Chapter 44

Once everyone injured during the Challenge was healthy enough, the Council held the closing ceremonies. Despite the slightly ostentatious nature of the beginning of the Challenge, the ending was somber. We had the morning meal and were instructed to go to the transportation rooms that sent us to the challenge fields. There wasn’t much jovial communication during our meal. Darius was still getting used to the loss of his arm and I had Katie assist as best she could. I knew that either way he would be frustrated, but for now he would at least be fed. I wondered how it would affect his relationship with Cassandra when we returned, but that would be between them. Ilthvana was doing a bit better by now. The damage that had been done was reversible, but there would be a slight ringing in her ears from now on.

Dilbar, who was usually the most celebratory of our group, sat in silence. He had taken Grishta’s death harder than I expected, but I wasn’t aware of just how long they had been friends. Katie had been talking with him while I had been recuperating and explained it all to me. Apparently, his village had trade with the orc encampment north of it. As a young man, Dilbar had worked for his family, transporting ore back and forth between the orcs and dwarves. He would stop off at a local tavern to eat and drink before returning home and that is where they met. Her family ran the tavern, and one day they struck up a simple conversation. Over time it built up to a regular thing between them and eventually led to both of them applying to become adventurers.

Their relationship had been purely platonic, more like siblings than anything else. They pushed each other to do better and watched each other’s backs. Darius had approached Dilbar to join their group, but he refused unless Grishta came too. Silvia had apparently been a bitch even then and scoffed at having an orc in their group. Despite that, they agreed and since then they had been fighting side by side. I had not lost a friend that I had been that close to, but then again, I couldn’t recall any who weren’t just casual acquaintances. I didn’t want to take her place, but I did want to build on the friendship that had sprung from the Challenge.

When we were finished, we left the dining hall and headed for the transport room. I was curious as to why we were coming here, but I knew that all would be revealed soon. Once inside there was a flash of light and we were standing in an open courtyard. Tall walls of marble surround the space, and in the center was a raised platform. Glancing around I saw that every team that had participated in the challenge had appeared. I glanced up at the platform and it looked to have more than enough room for all of us to stand there. Figuring that was where we needed to go, I gestured to the others, and we began walking over. There was a slight step that assisted with getting onto the platform and once on it, I saw that there were six large circles.

Glancing about, I noticed that one had Tyr’s symbol and guessed the other five were the symbols for the other Pact Houses. We went over to stand in the area marked by Tyr’s symbol and once all of us were in place, the ground began to glow. Slowly the rest of the members came over and took their respective spots on the platform. A pang of guilt hit me as I glanced over to the Enlil group and their two remaining members. They looked completely dejected and I couldn’t blame them. To lose people you called comrades and friends like that is hard. After a few moments of waiting, there was another flash of light and the center of the platform changed. I stood in awe as I looked at the amazing effigy that had appeared. It reminded me of the statues of the Council members that stood outside the Dungeon.

Each was a depiction of those who had died in the fight with Silvia. The tall marble statues were accented with gold, putting each person in a regal or heroic pose. I felt my eyes water at Grishta’s statue. Her eyes, armor, bracer, and weapon were gold, contrasting the porcelain white of the marble. I glanced over at the two Enlil members, and they were sobbing at the images of their friends. There was yet another flash of light, ushering in the arrival of the Council and the leaders of the six participating Pact Houses.

“Hello, Eden,” Odin announced, drawing our focus to him. “While we have much to celebrate in finding a victor for the Champion’s Challenge, there is much to grieve for. Five members of the challenge fell fighting an abomination and its keeper. Their heroism was inspiring, and, as such, we will ensure it is never forgotten. When this ceremony ends, these statues will replace ours outside of every Dungeon on Eden, as a reminder of their sacrifice and the cost. This threat should never have occurred, yet the Council was blind to it. A threat has grown in the shadows, beyond where our sight leads and has resulted in this circumstance. We are working diligently to find the source of this darkness and put an end to it once and for all. I hope that no one else will fall in the pursuit of ending this problem and I ask you all to keep safe.”

Over the next half hour, the Council greeted each Pact House, thanking them for participating and wishing them luck in the future. When they got to Enlil, he didn’t seem to take it well. Given the distance between each group, I couldn’t hear what they were talking about very well, but his gestures said a lot. He was furious at the outcome and blamed us for what happened. I figured that he was arguing to try and get our win canceled or a rematch assigned. This was a guess, but it seemed to make sense as to why he would be angry and gesturing at us. We were the last group that the Council addressed, but the joy we should have felt wasn’t there.

“Good morning, all,” Odin said softly, sensing the mood of the group. “I am sorry for the loss of your teammate, the hardship you had to endure and that you were forced to fight one of your own. We still have not been able to figure out how this group is recruiting or how they are circumventing systems that have been in place for tens of thousands of years. Whomever their leader is, has spent an arduous amount of time preparing for this moment. I think that the group that appeared during the first rounds was a test to see if they could circumvent the magic, we use to affect the field. We have no idea where that creature came from, but it wasn’t from Eden. I want you all to be careful and to report anything suspicious to Tyr, as he will ensure we are informed. The more we know the better chance we have of stopping this before it unravels everything.”

I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that there was something I should be telling him, but, for the life of me, I couldn’t think of what that would be.

Odin smiled, trying to ease the tension, “For completing the Champion’s Challenge, you all will each be receiving fifteen hundred prestige, except for two of you. We are aware that circumstances dictate Pathios will receive double the prestige due to Kat’ilth’ana’s bond to him, however, his and her prestige totals have been reduced to match yours. As well, the prestige removed, as well as the prestige of your fallen comrade, has been added. This will mean that you will each end up with an equal amount. There is also the reward for completion of the Challenge. As discussed, two thirds of the prize money will go towards helping the families of the fallen. This still means a decent sum of seventy-five thousand gold each. Again the seventy-five is the total for Pathios and his bond mate combined. The rewards to the Pact House itself remained unchanged, they will receive the full amount to use towards modifying and upgrading the facilities.”

I raised my hand and said, “If I’m not speaking out of line, I think a portion of that should be given to the Enlil Pact House. They suffered some losses and that will have an impact on the Pact House itself, not just the families the fallen left behind. It should cover the lost income from the fallen members for a while until new ones are recruited.”

“Lost income,” Ra mused with a smile. “What makes you think that there is a lost income from their deaths?”

I turned to him and said, “I simply figured that when the orbs are turned in, the value is derived from what is left after the Pact House gets its cut. Though you are Gods and Magic is prevalent in society, you still have an economic based system in place. I would have to assume that there is upkeep needed for the Pact House and that would come from a percentage taken when we turn things in. So, give them the mentioned amount as a token of our thanks, because without those who fought alongside us, we might all have perished.”

“Well said, Pathios,” Jupiter said with a nod, surprising me. “You have shown great leadership, as well as a sense of justice that I once mistook for arrogance.”

I nodded in reply, unsure of what I could say in response. The comment came out of left field, and I still had trouble trusting him, but the last thing I needed was to interrupt things. After a little banter between Tyr and the Council, they moved to the center where the statues stood.

Odin raised his hands and said, “Thank you to everyone who participated in the Champion’s Challenge. Though it didn’t finish as we had hoped or planned, I am proud of all the participants. Let us spend the next week in celebration of the sacrifices made by those who fell and let us remember them during this time.”

With a snap of his fingers, the statures disappeared from the pedestal. After a glance at all six groups he snapped his fingers again and we found ourselves standing in the atrium of the Pact House. Our sudden appearance shocked the various Pact members that were moving about the room. I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if someone had been standing where one of us had appeared. Would we have knocked them down, shoved them out of the way? Could we possibly end up merged together in some horrific display? I gave my head a shake to try and stop that train of thought.

Tyr turned to us and said, “You did well and fought bravely, so please enjoy some rest. Tonight after the evening meal we will hold a ceremony in the outer training fields. There we will celebrate Grishta and commit her body to Eden.”

We gave Tyr our thanks and left for our respective rooms. Katie and I walked in silence, save for greeting those who congratulated our win or gave their condolences for our loss. We were as polite in our responses as we continued to our room undeterred. When I opened it, I was assaulted by the arms, kisses, and flesh of my two loves. It looked as if we entered as they were changing out of their training clothes. Once they had finished showering me with kisses, they moved to Katie and repeated the process. It was tamer compared to my welcome, but she was shocked at the attention all the same. While she had participated in the various sexual exploits within the dreamscape Freyja created, I was always the focus of attention. This was mostly due to the limited time we had there, so she didn’t expect attention for herself.

“Oh my gods, Pathios!” Amenthia said once the welcome had ended. “We were so worried about you two. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we were worried about the others, but you two are part of us. You guys did an amazing job trying to deal with Silvia and that thing she brought with her. When you fell that last time, Pathios, we got so scared that we might have lost you!”

Entivala nodded, “We were beside ourselves with worry about you. It took a while after the fight for us to learn you were okay and to be allowed to see you.”

I hugged them and said, “I wish I could say that I will be able to stay out of such danger, but I can’t make that promise. The group doing all of this have made a point to come after me ever since we dealt with Trethraz. These instances keep escalating, and I don’t see a stop to it any time soon. Even if this group is stopped, we have chosen to be adventurers, so there is an inherent risk in that as well. The uppermost levels of the Dungeon render our stones inert, meaning we could die. I don’t like it, but I have accepted it, because of the choice I made when I came here.”