Ga-dunk. Ga-dunk.

Hurat wondered where Gilnevn had found a rubber ball. Presumably, she had found it at some point once they had all found the section of the hall that had come down intact, but he hadn’t seen her pick it up. Once the group of Primoi felt safe from Ligivul’s search, she’d simply pulled it out and started bouncing it against the far wall while he lay on the floor and stared at the ceiling.

Ga-dunk. Ga-dunk.

The repetitive sound of the ball hitting the wall next to Hurat’s head for the last few hours was starting to get on his nerves. The remaining Norse had split off into the half-dozen or so bedrooms that didn’t protrude from the pile of broken timber that buried the intact area, so it was just Hurat and Gilnevn in the room. Her presence was better than silence, but not by much. “So… wanna talk about something?”

Ga-dunk.

Gilnevn caught the ball when it bounced back in her direction. “I dunno, do I want to talk about something?”

Hurat pulled his head up from the floor. “Maybe not, but I definitely wanna talk about…” He made a vague circular gesture in Gilnevn’s direction. “...What the deal with this is.”

“Is this really the best thing we could be doing with what little time we have?”

“We are doing nothing while a mass-murdering maniac is hunting us like deer. Literally anything is a better alternative.”

“Also, you’re gonna keep pestering me until I talk about something with you.”

“Also that, yeah.”

Gilnevn groaned and tossed her ball off of the side of the twin bed she was sitting on. “Fine. But first-” She mimicked Hurat’s gesture, now pointed back at him. “This is an all-or-nothing deal. You go first.”

Hurat shrugged. “Fine by me. I do pride myself on proper communication with the people close to me.”

“You had better mean close in a physical sense.”

“Yeesh, lots to unpack over there.” Hurat sat up cross-legged. “First come, first serve, I go first. So… I’ve noticed that me and my family-”

“Domain.”

“Don’t interrupt. This is a calm, open time for talking, and if you’re gonna act in bad faith like that, what’s the point of us doing all this?”

Gilnevn threw her hands up. “There is no point! You’re just sitting in my room with me asking meaningless questions when we should be fearing for our lives!”

Hurat nodded sagely. “One: I said that this is a calm time for talking. That means no flared-up emotions, and no raised voices. From any of us. Two: So this is your room, eh?”

Gilnevn buried her head in her hands. “I hate you.”

“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I’ve definitely noticed. And you know what? We’re just gonna- we both gotta unpack that together. As a team.”

“Oh yeah? Well, first of all, why are you like this? You’re all buddy-buddy to me, when I’ve known you for two days! I know I’m beating a dead horse, but we have bigger things to worry about.”

Hurat raised one finger. “First of all, you broke the ‘no raised voices’ rule again. If you keep this up, I’m putting a Speaking Pillow into play. You want this to feel like an intervention? You cool with that?”

“No.”

“Great.” Hurat reached over and grabbed a throw pillow that had been lying on the floor. “Just gonna keep this close. So. Gil. It cool if I call you Gil?”

“If you call me Gil, I’m going to tear a hole in you the size of Vänern.”

“I don’t know what that is, but I’ll respect your decision. Because I value good communication.”

Gilnevn curled up her nose. “Oh no, are you like those Egyptians who just say whatever they think the other person wants to hear?”

Hurat thought for a moment. “...No, I just like it when people get along. I’m in charge of my Domain, I’m built to mediate. And you may have noticed that I said Domain, because referring to us as a family makes you mad for some reason. And we can unpack that later.”

“Correction: You’ll make me talk about that because you have no boundaries.”

“Also, I’m not super familiar with a lot of you old world Domains. I met an Egyptian a few months ago, and he seemed fine. Not so much the other one, but that guy had his own thing going on.”

“So I’ve heard,” stated Gilnevn. “Yeah, you were there for all that stuff with the Greeks, right?”

Hurat nodded. “Right up in the business. Almost died a hundred different ways. A pretty good time, all things considered.”

“Of course you would say something like that.” Gilnevn sighed. “Yeah, my Domain’s been around a while. We didn’t visit the Greeks often, but three millennia is still a pretty good time to get an idea of them. You kinda learn to suss out the vibes of a Domain after a while. Egyptians are insecure, Greeks are… were generally kinda unhinged, stuff like that. But I can’t say I don’t see a lot of the same in my Domain, so maybe it just comes with the territory of old age. You’re, what? Five-fifty?”

Hurat stifled a grin. He was prying her open like a can of expired sardines. Nothing of value inside, but fun to do nonetheless. “Just passed seven hundred.”

Gilnevn blew out her cheeks. “Wow, we are getting old. Feels super weird, I never thought I’d ever worry about something like that. Seven hundred years… You weren’t even alive back when Ligivul wasn’t trying to kill us all, you know that? We locked her up about forty years before you manifested.”

Hurat nodded. It was always fun to freak out an Old Worlder by just how much younger he was compared to them. “So, what were things like before she got locked up? She can’t have just manifested into existence with blind hatred for her loved ones. That skill takes time.”

Gilnevn tensed visibly. “Oh, no, we were extremely good fr-” She clapped a hand over her mouth. The end of “friends” was barely audible, but she still distinctly said it. Once she was sure she wouldn’t say anything else, she pulled her hand away. “...Where’d that come from? I, uh, I didn’t mean to… Don’t look at me like that!”

Hurat emitted a noise not unlike a teapot, doubling over with tears in his eyes and shaking slightly. He slammed the floor with his fist and began cackling maniacally. “Oh…” He broke into another peal of laughter. “Oh, looks like the powers that be decided you’re in charge of the Norse now! Oh, that is…” Another wheezing fit overcame him and he fell to the floor in a shuddering fetal position, slapping his thigh.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Yeah, okay, whatever! Laugh it up, go ahead!” Gilnevn folded her arms across her chest. “I’m sure this is real funny, me not being able to lie and all. Wow, what a shocking turn of events.”

Hurat wiped a tear from his eye and got up. “Yeah, yeah.” He stifled another giggle. “Sorry, that’s just…” He took a deep breath. After a few seconds, he released it. “Okay. Think I got the hiccups, had to be sure. So, extremely good friends, huh?”

Gilnevn pressed her lips shut. Hurat just grinned. “Your silence speaks volumes, Gil.”

“You said you wouldn’t call me that.”

“What, G-? Oh, right, I did. Sorry, I’m just used to abbreviating everyone’s name. Seriously, my entire family just has the most awfully long names. I’m not stuck with Huratlaniscua or anything, plenty of people in my family have changed their names at some point. But by now, the long names are just tradition. Another example; Ometicitemo is on the short side, it’s ridiculous. Almost funny at this point.”

“Gilnevn is seven letters and three syllables, it’s really not hard.”

A confused look crossed Hurat’s face and he started counting on his fingers. “Wait, how many…” Realization dawned. “Changing the subject! Classic Domain leader tactic, you learn quick.” He laid his head on the side of Gilnevn’s bed, cupped by his hands. “Focus time, you’re not beating me. I will speak of nothing else until you tell me about you and Ligivul. I know there’s something good there.”

The cogs in Gilnevn’s head began to visibly turn as she tried to figure out a way out of this. “...First of all, who’s to say if we were especially close? Maybe that’s just how our Domain used to be with each other? You don’t know. You’ve probably only visited us, like, twice.”

It was clear from Hurat’s expression that he didn’t believe her for a second. He’d heard of tricks like that a thousand times. “First of all, in the two days or so I’ve known your Domain, you have proven that you are the exact opposite of what you just described. Point two:” He got up, walked over to Gilnevn’s dresser and picked up a small, framed drawing of Ligivul and Gilnevn posing together for the artist. “Exhibit A.”

Gilnevn raised her shoulders and retracted her neck, like a turtle entering its shell. “...When’d you notice that?”

“Couple minutes after we got here. I just wanted to get to it naturally. So, what’s the history?”

Gilnevn narrowed her gaze at Hurat, thinning the silver light in her eyes to a slit. “You know what? Fine. You win. We were, in fact, friends. More so than usual for my Domain. Wow! Something you already knew! Crazy! Are we done now?”

“I’m trying to figure out the sequence of events that led from ‘trusted friend of you of all people’ to ‘silent arbiter of the future of the planet hell-bent on wiping out everyone she’s ever known.”

“...You know?” Gilnevn leaned back into her pillows. “I don’t really know all the steps. I mean… Yeah. She’s clearly out for blood, and the last time I saw her, she was getting carted off into the Down Below for eternal imprisonment, but… I don’t think it’s like her. She always seemed kinda… okay with it. I guess. Like, I don’t remember her super well, it’s been a long time and all, but she always had it in her head that it would be for the best if she was locked up, since she really didn’t want to actually hurt anyone. Of course, then she did hurt someone, and… Yeah, my Domain was pretty scared of her. It didn’t take much to send her packing.”

“Really? Your Domain was so terrified of the idea that one day she might kill them that all it took was some guy hurting themself?”

“Well… He was our co-leader. And when I said hurt, I meant that he was incinerated.”

Hurat looked like he’d swallowed a lemon whole. “I feel like there would’ve been much less of a communication error if you’d just said that. I thought you said she wasn’t trying to cause any trouble back then? Some ulterior motive?”

“Well, I… I did put her up to it.” Gilnevn realized how that sounded. “Not the murder part, though!”

“It’s all the murder part, Gil.”

“I know, I know, let me backpedal a little. It’s just… Even before then, everyone but me treated her like a pariah. I sometimes got flak for it too because ‘Why are you treating Ligivul so well? Don’t you know she’ll kill you one day?’ And when I saw her just hanging out on the second floor on our 3,000th birthday, I just… I’d had enough.”

Hurat nodded. “Tired of her letting it happen to her?”

“Yup. I walked up to her and said, ‘Hey, go show them that you’re not gonna take this any more’, and she went and did just that. And then a bunch of illusory bees chased one of the guys in charge into a fire. You already know the rest.”

“...Really?” Hurat set the picture back on the dresser. That’s what sent her on this mass-murdering rampage? That’s weak! I thought she cared about not hurting people! I mean, yeah, okay, it’s a lot to go through, but she’s betraying her own values. She’s admitting that the people who locked her up are right! Doesn’t she realize that? I like to tell people to stick to their guns, but when I say ‘guns’, I mean good things!”

Gilnevn pulled her knees up to her chin. “Maybe she doesn’t. Maybe she doesn’t care. Wouldn’t put it past her, honestly. I mean, what did I do when she landed in hot water? Nothing. I pushed her out of her comfort zone, and when it got her whole life ripped away, I just stayed at the back of the crowd and didn’t draw any attention to myself while she had her mouth fused closed and got sent away. It’s my fault she’s like this. I was her only friend, but when the chips were down, I was just as cold as everyone else. Odds are, me leaving her to flounder like that was the last straw.”

Hurat let her settle for a few moments. “So… That was a lot. How much of it was you needing to get stuff off your chest, and how much was stuff coming out that you didn’t want to say?”

“...Fifty-fifty.”

“Mm-hmm, okay… Well, I’m not a licensed therapist, but if you want some input, I think-”

“No.” Gilnevn relaxed again. “It’s out there. That’s it. I don’t need you giving me your two cents on how I messed up before you were ever born. That’s my business. I was willing to put up with your little ‘Ooh, tell me about your murder sister, what’s that about?’ deal, but you’re not going any further. You might not deal with them much back in your Domain, but we Norse have something called boundaries. So I’ve unloaded what I felt like, and you’re not getting anything else out. We’re done talking about Ligivul. Are we clear?”

Hurat sheepishly got up. “Yeah, uh, sure. Whatever you’re cool with. I’m…” He looked at the doorway, which led to the partially-smashed hallway connecting the rooms. “Yeah, I’m just gonna go. Over here. Out. Do things. Things to do. Great talk.”

-

Ligivul heard Hurat scurry out of the room, leaving Gilnevn alone. Except for her, of course.

The area the survivors had holed up in. Ligivul had seen them enter the moment they found it, and had found a clear gap in the wall to view and listen to her sister’s conversation.

She was mostly just doing it to hear Gilnevn’s voice again, but doing that had been a mistake. She had done her best to tune out what her sister was actually saying and just filter her words into meaningless gibberish, but…

Ligivul couldn’t let herself get distracted. So her sister had felt bad about ruining her life. Huge surprise, big whoop. That didn’t change what had to be done. Fulfilling the prophecy would kill tens of thousands of humans, monsters and Primoi, but if she didn’t finish the job herself and end her Domain herself, it would just happen anyway.

She was nothing more than a pawn. She knew that. Nobody contacted a sealed-away potential mass murderer offering a shot at payback as well as the resources, plans and connections to do so because they felt like being pals. And given what she had seen from her little premonition back in that cave, whoever was pulling her strings was dangerous on a level surpassed only by Deus, maybe even rivaling him.

Then again, who said that any of that was true? When she had caved and agreed to the task, there was no big thunderbolts-and-lightning display of power to set her free of her restraints. A wild monster covered in glyphs carved into its skin had just walked into the cave, its countless matrices disabling all of the magical defenses made to keep Ligivul in and intruders out. That wasn’t a sign of globe-shattering power, it was a sign of someone who knew what they were doing and who owned a pet monster.

But when said monster had handed her a duffel bag containing all of her gear and carried her all the way to Tragnil after she had set up illusory copies of the inactive defenses, the Leviathan Council had been shocked to be greeted by the Lady in the Green Veil herself, so they weren’t in on whatever was happening. Was someone just trying to leverage the prophecy to wipe out all Primoi or something?

But… No. It was too easy. All of this was too easy. The leaders of a powerful monster city-state had seen a random Primus who slotted into the vague descriptions of a figure who, for all they knew, was a myth. And they just… went along with it. No questions, no doubt, they all simply went ‘Okay, we’ll start mustering an army’. Did they know as much as she did? How many people did this mystery figure have their claws in? They didn’t need to be ultra-powerful themself to wreak havoc. Deus’ power could be found in more places than the Primus himself.

But even if this shadowy figure wasn’t holding a far worse fate for the world than mere mass death, could she even stop now? The Council had been very enthusiastic about getting all this started, and their primary force couldn’t be that far behind Tarbella’s vanguard. Ligivul couldn’t change their minds on the basis that she had chickened out halfway through. She was the catalyst that was stated to pave the way for their dominion, but she didn’t need to be willing. She could think of a hundred ways they could just strongarm her into finishing off the last few Norse. What she wanted was already a non-factor, it had been for a long, long time. That had no signs of changing.