Toad’s extremely ominous proclamation about the scouts didn’t actually materialize into any horrifying violent encounters. For the most part the journey was ponderously slow. Any who has driven in a whiteout blizzard knows you don’t make great time doing that. Off roading in those conditions was ponderously slow.

Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t standing still. I would say we topped out at maybe fifteen miles per hour, and probably averaged something closer to nine or ten. The scout vehicles would drive ahead and find the best path. Then behind them were ten plow-like vehicles that would literally make the way. They had massive blades on the front that cut down drifts and heavy rollers behind that packed and flattened the ice into a makeshift road behind them. Then a mixture of roughly 1000 bus and cargo trucks filled in the middle of the convoy, with a few hundred more military-like vehicles protecting them.

The industry of this was incredible to me. A city had packed up and hit the road. The crazy thing was I had been in worse traffic.

“You guys just had this ready?” I asked. As our vehicle positioned itself more toward the front of the procession.

“No,” Toad said , shaking his head. He frowned and continued, “This was all assembled for us to make a collective journey to the Dark.”

“So, we are diverting the soldier to the tower?” I asked. Don’t get me wrong the pressure and quiet terror of leading people into a battle was always there, but the reality of it was becoming more real.

Toad watched the vehicle for a long moment, “Yes, everyone not going to the tower will continue one to the entrance to the Dark we found. They have enough fuel to return to the tower when we take it.” He wasn’t putting on a show. He truly believed we would win, but he wasn’t above hedging the bet.

Then again watch my willingness to gamble evaporate into nothingness when children’s lives are on the line. The next thought hit like an icepick to the back. Isn’t that what I was doing? The answer wasn’t comforting though. No, I was going to spend lives.

The truly upsetting bit, to me at least, was this realization wasn’t going to stop me.

I felt my thumb touch the nail of my pinky. I am not the Titan. Wallowing in anxiety wasn’t going to help

Treat this like everything else. Define a goal, establish a plan and then act. I needed to win a war. In order to do that I needed to get to the tower with the capacity to close the gate. In order to do that I needed to get my army past Grond and one other obstacle minimum. For the unknown threat I was doing basically everything that could be done. I had scouts looking and was with a team of hard cases ready to kill anything that threatened us.

That left Grond. I had been letting Aiko… stew with unasked questions. I don’t think it was working, or she had the skills to not let it show. Possibly an inconvenient combination of the two. Probably the inconvenient combination of the two, Adora did play a hand in this.

I was going to have to actually engage on this subject, “Aiko, what can you tell us about Grond?”

“Very little,” She said, after a brief pause she added, “I am sorry but most of our interactions were as me being a priestess of Adora.”

I could tell this was going to be annoying, “Meaning?”

“That basically everything he told me is under the purview of Sacred Silence. The Priests and Priestesses of Adora often are involved in extremely personal issues, and while shame is just a tool for controlling others, it is not our place to share others' private concerns,” I was almost taken a back until she finished, “With anyone other than Goddess Adora.”

“You tell Adora everything?” I asked.

Aiko shook her head, “No, only what she asks about. Goddess Adora is very wise. She helps us on particularly delicate issues. She helps us help others.”

“And Adora holds to this Sacred Silence as well,” I asked.

“In all but the most extreme cases, yes,” Aiko said.

That was a lot of words to say no.

Seeing the look on my face Aiko continued, “Those extreme cases tend to be imminent threats to others or catastrophic mismatches of partners. Only Goddess Adora can break our order’s Sacred Silence. She is the only one with the perspective to do so humanely.”

There it was. Leave it to Adora to turn something that sounded like a good thing and make it into something dark and ugly. No, no, you can trust the followers of Adora. We have rules of confidentiality. It totally isn’t a trick to create a spy or blackmail network for Adora while preying on people in a vulnerable state.

Adora is just the worst.

“Let’s approach this from a different direction,” I said, focusing on the here and now. “Grond is demanding to talk to you. Well actually that I turn you over to him. What happens if I do that?”

Aiko considered that, “He will… I honestly don’t know. I am very concerned about violence though.” She didn’t show it. Her words were careful and measured. Then again maybe this was how she looked scared. Being quiet and helpful can be a survival mechanism.

This pronouncement caused most of us to exchange looks.

“Didn’t he carve your face like a pumpkin?” Brunhilda asked, she was trying to strike a balance between empathy and blunt acknowledgement of the truth. That question was where she landed.

“Yes,” Aiko admitted. “That entire situation was deeply regrettable.” She was quiet for a long time, “I had been working with Grond for over a decade. He felt betrayed because of what was happening in the dungeon. He lashed out at me” She sighed, “He meant to hurt me. My concern is he is beginning to spiral.”

“Beginning?” Sunit asked incredulously.

“The strain of Godhood is incredible,” Aiko said matter of factly, “Many of the newly elevated implode within thirty years of reaching Divine Scale. It is tragic and often lethal to those around them. Grond was particularly unlucky upon ascension. His choices of purviews were very limited.”

“You mean to say Beasts was the best option?” Sunit asked.

Aiko considered for a very long time, “The others were, Love, War, and Justice.”

“Fuck me,” Brunhilda muttered.

Sunit sucked air through his teeth.

“I take it those are all bad choices,” I said.

“Most gods don’t share purviews,” Angelica explained. “Picking one of their purviews is a great way to have them crush you. Anyone that picks the Death purview Debbie nabs immediately.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“That doesn’t seem very just. How does whoever has the Justice purview square that?” I asked.

“There is no God of Justice, or Commerce, or Communication, or Order, or Hope.” Angelica said counting on her fingers. “Nadia killed the originals and killed anyone that tried picking them up afterwards. It is a standing threat.”

“Those are very specific targets,” I observed. No wonder the world was… well like this.

“Let’s not dwell on that,” Brunhilda said, “Is she trying to defend Grond?”

“Of course not,” Aiko replied disappointed. “I merely empathize with him.”

“He’s trying to kill ya,” Brunhilda pointed out.

“It is possible to empathize with someone while also being a target of their wrath,” Aiko said. “I understand him, which is why I am afraid of him.” She almost sounded like an animal handler. Someone that worked around hippos wasn’t going to blame the hippo if they got bit. That said they would absolutely sound the alarm if one was loose.

I hated that I understood what she meant. I am not shy about my - the Titan’s- biological parents being awful people. They were angry, unstable and often violent. The hard truth is, and it took me a long time to understand this, they were scared, stressed and fighting poverty. My -the Titan’s- mother was sixteen when he was born. His father was all of nineteen. Old enough to be tried as an adult but not mature enough to rent a car. They weren’t ready to be parents, and the adult’s in their lives brow beat and forced them into it and dysfunctional union. My- the Titan’s- grandfather, Jeb, always referred to their wedding as a shotgun wedding. As a kid I didn’t understand, and as an adult I knew it wasn’t a joke. Even now they haunt parts of my mind. I dread their memory, but I understand the damage they did came from weakness.

That’s not an excuse. There is no excuse for abuse. Understanding is however the first step in breaking the cycle. I didn’t hate them… most of the time. This is going to sound bad but it helped that they were dead. There isn’t much point in holding on to anger after they are gone. You just want to get past some people. Be free of them.

I was pretty sure Aiko was being optimistic though. No disrespect to her, but abusers are universally known for their skill at manipulation for a reason. Maybe she knew something I didn’t, but Grond didn’t strike me as a kid out of their depth.

“So you won’t tell us, his weaknesses,” I asked, coming to terms with the reality that I was going to have to deal with Grond… violently.

“I can’t, without breaking faith with Goddess Adora,” She replied.

Sunit and Brunhilda exchanged dubious looks.

“Let’s talk through the options here,” I said before we got off track, “What are the odds he just wants to talk to you?”

“Basically zero,” Aiko said.

“So we can’t talk him down from a fight?” I had to ask, just to be sure.

“Not without him feeling as if he has won an exchange with you,” Aiko admitted. She was tensing.

I didn’t like that I was gauging whether or not her body language was an act.“How valuable are you to him compared to an Aspect and his claws?”

Aiko fidgeted, “He will claim he wants me the most, but the claws are his highest priority. I probably do rank higher than the Aspect to him.”

Everyone considered that for a moment. I don’t think she was acting.

Toad broke the silence “Okay. I’ll be the bad person and ask the question. Will he go away if we hand you over?”

Aiko considered it for a long time. I mean several actual minutes of everyone just staring at her. Finally she spoke, “No. I don’t think he will.”

“That’s convenient for you,” Brunhilda said, crossing her arms.

“I believe her,” Brand said. He had been watching her this entire time, studying her.

“So we fight him,” I declared. May as well make it official. I trusted Brand, and if he had contradicted my take on Aiko, things would have been very different.

“You’ve talked me into it,” Sunit chipped in. His moustache twitch with a smile.

“You wanted to fight him before I started talking,” I pointed out.

“I am not saying I was a hard sell,” Sunit admitted.

“That leads to the next question. How do we kill a god?” I asked.

“Doug, haven’t you already done that once,” Brand asked.

“Yeah with his bare hands, it was extremely violent,” Brunhilda added she mimed punching the floor.

“Sorta, but I am going to go out on a limb and say, I did it wrong.” I argued. “He is still alive, you see.”

“Ah,” Brand nodded. “That is a hard to argue result.”

“So how do we kill a god in a way that sticks?” I asked.

We all looked at Angelica. She looked back at us. After realizing everyone but the driver was staring at her she said, “Okay I know the answer, but you get why I resent the implication right?”

“Just exposit, woman,” Brunhilda goaded.

“You know the answer too!” Angelica argued.

Brunhilda shrugged, “true, but it is kinda funny to put you on the spot.”

“I gave you nail polish,” Angelica said betrayed.

“Thank you,” Brunhilda said. “Stop stalling.”

“Fine,” Angelica said, not quite pouting.

“I love you for your mind,” I coaxed. Aw shit I said it. I had meant to say we love you for your mind and phrase like a question. Eh, fuck it.

Angelica snorted, “Damn right you do. Okay so every Divine Scale player has an Essence. They basically never manifest that on earth and keep it in some divine plane. The reason for that is if that gets destroyed,” she gestured her hands exploding apart, “Poof! They’re dead. So they interact with the world through avatars, basically a remote controlled body that can channel the power of their essence. So if you want to kill a god, you basically have to destroy all of their avatars, then force them to manifest on earth, and then kill them.”

“Destroy their avatars. Force them to manifest. Kill them.” I repeated.

“That’s how to kill a god in three very difficult steps,” Brunhilda agreed.

Sunit frowned, “That seems like a god dying is basically an act of negligence.”

“More like a deliberate and coordinated effort,” Brunhilda corrected. “That or Nadia.”

“Nadia kills everything,” Sunit pointed out.

“We’re saying that name a lot,” Angelica pointed out.

“What is Na-their name like the devil? Speak their name and they will appear?” I asked.

“Don’t be silly Doug.” Brand rebuked gently. “They just annihilate anyone they think is going to cause trouble.”

“How do they do that?” I asked.

“The current working theory is they can sense everything on the planet,” Sunit said.

“Our intelligence is well beyond the planet,” Brand said.

“They do keep attacking the moon,” Angelica added.

“It doesn’t look different,” I said suddenly, very uncertain of that.

“The dark side,” Angelica elaborated.

We all considered that for a moment.

I decided the moon was a night time problem. “Let’s get back to Grond. Do we know how many avatars he has?”

“Can’t be many,” Brunhilda said rubbing her chin, “My father only has three, and he has been a god much longer than Grond.”

“Are you sure we should be hearing that?” Angelica asked.

“If you fuck with Mendus, you fuck with the Fantasy Coast,” Brunhilda pointed out. “He’s the nice one. No one wants the God of the Sun, or the Goddess of the Moon, or the Storm King to step in on his behalf. Those are just the heavyweights. We also have the God of Wheat, Goddess of Corn, Three Gods of Alcohol, a Goddess of Roads, and let’s not forget all the demigods.”

“You included?” I asked.

“I am not a daddy’s girl, but damn right,” She said.

“Let’s assume two more avatars then, are they the same strength as the first?” I asked.

“They should be,” Brunhilda said. “The avatars default to the Divine player's god level. I think it works different with angels and demons.

I almost looked at Angelica, while I am a dumbass, I am not quite that dumb. “ let’s focus on the little g, god, before we talk about demons. Would destroying his avatar be enough to goad him into manifesting his essence?”

Everyone looked at Aiko.

“I would say it is a fifty-fifty chance.” Aiko replied. “He doesn’t always think things through if he is angry.”

“This seems doable, so what am I missing?” I asked.

“Well his Essence is as strong as a level fifty demigod with all his Divine Scale perks and Traits on top of it,” Brunhilda supplied.

“Mind that third step,” I muttered.