Chapter 201 Recompense

*Knock* *Knock*

Gerald's head snapped up and glared at the small door next to him. It was only used when someone went out without need of using the large gates off to his right.

"Hey, Herald!" shouted Gerald.

A face popped into view above him, looking the spitting image of him.

"What?" complained Herald, his brother, from the walkway above.

"There anyone outside?" asked Gerald.

Herald's face disappeared from view, and the thumps of his feet echoed above as he walked the few steps over to the wall railing.

"No!" came the muffled cry.

"Must be hearing things!" muttered Gerald with a shake to his head.

*Knock* *Knock*

"What the shavist?!" grumbled Gerald, throwing the latch open and swinging the door wide, while clutching his sword tightly. Glancing around outside the door, up and down the outside of the wall, he saw nothing.

"Is this a trick?" he shouted back behind him, half expecting some of the mage children to run off giggling, but there was nothing but silence.

"What?" grumbled his brother up above.

"Nothing!" he shouted back at him, slamming the door shut and locking it securely. Returning his sword to its sheath, he grumbled about phantom noises, and headed off to report to his superior. If anything came of this, he was going to make sure he was covered.

XxxxX

Stella sat in the bed, with one leg dangling over the edge, as Joseph leaned back against her, feeling her breathe against his back and taking comfort in her allowing him to get so close. His grief was so overwhelming, he had checked with the system to make sure he wasn't being affected by a god again. He wasn't.

He had ranted about how useless he was, until his throat was raw, then healed it and ranted some more. Tears had stained her shirt, until he cleaned and dried it, then he had lain still, staring at the ceiling too exhausted to move.

*Knock* *Knock*

He rolled his head to the side, noting that he didn't feel a presence outside the door.

TELEPORT.

"Don't kill me, I have good news."

The man who stood there, was oddly familiar to him, so Joseph closed his fist on the ball of black flames, extinguishing them.

"How?" choked out Joseph, a little surprised by his own rage. This time it was his rage, and it felt much better than his sorrow. More alive.

"May we sit? I promise you will like what I have to say."

The man's blonde hair was almost white in the light, and strangely, Joseph still couldn't feel his presence. Who was this person?

Stella opened the door and they all went inside. The bed was gone, and instead, a table and three chairs occupied the room. Joseph thought he saw a little dust from the dwarven road still clinging to one of the legs of the table, but that could have just been the light.

Sitting down, the man smoothed the wrinkles out of his shirt then crossed his leg and leaned back.

"I wish to thank you for waking me from the slumber my brother had placed me under."

Joseph stared at him. Surely another god wasn't manifesting himself in front of him? He could really care less about any of the shavists at the moment. Except NURKONG. That bast*rd was going to pay. He didn't even think about the lesser god Destruction. It was already a given that his time was up.

"Who are you?" asked Stella for Joseph, since he couldn't seem to say anything civil at the moment. She twirled her god killing dagger, to make her point that he better speed up his speech.

"I am Tibbles, the god of life, fire and creation. My brother has caused you a lot of undue damages, and I thought it only right to step in to prevent an unforgivable act on his part. Unfortunately, in order to pay you back properly, I need you to make a body for me."

Joseph blinked a few times, as his mind went into overdrive. As realization dawned on him, he immediately jumped into action. Magic literally flowed out of his fingers as he began to create a body in front of him.

XxxxX

Stella had no idea what was going on, only knowing that whatever this Tibbles offered, her Joseph understood completely and was alive again, instead of laying uselessly on the bed. She had even sang him a lullaby she remembered from Sylva's childhood to try and raise his spirits, but it didn't work too well, being mostly about sacrificing small animals for the cookpot. She had stopped as soon as she realized what she was singing, but it had been the only soothing song she could remember.

The stranger had an odd feeling about him, as if she knew him well, and should consider him a friend. With a frown, her brow scrunched in annoyance at his aura. Pushing her own aura out, he glanced at her in amusement. It didn't even phase Joseph as this Tibbles turned off his aura and hers overwhelmed the room. Her frown grew deeper as she quickly turned it off, knowing that it could kill.

Turning her attention back to what Joseph was doing, she almost stepped back in shock. He had recreated his mother! She was dressed in a gown that Stella remembered she had loved to wear, and appeared to be asleep.

"Wonderful! I don't think I could have done a better job!" sighed Tibbles in delight.

The god of life pulled out a softly glowing mass. It reminded Stella of the wraiths that had tried to attack them in the fog in the north, only less terrifying and more loving. With a gentle blow from Tibbles, the mass floated out of his hand and into the body. It blinked a couple of times before awareness came back into the eyes, and then Joseph stepped forward and wrapped his hands around her, giving her a hug as huge sobs broke throughout his body.

With a startled look of confusion, his mother glanced at the two of them and clumsily tried to pat him on the back. She obviously didn't remember anything.

"And with this, I expect my debt to you is paid. My brother will be furious I saved her from him, but I expect he deserves no less."

"What happened?" asked his mother, giving Stella a look as if she knew exactly what had happened.

"You were bashed until your body broke, by stones from the sky. One of your ribs punctured a very important artery to your heart, and you died. I tried to keep you alive as long as I could, but my brother had a hard grasp on the situation. I barely managed to steal your soul away from him, with a little aid from the rune Necromancy, before he could torture you, and your son has built you a new body in which to house your soul. While you are now susceptible to magic, I leave it up to you whether you wish to become a Wizar."

The look of shock as she tried to understand everything the god said, flashed over her face, and was quickly replaced with the look every child looks for in a mother's face. Determination to calm her child.

"Thank you," Joseph's mother said with a firm nod of her head, and the god nodded back, standing from the table, and with a small bow to Stella, disappeared.