A week later…

I was back in that alleyway, where I had first found Eir. Something had been revealed to me, something disconcerting. After all had been said and done, there had been a mass medical sweep of all new arrivals. A magical and alchemical measure to ensure that no diseases were potentially going to cause an outbreak in Valadonia. A measure that Diantha had insisted upon, to the grudging acceptance of the council. None had wanted to see their work undone by an invisible foe and so had accepted her proposal. Even Eir and Sune had been screened, which had revealed my concerns.

The girl’s memories had been altered.

And I knew exactly who had done the deed.

“You can come out now,” I said, hand resting on my blade.

Of course, he emerged. A being taller than even Uherion, dressed in the finest of jackets. He was a cultured being, hiding beneath it an infernal leaning and aspiration. His features were shadowed underneath a tall hat, but I could see his satisfied smile.

“Well, it certainly took you long enough,” said Dominus, right hand of the devil himself.

“What was the point of this?” I questioned.

“To test you,” he responded, honestly enough. “I knew you would not be able to help yourself if some child called out to you for help.”

"And what would have happened if I hadn't arrived?" I asked, furious, but also glad to see him again. It had only been a few months since I had been apart from my team, but they had become some of the most important people in my life. I had missed him.

"Then the girl would likely have been beaten to death," he replied, honestly. "I would have seen to her resurrection and let her go on her merry way. Yet, it seems, that was an unnecessary precaution. After all, you arrived to answer her prayers." Something mischievous glinted behind his eyes. "I will admit, it still surprises me. Oh, you may be a god, my dear Calen. But to find you answering prayers… you truly have become more boring. A shame, really."

"And what did you learn?" I asked coldly.

He smiled. "Why, if you truly would respond to such a call. Bravo to you, that was likely the fastest any prayer has been answered for an age. Gods tend to be such… indolent creatures."

"So, you know I will be there when I am called," I said mildly. "Or rather, you know I will be there when I am needed."

I made no effort to hide the threat. Dominus and I had, in our own way, been the mightiest of our band. We were monsters to face in direct combat. Dragons, demons, even lesser gods had fallen to us. Me through celestial granted might, him through infernally pact-bound strength. Knights of the above and below. In terms of raw strength, we were equals in a way.

But that had been before ascension. Now, I knew I could kill him.

I toyed with the idea. Dominus was the darkest, most dangerous soul I had ever met. Besides being the right hand of the Tyrant himself, he was a ferocious warrior and deadly practitioner of the hellish arts. More than that, he was cunning in a logical, malicious way. Even now I could feel him searching me for weaknesses, trying to discover any advantage he could hold over me. If allowed to persist in his ambitions, he could become one of the most wicked souls in all creation. Could I allow him to live, knowing what he may become?

Of course I could.

He was my friend.

"Indeed I do," Dominus responded, tipping his hat to me. "Alas, the game is over for now. I trust I shall find you again. After all, you know what I intend."

"I will be there," I responded. "The devil you know, as they say "

He chuckled. "Good. And we are friends of course. Payment shall be provided. Until we meet again."

"Until we meet again."

Then he was gone, leaving me alone in the alleys.

Save for Syron, who approached from the shadows in the form of a pale hound. “A difficult bond, Aurvandus.”

“That’s an understatement,” I murmured under my breath. “What brings you here?”

“I came to check in on you,” he responded, earnestly. “That, and Bergunn told me to tell you to come home.”

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “Was that all she said?”

“Well, she was more expletive and detailed in her demands,” Syron responded, amused. “I believe she was trying to intimidate me. Theatrics aside, I think she’s correct. You should return to your people.”

I shook my head, turning to face Syron directly. “I… I can’t, not yet.”

“When, then? You are a god, Aurvandus, and it is a terrible thing for a god to be alone.”

I chuckled. “I’m hardly alone.”

Syron titled the head of his canine disguise. “The Silver Sigil? Yes, quite a band of allies. Formidable even, I can say without a shadow of a doubt. But besides the devil you just spoke with, you will outlive them all. For a being such as you, decades may pass in an eyeblink. They will be rotting in the ground, while you remain constant. What will you do then?”

I didn’t respond. He was right, I knew that. I had considered it briefly, back when I had first ascended. Barring my own destruction, I was going to be enduring long, long after those I loved perished. I had tried to dismiss such thoughts, not yet ready to fully confront the full scope of what I was. But that had been before I had declared myself for what I was. New name, new life, new power. I couldn’t keep hiding myself away from what I was.

But that didn’t make embracing it any easier.

“I don’t know,” I answered, drawing myself back. “But I know what I’m going to do now.”

Syron eyed me patiently.

“I’m going to say goodbye.”

I found Bergunn at the usual place. The pier, long past sunset, waves gently lapping against the shore. I sent word ahead this time, I owed her that much. So instead of finding her staring out at the bay, she had her arms crossed with a glare fixed on the path I took to get there.

“Take that damn mask off,” she said, her expression cross.

Sighing, I obliged her, tucking the primordial ice under my arm. “Satisfied?”

“Hardly,” she snarled, part of her face twitching, her knuckles turning white. “Where have you been?”

“Checking in on a small matter that Yrsa brought to my attention,” I responded. “I had my suspicions, but wanted to confirm them.”

“And?”

“There is no danger.”

“So, when are you coming home?”

I let out a long breath. “I’m not, Bergunn.”

Her eyes just barely began to glimmer. “Why?”

“I… I can’t,” I said, looking away from her. “I just can’t.”

“You’re off to fight another war,” she said, a slight tremble to her voice. “You’re not going to ever stop, are you?”

“Bergunn,” I began, looking back up at her.

“No, you listen,” she snapped, aiming a shaking finger at me. “You saved us, you fought for us, and now you’re going to abandon us? Have you no shame?”

I managed a half-hearted smile. “I’m not sure I ever did.”

Her expression became corpse cold and stone stern.

I swallowed, and held up both hands in apology.

“You called upon us again,” she said coldly. “And we came for you. Not just for the boy, not just to free more slaves, but because you asked.”

“I did,” I nodded, feeling ashamed that I had. “It was the only way to prevent mass casualties or a hostage situation. If I could have minized the risk, I would have.”

“You arrogant bastard,” she hissed, crossing the distance between us until she loomed over me. “If you’re so intent on leaving, why are you here?”

“To say goodbye,” I answered. “For now.”

She blinked. “For now?”

I nodded and stepped back. I crossed my arms behind my back and began to pace. “I have tasks I must attend to, ones that I dare not involve Valtrium in. Unless you would throw our nascent armies against the Hells and Asgard?” I saw, despite her strength, how horror briefly twisted her features. “But there is more to do after that, much, much more. There is one objective I need to achieve, the one thing that truly shows I deserve the godhood I unjustly took. Will you let me show you?”

She nodded, without hesitation.

My heart broke at that. Even after all this time, she was my most trustworthy confidant.

So I showed her what I intended, how I knew it was possible, and how she and hopefully everyone else in this nation would live to see it. I had no intention of leaving behind a prophecy to a distant promised land, nor leave with a vague hint of a possible return. I didn’t need fanatics and followers, I just needed to succeed.

She fell to her knees, tears running down her cheeks, her jaw hanging low.

“Get up, Bergunn,” I said gently, helping her to her feet. “Kneeling does not become you.”

“You… you… how?” was all she managed.

I smiled up at my protector, my confidant, my friend. “It can be done. I’m leaving you all, but I am not abandoning you. Can I trust you to keep this a secret?”

Resolve returned to her face, and she nodded firmly. “Without a doubt. None shall know, not even the council.”

I smiled. “Thank you Bergunn. And please, keep an eye on Sune and Eir. They need people now more than ever.”

She held a clenched fist over her heart. “I’ll look after them as if they were my own.”

I felt my features soften. I knew all too well how she protected those she viewed as family.

“Until we meet again,” I said, leaving the title unspoken.

“Until we meet again,” she said.

I donned my mask, turned around to take one last look at the city I had helped raise, then shot off into the night. To begin laying the seeds for a new future.

Even if I had to save them from the frigid grip of damnation itself.