“She’s coming.” Sistina’s voice was soft, but her words made Phynis stop in the middle of the hallway.

“Are you sure?” Phynis asked, her voice trembling. “I’d hoped that after yesterday she’d just leave us alone, if she survived the strike.”

“Yes. Her power is strong, I can feel it,” the dryad confirmed, and she frowned as she added, “She is being careful. I must prepare.”

“If you say so. Be careful, Sistina.” Phynis swallowed hard as she embraced her beloved. Sistina hugged her gently in return, and then Phynis asked, “Is there anything you want me to do?”

Sistina held Phynis for a moment, but finally pulled away, holding Phynis’ shoulder as her deep green eyes stared into the Queen’s. Her voice was quiet but firm. “Be careful, defend the city. Be ready to run. If I have not died in an hour, come to me. Bring the Jewels. Medaea, or Tyria, will be difficult.”

“If you haven’t died?” Phynis couldn’t help her voice from rising at the suggestion, her eyes wide. “I don’t want you to be doing something that dangerous, Sistina!”

“I won’t. That is…” Sistina paused, then flushed ever so slightly. “It’s the easiest way to be sure. If I’m alive, then it’s safe to enter. Don’t want to use a message stone.”

“Oh! So, how good are your odds, then?” Phynis asked, her eyes narrowing as her nerves calmed. “If you used your last resort, I mean?”

“Almost certain. Without… they are decent. Not certain, but good,” Sistina replied, shrugging and dropping her hands to hold Phynis’. “I will do my best.”

“Good. I’ll do as you say, Sistina. I’m also going to let Farris know,” Phynis murmured, and finally let Sistina go. “Go get ready. We’ll do our best.”

“Yes,” Sistina murmured, smiling and turning to leave.

Phynis watched her go, chewing her lower lip nervously. Then she headed toward the stairs leading up to the beacon itself. She’d rather Farris knew what was coming.

* * *

It was quieter today, Slaid had noticed. Kelvanis’ army seemed more subdued and less aggressive since the attack the previous day. It was quiet enough that Vendis had taken the day off, which he totally understood. She’d been getting exhausted lately, even if he did rather enjoy her company.

Still, as he surveyed the fields outside he couldn’t help but frown. It was obvious that the enemy was expecting something. The question was what were they waiting for?

“Umar, I want you to go talk to the men, make sure they’re ready. I’m not sure what’s all going on, but something about the situation has me on edge,” Slaid told his lieutenant, scanning the enemy army nervously. The siege engines on both sides were firing, but sporadically due to how few could reach one another.

“Alright, I can do that, boss. Do you have any idea what it is, though?” Umar asked, glancing out at the Kelvanis army curiously. “I think the men would be happier with something specific.”

“I have no idea for sure. It just looks like they’re waiting for something. It’s possible the goddess is going to be back,” the rebel commander explained, shrugging. “If she does come back, I hope she gets nailed to a mountain again. Preferably twice, to make sure she doesn’t get back up. I wouldn’t put money on it, but it’s something I can hope for.”

“Right, that would be bad. I’ll get right on it,” Umar replied, quickly jogging off to talk to the officers on duty.

While Umar was busy, Slaid approached a couple of the magi, only to blink in surprise as he realized he recognized one of the elves. “Hey, you’re Cortin, right? One of the teachers at the Academy, from before the Godsrage?”

“Yes, that’d be me,” the blond young elf replied, grinning as he offered a hand to Slaid. “And you’re the rebel commander from Kelvanis, Slaid Darkeye. I remember you.”

“I’m flattered that you bothered remembering me,” the human told Cortin, shaking his hand and asking. “What’re you doing down here, anyway? I haven’t seen you on the walls before.”

“Well… I suppose you can blame Kassandra,” Cortin replied ruefully, running a hand through his hair sheepishly. “She said that she’d had enough of us hiding from what had happened, and that I needed to get out into the city for something other than flirting. Since I’m a pretty damned good fire mage by current standards, I figured I’d come down and help.”

“That’s great news! What sort of things can you pull off?” Slaid asked, his eyes brightening. Most magi didn’t have a huge repertoire of attack spells, it was more the utility effects they had that would really give them flexibility.

Before Cortin could reply, the city beacon fired, the gold-cored crimson beam illuminating the entire city and sky as it shot out into the mountainside to the south. The rumbling crash in its aftermath made Slaid wince, and he shook his head. For a moment he thought his ears were ringing, which they were, but after a moment he realized that the alarm bells were ringing too.

“It had to be Tyria they were trying to hit! Did they get her?” Slaid demanded, rushing toward the other side of the gatehouse with Cortin at his heels. Part of the mountainside to the south was collapsing in rubble, making it hard to see anything, but Slaid scanned the area hopefully.

He was still scanning it when a flicker of movement caught his eye to the east, and an angelic figure seemed to melt out of thin air no more than fifty yards away, a flaming sword in both hands as she swung it hard.

From the sword erupted a massive sea of purple flames. They exploded outward in an enormous wave, seeming to eclipse the very sky itself as they descended on the city. Slaid barely had time to catch his breath before the city’s shield flickered into existence, an immense crimson dome that crackled as the fire struck it. He could feel the incredible heat of the attack, and Slaid’s eyes widened as he saw the far edge of the parapets begin to blacken and bubble under the immense heat.

Fortunately, the fires died off before the walls could begin melting, but the human found himself covered by a sheen of sweat, and worried at the absence of any sign of their attacker. Slaid quickly spoke, looking everywhere. “Where did she—”

The sound of something hitting the gate was accompanied by the shriek of twisting metal, drowning out his question as the goddess’ voice echoed. “You should open the gates for a goddess, but it is no matter. I shall do it myself.”

With another impact the gates shrieked again, then clattered across the ground, broken. Slaid paled and swallowed, then glanced at Kelvanis’ lines. “Ah, shit.”

While they’d been distracted the enemy army had surged forward eagerly, and most of the hesitation he’d seen before was gone. Slaid winced again as he heard something hit the inner gate, shaking his head and yelling. “Ignore her! Kelvanis is attacking, stop them!”

“Isn’t that a bad idea? She’s going to rip us apart once she’s inside!” Cortin protested. Fortunately most of the soldiers weren’t paying attention to him, and as the gates and most of a portcullis were launched across the courtyard, Slaid looked at him and scowled.

“There isn’t a single gods damned thing we can do to stop her! She could’ve broken through the shield if she really wanted to, so focus on the people we can stop,” he growled, gesturing outside the walls. “Sistina said to leave Tyria to her once she got inside, so damned well leave her to it! We’ve got enough problems with mortals outside the gates, so show me what you can do!”

“Are you kidding? She’s… oh, fine!” Cortin threw up his hands, glancing back toward the woman who’d just emerged into the courtyard nervously. He relaxed when she didn’t pay them any mind, and started casting a spell.

Slaid impatiently paced, wishing that he had his other eye. The lack of depth perception made aiming a bow or crossbow incredibly difficult for him, which meant that he wasn’t able contribute meaningfully until his opponents were closer. Even so, his eye widened as Cortin cast his spell, and a twenty foot across column of fire formed outside the city and began to slowly spin faster and faster.

“What in the hell is that?” Slaid asked.

“A firenado,” Cortin replied smugly as the flames began to spin more quickly, turning into an actual tornado with fire blazing throughout it, and Slaid barely heard the elf mutter under his breath. “Block this, you bastards.”

Slaid turned away from the blazing twister bearing down on their attackers just in time to see Tyria fly into the dungeon entrance and winced, muttering softly, “I hope you’re as prepared as you claimed to be, Sistina.”

* * *

Though Sistina didn’t realize it, she was hoping the same thing as Slaid. Her body had reached her tree not long before, and the rumble of the beacon firing had told her that things were about to go badly. Even so, she felt surprisingly helpless, waiting for others to come to her. It had almost been a relief when she’d felt the goddess touch her domain, even if she’d retracted her senses from the area in question.

Tyria was like a blazing sun that had intruded into her domain, a being of fire and power that was impossible to ignore. Sistina couldn’t tell what she was doing until the woman entered the dungeon, but the difference between them was different than she’d expected.

Sistina had expected to feel largely suppressed by the deity’s power, yet that wasn’t happening. While Tyria was capable of channeling her power more directly into magical effects than Sistina and had more raw power at her command, she didn’t feel like she was more powerful in general. Sistina didn’t feel like she was less than the goddess, and that puzzled the dryad. According to her memories, no dryad, dungeon, angel, or even demon should be able to face a deity at all.

Still, the thought vanished from her mind as Tyria entered the dungeon, her eyes blazing. Sistina winced and quickly moved all the defending monsters she could out of the path of the goddess, knowing they wouldn’t do much good. That was what one of her recent summoning spells was for.

That she had moved things was good, because Tyria didn’t pause or try to go through the maze. With a blast of fire, she began to bore a hole directly through the dungeon walls, burrowing through the dungeon directly toward Sistina herself.

At least that meant that the adventurers who’d been on the second floor wouldn’t run into the goddess, Sistina reflected. That would have likely gone badly for them.

* * *

If the alarm hadn’t warned Daniel that there was something wrong, the gates getting kicked off their hinges by a goddess had certainly done the job. Seeing the twisted metal doors go skidding across the stone courtyard had been a sight that he’d never wanted to observe, yet there was nothing to be done about it. As Alfred had directed, he waited as the glowing goddess flew across the courtyard and barely folded her wings in time to not clip the walls of the dungeon before she vanished within, and he finally managed to find the ability to breathe again.

While part of him had wanted to just sit and relax for a while, the gaping hole that was the front gate indicated that such wasn’t a good idea. That was why he and the other adventurers were waiting when Kelvanis’ soldiers managed to break through the fountains of water, murder holes, and arrow slits of the gatehouse, and into the city itself.

The soldiers were ragged when they first broke into the city, but Daniel found himself relieved when Beacon’s soldiers and a mix of Sifaren’s army and Kelvanis’ rebels engaged them. He didn’t find himself quite ready to fight his former countrymen just yet, and so he watched the bloodshed with a growing sense of horror in his stomach.

Only a year before he hadn’t really cared about warfare, at least not that much. It was simply part of life, yet now he was watching people brutally murder one another and he wondered what had changed. Was it that he had a relatively happy life with Sina and the others? Was it the camaraderie of the Adventuring Guild, and how despite their many differences the people there defended one another with their lives? In all truth, Daniel couldn’t figure out what it was. All he knew was that war was horrible.

Eventually, after nearly a quarter of an hour the attacking army had forced back the defenders enough that they began to spill over toward the Guild’s lines. As they did, Daniel saw Darak step forward, and the dwarf cleared his throat and bellowed out a warning. “Hey, numbskulls! This area is controlled by the Western Adventuring Guild, and we want no part of your war! Step into this courtyard and we’ll cut ya to ribbons! Or fry ya like ducks! So back the hell off!”

“How can he yell that loudly?” Eric asked nervously from nearby.

Joseph chuckled as he replied, loudly enough to be heard over the clamor of battle. “His father was a drill sergeant in his hometown. You might say it runs in the family.”

“Fair enough, I… aw, dammit.” Eric’s voice trailed off before his curse.

While the Kelvanis soldiers had paused, they hadn’t stopped, and they rolled toward Daniel and the others implacably. Bracing himself for the battle, Daniel pulled out a throwing knife, hefting its familiar weight as he watched them come, his stomach tensing as several men came straight for him. Any second and—

Daniel didn’t see the first of the soldiers step across the invisible line that Alfred had set. What he did see were the flagstones in an area ten feet across suddenly turning into angled stone stalagmites that punched straight through a half-dozen soldiers. An instant later, Darak let out a war cry and charged, his massive axe in both hands as he bodily sent three more soldiers to the grave. He heard a roaring blast of flame to his right, but Daniel didn’t have time to look. Even as the handful of soldiers in front of him began to react, he threw his dagger into the throat of one, and Nirath finished her spell.

A bolt of lightning blasted out from Nirath’s staff and into the man next to Daniel’s target, electrocuting the man as it bounced from one soldier to the next, through a dozen men before vanishing. The lightning left its targets twitching on the ground, and Daniel looked around, gaping.

To his left, beyond the spikes holding up the soldiers, he saw more carnage, including several soldiers solidly frozen in place. One fell over and shattered as he looked at them. The other side was much the same, though Alfred was holding a strange, spiked metal staff, looking far too satisfied as he looked on a twenty-yard cone where the attackers had been left smoldering and the paving stones were scorched.

In seconds, the adventurers had killed or disabled more than fifty men, and Darak chuckled darkly as he came walking back, using a cloth to clean his axe. “Told you we could go through a few companies like Nirath goes through a salad.”

“I… I see that. I barely had time to react!” Daniel protested, looking around at the others, then at Kelvanis’ army. The enemy seemed even more stunned than Daniel felt, and none of them were daring to approach now.

“That’s the point, Danny. They know that too, and now they’ll leave us the hell alone,” Joseph replied with a chuckle.

“That makes sense,” Sina murmured, and Daniel nodded as he looked at her.

“Now to just hope that the dungeon survives.” Joseph’s mutter was soft, but Daniel’s smile faded as he looked behind him at the dungeon entrance. No one had come out yet, which was worrying.

“Agreed,” Daniel said, then turned to keep watch on the army again. Even if they’d been beaten back, he knew better than to think they wouldn’t attack if shown weakness.

* * *

No one saw Rene creep out the back of the guildhouse. The assassin had lost weight, but she’d managed to resist all attempts to interrogate her, and the adventurers all leaving the guildhouse had been a stroke of luck for her. Certainly, she was missing an arm and in bad shape, but open warfare had given her the perfect opening to escape, as had the adventurers lowering their guard.

“Time to get back to the Guildmaster and report about these idiots…” Rene muttered, making her way down the alley slowly. She was certain that Kevin would appreciate the information she’d managed to gather.

As she stepped out into the street, Rene never saw the rune on the flagstone flicker to life. Neither did she know that when the gates had been breached, a number of traps in the surrounding area activated, and she’d never been attuned to them to keep them from targeting her. So when the jet of flame enveloped her, she never even had time to scream.

* * *

Many people would expect the confrontation between a dungeon and a goddess to be exciting. For Sistina, most of the time so far had been boring. She was fairly certain it was for Tyria, as well. She’d heavily increased the density of the stone in Tyria’s path to make it more difficult. In return the goddess had increased the heat with which she was burning a hole through the mountain.

Tyria bored the hole, and Sistina tried to stop her. It was fairly simple as contests went, but Sistina wasn’t really trying. Trying to stop the goddess with mere rock was an exercise in futility, and she had far less mana than the goddess did. It was best to be practical about such things.

In an odd sort of way, Sistina was relieved when Tyria finally broke into her cavern. It meant that the confrontation she’d been expecting was here, but at the same time she found herself amused. The goddess paused, looking around the chamber at the gardens with her eyebrows furrowed in thought before taking flight and carefully bypassing them on the way to her tree.

As the goddess approached, Sistina opened her eyes, inhabiting the body as she looked up at Tyria and stood. She stepped out from under the canopy, almost face to face with Tyria, and each of them studied one another for a moment.

“Thank you. For not damaging the garden,” Sistina told the goddess, feeling oddly at ease, even with the flaming sword so near her.

Tyria didn’t speak for a long moment, but eventually nodded, her voice betraying just a hint of surprise. “Why would I damage a garden? It is not dangerous, unlike some of the chambers in your outer dungeon. You, on the other hand, are different than I expected.”

Sistina raised an eyebrow. While she was more than willing to battle this out, it would be far more ideal if she could get through things simply by talking.

“I was told you were a dryad. Those who I have spoken with agree on this. Yet you are not a dryad. I sense your power, your core, and it comes from the tree, not that… body that you inhabit,” the goddess replied, and her eyes drifted to the tree, sending chills down Sistina’s spine. “The tree seems familiar for some reason, but I cannot explain why.”

“I am unusual. Now, please leave. Our war is with Kelvanis, not you,” Sistina told the beautiful woman, crossing her arms in front of her, but as she did she could feel Tyria’s power growing more focused.

“I will not. Those in your city have harmed my faithful and kidnapped those who were blessed in my name.” Tyria raised her sword and pointed it at Sistina’s tree, the flames intensifying along its length, and she continued. “Do not resist and I will make this painless for you.”

The dryad considered the request for only an instant before smiling and shaking her head, her voice blunt. “No.”

Tyria didn’t waste any further words, and as her blade rose, the flames grew ever more potent, and Sistina simply smiled as she looked at Tyria and past her.

Beyond the goddess, the pond silently swirled and rose up in a massive wave, forming a featureless giant made of pure water. The elementals Sistina had called inhabited the water, and were nearly invulnerable in their current state. That was likely the only reason they’d been willing to accept her bargain, and it was fortunate that they had.

Before Tyria’s blade could come down, Sistina spoke softly, flicking her hand. “Shoo.”

A massive array surged to life around her tree, two separate circles of stone and metal having been formed just under the surface of the hill. Glittering golden veins of light outlined the runes, and a shield sprang into existence inches from Sistina’s face. Almost in the same moment the second array hit Tyria with a magical battering ram of force, launching her back into the gigantic water elemental with a cry of shock.

The elemental enveloped the goddess, collapsing in a swirling ball of animate water around her, currents forming within it to try and restrain her. Her sword’s flames had dimmed but didn’t extinguish even in the water. Tyria’s eyes blazed with rage, and she twisted and spun within her aquatic prison, internal fire causing the water to steam and scald.

Without anything to directly fight against, the water elementals were likely among the most effective foes for Tyria that Sistina could have chosen, especially as she was a goddess of fire. Even so, Sistina had absolutely no illusions that the water elementals could slow Tyria for more than a minute, possibly two, so she immediately began to chant, flicking her fingers through the gestures of a spell, and beneath her mana flooded out and into the traps she’d built just for this possibility.

The gazebo which she’d built on the shores of the pond shimmered with light, shuddered, and began to fall apart, runes glowing across the exposed surfaces of the wooden structure. In moments it’d collapsed, and with another gesture the dryad sent the pieces flying around the floating orb, forming an elaborate lattice around the fighting goddess and the rapidly shrinking ball of water. Concern surged through Sistina as she saw how much water had steamed away already, and she tried to hasten her casting.

“This will not stop me, dungeon!” Tyria finally broke free of the water elemental, eyes blazing in rage as she unleashed a firestorm, a raging torrent of flame that blasted the remainder of the pond into nothing, a thick mist emanating from the wooden lattice. “You would challenge a goddess with water?”

“No. I challenge you with faith,” Sistina replied, finishing her spell and smiling gently up into the mist at the goddess. “Your faith, Medaea.”

“What? What is this?” Tyria demanded, seeming to notice the wooden frame for the first time, untouched by the fire and glowing with a brilliant golden light. An instant later the frame turned entirely into light and energy, and from each corner of the twelve-sided lattice burst a lance of pure light that pierced into the goddess, who screamed in shock and pain. “Ahh!”

Sistina watched for a moment, swallowing hard as she gestured again, the lattice slowly floating toward her and her tree, the goddess contained within it and writhing in pain. It settled down onto the ground, and Sistina let the shield around her tree fade. The power it used was too much of a drain when combined with maintaining the lattice.

The lattice wasn’t mere light, not with the ability to trap Tyria where she was. It had taken painstaking effort for Sistina to work out a spell that could do what she needed and trap a goddess, but at last she’d managed it. The lattice was faith given form. Every prayer uttered by the priestesses of Medaea in the city above, by the Jewels in their private rooms, by the worshippers asking for help, was imbued into the lattice. It held the hopes, dreams, and memories of Medaea’s faithful as a cage and reminder in one. The spell was powerful, but an incredible drain of mana, and as it attacked the goddess’ mind, Sistina felt herself pale.

“Remember who you were,” the dryad murmured softly, worry surging through her as she watched the struggling goddess, whose weapon fell from a nerveless grasp.

* * *

The battle between her soldiers and Kelvanis was still raging when Phynis gathered the Jewels and took them down to Sistina’s cavern. While the initial assault had been beaten back, it was obvious even from the palace that casualties had been far higher than she’d hoped they would be. She was unhappy with abandoning the field at this point, but Sistina was still alive and the dryad’s directions had been precise.

They took the emergency escape again, as it was far faster than trying to walk and none of them wanted to leave for longer than they had to. The descent was as shocking as before, but Phynis managed it, with far less terror than she’d had the previous trip.

“I’m too old for things like that.” Diamond’s voice was soft as the priestess stood off to the side, her hands on her knees.

“I don’t know… if it wasn’t so dark and long, it might actually be fun,” Opal disagreed, teasing the other woman. “You don’t look any older than me, either.”

Diamond gave the orange-haired woman a dirty look, and Phynis smiled, shaking her head as she interrupted. “Opal, stop teasing, would you? We need to go see Sistina. Hopefully without her tree being on fire this time.”

“Agreed,” Amethyst said swiftly, and most of the mirth on the faces of the others vanished as well. “Let’s go, then!”

Phynis led the way out into the cavern, then stopped with a gasp. The cavern didn’t look much different, save for the missing gazebo and that the pond was empty, but her eyes immediately focused on the prison of light and the purple-haired figure inside of it.

She swallowed hard before asking. “Is… is that…?”

“I think it is. I don’t know for certain, but maybe I can be sure after seeing her up close…” Diamond replied, her voice trembling.

“Let’s go,” Sapphire suggested, surprisingly calm, and she led the way over to where Sistina stood near the figure.

“Sistina, what’re you doing to her?” Phynis asked as they got close, worried as she saw the expression of pain on the goddess’ face. Tyria’s presence filled her with awe, but it was oddly dampened to the point she could tolerate it.

“Using faith, prayers to Medaea. Trying to make her remember,” Sistina replied, looking worried as she chewed her lower lip, then looked at the Jewels. “Isn’t working. Mana use is… dangerous.”

“I can feel my own prayers in that…” Topaz’s voice was soft in amazement as she looked at the lattice. “I can’t imagine how you did that.”

“What will happen if it fails?” Ruby asked, glancing at Sistina, even as Phynis embraced the Queen gently.

Phynis could feel the dryad’s tension as she replied. “She would kill me. Not a pleasant experience, I believe. Hers, I meant her experience.”

“No! Is there anything you can do?” Phynis asked, panic surging through her, and everyone paused as Sistina visibly hesitated.

“Yes,” Sistina finally admitted, lowering her eyes and continuing. “She has a slave brand. Powerful and complex… but possible. I find myself hesitant.”

“Why?” Emerald asked nervously.

“She’s your goddess. Corrupted, but… your goddess,” Sistina replied softly, her arms tightening around Phynis. “Making her mine would be wrong.”

Shock surged through Phynis, followed by incredulity, then by an odd sense of satisfaction and happiness. That Sistina would even consider the feelings of the others at this stage made her happy, but she was also frustrated that the dryad hadn’t just dealt with the problem. Yet when she opened her mouth to speak, Sistina gave her a stern look and shook her head.

The Jewels were all looking at one another, stunned and hesitant. One by one they looked at Diamond. The oldest priestess paused, then asked, “Are you all sure?”

Each nodded as her gaze fell to them, and Diamond sighed, then turned to Sistina and asked softly, tears glittering in her eyes. “On behalf of my sister priestesses and myself, I request that you claim Tyria’s slave brand, Sistina. If you can return her to us as Medaea, it would be wonderful, but… but please free her of their command.”

Sistina paused a moment, then nodded. “Yes. This… will be difficult.”

The dryad seemed to go slightly limp in Phynis’ arms after a moment, and as they watched, a dozen thin roots emerged from the ground beneath Tyria. The goddess growled as the roots wrapped around her legs, moving upward quickly. Then they began to slip through the gaps in her armor, seeking out the hidden brand on Tyria’s lower body. Finally they stopped, and Phynis swallowed.

“And now… now we wait,” Phynis murmured.