CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

After a short period of adjustment and necessary reorganization, Desaphanus's many duties were delegated to his servants, who went about their job with angelic zeal. It was widely accepted throughout the Palace of Heavens that the elder god would return on the day he judged them worthy. Worthy of what, none could say for certain for Desaphanus's ways were beyond even divine understanding, but none dared question his infallible wisdom. Life went on much as it ever had throughout the universe with one exception.

There were still heretics, unbelievers, and demons, but Pira's fervor to smite them dwindled until finally disappearing altogether. Of all his servants, only she understood that was Desaphanus truly dead and her holy function along with him. So she did something she never thought she'd do. She left the Palace of Heavens, her home since the dawn of time.

"Desaphanus will be disappointed," Xyreen said.

Pira half-smiled. "You know he's not coming back, don't you?"

After a quick glance to assure her none of the others might see her response, Xyreen nodded.

"How can you stay?"

"Somebody has to, and it's something to do. Besides, Desaphanus isn't really gone. He's all around us.

He is us."

"I suppose," Pira agreed softly.

"It's something to do. Are you certain about this?"

The Righteous Anger of Desaphanus clapped her hands, and the Cat leapt into her arms.

"This is something I have to do."

Pira spread her wings and descended to Wa'suria. She drifted for awhile before finally coming to her final destination: an unremarkable cottage in an unremarkable patch of woods.

The Cat scampered inside and settled on her favorite blue pillow besides Tod's empty bed.

Pira's universe seemed a very lonely place. Desaphanus was gone, and she missed him greatly. But she missed Tod even more. Compared to his brother, Tod had been a shiftless waste of elder godhood, but with the passing of time, she found herself thinking about him more and more. Vengeance and fury had ever filled her heart, but as the rage subsided, she found something unfamiliar within her.

Affection.

The sensation wasn't completely unpleasant in itself, but Tod was gone. The emotion was wasted. No, she realized, not wasted. As long as she remembered him and his sacrifice, Tod would never really die.

The cottage door opened, and Tod stepped inside.

"Oh. I was wondering when you'd show up." He set down his bucket of freshly dug earthworms and clapped the dirt from his hands.

Pira swept Tod up in her arms. He wasn't just a phantom of her imagination.

"You're alive! You're alive! But..how? I saw you die."

"Oh that. Well sort of."

She embraced him, squeezing all the breathe from his body. "You're alive!"

"Yeah," he gasped, "I'm alive."

Pira tightened her smothering hug.

"Uh..would you mind putting me down?"

"But how can you still be alive? I thought the universe needed your life force."

"It did, and that's exactly what I gave it. The life force of Tod the elder god is exactly where it belongs: everywhere. But I had enough nigh-omnipotence left in the end to recreate myself along with the universe.

I'm not an elder god anymore. I'm just your dreary, everyday, immortal orc."

Pira couldn't stop herself from crushing him in another overly exuberant embrace.

"You gave up your godhood?"

"Sure. It's not that big of a deal. I never really wanted it." He grimaced. "All that power and responsibility was far more trouble than it was worth, and now I have more time to catch up on my fishing."

The Cat rubbed against his legs. "I'm hungry."

He bent down and scratched under her chin. "Sorry, but you'll have to wait a little while. My fish conjuring days are behind me. Thanks for taking care of her, Pira. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Tod. She wasn't any trouble at all."

He grabbed one of many poles from the wall.

"What about the Tenalpians?" she asked. "Did you recreate them too?"

"Certainly, but I did give them a little tweaking. From now on, they'll just ignore this part of the universe.

As far as they're considered, it doesn't even exist." He picked up his bait bucket. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got lunch to catch."

He turned to walk out the door.

"Tod?"

"Yeah?"

"Um..could you use some company?"

He smiled. "Sure. Grab a rod."

The angel snatched her selection from the wall. "I've never fished before."

"That's alright. It's not hard to learn, and you've got plenty of time to pick it up."

She hesitated at the cottage door.

"Something wrong?" Tod asked.

"No." Pira set her Silver Sword against the wall. "Everything's just fine."

And the immortal orc and former angel of vengeance began the first of many walks to the river.

And the Cat sat on her pillow and caught a pleasant nap before lunch.