“What’s a ‘boon?’” Felipe whispered to Xing.

“It’s like a favor,” the older boy explained.

“I’m not offering to take out the trash, young men!” the god laughed. It returned to the hill I rose from the ground, running up and over it in several thin rivers. From atop the mound, it continued speaking loudly. “You’ve survived the audience of a god and earned his favor! In return, I might grant you a gift, a tool or even an answer.

“Thus is the dance between man and god! We inspire courage and motion from our faithful acolytes with our natural creations, then you conquer our creations with your human virtues. In turn, we reward your feats with the scraps of our power and this inspires deeper devotion! It is a cycle of constant motion!”

Tho Ki’ki’ken delivered his hearty sermon as a waterfall, crashing down onto the mud before rising again as mist to restart the trip down to earth again. Even without a mouth, his voice was clear and deep.

Xing kept his hands on Felipe’s shoulders. Since he’d been released from the god’s prison, the two had not parted. I wondered what could’ve happened in just one day to bond them so tightly. Xing asked, “If we accept your boon, then we’ll have to face another trial?”

“The boon is not yours to accept!” the god said. “Nor is it for you to negotiate! I’ve announced this privilege for rambunctious Felipe and the joyless one.”

Xing was sharp. I imagined the temptation for power would drive anybody to leap into its arms. Instead, he evaluated the option’s possible consequences. Felipe kept his focus on Xing, eager for guidance. The drama fascinated me.

“Is it safe?” Felipe finally asked.

“I don’t know,” Xing said. He finally met the younger boy’s eyes. “What do you think?”

“There’s something I really wanna know,” Felipe admitted.

“You need only ask!” The god said. Xing nodded. Felipe’s smile inspired one in the other boy. I thought I glimpsed why Xing might take a young stranger into his care.

Felipe broke from the other boy’s grip to step forward and ask, “Where is Pacha?”

The waterfall made unnaturally natural sounds. Water broke against the stone and mud.

“Who is Pacha?” the god finally asked. I imagined he was embarrassed to have to ask anything at all. “Is this another human?”

“No” Felipe said. “He’s my dog. Xing said we’re not on Earth anymore. Does that mean Pacha is here too?”

I laughed. It was a simple question. Something about how seriously the kid had asked broke my face into a wide smile. Xing tried to hide it, but he was smiling too. He wasn’t laughing like me. He was proud.

The waterfall laughed too and it made me sick that we had the same reaction. “Your dog, you say?” He laughed again. “The point of Arena is to be a crucible for gods and the followers we inspire. We only invited humans who could serve as players. We did not invite any animals of your world to participate, nor any of your very young or very old.”

“So he’s okay?” Felipe asked.

“As fit as you left him,” the god answered.

“And somebody’s putting food in his bowl?”

The waterfall fell silently again. The god started to speak again and stopped. The waterfall stopped too. Its water crashed into the ground, but didn’t move or recycle back as a stream of water. From the great puddle at the base of the hill, an aqueous hand rose and beckoned us over.

“Here is your boon, thoughtful Felipe. Accept my gift to you.” The tone of the god’s voice had softened. I looked into the water to find our reflection disappear from the water’s surface. A small studio apartment, smaller than even mine, became clear on the surface of the water. It was the middle of the night. A dog bed cushioned an old, very old, white chihuahua. Duct tape bound the bed together. Somebody had written “Pacha” into the bed with a marker very clumsily.

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Felipe gasped.

“He won’t want for a thing.” Tho Ki’ki’ken continued to explain, “Earth and the people and places and animals that didn’t join you on Arena will be unchanged when you return. You might imagine them all on pause while we gods and humans play our game.”

“What do you say, boss?” Xing nudged the kid.

“Thank you!” Felipe said.

“Not at all!” the image on the water broke and the god reformed into his large, humanoid shape. “And if you ever want to see him again, you need only ask. That reward is yours, thoughtful Felipe.”

Felipe turned to Xing to say, “We should win this game. Then I can introduce you to Pacha.”

“That’s the spirit!” Tho Ki’ki’ken said with his usual vigor. “You’ve been here far too long. Young men should go out and conquer their worlds! Find the seven treasures and return them to me. I will claim this oasis for my temple so you can find me here.”

“Come on!” Felipe said, tugging on Xing’s arm.

“You don’t know where to go!” Xing argued, but he was smiling anyway. I told them both about the town, about how they should look for a girl named Jenna and be wary of a woman called Elena. Xing and I hastily divided the spoils from the pig, and I insisted that they take the bits of tusk and tail.

“You should come with us,” Felipe said. “We make a good team.”

“You two make a good team,” I said. I was tempted to walk with them and lead us somewhere far away from the god and from Elena. I decided it would only be selfish of me. “I have my own quest. Maybe we can tell each other stories if we meet each other again.”

The pair restarted their trip through the tall grass. I followed their departure with only my eyes.

“And you, joyless one? What boon may I grant you?”

“Nothing.”

“Excuse me.”

“I decided while you were talking. I’d be disgusted with myself if I accepted a gift from you.”

Tho Ki’ki’ken’s body turned violent. His humanoid form complicated into an expanding river cutting through the air. In moments I was surrounded by a blue ribbon of rushing water.

“You would spurn a god?!”

“You can make nice and I won’t interfere. But all I saw was you trying to kill a boy. All I see are the corpses back in town!” I was yelling. I might’ve been a few words from being slaughtered but my blood was running too hot to be cool. “A god created that clay monster too, right?”

“Everything in this world is made by the gods. We also have the authority to punish those that we find intolerable. It is our right to kill what we birth!”

“Fuck that! You freaks get into an argument and we’re the ones who have to pay for it? With our lives?!”

“The impudence!” Tho Ki’ki’ken’s rivers tightened around my body. With a few more inches, they could drown me, like they almost did Xing. “Your life is our invention!”

Like they almost did Xing. He summoned a monster to orchestrate his petty trial. Why not handle the task himself? Why let me survive after I’d said so much?

“Do it then!” I egged him on. “Strike me down, if you can.”

The water hissed.

“If you can! You can’t. Of course!” I stepped forward and the waters parted for me. The god’s show ended as I furthered my epiphany. “The game would be pointless if the gods could directly kill humans, or find the treasures. It would eventually devolve into a war between you all, exactly what you wanted to avoid.”

If all, or most, of the gods were as arrogant as this one, then the competition was perfect. Illgyr’s design played right into their pride. A simple fight was beneath these deities. The testament to their authority would be winning the competition without having to do a thing. The winning god would be undisputed, crowned as winner before they even needed to exercise their own power directly upon the competition. That’s the only victory that would be absolute, that could end any argument.

The players weren’t the stars, the prize offered in Illgyr’s announcement would just guarantee we’d play. Any god that won wouldn’t actually have to offer anything in return. I laughed at the sick joke.

Even Tho Ki’ki’ken’s show with the puppy had been an act to string along two new followers.

This is the moment my goal was born. I had vaguely imagined what prize I might extract should I actually find one of the treasures. In that moment, my desire took sharp focus. I would deny the gods their prize.

“I see clearly now,” I said. “Your monsters and your creations are the only way you can influence the game. If you create obstacles for your followers, they become stronger and have a better chance of finding the treasures. Well you’d better spread the word. Tell every fake god that I should be their only priority.

“Are you hearing me? Stop me now, or I’ll never let you all have the only thing you want. You spread my gospel, you devil. I am going to tear you all down and make you beg for my help. Every god should be scared of the enemy they just made.”

“No god will ever fear you,” Tho Ki’ki’ken declared. “Arena takes its challengers seriously, boy. I will not spread your word. Your name will die and your yelling will be nothing. Now run along so that I may forget your face sooner than later.”

I was already marching towards the mountains when the god asked me to do so. For all my bluster and promises, I was left with an inescapable question. How was I going to find those treasures?