“Unnatural beast,” growls a silky voice that passes over the oceans and returns to the throat of its patient mistress.

A gorgeous elven woman with chocolate brown hair stands on the pristine shores of Ambervale. The goddess turns away from the open ocean, forcing her mind to focus on the sound of nearby music. She takes a deep breath to calm herself while her regal companion lets his mood sink into darkness. A storm brewing on the horizon becomes stronger with every snarl that escapes the god’s lips. An earth-shaking rumble stops the music for a few seconds, but the other gods quickly go back to their blissful celebrations. Only a few lesser gods venture to the high cliffs and look down on their serious brethren. The elf-woman quickly waves them away before her companion decides to take his anger out on them.

The goddess turns back to the man who is staring at her with a wild glimmer in his green eyes. He grins wide enough for his ivory teeth to shimmer in the sunlight. She returns his grin with a feral growl that causes his grin to transform into a smirk. The goddess knows what the raven-haired man is about to ask of her without him uttering a word. It is the same argument they had been having for the last month and it was finally time for her to lose the debate. If she were stronger then she would deny his request, but nobody could stand up to this god and walk away in one piece. Even the other gods fear the power of Gabriel, the tri-fold god who rules Hell, the Chaos Void, and forges the destiny of mortals.

“Speak your mind, Uli,” the man requests.

“I do not like this course of action, Gabriel,” Uli declares, her golden eyes narrowing to slits. “He is not ready for this. We are not even sure that he is the right one. Send one of the others that we have already determined as champions and give the boy more time.”

Gabriel turns his back with a flourish of his cape and pats the hilt of his crystalline longsword. A simple whistle from his lips causes a painful tremor to pass through Uli’s well-toned body. The male deity turns to look at her as his eyes change from emerald to a pale green.

“Excuse me, my dear, but I am the God of Destiny,” Gabriel calmly reminds her. “We have been lucky for too long. It is time to put an end to this and we need our most powerful tools to overcome the coming trials. Even the effect of free will cannot stop these events from reaching their climax. The boy is the heir to a great legacy, which I have spent centuries forging. He will be ready by the time his power and courage is needed. If he fails then he should be able to give us a few more years to prepare a stronger set of champions.”

She clenches her fist and swears in an archaic form of elven. “This does not mean that I have to approve of it. He is one of my devoted and I feel that he is not ready. The boy has not done anything of great heroism and his skills are barely above average. His potential is great, but you cannot guarantee that he will mature in time to meet the timeline of his destiny.”

“I do not care whose devoted he is,” Gabriel snaps, waving his hand to silence her. “That boy has an important role to play in the coming storm. Most of the other gods are turning a blind eye toward the danger on the horizon. We are two of the few who have bothered to get as involved as we can without breaking the law of influence. We both agree that this boy is important to our plans, so we will use him. I have already sent someone to point him in the right direction. She will be acting as my emissary, so the law of influence will not be broken. He is going in the proper direction as we speak, but he still needs a little . . . inspiration. Everything will work out in the end. If your predictions of failure become truth then maybe the other gods will see the importance of our work and help us. My point, wild queen, is that something good will come from the boy even if he fails.”

Sick of the conversation, Gabriel starts walking away while whistling an angry tune. A ripple of magic flows from his lips and changes a passing robin into a fearsome tiger that crashes into the water. The confused beast scrambles to jump out of the water in an attempt to fly while the strong currents drag it out to sea. Uli extends a calloused hand toward the tiger and uses her magic to bring it to shore. The large cat rubs against her leg while chirping and singing like a bird.

“Send him to what may be his death, but I will be watching him,” Uli defiantly claims. “Unlike you, Hell Lord, I actually care about my devoted.” She marches away, leaving Gabriel to wander the coastline alone.

“Your devoted?” Gabriel says, chuckling in amusement. “Last time I checked, dear Uli, his destiny was in my hands.” Gabriel creates a golden orb that hovers in front of his face. Deep inside the orb is the image of a young half-elf running through a distant forest.