A Bored Lich

The Undead stationed at The Pit\'s entrance reported no strangers in the vicinity. Doevm glanced at the entrance for the fifth time, then once more. Had to be sure. "Again," he ordered.

Owen rose from his limp state: "There will be a new god. The prophecy has been broken. Prepare, my master."

"Still no changes," Doevm muttered. He rubbed his eyes, which grew heavier each night. It wasn\'t as if he chose not to sleep. He couldn\'t. Fifteen years of preparation, in order to challenge the hero, had built up an anticipation so momentous that sitting still became impossible. Owen\'s words, however, infected him with a weary dread.

Doevm slapped himself awake. There was one more thing to take care of: "What do you want?"

Turning around, he spotted the ever-radiant figure of Maker, who chuckled: "No hello?"

"I think I would prefer to say goodbye," Doevm said as he stepped back and examined her.

Maker\'s dark hair flowed down the back of her yellow sundress, which hugged her flawless form as if meant to be. A picture of beauty, physically. A smile so radiant it could make one water at the mouth. Doevm tasted nothing but bile. She looked around The Pit, pausing at Owen\'s decrepit face. "May we compromise and chat?" She phrased it like a suggestion instead of a demand.

Doevm let out a long sigh. "How about on the condition that you stand still the entire time?" He extended both his hands; A spear appeared in his left and a magic circle formed in his right.

Maker just laughed. "Of course, there\'s always a plan with you. It\'s why I chose-" she paused as a spear flew through her face and hit the wall behind her. "You."

Doevm sent mana through his magic circle and eight thorn whips lashed through Maker\'s body. She stood there, unscathed by both them and the spear. It was as if she was both there and wasn\'t there, at least for physical and magical attacks.

Maker shook her head. "Then again, sometimes you can be too cautious."

"What do you mean?" Doevm asked as he threw a ball of fire through her chest.

Maker smiled: "Aren\'t you going to try soulmagic?"

Doevm froze.

"Oh don\'t try to hide it. You threw the balance off somehow, and I know you opened a legacy." Her face darkened, yet the smile was still there. "Come on, you know you want to try it."

Doevm summoned spikes of earth out of the ground and pierced her body. No avail. He cursed and dispersed his mana. \'Of course I want to try it, but then I\'d reveal my hand,\' he thought. \'I need to study more. I need more knowledge.\'

Maker sighed. "I\'ve seen you do so many interesting things. Imagine a Lich making friends. You are fond of your friends, aren\'t you Doevm?"

Doevm narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, gathering his soul mana. "Have it your way. Kne-"

"Of course I\'m kidding," Maker cut him off. Doevm blinked and she was an inch in front of his face with a face devoid of emotion and her smile, which sent a chill up Doevm\'s spine. "It wouldn\'t be fun if it wasn\'t a surprise." She stepped away and examined Owen.

\'She was testing me?\' Doevm thought. \'She\'s smarter than I gave her credit for.\'

"Anyway," Maker continued. "Thank you."

"What?" Doevm asked.

"You asked why I was here," Maker explained. "I told you from the start, Doevm, that you are a catalyst. Is this event really that surprising after you destroyed the balance? Oh you should have seen my son\'s tears and my daughter\'s smile. For a moment I actually felt the urge to smite you. Thank you so much." Her smile widened for a moment.

Doevm blinked twice. "Why are you here, in this room?"

Maker\'s eye twitched. "Gods can be killed."

"Sorry, what?"

"Gods can be killed," Maker repeated herself. "And furthermore, you need to fulfill certain conditions to kill a god. If not, we will repeat that unfortunate incident with Darken, and we don\'t want that now do we? That scar is so ugly on my daughter\'s back. Oh right, the conditions: Find the gods\' artifacts. Use soul magic on them."

"What are you playing at?" Doevm hissed.

"Nothing, just relaying the rules of the game," Maker said. "Then you can make more progress towards winning. Killing the gods is what you want, no?" Doevm\'s fingers twitched with a faint bit of mana, laced with malicious intent, floated to the ceiling. Maker eyed it and scoffed.  "We could be allies, you know."

Doevm rolled his eyes: "Because I\'m your champion?"

A flicker of interest in Maker\'s eyes confirmed Doevm\'s suspicion as true. "Did the Demon King tell you that?" she asked.

\'You can\'t see everything, can you?\' Doevm thought, maintaining an emotionless expression. "What do these artifacts do or look like? Where are they?"

Maker\'s smile twitched. "While I appreciate your enthusiasm, Doevm, I believe I explained to you why I won\'t answer that: I am a mere observer. I want to see which side you-"

"Was an observer," Doevm corrected her.

Maker paused. "What do you mean?"

"You were an observer, and now you are not," Doevm explained. "Which I find fascinating. It seems as though most things are changing these days. I would have thought an "all powerful" being would be an exception."

"...and your point?"

"There is no point. It was simply an observation. I have always wondered how divinity interacts with the physical world. Seems these artifacts you speak of, if they can kill a god, might relate the real world to divinity. Then, I wonder, do all gods have these artifacts?" He sent another spell through her ethereal body, a fireball which scorched the back wall.

"I do have an artifact and you can kill me if you find it," Maker didn\'t shy away from it as Doevm expected her to. She waltzed over to Owen and stared at his lifeless form, still encased in ice. "But you see Doevm, I chose you because you do not change. I\'ve watched you grow tired of challenging the world. I watched you build that library brick by brick, then lock yourself inside of it."

"It made it easier to experiment," Doevm explained himself, though he wasn\'t sure why.

"It was comfy, and you long to be back there even now. After you serve my purpose and after you have your little fight, how long will it take until you lock yourself up again?"

Doevm looked away for a moment as he heard someone rush in the room: Elero. He turned back and Maker was gone. He cursed.

"What happened?" Elero asked, a wide eyed look on her face.

"Just a little visit from Maker," Doevm sighed.

"Maker, as in the god Maker?" Elero gasped. "Wait...is she bad? I\'m still new to this."

"Selfish, hypocritical, uncaring, and manipulative," Doevm said. "But not malicious."

Elero slowly moved her hand away from her spatial ring. "She\'s not?"

"Trust me, I know the difference," Doevm said. "Anyway, she\'s gone now. Did you need something?"

"I contacted my family. Where did everyone go?" Elero asked. She pointed to a strange artifact which Doevm had never seen before. A threaded metal staff with two oscillating strings at its end, glowing with mana.

Doevm pushed aside the questions forming in his mind. "Nevermind. We\'ll need to make a stop before we get to your family\'s residence."

"What? Why? They\'re in danger," Elero exclaimed.

"Weapons," Doevm explained. "We need to prepare for a fight."