Wooden steps creaked underfoot as we ascended the porch. Illy entered the tavern with her head held high and I tried to match her confidence.

  I did not feel particurly confident.

  As we crossed the threshold, the combined stench of beer and body odor hit me like a truck. It wafted from a dozen patrons, men as rough and rowdy as those we met outside. They perched on stools at the bar, gathered around tables, warmed their feet by the fire.

  As we entered, they turned their collective attention on us. One pushed away from the bar, staggering to his feet. By the way the others watched him, I figured this was our ringleader, the aforementioned Astin.

  “Xandos, is it?” He belched and blew the rancid breath at me before grinning. “Think I remember that name. Heard it once or twice in my schoolboy days.” His eyes dropped to my feet then rose slowly in drunken appraisal. “Don’t look like much.”

  Illy looked up expectantly at me. Alright, now’s the time, I thought.

  I held out my hands and lifted off the floor, floating several feet above by way of my Weak Levitation ability. Tilting my head back, I stared down my nose at the gang of bully bandits.

  Astin gnced at the gap between my heels and the floorboards. Then he looked up at me, blinked, and belched.

  It was clear he was unimpressed.

  “Couple feet don’t scare me. Let’s see you fly higher than the crow, boy.”

  “Xandos is no boy!” Illy excimed. “He is a god!”

  But her decration failed to move the needle. The gruff, bearded brutes watched me float with the same nonchance of a bored farmer watching his sprouts grow.

  Astin turned back and barked at the barmaid that had been serving the men outside. “Neesa, does this god strike fear into your heart?” She stood now behind the bar, dressed in a short, tight dress that showcased her cleavage and thighs — a uniform no doubt provided by the tavern’s new patrons.

  Neesa was a beautiful young woman, rounded ears precluding elven heritage. She had auburn hair and tan skin, emerald eyes and pink lips. When she flicked her gaze to me, it shone with fear, but not for a god.

  She blushed and looked away.

  “Thought not,” Astin grunted. He unsheathed his sword and dangled it at his side. I slid my gaze down the length of its bde and couldn’t help wondering what it would feel like to have it run straight through me. “Well, Xandos, I never killed a god before, but there’s a first time for everything.”

  Astin took a step forward and instinct kicked in. Almost without thought, I summoned a spark that fshed into existence above the palm of my right hand. I felt its heat in my fingers, which curled to cage it.

  Then I hurled the magic spark like a fastball at my approaching enemy.

  The ember burned quickly through Astin’s shirt, then set to work on his skin. By the time the brute reacted to the stinging pain, spping frantically at his breast in an attempt to extinguish the spark, it had already chewed through the flesh.

  Bone shown in the middle of a hole with charred skin edges. The spark gnawed through that, too, like a blowtorch burning through a pnk of wood. Beneath, Astin’s heart beat manically, as you might expect of a heart suddenly exposed to the world.

  The spark burrowed into the throbbing organ and suddenly bright, yellow light traced the man’s circutory system. Then his veins exploded, engulfing his body in fme. He crumpled to the floor, not quite ash but well on his way.

  His stupefied buddies gaped at the sight while Neesa looked up in wonder. In my vision, a notification appeared.

  “You gained a worshipper. New worshipper count: 2.”

  Neesa dropped to her knees, pressing her palms together in prayer. I couldn’t hear what she whispered over the smoldering fmes, but she clearly directed it at me, because in the next moment the text overying my sight informed me that I’d just restored 1 FP.

  Perfect, I thought. Now I could use Fire Control, bending these fmes to my will. I prayed it would be enough to save us — despite not knowing who I prayed to. Who receives the prayers of a god?

  I pocketed the query for ter musing and extended my arms like a conductor, ready to make my symphony of fire. The fmes rose when I lifted my hands, twisted into an orange ribbon above the bckened corpse of my first kill.

  The te Astin’s men watched in horror as I pyed with the fire midair. It looked like a snake coiling, readying itself to strike. With a flick of my arm, I directed the fme to pass through each man, burning holes in each chest. Skin, bone, lungs, hearts, all turned to smoke. One by one, they fell dead to the floor.

  One remained, shivering with terror at the bar. A trickle of liquid dripped from the end of his pant leg to a growing puddle beneath him. At first, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, believing it might just be spilt beer. But when he pushed back his stool, turning to flee, I saw that the stain spanned from crotch to ankle. The origin was unambiguous.

  “Dude.”

  He barreled through the door, prompting the two men on the porch to run with him. I lowered back onto my feet and strode to the window to watch their mad scramble. After retrieving their horses from the stable, they took off, galloping into the countryside.

  “And good riddance.”

  When I turned back, I saw both women bowing before me. That’s something a man could get used to, I thought.

  “Alright, dies, no need for that.” I bent down, gently wrapping my hands around their shoulders, directing them to stand.

  “You’ve saved our vilge,” said Illy. “For that, we will be eternally grateful.”

  Neesa eyed me curiously. “You’re really a god?”

  “You see regur guys levitate and control fire?”

  Neesa shook her head. “I just didn’t think any remained.”

  This statement recalled something one of the brutes said before the carnage. Rebard. He said Rebard had sin the gods. “Who’s Rebard?” I asked.

  The two women, one elf, one human, exchanged gnces. “No one knows exactly where he came from,” said Illy.

  “He just sort of showed up one day and started wreaking havoc,” Neesa continued.

  “One by one, he’s killed all of Milendria’s gods.” Illy smiled. “Except you, Xandos.”

  “Right,” I said, nervously scratching at the back of my head. My belly grumbled then, whether from anxiety or hunger, I wasn’t sure. Either way, I figured it was time to eat. “Girls, what’s there for a god to eat in a pce like Firevale?”