The next morning had the kids on edge. Not only was today the day they'd be left on their own, but their newest arrival had triggered a lot of concerns.

  The freshly minted deity of Mercy stood in their camp, speaking to her mother.

  "I still don't think you should venture into the Beast Scar, Mother. You are not expendable, especially not if the threats that young Fairtrade have warned us about are close."

  "We are expendable?" Amelia said half jokingly and half bitterly.

  "Yes, very much so. Other than the negative impact it would have on the Generals. I don't mean to be cruel, Lady Shatterhoof. But my mind is now connected with nearly half a million souls. Constantly praying to me for guidance. Telling me of their worries and the terrors that plague them."

  Amelia was a bit surprised at the brutal response.

  "You and your friends are quite capable, but the only one among you who can hope to stand up to the [Primordials], let alone this new threat, would be young Fairtrade."

  "Ahhh, the idiocy of youth." Stas smiled as he walked past the goddess and gently patted her on the head like the child she was.

  "Excuse me?"

  "No. I don't think I will. You're a goddess. Worse, you're a Darktone. You should know better. Alliyah, do myself and the others gathered here a favor and remind us of where Lord Darktone found you? You, the leader of humanity. You, the leader of the Beast Generals. You, the one who was primary on the sealing of the [Primordial] threats. The Queen who has lost over three thousand levels in a fractured soul just to remain with the mortals you so cherish."

  "Stas...she's just young." Alliyah retorted.

  "And being young is no excuse for a being in her position of power. If you won't tell them, I will. But I won't be as kind about it."

  The two glared at each other for a moment before the iron-willed Queen finally decided it best not to let the little jackal run his mouth.

  "He found me when I was...oh, by Infernus, I don't know, maybe sixteen or seventeen? I was working in a whorehouse as a high-class whore and a spy. The people who had usurped my parents from the throne of Kadessa when I was a child sold me on another continent to some flesh peddlers. My idiot slave-owners sent me after who they thought was a merchant that they wanted dead. Imagine my surprise when I drove a dagger into his heart after inviting him to my room, only to have him laugh hysterically. Saying, and I quote. 'Wow! That actually hurts! What an amusing trait you have.'."

  Miah seemed most shocked at that bit of information. Alliyah turned from the group to Amara and the others, who nodded, then turned her gaze to her daughter. "Miah, you must understand that oftentimes, people of humble origin are the heroes that you hear tales of. It's rarely the nobles and merchant lords who are willing to risk their own well-being. Amara and Brutus had also been sold to flesh peddlers. Stas was sold to some alchemists to run experiments on altering monster physiology. Cordaos had been captured during an orc raid on a minotaur keep. They slaughtered most of his family and friends, and the only reason he didn't meet the same fate, is that our loving minotaur friend has a trait that is quite similar to the Orc trait to just never die."

  That had everyone except the Generals sitting in shock. They all knew to some extent that the generals had been prisoners or slaves of some kind. It was said that Lord Darktone didn't offer a pact to anyone who was free.

  "Since they couldn't find an easy way to kill him without serious losses, they used some of the surviving children from the keep as ransom. Told the big softie that if he kept quiet and let himself be sold to some arena master, they'd let the kids live. Shockingly, the orcs actually kept their word and sold the kids off as well."

  Miah looked at the Generals with a newfound level of understanding. "I...didn't know the extent of it."

  "Because it's not information we share readily with the world. Now, while *Princess* Shatterhoof. " Alliyah made sure to emphasize the word. "May not be nearly as strong as her parents right now, I assure you that given the same amount of time and combat experience, my peers and I have. She will easily eclipse all of us. Because she will have better training and a better upbringing. She will not be weighed down by the same trauma and nightmares."

  Cordaos snickered off to the side. "Not the same, but certainly some. I don't know that you can be a hero without some trauma in your life."

  Brutus raised a flask in a toast to that. "We don't want others to suffer our fate, so we fight twice as hard."

  Alliyah continued to hold her daughter's gaze. "While I don't agree with how he did it, Stas is right. You and your siblings should be better than to write off anyone. I'm a bit surprised that you would, Miah. You've served with enough soldiers."

  Miah looked between the Generals before turning her eyes to the kids. It looked as if she wanted to say something, but thought better of it. "I'll take that under advisement, Queen Alliyah. As enlightening as it may have been, I didn't come here for a lesson on ethics. I have a map of the Beast Scar and where the location that young Fairtrade will have to venture."

  "Very well, hand it to me." Alliyah sighed as she extended a hand.

  "No."

  "I wasn't asking, Miah. As your Quee-"

  "As the Goddess here to oversee this, I outrank you in this endeavor."

  The camp went as still and silent as the dead. Alliyah had a look of shock on her face, even Honos seemed angered.

  The goddess didn't relent. "If I give you the map, you will snap it up, hop on Honos, and fly out there yourself. Do you think me stupid, Mother?"

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  The Queen's visage of shock changed to annoyance.

  "That's why you brought Honos, after all. I am the only one present who can move faster than Honos when you are buffing her. For all your little talk of limitations last night, you and I both know there are spells that can push those numbers in your favor."

  Everyone turned their gaze to the Queen. Stas was the most shocked. The goblin looked from Miah to the kids and back to Miah. "You didn't underestimate them."

  Alliyah closed her eyes. Trillia could feel the anger and mana boiling up inside of the Queen.

  "The Queen told you to overlook them for this. That they wouldn't be capable?"

  Amara tapped the spoon on the side of the pot. "That seems a bit unlikely, Stas."

  "It's not. Every single soldier and leader in the Golden Gryphons wanted to force Simon to quit. They all tried to have Taz chopped up for rations because the little bastard was so unruly. Miah stepped in to give them a chance."

  Miah and Alliyah both stood in silence, staring at one another, neither objecting to what was being said.

  Trillia seemed hurt by the lack of faith. "Do you really think us incapable?"

  As Alliyah turned to look at her with regret on her face, Amara spoke up. "Of course she does. Because you are. That was the pretense of this excursion, right? We try to distract the most dangerous and violent of beasts, and you sneak in...I am only now realizing, has the Queen actually taught you how to move while you are in the Aether? Or move your entire body from one place to another?"

  Trillia raised a hand to say she knew how but paused. The Professor had never gone over moving her physical body like that. While Trillia had no doubt she could figure it out, it wasn't really covered. "I am sure I could figure it out. The Professor taught me how to fight, and it's not that different."

  "But the toll it takes is rather heavy, is it not?" Amara continued as she stood and moved to stand closer to Miah while staring at Alliyah. "A heavy enough toll that the Queen worried whether or not you'd be able to handle what came after."

  Honos' head had snaked closer to Alliyah, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

  A spike of unease hit Trillia, and on instinct, she flung her hands out and shouted the first word that came to her. "[Stasis]!"

  Honos was barely slowed. But she was slowed enough that Miah could raise her own hand and gently touch the dragon's snout. Honos slammed into the ground immediately. "Fuck! My curse, I hadn't thought about it."

  Alliyah glanced at the rolled-up map before walking over to Honos. Speaking a single word, the dragon vanished. "Enough of the bullshit. We have no fucking idea what is going to be in those ruins. Are all of you really this stupid?"

  The woman's soft and warm tone was gone. The other Generals all seemed to perk up slightly at the tone she was now taking. "I'm not about to send a bunch of fucking kids, half of whom aren't pact-bound, into a behemoth-infested warzone. Especially not when whatever ruins are there are probably the cause of the significant difference in flora and fauna."

  The Queen rounded on her daughter and Amara, taking a step forward and angrily poking the orc general in the chest, causing the woman to stumble back a step. "Who the fuck do you think you're dealing with Demonsbane?! You as well, for that matter, Miah. Don't think because you are a goddess, I give a rat's ass. I will still bend you over my knee and whip your ass. If I can make your father bleed, I can surely put you in your place."

  The mana that wrapped around the woman was frightening to behold. Strands of brilliant gold and white energy sparked across the others, testing defenses without raising any alarms. Trillia saw parts of Alliyah fracture off and move throughout the camp. The Queen so easily moved parts of her soul in the Aether.

  Stas and Brutus put themselves between Alliyah and the kids. Cordaos had taken up a spot on the other side of her. "I have very, very little time remaining on Alirast. None of you seem to realize how little that is. Give me the fucking map. Let me go and scout the ruins. Let's be honest, if something rests there that can kill me, not only will I simply take my rightful place instead, but it is dangerous enough that all of you combined would be crushed without a thought."

  "I know you don't have a lot of time left, Mom. It's why I want to preserve every second you have for the battle against the Eldritch."

  Tears welled up in the Queen's eyes. "I can't help against them, you clueless little shit!" Her scream brought with it a wave of renewed power. Trillia felt blood trickle from her nose but couldn't pull her gaze from the Queen to check on her friends. "If I so much as come into contact with them, I will ascend."

  The map in Miah's hand vanished and the Goddess raised a hand up to the Queen trying to calm her down. "Tell me why you think that?"

  Alliyah groaned and seemed even more frustrated. "For fucks sake, why don't any of you just take my word that I am right? How many decades and centuries do I have to be proven right before you assume I know what I'm talking about?"

  Cordaos set a hand on Alliyah's shoulder. As he did, a peal of magic burst from her and sent a shockwave in his direction. A bloody nose was all her defensive magic seemed to manage against him. "Alliyah...it's the call of ascension. Take a deep breath and calm down. You are playing into Dawn's trap."

  A spark of clarity ran through Alliyah's eyes as Cordaos spoke. The Queen looked down at her hands, which had also been wreathed in mana. Once more, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly pulling her mana back in.

  Stas looked at the minotaur king. "Explain what the fuck that was, Cordaos. I'm a higher level than you are and have never experienced that."

  Cordaos channeled mana into the wounds inside his body as he looked over at Stas. "I don't answer to you."

  Alliyah finally opened her eyes. "I'm sorry. Just....give me a moment to check on Honos. I'll come back and explain things."

  The Queen vanished from everyone's sight, and the group all now stared at Cordaos. "Don't bother. If Maeve couldn't get me to tell, none of you have a chance at it." The minotaur gave a heavy sigh as he moved back over and plopped down near the cooking pot. Taking up the wooden spoon to begin stirring it.

  "Are you kids ok?" Brutus turned to look at them. Most of them had a bloody nose or ears but were otherwise ok.

  "What even was that? No notifications, nothing. My body just froze up and it felt like something was squeezing my head." Fred had plopped back down onto the ground and was currently cradling his head in his hands.

  "Obliteration. Hopefully, you don't run into the feeling often." Stas returned while placing a hand on the young man's head and sending a pulse of healing mana into him. "Fuck, my mana isn't good for healing like this. It's better for battlefield treatment. Are you ok to heal people, little Cleric?"

  Layla nodded and stood, a bit woozy on her feet perhaps, and began to move to each of the kids in turn and heal them.

  "What do you mean, obliteration?" Amara seemed more furious than concerned and looked between Stas and Cordaos.

  "It's what immortals do when they need to kill mortals without breaking the rules." Stas said as he also sent glares over to Cordaos. "Tell me, cow. How did your Queen die again?"

  Cordaos shot the little goblin a killer stare but didn't otherwise move.

  Brutus darted between the two, and Trillia watched as a dome of mana lept to his command. "Enough!"

  Both Stas and Cordaos turned bloodshot eyes to look at Brutus instead of each other. "Calm down lads..." Despite his words, a falchion appeared in his hands. "Easy now..." Trillia watched as the mana in the dome slowly faded.

  You're under the effects of [Avatar of Peace]!

  You are incapable of taking violent action until the Goddess imposing this effect lifts it.

  The group all looked over to Miah, who hadn't taken her eyes off Cordaos. "She's my Mother. I th-"

  Cordaos raised a hand. "You aren't entitled to anything from me, Goddess. I answer to your Father and to no one and nothing else in this realm or any other."

  And so the group sat there in silence, with most people glaring at Cordaos as the minotaur seemed unbothered while he cooked while they all waited for the Queen's return.