“Good evening, my dear.” There was only one entity I knew who spoke with three voices at once and, as it happened, that particular entity was also the one who had repeatedly pulled me from my dreams, inducing the fairly discombobulating sensation of being aware without being awoken, the human mind not quite equipped to handle going from sleep to the strange, liminal state required to commune with Her. Or maybe with all deities, I wasn’t quite sure, the only comparable experience I had was dreams of walking the forests around Neyto, occasionally singing, humming or simply enjoying myself as I let my thoughts over the peculiartiies of magic flow out off me, the stream of consciousness helping to sort through my mind. But, for now, I was within Lady Hecate’s domain and the deity clearly had something in mind.

“Good evening, Lady Hecate,” I greeted Her, using my usual tone, polite, somewhat deferential, the tone I had used when speaking to the teachers I respected back when I was a student. It was, in my opinion, the best way to consider Her, as I didn’t worship Her as a deity but respected her as a tremendously powerful and experienced follower of the Arcane Path. For a moment, I considered asking why She had pulled me into this conversation but I decided to wait and let Her tell me what She would before asking questions.

“There are a few things I would like you to know,” She began and suddenly an opening in reality appeared above the grey surface of Her domain, acting suspiciously like the screen of a television or computer. I immediately recognised Jademoon Tower, the door closed with a splintered tree trunk lying next to it, looking as if somebody had used it as a pestle in an oversized mortar. Or to try bashing in a heavy stone door, an idea the faint marks on said door seemed to confirm.

Next to the door, stood a familiar group of fools, talking with another group of idiots. Curiously, despite the method the two different groups used to invoke my ire, both had managed to seriously annoy me, making me hope that it would come to blows. If it did, I might have to try to make some frozen chips, just so I had something to snack on while gleefully watching the carnage, even if I wasn’t about to cheer for either group.

Sadly, while the two groups didn’t appear to be talking cordially, they also didn’t start to fight, though it was a close thing. The looks that pony-boy gave to Murray were quite something, making me realise that pony-boy could likely recognise my touch in the enchantments empowering the tall fellow. That might be something I would have to keep in mind going forward, though, given that these enchantments gave the bearer strength far beyond what should be possible, I felt that the possible link to me was a reasonable drawback.

“Would you care to tell me why you showed these people to me? They are far away and, unless this happened a fair while ago,” I frowned, realising that it likely had, the leaves looked fairly fresh, meaning this happened around the time I had gone to collect Lia, over a month ago. “Well, I don’t see why this would involve me.”

“It doesn’t directly involve you but I felt you should know that they are hunting you,” Lady Hecate explained and I could hear a faint undercurrent of annoyance in her voice, making me wonder what was going on, “You should also know that a mutual annoyance of ours decided to let them squeeze through some loopholes, while accusing me of doing that very thing,” I could barely hold on to my usual pokerface, this was quite the departure from Lady Hecate’s usual, calm and collected demeanour, making me wonder what had gotten under Her skin this deeply.

Amusingly, while two of the three voices that made up Lady Hecate’s voice stopped, falling silent, the third kept going, as if muttering under its breath. This voice, I quickly realised, was that of the Maiden, quietly complaining that the circumstances of their involvement were completely different and couldn’t be compared, that one instance had been while the world was in flux, while the other simply worked to annoy her. For once, it was as if Lady Hecate wasn’t as divine as usual but simply a person needing to complain and have somebody listen. And, for some god-forsaken reason, as amusing as that expression was in this case, the one she decided to vent her complaints to was me. I had no idea how to take this, but I felt strangely flattered, amused and just a little bit out of sorts. After all, it usually was the other way around, with a mortal speaking to their deity, without actually expecting an answer.

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A little over a minute later, I was treated to yet another entirely new experience. An embarrassed deity, falling silent in a manner I could only describe as sheepish, before two voices cleared their throats, however that worked, and continued to talk in a serious manner while the third voice, the Maiden of complaints, remained silent, changing Lady Hecate’s usual voice into a somewhat amusing, not quite harmonious, duet.

“Anyway, what I wanted to talk about something else, not just the fools who decided to try hunting you down,” She began, Her voice not quite as majestic and awe-inspiring as usual, “The area you stumbled across, it would be wise if you do your best to deal with it. It’s a complication of the event you like to call the Change, something unexpected and only partially natural. If left unchecked, it can have dire consequences, something I believe you would prefer to avoid as it could shift the Astral River around, altering the flow and, more importantly, change the location of the various Nexuses, making the journey you undertook so far pointless,” She explained, getting my immediate agreement on that part. Any large-scale change to the Astral River would be a serious annoyance, especially if the Nexus we were heading towards changed its location, possibly forcing us to turn around.

“Sadly, I’m not allowed to turn this into a Quest, but what I can tell you is that there are a few more people somewhat nearby, trying their best to push the Bitumen and the mess they are making back. It might be worthwhile to take a look,” She told me, though Her explanation opened up a few more questions while giving answers to others.

The most interesting question, one I had already been considering before, was who made these rules and who was able to forbid gods to act, especially in a case like this? Earlier, while venting, Maiden Hecate had complained about loopholes and their exploitation, but for loopholes to exist, rules or laws must exist, too. Divine Laws, not laws made by the gods, but laws to bind the gods? It was a somewhat alien idea, but, at the same time, an obvious one. As soon as different entities of sufficient intelligence congregated, laws, customs and politics would come into play, so obviously there would be something like that for the gods.

“Could You tell me more about these people?” I asked, while my mind was continuing to race with the implications of divine laws and politics, though I had a feeling it would be quite some time before I should even think about trying my luck with anything like that.

“Not really, no,” She admitted, “Just that a few undirected prayers are coming from an area nearby, to the north-east of you, to be precise. Just your usual cries for aid, too diffuse to answer directly but good enough to give you directions so you can just happen to come across them,” She added and there was something in Her voice I hadn’t noticed before, a bit of mischivoeusness, making me wonder if She was using one of those loopholes She had spoken about earlier.

“I’ll look into that,” I nodded, “You don’t suppose you could tell me just what is going on here to have caused this much of a mess?” I asked, though I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

“No can do,” She shook Her head, once again giving me a surprise as the usual, somewhat cryptic and confusing demeanour was all but gone. “Just that some of humanity’s activities in the area left their mark and with the introduction of Astral Power, those marks can turn into something else. As you have learned when binding that spirit of yours, that, too is the result of humanity marking and area, just in a different way,” She explained, rousing my curiosity even though I had a feeling this would be one of those areas I couldn’t study for quite some time. I just didn’t have the time or resources to work on large-scale projects like that, though, eventually, I’d get there.

“I appreciate your guidance,” I told Her, curious what else She had to tell me. This didn’t feel as if it was sufficient for Her to act like this.

“Good,” She nodded, now speaking in her three-part harmony once more, “Then I’ll leave you to your well-deserved rest.”

With that, I felt myself fade from her realm, and my usual dreams overtook me, leaving me to stew in my confusion.