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I stayed out of the politics of our corner of Valhalla. Usually I just watched and waited for the dust to settle. To join the fray was to take sides and make potential enemies. I should not have worried. No Gods ever stayed long enough to plot revenge. I looked today at the names of the Gods who rule our lives and realized that the evil Goddess is the only one who remains from when I first arrived in this Land. She rules this realm and the lesser Gods fall before her power. Many achieve immortality but none stay.

Rose used to be a match for Darkness. Its roll call of immortals used to be impressive. At one time they had Dimi, Hellburn, Lancer, Grunt, Icewing, Chipper and Maverick. World also used to be a true balance. Freak held ultimate power at one time. After he left, his place was filled by Orcfourlife, Twolegup, then Grunt. I tried to hold the balance also. There has also been Eirin, Rizzen and Kuore, who rose from World to the ranks of the Immortals. Talamar and Glimi almost achieved immortality and then there is you, my Lord. The halls of Valhalla still echo with the lost voices of the forgotten Gods; Ambrix, Papilla, Chance, Fugue, Thanatos, Riddler, Xap, Killed and Taj and all the others I have named.

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Kayal looked at Darius and said "Do you hear their voices echoing sometimes, my Lord, as you wander the Immortal Zone? Do you come across lost hide-aways and wonder which God....?" Sadly, she added, "One day, will another God stumble into my cliff-top retreat and see the World as I saw it?".

Kayal seemed to mentally shake herself. She smiled at Darius, looking more composed. She politely said "This is not the time or the place to open the old battles of the Gods. I will not disillusion the child. She can come back. You do not need to stay to check on what I say, my Lord. I will behave."

Darius tensed at those words. His look wavered between anger and resignation, but his voice remained even as he replied "You say these things to wound me...or maybe to anger me? I do not stay to keep check on your words, my Lady, though I am learning much. I would be a fool not to realise that you could still teach us all so much, but that also is not why I stay. I stay because I choose to stay...and maybe because I hope I can help you through this final task."

Kayal acknowledged the gentle reprimand with a blush. She said "I'm sorry, Darius. The Tree is not healing me today. It saddened me today when I thought that the old carving that Ravane placed of his name on the Tree, had finally faded from sight. I looked and perhaps it was my failing eyesight, but for a while I could not find it. I thought it had gone."

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Darius nodded and said "Change is hard when you aren't part of it. Come inside and let the peace of the prayer wheel soothe you instead." They went inside and Kayal smiled happily. It may have been the room of a God, but she'd known and loved this place since she'd first made it for Darius. It was his design and his request, but she'd seen the magic of it take form beneath her hands. It had always soothed her before and it did so again.

The child waited patiently near the entrance.