I threw up.

The injuries I'd sustained from the leather burnt against my skin (healed or not), the poison gas in my lungs, and the fact I'd just killed someone I knew didn't deserve to die all hit me at once. I hadn't known Zorya Dawnbringer very well, but the Goddess of Love and War had been someone that I felt a sympathy for. However short a time we'd known each other, she'd been a lover and friend.

And I'd killed her.

"I hate this world," I said, realizing just how much it was the awful place that everyone else had been telling me it was. I'd been too overwhelmed by the wonders of magic, fantastic adventures I'd had, and friends I'd made to acknowledge just how vile the cost of living here was.

Worse, I knew I was going to be rewarded for it.

"GOD SLAIN," the voice of Perun echoed through the volcano interior.

The next few moments were filled with my bracelet pinging, and I wanted to rip it off my arm and fling it down through one of the vents around me.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED - Mercy Kill

(25) A - Convince the Fire Demon to destroy herself

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED - She's out there, somewhere

(25) A - Complete Zorya Dawnbringer romance and discover you fathered the God Child

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED - TWO DOWN, TWO TO GO

(50) A - Kill Two of the Old Gods

MAIN QUEST UPDATED

DEFEAT THE OLD GODS SERVING VELES (2/4)

Reward

+200,000 EXP (Fire Demon)

+20,000 EXP (Appeal to her Humanity)

+10,000 EXP (Disable her powers)

+20,000 GP

+ Crown of the Fire Goddess

+ Katana of the Fire Goddess

+ Wakizashi of the Fire Goddess

Level 10 to 11

105,000/375,000

It felt obscene to be rewarded for this and I was disgusted with the fact that RPG mechanics were being used to measure the value of a person's life. It was not even the thing I was most worried about, but I preferred to concentrate on it than the other elephant in the room: that I was apparently a father.

The fact it was only a day or two since I'd been intimate with Zorya and that had been a dream didn't mean anything. The companion book, The World of the Dark Undermasters, had shared some of the legends about gods and their offspring. They could have children with the same sex, make them out of the elements, or conjure them full grown because, and I quote myself, they're gods so fuck you.

I had no idea why Zorya Dawnbringer would choose me to sire a child with. No, that wasn't right. She'd all but told me, I'd just been too stupid to put together the clues. This new child would be the host for her divinity. The Rachel Summers to her Jean Grey if you will. Zorya Dawnbringer had been corrupted by the Twisted Ones, but the next Zorya wouldn't be, and she'd have a host to be able to manifest herself with.

I didn't know how I felt about that, and a mixture of emotions added to the nausea I was already feeling. I'd been used by her every bit as much as I'd been used by Weis. Somewhere, somehow, a little girl was probably in someone's crib with falsified memories for her parents. Maybe Zorya had put the child in someone else's womb because, again, gods can do whatever the hell they want to mortals.

You were right to kill her.

It was your destiny.

Absorb her power.

The voices of the Swords of Chernabog woke me from my fugue. I stared at the swords that were lying next to the Mark of the Champion I'd slapped on Zorya's wrist. Her body had faded away and there was no sign of her existence anymore. No, that wasn't quite right, as I'd gained some unwanted booty from the experience.

The doom bell was cracked and, on the ground, nearby and a glowing brilliant flame was now burning where it had previously stood. It was another of Mokosh's sacred fires, restoring the Grand Temple to its previous glory. Apparently, I hadn't been needed to light it up again and this place was once more under her control.

That was when the ground underneath me started to shake and split apart. I'd been wondering what sort of revenge Mokosh would inflict upon the forces of Veles this time, but it didn't take a guy with 20 INT to figure out what she was likely to do with a semi-active volcano. I suspected the Fire Giant Mountains were about to receive the Mount Doom treatment.

"We're done," I said, looking at the swords before walking over to pick up the discarded bracelet. "You stay here. I don't know if the holy lava will destroy you but I'm pretty sure it'll be a decent try on my part."

DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON US! the Swords screamed at me. WE ARE YOUR MASTER!

"Today's my Independence Day," I said, flipping them off as I pocketed the Staff of the Dragon Kings in my bag of holding. It was out of charges, but it added a significant bonus to my Arcane Fire and presumably other spells. After I did, I started pulling up the map interface on my bracelet.

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I really hoped the fast travel system worked here and this didn't qualify as surrounded by enemies. That was when I fell to one knee and felt the air around me become scorching as the air became almost unbreathable.

YOU HAVE SUFFERED -1 CON DAMAGE

Goddammit.

We weren't quite to the point where I was going to start burning alive like Anakin on Mustafar but I wasn't far away from it either. Indeed, I suspected without my ARMOR spell up, I'd already be boiling alive. Maybe the Crown of the Fire Goddess might provide some protection for me, but I was more focused on getting out than anything else.

I really hoped this wasn't like the ending of Resident Evil where you had to run as fast as you could through the mansion to get the hell out before it exploded. One, because I had no fucking idea what the layout for this place was due to Weis teleporting me here and two, because I'd still be in range of an erupting volcano even if I somehow made it outside. This was a situation that required a giant eagle.

Huh, I debated trying ANIMAL SUMMONING but decided to focus on the fast travel option first. This wasn't the time to experiment. That was when I pulled up the marker for dragon keep and saw: FAST TRAVEL Y/N?

"Hell yes!" I said, hitting the button.

That was when I saw the Swords of Chernabog had dissolved and transformed into two vaguely female figures made of smoke. There was an oily quality to them as well that reminded me of, I shit you not, the monster from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION's "Skin of Evil" in season one. I don't recall its name, yes, even my nerdity has limits, but it was the oil monster that killed Tasha Yar.

Both turned into tentacle of liquid before forcing themselves down my throat. That was when the world around me started to dissolve, the fast travel having already begun before the enemies had appeared. I wasn't sure if that was a bug in the system to my favor or not. Especially as I was being waterboarded with liquid evil.

WE WILL EMPTY YOU OUT.

YOU WILL BECOME HOLLOW.

WE WILL WEAR YOU LIKE A SUIT.

THROUGH US, OUR FATHER WILL BE REBORN.

In retrospect, it may not have been the best idea to wield those scimitars. Yeah, hindsight is 20-20 and I found myself convulsing in a seizure on the floor of Garland's room in Dragon Keep. I could feel the blackness spreading through my body as horrible memories assaulted me. Most of them coming from the past ten or twenty minutes.

There was no one coming to save me. Jon wasn't here due to my locking him in a closet. Ania wasn't here because, for once, we hadn't been spending the night in each other's rooms. I couldn't even scream because my throat was full of black gooey evil tar that prevented me from drawing breath. I'd almost drowned as a kid at the city pool once, or at least it had felt like it, and this was the closest experience I could compare it to.

How does it feel, Aaron? The voices spoke in unison in my mind. They assaulted my sanity like Mrs. Grub's magic and tore through my defenses. Each syllable making me feel small and weak. To have been so stupid? To have tried to wield the powers of the gods when you were just a pathetic weakling playacting as a hero? You were never worthy of being Garland's replacement. You were never worthy of taking his place in the goddesses' beds. In his sister's. You were always going to die here. A wretched failure.

I'm not Garland, I thought back, crying involuntary tears. I'm not.

We know.

I'm much, much smarter, I thought back lifting the bracelet I'd retrieved up my face. It had saved me once, maybe it could save me again.

ABSORB DIVINE ESSENCE Y/N?

Y.

Ah, shit, the two demonic voices spoke in unison.

Perun's essence passed through into me from the bracelet and obliterated the two spirits in an instant. Audrey and Audrey Junior didn't even get a chance to scream. However, there was a cost to the power, and I found myself surrounded by light that seemed to absorb me.

It was difficult to put into words what the experience of absorbing divine energy was like. In a very real way, it was like nothing else on Earth (or Mokosh for that matter). The first time I'd done it, I'd gotten a god's eye view of the creation of my home world. I'd seen the seas forming, the mountains, and all that stuff while simultaneously witnessing Svarog conjuring a beautiful woman from Chaos. The next time? Well, I'd witnessed Perun being slain by his brother in battle. Perun had exhausted himself binding the Twisted Ones to their prison in the Underworld while Veles has strengthened himself on their magic. It had been a battle that had ended with the creation of the Death Mountains and devastation across hundreds of miles.

Now?

Now was much worse.

The other times had been cosmic and enlightening but brief. This time? This time, it didn't feel like I was coming out of it. Indeed, every time I felt like I was about to come out of it, I felt another bracelet get slapped on my wrist before the energy's eating me up exploded outward again. Each time was like an organ transplant, and I became more like Perun. Perun? Because that's what was inside me now, or at least an echo of him, well, he became more like Perun each time too. It left very little for Aaron.

The things I saw.

Man, I could not describe them.

Roy Batty had described attack ships off Orion and C-beams glittering in the dark near Tannhauser Gate. Dude had nothing on the things that I experienced by briefly being plugged into Perun's mind.

I saw Marduk slay Tiamat.

I saw Odin do battle with Ymir.

I saw Michael casting down Lucifer into the depths of Hell.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

Herakles and Iolaus but no Xena, sadly.

Battles long forgotten.

Epic struggles by heroes against monsters.

Sex.

Lots and lots of sex.

Seriously, Perun and I might have shared one thing and that we were both incredibly horny. The guy must have banged virtually every non-virgin goddess in every pantheon. The crossover fanfic shipping I witnessed was crazy.

Morrigan and Aphrodite.

Oh, and aliens exist.

Which, now I think about it, isn't surprising since how else would you define the races of Mokosh.

Wow.

I figured out the trap eventually, though. Perun, or whatever shadow of him existed in me now, was trying to keep me locked up in his memories and exploring the wonders of being a god. He didn't want me dead but wanted me dissolved like sugar in water. To become him and experience the rapture of just how awesome he was. All I had to do was let him do the steering and enjoy the movie that our life would have become.

No thank you.

Ania, Jon, my parents, my sister, Agata, Bloodstorm, Sparky, and others were waiting on me. I had a daughter who was waiting out there for me, though I didn't know how much I could do for her since I hadn't even been able to keep my rent up consistently. It was all waiting for me, though, and I was waiting for it.

Not Perun.

Not Garland.

I wanted my own adventures.

Not theirs’ second hand.

And I awoke at last.