The Godsfall Chronicles

Dawn used the time in the subspace dimension to try out her newly acquired mental powers. She found that her strength had risen by no less than fifty percent. Having been no pushover before, this increase rocketed her to new heights.

Incredible! She had grown much stronger.

Refreshed and emboldened, Dawn left her section of subspace. As she did a beautiful figure draped in white caught her eye. She called out.

"Hey, Selene! You want to spar again? I'm sure this time I'll beat you. Come on, let's go!"

The relationship between Dawn and Selene had changed dramatically from the early days. This was a result of two important things: First, Selene had dropped a portion of her holier-than-thou attitude and was even willing to compromise. Second, Dawn still saw her as direct competition but needed a strong foil to test herself against.

Wolfblade's apprentice, Frost, had also grown stronger. However, Dawn's hatred for her grandfather's killer ran deep. It only got worse when she thought of him as that demon's henchman. She felt strongly that the only other person Cloudhawk could rely on besides her was Selene.

So she decided to put aside her feelings for the greater good and improve their relationship. Together they would assist Cloudhawk in their rebellion against the gods. That was the most important thing.

Selene glanced at her. "Cloudhawk has something. He's asked us to see him."

"Afterwards then," she replied. "When the job is done I want to test myself, no excuses!"

Cloudhawk's strategy meeting still hadn't concluded. However, the basic framework had been set. Leaders from all five Elysian lands were on board. Dawn loudly announced their presence when they returned to the meeting spot. "Ha hah! This lady's fuckin' killing it! Congratulate me!"

She grabbed Cloudhawk in a bear hug. In her Dawnbreaker armor, standing over two meters tall, she was like a giant. Her sudden embrace was like being crushed in a trash compactor.

Dawn so rarely got what she wanted, but strangely Cloudhawk didn't fight her. She snatched him up and squeezed. Perhaps too hard, for his body collapsed in parts and bulged in others like a balloon under pressure. Suddenly his whole form exploded into a storm of lightning.

"What the fuck?!" Dawn was frozen in shock. Sure she was stronger but not strong enough to crush a man like Cloudhawk. He wasn't an invalid, what the hell happened?

Selene, stone faced, watched the arcs of electricity. "Transformation."

Bolts of lightning reconvened into the shape of a man and eventually Cloudhawk reformed. "Good job, it is transformation. You've got a sharp eye if you could recognize it so quickly."

What was he saying? That Dawn was stupid?! She expressed her irritation. "Where the fuck did you learn that?"

"A relic, Stormseal." Cloudhawk opened his hand to reveal a small collection of lightning bolts that flickered in and out of their vision. He shut his hand, snuffing it out. "It was the Lightning God's main relic. Wolfblade had the Hand of Gehenna retrieve the god's corpse and strip this relic from it."

Selene knew a little about it and the Lightning God's powers. She never would have guessed it would fall into Cloudhawk's hands.

Dawn had, of course, heard that Cloudhawk had defeated four Supremes. "No wonder it was able to change forms. That's why it was so hard to destroy, right? With this power you're even more of a pain in the ass!"

Cloudhawk wanted to knock her upside the head but it didn't suit his station. Sadly he couldn't act on this impulse.

"The Stormseal's a good relic, but I haven't been able to master the Lightning God's lightning forms yet."

"Why not?"

"Something to do with my constitution. The seal just transforms my body into lightning - the god probably had other relics he used to empower these forms with his strength. Whatever relics those were are lost now, though."

Dawn shook her head and sighed.

Selene spoke up. "Be that as it may, such an ability is useful. You can separate yourself into parts and take on different forms. Janus has a similar ability with her shadow doppelgangers, but they can't move far from the source. They're unstable."

All they could say was that there were advantages and drawbacks. With his new relic Cloudhawk could create volatile copies. They could take on his appearance or someone else's, which worked well with the camouflage relics he already had.

These copies weren't restricted by distance. They could appear anywhere, and outside of combat situations they didn't require a lot of energy to maintain. He could use them for extended periods of time.

Janus' shadows were different. The assassin could only summon them for a brief time and they couldn't move very far from her. Where it was superior was that the shadows appeared with the powers of other relics she had. That made them deadly when they attacked. Of course, they disappeared after striking once.

Cloudhawk had called the two here because he was too busy to handle everything on his own. He couldn't leave, however it was the perfect time to highlight this relic's abilities. With his doppelgangers he could use minimal energy and be involved in several things at once. As the primary decision maker of their alliance, this made things a lot more efficient. It was a great benefit for everyone.

Dawn thought about Cloudhawk's copies running around and felt pride.

"I called you two here for a couple reasons. First I wanted to give you some gifts. Second, I wanted to give you a mission." He produced two relics. "The four Supremes are gone. Primary relics from the Light God, Dragon God and Lightning God were recovered."

Their relics were extracted? The four Supremes had been very powerful, even among the gods. The relics they wielded surely were nothing to scoff at. That was proven when they battled in Sky Fortress.

The Light God had attacked so quickly that even Cloudhawk couldn't completely avoid them. The Lightning God changed forms, making it nearly impossible to pin down. The Dragon God's skills lay in tremendous defense and draining mental power. As remarkable as its defenses were, it was the rare ability to siphon mental energy that was really incredible.

"These are them." In his hand were two items, a glowing ball of light and a petrified egg covered in scales. "The Light God's Sacred Flash and the Dragon God's Abyssal Scale. They're for you."

It went without saying that Dawn was elated. Even Selene's tepid persona broke in the face of surprise. She frowned. "I feel like these would be more effective in your hands."

"The speed from Sacred Flash doesn't mean much to me. Same with the powers of the Abyssal Scale. However they can greatly strengthen both of you. I am not going to win this war myself, I need you both to be as strong as possible." He took on a mysterious air. "Ever since fighting the God King I've felt like I… progressed. Soon I don't think I'll need relics anymore at all. I will be able to do whatever I want with a thought. That's my ultimate goal."

Dawn grumbled at him. "It might look fancy if you can simulate so low-level abilities, but these legendary relics are hugely complex. You think you can copy them using just your mind? I doubt it."

"I guess we'll see." He paused for a moment, then went on. "For this mission I'll need you both to represent me. You have to go to Highmorn and retrieve a relic from their Temple called the Key. Word is there are also groups causing trouble out there, so I'll need you to show them the error of their ways."