Nadine woke up and accepted her new life. She had struggled to find sleep, a whirlwind of thoughts attacking her each one as fleeting as the next. They submerged her into a haze of anxiety that had her trembling under the sheets. Without the honeyed words of attractive gods to reassure her, Nadine felt the heavy pressure of isolation crush her. This was her life now. It was easier to accept that than to wake up each morning, hoping it was a dream. But that didn't mean she had to accept it passively.

For some reason, Gardus wanted to marry her, and she was now living above the world of people. With one of the three gods that waged war on that world. And that was when Nadine realized she had an opportunity most couldn't even believe was possible. She could find out why the gods were fighting because damned if anybody knew. Maybe she could even put a stop to it. Okay. That last one she wasn't so sure of, but she could at least try to find out why. Having a goal finally settled her nerves and her thoughts drifted to someone else that was a mystery.

Atros.

Nadine hadn't know there was a wind god. Or of anyone else that knew about him. It was a trinity: earth, water, and sky. So why was there another god? Were there others? Maybe they had something to do with the war. Yes, Nadine would accept her fate but all the while pry to find out what she needed.

So when Nadine sat up on her bed, full of resolve, she managed not to scream when she saw Atros sitting with his feet up on the dining room table that was across from her.

"Hi!" He smiled and waved.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Nadine pulled the covers up to her chest. She was wearing a sheer nightgown she found in the closet. The front was cut low enough that it was none of his buisness, god or not.

Atros lowered his legs, and the strange tattoos across his chest moved in an opposite current. "Gardus told me to entertain you today. He'll come by this evening for you. He has something he wants to show you."

"And you couldn't wait until I woke up?"

"But I did."

"Not while I'm still sleeping in my room, you creep! How did you even get in here? Get out!" She threw her pillow at him.

"Hey!" He stretched out a palm where a burst of wind funneled out. It hit the cushion and shredded it into an explosion of feathers that blew like a snowstorm inside the giant room.

Nadine gawked at the scene, watching the feathers cascade to the floor.

Atros gasped and stood from the chair. "I'm sorry! I just reacted. I'll get you another pillow, I promise!"

Nadine jumped out of the bed, damned whatever he saw, but her words failed her as what had happened replayed in her head. Atros tattered her pillow with a summoned gale from his hand.

He laughed as if all was forgiven and forgotten. "Come on. We gotta go." He bounced to the closet, opened the doors, and walked in. He returned emptyhanded and with a frown. "What's in there isn't going to work for what we're going to do today."

"What we're going to do today?" Nadine echoed.

He walked up to her and reached out to her with his hand.

She slapped his wrist away.

Atros pouted.

"Sorry. I just reacted." She crossed her arms.

Another laugh that lit up his eyes. "I like you."

Nadine felt the blood rush to her cheeks and that made her blush even more.

"Let's try this again. Is it okay for me to touch you?"

"Why?"

"Just going to change your clothes."

Gardus had done that too. He had given her a dress that had been simple but elegant. In fact, all the clothes in the closet were similar in stylei ncluding the sleepwear she was wearing now. Well, at least she didn't have to waste time changing.

"Okay," she said.

Atros grinned and tapped her nose. A familiar warmth engulfed her, and, despite herself, Nadine looked down with eagerness to see what he had gifted her. She had on a lopsided skirt that stopped above her knee on one leg and up to her thigh on the other leg, but the black capri leggings hid most of her legs. Her cream colored top had the hem pulled and bowtied around her ribs.

She beamed. "Thank you! I love it!"

"Figured you would." He winked.

Her smile evolved into a giggle.

"We can go now." His eyes gave an otherworldly glow that almost turned them entirely white, and the marks across his chest shifted again.

"You still haven't told me where we're going. Plus, I'm kinda hungry," Nadine said, and eyed the giant vase at the end of the room that Gardus had said would be her food source.

"Then follow me." Atros grabbed her hand, and Nadine didn't feel the urge to tell him to let go.

He pulled her outside and down the steps she noticed were less than yesterday. The open, mirrored world greeted her, but instead of endless clouds and hues of blues, there was a rainstorm. Nadine stopped at the foot of the stairs and gazed around in wonder.

Above there was a living swirl of gray and black. Lightning flashed crooked grins that promised explosions of thunder. But Nadine didn't feel any rain. The water she saw that fell like wobbling tears never hit the ground, disappearing into another world. Below her feet, Nadine saw the drops spear down like needles.

"It's impressive having water fall from the sky, yeah? Yirrel's own water in Gardus' domain," Atros said.

Nadine heard a sense of pride in his voice. And also a perfect opening to ask her about the Dios War.

"Don't worry. We won't get wet where we're going." He squeezed her hand with excitement.

Before she could say anything more, winds like Nadine never felt before swirled around her. She stood in the middle of a funnel, Atros by her side, spared the full fury of the gale's strike. However, she felt something else was also keeping her safe. The wind's physical manifestation was violent, a magnitude that could topple huts and lift water from rivers and ponds, and she still found herself able to breathe and stand.

Her breath still caught, though, when she saw Atros. The living, white tattoos on his chest glowed. Multiplied. Lines sprouted and crisscrossed like overgrown vines, curling out into hooks. Spiked circles whirling within themselves dotted the bellies of each curve. The mesmerizing pattern shot up his face and emerged out of his back like gleaming coils of wind.

His eyes opened, white as clouds, but Nadine still felt a softness in his gaze. "Just hold on."

Oh god.

Atros grabbed her other hand and she was again whisked through the air by another god. The rainstorm disappeared and a warmth greeted her, wafted by the air around her. They had landed in an alleyway, sandwiched between two tall adobe structures that hid their ethereal entrance to the city.

The wind dispersed, and Atros' glow dimmed. His markings retracted into a pair of parallel lines that draped across his chest and shoulders like a giant X. The ones around his arms shrunk to threads. Two lines fell from his forehead, through his eye, and down to his neck. Nadine was sure she hadn't seen that particular imprint on him before. But she had seen those hideously shredded pants.

"Are you going to walk around in that?" She pointed to his clothes.

He made an exaggerated gesture kicking his legs. "Oh yeah! I should probably change too."

In the time it took Nadine to blink, his pants mended and a garnet vest hugged his chest, exposing many of his white prints. She scrunched her face at his attire, but he didn't notice.

"There is a great bakery here that makes amazing sweets. Doesn't that sound awesome for breakfast?" he asked.

They exited the alleyway to a niche area that branched from the city's trade center. The area housed countless restaurants, inns, bakeries, and pubs that had open doors to the bubbling morning bustle. Marr had its own busy streets and centers that rivaled the clamor, but this was different. This was on land. The rush of water was absent from the background noise. The sun's warmth was baked in the earth, releasing onto Nadine's skin.

She took a step, amazed at how sturdy everything below her feet felt. She had been off of Marr's many layers of wooden ground a few times before, but it had been to a small town a dozen miles from shore. But this town with its people--draped in flowing clothes and open vests, sporting pinned hair and inked skin, smelling of fruits and dirt--were of the land. Of the earth.

Nadine gasped and took a step closer to Atros. "We're in one of Ordia's towns."

He nudged her with a hand on the small of her back. "It's okay. If anything happens, I'll just whisk us out of here. Come on. Can't you smell our breakfast?"

They followed the scent of sweet bread infused with fruity jams until the bakery wafting the smell through its open windows came into view. Nadine recognized the word BAKERY but was unfamiliar with the other words before it despite recognizing a few of the letters.

"Ready to race?" Atros grinned.

Nadine blinked. "What?"

He bolted past carts and stalls of produce toward the shop, his silver hair a flash among the crowd.

"Hey!" She followed after him, spinning to avoid a man that cursed at her in an arrangement that impressed her. Laughter burst from her as she inched closer to Atros and overtook her by the time she reached the entrance. She threw her arms up in triumph and released a small victory yell that drew the attention of everyone inside. Nadine reddened and lowered her head. Atros' entrance and chuckles wiped her embarrassment, the laugh lines by his eyes endearing him even more. A tiny flurry tickled the bottom of Nadine's stomach when he smiled at her.

As they waited in line, Nadine stared at the menu painted on hanging wooden boards. Every other word she couldn't read, but she knew if they were read to her she would probably recognize them. This was making it very difficult to choose what she wanted.

"I recommend the cinnamon roll," Atros said.

"Cinnamon roll?" She knew was cinnamon was, but couldn't figure out how a spice could be rolled.

"It's bread sweetened with lots of sugar and topped with a glaze of fruit. It's really, really good."

Her eyes widened. "With whatever fruit I want?"

"Yes! Ordia has given them great bounties these couple of years. Fruits they haven't seen in decades started to grow and ripen within weeks even if they weren't in season."

"Ordia," she whispered, thinking about Yirrel and the stories of his blessings. Although she never saw any, the older people of Marr talked about the years when fish filled the river. So much they would jump right on the docks. They were huge and fat with species unknown to those waters, maturing quickly as if by magic. The trade during that time was the best they had in decades.

"Our turn!" Atros bounced up to the counter where a young woman smiled at him.

"Hello and welcome," she said.

"Hi!" He gave her his signature grin.

She averted her eyes with a blush as she needlessly pushed her hair behind her ear. "What will you have?"

"Cinnamon roll with orange glaze, please. And for my friend here..." He turned to Nadine.

"Oh! I'd like the same but with blackberry. If...if you have any," she said.

The woman nodded. "Of course we do. If that's all it'll be 2 silvers."

Nadine froze. Money. Right. Food cost money, and she didn't have any.

Atros placed the silver pieces on the counter with a clank. They were accepted with words telling them to take a seat at one of their tables while they waited for their rolls. Nadine watched as other customers came in to order pastries while those that wanted a loaf of bread would cut the line and receive it immediately at the counter after paying for it.

"I didn't know gods carried money," Nadine said.

"We don't. It was conjured just like your clothes." He flipped a silver piece between his fingers.

"It won't disappear?"

"Nope." He pocketed the coin in his hand and when he opened it, nothing was there. "Unless I want it to."

"But you don't, right?"

This was the first time she saw mischief blossom in his grin. "No, but I may have a different opinion about your clothes."

She threw a tankard that was on the table at him.

"I was joking!" He threw up his arms to protect his face and managed to catch it.

"I'll take that," the woman from the counter said as she plucked the cup from Atros' grip and delivered their orders.

Before Nadine could take a bite of the delicious treat that had blackberries, Atros pulled on her hand again. "Let's eat outside," he said. "There's this neat spot I think you'll like."

"We can go to it, but I'm eating on the way there." She took a bite of her pastry to show her resolve, but when the sweet spongey bread and tangy blackberry touched her tongue, a hearty Mmmm escaped her at the taste.

He laughed.

Together, they walked through the food quarter until the buildings became sparse and they came up to a giant hill. With a quick glance around, Atros lifted Nadine to the top with a burst of wind beneath their feet. The view below was something she had never seen. Trees in uniform, diagonal rows lined the land, their lush branches loaded with colorful fruit. Next to that were fields of curled vines, tall stalks, bedded flowers, and other plants and fruits Nadine didn't recognize. People dotted the farmlands, placing their pickings into baskets and satchels. They worked and moved in the ways of labor that Nadine was familiar with.

"What's the name of this place?" she asked.

"The name of the city is Oldvale and this farm field is called Nightengale Grange." There was a softness in Atros' voice as if he had sensed her thoughts and didn't want to disturb them.

"I can't go back to my village, can I?"

He paused. "No."

She stared at the beautiful and luscious life before her, twisting the engagement ring Gardus placed on her finger. "Why are the gods fighting?"

He didn't answer.

"Earth, water, and sky. Ordia, Yirrel, and Gardus. The gods waging the Dios War. And now you. The wind god. An unknown god. What's going on, Atros?" She faced him to see he had looked away.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and she knew that was all he was going to get from him.

Today.