"Uncharacteristically generous of you, Hardy," Emroy observed, polishing his axe. Around him, the detritus of war lay scattered. Shattered shields, skulls and bones, broken armour, and cracked swords on scorched ground, all as representatives of his domain. "But then, you've changed."
"Oh? Have I?" Hardy made an approximation of a coy smirk. For gods in their realms, physical laws meant little, but that did come with disadvantages. "Perhaps, in your madness, you are failing to see the big picture."
The god of madness and war laughed in response.
"No, but the past you, fused to the corpse of the Huntress-Queen was never so generous. There had to be an immediate benefit," He shook his head. "Not that I am complaining."
Hardy snorted, then settled in to wait.
Around her, the mishmash of her adopted and stolen domain shifted. Serpents and dragons, wolves and hawks, intermixed with rock and stone, gems flickering, and souls formed a procession.
Eventually, the others appeared.
The twin gods of knowledge and learning, Elange and Ral, were the first, surrounded by books and shelves, and other instruments of knowledge and experimentation. They were followed by Palapon, who gave Hardy a smile and a wink, surrounded by weighted scales and bloody implements of revenge.
Miritta and Deldort were the next to appear, the gods of fertility and covenants respectively, surrounded by the appropriate representations of their domains.
Deldort looked at Hardy, studying her for a moment, before giving her a smile and nod. The former dwarf-turned-god had not previously had a friendly relationship with her, but it would seem that might change.
When Zufmuut stormed in, surrounded by chains, walls, written laws, and blinding light as the representations of his domain, he gave no acknowledgement that there were barely half of them present.
"We cannot let this continue!" He barked, forcing the meeting of gods to begin early. "The otherworlders do not belong and are contaminating the world!"
"Oh come now," Began Ral, his elven features relaxed and standing in contrast to the god of light's twisted and furious face. "True, they are adding things, but that is why the Gate is permitted to open in the first place."
"Yet, it remains open long after it should have been closed!" Zufmuut raged. "Hardy does not do her duty! Once more, her laxity threatens the world! Apocryph rises!"
Palapon shook his head as Flare appeared, the god of the sun looking slightly confused.
Slowly, the missing gods trickled in.
"Perhaps," Admitted Deldort. "Certainly, in the past, she has, like the Huntress-Queen of old, only been self-serving. But then, the Huntress-Queen was still present, if partially dead."
"Nonetheless, we are left with a dilemma. If we are to preserve this world, the otherworlders must be destroyed," Zufmuut snarled. "They threaten the civilisation of this world and its very existence!"
"I disagree," Emroy said. "True, the Gate must eventually be destroyed. Apocryph grows while it remains open, but NATO is not a threat."
"Indeed. They show great wisdom, in general, by their use and development of 'science' as they call it," Ral nodded. She smiled good-naturedly. "A process of learning, one that I agree with, and have pressed my followers to study. Why, I would not be surprised if they learned to hold back Apocryph."
"Yet that is another point in my favour!" Argued Zufmuut. "If they can learn to battle Apocryph, what would stop them from destroying us!?"
Hardy smiled.
"What indeed," She hummed. Beside her, the slain spirit of an Ancient Fire Dragon rose. Both eyes had been ruined, an arm was simply gone, and holes that had been blown into its side were remnants of the wounds it took in life. Hardy reached out, striking its hide, and the wounds slowly vanished from the spectral creature. "What are you proposing?"
Zufmuut glared at her, uncertainty flickering across his existence. He sensed something was different about her, but what, he wasn't sure.
"We unite. There are elements of the Empire that have not lost their senses, and we can together push fortune into their hands. Let the invaders find the very world itself turned against them, their works swallowed by the land, the skies striking against their artifice!" Zufmuut shouted. "We must act!"
The last of the gods of Falmart trickled in during his short speech.
Hardy shook her head.
"I disagree. We would simply be giving them a reason to use knowledge of how to kill gods," She smiled. "Yes, they have that knowledge already. You can thank the Huntress-Queen's last demigod for that."
Palapon smiled, as Emroy laughed.
Ral and Elange shared a look.
"We must refuse. We are gods of knowledge and learning, of creating, not destruction."
Duncan, God of blacksmithing and the forging of tools shook his head.
"I must agree. The Empire, bah," He huffed. "If its time has come, then its time has come, like the Elven kingdoms before it. We will outlast it."
Zufmuut snarled at the mention of the elven kingdoms, lost to time.
Deldort nodded in agreement.
"We have a duty to the people of this world, as its gardeners, but we are not its rulers."
Hardy watched, as most gods voted against this plan. Part of her was hoping for a more explosive reaction from the mention of NATO knowing how to kill gods, even if they themselves didn't have the full picture, but perhaps the knowledge was not as feared as she had been led to believe.
As her focus swept over the assembled gods, floating in the void, she noted something.
She was the only one once human, while the rest were almost entirely once elves. Deldort, Duncan, and a third she didn't care to recall the name of were the only dwarves, while Flare was a dragonkin, and Wareharun was… a forest. Somehow. She never did learn the specifics of that.
She frowned, as the gods began to argue about specifics. Zufmuut was the oldest, by far., and there was a pseudo-formal order to the ranks of gods. Those who had been elevated by their former patrons gave a level of deference, but this was not a hard rule, as Zufmuut and Emroy displayed.
She shrugged. It was beside the point.
"There is a matter I would like to bring to everyone's attention."
Everyone's focus fell on her as she spoke.
She pulled a soul to her bosom, cradling it, before feeding it the last of the Huntress-Queen's divinity.
Zufmuut recoiled at the presence of the soul.
The newborn god in Hardy's arms practically radiated the power of Apocryph.
"That one… what are you doing!" He howled.
Terror and pain rippled off him.
Curious and curiouser.
"May I present my first lover, and my consort," Hardy smiled at him. "The goddess of Apocryph, Faerel."
Deldort nodded.
"Ah, so we finally have one to guard against that darkness?" He said. "How appropriate that it is one of the dead, who commanded that dark power."
"You accept this!?" Zufmuut glared at them. He paused, thinking. "No… no, none of you would know, I am the last, after all. The last from the survivors."
He stood before the other gods.
"I am the last survivor, of when Apocryph stormed the world," He said, in a cold tone. "The gate, in arrogance, was held open, and it slaughtered us. I was only able to save a handful, who went on to build new civilisations once the Gate was destroyed by the brave sacrifice of the other gods. I will not let that sacrifice be in vain."
"I am the god of order, of light! I will not let the light of civilisation be destroyed through arrogance!" He declared. "I stand against you and your allies and will see the otherworlders cast down. Before it is the doom of us all once more."
Deldort sighed.
"So be it. But there will be no direct fighting," He declared. "You agree to only act indirectly?"
"I do."
Hardy sighed. Then smiled as Faerel whispered in her ear.
"I will abide. But I must ask," She looked around. "Who is willing to side with NATO?"
Emroy barked a laugh.
"I will!"
He was joined by the twins, Palapon, and Duncan.
"As do I," Faerel declared. "I remember another who saved us from a darkness, and she was an otherworlder."
Hardy coughed.
"Heh, I suspect Rory would bless your union, were she a god yet," Emroy chuckled.
"And who will stand with me, against this arrogance and madness!?"
Zufmuut frowned as none declared their support for his cause.
"All in favour of declaring neutrality?" Lunaryur, the god of music, asked.
Zufmuut sighed, as the rest of the gods chose neither side.
"Your foolishness will see us dead."
"No," Emroy snorted. "Your short-sightedness will. You are blind in your own light. NATO will not hesitate to annihilate a threat the likes of one of us. My demigod has read their histories. If pushed, I believe that they can just as easily kill us all, but that is all the more reason not to antagonise them."
"Cowardice? From you?" Zufmuut laughed. "Will wonders never cease?"
"Hardly. I want to be able to see it!" Emroy laughed.
Richard glanced up from the book as Edgar entered. He held a finger up to his lips, gesturing to the sleeping form of Tara at his side, her head resting on his bedside.
"How are you feeling?" Edgar asked, looking around the hospital room.
"No change. My bruises will heal, and the docs are ready to kick me out. I'll be good for boot," Richard quietly replied. Tara shifted. He glanced at her, before looking back to his friend. "She's refused to leave my side since we got back."
Edgar sighed.
"Not that. I meant the dragon," He shook his head. "Got more than a few people in therapy over it."
Richard frowned.
"I had a few nightmares after Italica, but they faded fast, and the dragon… I barely remember it. Had more nightmares about the corpse," He admitted, before shaking his head. He placed a bookmark on his page. "Is that a cause for concern?"
"No. Hell, I barely remember my first firefight," Edgar admitted. "'Course, it was rather short. The first time I killed someone was six weeks later, that shook me up worse."
"You never talk about that."
"Not something to be proud of," Edgar pointed out. "I did it because it was him or me. I am proud of having defended the lives of my comrades, and the people that would have been hurt. I don't regret it."
Edgar briefly struggled with something.
"Do you… want to talk about the fair? About what happened?"
The Canadian Major noted Richard's breathing hitched slightly, and his eyes widened by a fraction, losing focus.
"… not right now. I talked with a psych, while I was in the hospital, and… I… I know I need to, especially since his father has invited us, but…" Richard shook his head.
"Alright, later then," Edgar stood. "Rest up. Boot won't kill you, but you have a Long Patrol to learn how to lead, so you cannot afford to screw up."
"Ain't that the truth," Richard snorted. "Later."
Edgar nodded, intending to hold him to that, before slipping out.
Yao Haa Dushi sighed in relief as the soldier let her pass the checkpoint despite her not having any identification papers or knowing their language.
She blinked, as an unfamiliar sound echoed overhead. Gazing up, Yao felt her knees weaken, as some manner of beast flew overhead.
It carried a strange fabric beneath it, water dribbling from its folds.
And poking out from the edge of the fabric was the lifeless face of the Ancient Fire Dragon. The same creature the elders had sent her to find these people to enlist to kill.
She had been told to use any means necessary, be it the treasure of her clan, her words, her skills with blade and bow, or even her body, to secure their assistance.
She knew she was chosen because of her misfortune, but she had been willing and ready even to sacrifice her life if it meant saving the lives of her people.
And the dragon had been slain, rending all the prepared sacrifice unnecessary, as well as her journey.
The soldiers reached for their radios in a panic as she collapsed, calling for the medic.