There wasn’t room for anything as petty as fear anymore. I had shoved that aside moments after watching Duncan fall. I wasn’t afraid of death at this point. Or being turned.

Actually, that was wrong. I was afraid, but not of my hunters. I was afraid of failure. If I fell prey to the evil here, it would mean that the Goddess would have brought me here for nothing. That the other’s sacrifices would have meant nothing. Duncan, Chad, and Kit. I was sure I would never see them again, even if I managed to survive this.

I ground my teeth together and blinked away the last of my tears. There was no time for grief anymore either. Now I was just angry. I wanted revenge and was sorely tempted to march back and try to save Kit, even if that was a suicide mission. I felt Lily heavy in my fist and imagined thrusting her through Bella’s chest, relishing the look on her face as she perished at my hands.

“Aaaaaaaaammmmmmeeeeeeeey”

Her voice rang out crystal clear in the cold air.

I slid to a stop and frantically looked around, trying to catch any evidence of her nearby, a glimpse of her nails scratching a tree trunk as she stalked me or her dark tail dancing through the air. But instead, I saw nothing.

She was toying with me. The hunt was a game to her. I shuddered, not from the cold, but from the realization this had all been part of her grand design. A long, drawn-out game. With nothing else I could do, I started running again.

I was convinced that, while it was her magical power that had attacked Julius, she still had limits. She didn’t have the strength for the magical veil I had proposed concealed the carnage in Rosethorne from us yesterday. Jumping from that conclusion, the destruction and bloody display from this morning was swiftly constructed for our return.

She had preyed on the townspeople of Rosethorne. She had done it deftly enough that the town didn’t know what was happening until it was too late. The town was left for us to find intentionally untouched and pristine. She knew that bait would be too enticing to look past and would lure us back. We had played right into her claws.

We followed the bloody trail she had left us further into the woods. We had gotten separated, either by choice or by the unfriendly terrain. The weather had only further tipped the scales in her favor.

All stages of the game.

Had it not been for her insistence that the desired outcome of this whole ordeal was Duncan’s death, I would have already fallen back on my suspicion this was a plot involving me.

Only now, I was the center of her attention. Duncan now removed, I was a new playmate she hadn’t been expecting.

If only she knew what was actually just outside her reach…

I was Amelia! I was the star! I wasn’t a mere plaything the boys brought for their entertainment! I was so much more!

Becoming Amy had sent so many chaotic ripples through our group. It had shattered my self-confidence I had built up as Amelia, and my ability to support the boys had been completely upended. It had pushed Ash in a positive way, but Dorian had started to aimlessly drift, confused by what it all meant. He hadn’t displayed Chad’s toxic reaction, but I could tell he was also struggling with his future as my companion.

And Chad… Chad had lost his faith in the star, and in me, because of Obarith’s interference. He’d mistakenly thought he was being punished by his family’s God for his wavering faith. I felt like we had recently turned a corner and had started down the road towards the recovery of his faith, both in the Goddess and in me, but now I didn’t know if he was even still alive. Four lieutenants had been sent to finish him off, including the tall one, and I was powerless to help him. Bella was in complete control, just as she’d been when I’d watched her kill Duncan.

I ground my teeth together the more frustrated I became thinking about it.

I’ll show her! The Goddess chose me over anyone else, she had said, because I possessed the strength to change the lives of Eitania for the better. The lives of my friends, some of whom I had lost today.

Because I had been a pawn. Unwitting sure, but a pawn in a game, nonetheless.

I stopped again and stared at my feet, sinking deep into the red snow. It had been picking up in intensity since I had started running from Bella and now there were several inches covering the ground and trees. I stood there alone, in a pool of red, and imagined Duncan’s blood had followed me as I ran away in shame.

“Remember what I told you, lass. I know a fighter when I see one.”

Enough was enough.

I looked up and saw a small crack had parted in the red clouds, enough that I could see the starry night sky up above.

And a full moon, brilliant as the night it had been when I first arrived.

Alright Goddess. Whether you’re with me now or not, it’s time I got back to work.

I turned back and yelled into the night, “I’m done running, Bella! Our game is over!”

As if she had been lying in wait for this moment, Bella appeared from behind the trees, flanked by five more of her males. One clawed hand scratched into the bark of a tree as she pushed past it. In the other she carried Minerva, lovingly propped on her shoulder, and tucked in the crook of her arm. She had claimed it from Duncan’s hands and now carried it like a child with a new prized toy.

She grinned at me playfully, the enjoyment of the hunt plain on her face.

“That was fun! I’m looking forward to our next game!” She clapped her hands together again, bouncing on the tips of her toes. “Though I must say how ruthless it was of you to throw a Zannister in our path to buy you some time. I didn’t think you had it in you already to be so callous with your males!”

I stared her down.

“I didn’t use him as a distraction. He chose to sacrifice himself to buy me time to escape your reach!” I spat.

An exaggerated frown formed on her face, “Well, such a shame you decided to stop running and now wasted his life! Some friendly advice from your best new girl? Hurry and rid yourself of a conscience, so those kinds of choices won’t haunt your dreams.” she advised.

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She then sighed as she closed her eyes and held a hand to her forehead in disappointment, “But you are right, our game is now over. As fun as it was, it had to come to an end eventually.” She reopened one eye and smirked, “Are you ready for what happens to the loser?”

I brought Kit’s knuckles and Lily to bear.

“I don’t think you and I are on the same page. I’m not accepting your offer to turn me, and I’m not surrendering. I plan on going out kicking and screaming.” I pointed at Minerva in her grasp, “And when I’m done, I’m going to pry that from your stiff fingers.”

She swung Minerva out in front of her one handed and gave it a twirl.

“Must you? I just got this! It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it? I must admit I’m quite taken with its brutal design and think it suits me! I’m not one to take trophies from my kills typically. I am many things, but sentimental isn’t one of them.”

And without warning, she hurled Minerva straight at me.

Spinning end over end, it whizzed past me inches to my right, narrowly avoiding cleaving through me and ended up lodging itself in a tree trunk just behind me with a loud CHONK.

I glanced at the weapon behind me, longing to pull it from the tree and start laying waste to the vampires in front of me, but I knew that was a pipe dream. Much as I loathed to admit it, Minerva was still too heavy for me to wield properly and would be more of a hindrance than help.

No, Lily and I would finish this fight.

Bella looked confused. “Didn’t you say you wanted it? Go ahead! Take it!” She licked her lips as if daring me to call her bluff, “I’m eager to see what you can do with it!”

I flashed Lily in front of me. “While Minerva and I have a lot of catching up to do, my dagger is still craving vampire blood.”

It was my turn to smirk.

“You said you knew there was a power I craved. A power that I wanted, that I needed so I could carve my own destiny. You were wrong.”

She cocked an eyebrow.

“I’ve got all the power I need already!” I shouted.

The males snickered and Bella giggled along with them. “You are too funny! I really wish you weren’t so determined to resist, but if this is truly how you want to finish our game, we can do it your way. I just wish it hadn’t come to this, Amy.”

I raised my chin proudly. “That’s not my name.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s what you told me earlier, or have you hit your head since I saw you last?” she quipped.

I stood as straight and tall as I could, all five feet of me, and like I had when I introduced myself to the Goddess that first fateful night, I shouted defiantly into the night.

“My name is Amelia!”

No sooner had the words left my mouth, the forest exploded with light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I blinked away the fading explosion from my vision and saw I was now floating in an empty black space. I was naked and featureless, like a blank canvas before an artist’s brush turns it into the vision it’s meant to be. The only other thing present with me in the blackness was a bright light. It was massive, as if I had gotten too close to one of the stars in the night sky.

“It’s about time!”

A familiar woman’s voice that I had begged to hear again for countless nights in a lonely temple cut through the black.

“Goddess!” I cried out. I had so many things I wanted to say. So many things to ask.

“Where am I?”

She giggled, the childish laugh tugging further at my emotions.

“We’re just in your mind, silly! You haven’t been summoned again or ripped to yet another new world. Time is momentarily frozen while you and I catch up!”

She then got serious, “We don’t have long though. My ability to connect with you out here is severely limited, so chop chop!”

Not long, huh? Well then, she better be ready, because I had a list of questions!

“Why did you leave me? Why did you let Obarith change me? If you could reach out like this, why did you wait until now? Until after— after—?” I choked away the last question.

She gave a motherly sigh, the kind that tells a child that, in the end, what I had experienced was for my own good. But the sigh was not heavy with a lack of patience. Instead, it felt filled with sorrow.

“You weren’t ready.” She explained. “Any continued intervention on my behalf would have just served to stunt your growth. The progress you made wouldn’t have felt like your own, but rather one that I had fueled. You needed to discover this world for yourself. You needed to discover the reasons for your passions and your choices on your own. And you found them! You feel a part of this world now rather than an outsider.”

I heard the smile form in her voice.

“And, more importantly, you found yourself.”

I felt a warm glow growing inside me. She was proud of me.

Her tone took a sour turn.

“As for my husband, I allowed no such thing! He took it upon himself to mute your abilities and my blessings upon you. But as I am sure you noticed, through dedication and hard work, you were able to push through his power and start re-awakening what was still there!”

That made sense. I had felt a lot of things coming back over the past several days. I had gotten faster. My endurance was better. I was positive I was stronger than Earth Amy had ever been, even if I still had only reclaimed a fraction of Amelia’s strength.

I knew time was of the essence, but I noticed she had casually confirmed something else.

“So, it’s true then? That repulsive, arrogant God is your husband??”

I could sense her shaking her head slowly, as if in agreement with my own disbelief.

“That is a very long story, one that we don’t have time for now and that I may share with you one day, when you are ready.”

“I am ready! After all that I and my friends have suffered today, how could I not be ready?!”

“You mean the same kind of ready you were when you took on the horde and then came crying to me to go back home, like a lost little lamb?”

I winced. What she said was true, but it didn’t sting any less.

She softly purred at me, and I felt a warm stroke on my featureless face.

“You will have to continue to trust me, Amelia. All will be revealed in due time. But now, don’t you have a game to finish?”

While she was right about my unfinished business with Bella, I took offense in how she chose to word it.

“I won’t play in any games anymore. I won’t be a pawn any longer. I’ve realized I have the power to take control of my own life and make my own decisions and I won’t let that be taken away from me again!”

“But there is always a game, Amelia, and you will always be part of one.”

She was chiding me now.

“But you’re half right.” she eventually continued. “While there will always be greater plans in motion that you will be swept up in like an angry tide, you do have the power to decide how you respond!”

I chewed this over in my head and realized she was right. After all, I, myself, had openly claimed that I was fulfilling a vision of the Goddess’ future and the greater plans she had in motion several times. I just had never viewed myself as a pawn in her goals, as our visions for Eitania were aligned. I had never thought of my place within it as a bad thing.

She could tell I was pondering over this new information.

“Glad you seem to be catching on. And yes, if you wanted to be crass about it, you could consider yourself a pawn of mine, but know that I view you differently! You are not just a piece on a board to be sacrificed, and you should make every effort to ensure you do not become one, not even to me!”

I heard an ear-splitting thunderclap and knew she had clapped her hands and was rubbing them together in excitement.

“Now this may sting a little, but you’ve earned a little something extra from the trials you have overcome. I think you’ll enjoy it!”

Her voice rose to booming levels, filled with power. The sass and casual manner she usually conducted herself with was gone. Her voice now properly reflected her status of a deity, and her light began increasing in intensity.

“Are you ready, Amelia?” she bellowed.

Never more confident in any answer I had ever given, I stood fast against the overwhelming brilliance of her presence as it enveloped me and ate away at the darkness. I was ready. This time, I understood the stakes.

“I am!”

A shot of light burst from the star and pierced my form. I immediately felt the white-hot power pulsating through me, like I had reached out and touched a celestial body to become one with the heavens themselves. The power rushing through me in waves was overwhelming, and I felt moments away from cracking like an egg! I ripped open my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Instead, energy erupted from my eyes and open mouth as I exploded with a light all my own.

The Goddess spoke again.

“Rise again, Amelia, as my Champion.”

It was time to make waves.