“Hey little guy, did you sleep well?” I picked up Eddy, who giggled. “I wish I could stay, but your daddy’s got the mother of all presentation to do, and of course wait until Colby finds out he was right all along. Your father is never going to hear the end of it. One word at a time. It’s Colby after all. But you’re my special guy, so you come first.” I sat as Eddy chewed on my finger. I pulled out of my body and looked at him, barely visible, except for the spark that marked him as belonging to a god. “Is that what you want, little man? To have a god as, well, a godfather?” I looked at my hand, it was bright, but nowhere close to what it had been in His presence. Was that because things were different here? Or was it something about me? Arnold had commented on how bright I was. Damian had known I was His champion, and Damian had been exceptionally bright to my senses. Maybe it was so I didn’t blind myself. I pulled into myself with a chuckle. “And they say it was masturbating that you make you blind.” I sighed and stood. “Time for me to get dressed.” I placed Eddy down in his crib and let him continue chewing on my finger. “I wish it didn’t have to take place when you’re just eight. You should have a say in if that’s the path you want to follow or not.” I winced. “Watch it, it’s a chew toy, not a biting one.” I opened Eddy’s muzzle. “Loraine, you close?” I yelled. The door opened, “what?” she had a suit on. “Eddy’s finally teething,” I grinned. She picked up. “Edwardo, you are growing.” “Are you heading out?” I asked. “I can’t stay with Eddy, I need to head to Max to deal with, well, everything.” “Tessa and Esteban will be here in an hour. She has arranged for me to speak with the human resource department at her firm. They need Spanish translators and she wants me to apply.” “Good, you should have a life beyond raising Eddy. When this mess is over, I’ll have more time to help out.” I kissed Eddy’s cheek. “Good luck with the interview.” “Call Zee,” I told my phone as I took the dreaded suit out of the closest. “I’m sorry Denton, but I’m not able to take your call at the moment, is this an emergency?” “No.” Why did I have to wear a suit? I was my god’s champion. I should be naked. “Then please record your message and I will store it so I can listen to it at my first opportunity.” “Quick rundown. I know what Damian’s after and why. Arnold’s out of commission for the foreseeable future so I’m taking over things. That means you might be a target, be careful. Damian’s bound to send people he controls now that I freed those in the city. You and Marcus have to watch yourselves around strangers. We’ll meet when we both have the time and I can go in details. Dent out. End call.” I looked at myself in the mirror. If anyone told me I needed a tie, I was strangling them with it. * * * * * “You want to come in?” I asked Tom as he stopped in Max’s roundabout. “There’s going to be a bunch of powerful men here. And not all of them will be in the meeting.” “I’ll pass. There’s power-top. And then there’s stuck-up-top. I figure those I wouldn’t mind fucking me will all be in that meetings. I’ll keep busy, the lions are here, right?” “Yeah, I’m going to need their expertise.” “They can drive you back whenever this is over. Oh, and as a reminder I want a list of the powers your collecting. I can’t work out what training you need if I don’t know what powers you have. You can’t depend on telekinesis to keep you alive. You collect some here, I want to know about it.” “Sure thing dad.” Tom snorted. “I’m barely your age now.” I went in and immediately felt the tension. The library and living room were filled with bodyguards. I might provide security for visiting families, but no elders traveled without their personal bodyguards, and there were all there, glaring at me. I did my best to ignore the distrust and went to the conference room. The bear at the door opened it for me and I froze at the hundred faces looking at me. When had Max added all those screens? Did you want to give me a heart attack? I sent to Max. Some warning would have been nice. “Sorry, things have been so busy I forgot to keep you appraised of the upgrades.” The cougar motioned for the chair at the head of the table. “Maximilian,” an otter said, “you can’t be serious.” “Don’t test me, Parker. You were here to convince me you deserved my support. Consider this part it.” “Glad to know war truly can’t stop the pissing contests,” I said as I sat. “Couple of things before we get to the reason for this meeting.” I located the shrew on the screen and picked the name from Max’s mind. “Erotas, how is your family faring? Has Damian attacked you again?” “No, he has not,” the Greek elder replied, surprised. “We have had many dead, but we are fortifying the hearth.” “Glad to hear it.” I had to search the screen for the Ibex. “Elder Del Carlo, as far as I know you’re the closest family to the Mastrotsis, I need you to send them reinforcements. I don’t want you to drain your resources, but a number of them have to be Del Carlos. If Damian attacks again, they’re going to need powers to fight back, not just weapons.” “Who do you think you are to tell me what I must do, Rasia?” The hatred in Del Carlo’s voice could have withered me, if I gave a fuck anymore. Before I could reply chaos erupted as everyone seemed to speak at the same time. A few notable exception was the otter, although it seemed to take a lot of effort for the Chouteau elder to keep his mouth shut. Max looked exasperated and Juan Santiago looked tired. What was he doing at the meeting instead of his father? He couldn’t hate my guts enough to miss this chance to rage against me in good company. “Shut up!” I yelled and barely heard myself. I looked at Max. Is there a mute button for all those screens? The cougar shook his head. You might want to look into that if we have another meeting like this. I looked at the screens, going through the list of abilities I could use and not destroy something. “I said, shut the fuck up!” I released a flash of sunlight turned the arguing into cursing. Even those looking at me through screens were blinking. Max was the only one who’s covered his eyes in time. “I’m the one telling you what to do because not one of you stopped sucking his own dick long enough to do something!” “I will not let a Rasia dictate my actions,” the Ibex said. “No?” I replied. “Then how about your fucking champion?” That silenced them. Chouteau burst out in laughter. “You? A champion? Are you out of your mind? You’re a Rasia. You’re scum.” “I’m able to wield multiple powers. Twenty-two, if you want a number.” “Preposterous,” someone said. “No one has more than one power,” another. “Then you are blind,” Juan said. “I am Juan Santiago, son of me family elder, next in line to rule. I apologize for my father’s absence, these trying time has taken their toll on him. He is resting.” “You’d defend a Rasia?” an elephant said. “No, I’d never think of doing that, Jawahar,” Juan answered, “but I will defend Denton. In spite of the troubles my family caused in his city, he rescued my brother from death. He had no reasons to do that, and the only thing he demanded in return was that we leave. The man who saves me brother has the right to demand anything of me, of my father. What would you have demanded? He could have held the secrets the Rasia accumulated to use against us, but he handed them back as he did all of you.” “But you expect us to believe He chose a Rasia to protect all of us?” a hamster said in a Russian accent. “How many of you has more than one power?” I said. “You only claim you have more than one,” the elk seated opposite me. “Don’t—” Max said as I send the elk flying against the wall, just under the lowest screen. “That’s two, right there, for those of you who want to ignore my first own ability is stepping out of my body. Now, can we continue with this meeting, or does anyone here need to test if he can piss further than I can.” The elk glared at me hatefully as he retook his seat. Max shook his head. He probably thought I’d made a mistake, and he might be right, but it was time they understood where I stood. “You guys need to understand something. He made me His champion to protect Him, not you. His survival means enough of us have to survive to worship him, but if you’re more interested in going back to your infighting while Damian wipes you out, I have more important things to deal with than saving your balls. Are we clear?” Grumbling answered me, but no outright protest. “Good. Elder Del Carlo?” “I will see who I can send to help Erotas.” He wasn’t happy about it, but he’d agreed. “Elder Al-Khatib, I need you to reinforce the Maloufs.” The gazelle nodded as a, “no. The Chike will assist,” resounded. Who were they? Hyena’s. The jackal was already protesting. two words in English and he was speaking Arabic or something like that. “Enough!” I yelled, and I got silence, wow. “Elder Chike, Benin is on the other side of Africa. The Al-Khatib family is in Libya, they can be there in hours.” “The Chike will be there in minutes,” The hyena answered. “My eldest is at the border with his cousins and our troupes. All they need is permission to enter, and they will do their sacred duties.” “Never,” the jackal snarled. “I will never let you come and steal what belongs to my family.” Fuck those feuds. “Elder Chike,” I said, “you have my permission.” “No!” the jackal yelled, “I decide—” “The champion has spoken,” the hyena said. I glared at the jackal. “You really want to deal with this alone?” Before he responded, I looked at the gazelle. “Elder Al-Kathib, anyone you can spare, please send them to help.” “That is not needed,” the hyena protested, as the gazelle inclined his head. “Don’t make me rescind my permission Chike.” I looked at the screen. “Now that’s resolved I need to know what other hearth has been attacked.” No reaction. “Now isn’t the time to be macho. Unless you aren’t paying attention, Damian is after the hearths.” The elephant from earlier sighed loudly. “Two months ago, and again three weeks ago. We have stopped them but.” The next words were clearly difficult for him to say. “We will need help if we are to stop a third attack.” “Alright, who do we have who can send men to help elder Padhi?” A few people spoke up and soon were conversing in their language. “Honored Champion,” a fox said, “I am Hanyingm elder of the Feng Clan. Two weeks ago, a group of Gray Church agents were stopped by the Chinese authorities, they claimed to be archaeologists, going to a dig in the Datou mountains, but lacked the proper documents. They were sent away. The hearth is there. I believe that is what they were after.” Before I could say anything, a red panda was talking to the fox. I leaned back and listened. Some of the conversations sounded tense, but no shouting. Max smiled at me, the otter looked at me like was made out of gold, or maybe more like I was the hottest guy he’s ever seen. When the discussions seemed to ebb, I stood to get their attention. “Okay, now you know what Damian is after. Here’s why. Our god hid parts of a weapon in each of the hearths, in the altar to be exact. If assembled, that weapon can kill a god.” Chaos erupted, even Max joined in, his control broken. When it quieted, the elk smiled at me evilly. “How do you know?” I sighed. “He’s been sending me dream since before the war started.” Chaos again, this time the tone of accusation was loud. Some screened flicked off as elders left. The elk looked so satisfied I wanted to throw him against the wall again. Max looked betrayed. “I’m sorry,” I said when the volume dropped enough Max could hear me. “I never intended to keep it from you, I just didn’t know what it meant until yesterday, that and I’ve been angry at Him since rescuing Eddy.” “Why?” Max asked, confused. “Damian played on my fears, my loss, shaped my history in a way that made Him the bad guy in my parent’s death. I was an idiot, what else is new?” Max smiled, and I realized the room was silent. I’d lost maybe a quarter of the elders, but the rest were looking at me. I would have smirked at the Elk, but for once I could keep my own ego in check. “I’ll tell you everything I remember, but first, those who protect hearths need to take steps to remove that component from within the altar.” “How do we know you are right?” there was no accusation in the jackal’s question. “My word isn’t enough?” He seemed to be searching for the words, “Champion, you are asking us to desecrate the holiest of place. I don’t think even Kalibi would do that if He came in this room and told us Himself.” “Idrees is correct,” the hyena said. “None of the doubt is needed,” a silver stoat said. “I had the entirety of hearth studied a decade ago.” Stoat and hearth made him the Mongolian elder. The elder rolled his eyes at the protestations from the jackal and hyena. “Nothing was damaged. It is a historical site; our past is in them. I wanted to see if there was more. Sonar showed nothing.” I was stunned, I’d been Him as they were placed there. I’d felt the energy needed to do it. I couldn’t be wrong about that. Someone cleared his throat. A lion motioned toward us. “My son, Frederick, would like permission to speak.” Fred put his phone away as he looked at me. I nodded, and he stood, stepping before the screen. “Elder Achujam, with all due respect, stone isn’t the only thing in the hearth. Magic is there as well. Magic that He controls.” “He cannot affect our technology. His magic only affects the world through us.” “But the hearth are not just of the world, they are of him too. Anyone who studies Him and our magic agrees on that point, there is something profoundly different about the hearths. I have experienced it myself when I visited the hearth in Belize. It was as if I was part of Him.” The jackal, fox and elephant nodded, the hyena looked wistful, reluctantly the stoat nodded too. “Since the hearth is part of Him, doesn’t it make sense that he can control not the machines you use, but what they are scanning? If he didn’t you to detect what is hidden there, he would make it that are stone.” “Then why hide them then and reveal them now?” the elephant asked. “Because Damian already knows they’re there,” I answered. “If the person after them known, keeping them hidden only hurts Him.” “You are saying that if we scan the altar now,” the fox said, “that item would be visible.” “Yes. And we need to get them out.” “Why?” the jackal asked. “Isn’t it safer if they remain separated?” “Damian will never stop. He can mind control as many people as he needs to into attacking the hearths. There’s a limited number of us. At this point, I think the safest course is to gather them so we can control how Damian comes after them, use them to bait him.” “Could we not simply pretend they are gathered?” the hyena asked. “Damian’s too smart for that. I’m not saying we assemble it, I want to keep the parts separated, but he’ll know if we use fakes. It’ll either be able to tell they aren’t magical, or our own body language will give it away. I saw him deduce things I can explain while he assisted me in rescuing my son. We cannot underestimate him.” “Very well,” the jackal said. “Then I propose that we each scan our altar to confirm there is something in it. Then we carefully extract it.” I wanted to scream they should just smash the altars to pieces and be done with it, but I took breath after breath and reminded myself I’d gotten them to agree. Mastrotsis was one of those who’d left so who knew who I’d convince him, but this was a start. Anyway, I could use the time to deal with one more problem. I looked at the screens. “Do any of you know what happened to the altar that should have been in the Belize hearth?” Stunned stares were my answers. “I didn’t think so.” So, how the fuck did I find a missing hearth?