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NATALIE
After the weekend I’d had, it was hard to pretend all was well as I worked at the S.R.F.
Before I got started that morning, I’d presented my ideas for expanding productivity at the facility to the managers as planned, even though it seemed pointless. Why bother with improvements when we were all in imminent danger?
But for now, I had to go on as if everything was normal. And maybe a few new souls would benefit from my ideas before chaos ensued.
My ideas to help new souls adjust to life in this realm included taking them on tours through the city and thoroughly educating them on the other cities and the native animals in the realm, instead of leaving them to figure it out on their own—the things I’d wished someone had done for me when I’d first arrived.
When my presentation was over, I received many positive comments about my ideas. It should have made me feel good, but my mind was otherwise occupied.
Rehema had told me to stay home this morning, but I couldn't. If I was to pretend all was well as the gods instructed, I needed to act that way.
As for the voices I’d heard, they hadn't returned. And though I was curious, I hoped they wouldn’t.
“I don’t need anything else to worry about,” I muttered to myself.
“Sorry, what did you say?”
I looked up at Lucian, who was walking next to me. "Nothing," I answered as we made our way through the stone corridors beneath the Goddess's temple.
I’d left the S.R.F. an hour ago to accompany him as he informed the Goddess of the situation. He was the equivalent of the Werewolf Council in this realm, a medium between the Goddess and her people.
And today, she wouldn’t like what she was about to hear.
During my lunch break earlier, I’d gone to the rooftop to eat. I’d needed to be alone for a while. While there, I’d spent a lot of time looking at the City of Souls in the distance. Its towering buildings of glass, gold, and white were breathtakingly beautiful, and I couldn’t bring myself to think about what might happen to it—to all of the God Realm—if this virus took hold of the population.
In the distance, a dragon had flown between the buildings, its long tail swaying in the wind behind it, and a horrible thought hit me. What would happen if a dragon became infected—if Rumir was infected? It would be disastrous.
I couldn’t imagine him, Lucian, Rehema, or Brian as rage-driven monsters, slaughtering everyone in their path. But it was possible. Goddess help us all.
Lucian laid a hand on my shoulder when we entered the circular room where the portal to the Goddess’s alternate universe was kept.
"We'll get through this," he said. I sighed and nodded.
The space was lit by torches, and I stood back as he approached the sphere at the center of the room.
The first time I'd visited this place, the large circular portal had been hovering off the ground with its glass-like surface facing the ceiling. Now it was standing vertically, facing the entrance of the room.
Although the surface looked like a mirror and reflected the walls and torches, there was no reflection of Lucian or me in it. But I expected that—this wasn’t my first visit to the Goddess. As Lucian had taught me, I relaxed and felt the power within the room.
Just like before, a soft white light appeared, floating around the room like smoke and moving as slow as a snail. All traces of tension and uneasiness within me vanished, and my eyes fluttered closed as calm settled over me.
I welcomed it with open arms and exhaled, releasing all my worries. Lucian spoke to the sphere, telling the Goddess everything, verbatim, that I’d relayed to him and the others about the infected wolf and my chat with the gods.
I couldn’t help but wince when he mentioned my fight with the wolf and the fact that I’d been forced to kill her.
There was no judgment when he spoke of what I’d done, but it was obvious he wasn’t happy I’d ever been put in such a position, thanks to a less-than-satisfying response to the problem by the gods.
When he stopped speaking, the torches suddenly went out, even though there was no wind so far underground. The lights in the room pulsated and increased in intensity, almost blinding us.
Lucian stepped closer to me, and we covered our ears as a high-pitched ringing came from inside the portal.
Then it stopped as quickly as it began, and the lights reverted to their dim glow.
"What was that?" I whispered to Lucian.
He turned to the sphere and placed his fist over his heart. I did the same.
