Three days of rest.
Three days of sleeping in real beds, eating real food, holding Mei Lian close every night. Three days of letting my body recover and my mind settle after weeks of walking and fighting and discovering.
But the map on Lyra's table kept calling to me.
Seven temples. Seven gods. Seven chances to gather strength for the coming war.
On the fourth morning, I gathered the team.
"I have to go again."
Mei Lian's hand found mine under the table. She'd known this was coming. We both had.
"How long?" Darius asked.
"Weeks. Maybe longer. The temples are scattered—mountains, desert, islands. Travel between them will take time."
Lyra spread the map. "I've been calculating routes. If you're efficient, you can hit three in the first week, two more in the second, the last two in the third."
"Three weeks." Mei Lian's voice was steady, but the bond flickered with fear.
"I'll come back. Always."
Darius cracked his neck. "And us? What do we do while you're god-collecting?"
"Train. Prepare. Rally the freed worlds. Sarah, keep working with Earth's governments—we'll need them." I looked at each of them. "And watch for Network movements. If they're gathering, we need to know."
Vera nodded. "I'll return to Echoes. Bring our mages up to full strength."
"I'll coordinate with the Curator," Lyra added. "There might be more information in those archives."
Sarah's voice came through the screen: "Earth's ready. Just tell us when."
I looked at Mei Lian. She looked back. The bond held everything we couldn't say.
"When do you leave?" she asked.
"Tomorrow. Dawn."
She nodded. Squeezed my hand.
"Then tonight is ours."
---
Dawn – First Temple
I left before sunrise.
Mei Lian watched from the gate, the bond warm with love and fear and hope. I kissed her once more, held her close, then turned and walked toward the mountains.
The first temple was three days east.
---
Day 2 – The Mountain Pass
The trail grew steep.
Snow covered the upper reaches, crunching beneath my boots. Wind howled through passes, cutting through even my warmest clothes. The stone from Mira pulsed steadily, a warm heartbeat against my chest.
I stopped at midday to rest.
A cave offered shelter—small, dark, but out of the wind. I sat just inside the entrance, eating dried meat and bread, watching snow swirl past.
"You're far from home."
I didn't startle—years of training had cured that. I simply turned, slowly, to face the speaker.
A woman stood in the cave's depths. Young. Pale. Dressed in white furs that blended with snow. Her eyes were the color of ice—pale blue, ancient, cold.
"Who are you?"
"A question I haven't answered in centuries." She stepped closer. "You carry blessings. Multiple. Mira's warmth. Valdur's strength. Others, faint but growing."
"You can sense them?"
"I'm a goddess. Sensing is what we do." She studied me. "Why are you here, mortal? This mountain has no temple. No shrine. No worshippers."
"I'm looking for them. The hidden ones. The survivors."
She was quiet for a long moment.
"Many have tried. None succeeded. The Network hunts us relentlessly—their immortals patrol every sacred site, waiting for fools like you to lead them to us."
"I'm not leading anyone. I'm alone."
"Are you?" Her ice-blue eyes bored into me. "The Network has spies everywhere. Some you'd never suspect."
I met her gaze steadily. "I know. But I also know that hiding forever isn't living. And the gods who still hide—they deserve more than fear."
She stared at me. Then, slowly, smiled.
"You're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid."
"Probably both."
She laughed—a sound like ice cracking, beautiful and terrible. "I'm Selene. Goddess of winter. And I've been watching you since you entered my mountain."
"Your mountain?"
"This peak is mine. Has been since before your world had words." She gestured. "My temple is deeper in the cave. Hidden for centuries. No one has visited in—" She paused. "—I've lost count."
"Will you let me visit now?"
She studied me for a long moment.
"Yes. But if you're lying—if you're Network—you'll never leave this mountain alive."
"I'm not lying."
"I know." She turned, walking deeper into the cave. "That's why I'm letting you follow."
---
Selene's Temple
The cave opened into wonder.
Ice formations glittered in soft light—blue and white and silver, carved by centuries of freeze and thaw. A pool of still water reflected the ceiling, creating the illusion of infinite space. And at the center, on a throne of ice, sat Selene's true form.
Not the woman from before. Something more. Tall. Radiant. Cold as deepest winter and just as beautiful.
"You see me truly now," she said. "Few mortals have."
I knelt—not from submission, but from respect. "I'm honored."
"Rise. Kneeling is for worshippers, not allies." She gestured, and the ice throne shifted, becoming a bench beside the pool. "Sit. Tell me why you've come."
I told her everything. Mira's blessing. Valdur, Lira, Aric. The first immortal's plan. The war coming. The need for gods to stand together.
She listened without interrupting. When I finished, she was quiet for a long moment.
"Mira lives. After all these centuries." Selene's voice held wonder. "I thought she'd faded like the others."
"She's waiting. Hiding. Hoping."
"Hope." Selene smiled sadly. "I'd forgotten what that felt like."
She stood—flowing from the throne like snow sliding from a roof—and walked to the pool. Touched its surface. Ripples spread.
"The first immortal killed my sister. Centuries ago. I felt her die—felt her power scatter, felt her presence vanish from the world." Her voice cracked. "I've hated him ever since. Hated and feared and hidden."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It wasn't your doing." She turned. "But if there's a chance—if there's even a possibility—of ending him... I'll take it."
She walked to me. Pressed her hand to my chest.
Cold flooded through me—not painful, but cleansing. Like winter wind sweeping away stagnation.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Selene's Blessing Received
· +25% resistance to cold/frost
· New ability: [WINTER'S TOUCH] – can freeze enemies temporarily (3 uses per day)
· New insight: The first immortal has a weakness to cold (his original death was in winter)
---
The Road Continues
I left Selene's mountain two days later.
She gave me directions to the next temple—a desert shrine dedicated to a sun goddess named Solara. "She and I were rivals once," Selene said. "Now we're the only ones left who remember each other."
"Will she trust me?"
"She'll trust my blessing. Tell her I sent you. Tell her..." Selene paused. "Tell her winter misses summer's warmth."
I promised I would.
The trail led downward, out of snow and into forest, then plains, then the edge of a vast desert.
Three weeks of travel stretched before me.
Three weeks of gods and blessings and discoveries.
And somewhere, out there, the one who loved the first immortal.
Waiting to be found.