The silence of death itself hung between Sevin and Kaden as the Necromancer explained his fear. “Mortis offered me the class of [Priest] so I could ease the suffering of those passing, and so he could protect us. Please, understand, Mortis does not need or seek temples. All will come to him in time.” Sevin drew something from inventory. A thigh bone with runes running up and down it. “It is a vicar of Mortis. They are few, but this, too, is a gift. Nurav has aided us, I don’t dispute. She stands to gain as well. When we release Sara, I know what her first ask will be.”

  That Sara, too, create a vicar. [Advanced Leadership] clicked, recognizng the pattern. The goddess had never denied taking control of the temple. In fact, she’d stated she would, a section at a time. And Kaden had been helping her.

  They all had.

  “She wants Eve back, I’m certain of that.” Kaden considered all the possibilities. “I don’t think she’ll turn on us. And she’ll know the moment I take back her vicar.”

  “She’ll know sooner than that. I intend to place it on the furthest altar, so no single god controls all of this temple.” Sevin turned and headed deeper into the temple. “Don’t follow me. I’m not afraid to look away from her constructs or travel paths that would destroy your mind. Wait patiently. When you feel the change, go back. Can I leave the dead with you? Some people are squeamish about zombies, but I have a reason for using them, I promise.”

  “Absolutely. If the temple is clear, we’re going after Sara, Ashi and Eve as soon as you’re ready.” Kaden knew it was time. It was past time. Through the soul-bond, he felt Trinity’s eagerness for battle. He felt Skully feel nothing, empty and peaceful. Vip had torn around the entrance to the cathedral until she was exhausted, and now slept curled up behind an imposing statue of Ghastos defeating a man-shaped cuccumber in the most epic salad-making slaughter of all time.

  Minutes later, the air in the temple shifted. A chill crept across the walls, a subtle dimming of lights. It wasn’t quite the same as the air in Mortis’s temple in Omnor, but Kaden didn’t need a shining scroll to tell him. He headed back to the chapel, catching Nurav’s vicar as Trell threw it at him. “Good news.”

  *Odd that you would say so. The god of death is friend to none,* Nurav said, suspicion in her voice.

  Kaden activated [Relive the Moment] and played the conversation back. “My focus is on Eve. If yours is, too, this is help.”

  *I do not deny the power I have gained or that I gladly accept it. But this power is only worthwhile if I recover my [Priestess]. I do not accept many. I did not desire Eve, but when my other half turned away, when others saw a taint on her soul, I saw potential. She will not be lost. It is time. Gather and I will tell you what waits.*

  When Sevin returned to the chapel, it was with the calm of a man who had chosen a new path for his life without hesitation. Bryce had told him once to pick the class that fit the way he wanted to live, unless the choice was whether he lived or died. Then choose to live.

  Nurav might be telling the truth, but deities often had many goals they worked toward. Sevin’s sacrifice had assured that no matter what, there were other forces acting against Ghastos. Nurav probably hated him.

  *Hate? No. But you do not possess the proper reverence for a [Priest]. A Zealot you will remain. Watch as I speak in wonderous form.*

  One of Sevin’s zombies began to bleed from its mouth, and as blood gushed, it changed shape, aproximating Nurav’s feminine form. “Behold. I have manifested to speak plainly. You have all suffered at the hands of a forgotten god. And my [Priestess] has suffered more than any I care about. But now you hold the chance to gain that sweetest balm, vengeance. My servants will proceed to his sacrificial chamber and from it, steal the ‘feast’ he set. And then, he will be forced to decide—”

  The temple shook, and cracks ran from side to side, ceiling and floor, as chunks of stone fell, crushing one of Sevin’s zombies. A howl ran through the temple, a cry of rage that set Kaden’s teeth on edge.

  GHASTOS HAS SACRIFICED ALL REMAINING POWER!

  GHASTOS HAS BEGUN HIS RETURN!

  “Quickly!” The Nurombie said. “Up the stairs to what you saw as a roof. I must change the pathways without waiting for sleep. The manifestation will begin in minutes!”

  Splitting the party was always a terrible idea, except that now his party was already fractured. All his beasts broadcast worry. The dragon was deep in his soul and Kaden hadn’t even put him there. Vip was brave, but not facing-a-god-brave, and Trinity’s rage was only that there was a battle coming, and she wasn’t in a good place.

  Skully appeared to be watching blood drip from Nurav as the [Plague Crows] in his eyes cawed. Without waiting, Kaden took off, sprinting out of the chapel and up the stairs with Trella close behind. He leaped out onto the roof-top.

  Nearly vomitted.

  The sky was gone, a void-grey that bubbled and turned black at the edges like parchment on fire.

  *You must go take a ‘short-cut’ between nodes. Over the wall to the east lies the fastest route to the altar. You will see nothingness. It is as much an illusion as this stone.*

  Kaden sprinted for the edge and leaped, sailing over the flickering stone parapet. Beneath him boiled a burning black abyss that rose up. His stomach leapt and fear gripped his spine as the abyss reached up—and transformed. The black peeled away, and Kaden fell, plumeting far below toward a field of dead grass far below. He summoned the [Elderitch Shield] and activated [Shield Smash] to blunt the damage.

  In the distance stood a butte of rock with stairs built for a giant.

  *Atop the altar they are held,* Nurav said. *Quickly. He has already formed his essence. It is like he practiced this. Perhaps he did. It would have taken me ages. I will make a bridge for the others.*

  Trella landed lightly, like she’d just jumped from a roof. “There’s no good reason we coudn’t have landed up there. There’s no way you can convince me otherwise.”

  This close to his friends, Kaden took off, crossing the miles to the altar butte in minutes. When he reached the stone, he began to climb, working with Trella to move from crack to crack. When there were no handholds, he carved them with the [Levicon Blade] and let her climb his back and jump from his shoulders. Her lithe body and training made her far better at scaling the butte. Four steps up, Trella looked back. “She’s literally growing a bridge down. And probably stairs up.”

  *Of course I am. But Eve must not be on sacrificial altar when Ghastos manifests.*

  “Use me as a boost,” Trella called. She kneeled.

  With a running sprint and springing from her cradled arms, Kaden slammed the [Levicon Blade] into the stone. Beneath him, Trella kicked off the wall and caught his boots, clambering up to jump from his shoulder, then dropping a thin rope. Stair by stair, they rose.

  But when Kaden finally reached the top, a keening sense of dread filled him. The sky had gone orange with streaking clouds just like his vision. Ahead stood six crystal spheres, three empty. Eve floated in one, her eyes closed, her hair spread out like a white halo, her red healer’s robes blossoming about her like she rested in air. One over, Ashi hovered, legs crossed, arms crossed over her chest, head down. Her skin shifted from one mana color to another in a fluid rainbow.

  Next to her stood Sara Scylla.

  Drenched.

  Not floating.

  Not sleeping.

  And absolutely furious.

  The Horror’s pseudopods had gnawed holes in the bottom of the crystal and now struggled to digest her belt. She pounded on the wall. “Get me out of here. And then bring me Ghastos.”

  “Stop! Don’t mess with the belt!” Kaden wound up and swung Remembrance, which split the crystal, but didn’t shatter it. And even worse, the head didn’t build up any power. Plan B was the [Levicon Blade] wedged in a crack. Enforced with sheer will, it cut across the sphere until Kaden reached the far side. The crack took over, leading itself around, and Sara braced herself against the ground while the Horror heaved toe top loose.

  “How did you avoid the sleeping charm?” Trella asked as she helped Sara out.

  “The Horror. It’s not of this universe, and Ghastos didn’t continually empower the charm.” Sara’s teeth chattered as she spoke. “Get Eve and Ashi out. Then get this damnable belt off me. It’s not like the others. It’s not rigged to explode, but it’s made of the same thing. I would bet it only goes off at Ghastos’s command. I’ve been split between trying to gnaw it off and putting a hole in my prison”

  That was the vision. Sara had destroyed her belt, setting off a chain reaction that killed—Kaden shook it off. It was what could have happened, not what would.

  “It’s a bond,” Trella said. “One made from a god’s will.”

  Kaden drew [Fate Breaker] from Inventory. The weapon that could undo any binding. “You can only use this once. Cut Sara out. She’ll cut Eve out. Eve will free Ashi.”

  While Trella worked, Kaden swung the [Levicon Blade] as hard as he could, chipping chunks from the sphere that held Eve. The sixth chip drew a spring of liquid from the sphere. The tenth a gush, and now, Kaden braced himself and began to carve, upward, across.

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  Inside the sphere, Eve’s feet touched the ground, and she opened blue eyes to glance about, then down. “How did you get into here? Ghastos taunted me in my dreams. There was no way in.”

  “Long story involving demons, necromancers and at least one undead donkey.” Kaden spoke in grunted words as he forced his will against the crystal. “Step. Back.” The split he was guiding raced sideways, then upward, then arced downward.

  Sara stepped in, grasping the chips with her Horror’s jaws. “Together, heave!”

  Kaden pushed as hard as he could—then watched in shock as Sara’s twist sent the top half smashing into Ashi’s sphere. It split.

  It splintered. Wisps of red magic burst through the split, draining like vapor from a flask. And Ashi’s eyes snapped open, solid white.

  “Run!” Sara shouted.

  Kaden instead stepped closer, holding out his hand. In it, a globe of aqua formed. “Ashi. It’s me.”

  [Split Second] let him summon the Eldritch Shield as the sphere exploded, through crystal fragments like cannon balls at Kaden. The Eldritch Shield cracked and shattered, as Ashi began to chant. She held her spellbook, and there was definitely a second voice speaking with her.

  “Ashi!” Kaden shouted again. He threw a [Mana Dart] at her.

  It sank into her skin, drawing her attention—and a pause. “Kaden?” Ashi spoke with uncertainty. “You have no beasts. You are an illusion.”

  He pointed to his collar. “[Match Lizard]. He’s small, but he’s the King.”

  Ashi blinked away the white in her eyes. “Anyone else would have eaten that lizard by now. But always you have no bread.”

  “Hold still.” Eve sliced with [Fate Breaker], slicing clear the belt. “Kaden, give me the vicar. I can feel Ghastos. He’s very close.”

  Kaden drew the clay figure. “This was the first one. The one you made, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” Eve accepted it with a smile and stored it in Inventory. “There. All is right with the world. We must leave, this battle is not one we can win. It’s not even one we should risk witnessing.”

  “Trust the [Shadow Blade] to have an escape plan,” Trella said. “They drill it into us in training, never leave home without rope. Maybe there’s a bandit you need to hang. Maybe Kaden and I try something kinky. Maybe we need to rapel down a forgotten god’s altar to escape his domain.”

  “If your training actually included the last scenario, I bow to the Sister’s preparations,” Sara said. “But your offer is greatly appreciated.”

  “Nurav says we must move faster,” Eve said. “Is that…a ladder of undead?”

  Trella handed one end of the rope to Kaden and jumped off, landing thirty feet below. She held one end, while Kaden gripped the other. “Sara, please don’t let your Horror eat the rope.”

  She slid down, while Ashi hovered gently down.

  “There is no way I slide down. I’m wearing robes,” Eve said.

  GHASTOS HAS RETURNED!

  Funny what a little advent of a forgotten god could do for modesty. Eve jumped into Kaden’s arms. “Anywhere is better that here.”

  He jumped, dropping to roll and then picked up Sara with one arm. Then two, because unlike Eve, Sara had heft. “Sorry, ladies.”

  He leaped off the edge of the next step. The fall took fifty health, and now Kaden didn’t hesitate, jumping again. Below, a chain of undead rose up steadily, zombies gripping each other. Sevin stood below them. “Jump, they’ll catch you!”

  Catch wasn’t exactly the word for what happened when Kaden’s boots struck the zombies below, but cushion is exactly what they did.

  Sara clambered over zombies to throw her arms around Sevin. “You! You shouldn’t be here. But you came anyway. And [Priest]?”

  “It was the only logical choice. Levels can be regained, there is always more experience, a woman once told me. And everyone meets Mortis eventually. Leave the temple quickly, so we can deny Ghastos his ‘Feast.’ I’m staying. The zombies fight better with me to guide them.” Sevin pointed downward. “Move quickly, I hold the Last Party in reserve.”

  The Last Party, a fitting name for the ghostly trophies of Ghastos who Trella had freed.

  “We all need to be moving,” Eve said. “Nurav is about to manifest. When goddess chooses to fight on your behalf, accept it.”

  Ashi had already fluttered down the base of the altar-butte, landing lightly among the undead followers. Trella followed, catching herself on zombies who climbed over each other to rise higher, while Sevin grasp Sara and his chain of zombies lifted them up and lowered them down.

  “BEHOLD ME!” A voice like thunder and distant drums rang out. “LET THE FEAST BE SET.”

  “That leaves us,” Kaden said to Eve. “Just hold on, I’m going to go faster.”

  He sprinted for the edge, flying out into the air.

  Eve screamed as they plumeted toward the mass of undead, a scream cut short as [Shield Smash] ended their fall, and Kaden’s agility let him roll of the destroyed zombie and set Eve on her feet. “What do you say we don’t do that again?”

  “Seconded! Quickly! Even Nurav’s manifestation can harm.” Eve pointed to the low bridge. “I can run on my own, thank you.”

  The sky glowed brilliant red, and woman’s voice rang out everywhere at one in the temple. “I HAVE COME. BY THE BLOOD THAT FLOWS, I HAVE COME. BY THE PAIN UNENDING, I HAVE COME. YOUR TIME IS ENDED, GHASTOS.”

  “Against that, we stand no chance,” Ashi said. She wrapped her arms around Eve and activated [Soaring Wind], though the cost must have been staggering, she sailed up the bridge with Trella sprinting close behind.

  The Last Party stood in a semicircle around the bridge, carrying weapons and armor scavenged from Ghastos’s followers. Kaden let Sara and Sevin move ahead and turned to speak to them.

  “I don’t have a pretty speech, just a request. My friends, my party, we’re not dead. We can still leave. If you buy us that time.” Kaden couldn’t bring himself to look them in the eye. “It isn’t fair, what happened to you. But I’m going to leave with them. I’m sorry.”

  The [Paladin] stepped forward. “Hear the decree—”

  A comet of blinding red sailed off the butte. It smashed down among the still-climbing zombies, scattering flesh, and bounced, rolling all the way to the foot of the bridge where Kaden stood.

  A woman. A goddess, Nurav, in her blood-angel form. Her wings unfurled and pushed her to her feet, then she glanced his way. “This is not going how I planned. Get Eve out. Then keep running. I miscalculated how strong he would be, but I will not fail her. Every iota of energy he spends on me is one he cannot use on you. Take your ghosts and go, they will not help.”

  Atop the butte, a figure of burning red stood, arms held out, beckoning. “LET THE FEAST BE SET, LITTLE GODDESS. I WANTED ZUROK. YOU WILL HAVE TO DO.”

  Like a flaming, blood-dripping arrow, Nurav shot upward.

  Kaden drew Thorn Caster and fired a full mana arrow.

  Damage rounded up to 1 point.

  He couldn’t help smiling. Not everyone got to shoot the manifestation of a god. The two figures struck, and red splattered down, making the bridge sticky. Kaden began to climb. The entire temple swayed, and the stone bridge shuddered. Stone was not meant to sway. Halfway up the bridge, the sky flashed back to orange above and boiling black below as the ‘top’ of the temple came into view.

  Trella waited ahead at the stairway. “Get inside. The temple is trying to change. Sevin says if we stay close together, it’s harder for it to change.”

  “Harder? It was supposed to be impossible,” Kaden said as they descended downward. “Trinity, Skully, and Vip are pinning our exit path in place.”

  “These are deities. We’re in the heart of Ghastos’s power,” Trella answered. Her Deceptions rose up behind her, following them down the stairs.

  In the chapel, Eve waited near the west exit that lead back to the [Sphynox], right next to Sevin, who had only an undead donkey to guard him. Even his First Follower had gone to battle Ghastos alongside Nurav.

  “The temple doors are sealing of their own accord,” Sevin said. Sweat covered his bald head, and a drop of blood clung to the underside of his nose. “This is not the work of Nurav, Mortis assures me, the temple itself is similar to a golem and desires to serve. I sacrificed zombies to maintain a control over the Spinox room. I’ve lacing bones through the doors as fast as I can but this is requiring all my focus.”

  Eve headed through the double doors, ignoring the elder boss locked in her battle with the vomit fountain. “I will comune with Nurav.”

  “Priestess.” One of the ghostly figures spoke, the [Priest] of Zurok. “We planned to assault this temple. We knew the cost. We divined Ghastos’s plans—most of them—but never counted on him betraying his last priest. Choosing to become forgotten and bet on a return.”

  Eve dipped her head, an honor. “Please. I can’t restore Zurok. I can’t even restore you. You’re not a soul. You’re barely an echo of a soul, but if you know how we can escape, I will be grateful.”

  The priest held his own council. “Your goddess is…weak. Ghastos comes from an age where the power of a god could remake a world or spawn a dozen new ones. Even the version of him returned is more powerful than your blood goddess. But he planned for a much more powerful battle.”

  “And?” Kaden asked.

  Before he could answer, the temple shuddered. The doors to the Spynox room groaned and bones snapped. Ashi spoke. “I will work with the necromancer to reinforce the doors he holds. I am not skilled in this, but even a point of mana may tip the scales.” She joined Sevin, accepting an orb of black to shift mana types.

  “The biggest threats are not the doors he closes,” said the priest. “It is those he opens. You did not clear the temple as we would have. You would tell me you did so, but you did not face the Hand of Ghastos. A dual class [Paladin/Assassin.]”

  Kaden shivered as a dozen gazes looked to him. “What level is he?”

  “A centurion. We know he fought to return to the temple. If he is loose, he will come for you. Killing you leaves your goddess even weaker. You, priestess, must not fall to him. He will ensure a final death, because with your final death, Ghastos will be unstoppable.”

  “I will not stand idly—” Eve cut off her protest. “I understand. There will be sacrifices required. Sara, Trella, a word?”

  “You can’t hunker down and hide if you want to survive,” the priest said. “As I said, Ghastos prepared for a true battle. There were four zealots sent to cleanse the temple because he prepared three soul-focuses. A place where one may not pass without exposing a soul to the power of Ghastos himself.”

  That was brilliant as a defense. Something Kaden wished he could replicate in a dungeon, a place where [Shields] would be required to endure critical damage. “How does that help us?”

  “Think of these like machinery, but in a temple, the machinery is wired not to a mana stone, but straight to the deity. If these points are active, and they are triggered, Ghastos won’t be able to stop the flow of power.” The Priest held up a hand as Kaden tried to blurt out questions. “I will go with you. Get me to one of the soul-focus points and I will fulfill my purpose. I have no doubt he will rend what remains of me and absorb it. But if we go together to oblivion, that’s enough.”

  “I will go, too. The city of valkaries is fallen. It better that I join it. After these eternities, I hold no illusions about glorious death in battle, but I would welcome an end.” That was the first woman Trella released.

  The remaining two had spoken to each other, but the man who addressed Kaden was short, with curly yellow hair cut so short it stood out, and tattooes over most of his body. “You are a [Beast Master]. I, too, was one in life. I considered myself so powerful I thought I could conquer this temple alone without my lieutenants. And why not? Did I not lay waste to dozens of other temples? Did the moon goddess herself not spend a century as my consort if only I would leave her be?”

  “Maybe? That sounds like something that could have happened.” Kaden didn’t know. “I’m the last [Beast Master]. I need [Beast Leader].”

  “And that is why I will not go to the soul-focus. There is not enough left of me to gift you skill paths. Still, in your presence, I have already begun to bleed away, absorbed by your power. I choose this. You focus on [Beast Leader] and I will on giving it to you.” He reached for Kaden’s hand. “When you survive, you will go and get a [Volkraken.] Binding any but the youngest is folly, but you should have moved through this temple like a volcano itself.”

  “And I spit in Ghastos’s face,” the [Paladin] said. “I go gladly to this soul-focus. Let Ghastos burn away to destroy this nothingness. Your survival will be my final act, I vow.”

  That seemed like a plan. “How do we get there?”

  “I said do it!” Eve shouted.

  A black blade stabbed deep into her chest, and Trella withdrew it cleanly, catching Eve’s corpse as it fell—and storing it in a corpse Inventory.

  “Trella?” Kaden roared.

  Trella’s face was white, her teeth near chattering. “The Hand of Ghastos can’t be allowed to find Eve. She’s not permanently dead, and I’m going back to the shadow crystals. I can’t willingly enter them. I can’t. My deceptions will drag me in and keep me there until you come. The Hand of Ghastos can’t do anything to me there, which means he can’t get to Eve.”

  “We can’t leave two mages undefended, not with them working spells that require maintenance,” Sara said, her tone grim. “Eve made the right choice. None of us is getting out without scars.”

  That much was obvious. Kaden turned to the [Priest]. “Show me the way. I’ll handle any followers. Everyone else is paying. It’s time for Ghastos to do the same.”