The Oracle Paths

Somewhere within the towering fortress that Jake, Wyatt and Grimwald had just sighted, their foes were peering back at them.

In a huge spherical room as large as five soccer fields, a huge circular stone table with exactly the same aspect, color, and texture as the floor, wall, and ceiling stood in its center, taking up more than half of the available space. It was as if the table had been carved right into the ground, from the same boulder that was used to erect this fortress.

Around this gigantic table, dozens of thrones of different sizes were distributed equidistantly from each other. The material from which they had been modelled was exactly the same as that of the table and the rest of the fortress. Even more amazing, the base of these thrones were one with the floor, no signs of glue or demarcation lines indicating that these thrones had been placed here after their creation.

Obviously, these thrones too were carved from the same boulder as the table and the whole fortress.

On each of these thrones sat comfortably a Player, but some were absent, their presence substituted by holographic versions of themselves. Thanks to some technology or spell, these Players could see and interact with the other members as if they were present in person. Truly amazing.

"They're here." A hooded android, one of the few standing sheepishly between two thrones, grumbled in a voice tinged with annoyance and resentment.

"Bah! They wouldn't be here if you had done your job properly." Shamash scoffed contemptuously as he glared at the android Lich.

The dark-skinned man in his sixties was still shirtless, wearing the same baggy black pants, purple belt, bandana, and heavy gold medallion of rectangular pieces. The dagger he wielded three months earlier was nowhere in sight, but the huge saw he wore on his shoulder was planted vertically in the ground to the left of his throne. He could grab the handle of his weapon at any moment.

Vhoskaud flinched with anger at being belittled, but he held back. He wasn't with the Replicators here, but in a secret fortress of Lost Divinities.

Because of the influence of their two respective main factions, which were veritable behemoths on the scale of the Mirror Universe, they tended to favor cooperation with each other when possible, but they were definitely not allies.

"Don't be so hard on Vhoskaud." An elegant rock giant over 15 meters tall in a seated position stood up for the Lich android with a laugh. "None of us could have predicted that they would be defeated so easily. I recall that Cypher was with him."

This giant sported vaguely human features, but his musculature was insane. The kind of rock covering his body was not ordinary, and by way of armor deposits of diamonds, gems and other precious metals were encrusted on its surface.

However, what completely refuted the thesis as to his humanity was his eight globular violet eyes littering what served as his face. The alien had neither mouth, nor nose, nor ear, but by vibrating the rock of its skull low and articulate sounds were coming out.

Anyone who was attentive would have noticed that the rock of his throne and the surrounding ground were rippling at a peculiar frequency with each of his movements. He was most likely the one who created this fortress and the respect the other players present showed him was the most telling evidence of that.

"Nucnar, you are too lenient." A smaller alien, but a thousand times more hideous, snickered at the giant. "You know the purpose of Lost Divinities. Every member we lose is not a mere setback. Cypher was not an important member, but he was one of us, not a mere underling.

As he made this remark, his tiny white eyes focused on the three-meter tall bearded barbarian sitting two seats away. Sensing that this jab was directed at him, Azeus immediately felt insulted and a multi-colored lightning bolt began to crackle around him. Nevertheless, he did not strike back.

After all, it was the truth. He was not really one of them, but a mere subordinate on probation. The other, less overt reason... was that this alien was scaring the crap out of him. If Jake were here he would have recognized this Azeus as the creep who had struck down the refugees in the convoy three months earlier.

The hideous alien he didn't dare answer to was named Belakor and was a devil prince as described in the Bible and in the most horrific myths. Besides being only slightly smaller than his fellow Nucnar, his appearance and smell could make even the most hardened war veteran vomit his guts out. As such, he was very different from the ravishing Archdemons with human features like Hecate or Xaverie. He was a pure product of evil, his appearance matching his evilness.

A thick skin of a purplish blue reminiscent of decaying flesh, a pair of membranous wings streaked with black veins, several pairs of horns and spikes on his skull and back of a sickly yellow color, no hair and a jaw so wide that it stretched from under his nose to his pubic bone. The inside was lined with long, razor sharp teeth. Every time he spoke his long, serpentine, candy-blue tongue swung in the air sending a flood of ink-black sprays in front of him.

As it landed on the table, the rock would instantly melt on contact. A massive sword, whose blade seemed to house hell itself, lay in his lap, one of its claws mechanically tapping it with a metronome like beat.

The paramount beauty sitting directly to his right, and pitifully tiny compared to him, stood straight as an arrow, her eyes closed, her complexion pallid. Her voluptuous bosom never rose as if she had given up on the thought of breathing. Well, she had. In order to endure Belakor's stench, she had resolved to hold her breath until the briefing was over.

The other players present couldn't help but give her lecherous looks tinged with compassion, but none of them were willing to swap places with her.

With that, the members of the emergency council began to bicker, each raising their voices more than the previous speaker. Vhoskaud wanted revenge, but he had neither the authority nor the prestige to make himself heard, let alone convince them to be wary of Jake. Others like Shamash, Azeus or the breathless beauty chose to remain silent, but Nucnar and Belakor were as big as they were loud and they were willing to do whatever it took to defend their point of view.

The rock giant Nucnar was not afraid of anything or anyone. He was extremely confident in his stronghold and was of the opinion to crush the three approaching worms to kill two birds with one stone. Despite his attitude, Belakor shared his opinion, but he felt it was beneath him to cower in that fortress to take out such insignificant enemies.

Others advocated caution, but their voices were barely audible compared to those of these two brutes. And then there was the absent majority speaking out through their holograms. As far as they were concerned, this matter was none of their business and they didn't care about the final decision. All they knew was that they had absolute confidence in Lost Divinities and their comrades.

There was only one individual whose muteness differed from the silent majority. Standing about 6 meters tall, he resembled in every way a Spartan warrior of the legends, but his armor was hundreds of times more advanced. His skin was like bronze, his long hair sticking out of his helmet like golden threads, and his muscles hard as steel. A long blood-red cape tied to his golden shoulder pad fell to his ankles, which combined with the crest of the same color of his helmet gave him a certain dash.

But beyond his looks, it was his constantly furrowed sword-like eyebrows, his calm, clear blue eyes and his perfect manly face that drew the eye. His only flaw was perhaps his large aquiline nose that hardened his features and gave him a devious look, but perhaps that was also what gave him such charisma.

"Silence."

One word. Delivered in a whisper, barely louder than a murmur. But when he spoke, all fell silent, including the two brutes Nucnar and Belakor. When he was pleased to have their attention, he smiled graciously at them and nodded to the anxious Lich,

"First of all, don't disrespect Vhoskaud. He is not one of us, but he is under the protection of one of our Thanatos. Even if he failed, I'm sure he did his best. As long as we kill this human, the mission will resume as normal."

The android immediately displayed a relieved expression and he bowed gratefully. The Spartan warrior then turned to Nucnar and rebuked him sternly,

"Your arrogance will get you killed. You of all people should understand the consequences of underestimating your enemies. Until we have a full understanding of the capabilities of these three intruders, we will use this fortress to welcome them."

Not having finished his sermon, he then admonished Belakor,

"If you are so anxious to prove your worth, I will allow you to test the enemy, but only once they are inside the fortress. If you disobey and find yourself in mortal danger, not only will you receive no help, but I will personally finish you off. Am I clear?"

The demon grunted moodily as he stared at him in hatred, but eventually complied.

"Very clear, sir."

"Good. Now, Vhoskaud, tell us what you know about-"

BOOOOMM!

Just as calm and order had been restored, a comet-like object struck the center of the table, instantly shattering it into pieces. The collapsed rock roof fell on the seated Players, shouts of panic or anger breaking out here and there as the holograms sizzled out of existence one after the other.