"I already told you, even I can't see anything!" Brant snapped at Aaron back in their camp.

"You saw the flashes, didn't you?" Aaron demanded, "And that weird spire of dust, wind, whatever?"

"I did. But that's it! Just because I can see far doesn't mean I can see through things."

"I don't understand why you two don't just bloody trust Ace." Wendy said.

Brant narrowed his eyes. "That's new, coming from you."

"And it's new of you not to trust your bloody pal."

"To be fair," Baird said, "I'm not sure it's so much that we're not trusting Ace, as it is that we know what Dove can do."

"Exactly!" Aaron agreed, "And they've been over there a long time."

Brant's breath caught in his throat when he heard an earsplitting boom overhead. His eyes climbed skyward, and his jaw dropped open at the sight of Dove floating above, his ceremonial white robes fluttering in the mystical winds emanating from the olive branch in his grip. Around him, he levitated a somber-faced Ryder and Keira, along with a sobbing Hannah, and Ace, who had a gaping hole that gushed blood below his ribs. Brant's hand leapt to his mouth.

"Hearken unto me, thou puny mortals." Dove thundered as he gently descended with his four trembling captives. "At this time, I bestow upon thee—"

"Shut your flippin' mouth!" Brant bellowed, lines deepening in his brow as an axe appeared in his hand. "What'd you do to Ace? What'd you do?!"

Dove chuckled. "I assure thee, I shall inform thee shortly, but—"

He grunted when an arrow penetrated his chest, which he promptly swept away and healed the wound with his winds. The glare Wendy focused on him only received a patronizing grin in reply.

"Thou art all too ready to speak and act, but loath to listen. Fortunately for thee, I am the god of mercy."

Brant's widened eyes rested on Ace as he finally touched down in the grass, limp and lifeless. Then he eyed Hannah, who bawled in the grass. "If this is your mercy, you'd better prepare to know my wrath in turn."

"Away with thy chatter!" Dove shouted, the smile instantly disappearing from his face, "I tire of thy impetuosity, and thy unwillingness to use the two ears good Xinibra bestowed on thee!"

Brant growled. "Hurry up before I shove a blasted tentpole through your ears."

Dove chuckled again. "Thou hast sent these thy friends into the midst of my camp, presumably to slay me. Now they lie in my power, and I may do with them whatever I wish. And now I shall teach thee mercy, if thou will but hold thy fiery tongues for a moment."

Brant, Aaron, and Wendy glowered at the god, but remained silent. Baird watched skeptically from behind them, his hand lingering on the hilt of the sword sheathed on his back.

"Here lieth Ace Bernard Parker, a skilled man indeed, deft of hand and nimble of foot. And thou hast raised him up as a weapon, fashioned by thee to murder me. Now, Brant Nayan, I ask thee, if thou stood in my shoes, in a manner of speaking, what would thou do with him?"

He gulped. "I'd...I dunno. I'd probably execute him."

"And see, there liest thy hypocrisy, thy double standards! Thou thinkest thyself morally superior to me, and yet, such barbarism lies so close to the surface of thy cold, cruel heart. I, on the other hand, am Dove, god of peace and mercy."

"Oh yeah? Show us this mercy." Aaron spat, eyes darting between Keira, Hannah, and Ace.

"I shall eagerly oblige thee. After all, for that very reason have I come. Witness mercy, and stand condemned, rebels."

Brant narrowed his eyes and watched as Dove inhaled a deep breath, levitating himself above the ground. Grass rustled in a circle around him as winds spiraled. With a jerk of his olive branch, he directed the breeze over Ace, and before his eyes, the wound closed up. Blood dried over it, and a moment later, dark skin stretched across like a sheet. Finally, he sent a gust of air into his nostrils, and Ace jolted back into consciousness.

Ace shot to a sitting position and immediately directed his attention to the hole in his jacket, where his wound had been. He frowned at its absence before casting an equally confused glance at everybody standing around.

"When thy mind inevitably drifts to thoughts of me, remember this." Dove said, "Tomorrow, I shall receive my rightful coronation as Captain of the Alcontean Hordes, and I shall swoop down upon you all in my righteous vengeance, but 'unmerciful' is one name thou canst never cast upon my blessed name again."

Brant stepped over to Ace and stooped beside him. After giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, he glanced up at Dove. "Thank you. You're a thousand terrible things, but this is your one righteous act."

"On the latter statement, thou art mistaken, but I have not time to quibble with you mortals. I must arise early for my coronation."

"Of course. Enjoy the next few hours, Dove, because mark my words, they'll be your last."

"Funny," Dove said with a smirk, "verily, I was preparing to utter the same words to thee. Farewell."

The white-robed god shot up into the clouds above, leaving everybody to glance at one another in a shocked silence while catching their breaths. Then Aaron helped Ace to his feet and led him off to seek Sila. Meanwhile, Brant knelt beside Hannah, who had finally quit crying, but now sat with a sullen and puffy face.

"Darling, what's wrong?" he whispered, running a hand through her wavy brown hair.

"I...I failed, darlin'." she peeped, "I messed up...and nearly got Ace killed."

Brant opened his mouth to speak, but she immediately continued.

"I came along for one purpose, hun, just one. And I failed it miserably."

Brant sighed and wiped a tear from her cheek. She shuddered under his light touch. "I mean...it happens to the best of us, sweetheart. As long as we're human, we have the potential for failure."

"But this whole thang was constructed to be easy for me!" Hannah exclaimed, "There really wasn't nothin' to it! Just hold the trigger and focus dat beam on the bastard! And yet—"

"Hannah, stop it." Brant said, firmly but not unkindly. He pulled her head so it rested in his chest. "Stop being so hard on yourself. You did what you could, and it'd be unreasonable to expect more. Because there's nothing more you could've gave."

Keira met Brant's gaze as she lowered herself to her knees on Hannah's other side. "Like he said," she began, "we're all bound to fail sometimes. Even Wendy's arrows can miss. Even Aaron's machines can malfunction. There're some things so strong, even Brant can't punch through them. But you know what?"

Hannah's glossy eyes rose to meet Keira's. "What?"

"Your pure heart, somehow untainted by this disgusting war, it's never given way. It's never failed you, and for that, you should be proud."

Brant felt his eyes moisten as he watched Hannah digest Keira's encouragement. "I...couldn't have said it better myself, Keira." he choked.

"Yeah, thank ya." Hannah said, reaching out her arms to hug Keira.

Aaron stepped out from between two tents and eyed Brant. They exchanged a nod.

"Sila's got Ace taken care of now." Aaron informed him, "He's gonna go to sleep in a few minutes here, so if you wanna see him, now's the time."

"Alright." Brant said as he gently untangled himself from Hannah. He laid one last kiss on her forehead before leaving.

He followed Aaron through the maze of tents before he finally reached a mid-sized one Sila used as its medical center. As he stepped through the entrance, he swept his eyes over a row of empty beds. They won't be that way long. he thought, and the realization stabbed him.

The only patient in the whole tent was Ace, who sat up weakly and stared Brant's way. He hurried over and patted the man on the shoulder.

"How're you feeling?"

He shrugged. "It's strange. It is healed, but it still feels like it's cut open. Really stings."

"Well, I know this isn't what you would've wanted, but you'd better stay here tomorrow. We can't risk losing you again." Brant said.

Sila nodded. "You'll be resting."

Ace sighed. "I can't dispute that. But what're you gonna do about Dove?"

"Well," Brant began, glancing between Aaron and Baird, "we're gonna deal with him bright and early."

Aaron huffed. "It's Ace we typically have to drag information out of, dude. What do you mean?"

"His coronation ceremony tomorrow morning is gonna be held at the top of his Knoll. I think it's best we go and confront him there."

Baird raised an eyebrow and pointed southward. "That thing over there? That's hardly a knoll, Brant, that's more a mountain."

"That's just what it's called, okay? Now, it's a two hour climb, and the ceremony's at 8 in the morning, or at least so the texts prescribe."

Aaron cleared his throat. "So we start climbing at 6 or so."

Baird perked up again. "And would either of you mind explaining 'we'?"

"I'm going." Brant said, "And I'm bringing a handful of trusted men with me."

"Like who?"

Brant's face scrunched up in thought. "I want you, Aaron. I'm convinced in your colossus suit, you could get some heavy hits on that guy. As we just saw, he can heal his wounds pretty quickly, but if we can send him a blow that's instant death, he can't do anything about that."

Aaron nodded. "I can arrange that."

"Okay, so Sila's obviously staying here, and so's Ace...what about Keira?"

Aaron shook his head vigorously. "Absolutely not. She and Hannah already went up against him once. There's absolutely no reason to force them to go through that all over again."

"Good point. Ryder and Track should stay here to lead their men."

Baird frowned at Brant. "And you won't?"

Brant scratched his chin for a moment before turning to Aaron. "Where's Wendy?"

The sandy-haired man smirked. "She's 'taking a slash'."

"He means peeing." Sila interjected.

Brant and Baird both smiled at the robot. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

Aaron chuckled. "Anyway, what do you need her for?"

Brant sucked in a deep breath. "This fight with Dove is mine to partake in. I can't stay back just to lead a ground assault. I don't know anybody more qualified than her to lead the charge down here."

Aaron's proud grin widened as his head jerked in agreement. "She'd rock."

Brant shared his smile before focusing back on their current discussion. "So, you and me, Aaron, what about—"

"I'll go." Baird snapped.

Aaron frowned. "But..."

"No questions asked, I'm coming. If I'm to participate in this fight, I'm all in. No lackluster assistance on the sidelines. Besides, it's not like I don't have a history of killing gods." he added with a snarky grin.

"Fair enough." Brant said, "So, me, you, and Aaron."

Aaron's brow furrowed. "Is that enough?"

"It'll have to be. I think three's a good number, anyway. Enough to outnumber him, but also not so many we get in each others' way."

"Good point."

Brant laid one hand on each man's shoulder and smiled. "Rest well tonight, guys. We'll rise at 5."

Baird closed his eyes. "Lord," he prayed aloud, "give us a few restful hours so we can go about your battle tomorrow, and may you give us the victory, for your honor and glory. Your will be done."

"Amen." the three men said in unison, and then they parted.

********************

A/N: Well, that gives me chills--we've got our Dove-takedown trio. We've got book 1's main character + book 2 & 3's main character + Aaron, probably the most multifaceted support character. (At least one of them, anyways.) At any rate, this is gonna be an epic fight, isn't it?

(If you enjoyed that chapter, don't forget to vote and comment. I'm watching you. 😂)

Any thoughts on Dove's little demonstration? Love, hate, somewhere in between?

And for our random question, what song is currently playing where you're at, or what's the last song you heard?

(My library's on shuffle, and "Days of Wine and Roses" by Sonny Criss just came on. I haven't listened to that particular track in a while, but it's good so far. 😁)

Alrighty, I shall depart. Have a good one, and I'll see you in next Saturday's update!