[Ephemera, The Mortal Realm, the City of Maro. The twenty-first day of Metis, 60 years after the Rupture]

  Valeria woke up, drenched in sweat and gasping for air. She just laid there, taking deep breaths and calming herself down while staring at the ceiling. It took a bit of time before she sat up and looked at her trembling hands.

  'I thought I was already over it… Looks Like I was wrong.’

  She clenched her fists, frustrated and alone.

  'I can't believe I prayed again… Am I this desperate?’

  Something knocked against her window. It was the little raven from yesterday. After she opened the window the raven jumped onto the bed and snuggled against her. Valeria was surprised for a moment before she started petting it with a small smile.

  'Paradox didn't answer, just like they always did… I shouldn't count on his help for this. This time I can do it myself… No, I will do it myself.’

  With her courage gathered Valeria got ready to travel to the forest again. If she wanted to make sure it wasn't a hallucination she would need more evidence.

  [Ephemera, The Divine Realm, The Ten Domains, Paradox' Domain. The twentieth day of Metis, 60 years after the Rupture]

  Just like the name tells you the Divine Realm is the home for every divine being belonging to Ephemera. Be it the Ten Creators, the gods, Ascended Ones or the Children of the Divine and the servants born in this place.

  The Central, the main part of the Divine Realm and its center, is the place where most of those beings live. It houses the Hall of Creation, the Hall of Ascension, the Aether's Origin and the living areas for every being that has to remain in the Central or was being born here as well as the new gods that came to be.

  This area is also the place that is connected to the Ten Domains, the living quarters of the Ten Creators and the place from which they influence Ephemera with their Concepts and Aspects of Reality. Unless it is a decision that influences and/or changes Ephemera as a whole too much every Creator will remain in their Domain for their activities. The only ones that are allowed entry into such a place are the owners and the servants or subordinates. For example, the god of storms is a subordinate to the Goddess of the Sky which allows him to enter her Domain as she controls the part of Ephemera he needs for him to be able to influence the Mortal Realm.

  But I am explaining too much again. We are here because of Paradox and not because you want even more worldbuilding right now.

  Paradox' Domain is the most desolate, sad and depressing place you could find in both the Mortal and Divine Realm. The entire ground is gray, dry and broken apart. Magma spills forth from underground and creates rivers of molten stone to flow through the landscape. Fire and smoke bursts out from the cracks, turning the ground into a giant minefield where one wrong step either burns off your foot or causes you to die because you inhaled parts of the poisonous smoke and suffocated.

  Every piece of vegetation that “survived” everything thrown at it is dead and remains as broken guardians, watching this place as it falls even deeper into the abyss. But somehow, against all odds, those trees still bore fruit. Several of them were hanging on the dead branches and twigs, looking completely fine as if the hellscape around them was just an illusion.

  Lightning flashed above, thunder rumbled and the storm clouds let heavy rainfall onto the ground. The water, an ashen grey mixed with blood red, fell and evaporated as it touched the ground, a bundle of grass growing where it disappeared before it too catched on fire and turned into ash again.

  Cutting through the air was a river made out of silvery blue water, untouched by everything surroundings it. If looked closely you could make out shapes inside the water resembling the forms of human bodies. Painful howls, heart-shattering wails and tear-bringing screams of desperation were echoing through this place, all coming from the obscured faces inside the river.

  This Domain was truly bizarre and if the gods knew what it looked like they would be happy that they could never set foot inside this place.

  Paradox currently stood underneath the strangest tree in this place. It was completely made out of a dark violet crystalline material, the fruits hanging from it were a deep blood red and in the form of a heart. You could see veins running through the tree, pulsing in tune with a heartbeat while a light blue liquid ran through them.

  Behind the tree stood a tall mountain, jagged boulders piercing from it in all directions and a giant fissure ran down the middle, splitting it in half and leaving behind a gaping hole with seemingly no bottom. Just the dark emptiness of the void gazing back.

  Paradox stood there alone, the Domain devoid of any other being. The goddess of the afterlife/reincarnation and the god of necromancy were currently in the Central, avoiding his Domain as he ordered them to. His colourless silhouette cracked, tears running along its surface and deep underneath. The Aura of Dread and Despair around him wavered and fluctuated, its strength rising and falling and the black mist following in his steps was losing colour, turning slowly white before returning to black again, each time taking longer.

  He stood there in silence, listening to the symphonie of disharmonious noises his Domain created. A small whisper reached his ears, a prayer directed towards him. It was Valeria, asking for his help.

  The Creator ignored it. “This is something you will have to solve alone, my Knight. Just one of many things that you will have to take care of without me.”

  A presence made itself known, someone was coming to his Domain, asking for entry. Only the Creators and their servants knew of this, only they would ask for entry into a Domain that isn't theirs. This one was but a servant sent to him so he ignored them just like he did the last 50 years. The servant seemed more persistent than others, they still stood there and waited in front of his Domain. Paradox sighed before using his Authority to scare him away, the message clear for everyone who was too close to the pathway from the Central to his Domain.

  The servant left and Paradox returned to just standing there, gazing at the tree.

  Another presence came closer. He was ready to use more force this time but he stopped. That wasn't the presence of a servant. With a resigned sigh he allowed them entry and made his way over to where they would enter this place.

  The air rippled as if being distorted by the heat, the ground shook and as suddenly as both started they stopped. In their place was an archway, made from polished stone with golden cracks running along its surface. Stepping through was the white golden silhouette of Meltrismara.

  They both stood in front of each other, nobody saying anything as the archway closed its doors again and locking the entrance.

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  “Was it really necessary that I had to hear from my Knight about a new Knight in the middle of nowhere before you talked about me again? Was it truly necessary that it was the first sign of you doing well enough that we could talk again and I don't need to worry about you anymore?”

  Paradox didn't say anything, just stood there and looked her in the eyes. She waited for him to answer, their staring contest continued for several hours.

  Her patience was thin, her eyebrow twitched and she crossed her arms, staring at him while he remained silent.

  “Answer me already, Paradox!” Meltrismara demanded, her eyes glowed and the area around them flooded with her powers, causing plants to grow everywhere and her Authority pressing onto Paradox.

  He narrowed his eyes and the Domain began to counter Meltrismara's outburst. “Why do you even assume that it was my Knight?”

  Meltrismara scoffed at that. “Please, we both know that it could only have been yours. Every Knight the others create is coming into contact with their church and followers to help the Knights accept their new role and the weight they now carry while they acclimate to their powers. Everyone does this. In the worst case they just instantly teleport them into a temple of theirs so the Knights have a safe space. All of us except you… because you don't have any followers or temples remaining. A Knight appearing in the middle of nowhere, in that place no less, and waking up 50 years after her supposed death? No one except yourself could have been responsible for this, you made sure of that long ago.”

  Paradox nodded. “Very sound reasoning, I applaud you for that. You are right, she is my Knight… But-” He stopped and unleashed his own Authority, suppressing Meltrismara's in a matter of seconds, almost forcing her to a knee. “-who do you think you are, Meltris? You can't wander in my Domain and demand answers from me while commanding me around. You thought you could do so because I still suffer the consequences, right?”

  He stepped closer, his powers intensifying and concentrating on her. The tears and cracks on his silhouette glowed with a cold light, raw power leaking from them. He stood in front of her, looking down on her as she struggled to remain standing.

  “Never forget that you are only the leader of the Creators because I allowed you to as I didn't want to deal with all of this crap coming with that position. I'm still stronger than you and even this tiny handicap will not help you in a fight, especially not in my own Domain.”

  He stepped back, his Authority and powers calming down and returning to him again. “I think we have said everything that was needed. It's time for you to leave.”

  “Wait!”

  He looked at her, silently staring as if asking what she wanted.

  “Before I go, just tell me why you ignored us. You remained silent for the last 50 years and I still don't know why you did that on that day. I want to know at least why.”

  Paradox clenched his fists, his eyes burned bright with anger and the entire Domain shook, reaching to his emotions.

  “You want to know why I ignored you? Because you are all idiots, Meltris, that's why. You were acting like conceited children that couldn't care less about the consequences and just did what you wanted right then and there. You are the Goddess of Order! You should care more about the rules than I do, should ensure everyone follows them but you were the first to break them! And stop playing dumb. You should have felt it. The overload caused by your last blessing created the most dangerous event since the Age of Myth and you know it! The Concepts of Life and Death started shivering, the scale holding them balanced was breaking apart because Ephemera itself realized what that explosion would have done if I didn't intervene!”

  He took a deep breath, calming himself down. “You should take your role more seriously, Meltris. We both are the oldest of the Creators, we have a responsibility towards our younger siblings… Now, be gone. I want to be left alone.”

  With a flick of his wrist the archway opened behind Meltrismara and a sudden rush of energy pushed her through it before the archway disappeared and denied her entrance to his Domain again. The remaining evidence of her outburst already disappearing as Paradox' Domain devoured the Life it so vehemently abhors.

  Paradox stood there for a moment before a sigh escaped him and he turned around, walking back towards the tree. The mist suddenly gathered in front of him, frost building up and creating a big flat mirroring surface through which he saw Valeria entering the forest.

  “I will not help but the ravens will watch over you. May luck be on your side, Valeria, you will need it for what's about to happen.”

  [Ephemera, The Mortal Realm, the forest north of the City of Maro. The twenty-first day of Metis, 60 years after the Rupture]

  Valeria decided that it would be useless to spend time in the Adventurer Guild for another quest. She still had some of the money given to her by Edrick and if she was careful enough with spending it she could survive for several weeks, maybe even a few months. All thanks to her mercenary days and the skills she learned from the others. She wasn't proud to have such a skill, especially considering how she even gained it. That wasn't a time she liked to think about.

  Anyway, Valeria was currently wandering through the forest on her way to the clearing where she found the girl yesterday. The raven was accompanying her again and both were observing their surroundings.

  The clearing was empty, the corpses mostly eaten and blood soaked parts of the ground. Footprints from wolves and boars ran over the ground like the strokes of a child over a blank canvas.

  “Of course… Why did I even hope for a trace?” murmured Valeria to herself. Her gaze wandered over the area. Nothing hinting at the existence of the dark blue particles or the corpse of the knife wielding goblin she fought.

  She shook her head and looked at the raven sitting on her shoulder. “Looks like we will be here for a while, little one. What do you think, ready for a day in the woods?”

  The raven looked at her and turned its head sideways before flying in the air, scouting the area from above. Val roamed around the clearing for a moment before going walking deeper into the forest.

  She didn't just venture deeper mindlessly. The clearing where she encountered the phenomenon was in the deeper parts of the outskirts of the forest. As she didn't hear anything about it in the Adventurer Guild that would mean that nobody encountered it yet. Using this logic she came to the conclusion that it was deeper inside, hidden away in the areas where less adventurers and civilians were.

  That's why Valeria spent the next hours navigating this maze of trees, killing goblins whenever she could take them on and keeping her eyes open for hints or even the tiniest trace that would lead her to it.

  If she didn't find anything today or the next few days it would mean she worried for nothing. Her time wouldn't have been wasted because she made sure that it wasn't a new one but a remnant of an old one. That would be the best outcome… for her, the city and everybody living there.

  The raven flying over her head got her attention. The sun was setting and she wouldn't have the light of day for much longer but she was too deep inside to return before the night. She luckily came prepared for such a situation and began gathering firewood. As it got dark Valeria sat in front of a small campfire, a tent behind her and she ate some dried meat she bought the day before. Her animal companion sat next to her, enjoying some food too.

  Stars littered the sky and the night took over, nocturnal animals waking from their slumber and made themselves known.

  While listening to the sounds of the wildlife a growl came from the bushes on the other side of the fire. Slowly something walked out from it, growling and snarling at her.

  First were the front paws, like those of wolves just coloured a sickly green. The snout came next, sniffing the air and its fangs were shown while it growled at her. It's eyes a bright yellow locked onto her, watching, assessing if she was easy prey. Then came the body. Its fur was a mix of silver with the same sickly green from her paws. It was tall, its back reaching up to her rips, the hind legs powerful and ready to jump at her. The tail stayed still and glistened in the light of the fire.

  Ignoring the green colours of its fur and it would look like an ordinary dire wolf, a beast commonly found among wolf groups. But it wasn't normal at all. Out of its back grew the upper body of a goblin, as if they were fused together. The goblin part had three arms, one growing out of its shoulder blade, its eyes were the same yellow as the wolf's and there was a hint of intelligence in them. It held a crude spear in its hands and licked its lips looking at her.

  Val stood there, her sword drawn and ready to fight this abomination. Her hands were shaking a little but she ignored it. She had more pressing concerns right now.

  She was right… There is a Rift in this forest.