Lorenn and Jason were on opposite couches. The setting was casual, but their discussion had the potential to shape the Brightheart city feions.

  “I respect that you have done what you to give us autonomy,” Lorenn said, “but there are some issues that only be resolved by you.”

  “Religious issues?”

  “Yes. You are, of course, aware of much of the political situation iy. Many diplomatid religious issues are settled outside of your domain, however. In one of the surface shafts, a town has been dug into the sides. It ced just beyond the area of trol because it was first excavated wheransformation zone was active.”

  “People waited there for the zoo drop. I remember.”

  “Sihat time, it has been massively expanded. We call it Outer Rexion now. The statue of your friend is there. The popution is mostly transitory. Merts and diplomats from the surface. Most of the churches regurly cycle through their assigned clergy, as few enjoy spending so much time underground. Only those worshipping gods such as Earth, Stone and Deep seem to like it very much.”

  “But their inability to situate temples iy proper is causing issues?”

  “Yes. The priests tell me that you hold dominion and the gods ot encroach upon it with their power.”

  “That’s correct.”

  Lorenn gave Jason an uneasy look.

  “It’s true, then. You have the power to refuse the gods?”

  “It’s not as tentious as you make it sound. It’s true that I was mistrustful of gods when I first came to this world, but they’re like anyone else. You have good ones and bad ones. I know that isn’t o you. Uh is a plete prick, obviously, but some of the others have been kind and friendly to me.”

  He scowled.

  “And a little thirsty,” he grumblingly added.

  “Thirsty? Gods drink?”

  Jaso out a chuckle.

  “Never mind. Tell me about the ramifications of the temples being excluded. I’m assuming there has been some rese?”

  “There has. Not from the clergy, to my surprise. Their gods have apparently expihings to them and they’ve been quite uanding. The rese es from two sides, each presenting their own challenges.”

  “One beiernal, I assume? People asking that if you’re refusing access to the gods, what are you hiding? Are the dark gods taking root here, far from the light?”

  “Exactly. Even if the church officials and our diplomatitacts uand, some people will believe what they want, regardless of the truth. Anger is easy to stoke, and those who would undermine our autonomy to exploit us are not shy about doing so.”

  “That’s not unique. I e from a whole other universe and the same thing happens.”

  “What do you do about it there?”

  “Mostly give rich people everything they want and then cim that we didn’t.”

  “How does that help?”

  “It doesn’t.”

  “Aren’t you rich?”

  “Extremely.”

  “So, you haven’t really done anything about it, then.”

  “Don’t tempt me. I have this incredible urge to go bay world and fix all the problems. I have wealth and power enough to reshape my home p’s entire civilisation.”

  “Then, why don’t you?”

  “I’ve been watg you for years, and you’re a good leader. I am not. I have more power than any one person should, but not the knowledge, experiend wisdom to use it well. If I start instituting simple solutions to plex problems, I’ll do more harm than good. But I ’t just do nothing with it, either. When I act it has to be with caution. I o rely on those with the knowledge and experience I ck. People like you. Even then, I’m going to stumble, and I won’t be the one suffering from unintended sequences.”

  He sighed.

  “I don’t know why you even asked me that. I’m not saying anything you don’t know. You’re a capable and experienced leader, where I’m just some guy who stumbled into vast ic power.”

  “That is exactly why. I lead my people, but you are the power looming over us all. Our autonomy exists only so long as you allow it. You saved my people and built our home, but you could equally bring it all down on top of us.”

  Jason frowned.

  “I uand,” he told her. “I don’t like this power dynamic either. I preferred it when I could swan around, making jokes that no one uood but me. Now, I have to be careful with every word.”

  Lorenn nodded.

  “Such is the nature of leadership and the danger of power. I will fess to not liking the fate of my people being in the hands of an outsider. I find it easier to think of you as a god.”

  “I’m not a god.”

  “For practical purposes, you are. You have unassaible power. A domain upon which even gods ot trespass. Gods that treat you more like one of them than one of us. When I think of you as a divihority, rather than a person, it bees easier to accept your role in our lives. But, as you say, you are not a god. It forts me that you uand your power over us is not to be used lightly.”

  “It doesn’t e. I feel like a child who ate a spirit and could wreything they touch with their carelessness. All I do is try to avoid doing too much damage while I learn about how to use my power — and how to not use it. If you are willing, I’m hoping that you and I could speak on this topi time to time. I could learn a lot about leadership from you.”

  “I am open to that.”

  “Thank you. Now, speaking of leadership, let’s get back to specifics. I imagihere is some rese amongst your own people at the exclusion of temples from the main city.”

  “Yes. We did have priests and temples in the old city. They fell defending it, shielding the rest of us as we evacuated. We honour those memories. Many would like to join those churches, but the temples are in the part of the city built for outsiders. It is an obstacle for many, and excluding the Church of Fertility is especially tentious. We were brought to the brink of extin, and they are vital to rebuilding our popution. Many sider it disrespectful to keep them at a distance.”

  Jason nodded.

  “Now that the other cims on my spiritual attention have been pleted, I make some ges here. If I withdraw my dominion over certain parts of the city, the gods cim them and temples may be built. Decide which temples you want built and where, and I’ll make it possible.”

  “We’ll o iate with the churches.”

  “It’s your city, so I shall leave that in your hands. Let me know when you’ve made your decisions.”

  “And if you don’t like my decisions?”

  “It’s your city,” Jason said again. “It will take more than me disagreeing with you to intervene. I’m not saying I wouldn’t step in, but that would be areme measure. Anything that drastic is likely as repugnant to you as to me, like wanting to build a temple of Uh.”

  Lorenn scowled.

  “Repugnant indeed. I would like some measure of where you see the line, however. There is no esg the fact that you are the ultimate authority here.”

  Jason nodded, staying silent for a moment as he thought about it.

  “Here’s an example,” he said. “I detest svery. That’s far from a unique position whehe meagrest scrap of empathy or decy will get you there. It’s a core value from the society I was raised in, and ohat didn’t waver for me when so many others did. Many societies on the surface use an iure system that is little more than svery with a coat of paint. Rife with corruption and abuse and absent of sequehe usual exploitation of the powerless. If your ruling cil wao institute that system here, I would argue against it, repeatedly and loudly. I would not, however, stop you. It is not for me to tell your people how to duct themselves. To a point.”

  “At oint would you intervehen?

  “If you implemehat system, it could easily devolve to a point that I o loolerate the abuses. I could see myself stepping in, even knowing that doing so would have uional kno effects. If I judged that my intervention was worth the damage it would cause, I would act. But that would be a st resort, after failing to vince your leadership to shift course on their own.”

  Lorenn leaned bato the couch.

  “I ’t say I like the fact that you e in and just ge things, sequences be damned. But your reluce to do so is more than I would expect for someone in your position.”

  Jason nodded.

  “Power and ideals are a votile mix. I’ve mao temper the tter as I’ve acquired the former. Hopefully to the stage where I’m not a plete disaster. I ’t promise that I won’t make mistakes, though. If anything, I almost promise I will.”

  “I think that we are discussing worst-case sarios here,” Lorenn said. “You and I seem to share more values than we flict upon. I don’t think that rogress any further on that at this time, so let’s table that discussion and move back to practical s.”

  “Certainly. Please tinue.”

  “There is a matter that is less urgent than temple locations, and perhaps affects you more than me.”

  “Oh?”

  “There are priests staying in Outer Rexion.”

  “I would expect as much, giveemples there.”

  “It would be more correct to say that these are former priests. They are not here for the temples, but for you. They have beeioning for residen the main city. Thus far, we have refused them.”

  “They’re here for me?”

  “They came here because our city is a maion of your power. That isn’t somethiell people, but more than enough know for it to be called a secret.”

  “What is their i in my… wait. How much do you know about these people?”

  “That they cim you saved them. That they have spent two decades researg you, because you spent most of that time dead or in other dimensions.”

  Jason groaned and ran a hand over his face.

  “I think I know who they are,” he said.

  “What is their i in you?”

  “turies ago, there was a flict. A cult to one of the great astral beings had a schism. A fa broke away, more ied in poolitics than the ideals they cimed to still follow. on in the history of my p, but we don’t have gods stepping in to intervene.”

  “Are these people from that cult?”

  “No. This splinter group overstepped and ended up being hunted down by a bunch of churches. A lot of people from those churches were trapped and held in stasis for turies. I released them around twenty years ago now, but many didn’t have ao go back to. Some had desdents, and others went back to their churches. But some gave up on their faith after their ordeal, or weren’t accepted back. Purity rejected all of them, probably because the real Purity had been repced during their entrapment. You heard about the events surrounding the god of Purity?”

  “I did.”

  “My guess would be that these people are former priests, looking for something to follow. I’m mysterious enough that they don’t realise how bad a is to pick me.”

  “So, they’re priests of you?”

  “No!”

  “If I uand it correctly, this city is a temple to you.”

  “No. I mean, kind of, yeah. But no.”

  “Well, I’m going to leave them to yardless.”

  “Oh, thank you. I ’t wait to deal with that.”

  “I have them brought to the city immediately.”

  “No. I’ll go to them, once I have an avatar that leave my domains. And there’s one more thing we o discuss.”

  “Oh?”

  “The old city had an astral space. The new one does as well, but I have kept it sealed.”

  “Why?”

  “When I formed the city, the interior of the astral space was, for some reason, outside of my trol. Or, more precisely, it was too delicate. It was in an embryonic state, not reag pletion until much ter. I didn’t uand why until I realised it was waiting for me to plete the transformation of my realm.”

  “Embryonic?”

  “Yes.”

  “Suggesting something was gestating in there. Waiting to be born.”

  “Yes.”

  “Something you aren’t happy to tell me about.”

  “It’s going to be plicated for you politically, should wet out. But this is your home and you deserve to know, so I’m going to show you.”

  ***

  Jason floated through the air so high he ractically orbital. Lorenn was beside him and they were both shrouded in an orb of invisible mist. The p below was utterly unlike Earth, equal parts beautiful and apocalyptic. Elemental forces so vast they could be seen from space cshed upon the surface. Hurries crashed into supervoloes. Earthquakes carved yons so massive that they became seas as tidal waves filled them. It was geous, wild destru.

  “I don’t even know how to uand what I’m looking at,” Lorenn said. “The sheer scale of it. I lived my life in a cave system even low-rankers could travel through in a day.”

  “This the rgest astral space I’ve seen. And I see how ps might be an arming cept to someone who had never been on the surface of one.”

  “Why don’t things fall off the bottom?”

  “Oh, I’m not getting into that. My friends will be arriving soon. Ask Travis Noble.”

  “The astral spa our city wasn’t this rge. Not even a fra of this.”

  “That’s one of the reasons it took so long to resolve itself. The other is the bit you aren’t going to like.”

  “And what is that?”

  The invisible sphere shot around the p, chasing the sun. A shape crested the horizon as they moved, resolving itself into an impossibly tall tree, kilometres high.

  “That is like the tree iransformation zone,” Lorenn said.

  “Yes. And more will grow here, in time. This is a messenger birthing p, and the messehat it births here are of the elemental type. It had been produg them for a few years now.”

  Lorenn wheeled on Jason.

  “Elemental messengers?”

  “I uand your ,” Jason said, then shook his head. “No, of course I don’t uand. But I prehend why you and your people would feel only hatred for them. The end of your civilisation began with elemental messengers. You naturally and obviously don’t want them in your city, so I sealed this pce away.”

  “You should destroy them.”

  “They’re children, cil Leader. And they aren’t the ohat destroyed your city. They aren’t corrupted and mindless. I’m only showing you this pce because the aperture to this realm is in your city. I don’t see a reason for your people to ever i with it, but I’m not foolish enough to assume it will never happen. I wanted you to know so you weren’t blindsided should its existence ever bee public.”

  Lorenn stared out at the p below and the t tree.

  “I will ime to e to terms with this, Asano.”

  “Of course. I’ll take you home.”

  Annou: Due to the release of Book 11 on Kindle Unlimited, chapters 791 - 882 will be removed from the site oh or 10th of July, depending on timezone.