The goblin lady stalked around the body of Valder and gave a firm kick to his side in apparent frustration. “Had to talk, didn’t you? I honestly thought the dumb zealot would try to at least take you out before dying. Goes to show why you always have a backup plan.”

I really wished I was in control of my body again, but at least my pocket god was keeping my sword at the ready. “I had my suspicions upon hearing my brother’s recount of things. It seems I was correct in my assumptions.” They seemed remarkably calm, all things considered, but I could tell there was tension, and that they were preparing for anything to happen.

The goblin champion stepped over the Valder. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re so smart and so frustratingly persistent. I had hoped that you would just be content to stay inside your little box, maybe fall into despair at your precious brother's betrayal, but you’re just too dogged for that. I guess more permanent measures must be taken this time around, and you’ve gone and doubled the workload for me.”

“Call me callous, but I really don’t care to hear the woes of a manipulative murderer. The only thing I want to know is why? Why did you do all of this? Pit us against one another? What did you possibly have to gain from so much death?”

She walked almost casually around the front of the desk. “What wasn’t to gain? You and your insufferable children have always been a thorn in my side. Your damn undead guards that never sleep, spirits invisible to all but human priests, you made it impossible for me or my followers to get any work done! Everywhere there were humans there was an impenetrable fortress of secrets as even the most hidden of us would be found out by some damn ghost. Your very existence undermines my own!”

“Did you not think to change your focus to a more reputable one?” My god asked, trying desperately to understand them even though they caused all of this. I would have sooner just kicked her out the window than try to reason with them.

“My people are already looked down upon, physically and socially. Such a potent stigma cannot so easily be shifted.”

“Change is never easy, but you took the simplest path, and in the process caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands. I suppose that shows how truly weak you are.”

I saw her brow drop down to a glare. “I’ll show you weak.” She said as her form started to fade away into the shadows. After she disappeared her voice started to echo from everywhere at once. “Then when I'm done with you two, I’ll take control of those other simpletons and have them dance on my strings!”

Samuel, I'm giving you control again!

Command of my body was mine once again, and I immediately dropped into a ready stance for a fight. “Guards!” I shouted out, hoping that they would come in and provide me with support.

“Don’t bother.” I tried to locate her voice, but that seemed to be an impossible task. “No one can hear anything going on in this room. Call it my own special brand of magic.”

Which means I was cut off, and I bet that if I dropped my guard for even a second, she would take that opening and stab me. The shadows of the room felt sinister, and any one of them could suddenly come alive. I kept pivoting every few seconds, expecting an attack to come at any moment as I tried to cover myself as much as possible.

When an attack did come, of course it was from my blind spot. I heard more than saw movement as a lunging attack from a dark corner of the room was aimed for soft spots in my armor. Luckily, I still had at least a little bit of assistance in this fight. She wasn’t the only one who found refuge in shadows, and Lilith chose that moment to make herself known as she leapt out of hiding snapping and snarling.

I turned to see the champion of shadows retreating from Lilith with a scowl on her face and a curse on her lips. She wasn’t around for long before she disappeared into the dark again. “You and all your damn pets. This is why I can’t stand you!”

“Good. If I annoy you, I consider that a compliment.”

“Insufferable blowhard.”

“Fuck you too.”

I caught a slight bit of movement in my peripheral vision and turned just in time to see a small dagger flying at me. It hit my armor with a metallic ping sound doing very little in terms of damage. It was never meant to be an ending move, but more of a distraction. She appeared near me and Lilith, leaping from the dark and slashing with a short sword.

I managed to turn and block the attack, but the moment she connected with me I felt a headache inducing pressure in my skull. At first, I was unsure about its cause, but then I became aware that my god was currently in the process of fighting with the Mistress of Shadows during this brief connection. This battle was different than my fight with Darlou. Where before it was a battle between champions alone, now it was a struggle with everyone involved, mortal and god, and I could think only one thing as they fought with one another. Being a shield is awful.

Thankfully, the connection didn’t last for very long as Lilith started to try and bite her again, forcing her to break the connection and retreat away from me again. Lilith tried to give chase this time, lunging forward as the champion disappeared into the dark again. What I wasn’t expecting was for Lilith to disappear as well, melding into the shadows alongside the goblin champion.

I was lost as to what to do after this happened. Things were quiet for a few seconds, but then some of the furniture around the room started to be thrown about. Objects started to crash to the ground, and I even managed to catch a brief glimpse of black masses moving along the floor and walls at speeds that if you blinked you might miss them.

After a minute I lost track of where they might have been, but then a large furry form was suddenly ejected from the shadow of a bookshelf and flew across the room with a loud yelp. The shock of that wore off quickly and I rushed over to Lilith to see that she was cut up all over her body and could barely move. I felt anger build within me even as her annoying shrill voice started talking again.

“Stupid mutt. Did you honestly believe you could compete with me in my own realm of influence?” She taunted from the dark around us.

A scowl found its way onto my face. “You’ll pay for that.” I stated darkly.

She laughed at me. “I’ve yet to see how you plan to make that happen.”

Despite myself, I had to admit that she had a point. At the moment I had no means of attacking her when she could simply disappear in an instant. I was fighting a purely defensive battle here, and that was unsustainable. There was hardly any time to even think though, so I just did my best to move to a brighter area of the room, hoping that it would at least limit her ability to attack me from any angle.

I kept my body swaying and bobbing so the gaps in my armor were harder to target. This proved to be a smart move as her next attack against me ended up failing as her short sword slid off my arm plates when she appeared and tried to stab me under the arm. When I tried to counter she grabbed my arm and braced herself against me to prevent a full range of motion. While latched on to me, I felt that brain splitting feeling of our gods fighting with one another. That was more than enough to convince me to quickly separate us, so I spun around and used the momentum to throw her as far as I could. It was less effective than I would have liked, because as soon as she touched the ground, she melted into the shadows again.

This was going nowhere fast, and to rub salt in the wound she was actively taunting me with laughter as she hid from me. It was probably part of her plan to piss me off so I would be easier to kill, and I was a bit ashamed to admit it was working, just a little. Something had to change, and even as I fended off another attack, I tried to look around for something that could be used.

I was starting to get a little tired from the constant movements I had to make to avoid a potentially fatal blow. Things were starting to look a bit desperate, but as I waited for another attack to come there was suddenly a piercingly bright light that erupted from the center of the room. It was so intense that I winced and shielded my eyes from it as I was forced to adjust to the light before I could see what the cause was.

Propped up against the desk of the room with his bloody teeth bared in painful concentration was Valder. He looked like he was on death’s door but was stubbornly refusing to cross that threshold as his spare hand was raised and projecting the all-encompassing light into the room. I realized his plan when the shadows in every corner were destroyed, forcing the hiding champion into the open as she dropped into existence with a snarl on her face.

“Why can’t anyone just stay dead!” She shouted angrily as she threw a dagger in Valder’s direction. He saw it coming and twisted his body, so the weapon pieced into his shoulder and not his neck where it had been aimed. The light waned a little bit as I heard him groan in pain. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer given the state he was in. I had to capitalize on this opportunity, no matter what my opinion of the one who gave it to me was.

I charged the diminutive goblin at full speed. Her attention snapped back to me with panic filled eyes, but she was too slow to avoid me. My sword lashed out and she intercepted it with her own short blade, blocking the death blow but allowing me to shove her about against the walls. The pain of our gods struggling suddenly became more intense. My god’s voice filled my head, and it was filled with urgency.

Please hurry, she- Gah! She’s recklessly attacking me, and I don’t have the strength to keep her away for long!

That didn’t sound good, so I took a more aggressive approach to end this quickly. I seized the little goblin by the throat, picked her up, and slammed her into the ground. The impact knocked the air out of her lungs, and I planted a foot on her sword hand to pin it in place. She tried to kick me in the groin as a last-ditch effort, but I was too well armored for that to have much of an effect other than to make me groan in discomfort and fuel my ire for her even further.

You both deserve far worse, but I don’t have time to give it to you so this will have to do for now. I readied my sword for a strong downwards thrust. Her eyes filled with fear as she realized that this blow was meant to put an end to the fight.

She raised a hand to block, but that was an act of futility as I drove the blade downwards with as much force as I could muster. The tip pierced through her hand and continued forward, barely even slowing down as it pushed towards its target. I drove the blade into her chest, right through her heart.

Many expressions crossed her face. There was shock, fear, pain, and disbelief to name a few of them, but I made sure that she wouldn’t be experiencing those for long. I gave the sword a twist, wrenching the wound open further and making her groan in agony. If looks could kill, I would have fallen dead on the spot with the intensity of the glare she was giving me. Her movements began to slow, her body going slack as she could no longer support the limbs, and eventually she simply collapsed as I saw the light leave her eyes.

Her death was confirmed when I saw the small soul exit her body. I sneered at the disgusting thing, not even wanting to touch it for the purpose of making her transition uncomfortable. For all I knew she could somehow poison my mind the moment I came into contact with hers. The wisp drifted off and disappeared into the air, leaving us behind with her slowly cooling corpse.

I finally had a moment to catch my breath, the exhaustion sinking into me now that the rush of a life and death struggle faded. My god was also weary in the extreme, and their tired voice filled my head.

I’m glad you finished that when you did. She was closing in around my throat, so to speak, and I maybe had enough energy to keep her away for another minute.

That was a sobering thought. Should we be concerned about her coming back? If you are feeling weak, then that means we are vulnerable.

The Mistress has just lost her champion, and quite suddenly at that. She will need some time to regroup herself, and by that point I will be rested and hopefully in the company of others who might help me deal with her treachery.

Before I could question them further about what they planned to do, the light that had been illuminating the room collapsed and cast the interior into what felt like a murky glow after being exposed to that brightness for so long. As soon as my eyes adjusted once more to the only light being that from the window, I saw Valder sitting with his back up against the desk, seemingly struggling to breathe.

I removed my sword from the goblin’s chest and then slowly made my way over towards him. He watched me approach, and I saw his eyes move down towards my bloody sword for a second before fixing his gaze on my face again. Once I was standing in front of him, I contemplated my next action for a moment, thumbing my sword in my grip as I felt the temptation to use it again. Eventually I just sighed and kneeled to get on his level.

“Can’t you just heal yourself?” I asked him.

“I did...” He said between gasping breaths. “But she seems to have poisoned the blade. I don’t know what she used, but I can’t counter it. She probably made it specifically for me.”

Damn, I'm really glad I was wearing armor for this. I could only imagine just how dead I would be if I had decided to not take as many precautions when confronting Valder. “Unfortunate for you I suppose. Looks painful.” The look he gave me was withering, but I didn’t care. “I would normally give sympathies, but frankly you deserve much worse than this.”

His eyes went downwards as he took another strained breath. “You’re right. Me, my predecessor, and my god were all made fools of. Used as puppets in another’s plot. Everything I’ve done... There is no redemption for me.”

Perhaps the candid admission of his faults should have inspired some pity, but it did not. “Bit late for you to grow a brain, or a fucking heart, so you’ll have to forgive me if I spit on your corpse after you finally die.”

“No need to forgive, for a justified action. Do what you will. May my body be used to ward off the foolish who might follow my path.” He started to breathe slower, and eventually I saw his pupils grow as life finally left him. His soul lazily exited his body and drifted a little too close to me for my liking, so I swatted it away which made it tumble before finally disappearing.

He was officially dead, no coming back. I stood up with a slight grunt as my limbs were quite exhausted. Then, standing tall over him, I removed my helmet, sneered, and spit on him before donning the helm again.

The first thing I did was examine the damage the little green menace had done to Lilith. She was cut up all over her body, but her joints were particularly savaged. I had to spend a few minutes using magic to reinforce her body enough that she could stand on her own again. She received ample praise for being a good girl and trying to protect me, which made her quite happy as evidenced by her tail wagging. I had her get back in my shadow until I could treat her wounds more thoroughly as I went out to start dealing with the aftermath of this whole ordeal.

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My guards were horrified to learn what had happened in the room, but it mostly manifested itself as disappointment in themselves for not being there to aid me when I needed them. I did my best to reassure them that no one could have predicted that all of this would happen, and we all simply operated under the information that we had at the time. It was still the right call to keep them out of the room, as they would have been utterly destroyed in the resulting fight when Valder cast his light around the room. At least they were able to assist me in the cleanup, removing the bodies and helping me collect any evidence that was around the room.

This marked the end of the siege, and the beginning of the end of the war as a whole. The three opposing forces were without champions, their armies were stretched thin, and now they lost the major production hub that was the capital. As soon as news spread about this loss, I imagined the demoralizing effect it would have and hoped that many of the remaining armies still out there would simply surrender.

It was time for me to play the waiting game again, but at least I had something to do while waiting. I was sending messages to our allies and even the orcs letting them know what transpired here and to request the presence of Velena, and a representative from the Father of Fire if he hadn’t chosen a new champion at this point. Despite my objections, my god requested that we find a priest to represent the Lord of Light for now. I was assured that he would be willing to help us with the revelations that were unearthed, and the more gods we had the easier it would be to dole out punishments. I wasn’t as sure about that as they were, but I did ask Liliana to serve that role.

We had to wait several days before the requested individuals arrived. Even while rushing on horseback with minimal accompaniment, it was still a long trip for those two. Velena, I welcomed with open arms, the orcish bishop on the other hand I was a little more hesitant about. Not only was he heavily armed, but he had a very stern disposition. Still, I afforded him respect and would continue to do so as long as he remained agreeable.

Once we had convened together in a private and well-guarded room, we started the process of organizing a godly meeting. Because two of the members currently participating had no champions, they decided to hold the meeting in the intangible realm that they inhabited normally. The greater concept of their plane of existence was lost on me, but it was apparently a realm where the vast fonts of their energy could exist without causing harm to the mortal world.

The way this would work would be that we mortals would join hands like I once did with Velena, only this time we would be the guests in our god's world and not the other way around. The two non-champion members of our meeting were more or less just serving as witnesses to these events. All preparations were made, so we sat down and waited for the connection to be established.

The feeling of being pulled into another's world was like sinking into a soft surface that was slowly swallowing you up. I lost all feeling in my body, and soon I could no longer even perceive the room that I had been sitting in. A part of me wondered if this is what my pocket god felt every time they connected with me. Probably not, they operated by different rules than we did.

I don’t know if it was because this plane of theirs was beyond my comprehension, or if it was because I had no ability to perceive it, but I could only see blackness around me. When I looked at myself though, there was a bizarre sight of my body seemingly being outlined in a radiant energy, giving me a sort of liquid appearance. I saw Velena as well, and her appearance was similar to mine. There was a bit of concern for a moment when I was unable to see Liliana or the orc bishop that were supposed to come with us.

“Liliana? Where are you?”

“I am here, Samuel.” Her voice came from right next to me and made me flinch in surprise.

“I am present as well.” The gruff voice of the orc called out from over near Velena.

It only took me a moment of contemplating why we couldn’t see them when I came upon the answer, which was simply that they were not champions. “Well, at least everyone is accounted for. So, what now?”

“Now...” A thunderous voice that was recognizably my god’s started speaking from the void. “We will convene and bring an end to this nightmare.”

It quickly became apparent that the gods did not hide their power as readily in this place, and the presence of mine and Velena’s gods set the air alight with energy. This feeling only intensified as others arrived as well. First the Father of Fire made an appearance, much to the reverence of the orc bishop. These very vibrant and energized beings almost completely overshadowed the arrival of the Lord of Light. His presence was... restrained. Like he was trying to remain separate or hidden from the others. Liliana felt him, and I heard her attempt to say something but have the words die in her throat. The other gods naturally projected a feeling of disdain towards him, entirely justified given the facts of this situation.

Naturally the one god who was the cause of all this suffering did not show up. The other deities held a brief conversation, confirming information and planning for what would come next. After a few minutes of this, they were finally ready to begin what was essentially a manhunt.

A weird feeling of vertigo took hold after they decided to move out on the war path. We were dragged along with them as they searched their realm for the rogue element hiding within. I didn’t know what the effect of losing one's champion was on a god, but it apparently was not so simple to acquire a new one so shortly after their loss. Even with almost a week to prepare it seemed that she was unable to find a new champion to hide behind. This resulted in our pack of gods sniffing her out like bloodhounds following a trail.

It took some time, and it was obvious that the Mistress was running as evidenced by the slight shifting that I felt every now and then. When we finally did get close to her, I felt a flare of murderous intent. She must have come to terms with the fact that she couldn’t run and was now essentially putting up a tough pose to intimidate.

We slowed down, and eventually stopped completely as all the gods were now in one place. The Earth Mother was actually the first to speak. “Surrender peacefully, and your punishment will be lesser. This will be the only chance you have to capitulate.” I could feel my god’s slight annoyance at offering her even a little mercy, but they did not say anything to interrupt.

“You all act like you are so virtuous. Did you not benefit in your own way from Twilight’s demise? The orcs used humans as servants and slaves in their fighting pits for centuries. The elves experimented on them, subjecting them to diseases and poisons. And you, the dwarves, made them work in your mines to harvest the ores you needed to sustain your industry. How many humans died in those caves?”

There was certainly some shame that was leaking out of the god’s carefully controlled emotions. But the Earth Mother rallied quickly with a response. “We will repent for these mistakes in our own way, but you are the ultimate source of all this suffering and will meet fitting justice for it. Now, submit!”

“Bend over and kiss the darkest part of your ass you stubby little bitch!” She attacked, and I was momentarily stunned when the manifestation of her power appeared in the void above me. It barely looked like anything that was recognizable, carrying on vague features of the goblin race but consisting mostly of writhing tentacles of energy. Those tendrils lashed out, but not where I expected as the titanic limbs made a straight shot for me and Velena.

To be honest my mind went blank as I bet any mortal’s would when faced with such sheer impossible odds being thrown at them. Luckily, I didn’t have to do anything, as a very gaunt hand materialized and intercepted the attack. I noticed a strand of light emerging from my chest and traveling upwards into the void before expanding rapidly to form the shape of a familiar shrouded individual, only multiplicatively larger in size than the last time I had seen this representation of them.

My god held onto the wriggling limb in a vice grip, and when I looked over, I saw the other deities beginning to form themselves into a perceivable state. Velena’s Goddess looked much the same as any dwarf, though covered in so much armor that they appeared unreachable and unknowable as to what lay beneath it all. The Father of Fire took his name quite literally, as he appeared to be a being consisting of flames in the rough shape of an orc. And then there was the Lord of Light, who came in the shape of an elf in regal robes, eyes alight with such intensity that they hurt to look at.

They all came crashing down upon the Mistress of shadows like the forces of nature they represented. My god conjured many skeletal looking limbs that they used to grab hold of the Mistress, ripping into her and blocking the many strikes she sent their way. Every time a blow was intercepted, I felt that same pressure in my skull as the energy line connecting me to my god flashed with power. The Earth Mother charged straight through towards the center of her titan opponent, barely slowing down as tentacles bounced off her armor while she grappled the main body. The Father of Fire was as crazy as his followers when it came to a fight, as he just accepting the hits before grabbing the offending limb and burning it to oblivion, laughing hysterically all the while. Finally, the Lord of Light, too dainty and sophisticated to get his hands dirty, created a glaringly bright blade that he used to hack and parry the limbs.

The fight was heavily weighted on one side, being a four versus one beatdown. Though, calling it a beatdown would be generous. It was more like the slaughter of a panicked animal, and soon enough her attacks stopped, and she tried to desperately defend herself. It progressed to the inevitable conclusion where she was broken and pinned beneath four furious gods. In one last desperate move, she began to plead, though it still came across as scheming.

“Light, they want to do this to you too. The minute they were done with me it will be your turn. Help me, help me and we can escape together, fight back against them. We can-”

The Lord of Light thrust his luminous blade into the center of her mass, drawing a pained shriek that hurt my ears. “I am ready to accept this pain, but I will no longer be your puppet. This will end, now.”

She seethed in rage, but the Earth Mother spoke before she could. “For the crimes of sowing chaos and death upon the mortal world, you will be sundered and locked away indefinitely.” She then turned towards my god. “Twilight, you may perform the sundering, if you are capable. You deserve that much.”

“NO! Don’t you dare touch me!” The Mistress spat out.

My god ignored her and approached menacingly. Gaunt hands emerged from the darkest folds of the robes, practically dripping with malaise. Suddenly they were sharply thrust in the form of the Mistress, and she began to writhe and scream as the hands dug deeper. Soon enough I saw Twilight brace and wrench forth a glowing orb. The screaming stopped, and the form of the Mistress began to shrink and melt away until it was hardly any larger than I was. The Earth Mother grabbed the shrunken body in one hand, fully encompassing it while reaching out the other towards Twilight.

I could feel the dark thoughts running through my god’s head as he stared into that orb. The object of all the suffering in the past millennium, just sitting there. The temptation to simply destroy it must have been nearly overwhelming.

“Twilight, please hand her over.” The Earth Mother said with a little bit of firmness.

Suddenly whatever dark vortex they were spiraling down disappeared, and they were pulled out of their fog. The orb was handed over soon after that, and things were allowed to proceed again. Curiosity was overwhelming me, and I had to ask about what had just happened.

Can you explain what you just did? I asked over our private connection.

It was one of the highest punishments that can be levied against a god short of complete destruction. To put it simply, we separated her mind and body, a process known as the sundering. She cannot recover from this on her own, and while separated, she is essentially no longer a god.

Damn, you really don’t hold back when you're pissed. There was only silent acknowledgment of that statement before the Earth Mother did something with the two pieces of the goddess. They were surrounded and contained inside of two separate boxes that rippled and shifted with a purple sheen on a black surface.

“She will be kept imprisoned in two separate locations until such a time that we all unanimously agree to her release. Any dissenters to this decision make your argument now.” Nobody said anything, so the sentence was carried out and the boxes disappeared to what were probably the far corners of this reality. “Now, to the final decision of today.”

All of them turned towards the Lord of Light. He was still armed with his radiant sword, but his shoulders sagged, and the blade melted away to nothingness. His head was bowed slightly as he spoke.

“If I might make a single request, please allow Twil-, my brother, to pass judgment on me.”

Everyone then looked to my god who stood stoic in his shaded form for a moment before walking forward with measured yet colossal steps. Twilight simply stood and stared at his brother’s bowed head for a good minute before coming to a decision.

“Ten generations.” The Lord of Light looked up, seemingly not quite understanding. Twilight was quick to clarify though. “You will be imprisoned for ten generations of your people before you are allowed to walk free again.”

The realization dawned on everyone then. “But... that would be close to nine thousand years. So much can happen in that time, and without my guidance-”

“You took more generations than that from my people, and that’s not even to mention that crimes committed in my absence.” The Lord of Light deflated somewhat at the harsh reminder. My god let out a small sigh that felt like a whirlwind of air to me. “Your children, and that of the Mistress’s, will not be forgotten or held from their beliefs. We will do our best to keep them on the right path until you rejoin us.” A hand was placed on the Lord of Light’s shoulder. “You will not be blind to them either and will be permitted to watch them grow and change with the passing centuries.”

A halfhearted chuckle was had by the Lord of Light. “A truly cruel punishment that, but not an undeserved one. If that is what you wish me to endure, then I will bear it to completion.” He looked up into my god's endless black hood. “Do it.”

Without another word, the Lord of Light’s body began to collapse in on itself like sand falling inwards. My god positioned both their hands to direct the flow of everything, wrapping it up in a compact shape. Eventually the result was another one of those strange boxes that served as prisons. There was a small amount of melancholy I felt before the box was sent away, and I caught the thoughts of my god as he stared out into the void.

When next we meet, brother. The moment was full of conflicting emotions, but then it was thoroughly ruined by the Lord of Fire.

“Well, that was a good bit of fun! Hadn’t had a slug fest like that with you lot in a while!” Came his booming voice.

Exasperation. Overwhelming amounts of exasperation came flooding through my connection. My god quickly turned on the dense musclehead.

“I’m not nearly done with you yet. You are going stand there and listen to everything I have to say to you without complaint, and I'm not going to let you leave until I get it through to you just how badly you fucked up by not thinking about anything other than your lust for a fight!” The verbal lashing that was about to commence would probably be of legendary proportions, but we wouldn’t be around to hear it as the Earth Mother stooped down to speak with us.

“I’ll guide you back to your bodies now. I hope that you will all continue to work together to bring about a better future.” With that, the sense of vertigo returned, and the sound of my god’s angry rant began to fade as I plummeted through the void again before crashing down into reality once more.

The transition was a bit jarring, and I nearly tipped over my chair as I jerked awake once again. Everyone else also seemed to be shaking off the transition. I noticed that the two non-champions were taking the shift particularly poorly. Liliana in particular looked pale, and I was half expecting her to vomit, but she held it together.

After everyone had a chance to compose themselves, we took some time to get all the information straight. I shared what I found out about the sundering with the rest of them, and there were varying degrees of reaction to that. Everyone still thought that the punishment could be justified, but the problems that would come from a god being effectively removed from power would be vast. That wasn’t even to mention the ten generations of elves that would be without guidance.

It was agreed that plans would have to be made to accommodate this change, as well as the inevitable influx of humans that would be joining my reemerging religion. There would be plenty of work to do in the future, but for now, we had to clean up the mess that would follow the conclusion of this war.

Velena and the orc bishop would spread the news as far as they could, which would hopefully bring things to a relatively peaceful end. I would be cleaning things up here in the capital, ensuring that the damage we caused would be fixed, at least a little. We all had our duties to attend to, so we parted ways once again. I gave a heartfelt thanks to Velena and the orc for their service. The orc promised before he left that the next champion would be chosen before the end of the next month, after they concluded their traditional tournament to decide who the greatest combatant of their people was.

After watching them leave, I had little else to do for the day, so I walked the streets with Liliana as company. We were still working on clearing up the last of the rubble from the roads, but the city looked far better than it had during the siege. Many of the humans that were trapped in the city due to being imprisoned were recovering well, and I found myself explaining our lost religion to many who showed curiosity.

We had a quiet moment now though, and I did my best to enjoy it as much as possible. Liliana decided to engage me in some conversation while we moved about.

“Things are going to be changing quickly, aren’t they?”

“Yes. The world will certainly be different than what we have known, but I get the feeling that the end result will be better than what we had before. It will take time. There is anger, pain, and resentment that must be resolved, and I am not exempt from it. Still, if there are more people like you out there, then I can remain optimistic for the future.” I flashed her a genuine smile, and it didn’t escape my notice that she blushed.

“I... I’m glad that you hold me in such high regard. You are an amazing man as well. Courageous, driven, yet kind and generous where it counts. I would be honored if you would allow me to remain at your side.”

I doubt my smile could have gotten much bigger. “There would be nothing I would love more than to know you would be there for me.”

Her smile was bashful and adorable all the same. For the first time in a long while, I was looking forward to the future. There would be a fair share of trials to be faced, but I was confident that with the aid of my new friends and allies that I could meet these challenges and exceed their expectations. I had felt lost ever since that fateful day so long ago, but now we had the opportunity to make something better, and I wasn’t about to let it pass. This would be the beginning of something new.