoa the Bright were to become a demon, the result would not be occasional terror.

Anoa going bad would mean a new age of darkness for the universe. We are not living in such an age; ergo, Melchious cannot be Anoa.