Growing up with an Ordite Mother meant knowing as much or more than she did about the history of Ord as told by the sacred Gospels. Did I believe a lot of what they said? Much of those ancient texts were written more than a century or two after Ord’s Ascension. The scars and the barbarism of a Dark Age finally came to an end and order restored. My point? I think we have to allow for different points of view on how we interpret this or that verse or paragraph, but the Gods are the Gods.

  Ord is Valor, Wik is Vengeance. Mir is Peace, Gor is Nature’s Savagery. Each God is a representation of something. An ideal. A vital piece of what makes Aramyr what it is. Where do I fit into that picture? What is my ideal?

  There are so many questions I could ask a God. I looked between the four I had to choose from once more. Mir, Wik, Sul and Tek. Each so very different from one another. What could I ask Tek? Perhaps he would know how to calculate my chances of survival for each Dungeon? Could mathematics foretell how much stronger I needed to be to succeed?

  What of Mir? Would she cleanse the corrupted Shard of Ara I carried if I asked her? How much aid was a God allowed to give to a mortal? Surely she was aware a fragment of Ara was somewhere within this Temple? Could she tell me where it was and how to retrieve it the safest way possible?

  Wik would have no patience for questions that didn’t pertain to killing anyone and anything that stood in my way. I doubted that conversation would turn out well.

  Sul? Hmm.

  Maybe tossing the dice is exactly what I need to do right now?

  I opened the Web and looked at Sul’s Tier III offering and was surprised to see only two spells. I had expected more as Tier I had been one spell, but Tier II had been three. No matter. In between both spells I saw an empty space that emitted a golden glow as I brought the Gold node closer. I swallowed the lump in my throat and willed the node into place. There was a flash and then…nothing.

  You have lost -75 Faction Light Pantheon!

  You have lost -50 Faction Wik!

  Okay…what now?

  “Well! You certainly took your time with that. The mortal concept of time is one of your less flattering quirks.”

  I whirled around in surprise and backed up a step. There, standing before me, was a mustachioed man with amber skin dressed in nobleman’s finery and sporting a garish hat with a long, green feather that matched his eyes. One eyebrow was raised and he looked me up and down. He topped me by at least a foot.

  “I’m wondering if I made a mistake in bestowing my blessing when some of the others wanted to grant you the Prophet class. So much hesitation! So much second guessing and careful consideration! Where’s your sense of adventure, lad! Where’s the Leeroy in your Jenkins? Where’s that predictable mortal desire for overwhelming power? Hmm? Well, you gape…and I merely jape! I don’t make mistakes!” With a laugh, Sul walked over and slapped me on the shoulder and laughed out loud.

  Was I gaping? Yes! A God stood before me, laughing and making insensible jokes!

  “F…forgive me, Sul, Luck’s Hand…”

  “No, no. None of that now.” Sul held up a hand to forestall any further speech and I closed my mouth with a snap. “We’re on a timer here, see? When you speak your question to me I have to answer it and leave immediately afterwards, savvy? Rules are rules, even for us! And by us, I don’t mean you and me of course, I mean myself and the others who make the world go round and round and round! Now then! I am also Master of Loopholes, did you know that? NO, don’t speak! Just listen, Kenric. In fact, you should listen more to the voice inside your heart instead of the one inside your head.”

  Sul sighed and walked around me to gaze at the entrance to Hadaeon’s Descent and made a tsk tsk sound. My eyes followed him, but I respectfully kept quiet. His words stirred me. His voice was confident and sure. I wasn’t sure what I had expected from a God, but this wasn’t it. He was so…normal sounding. It did much to set me at ease. “If you only knew how tedious it is century after century to hear the droning and the chanting and the pleading and the blah blah blah.” Sul whirled about to fix me with a stern gaze.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Prophets are supposed to relieve some of that pressure from us. Why don’t you go answer people’s questions? Why don’t you perform a few miracles? You haven’t even chosen your Foci yet! No, don’t make that face I know why you haven’t. They gave you three choices! Normally, it’s just the one, but I think Wik and Gor are sick of the Prophets we choose always getting murdered!”

  My eyes bulged and my jaw dropped. “M…Mur..!” Instantly Sul was in front of me with a hand held over my mouth.

  “Shh….shhh…there, there now. No questions, remember? Don’t ask me about that. Don’t do it. You aren’t ready for that. Just know that the Class is dangerous to have. Shouldn’t be, but it is. Don’t tell anyone you have it unless you trust them with your life! Mir put a veil over you so anyone who uses Identify skills will think you’re just a run of the mill, common Priest. It’s why you’re still alive now, I expect. Oh yes, even I wouldn’t have taken the bet if you didn’t have that.” I swallowed and nodded. Grinning wickedly Sul slowly removed his hand from my mouth. His eyes flickered back to the Red Dungeon portal.”

  “I’m betting you’ll be able to beat that. Oh yes! Now, don’t make that face either! Enter the Green portal first like you planned, then the Blue one in the Library, then this one here! Okay? Do that, and things will become much clearer to you and you’ll have more cards up your sleeve and let’s be honest, who wants to sit at the game table without a few cards up their sleeves, hmm? I always do.”

  I licked dry lips and gave an affirmative nod. Sul cleared his throat as he adjusted his hat.

  “Don’t be afraid to make choices, Kenric. Don’t be one of these automatons who never take a step forward unless they think one of us blesses the decision first. That’s no way to live. Risk is a part of the game, but that’s what makes it so fun! Now, ask your question! I hope it’s more interesting the ones those silly Popes always ask.”

  I stood stock still. The moment had come and I froze. I wanted to ask so many things. Sul stood before me, head cocked and a slight smile on his lips as he waited. I blurted the first thing that came to mind.

  “Why won’t Ord acknowledge me?” I panted as if I had just run up a hill. Sul’s eyes grew wide and I groaned.

  You messed up. He’s angry. Oh, Kenric you…

  Sul burst out laughing. He laughed so hard tears fell from his cheeks and he clutched his sides.

  “Of all the…haha!”

  “I…I just said the first…”

  “OPEN THE BOX, YOU FOOL!”

  With a crack of thunder, Sul disappeared leaving me standing before the portal alone, mouth open. I stood there for another minute before I was convinced he was really gone.

  “Box?“ My brow furrowed. There was only one box he could have mentioned. From my Inventory, I brought forth the rune lockbox placed into my custody by Brother Bernabo in what seemed a lifetime ago. When he had done so, I had received an important quest.

  You have been given the Quest: Deliver the Rune Lockbox to Hierophant Johannes. There is no time limit on this quest.

  Success: Ord, +500 Faction.

  Failure: Ord, -1000 Faction.

  “To fail this quest is to damn myself in the eyes of Ord, but those eyes won’t turn my way unless I open this box to fail the quest? Sul, is this some trick?” There was no answer and I didn’t expect one. One question and one answer was all the Gold node provided. “Sul’s Dice in Ord’s Mailed Fist!” I swore.

  I knew how to open the box. Brother Bernabo had instructed myself and the other Novices on the method while aboard our ill fated voyage. Sweat beaded upon my forehead and I mumbled the sequence of runes I had memorized.

  I can open it. I shouldn’t be afraid. Brother Bernabo wouldn’t have been bringing something dangerous to a Hierophant!

  Wouldn’t he? A Crusade is coming. Man is marching upon Nephilim once more! What if it’s a weapon? It has to be something important, Kenric! Something even Lore Sight can’t see. Leave it be!

  It won’t be failure just to open it, surely? I just have to bring it to Hierophant Johannes in Port Tyren and I shall! First, I’ll just see what Sul wants me to see!

  I shook my head of the last of my doubts. This was no time to hesitate. The Abbey of Twilight was waiting and Sul’s words still echoed in my brain.

  “I need a few cards up my sleeve, don’t I?”

  I tapped out the sequence of runes and the box shimmered and unfolded from itself as it expanded into a larger box thanks to the spatial enchantment that empowered it. I had to set it on the ground. There was a final step to opening the rune box. A Verse from Ord’s Final Gospel. There was no going back once I spoke it.

  Ord, forgive me.

  “The Sky opened and Light ascended.”

  The lid of the box opened and I held my breath. Slowly, I peeked my head inside.

  “What in the…what in Ord’s name is this?” I peered closer.

  Lore: {Level Insufficient}

  It looked like a piece of bone? Like maybe it had once been someone’s…

  “No…” All the blood drained from my face and I fell to my knees in shock. “It can’t be. Brother Bernabo, why did you have this? It can’t…” I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. My mind reeled. The Dungeons were forgotten. Sul was forgotten. The only thing that existed was the object in the box. The impossible object that had been in my possession this entire time. This most sacred of relics. This tiny piece of bone.

  “Ord’s finger bone. By all the Gods, it is one of Ord’s fingers!”