CH908

“Alright, you sure you want to come along, Abel?”

“Yeah, sounds like it’ll kill some time.”

“And you’ll be on your best behaviour?”

“When aren’t I?”

“…Good enough, then let’s go.”

Stepping through his gate, the two passed through to Anailia and the greater gate network beyond, making their way to the edge of the city holding Helori’s main church and finding many of her believers already in the surrounding area as they walked, all of them anticipating their goddess’s descent.

An event he’d been asked to help guard for what danger to the goddess it would create, for all of the anticipation in her worshipers, none were hovering around the church itself, keeping patient out of respect until the designated time came and let the two walk inside, finding two more already waiting.

“Xizle, it’s been a while,” He greeted the bright blue starfish happily, getting the same enthusiasm from the other apostle in return.

“It has. Nice to see you doing well, Ben. You seem much brighter now than the last time we’d met.”

“Ah, well, I’m in a pretty good place right now.”

“So I’ve heard. Congratulations are in order,” The other laughed. “I can now brag I lost a contest with a god.”

“Ha, I’ll have to make sure I’m an impressive one then, make the fact that you held your own an even bigger achievement. And how are the kids?”

“Oh, keeping us busy. They’re talking now so there’s always so much being said and they’re ravenous little things.”

“I bet,” Ben smiled, trying to ignore the fact that those very children had eaten their way through the flesh of the very man he was talking to when they’d been born. “And then this would be…?”

He nodded to the other in the room, a young woman who bore a far greater resemblance to his own kind than Xizle’s, with a pale complexion and two solid black eyes along with two glass-like horns jutting out of her head, making it clear that she was a member of Helori’s original race while he appraised her.

Her people really do resemble her, interesting. He thought to himself. Considering that the vast majority of gods look nothing like their race, I wonder if there’s some narcissism going on there?

“Ah, hello there, I am a priestess of Helori,” She said politely, not giving her name as her tone turned far more rapturous for what she said next. “I’ll be the one to act as her vessel for this.”

“Alright, nice to meet you.”

“And your own guest?” Xizle asked, looking at Abel. “She seems… Hungry?”

“Don’t mind her, she’s usually like that,” He said as he pulled a plate from one of his rings and handed it off to the girl. “This is Abel, another third tier and a bit of extra muscle in case anything happens.”

“Nice to meetcha,” She said through mouthfuls of food. “So, when’s this thing start?”

“Ah, our goddess was going to come down soon but before that I was told that Ben would be doing some more work on our church?”

“Yeah but I’ll make it quick. Give me a minute.”

He’d renovated that very church in the past and had no desire to destroy all of his previous work, turning it into an act of modification more than anything else as entire sections of wall were pulled away with his magic as the soul tiles were pulled from his rings, being set and covered again by what had originally been there with as few modifications as possible to keep the previous designs he’d worked so hard on as he went through the building to fit every soul in where he could, what scraps that created getting slipped into his rings until he’d finished up the building.

“And done.”

There, now you should be getting more faith. Happy Helori?

“I am,” The priestess said, now exuding divinity in a way that announced the goddess’s descent upon her believer. “But I did hear that little comment about narcissism before.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“It was a private thought, it doesn’t count unless you want me to start judging you for what goes through your head.”

“Ugh, the scope of your mind reading really leaves something to be desired but fine. For now, can you deal with this before it becomes a problem?”

“He’s your believer,” Ben shrugged as he looked at Xizle in a deep bow. “If you don’t like it then let him know.”

“Very clearly not who I was talking about,” She said as she cast her eyes to the other girl in the room, Abel locked onto her and visibly drooling. “I’d asked you to come to help keep me safe, bringing along someone who’s going to want to eat me is an immediate failure on your part.”

“Okay, fair. Abel, can you chill?”

“But I’m going to be so good and helpful,” She said, not taking her attention from the goddess before her as her nose twitched at whatever it was she could smell. “I’ll keep you perfectly safe so just a little taste? A teeny tiny little nibble?”