Taking the last bite of peach cobbler, Jori looked wistfully at his empty plate. After accepting the fact that he could have no more cobbler, he looked up from his plate and admired his magnificent dining hall. The five-meter-long oak table reflected the bright light that shone through the sky roof. The nine other intricately designed chair added a fullness to the large room. The crystal chandelier shimmered uncertainly in the bright morning light. Candle stands lined the walls of the dining room adding extra light onto the speckled marble floor.

The large oak doors at the end of the large room parted and emerged, a servant. His hard heeled boots clacked against the floor sending echoes around the room. Glancing at the spotless plate, and the longing look on his master face, the servant spoke. "My lord, if you have peach cobbler for breakfast every day, you will have to be reborn more often."

Any other deathless would have slain the man right there, but Jori saw the value in his servants questioning him. He could not lead an empire without logical followers by his side.

"What news Garrel?"

"Highness, the Pantheon requests a meeting to address the rumors of the warlord," the servant answered.

"Ahhh, so the mighty Pantheon is afraid of rumors of the petty warlord. What fools," Jori said to no one in particular.

"I agree Great One. The most powerful deathless are afraid of a few minor skirmishes," Garrel replied.

"Why do you address me differently every time?" Jori questioned.

"Does the High Lord of All not like this?" Garrel inquired with a grin.

"It adds... variety," Jori said plainly.

"The other servants and I have a little game to address you differently every time. It keeps us on our toes," Garrel explained.

Jori was fond of his servants, especially Garrel.

"Prepare my ship," Jori said and left the room to prepare for the trip.

---------------------------------

Jori sat down in the comfortable leather seats of his ship. He had named it Uriel's Fortune, after his father. Punching in the coordinates of the Pantheon's Hall, Jori leaned back in his luxorious leather sears. Vaguely noting that the craft was on it's way, Jori closed his eyes and nodded off.

Jori tried to ignore the rain soaking into his close. He gritted his teeth and continued to peddle, the peddling that became monotonous after a mile of straight biking. Wiping the mix of sweat and rain water off his face, he narrowly avoided the muddy grass on the edge of the road. Through the torrent of rain and fog, Jori saw the bridge that meant he was close to home.

Looking downward, he kept peddling, so close to home. Something was wrong. The ground became brighter. Jori looked up to see two large lights and then, black.

Jori opened his eyes and immediately shielded his face from the oncoming car, bracing himself for the impact. After several seconds, nothing happened. Slowly lowering his arms, he saw that he was not about to be hit by a car. He was in a lab, on an operating table. Instinctively he tried to sit up, but a firm hand stopped him.

"Rest easy, my boy," said a familiar deep voice. Turning he saw his father's co-worker, Mr. Galath. There was a stern expression on his face, almost to regret. The light door of the operating room swung open and Jori's father rushed in.

Hugging Jori, Uriel's eyes moistened and tears slowly carved a path

"The world is a broken, ruined place. I want you to make it better. Stop them from fighting, son. Take away their guns and their bombs. They don't deserve what they've been given. Mankind had a chance to reach the stars—but all they did was use that ability to cast down fire upon one another. Eyes always downward, never toward the lights above..."

Jori awoke suddenly, sweating. He had had this dream - no this nightmare of a memory - five times in two weeks. It haunted him, leaving so many questions in its wake.

The nav computer having told him that he had arrived, he grabbed his pack and exited the small shuttle. Jori's eyes were greeted by the sunlight, and he raised a hand to block the sun. After his eyes finally adjusted, he scanned the rolling dry green plains. There were a few other ships scattered around the meeting hall.

Not for the first time, he marveled at the wonder that was the House of the Pantheon. With its seven majestic spires soring into the sky, each with carved statues of all of the members of the Pantheon. In the center of the soaring pillars, was the main hall, about half as tall as the spires, and topped with a domed roof. The scorching sun, shined off the polished granite dome, making the roof seem to glow.

Jori slung the pack over his should and started off toward the hall. Following reaching the paved path, he made his way to the large oak doors. Jori stopped a few meters in front of the five-meter-high doors and stared at magnificent carving of himself, in his full Helio armor, fighting of a fire breathing dragon. However, Jori thought, the portrait was somewhat in accurate. He hadn't used a spear.

Stepping up to the door, he rapped on the door and waited for several seconds. Jori thought he heard shuffling footsteps, and the large doors swung inward, not making a sound on the well-oiled hinges. A middle aged man stood before Jori, in the corridor. Hastily giving a bow, he beckoned for Jori to follow him. The steward shuffled down the hall, muttering to himself as he went. The man hunched over, and moved at an alarming rate, so much so that Jori had to jog to keep up with him.

"Strange little man," Jori accidentally said aloud. The steward turned and glared at him, and Jori raised an eyebrow. The steward quickly looked away, muttering even more, this time something about "stupid masterses."

They came to a second set of doors, not nearly as intricate as the first set. The steward opened the doors, and led Jori into the main meeting hall. Jori stopped for a second to admire the large round table, nearly ten meters across. The steward was already halfway across the room, and becoming very vexed with Jori for not keeping up. Jori shot him a dangerous look and the steward instantly calmed. Taking a few more seconds, just to anno the steward, Jori finally heeded his prompting.

The steward led Jori into a sizable antechamber, were four other members, of the Pantheon lounged. There were a few couches in the room, and seven room branched off from this room.

The other members looked up and either nodded a greeting or greeted him. Unobtrusively the steward slipped out of the room, shooting icy looks at the rulers.

Jori greeted the fellow members and headed into one of the diverging rooms. He set his pack on the bed and headed back into the antechamber. Sinking gratefully into one of the couches in the room, he asked no one in particular. "Where are Ashimar and Thane?"

"Thane is busy with troubles in his lands. However, I'm not sure where Ashimar is," Lelindre, Mistress of the End replied.

"I think Ashimar is busy with the warlord," Thane said.

Jori nodded. Ashimar had told him of this the previous night, and he was expecting it.

After thinking for a seconds, Jori asked, "Why was this meeting called?"

"Well, the first reason," Shaydhi began, "is to discuss the warlord Thane mentioned. The second reason is to appoint a leader. We have all noticed that the meetings have become free-for-alls."

Jori nodded silently he had noticed the same thing.

--------------------------

The five members of the Pantheon had waited for several hours for the other two arrive, when they finally did, they started the meeting.

They exited the small antechamber and took their places around the large table.

"Where to begin?" asked Melek wanting to start the meeting.
"I say we appoint a leader first, that would make the rest of the meeting go smoother," Jori said.

The others nodded and Lelindre took the lead. "So how are we going to vote, we'll each only vote for ourselves."

"Not necessarily," Ashimar replied. All of the Pantheon members looked at him in surprise. Each was planning to vote for themselves, and the fact that Ashimar probably wasn't going to vote for himself perplexed them.

"Well," Jori began, "let's get this over with."

"All for Lelindre?" Jori asked. Only she raised her hand.

"All for Terrovax?" His hand raised.

"All for Melek?" His hand raised.

"All for Thane?" One hand raised.

"All for Saydhi?" Only her hand raised.

"All for Ashimar?" Unlike the rest he did not raise his hand.

"All for Jori?" He asked and both he and Ashimar raised their hands.

"Huh," Jori said trying to figure out what just happened. "Well," Jori began uncertainly as all eyes turned to him expectantly, "um... what do we think of this arising warlord?"

Ashimar cleared his throat, and diverted the attention away from Jori, who nodded thanks when Ashimar glanced his way. "That is not all that concerns me. My Legion of Shadows also has news of a weapon that can kill the deathless."

The was an audible intake of breath form everyone in the room. Ashimar did not hav a standing army, but instead maintained an extremely reliable network of spies and informants. Word of a new weapon that could kill the un-killable was not to be taken lightly, with the reliability of the Legion of Shadows.

Stroking his stubble, Jori thought of what to do. "Who made it?"

All the members of the Pantheon looked at him in surprise, and more respectfully. That was not the first question that came to mind.

"Galath, the man who works in secret, apparently," Ashimar replied.

Jori was still forming the plan when he spoke, "Well, this Worker of Secrets," Jori paused to see the reactions, all of which were impassive to the name, intent on the plan, "and his rumors." Jori paused as Ashimar raised an eyebrow. His Legion had more reliability than rumors, and Jori continued, "Reports," he amended, "must be verified, as reliable that the Legion is. I will go and investigate these ... unnerving revelations."

"What of the warlord?" Melek asked, "one does not simply ignore those ... reports," he added after glancing at Ashimar.

"We will deal with him at a later time," Jori answered.

"And what of Gal ... the Worker," Lelindre asked, "He will not simply hand you the weapon."

Jori smirked cockily. "I'll find a way."

V)T