As the temperature rose, the scent of grass after a rainstorm was what finally jogged me awake, and I turned to the trees. The small ones were slightly wilted, the green leaves curled on the edges. Those on the large tree were still green and healthy, and I was stunned by the number of pulsating and growing pods.

Only half…

I sighed as I remembered the souls that had exited into the Primal Chaos. How many of those had been grabbed by the Primal Demons?

There was no other option, I thought as I gritted my teeth and moved towards the closest of the pods. It was three times bigger than when it started out, and I moved my hand towards it, then hesitated. She would have told me if I shouldn't touch them, I thought, and gingerly put my hand on the pod. The texture was like that of smooth wood, and it was warm. A soft heartbeat came from inside, and moving my head closer, I could hear it too. A quick count of one branch and a guess after told me there were at least a hundred thousand pods, probably more.

The sadness I had felt before flared up again. There were fourteen billion people on earth… did the rest die? I shivered at the prospect.

No, not all.

A soft vibration went through the world, and I looked up to find Rathica floating through the barrier with a large cloud of souls in tow. She moved towards the smaller trees, and the souls began flitting into the trees. It was hard to count them, but I knew right away it wasn't millions, let alone billions of souls.

Rathica moved away from the trees towards me. A set of chairs grew out of the ground, and she sat down on one, waving me towards the other one. I moved towards it, taking another look at the cloud before sitting down. I knew it would take a while before all of the souls had been absorbed.

Rathica was looking at me, and I inspected her in turn. Her armor was fully repaired again, and her hair no longer in disarray, but dozens if not hundreds of small cuts and bruises blemished her skin. It didn't diminish her beauty, but it did make me wonder.

"They will heal… eventually," Rathica said, raising a hand to touch a finger long and older scar on her cheek. I remembered that one. She had gotten it during her first fight with Preyatar.

"Where are the other earthlings?" I said finally, wondering why she hadn't just answered it when I thought about it.

Rathica was quiet for a moment, then leaned back in her chair. "Because there is no way for me to answer it that will make you feel better."

I took a glimpse up.

"No. Although tens of thousands were lost, some eaten, others having fled in a panic, that's not what happened."

I opened my mouth, but Rathica raised her hand.

"I will explain. Patience, Est."

I didn't reply and just waited.

"There was only one way to get those three to back off," Rathica said. "I had expected they would leave when Ulderion returned, but you heard them. They were willing to suffer losses you couldn't even comprehend to fight us, and right now, they would have won."

"But you were able to fight two of them!" I said, remembering how Rathica had kept Preyatar and Lischen from killing me.

"If it had lasted longer, I would have had to flee eventually…" Rathica said, raising her head and staring deep into my eyes. "Give me a hundred years, perhaps even less, and even together, those three won't be able to harm me. But not yet."

"So... billions of humans are now enslaved by them?" I asked.

Rathica sighed and leaned her head back, one of the most human things I had seen her do.

"No. But millions are. They were only willing to leave if Ulderion gave them roughly eighty percent of the seeds, and when we began drawing in the souls, they wanted the same division. It would have made it so their power would grow faster than ours…" Rathica gave a mock smile at that, but it wilted quickly. "We were not the only ones the Guidar attacked. From what I can feel, Lischen's realm is still in turmoil, most of it under constant siege from a massive horde of Rift Demons. Just the fact that I can feel this much of her realm shows she has lost control. I can't feel what Preyatar is doing, I don't even know where his realm is, but he was the strongest of the three. His realm was also the biggest…"

Rathica waited as the ramifications began becoming clear to me.

"So what happened to the Earthlings that they drew in?" I asked softly.

"Many died during the fights and even more fled into the Primordial Chaos. I searched for them and found some, but I fear that most are lost to us."

Did that mean they were dead? Technically they already were, right? Suddenly I realized she hadn't spoken about Cinderage.

"He is a fool," Rathica barked, clenching her hands to fists. "He detonated part of his realm to destroy the portal, obliterating a million souls and many of his followers in the process. The only benefit is that it caused all of the portals to collapse, including the small ones the Guidar had left that connected them to you and the other vessels."

I stared off into the distance, thinking about what I had heard. After a bit, I began finding some odd inconsistencies, and I looked at Rathica with a frown.

"Did all earthlings get drawn in here?"

"No, Est," Rathica stared at me sternly. "With my current power, I can perhaps have a hundred thousand followers. Any more, and the influx of karma is more than my realm can hold. Flowheart can perhaps have ten to fifteen times that many, and I have no idea about the other, younger deities. Lischen and Cinderage could each have fifty to sixty million."

I was shocked by the massive difference in numbers, and Rathica snorted. "Preyatar is hiding a lot of his power. I presume because he was plotting against the other two. I can't find his realm, but from what I could sense from him, his realm should be able to harbor a hundred million souls easily."

I did some quick additions in my head and felt my hair stand on end. "Rathica, that's just a small part of humanity… where are the rest?"

Rathica looked at me, and I could sense both strength and sadness through our connection.

"There weren't more than a hundred million humans left when we started drawing them over."

I stared into the distance as Rathica waited for my mind to cease being in turmoil. The idea that over ninety-nine percent of humanity was dead was hard to grasp. It was such a big number that it felt surreal. Even the millions we did manage to save was an amount hard to grasp, for that matter. Although I felt sadness, it wasn't overwhelming.

"What will happen with the earthlings that went to Lischen and Cinderage?" I asked.

"If they manage to get control over their realms back without losing all of the pods, they can create bodies for them and begin bringing them to other worlds. I expect they won't bring many to Kernstalion."

"And if they lose all pods?"

"They will try and fight Ulderion and me for the ones we have and fail. Although they are much stronger than either of us, attacking another deity's realm is incredibly difficult, especially for them."

I wondered what she meant by that but had a more important question to ask first. "And the souls?"

Rathica turned to look at the steadily decreasing cloud.

"They might try to consume them… or…" she looked up in distaste. "Put them in demon bodies."

I wondered how many of the earthlings might not even find that such a bad deal.

"They will soon find that their romanticized notion of demons is far, far from the reality," Rathica said, smiling sadly.

"Is there a way for them to give them to you?" I asked after a while.

"There is nothing I have that they would want for that trade, and no, to answer your next question. It would take me at least a thousand years before I am anywhere strong enough to lay siege to their realm and take them by force."

Taking a deep sigh, I pushed the desire to save the other human souls away. There was nothing I could do now.

"So, how long will the pods gestate?" I asked, looking at the tree.

"Anywhere between weeks and months depending on the power of the soul inhabiting it."

Feeling antsy, I got up and moved towards the tree. "How many did we manage to save?"

"Forty-seven thousand, eight hundred and nine so far, but I'm finding more already. I have two small partitions of myself roaming around Lischen and Cinderage's realm, and there are dozens of souls wandering around. I'm gathering them as fast as I can," Rathica said as she walked beside me.

So few, I thought sadly. Looking at the largest of pods, I gestured at them with my chin. "How did you decide who to pick."

"I told you before that I can sense those who have a high affinity with me… I chose those who will match us best… mostly." Rathica sighed as she looked around the tree. "There were far more that matched us than I could draw in…"

I was quiet again, staring at the tree, then back to Eliandra.

"Now what?"

"Now, you and the others need to head to the Shallow Gale Mountains and prepare a suitable location for a city for your people and my followers."

My eyes glued to Eliandra I shook my head. "I don't want to leave her."

"She won't wake, not for a long time. There are things I need to do before I have the ability to make another Prime…Est, let me finish."

I closed my mouth and clenched my jaw.

"First, one of the small trees needs to finish growing so I don't have to support those tens of thousands of souls but can start putting them into pods. Then I need to make the base of the city large enough to house all of the earthlings now growing in the pods, and then we have to wait for most of those to finish growing. After all of that is done, I need to repair the damage done to my realm by the demons…"

"How long," I asked, my hands balled into fists.

"A year…"

A soft growl echoed across the empty world as I swallowed back a scream of anger. A whole year...?

Rathica put a hand on my shoulder, and I felt sympathy and strength, ready to be drawn upon. It wasn't forced but offered this time, and I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head and ignored the offered strength. I would get through this myself, one way or another. Rathica squeezed my shoulder, and I felt that she was surprised, but also happy.

"I am sorry, Est, but trust me. She will be fine, and after she wakes, she will be more herself than before, with Flowheart. Although I can't guarantee there won't be any influence, my influence at least won't ever stand in the way of you two being together!"

I nodded, then moved towards Eliandra and sat beside her. I gently took her hand and rubbed it softly, feeling the calluses and scars.

"Can you wake the others? I need to say goodbye."

"Take all the time you need," Rathica said as she walked away.

Looking at Eli's face, calm and at peace, I wished I could just sleep here until she woke up so we could continue together.

I don't know how long I sat there, but eventually, I put her hand back, kissed her on the lips, and moved away. Haltir and Laurel stood silently waiting beside Rathica. Each was holding an ax and looked healthy, although dirty and bloodstained.

Rathica looked at me for a moment, then stuck her hand forward, which materialized a two-handed ax similar to what the others held. Grabbing it, I recognized the sensation of hardened wood. It wasn't my old ax, but similar enough.

"Est, I wish I could let you stay here and plan, but the influx of souls requires all my attention, and I'll let the temperature and oxygen control go as soon as you leave."

I shook my head in surprise. "But we need time to plan, prepare food, and other things?"

Rathica shook her head resolutely. "There is no time. I'm going to port you close to the coastline. You will need to find food and shelter for yourself until you find a suitable location. I've spoken with the others and given them as many ideas as I could, but ultimately I'll leave the decision with you. You know your people best. Do realize that I am going to be putting my full attention on things here. Don't bother me unless it's a life or death situation."

I nodded, staring at Rathica, my mind still numb. "Take good care of her!"

Rathica grinned, and I felt a wave of strength and love surge through the connection.

"Nobody will harm her here! Now, are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath, I turned to Laurel and Haltir. "You guys ready?"

Haltir snorted derisively as if the question needed no answer.

"Ready to go to the place my mother used to tell me stories about to scare me as a child, without food? Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be ready?" Laurel said. She sounded relaxed, but I saw her hands clenched around her ax handle.

"Let's go," I said.

The last thing I saw was Eliandra's face before the world around me swirled and turned into blurry lines.