“It’s time,” Prince announced. Everyone circled him and Princess.

“Here we go,” Ash smiled and held out his hand. I could see the hot liquid moving under his skin making him glow. I hesitated and then we were shifting through space and Ash’s smile turned to alarm. Just as we took our first step into knee-high snow I grabbed Ash’s hand.

The wind hit me so hard it probably left slap marks all over my face. It would have carried me straight off the edge if Ash didn’t wrap me in a full body hug.

At least I wasn’t cold. Ash was like a radiator, keeping me at a warm seventy-nine degrees. Well I don’t actually know the temperature but it was definitely not minus whatever degrees that was making the other Worshippers look so uncomfortable.

I did see something remarkable among the gods. No, they weren’t cold. But the wind whipped them around so long hair was sucked into their heads, loose clothing became skin tight. Prince’s long coat shortened into a waist-length, blue zippered jacket that hugged his torso.

So not even the gods controlled the weather, they adjusted for it.

“Well, if you’re all going to squirm the entire time, we might as well send you back,” Princess walked around in leggings and a form-fitting sleeveless top. I saw Elizabeth, though wearing a close-fitting hoodie to keep off the wind, seemed unperturbed. She smiled at me when she caught me looking and again I thought how different she was from Toni.

All in all there were seven gods and six Worshippers.

“Or we could forget about this and go home,” Angel said his wings wrapped around him, the feathers looked fake by the lack of rustling in the wind.

“And do what for the rest of eternity?” Kitty demanded. “Prey on the pretty young humans? Even you have to get bored of that sometime, Angel.”

“You can’t trust the word of one human girl. He’s been locked in that world for over one hundred thousand years, surely his anger knows no bounds,” Veil’s voice actually shook.

A hundred thousand years, someone else told me that, still I started at the number.

“It caused the Ice Age,” Ethel appeared next to me. Her billowy gown replaced by white pants and jacket.

Ash gave me a wide-eyed stare, mouthing, “Holy shit.”

“You’re supposed to be his counterpart, do you think he just wants revenge?” I asked.

Ethel shrugged. Her too? “By now you know him better than I do.”

Was that why he was acting so weird, saying we’re stuck together? My stomach sank to my knees, hoping Kitty’s premonition won’t come true.

Prince and Princess stood in the center of our circle facing each other. Without moving, they began to sink into the snow. They sank past their knees and kept sinking. They were imbedded to their hips, their chests, their necks!

Sam and I moved forward but Ethel put out a hand to stop us, “Wait.”

The two gods were completely submerged.

Nothing happened. I looked at Ethel, she shrugged. I took a deep breath, it’s not like they’re going to suffocate.

So we stood in the knee-high snow and waited.

At least a god never did anything subtly.

Five minutes later the snow stopped. Literally. Snowflakes stopped midair, frozen in place. Like a gear reversed somewhere, the snow began to fall up, back into the sky. The snow beneath us came down to our calves, then our ankles until we actually stood on the mountain, rather than a mountain of snow. The snowflakes picked up speed until just in front of us they formed into a solid white wall.

So high I couldn’t see the top.

At that moment the sun moved into the perfect position, sending its light on the tower of ice. The ice magnified the light into a brightness that made me shut my eyes.

When I could see again the tower of ice was gone, turned back into a pile of snowflakes. On top of the pile stood the Prince and the Princess, still facing each other, and between them stood Eternal. It worked!

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

I know I shouldn’t have been surprised but after so long of nothing going my way I wasn’t expecting it to start now.

The three of them blinked at each other and took a quick step away. Like lifelong enemies caught hugging.

Eternal scanned the crowd, the god expression of blankness firmly in place. Until he spotted me. Bursting into a smile, he ripped me out of Ash’s arms.

I couldn’t breathe.

The wind felt like a million razors cutting me at the same time.

Fortunately I wasn’t conscious long enough to feel the freezing weather.

I woke miraculously with all my fingers and toes. Yes I checked.

Sam, back in his human skin, sat across from me dividing anxious glances between me and the door to the room.

He rushed over when he saw my eyes were open.

“Hey, you’re awake,” he smiled, taking my hand, “How do you feel? We all thought you died there for a minute.”

Died?

Suddenly I was glad I wasn’t conscious for any of it.

Wait. I sat up with a jerk, “Where is everyone?”

Sam eyed the door again, “Weeeell, Prince and Eternal are fighting,” he glanced back at me, “Not physically, some mental plane thing, I didn’t really get the whole story. Princess went to watch and the rest are sort of …pacing.”

I wondered if I could sigh with relief, after all they weren’t destroying something.

“If you don’t wish for it to get ugly out there I recommend you make your recovery known,” Ethel appeared in the room but she looked…I gasped…she was practically glowing.

“Yeah, apparently releasing Eternal did that too,” Sam whispered.

“Do not forget our bargain,” Blade appeared beside her.

“But you don’t need me anymore, Eternal’s here, you can talk to him yourself,” I tore my eyes off Ethel.

Blade shook his head, “I have learned of the human heart and a god’s heart is not so different. Eternal won’t refuse you.”

“Huh?” was that English?

Blade shrugged, I almost threw something at him, “I made a plea to Eternal on your behalf. Now you must make a plea on my behalf.”

“Fine,” I grumbled.

We came out to the oddest scene I have seen yet. And that’s saying something.

Prince and Eternal seemed to be locked in some sort of staring contest while Princess sat on the throne laughing…and laughing. Creepy.

The rest of the gods circled the scene watching, expressionless like moving statues. It reminded me of a picture of clay soldiers guarding the tomb of a king in China I’d seen in high school.

Sam nudged me from behind. They wanted me to get in there?

“Go on,” Ethel said.

I looked back at them, “They’re just staring at each other, how much damage can they do?”

“Well, princess is still alive,” Kitty turned towards me, moving her entire upper body instead of her neck, like the Terminator, “come save your dashing prince, or is it princes?” She cocked her head before turning to Elizabeth, “That was the correct reference?”

Elizabeth gave a weak smile and nod and I stopped paying attention. Save them? From what? What were they even doing? I got close passing a hand over their eyes. No movement.

I poked first one then the other. Nothing. I suppose this would be a good time to find out if gods were ticklish, but I quickly dismissed that thought.

I could hear the shuffling from the other gods change, like they were waking from a long sleep, paying attention to my every move. I could feel my face redden from so many staring eyes.

Quickest way to get this over with. I kicked Eternal in the back of the knee. Pain jolted up my foot; it was like hitting a concrete wall.

“Oh, did hitting me hurt,” Eternal turned towards me, actually managing sarcasm quite well, “I’m so sorry.”

The pain went as quickly as it came. “That’s enough,” guess Prince was awake too.

Yay, it worked. I rolled my eyes. “All right, now if Eternal can bring back Katana we can all go our separate ways.”

“Katana? Who’s Katana?” Eternal gave me his best perplexed look. Not even close.

“Seriously?” I snapped.

He shook his head, “I believe you humans call that joking.”

Prince looked at Blade, “I’m sorry but not yet. The Eternal and the anchors must talk.”

As if on cue, Kitty rose and the three of them disappeared. I looked to see Ethel was gone too.

The gods shuffled and disappeared in twos and threes. Only Veil, Angel, Swan, Blade and another, she looked like a little girl of twelve, remained.

“Why don’t you just make a new Katana? I replaced Feather, quite easily,” Angel’s anger, yes actual emotion anger, suggested he was still mad that I had killed his Worshipper.

“You would have killed her when Kitty told you to anyway, get over it,” I said. I’m sure she haunts me enough for the both of us.

“Enough, Angel,” Veil spoke, “You have traveled among humans more than the rest of us, you have picked up too many habits.”

Emotions were bad habits? Sam and I exchanged a glance. It made sense, those gods that spent time with people learned a greater range of emotion. Even Prince had come so far from when I met him.

“I don’t get it,” wait, why am I talking? “You’re all trembling like Eternal coming back is going to change anything. Change what? Your lives are boring, I can’t blame Kitty for going crazy. At least her anger at Prince gave her something to do for…however long this took.”

Sam nudged me with an elbow, giving me the “shut up” look. But did I listen? No, of course not.

“Humans may be weak and short-lived but at least we try things. We just went to Mount Everest and back, for some people that’s a life-long goal that they prepare for years to do. What do you care about? If anything? Is there anything you want to learn, to know--you’re not restricted by a lifetime. You literally have forever.”

My speech was met by every odd eye in the room, my heart pounded so hard I thought I would suffocate.

“Well said,” Angel laughed. No one else moved. I wondered how long I would have lived after that if the four most powerful gods wouldn’t have been pissed.

Someone put a hand on my shoulder, I jumped and yelped.

“Calm down,” it was Eternal, he didn’t look happy. “In order to bring Katana back I will need your help,” suddenly he smiled, “If you thought Everest was fun wait till you see where we’re going next.”

Crap, why do I open my mouth.