A few moments after I stepped past the guards I found myself within the outer boundary of the palace, within a courtyard to be exact. It was a pretty place, one a few dozen meters wide and equally long.

Between myself and the entrance to the interior of the palace was a path paved with white stone, providing a faint path for those whose eyes needed light. On the sides of this path were massive crystals that radiated a faint pink glow and obstructed any visitor's views of the guards who patrolled the courtyard, as well as providing a sort of pretty decoration.

I began to walk down this path and noticed the relative emptiness of the palace's exterior area. I didn't know if the place was always like this, but I sincerely doubted it. All I could see were well-armed and well-trained guards going through the motions of their tasks, each of whom was as tense as the guards I had walked past earlier.

"Should I read their minds? It's one thing if a few guards are like this but now I've laid my eyes on ten of them and they are all like this. That's a sign of... something." I mused, internally. After a few moments of quiet debating with myself I chuckled and targeted the closest guard.

She was a squat dwarf, more muscular than the others I had seen. The guards I had seen were of both genders, and of a variety of sizes. The one I selected as my target could accurately be described as "Barrellike". I quietly activated my power and a few moments later I heard her thoughts.

"I wonder if the king is feeling better." She thought, in the supposed privacy of her mind. This intrigued me, but the superficiality of my power didn't allow me to peer any deeper into this. I chuckled, silently of course, and continued my exploration of the palace.

---

I made it to the edge of the courtyard after a minute or so of quiet walking. Along the way I scanned three more minds, and in doing so learned that the king was currently sick. This wasn't true, but it appeared to be a sincere belief of the palatial guards.

I knew that the king wasn't sick, because I hadn't heard that he had gotten sick. And when I mentally inspected his status I confirmed that he wasn't sick. I did see something that intrigued me though. The king's personal vice was the sin of sloth.

"I'm glad that Rachel's dad isn't sick." I mentally muttered though I found the theory I had in my head quite amusing. I suspected that he was faking an illness to get out of work. A part of me considered speaking with Rachel about this, but I knew I could discover the answer myself if I felt like wandering through the palace. Which I did.

In front of me was a massive door, one far larger than any of the dwarves I had seen to date. I put a hand on it, simply to phase through the thing, and as I did I received a notification.

I read through the entry with an interested smile on my face. That expression changed when I learned about Morehammer and the artifacts he supposedly left behind. My smile was replaced with a look that mixed shock and delight into one pleasant expression.

I prepared to badger the system with questions.

---

"So... Morehammer. Is there anything I can learn about him right now? He is one of the first higher-beings I've learned about by name and the only other one I've learned about and also been close to one of their lairs was Morthos." I asked the system. I felt excitement well up within me.

The system replied to my question by chuckling. It then went silent for a few moments, considering my question. I proceeded through the door shortly after I asked the system my question. I found myself inside of a grand foyer, one larger than ever the one in Morthos' grand manor in Aronms.

The truth was, I had plans for the Morthonian mansion. I wanted to do something to it to symbolize the changing age the dark-elves of Aronms were living in. I hadn't yet, but I wanted too. It was one of the many things that I had mulled over throughout the last few days.

The mansion was an ugly reminder of an older age, and what was worse was that it was in my eyes unnecessary. This palace, as ostentatious as it was, was not unnecessary. It was still being used and still had a distinct purpose.

My thoughts were interrupted by the system's response to my question.

[Morehammer... That's a name I haven't heard in a long time.] The system mused, amused by my question.

[Morehammer was a long-lived deity of dwarves and blacksmithing. He was also a god of metals, blacksmithing, and the hearts of mountains, in a way not unlike your connection to volcanos. Dwarves were his people and he was the head of the dwarven pantheon.] The system told me, revealing that other dwarven gods existed.

[Morehammer's people have moved on from their once incredible devotion to the ancient god. That said, he created his chosen race to be faithful to his teachings, and even though he himself is long-gone his teachings still define the cultures of dwarves throughout the cosmos.] My companion revealed, causing me to wonder if piety was still important to dwarves.

[Morehammer was a blacksmith and tactician of unequaled skill throughout the multiverse. His people can still be found throughout the multiverse which in and of itself is a testament to the god's teachings and the intelligence of his people.] The system declared, speaking of Morehammer fondly.

As it spoke I was carefreely wandering the palace, while moving in Rachel's general direction. I was currently on the third floor of the building, and examining the furnishings of an empty hallway. This was the floor Rachel was on.

[Morehammer was a kind god who valued both his people and all blacksmiths. He respected everyone who sought to use the bounty of the planet in peaceful and civilization-expanding ways. I miss him.] The system revealed, speaking personally for a moment. As it did so I focused on my initial reasoning for coming here: I oriented myself in Rachel's direction and began to move towards her.

[Morehammer and I collaborated frequently. He was fond of me, of the order I represented. Together we worked to create a vast dwarven empire that transcended universes. It was one of the first of its kind.] My companion confessed, speaking reverentially of an era in the distant past.

[Morehammer, like a few overgods and near overgods, was a transcendent being. He was mighty enough to cross over into other universes. And his people followed him into them. Together we created all sorts of new powers.] My old friend told me, reminiscing about the distant past.

It was at that point that I found myself just outside of where Rachel was, and all that separated me from her was a single metal door. The system fell silent as I stared at the door, waiting to see if it had anything else to say. When it was quiet for nearly a full minute I stepped forward through the door and laid eyes on the dwarven princess for the first time.

I stepped through the metal door that separated me from the princess who owed her newfound freedom to me with ease. It didn't resist me in the slightest thanks to my power to determine my own corporeality.

I found myself inside of a huge chamber, several dozen meters long and more than a few meters tall. It was a perfectly square room, and each corner of it served a purpose.

One corner of the place housed a desk whereupon several documents laid in a messy pile. Another corner housed Rachel's bed. A corner housed the door I walked through to enter here. And the final corner of it housed the entrance to another room.

Beside the door that led to the other room was a small statuette of what appeared to be Rachel's newly pregnant form. I could tell because Rachel was kneeling beside it, her face facing my general direction but her eyes closed in silent mediation. The statuette looked exactly like Rachel.

Rachel was a tiny dwarf woman, shorter than the other dwarves I had seen. She stood just around a meter tall, while most of the dwarves I had come across stood around one and a quarter meters tall. Rachel had auburn colored hair and a soft face. She had oval lips and a button nose.

Rachel was wearing brightly colored robes, which helped illuminate her in the otherwise dark room she was in. A single royal handmaiden dressed in a smith's smock stood over her and silently watched her. Rachel was every bit as silent as her handmaiden was.

I quietly spoke to the dwarf via our shared mental link.

"Open your eyes." I telepathically whispered, allowing myself to become corporeal once again as I did so. The corporeal form I had chosen for the occasion was my regular human form.

Rachel let out a single shocked breath and opened her eyes just in time to see my body beginning to form within her chamber. Her handmaiden kept her eyes locked on the princess.

"Princess! What's going on, are you okay?" The dwarven woman asked, her voice low and stoic as she spoke. There was little emotion audible in it. As the handmaiden spoke I continued to corporeally materialize behind her.

"Amaris! Turn around!" The dwarven princess said, her voice much louder than that of her servant. Rachel's voice was an exact match of her mental voice, which was unsurprising. So far that's been consistent with my experience on the rare occasions I've met individuals I've telepathically spoken with.

The handmaiden turned around and gasped softly when she saw me. I was just now fully formed and I smiled serenely at both the princess and her handmaiden.

"Hello. Rachel, I believe you know who I am. Amaris might not though." I said, as I took a careful first step towards the pair. Amaris turned to fully face me, and stepped in front of her mistress. I chuckled.

"Amaris... Has Rachel not told you about me?" I asked, enjoying the handmaiden's bold protectiveness. I didn't blame her for reacting the way she did. I was a stranger and a human-looking one at that. Her reaction was quite reasonable, even if it wasn't the wisest one she could have chosen.

I looked at Rachel silently. I was waiting to see how she reacted to my presence. She was quiet, still absorbing the suddenness of my appearance in her chambers. She was quiet for a few moments and there was a look of obvious confusion on her face. I chuckled gently at her expense.

"Rachel... I'm hurt that you don't recognize me. Not very long ago you prayed. And I answered. I am your friend. Your god." I told the young princess, enjoying the game I was playing with her.

Amaris stiffened at this, surprised by the revelation I had just dropped on the princess. The handmaiden turned to look at her mistress, who was paralyzed by a different kind of shock now. And then the princess's eyes were filled with recognition. When she next spoke her words were reverential and soft.

"Althos? Is it truly you?" She asked, an awed grin on her face. I nodded at the dwarven woman, and watched as she looked at me uncertainly.

"Althos... To what do I owe this... honor? Pleasure? I'm unsure of which would you prefer." She told me honestly. Amaris watched this in silent confusion. And then the princess turned to her with a serene smile on her face.

"This is the deity to whom I owe... My freedom? My life? Both?" She revealed, causing her handmaiden's eyes to widen. The woman turned and faced me, an uncertain look in her eyes.

"Is this true? Are you the god who answered my mistress' prayers?" She asked, her voice containing more emotion than before. I silently nodded at her. She had a look if skepticism on her face, and spoke once more.

"I understand that my mistress wants to believe you... But can you prove it? Can you demonstrate you are who you say you are?" She asked, a hopeful tone audible in her voice.

I looked at her and wondered how I could go about doing that. I had so many powers at my disposal now that deciding how to answer that question would always involve a bit of creativity on my part.

Amaris kept her eyes glued onto me as I pondered how to best prove my divinity. I contemplated using my "Unfettered divinity" power but quickly realized that using such a powerful ability would be wasteful if done here.

I looked at the handmaiden and opted to ask her a simple question. But not before I rechecked and confirmed that one of my flagship powers, "Banishment of lies" was active. It was.

"Amaris, tell me... What would sufficiently prove to you that I am a deity?" I asked the handmaiden, my eyes locked onto hers. She was brave, and our eyes made reasonably intense contact. She was silent for a moment as she considered her position and my question.

"Hmm..." She said after a few moments. A look of confusion and hesitation crossed her face as she considered how to reply. I saw her facial muscles tense up, and a smile crossed my face when I realized a likely reason behind the slightest tension she was showing: she probably wanted to lie and my powers made it impossible for her to do so. I didn't call her out on it though. Instead, I waited.

Her muscles relaxed right before she opened her mouth to speak. "Why don't you know what would prove to me that you're a god?" She asked, a satisfied smile on her face as she spoke. I looked at her and chuckled.

"Do you think that's something I would know because I'm a god? That's an odd leap of logic. Do you think the gods of old knew everything?" I asked her, curiously. I found her question amusing. She gave me a curious look and then mulled over my question.

That said, it was actually interesting for me to hear a mortal talk like that. For a moment I wondered about how much mortals actually knew regarding the old gods.

It wasn't impossible for them to believe that the gods of old were actually all-knowing creatures. I knew they weren't, logically, but that doesn't mean the mortals knew that. A moment after my introspection though, Amaris spoke once more.

"No, you're right. I was being... silly." She said a smug smile on her lips. "That said... I honestly don't know what would prove to me that you're a god." She confessed. I sighed.

To be fair, it made sense for her to not know. I couldn't blame her for having that attitude. That said, I had an ability for moments like this.

I rose a hand and pointed it in her direction. This was actually unnecessary but it was useful for demonstrating that I was targetting her. Without uttering a word I activated my "Entropic manipulation" ability and began to rapidly age the dwarf.

The princess's handmaiden was a spry hundred-and-fifty years old. She was positively young for a dwarf. That didn't matter to the god who she was trying to get to demonstrate his divinity.

Before the princess's very eyes the handmaiden began to age. It was slow and subtle for a second, as the servant's lengthening hair was hidden underneath a cap she wore in the presence of her mistress. Other signs were also difficult to spot since the handmaiden wore a blacksmith's smock over her toned and muscular body.

The princess watched her servant and did her best to hide her shock as her closest ally rapidly aged in front of her. The aging process stopped being slow when the servant's face began to droop downwards, and as the rapid onset of old age caused the woman to begin to feel abrupt but slight bone pain.

The dwarf began to shrink ever so slightly. She also widened a bit, as old age took a toll on her physique. Althos, opting to be merciful stopped when wrinkles began to emerge on her face.

"I just proved that I'm a god." He declared, confidently. She looked at him in confusion and uttered a reply.

"What? Wait..." She said, questioning him and then questioning herself in confusion. She paused as she heard herself. The god smirked at her.

"Is there a mirror anywhere close by? You might want to take a look at it." He told her. Her eyes widened in fear, as she turned and walked into the room she and her mistress were next too. A second after she vanished past the part of the room the god could see from where he stood she screamed in shock.

"What... What happened to me?" She asked, loudly a second later. Althos replied to her without skipping a beat and without lying.

"I aged you. I'm a god of chaos and life. And... many other things. Advancing your age is something I can do easily. That said, hold still. I'll undo it right now. That's something that is easily within my capabilities as well." He said, speaking loudly enough to be heard by her with ease.

The god easily reached out to the handmaiden with his mind and began to undo what he had just done. He gently reversed the aging she had just endured and brought her back to her actual age within a few seconds. As he did so a smirk remained etched onto his face.

A few moments later the dwarven handmaiden returned, a humble and awkward look on her face. She looked thoroughly mortified.

I studied the dwarf for a moment. There was a look on her face that mixed a number of emotions into one strange look. The three of us were silent, and then I began to talk.

"So I'm a god." I reminded the two of them, and as I spoke I began to grin.

"I can do a lot. I can do more than what I just did actually. If I wanted too I could actually make you a baby! I've never aged someone that far backward though." I told the handmaiden. A look of fear filled her eyes, and I chuckled internally as I saw it.

"That said, I'm far from malicious. I like helping people more than I like harming them. Especially when doing so grants me more power. Which it did when I helped Rachel." I told the pair, speaking frankly. This surprised them.

"Wait, how did helping me grant you power?" Rachel asked, sincere confusion coloring her question. I looked at her for a second, quietly studying the dwarven princess.

"Should I tell her the truth?" I mused to myself. It was tempting. I liked the truth. I tended to be honest when I thought that being honest wouldn't hurt me. And in this situation, I didn't really see how it could. I had all the power here and I wasn't trying to make a deal with Rachel or Amaris.

I studied the pair for a second longer and noted their curiosity. After a moment of hesitation, I ultimately realized that this was a moment for truth-telling. I smiled, not arrogantly or excitedly, but a genuine and relaxed smile.

"Now's the time for honesty. I'll tell you two a story. My story." I said, speaking relaxedly to the pair. Their eyes widened in excitement as they looked at me and waited for me to begin.

"I'm gonna tell you the whole truth. So let me go back to the beginning. To when I came to life. A whole eleven days ago." I declared, my grin turning more mischievous when I said that last part. The pair of dwarves looked at me, stunned, when I revealed my real age to them.

I feigned offense and gasped, in unreal pain, when I saw Rachel's expression. She reared back, flinching at the display.

"Rachel! I told you I was extremely young when I answered your prayer. Don't you remember?" I asked, pretending to be offended. She nodded, but her look of shock didn't change.

"You said 'Young', but you're... a baby!" She told me, reacting fairly albeit perhaps a bit too honestly to my actual age. I grinned again, and expressed, using my hands, that it was no big deal. And then I began to tell the pair of dwarves the wild adventures that led me to where I was now, in front of them.

My projections were still out and about in Puerto Rico even as I told the dwarves my life story.

Telling the two dwarves my life's story took almost an hour. I skimmed or simplified some sections of the events of the past week and a half but by the time I was done talking my companions knew more about me than most of my mortal worshipers did.

The two silently mulled over the tales I told them. They considered the world-changing implications of some of what I said, including the undead horde I possessed, and my ant swarm. I had been honest with the pair about my powers and the resources at my disposal.

While the pair mulled over what I told them I was in the process of actively expanding my followers. And I was doing so in what was arguably the most distinctly Althonian way possible.

The part of my mind that was focused inward was doing a number of things. First and foremost it was actively making use of my powers over dreams. I was engaging with a number of humanoids at once, including a Htrean human, nobles on Torus, and another world's dark-elves. None of them were particularly special, but I liked engaging with dreamers and my abilities to do so were ones I frequently used.

That said that was little more than a distraction. The part of my mind that mattered right now was utilizing one of my newest abilities to its maximum potential: "Stellar awareness". This fantastic power expanded my map and my ability to detect things to an incredible degree.

I was now actively aware of goings-on in multiple worlds. My entire solar-system was within range of my detection and information-gathering powers and I was ready to act on that.

I willed my not-so-minimap to appear in my mind's eye. On it, I saw a total of seven worlds, counting Torus, and a number of moons and other celestial objects decorate the map. All of the worlds were teeming with life, and even a few of the moons had life on them as well.

I explored the planets and learned the names of kingdoms, people, and communities. I then began to mess around with the filters until I could only actively identify insects and anthropods that I could awaken and evolve. The number of creatures I could still identify numbered in the hundreds of quintillions.

The part of me that was focused inward began to smile when I saw that. The number was gigantic, an exponentially larger number than I could wrap my mind around and between my current undead horde and the swarm as it existed right now that was a number that was in the multiple billions.

This moment also served as a handy reminder of something important: I was far from done exploring Torus. Over a quadrillion ants existed on Torus. And ants weren't the only creatures that were currently selected. Ants, bees, wasps, and even a few types of distinctly alien creatures that were both similar to them and related to them were all currently selected.

I waited a moment just to be sure that this was what I wanted. When I was sure, which didn't take me long at all, I began to think about what I actually wanted to do with the unimaginable number of beings I was about to add to my followers.

"Do I want my empire to begin right now? Because I can in all likelihood conquer entire worlds with the horde I'm about to create." I asked myself. I was genuinely unsure.

"I should use this moment to gain the second tier of influence over the Hymenoptera subdomain. And that'll likely require that my forces take a town..." I realized, well aware that the Hymenoptera subdomain was like the necromancy subdomain in that it was an aggressive, destroyer type subdomain. That was when the system chimed in.

[That's absolutely correct! When you cause enough bees or wasps to evolve, which you will by the time you're done here, you'll be tasked with using the swarm to conquer a town. And by 'conquering' I do mean destroy.] The voice revealed, speaking proudly. It sounded delighted at the prospect of such violence.

I wasn't as excited as it was. I wouldn't hesitate to make the order but I wasn't eager to do so. I knew that this was necessary and that in doing this I would gain greater powers, but none of that changed the fact that I wasn't enthused to do this.

"I want to create, not destroy." I muttered, annoyed at the destruction I was about to have to inflict on some community. That said, I recognized that it was a sacrifice I was going to have to make to become a god of everything.

I was quiet for a moment before muttering something else. An idea. I turned my eyes towards the two branches of the swarm that currently existed.

One branch of the swarm, a less diverse one, existed underneath Puerto-Rico's surface. And another branch existed on the coast of Iredale. The second branch had members of the three Hymenoptera creatures that existed in Puerto Rico: ants, wasps, and bees. As soon as both groups turned themselves towards me I gave them a mental order.

At that moment I was grateful that my expanding powers kept expanding when I ordered my minions to colonize the coast of Iredale. Because that granted me handy new powers.

"Build a chamber underground. It will be the seat of worship dedicated to me, and also house portals to allow for travel between the worlds." I told the creatures, making use of another of my new Hymenoptera abilities: the power to command them fully.

The Hymenoptera subdomain was an empire-building subdomain. It gave me powers that not only strengthened my Hymenopteric followers and worshipers, but also made them more intelligent and gave me greater control over them. Since I was already interested in building an empire, I might as well embrace it.

The first part of building an empire was connecting it. Fortunately for me, connecting things was easy. I possessed far more than the power to teleport myself from area to area, but the power to build permanent portals connecting even distant parts of the universe together. Until now I hadn't really used that power. That was about to change.

I sensed my followers in both places scrambling to distinct, existing caverns and beginning to get to work. I felt their energy, passion, and the violence with which they expanded the chambers they had selected as the locations of my newest temples. The members of both branches moved with equal, inhuman passion, zealously working to fulfill the order they had been given.

I pictured the temples they were going to build as simple, functional places. I didn't care to order my followers to build me ornate temples. The temples I handbuild were somewhat ornate structures, but those temples were for humanoids who were impressed with such things. Insects were simpler, more efficient.

I wanted the temples the swarm built to me to be places that mattered to their communities from a needs-based point of view. For now, building my temple and the sort of future-highway that would come to exist when the swarm's territory expanded in the same place made sense.

By doing the mental equivalent of flexing I activated my power that dominated members of the Hymenoptera order. And in doing so I instantly gained minions and worshipers throughout the solar system of my birth. I felt the number of worshipers I possessed swell to unheard-of proportions.

I physically fell to my knees, surprising the pair of dwarves I was with. It took me a moment to reassure them that I was fine but it wasn't hard. I merely explained that when I gained new worshipers powerful emotions surged into me, and I had just gained a handful of new worshipers at once. They accepted that without much protest, opting to believe me since I was a god.

All seven of the planets that revolved around the sun of my solar-system now teemed with Althonians. And those Althonians were about to get much stronger. I focused on the unimaginably large swarm I now commanded and gave the unevolved members an order.

"Evolve." My mental voice reached across the solar system and every single new member of my swarm heard it at once.

---

When the young god was focused he was capable of incredible, world-changing acts. And his latest action was a great example of that.

All over the solar-system ants, bees, wasps, and their alien equivalents on other worlds gained a single master at the exact same time. The first thing their master did was order them to evolve. Which they did. Ants became myrmekes and other bigger ants, wasps became dire wasps and giant wasps, and bees became thriaes or other larger bees.

The creatures evolved at the same time, stunning the few humanoids who studied them. In each of the seven worlds that orbited Torus' sun, there were humanoids who were fascinated by Hymenopterans. And they were the first victims of the swarm.

The evolution of the swarm's membership took only a few moments. The creatures who made up the swarm expanded in size over the course of three seconds each and their minds expanded equally quickly. And when they were done evolving, they lashed out at anyone who had "owned" them.

This universally led to the deaths of the entomologists who felt that they could "own" insects. And in some cases other deaths as well. This wasn't something Althos planned, but he was momentarily distracted. He had just gotten a new quest. One he immediately acted upon.

[Alert: In evolving billions of bees you've gained the ability to acquire the second tier of influence over the Hymenoptera subdomain. To do so, have your Hymenopteric minions conquer an existing settlement.]

The deity, having access to stores of information, moved to complete this quest more efficiently than any mortal or even extraplanar could. He found the smallest possible town he was aware of, a community with less than fifty people in it, and targeted that community. That community was actually near the colony the swarm had built on Iredale's coast.

Mere moments after gaining the quest and after the mass evolution was completed a portal appeared beside a hive of bees. The portal connected the small community with the hive of gigantic and newly evolved bees. They received a new order of their own, supplied to them by their god.

"Kill." The order commanded. It was a simple order and one that the gigantic bees and thriaes immediately set about fulfilling. In less than a minute over two hundred of Althos' newest minions dashed through the portal and invaded the town on the other side of it.

Calling the "town" a town was a bit of a stretch. It was a collection of a few dozen buildings built around a mine. And it was usually a quiet place, but that morning that changed forever as enormous insect wings carried gigantic Hymenoptric invaders into the small community.

A swarm of massive insects descended upon the town en-masse and moved with inhuman efficiency. The insects silently moved to enact their orders. They split off into groups with a single thriae as a leader and over a dozen massive, dog-sized bees as reinforcement and muscle.

Some of them were frightening looking creatures that fused the features of humans with insects, having the faces and basic bodily structures of humans but having extra arms, compound eyes, wings, and stingers. Others were simply bees of horrifying size.

Althos wasn't inactive during this time either. The distant god carefully selected the thraies in the town and bestowed upon them a new class: necromancer.

He then gave them an additional order. "Reanimate." He commanded. He was trying to maximize his efficiency and doing so in this case meant maximizing the resources he acquired as a result of this raid.

The insects were basically extensions of their god's will. They surged over the town in moments and had invaded every home, shop, and building, less than ten minutes after their arrival.

Within a matter of minutes, his minions were enacting a brutal wave of violence on the residents of the town. And since there were only forty-five residents of the town, it only took minutes for the violence to come to an end and for the final member of the town to be reanimated.

Perhaps their only relative redeeming quality was that they weren't deliberately cruel. Each time one of them killed a human they did it in less than three attacks. In the cases of the thraies, they did it in less than two. All in all the invasion took less than a half an hour to complete from start to finish.

The sovereign of the swarm was pleased when he gained a new notification, one alerting him to the success of his minions.

---

---

"Althos... What you've told has world-changing implications. Between your swarm and your horde, and the fact that there are demons who are not only idly eying the planet but actively preparing for an invasion... That's serious stuff." Amaris told me, minutes after I finished telling her and Rachel my story. I nodded at her, in agreement. And then I responded to her.

"It's all serious stuff. The fact that there are angels and their children in this world, the fact that I exist at all, the fact that Rachel is a virgin and pregnant... That's all serious stuff." I explained, agreeing earnestly with the dwarven handmaiden.

Rachel looked at me, grateful for my honesty. She was silent longer than Amaris was, but after hearing my response she spoke.

"Could we possibly tell my father about this? He's far from perfect but if nothing else he'll be able to connect us to other nobility and royalty who can do more than we can. Atlantis is not a powerful kingdom." Rachel asked, and then explained.

I looked at her and considered her words. She was serious about this and had a look of innocent determination on her face. After a few moments, I nodded at her. She smiled at me and got up.

"Well, in that case, we ought to get going. This is definitely a priority." She said, a more eager look on her face now. I could tell she was excited.

Rachel, Amaris and I would spend the next hour telling her father about me. But that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was the swarm. And they were bigger and busier than ever.