"It's over, boy."

  Shiloh stood up and, in one motion, whipped around and smmed his fist into the face of the man behind him. It was like punching a brick. He heard and felt two of his fingers break, and he cradled his hand against his chest gingerly as he gred at... Not Ares?

  The man standing there stood a few inches taller than Shiloh. He had thick, bck, curly hair that reminded Shiloh of the old Greek statues. His mouth and chin were covered in a thick beard, and the bright, brown eyes shining out from his scarred face were glittering with amusement. His thick, hairy arms bulged with muscle, not as a bodybuilder, but as a strongman. He was wearing a white toga, as the other gods Shiloh had met usually wore. The exposed portion of his chest was also covered in dark hair, curling as if it had been scorched. A smell of smoke and fire emanated from him, and Shiloh had to take a step back from his intimidating presence.

  "Lord Hephaestus?" Shiloh asked, shock running through him in equal measure from his broken bones and the god of the forge standing before him. "What are you doing here? Where's Ares?"

  "It wasn't Ares' trial." Elnor gasped, understanding flooding her eyes. "It was yours! These are all your creations, aren't they?"

  Hephaestus turned an appraising eye towards Elnor. "Sharp minds and sharp bdes keep many warriors fighting." He replied by way of answer.

  "What he means is yes." Aphrodite's voice rang out as she appeared next to her husband, punching him on the shoulder. He chuckled and shook his head. "He thinks speaking in riddles makes him more impressive to the mortals. As if being a literal deity wasn't enough. Or his amazing creations. Or his caring heart. Or his huge, throbbing-"

  "Enough, dear." Hephaestus sighed. Aphrodite smirked, then looked at Shiloh, still nursing his wounded hand.

  "What did you do to my Loverboy, Heff?!" Aphrodite excimed, stepping forward and putting her hand over Shiloh's. His fingers filled with warmth and, when she removed her hand, were whole and healthy once more.

  "He hit me!" Hephaestus defended himself. "Didn't even look at who he was swinging on! Just turned around and threw a haymaker."

  Aphrodite gnced down at Shiloh in disapproval, and he winced.

  "Sorry?" He offered.

  "You ought to apologize to your hand." Hephaestus chuckled again. "Did more damage to it than to me."

  Shiloh lifted his hand up to eye level. "Sorry, hand."

  This sent Hephaestus into a full-blown belly ugh, which took him a couple minutes to recover from, wiping tears from his eyes. When he finally righted himself again, he wrapped his arm around Aphrodite, who had returned to his side, and she hugged him around his waist.

  "I see why you like him, dear." Hephaestus grinned. "Not really my type, but definitely yours."

  Shiloh, not knowing what to make of that comment, wisely remained silent. His girls slowly filled in around him until all of Aphrodite's Apostles were gathered in front of the two gods.

  "Where was the phyctery?" Twil asked.

  "On Olympus." Hephaestus replied, unashamed.

  "So there was no way we could've won that fight." Beck sighed. "Did we at least do well?"

  "Ah... well... you see, there..." Hephaestus rubbed a hand behind his head, searching for the right words.

  "My darling husband here caught the rest of you in the crossfire, I'm afraid." Aphrodite finally expined for him. "The trials are meant for Shiloh to prove himself. Since his strength lies in his team, that necessitates your involvement. This particur trial, though, was designed to prove him worthy of being my Loverboy." The scorn in her voice made it very clear what her opinions were on Hephaestus' test.

  "I can't let any old mortal go pying with your heart, Aph." Hephaestus muttered. "I had to test the boy!"

  "Hephaestus, you know perfectly well that Shiloh is a wonderful person, true of heart, and dedicated to the tasks entrusted to him." Aphrodite scolded her husband. "You set this up just to see if he was willing to die for me." She turned her attention to Shiloh. "Which I very much appreciate the gesture for, but it was wholly unnecessary. Do you really think so little of me that I would allow myself to be captured by that buffoon who calls himself the god of war?"

  Shiloh adopted the same head-down, foot shuffling stance as Hephaestus. "I'm sorry, m- Aphrodite."

  "None of that." Hephaestus rumbled. Shiloh looked up at him. "You address her with the love you feel for her, Shiloh Sutton. She deserves every ounce of it."

  "But, you two-" Shiloh started, and the god of the forge held his hand up, silencing him.

  "Aphrodite and I are eternal beings who are well aware of the woes of heartache. You need not fear that your tryst with her shall enrage me. A mortal's life is but a blink to us and, though they are all filled with immeasurable meaning, they don't affect us the same way they affect each other." In a softer voice, and with a softer gaze, he continued. "I'll have you know that your willingness to show my wife exactly how much you loved her, without reserve or falsification, is why I encouraged her to help you the way she has. You are a special kind of person, Shiloh Sutton. Don't let anyone change who you are."

  Shiloh smiled up at the god. "Thank you, Lord Hephaestus. Thank you for everything, especially for allowing me to spend such wonderful times with Aphrodite. I'm quite sure you could have ended me in an instant if you wanted to."

  "Perhaps." The god rumbled. "But dad wouldn't have liked it if I did. Congratutions, all of you, on completing your second trial." With that, he shimmered out of existence, leaving Aphrodite with her Apostles.

  She took a step forward and wrapped Shiloh in a hug. "Thank you." She whispered in his ear, so low that none but he could hear her.

  They all received the message indicating the end of the trial, and were dropped back into Glitnir, in the cave beneath the mountain with the small stream running through it. Aphrodite released her hug, but slipped her hand into Shiloh's as she turned to face the rest of them.

  "Well, I think this calls for a celebration!" Aphrodite announced, grinning mischievously. "This pce is a bit drab, though, so why don't you all visit me tonight, where we can enjoy a dreamscape that is infinitely more comfortable?"

  "That sounds excellent, my love." Shiloh replied, kissing the back of her hand. "Until this evening, then?"

  "L-dy A-Aphrodite." Katerine spoke up, looking terrified that she had just addressed a goddess.

  "Yes, dear Katerine?" Aphrodite asked, practically gliding over to the horsegirl.

  "L-lord H-Hephaestus... I th-though he w-was h-horribly d-disfigured." She said, looking more and more scared as she spoke.

  Aphrodite's eyebrows furrowed, and Katerine shied backwards. "It's an absolute snder." The goddess said, obviously upset. "One of the mortals I spent some time with decided to spread the rumor that I would sleep with anyone because my husband was so ugly. As you clearly just saw, his is anything but." She held up a hand to forestall the questions about to come from Twil and Elnor. "Yes, Hera threw him from Olympus. He wasn't a baby, but already a full god. She caught him with another lover and didn't give us a chance to expin the nature of our open marriage, and that I knew the girl was with him, before castigating him as a cheater like his father and tossing him from the throne room. It didn't permanently maim or disfigure him. The only scars he carries are from the battlefield or his forge."

  "Funny how Earth has some of the same stories about the gods that Glitnir does." Shiloh mused.

  The goddess winked at him, then she disappeared as well, leaving behind a rge chest at their feet. It was wood bound in gold, and the side of it had two golden letters, A and H. Shiloh gnced around at his allies, then opened the chest to reveal... Well, he wasn't sure what he'd revealed. Not at first. It soon became apparent, though, when Ara bent down and plucked one of the strange objects from the chest. She held it up for inspection, and Shiloh realized they'd apparently been given a chest full of sex toys from the goddess of love and the god of the forge.

  "I wonder what this does." Ara grinned, waving the buttplug in front of his face. "Wanna find out?"

  ***

  Much to Ara's and Beck's disappointment, the rest of the team was unanimously against testing out the chest full of magical sex toys. Ara huffed and tossed the plug back in before Shiloh vanished the chest into his inventory. They crossed the cavern, stopping only briefly to confirm that there was nothing in the ruined campsite worth scavenging. On the other side, they chose to continue through the rger tunnel, hoping that they wouldn't see the cavern again.

  They were going into the unknown portion of the cave system now, and they had to keep going south until they reached the other side of the mountains. As soon as they came to the first fork in the path, they knew they'd chosen the right direction. The tunnel came to a three-way split, and someone had chiseled runes into the walls. One set was on the path to the right, which Elnor said spelled out "home", and the other was on the path they had just emerged from, which read "Vampires".

  They followed the right hand path, and walked for a few hours before deciding that they needed to stop for the night. The tunnel was wide enough to camp right in the middle of it, so they didn't need to find another cavern. Instead, Shiloh began checking on the ritual for Divine Rest.

  It was, surprisingly, not a lewd ritual at all. Shiloh simply walked along the perimeter of the area he wanted to protect, and began murmuring an incantation. He spoke of rest, recovery, and safety for him and his lovers. He spoke of dissuading and fooling their enemies. When he finished the incantation, the path he'd walked glowed with a soft, pink light before the scent of honey and wildflowers washed over him, viscerally reminding him of the kiss Aphrodite had offered his soul while Ashleigh ravaged his body.

  He closed his eyes and relished in the presence of his patron, his lover. He was overcome with gratitude and, while the girls set up camp behind him, he knelt on the ground, closed his eyes, folded his hands, and prayed.

  Lady Aphrodite, thank you for everything that you have done for me. Since before I arrived on Glitnir, you have done nothing but support and encourage me to follow this path, which has led me to more love and a stronger foundation than I ever had before. There is nothing I want for anymore, as all has been provided. Thank you for choosing me to be your avatar, and please help me continue to serve you the way you desire.

  Lord Zeus, and to the rest of the gods that I have and have not met, I thank you for your aid and your patience as I come to terms with this new life and the gifts I have been blessed with. I know any one of you could put an end to this on a whim, and I am grateful that you allow me to continue in the service of my love. If I ever cross one of you, if ever you have the desire for me to stop, I only ask that you give me a chance to cooperate to the best of my abilities before putting an end to this life. Thank you all, again.

  Feeling kind of awkward, Shiloh slowly uncsped his hands, opened his eyes, and rose to his feet once again. When he turned around, he saw that each of his lovers was kneeling on the ground behind him, hands folded in their ps as they waited for him to finish.

  "What are you all doing?" Shiloh said with a small ugh, offering hands up as they also got to their feet again.

  "You were praying to the gods, were you not?" Elnor asked.

  "Yes."

  "Servitium et fidem." Twil said. Shiloh looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "It is the practice of offering service and loyalty to your leader. It is usually done to the emperor, when you are called before him. It is also done by worshipers when the religious authority in their church offers prayers to the gods. As you are our leader, and the religious authority, we chose to do the same, to show the gods that we are dedicated to you and the path you walk, that they should deal with us the same way they deal with you."

  Shiloh stared into the distance as he processed what she'd said. They knew that he was brand new to this world, that his only religious exposure was when the gods chose to speak with him. They knew that he had a dangerous path ahead of him, and they were dedicating themselves to it in the presence of the gods they'd known their whole lives. They were throwing their lot in with him, no matter what came next. He suddenly felt weight in his words and steps, as he realized that messing up with the gods now would impact his lovers' lives as well as his own.

  "Thank you." He choked out, trying to keep the emotion from overwhelming him. They all crowded around him in a group hug, and the embrace sted until Ara poked him in the back with... not her finger.

  "I guess we better get to bed, huh?" Shiloh ughed. They dispersed with many flushed faces and rising erections. They ate a very quick dinner, then crawled into their tent and rexed into their cuddle puddle on the nest of bnkets and bedrolls.