No. Xeph’s voice was flat. Emotionless. Even more so than usual for the stone god. I refuse to accept that.

“It’s fine, Xeph.” Callan watched as Veritas launched into the air and deposited another rock onto their tower. It didn’t even wobble this time. “It’s only the first of three contests. If we win the second—”

You mean the contest that Veritas will choose? I think not. We will win this contest. Now, think! There must be a way!

Callan glanced about, picked up a smaller rock, and set it on his pile. He admittedly had to strain a bit, and his rock pile was almost as tall as three of Veritas’s stones, but it still wasn’t enough. “What would you have me do, Xeph? My apotheosis is maxed out.”

Not completely.

“What do you mean?” Then realization hit him. “Hold on, you aren’t suggesting—what good am I even going to accomplish with one more use of shape stone? I can’t make my tower tall enough, even if I had enough stones.”

Not your tower, Xeph said. And not Shape Stone. Use Rock Fling. Take down the other avatar’s tower.

Despite the urgent situation, Callan rolled his eyes. “Oh, right. And I’m sure no one in the crowd will even notice a giant stone forming next to my head! How’s that supposed to work?”

“Time is almost up,” Kivi Called.

If you are careful, you can form it behind your tower, quickly. Then hold it in place until you are sufficiently removed from it. No one can hold you accountable if you are already away!

“I—fine.” Callan stepped to one side. He waited.

Finally, Kivi’s voice called out, “Time is up.”

All eyes turned to Kivi, at least for a brief glance. But a brief glance was all Callan needed.

He activated Rock Sling.

Alert: 10% Apotheosis used.

Total Apotheosis is at 34%

Apotheosis has exceeded current threshold. Five minutes until quarantine protocols engaged.

Well, no backing out now. Even as the stone formed over his shoulder, Callan seized ahold of it with his mind. At the same time, he forced his feet forward, moving towards where Kivi stood, Veritas already halfway to her.

Immediately, the strain of holding back the stone hit him like a slap to the face. He’d never actually practiced moving and holding the stone—hadn’t even had the time to attempt it with his eyes open. But he did both of those things now, forcing his legs forward even as it felt like an immense weight had settled onto his spine.

“Avatar, are you alright?” Kivi asked, a concerned look on her face. The yeth villagers turned to look at him, so Callan forced his feet forward more. Just a little further...

“I’m... fine... High Priestess,” he said through gritted teeth. “Who... won...?”

“I think it obvious,” Veritas said, and even through the modulation of their mask, the voice was smug.

“Yes, unfortunately,” Kivi said, bobbing her head. “It is with much regret that I declare the winner of this contest to be—”

With an almighty release of mental pressure, Callan let go of the stone. Behind him there was a hissing sound as it cut through the air, followed by a loud thud.

Alert: 4% Apotheosis used.

Total Apotheosis is at 38%

“What was that?” Veritas asked.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Callan turned, just in time to see the other avatar’s tower wobble, first one direction, then the next. Before it pitched entirely to one side, he noticed a notch down at the bottom—it appeared that his stone had clipped the metal bracing the entire tower, moving it just enough to unseat the entire thing.

“Lucky, that,” he muttered, too quiet for anyone to hear. Anyone but his head-mate, at least.

Hardly luck. I directed the stone to exactly where I thought it would do the most damage. A choice which appears to have been a wise one.

The entire field shook as Veritas’s tower—still held together by its metal joints—struck the ground. A plume of dust went up around its edges, leaving the villagers coughing and waving their hands in front of their faces.

Once the dust settled, silence blanketed over the crowd. At last, Kivi gave another, polite cough.

“As I was saying, the winner is obvious. Avatar Callan’s tower is the only one that remains standing. Thus, they are the winner.”

Veritas stood there, staring at Callan. At first, it seemed as if they were going to challenge the ruling, but instead they simply turned and stalked off. Before they got more than a dozen steps, Callan called after them.

“We’ll see you tomorrow for the next challenge, Veritas!” No way he was letting the other avatar weasel a few more days out of him. They were finishing this.

Pausing at the edge of the field, Veritas stared away into the distance. Then they turned and glanced at Callan over their shoulder, wolf mask leering at him. “Yes, we shall. And then all will see how you and that god of yours handle a contest for which cheating will not be possible.”

“Cheating? Only cheater I see here is you.” Callan gestured to the fallen tower, still in a perfect line upon the ground. Several villagers muttered angrily in agreement, the sound rippling through the crowd behind him.

“Hmm.” With that, the other avatar set off across the field, and a few moments later they were lost amongst the trees.

Callan turned back to Belinda and Kivi. “Well, I think that went well, don’t you?”

“It was a victory, Avatar. That is enough,” Kivi said. Belinda nodded, though her expression said otherwise. Callan imagined she wasn’t exactly pleased with how close the contest had come.

Still, the mayor was yeth enough to at least keep up appearances. She turned to the crowd and raised her hands. “Avatar Callan was victorious in the first contest, just as I knew they would be. Now, I’m sure we all have plenty of work to get back to. I’ll see all of you in the town square again tomorrow!”

That elicited a mixture of mutters and chatter from the gathered crowd, who immediately began breaking up and drifting away. As Callan watched them go, Xeph spoke in his head. I am pleased that we were able to triumph. Had we lost this first contest, too much would have been up to chance. Despite their words, I suspect this Veritas may have something underhanded planned for their own challenge.

“I guess we’ll learn soon enough. Anyway, thanks for that, Xeph. Sorry it means you’ll be taking a nap for a while.”

It is not a ‘nap’, mortal, simply a state of reduced consciousness so that I may repair any damage caused by straining our bond. I will be back before morning, most likely.

“What, you don’t know?” Callan chuckled at that.

I have not taken the time to do the exact calculations, but I imagine it will not be too long. With your increased apotheosis threshold, certainly no more than—

Quarantine protocols deployed.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Time until quarantine lifted = 10:00:00

“Aaaaaand there he goes, ladies and gentlemen.” Callan shook his head. “I guess I’ll just have to make the best of the situation for the rest of the evening. No little gremlin making comments from the peanut gallery to my every decision. Oh, woe is me, how will I ever manage to survive.”

He suppressed a maniacal laugh, imaging Xeph inside his skull right now fuming, hearing every word but unable to respond. Probably he’d get a lecture or two afterwords, but... it was worth it at the moment.

“Avatar.” Kivi appeared beside him. “I do not wish to alarm you, but... I cannot access my godgifts.”

She held her hands out, straining the muscles in all four arms as if in evidence of her woes. Callan.

“What has happened?” There was a rising note of panic in her voice.

“Oh, sorry about that, High Priestess. During the contest with Xeph I had to...” He trailed off as the implications of what Kivi was saying finally settled in. “Wait, you don’t have access to your orisons, either? Like at all?”

“No, I do not. What do you mean, either?”

Briefly, Callan explained about how his apotheosis threshold worked. It occurred to him that this was the first time he’d really had to discuss it with anyone else. Last time he’d crossed the threshold he’d been so focused on rescuing Kivi that all of the quarantine ramifications hadn’t really settled in.

Kivi was silent for a time after he finished speaking. They were well and truly alone in the field now, with even Belinda having long since returned to town. Callan waited as the lud girl processed what he’d told her.

“If I understand all of this correctly, Avatar, then because you have exceeded the limits that Xeph imposes upon you, myself and all other members of the clergy are without our powers until the remaining ten hours have elapsed?”

“Yeah, that seems to be the case. Would have been nice if someone had fully explained that to me beforehand.” Callan jabbed at his head, hoping that Xeph was conscious enough to appreciate his frustration.

“Hmm. Is that also true within the temple’s domain, or simply within the one that is typically generated by yourself?”

“I... don’t honestly know,” Callan admitted. “It’s something worth checking out, I guess. For curiosity’s sake, if nothing else.”

“For more than just curiosity, Avatar.” The lud’s tone was downright grave.

“Why, what am I missing here, High Priestess?”

“Nothing, at least, nothing immediately of concern. But think, Avatar. What happens in the future, after our congregation has grown, if you enter apotheosis again? What happens to all of the priests suddenly bereft of Xeph’s gifts? How many of them might simply forsake our god, believing their favor to have been withdrawn? If it is only a few hours, perhaps none, but if it were to stretch to days, or even weeks...”

She left the rest unsaid. Even so, a chill spread down Callan’s spine at the implications.

“You’re saying it’s not just me that needs to be worried. That any time quarantine is imposed, the entire priesthood is going to suffer.”

It wasn’t a question, but Kivi still nodded in response. “And there will be those that resent the withdrawal of that power. Even now, it could be causing distress back at the main temple with Argas and Shamain. Or with Sworv and Paeral at the satellite temple, if they’ve completed their mission by now.”

“Okay, you’ve made your point, High Priestess. We were headed in that direction after the fight anyway, so let’s go check with Paeral and see... Actually, never mind. Here he comes now.”

In the distance, he could see Paeral hustling as fast as his aged legs would carry him in their direction. Callan had to admit he was impressed. Even he hadn’t noticed the exact moment when the two lud brothers had slipped away from the crowd to go meet Shamain’s reinforcements. All of them were supposed to be holed up in the temple right about now, though, so what was he doing out here?

The answer became apparent as Paeral drew closer, and Callan finally noticed the blood streaming down his forehead.

“Avatar!” The older lud nearly fell at Callan’s feet as he stumbled to a halt. “Thank goodness! It was a disaster, a complete and unmitigated disaster!”

“What are you talking about? You mean meeting our reinforcements?” Callan frowned. “Where’s Sworv?”

“Back at the temple, resting.” Paeral waved a hand behind him, and Callan let out a sigh of relief. He’d been afraid there for a moment, but... no, no sense even giving form to those particular thoughts.

“Let’s get going.” He started striding back towards town. Kivi, who had been fussing over the cut on Paeral’s head, hastened after. “Paeral, you can tell us what happened on the way. Seems like we’ve got our share of problems today.”

----------------------------------------

They found Sworv seated on a crate in the main temple room, his arm wrapped close to his chest with a piece of cloth. He leapt to his feet as Callan descended the stairs.

“My apologies, Avatar! We were unable to—”

Callan waved a hand. “It’s alright, Sworv, your brother already filled us in on the details.”

“Did he now?” Sworv cast a hard look at Paeral as he followed Kivi inside. “Did he also explain how it was his own ineptitude that led to our failure?”

“My ineptitude?” Paeral bristled at the accusation. “If you hadn’t let go of the rope, we might still have been able to at least get Uton across!”

“If I hadn’t let go of the rope, you would have more than a mere cut, brother.”

Paeral snorted. “I am made of sterner stuff than that. You always have been too easily panicked.”

“Oh, my sincerest apologies. Next time a dagger is flying towards your head, I’ll be certain to ignore it. Might solve a few problems.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?!?” The two brothers were in each other’s face’s now, and Callan was poised to leap in at the first sign of a Wurmchain. Fortunately, neither escalated the situation any further, but merely continued glowering at the other.

“Okay, I amend my earlier statement,” Callan said at last. “I think you’d better walk us through what happened again—both of you.”

Sworv and Paeral began talking over each other at once. After a bit of shouting and several demands from Callan to repeat a piece of missed information, the entire story began to come together.

It seemed the brothers had reached the cliffs without incident, set off the signal, and watched a half-dozen lud approach the cliff edge from the other side. They had descended along a path, but without a matching one on the other side, were unable to join the brothers.

Luckily, the mayor had warned of this issue and provided a workaround. The meeting spot was one of the various depots where grain was lowered to the canyon floor, to be ported up the path on the other side and off to its final destination. A pully system was rigged to the cliff’s edge, so Sworv had merely to lower a rope down to the awaiting lud and help them ascend.

It was during the first lud’s ascension that disaster struck. Four or five masked priests had appeared behind Paeral and Sworv and set to attacking them, hurling daggers and other summoned weapons.

Given their numbers and the surprise nature of the attack, it was a wonder that neither brother hadn’t been injured worse. As it was, they were forced to retreat, leaving the lud to climb back up the other plateau and seek shelter before the cultists could reign further attacks down on them.

“And that is all there is to tell,” Paeral said at last. He shot another look at his brother, as if daring him to contradict that statement, but Sworv said nothing.

“Okay, so that’s... not great, I’ll admit.” Callan glanced at Kivi. “Should we try to get a message to them? Or maybe gather a larger protective force to bring to the canyon next time?”

“I do not think the first would be wise, considering what has just happened, Avatar. As for the second, it is a possibility, though it means bringing the townsfolk fully into our circle of trust.”

Callan shrugged. “Not like that really matters anymore. Cat’s sort of out of the bag as it is.”

“Avatar?”

“Never mind,” he said, waving away her question. “I just mean that keeping our reinforcements secret isn't an option anymore. Speaking of which, how do you think Veritas found out? Could there be a spy in our midst?”

Kivi considered that a moment, then shook her head. “Possible, but I do not believe so. Veritas likely suspected we would attempt something during the contest and left their followers to watch for unusual activity. It would not have been difficult to spot Sworv and Paeral making their way to the cliff.”

“Okay. In that case, you go find Belinda. Tell her what happened and find out if we can organize an escort for our friends trapped across the canyon.”

“Of course, Avatar.” Kivi nodded and headed outside. After a moment’s thought, Callan dispatched Paeral to help her. They might not be able to do much without powers at the moment, but at least there was a little safety in numbers.

“What would you like me to do, Avatar?” Sworv said, rising unsteadily to his feet.

“For now, just rest up.” Callan cracked his knuckles as he approached the altar. “I need to figure out just how screwed we are at the moment.”

----------------------------------------

It was full dark by the time Callan collapsed back on his bed in the guest house. He was mentally and physically exhausted—had been since the first contest with Veritas ended, really, and it had only gotten worse from there.

In terms of how screwed they were, the answer was ‘very’. At least in the short term. Callan checked the timer in his vision again, the only part of his system he could access.

Time until quarantine lifted = 00:30:46...

Only a little over thirty minutes remained until Xeph was back. Which was good, because it turned out that while quarantine was still active, not only was his own domain unusable, so were the temples’ as well. No orisons, no interface, and worst of all, no communication system.

Kivi was currently stationed at the temple altar, waiting for quarantine to lift so that she could contact Shamain, but she had insisted on Callan getting some rest. There was another duel to face tomorrow, after all.

With luck, she’d have some good news for Callan in the morning. Because they’d had nothing but bad since the contest ended. Not only was their search party of yeth villagers unable to find the lud reinforcements on the other plateau, there had been signs of other yeth getting there before them. So there was a good chance that their reinforcements were in Veritas’s clutches already.

In other words, they were in a worse state than when they’d started this morning.

Sighing, Callan kicked his shoes off without looking. His arms and legs ached from climbing up and down the canyon walls, even despite him still having access to his improved stats. Though his improved Brawn and Fortitude were probably the only things that were still keeping him moving at the moment.

But now at last he could rest. He closed his eyes.

The sound of someone clearing their throat made him open them again.

“Whoever it is, I’m not interested,” he said without looking. “Unless the town is literally on fire, it can wait until the morning.”

“Now, that’s not very polite.” The voice was familiar, but it took Callan a second to place it. He sat up. “And after I’ve been waiting all day for you to come home, too.”

Alyssa stood in the doorway, leaning slightly against the frame. A mischievous smile played across her face.

“Oh, hey Alyssa. Did your mom send you?” Callan flopped back onto the mattress.

“No, not this time.” The sound of Alyssa’s footsteps drew closer until she was in his line of sight again. The yeth woman studied him for a moment. “I’m here entirely for my own reasons.”

“Huh.” Callan rolled over and propped and arm under his head so he could talk to her more easily. For the first time, he noticed that Alyssa was wearing that yellow dress of hers again. Callan arched an eyebrow.

“What’s with the dress? I hope you’re not planning to seduce me.” He chuckled. “I’m so tired I don’t think I could move right now if I wanted to.”

“Oh, I’m well aware that this dress doesn’t have any effect on you.” Reaching up, Alyssa unsnapped something, and let the dress fall to the floor. “So I thought I’d just skip over the usual foreplay and get to the fun part.”

She was naked underneath, and this time wasn’t even making a halfhearted effort to hide herself with a sheet. Callan gaped, off-guard and rendered momentarily speechless.

Alyssa took a step forward and leaned her face close into his own. “And as for not being able to move... why not leave that to me?”