I was relaxed. At the moment, I was sitting on the bleachers of my old high school football field, which almost felt like I was visting an old friend. I’d spent countless hours on this field, either playing or practicing. In a way, this place had almost been like a second home to me.

“How long until the game starts?” I wondered aloud. Or was I here to watch practice? Suddenly, I couldn’t remember.

As I looked over the field again, I finally noticed that it was completely empty. There were no players, cheerleaders, or even marching band members. The stands were almost completely empty as well. I was the only person there. Or at least, I thought I was, until I realized that someone was sitting right beside me.

Maelyne was sitting on the bleachers, looking every bit as beautiful and imposing as the last time I’d seen her. She towered over me, yet somehow, I hadn’t even noticed her until just then.

“I’m dreaming,” I blurted out in sudden understanding.

“Greetings, my champion,” Maelyne said, smiling down at me. “Yes, we are within your dream. This is the first opportunity that I have had to communicate with you directly again.”

“It is?” I asked in surprise. “Is this because of those Arbiters?”

Maelyne nodded her head in acknowledgement. “The Arbiters oversee our games, and ensure the rules are followed. Some of these rules limit direct contact with our champions, so that we do not influence you overmuch.” Then she smiled again, “But following your completion of the contest, I am allowed to congratulate you on your performance and give you some small advice…”

That answered some of my questions, though certainly not all of them. “I thought you just didn’t want the Arbiters to know what you did… I mean, about putting me in Heather’s body…”

“I would prefer they not know,” Maelyne admitted, scowling slightly. “Though I violated no rules of the game, should this become known, there could be consequences. Imagine, if you will, if other gods used this technique to…replace…any champion who displeased them. Known champions could become unpredictable, and the balance of the game could shift in dangerous ways.”

“That could be…bad,” I said, imagining what this game would be like if gods started tearing out people’s souls and replacing them on a whim. I shuddered at the very thought.

“Indeed,” Maelyne agreed. “Left unchecked, such practices could cause our game to escalate, potentially into direct war between the gods. My people have avoided such a thing for generations, though admittedly, some forget those horrors and wish to bring a return to those days…”

I scowled at that, remembering both the contest, and the way Nadine and Robe had murdered Heather. “At least we wouldn’t have to do your fighting for you…”

Maelyne stared down at me for several long seconds, making me cringe a little beneath her gaze. I could feel the power in that stare, and for a second, I wanted to cringe. Finally, she said, “You do not understand.” She held her hand up and said, “Look, and see the difference in our levels of power…” A moment later, a new screen appeared in the air, one that showed HER stats.

NAME: MAELYNE
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 1329
DOMAIN: LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 87%
MANA: 68%
STATUS: NEGATIVE STATUS-CONTEST FORFEITURE 1, CONTEST FORFEITURE 2, CONTEST FORFEITURE 3. POSITIVE STATUS-CONTEST BONUS.

DIVINITY: 32
-
STRENGTH: 59
STAMINA: 112
ENDURANCE: 96
-
AGILITY: 42
REFLEXES: 48
DEXTERITY: 60
-
INTELLIGENCE: 58
CHARISMA: 62
AWARENESS: 74
-
MANA POOL: 17068
MANA RECOVERY: 11050
HEALTH: 14855
REGENERATION: 10676
DIVINE POWER: 9080

I stared at the screen with my mouth open. I’d known that Maelyne was a LOT more powerful than me, but to actually see her stats compared to my own… It was almost mind-blowing. And this didn’t even show her skills and abilities.

“These contest forfeitures,” I started, gesturing to the screen.

“Each, a loss of power and status,” Maelyne explained with an almost pained smile. “As I have told you, this game has serious consequences for my kind. If my champion loses overmuch, I could potentially lose everything…including my life.” Then, her smile became a little more pleasant. “And when you found a hidden prize, I too received benefit from that.”

“Glad to know I was useful,” I said wryly. I was just thankful that I’d survived that contest.

“As you can see,” Maelyne said, indicating her screen. “My kind are far more powerful than you can imagine. The weakest god is a hundred times stronger than the most powerful champion. If my kind warred directly, our world would be destroyed and the battle would overflow to your world, causing untold devastation there as well. And should this world survive that war, where do you think the refugees would go? The survivors of my world would come here, which would be a great misfortune for your race.”

I gulped at that, shaking a little at the very idea. “Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t be good for us…”

Maelyne looked down at me with a gentle smile. “There is good reason that my kind no longer come to your world physically, and why even communication with our champions is limited. At one time, we came to this world for our game, involving ourselves more directly. We gained power and leverage, not only from the feats of our champions, but also from the number of humans who worshipped us. This lead to wars among humans…and escalations among ourselves, which could have turned to direct combat. Now, we distance ourselves from the games, and from the human world. It is best, for both your people and my own, to leave these conflicts in the hands of our champions.

“I guess I can see that,” I admitted grudgingly. Then, just so she didn’t think that she actually had to convince me, I added, “We made a deal, and I was going to stick with it anyway. I just have a lot of questions about how this all works…”

“I imagine you would,” Maelyne told me, smiling faintly. “I will attempt to answer what I am allowed to in the brief time we have left…”

Suddenly, Maelyne paused and looked around with a grim expression. She put a finger to her lips in the familiar gesture for, ‘be quiet.’ I glanced around but didn’t see anything unusual, other than the fact that we were still at my old high school.

“You have survived another contest,” Maelyne announced as she stood up. “And your performance was…adequate. But when the next contest comes, my champion, you should endeavor to win it…”

I stared at Maelyne, quickly getting what she was up to. The ‘shush’ and sudden change of topic both suggested that she thought we were being listened in on. Well, she had warned me that the Arbiters liked to keep an eye on things, and that she wanted to keep them from learning about what had happened.

“Now go, my champion,” Maelyne commanded me, “and plan your strategy with our allies, as we discussed.”

A moment later, I bolted upright in my bed, gasping for breath. I looked over at the clock, muttered a brief profanity, then curled back up in my blankets and tried going back to sleep. Hopefully, this time there wouldn’t be any divine interruptions.