Loch looked around the cold landscape. Not much had changed since his last visit. The village was the same size, the same layout, the same amount of large vikings wandering around. All ignoring him. They stood easily seven feet tall, all of them the bulk of wrestlers. Big men, carrying axes and swords, dressed in furs. They ignored him, so Loch ignored them.

  He made his way through the village, heading for the longhouse in the middle. Why did he always appear on the outskirts? Wouldn’t it be just as easy to appear in the longhouse itself? The cold didn’t really bother him, even though he appeared in his armor with no furs or cloak, he didn’t feel the bite of the wind. This was a dream after all. At least he thought it was. He’d never been able to figure it out and it was something even Cerie and Elora didn’t know. Sinat either. None of the elves now in Clan Brady had a Patron. Cerie had heard of it, but her records never talked about how the Divine Being communicated with their chosen.

  Loch had only talked to his Patron after he’d fallen asleep, which made him think it was a dream. But with the Connected System, Spirit and everything it meant, there was a good chance he was being transported somewhere else. Maybe another planet. Maybe it was astral traveling. As long as he returned back to the Clanhold, Loch wasn’t too concerned.

  When the Connection had first appeared, it all bothered him. But there were bigger concerns than the why of everything. He had people, hundreds that he was responsible for. He had much bigger concerns. Survival and thriving were the most important.

  Reaching the longhouse, Loch climbed the steps, ignoring the two guards. Their shoulders were covered in snow, icicles hanging from their beards. He would have thought them statues if he didn’t see them breathe. He wasn’t sure if they were the same two that were always there. Ignoring them, Loch pushed the doors open.

  He walked into the now familiar hall. A fire roared in the pits on the sides of the long table, which was empty as always. Thor sat in the chair at the far end. He watched as Loch walked down the table. Loch took a seat on Thor’s right, ignoring the full glass of ale or mead in front of him.

  “Greetings Lochlan Brady,” Thor said, leaning forward. “How are you this fine night?”

  “What do you want?”

  “You are much like your wife,” Thor said with a laugh. “Both out of patience.”

  “What do you know about Kelly?” Loch said, leaning forward, anger rising.

  Thor raised his hands, leaning back as he laughed.

  “She is vexing Freyja to no end,” Thor said, taking a drink from his mug that never seemed to empty. “It is quite entertaining. Kelly Brady has proven as stubborn as you are,” he continued. “It seems Freyja underestimated her.” Thor leaned forward, setting his mug down. “I did try to warn Freyja but..,” he shrugged. Leaning back again, Thor tilted his head, looking down at Loch in the lower seat. “It has gotten worse since her visit with you. I wonder what you two planned.”

  Loch leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. How much did Thor know? Probably not much. He wasn’t going to say anything. Instead, Loch just waited. Thor had called him for a reason.

  “Kelly is in no danger,” Thor said. “I am looking forward to seeing what you do and how it messes up Freyja’s plans.” Thor stood up, walking around his chair and heading for the rack of weapons hanging on the wall. He ran his hand over the tip of a spear, turning back to Loch. “I hope it destroys Freyja’s plans. That will serve her for trying to interrupt my plans.”

  Loch shook his head. Politics. Even at the level of power the Divine Beings had, they still played at politics. Cosmic level politics but still politics. Things never changed.

  “And what are your plans?” Loch asked.

  Thor smiled.

  “You’ve never really told me what you get out of this deal,” Loch added. “Why me and why so early?”

  “Early?” Thor asked, looking confused but Loch didn’t buy it.

  Thor knew exactly what he was talking about. Loch didn’t feel like playing the game so he just crossed his arms and looked at the Divine Being. Finally Thor chuckled, shaking his head.

  “Your trait,” Thor said, returning to his throne.

  “Unfettered,” Loch said, nodding. “I figured.”

  “It puts you somewhat outside the Connection. You can do things that others cannot. You have seen the benefits of that?”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Loch shrugged.

  “I’ve been told multiple times that things are happening that normally don’t. At least not this early in a new world’s Connection.”

  “That is all true. And it affects your Abilities.”

  Loch thought about how he’d recently been able to change Onyx. There had been some other examples, but that was the biggest and what he got the most benefit from. Cerie, and now even Elora and Sinat, were amazed at what happened around Loch. Things that the fairy had no records of, or the others had never encountered or heard of. Cerie thought it came from his Trait.

  Something that he shouldn’t have yet.

  Thor had sought him out and Loch hadn’t really done anything to distinguish himself. Not yet. So why had Thor sought him out specifically? The trait, but how did Thor know about it?

  “Are you responsible for the Trait?”

  Thor laughed, slapping the arms of his chair. One finger tapped the side of his head as he smiled at Loch. For some reason Thor didn’t want to say anything out loud, but Loch understood the meaning. Thor was somehow responsible for the Trait’s existence.

  “What are your plans?” he asked again.

  Thor’s smile dropped as he eyed Loch. His fingers tapped on the arm of the throne as he thought.

  “Nothing that will hurt you or yours,” the Concept of the Storm said, leaning forward, as serious as Loch had ever seen him. Not that they had spent much time together. “You are an investment.”

  Loch gave him the confused look. Thor pointed a large finger at him.

  “What you have accomplished so far is amazing. It is even more than what I managed when my world was first Connected. But for all that you have done, it is what you will do that I am concerned with.”

  “And what will I do?”

  Thor leaned back, laughing once more.

  “I don’t know. That is what makes this so interesting.”

  Loch shook his head.

  “I don’t understand.”

  Thor leaned forward again, picking up his mug. He took a long drink, wiping foam from his beard.

  “Earth will just be another planet in a universe of hundreds such,” Thor said. “How many Divine Beings are there?”

  “I have no idea. Not many.”

  Thor chuckled, taking another drink.

  “No, not many at all. Our ranks number in the dozens. Out of hundreds of Connected planets, out of the billions or trillions of Connected and Adapted across the universe, only a handful ever become Divine Beings.” He pointed at Loch. “You have that potential.”

  “All this for potential?,” Loch asked incredulously.

  “Yes,” Thor answered but wagged a finger at Loch. “There is great power in potential. You will do great things Lochlan Brady and I will end up benefiting from those great things.”

  “And what if I die before realizing that potential?”

  Thor shrugged.

  “I will just try again. But I don’t think I will have to.”

  ***

  Loch opened his eyes, seeing the now familiar ceiling of the classroom that was his and the girls room. Moonlight leaked in around the curtain over the window. He could hear the light breathing of both girls, one of them moving and turning around.

  He tried to process what Thor had said. There was more hidden there, beyond just the spoken words. Loch wasn’t sure what he believed, how much of the Divine Being’s words were true and what was in jest. He knew Thor got some benefit from the Patron relationship, but it had to be more to make Thor have an interest in him now.

  Did Thor really have a hand in creating the Trait? If so, how? And why him specifically? Why did he get the Trait and not someone else?

  Loch wasn’t sure he liked the idea of Thor gaining from his own Advancement and Accomplishments. He knew the Trait had helped, but it wasn’t the only thing that made him who he was and what he did. It wasn’t the only thing that was going to drive his future.

  Let Thor benefit, as long as the Divine Being didn’t interfere with Loch’s people and what he would need to do, Thor could benefit all he wanted.

  He rolled over, pulling the blanket tighter.

  He didn’t have the time to worry about the machinations of Divine Beings. He, Kelly and his people had their own plans to worry about.