Elena stepped forward, but kept quiet. The woman opened her mouth and closed it several times, not uttering a single word. Her turquoise eyes swam in their sockets, not focusing on anything specific for more than half a second. Her hands grabbed her red hair and anxiously wrung it. Her breathing grew a little erratic, and her face strained with complicated emotions.

“Elena Pazh'Khun,” Danuva called.

The Elf's eyes locked onto Danuva's shape, widening by the second.

The rainbow-colored lines on the Goddess' face dimly lit up, and from them, E'er flowed in harmony almost as if singing a choir of absolute bliss. It was completely different from when mortals activated skills or used spells. Like a master dancer who's perfected their craft after an untold amount of time, there was no surplus waste, no forceful command of energy, and no hint at her being a separate entity that attempted to control the intangible. Compared to that, mortals seemed like children trying to sloppily fit rough and stubborn dough in a mould: wasteful, forceful, and noticeably amateur. E'er responded to Danuva like a love-starved child being embraced by a warm and patient parent that offered a lifetime of healing and understanding, bringing comfort to past, present, and future wounds of the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical kinds.

My shoulders relaxed and I basked in the feeling. For a moment, I wanted Danuva to hold me like that if only for an instant... but returned to my senses and shook the feeling away, replacing it with rejection and distrust to all maternal figures.

Elena's breathing slowed down to a normal rhythm, her eyes relaxed, and her face lost tension.

“Be not afraid,” the being with multiple eyes, gray skin, detached limbs that floated, and rainbow-colored lines across the face said in an inviting tone that promised no judgment while hovering a few centimeters above the ground.

Mhm... I nodded, approving the choice of words.

The three thousand year old woman took a deep, calming breath.

“We remember you,” Saravia shared with glee.

“Yulianna brought you before us some centuries ago,” Shorvanna informed her.

“I will heal you, Elena,” Danuva assured her.

The Faeton Elf nodded and turned her sight downwards.

After that, the rest of my companions introduced themselves.

Shorvanna picked Bonte and Thelea, and Saravia picked Bromisnar.

Despite having previously discussed who they'd teach, I didn't interrupt the little event of mentors choosing apprentices. Maybe it was some tradition I hadn't heard of yet, so I let them do it their way.

“Alyssa Pruvik, Elena Pazh'Khun, Lapia Pofeta, and Yolin Makav,” Danuva called. “Follow me,” she instructed and went inside the obelisk.

My companions followed in silence.

“Bromisnar, come with me,” Saravia invited him and went inside the obelisk.

The man nodded with enthusiasm and followed the God with a smile on his face.

Shorvanna was silent for a moment. The living armor stood still, and the wind brought the smell of blood. “I know you're thinking of the wrong thing,” the Goddess reproached the group in front of her. “Not all of you are Warriors... is what's going through your minds.” She walked to them and stopped in front of each, staring at them for a good ten seconds. “You should focus on what you are, instead of what you are not. True, you are not Warriors,” she pointed out, staring at Pokora, who stared back with slightly wide eyes and apprehension. Shorvanna leaned in and almost touched the Elf's face with her helmet. “So... what are you? Ask yourselves that.”

My eyebrows went up in surprise.

“What is the constant in your lives? What do you do when you go out of the comfort of civilization and into the uncertainty of nature?” the Divine being asked.

My companions' eyebrows joined in thought.

Shorvanna nodded, probably hearing their thoughts. “You know within yourselves that there's something you want to do. And you know you were born with a purpose, whether you believe in it now or not. You all have something you are supposed to do. As such, you have the responsibility to manifest your greatness!” She raised a gauntlet and made a fist. “Not only is it possible for you to have your dream, it's necessary!” She walked to Bonte and leaned into him. “It's necessary!” She repeated. “That you work on it. That you develop yourself! That you go for what you think is yours in life! I could tell you that you can lay down, or that the journey is going to get easy. I could tell you that, if you keep going, the load will get lighter...” She took few steps back and faced the group. “But that's not the truth. The truth is: you have to find something within! Feelings mean nothing when on their own! They occupy your mind, they take your time, your energy... your life! Feelings are not the weak justification, but the reason you do something. You take control of them. And with them, you life! If your feelings are not fuel for action, then they're useless! What exactly you do with them is up to you, but you must do something with them! You have to make a declaration that this feeling is what you stand for! Make it matter in your life. Give it meaning. Give it drive! Will it be easy? No! Will it happen overnight? No! Will it put you down and spit on your face? Yes it will! But that right there is what we do best! So, answer me... what are you?”

“Fighters,” Thelea replied, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Shorvanna walked to her, growing in size until she towered over the Goliath. “WHAT ARE YOU?!” she screamed in her face.

“FIGHTERS!” Thelea yelled back, looking ahead instead at the Goddess.

“AND WHAT DO FIGHTERS DO?!” Shorvanna asked in a booming voice, turning to look at the rest of the mortals.

“Struggle,” I said out loud.

“YES!” the Goddess agreed, not looking at me. “STRUGGLE! TO TAKE WHAT IS YOURS, YOU STRUGGLE! YOU'LL WANT TO DIE, IT'S A PART OF IT. THERE WILL COME A POINT WHEN LIFE WILL BE TOO HEAVY TO LIFT. THAT IS WHEN YOU STRUGGLE WITH ALL YOU HAVE AND YOU SPIT ON LIFE'S FACE! THAT'S WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO GRAB WHATEVER YOU WANT! YOU WILL THINK IT IMPOSSIBLE! AND THAT IS WHEN YOU CONQUER THE FEAR WITHIN YOU! YOU KILL WHATEVER IS IN YOUR WAY! YOU BITE IT'S NECK, RIP THE GUTS, AND TEAR THE HEART OUT! YOU FIGHT! ALL LIFE FIGHTS! THE ONLY THING THAT SETS YOU APART FROM ONE ANOTHER IS THE WEAPON OF CHOICE!” She grew even bigger, passing four meters in height, and screamed, “SO WHAT ARE YOU?”

“FIGHTERS!” the four mortals yelled back.

Shorvanna shrunk to her previous size and nodded. “Good. Now, we fight,” she declared and walked to the obelisk.

I followed her with my eyes, eyebrows raised and smiling.