“So, like, what’s it like being a princess?” Franky asked, iridescent smoke pooling out of his mouth.

  Princess Alexandra, who could hardly keep her eyes open, shouted, “It sucks!” Her volume seemed to startle her. She looked around. “Woah. Was that me?”

  “Was what you?”

  “I…” she looked to the side, where she swore the grass was conducting an orchestra, “don’t remember.”

  Luka chuckled. “She’s feeling the hallucinatory effects of the puff.”

  Eve visibly cringed. “Don’t call it ‘the puff.’ What are you, old?”

  He blinked. “I am old.”

  “Yeah—but like, not?”

  “Not what?”

  “What?”

  Practically laying down on her lawn chair, Vale growled, “Shut up! I’m trying to sleep!”

  “Your friend is mean,” said Alex as she puffed another puff. Her cheeks inflated with her lungs and—she coughed, smoke and spit launching out of her mouth. She quickly handed the lit roach over to Franky.

  “Better,” he said smoothly.

  “Was it?” she asked in between hacking coughs.

  “No!” Vale snapped.

  “You weren’t even watching!”

  “I was so!”

  Eve jumped in, “You’re just mad you lost all your money in cards.”

  Vale sat up on her elbows. “She cheated!”

  Alex feigned affront. “I did not.”

  “You did! No beginner can bluff as good as you did!”

  Luka frowned. “Isn’t that why they call it ‘beginner’s luck?’”

  Vale’s eyes widened. “Who is this ‘they’ and where can I see their research? I must prove I am right!”

  Eve and Luka snickered.

  “What!?” the god-alien-thing demanded.

  They just laughed louder.

  From the side, Alex leaned close to Franky and asked, “Is she always like this?”

  “Vale?” he asked. “Yeah. The first time we met, she turned a guy into a bean then obliterated all the gods.”

  “That was only in an infinite number of perceived futures,” Vale loudly said, waving her hand. “Do not make up stories about me. Obviously, I did not kill the gods of this world.”

  Eve and Luka’s laughter ceased. They watched the princess with horror—there were certain secrets that shouldn’t be shared. Vale’s history was one of them. Depending on Alex’s reaction… well, many things could happen, some bad. Very bad.

  Alex sat staring at Vale for a long moment. She then glanced at the near burnt-out cig Franky held, then back to Vale. “What?” she asked, her eyes widening. She rapidly blinked as if all the color in the universe suddenly disappeared. “What madness is this?”

  Luka sighed. As the least high of the group, he took responsibility. “Alex, look. Vale’s different from us, yes. But that doesn’t mean she—”

  “Huh?”

  He paused. “Vale is different than us—”

  “What are you talking about? Of course she’s different! Look at her!” Alex threw her arms out, gesturing at the alien-god-eldritch-thing. “She’s a demon, and we’re human!”

  It was Luka’s turn to ask, “Huh?”

  Alex suddenly looked as if she smelt something bad. “Don’t tell me you’re… you’re…”

  He and the others all leaned in. “I’m what?” he quietly asked.

  Something bubbled up inside the princess. Something ugly and dark. She shook her head, the words needed to be asked. “Your…” She needed to know. For her kingdom, at the very least. “You’re RACIST!?”

  The word echoed across the employee’s only section of Ressen’s clearing. Silence filled in its wake.

  Luka blinked. Eve looked confused. Leo and Sebby looked up from their nap, while Olive snored like a sack of flour. Orris the Beast King rolled over in Leo’s fur like common bedding. Vale suddenly looked at Luka in a new light.

  But it was Franky’s reaction that everyone noticed.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He laughed. Bellowed, even. Louder and louder until the bonfire shook—if that was even possible. The bald muscular orc fell to the dirt holding his stomach, he laughed so loudly. Tears welled in his eyes, and he couldn’t stop his hand from slapping his knee. He laughed and laughed.

  The others watched with horror.

  Then Eve chuckled. Then laughed. Then bellowed. The raven-haired tattooed orc laughed—not as loud or as much as her brother, but still. She laughed and laughed.

  Vale frowned at the prism puff. “What are we smoking?”

  Princess Alex was also confused, though she was inebriated, so she didn’t notice. Instead, she smiled at Franky, swaying a little like she couldn’t keep herself upright.

  Luka put two and two together. “Alex didn’t realize what Franky said about you. So, when I tried to explain it away, she thought I was just being racist since you’re a demon.”

  Vale pursed her lips. “So, you’re not racist?’

  He gave her an affronted look. “Really?”

  Franky’s laughs died, yet the orc didn’t get up from the grass. Instead, he just laid there comfortably. “I think it’s time for bed,” he muttered.

  Luka couldn’t agree more. He stood—causing Leo to stand and knocking away Orris—and helped Eve up. “Come on,” he said. “If we go sneakily, Todd won’t notice us coming in high… again.”

  Eve, Franky, Luka, and Vale all lived at Todd’s tavern—for free. Which had bitten into Todd’s profits. They didn’t want to give the man a reason to evict them.

  Vale slithered out of her chair, suddenly not intoxicated anymore. “I’ll head him off.” With that, she disappeared into the shadows, off to do… something… to Todd.

  Luka should have been worried, but he didn’t care enough to be. “Princess? Might I escort you to your room?”

  Alex considered for a moment. “I’ve always wanted to sleep beneath the stars. My parents never let me.” She laid back in her lawn chair, her eyes straight up. “I think I will tonight.”

  That was one of the best things about World Trees—or at least Ressen. At night, through the underside of her wide canopy, the stars shone. Jear had explained it to be illusion magic, a recreation of what was above—but even still. It was beautiful, exactly as God Neb created.

  “What about your guards? Surely, they’ll worry when you’re not in your chambers.”

  Alex waved him off. “Let them worry. I’m sleeping here.”

  Luka looked to Eve for help. She simply shrugged. “Come on,” she said, taking his hand and motioning for Olive to follow. “Let’s get you to sleep. You need rest.” He allowed himself to get pulled away, Leo following along.

  The dire-wolf shifted in size as they walked, soon becoming no larger than a full grown cat. Leo then stopped and whined. He was tiiiiiired. And a walk across the village was not going to be fun!

  Luka sighed, reached down, and picked the little wolf up. “You’re so needy,” he lovingly muttered.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Princess Alexandra of the Kingdom of Embers sliding off her lawn chair bed onto the grass. She scooted inches away from the sleeping Franky, a big bright smile on her face. Soon she closed her eyes and drifted.

  “Franky’s in trouble,” Eve lightly said. “She’s crushing, hard.”

  “Oh yes,” Luka replied.

  ***

  Goddess Tippy, her brother, God Rion, and their elderly mentor, God Neb, sat together in the heavens watching Luka and friends get high.

  “I miss prism puff,” Rion muttered.

  Tippy chuckled. “Remember when Mom found your stash? She was so mad.”

  In all honesty, he didn’t remember that. It was millennia ago—so long ago that he simply forgot… or did he? He studied his sister’s face for a long moment. Was she messing with him?

  “You should learn the spell Perfect Recall,” Neb said, sipping a mug of Earthen root beer. It was stolen from World Walker Vlad’s fermentation and carbonation cellar—which was actually just a repurposed corner of an empty room.

  Rion frowned at the old man. “Maybe. But I can’t believe you’re drinking that. Remember what happened last time someone stole from Luka? He still mentions the smash burgers Tippy took.”

  “Didn’t you take those?” she quickly asked.

  “No—”

  “I distinctly remember you stealing them.”

  “So do I,” Neb mumbled.

  Rion froze. He needed to learn that spell. “Anyways—”

  “And I didn’t steal this from Luka,” Neb continued. “I stole it from Vlad.”

  “Same thing.”

  “No. Because Vlad thinks it was Bylow. She is his patron goddess, after all. And has a history of stealing whatever he’s working on.”

  Tippy nodded sagely along. “Smart.”

  Rion sighed and turned his attention back to the group of mortal friends sitting around a green bonfire. The princess was talking about sleeping outside, the night was winding down. Vale—that thing that almost killed them all—slipped into the shadows… to do whatever. Luka, Eve, and their dire-mounts ventured off, leaving Franky, his mount, and the princess alone.

  Except that wasn’t right.

  There was one more presence.

  There, in the dark of the night, a mortal sat amongst the foliage. It was one of the hairdressers, a follower of God Hyrin. Since sunset the follower had waited in the underbrush, listening to everyone around the bonfire talk. Steal magic was no joke—especially when used on people who would never guess they were targets of spying.

  The follower learned secrets, created profiles about the park’s leadership, and determined several important things. Just what those things were, were between the follower and his god, unfortunately.

  Rion narrowed his eyes as the follower headed back to the barbershop in the park, stalking silently through the night and returning without anyone seeing. Luka had given these people a place to work, live, and thrive. And yet, this was how they were treating him?

  “We need to do something,” he muttered.

  “We can’t,” Neb said, thinking the same thing. “We’ve already overstepped.”

  “Screw overstepping. This is crossing a line, we should intervene.”

  Tippy added to that, “Exactly. God Hyrin overstepped first by presenting himself to Luka even though we, and the others, banned talking to him. So, if anything, we should be allowed to help.”

  Neb considered that. “Maybe.” He let the word linger a moment before adding, “But I get the feeling we should wait.”

  “And why’s that?” Rion asked.

  “Because before a few days ago, I don’t remember ever meeting God Hyrin.” He turned to the younger god, his nebulous eyes sparkling with the beauty of the night sky. “Do you?”

  Rion recoiled. I really need that spell.

  “How is that possible?” Tippy asked after searching her own memory. “And why wasn’t I concerned when Hyrin appeared? There hasn’t been a new god since us!”

  “Memories are a fickle thing,” Neb said, sipping his root beer and glaring at the four followers hiding in plain sight.

  “Hyrin attacked us?”

  “No—he tricked us. And that’s infinitely worse.”