“When you said you’d make introductions for me, I didn’t think you meant immediately,” I said as Havier Regina led me through the twisting labyrinth which was the Castalor arena.

  “There’s no time like the present lad,” he replied, marching regally beside me as his fancy cloak billowed behind him. “Besides, I already had this meeting in the books. Loki and I have some business to attend to.”

  “How is it that you know the gods so well?”

  “I wouldn’t say I know them well. But I do know them. I’ve been alive for a long time, Kaleb. Passing the level cap will do that. You don’t live this long and get this powerful without making a few connections. The world becomes imperceivably small when you’ve lived in it for a few hundred years.”

  A few hundred years? I thought. I knew he was old but that was mad. I wondered what life felt like after that long, it had to be pretty dull. Perhaps that was why men like Havier, and the gods, had such ridiculous ambitions. Not that I can talk…

  I followed Regina through a winding stone tunnel which led to an elevator. Two guards stood at either side and my dragon’s eye showed me that they were both level cappers. They moved aside for us without a word, saluting Havier with a single fist across their hearts. The same salute used by the old guard of Adventure Society… and Morningstar guards.

  The elevator rose with a dull grumble and opened out onto a brightly lit, lavish room. As we stepped inside I saw, through the opening on the far side, the back of a throne-like chair. We had to be behind the golden platform where the gods were sitting during Chrysus’ opening speech.

  Golden chalices, cutlery, ornamental weaponry and decorated shields cluttered tables and hung from the walls. An open firepit dominated the middle of the room and a sweet-smelling incense stung my watery eyes. Furs from creatures, unknown to me, littered the floor and piles of freshly cooked meats, breads, and cheeses sat artistically on the largest table.

  The room was filled with people, music, exotic dancers. It seemed as if Loki was throwing a party. The men dressed in furs and the women dressed in… very little. They drank from horns and clanked them together as they rowdily engaged with the various activities in the room.

  “Are we interrupting?” I asked Havier quietly. “It looks like they’re in the middle of a celebration.”

  “No, no,” he replied with the wave of his hand. “It always looks like this.” Marching forwards into the fray, he loudly shouted, “Loki, have you forgotten about our meeting?”

  In a flash the room went still. The music stopped, the dancers stopped, the revelry stopped, and all eyes turned towards us. At the head of the room, laid on a throne of pillows, an unassuming man sat up and pushed two women – a lycanid and a garuda – off him. The women looked indignantly at me before pulling covers over themselves.

  “Ah, Havier,” the man, presumably Loki, said with a wide smile. “Please accept my deepest apologies, I must have,” he looked slyly at the two women, “lost track of time.” They giggled as if it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard and he shooed them away, slapping the backside of each as they left. The entire display made my head hurt.

  Getting to his feet, the man pulled on a loose cloak made of dark fur and did up the buttons on his tight-fitting pants. His head was shaved on the back and the sides but left abnormally long on top, held in a thick braid which swung down the back of his neck like a tail. On either side of his head were tattoos of ravens, rudimentary in design. He had many scars on his chest and an arrow tattooed on his lower abdomen which pointed towards his crotch.

  “Now then, shall we start this meeting of yours, Havier, whilst you explain to me why Diako’s champion is accompanying you?” He asked, suddenly much more serious as he raised a single eyebrow at me and took a seat at the head of his long table. He gestured for us to sit down and two of the men sitting near him moved away.

  “Young Kaleb is here to discuss forming an alliance with you, with Diako’s blessing of course,” Havier replied, taking his seat and grabbing at a large horn of what I assumed was mead, given the setting.

  “Is he now?” Loki replied in a sing-song voice. “And what, pray tell, does young Kaleb hope to gain from forming an alliance with me?”

  I waited a moment before replying and Havier nudged me in the arm. “We have reason to believe that there is a plot to usurp the gods and I… Diako, wishes to form strong bonds of friendship with you and other members of the pantheon to combat this. He believes that you will be stronger together.”

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  “Does he now?” Loki asked playfully, “and how many times did Diako practice that opening speech in the mirror before coming to me?” He laughed and the other people in the room joined in loudly. I felt completely out of my depth; this guy was so hard to read. “Wipe that frown off your face young one. Do you not partake of the jesting banter where you come from?”

  “We do,” I replied. “But it has to actually be funny to count as banter…”

  I locked eyes with Loki for a moment and his straight face cracked as he laughed. I joined in, though it was oddly awkward. There was something about the small beads of aura he was releasing that I didn’t like, stale like tepid water.

  “As it happens, I already know of the dangers of which you speak,” Loki continued. “In fact, I will be holding audience with Chrysus later today to discuss this exact issue. If I were to take a wild guess, I’d bet Diako doesn’t plan on including the mercantile god in this alliance of his, does he?”

  “Considering that Chrysus is the source of this danger, I highly doubt it.”

  “Your views are too linear young one,” Loki smiled, reaching over and pouring more of the sweet, sticky alcohol into his horn. “If Chrysus is the dangerous one, then surely by siding with him I’d be keeping myself out of harm’s way?”

  “Or you’d be making yourself vulnerable to a sneak attack. You do know he plans to rule over the entire pantheon right?”

  “So I’ve heard, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. Every group needs a leader don’t they? A High God, so to speak, to keep the others in check. System knows I don’t want the responsibility so why not let Chrysus take the helm? Athena once held that role and it worked wonders. Besides, even if I were to side with Diako I wouldn’t get to see my arse planted on the throne of the heavens now would I? Not that I want the role, but the point I’m making is that it matters not whose side I take, only what I stand to gain by taking it.”

  I paused for a moment, taking a swig of the honey-laced mead in front of me. It warmed my throat and chest and tasted syrupy. It was good.

  “So shall I take that as a no then, or are you asking for a bribe?” I asked.

  “One should never work in definitives, Champion of Diako. I’ll see what Chrysus has to offer me and I’ll decide from there, unless you have a more tangible offer to make me?” He raised his eyebrows at me and I didn’t reply. I had no authority to bribe him nor did I particularly want to. An ally that can be bought isn’t truly your friend is he? “A pity, but come now, don’t look so bleak. You sit at the table of a god, almost as equals. That has to be enough to make any mortal’s day.”

  “I don’t believe in gods,” I replied cooly. “I recognise your power, but I won’t mistake it for divinity.”

  “Well then, I guess that shows me,” he laughed but I felt his aura bearing down on me. I didn’t show it though. My usurper skill protected me from his influence so instead I sat straight faced, looking him dead in the eyes as if I couldn’t feel the mounting pressure of his aura pushing against my skill-shielded chest. After a moment I saw a flicker of confusion on his face, followed by recognition. He hid it well, but my perception was high enough to catch it, just.

  “Well, aren’t you an interesting one. I can’t wait to see you do battle. I have some time before my next meeting. Why don’t you let some of my girls look after you?”

  As if out of nowhere, two naked human women appeared on either side of me.

  “Thanks, but I’m married.”

  “Perhaps you prefer the company of men, or other races?” He asked and suddenly the two women morphed into naked men. One was a lycanid and the other a svartalf.

  I jumped slightly and the confusion must have shown on my face because Loki burst out laughing and the rest of his entourage joined in.

  “Need I remind you that we haven’t had our meeting yet?” Regina added impatiently.

  He speaks so demandingly to gods, I know I’m not the best with them but I can’t believe they let him get away with that tone. It must be nice to be so powerful. One day I will be there too.

  “Oh take that stick out of your arse Regina, you old sop. I was just playing with the lad,” Loki replied, throwing an empty mug at him with lightning speed. I heard a crack, the mug flying so fast that I couldn’t even perceive it until I saw it in Havier’s hand. How did he catch that?

  “I’m as fond of your tricks as the next man, Loki,” Regina said calmly. “But need I remind you that the amnesty in this place is absolute whilst the tournament is ongoing? This could have taken my head off,” he said, shaking the mug and tutting.

  “Only if I wanted it to,” Loki replied, licking his lips slowly. “You speak above your station, Havier. The amnesty applies to gods, not wannabes. But fine, have it your way. Let’s have our boring meeting then.”

  “Thank you,” Havier replied. “Though I’d ask that we have it without any interruptions.”

  Loki sighed, shaking his head. He snapped his fingers and suddenly every person in the room vanished with a puff of smoke. Including the weird naked men near me and the two women he’d been fondling when we got here. Were they all illusions?

  I’d heard that he used powerful illusion magic but even my dragon’s eye couldn’t tell that they weren’t real. I felt them. I felt the women press up against my arms before he turned them into men. How can you feel an illusion?

  “Kaleb, I trust you know the way back?” Regina asked, placing his hand on my arm and giving me a look that said I really needed to get going. “I’ll find you later, feel free to use my box whenever you like. We still need to discuss your contract with me.”

  The assassination attempt, I thought. I’d completely forgotten about that.