A Salamander, but Mighty

Tamara tried to free herself from the extremely painful grip of the deity, who seemed completely uninterested in the poor girl's pain and looked at her with that bored look of a child who enjoys burning ants with a magnifying glass just as a pastime.

“E-enough! I beg you! Stop!” Tamara screamed, bending to her knees and yanking her arm again in an attempt to free herself and stop the pain.

“Now do you understand that all this is real?”

"Yes! Yes!" She nodded vigorously over and over again.

"Very good." Lyndvrath said matter-of-factly as she released her grip and took a few steps away in the direction of her throne.

Tamara was on the ground on both her knees and was twisting her arm looking at her in surprise: there were no wounds, no blood, even the pain had completely dissipated the moment the goddess released her hold. The girl raised her head and looked at her, who had stopped halfway from the throne and had turned to look at her in the eyes again, with an expression once again jovial and pure like that of an innocent child.

Being a nearly all-powerful being with an eternity to develop a personality and experience existence is bound to make someone a bit eccentric.

“Now, if we can move on, I'd like to tell you what my plan is for you,” Lyndvrath said again with a smile on her face.

“Can I say something about that?”

"Of course!" The deity exclaimed laughing, “not.”

It was a given, okay.

Lyndvrath raised her arms and a globe depicting the four continents of Tala appeared floating sixteen inches above the ground and large enough that Tamara couldn't touch her fingers in a hug. The girl approached, pursing her lips and observing the floating globe, not exactly happy with her position, more or less comparable to that of a servant. She had read all the books, but that was almost ten years ago and much of the information and stories she knew were a dim memory from her childhood.

“You will be reborn in the Kingdom of Topaz, you will be of high lineage and from birth you will be gifted with qualities that…”

The aura of quiet and eternal peace that could be felt inside the large room suddenly changed as if the sun of a splendid summer day had suddenly been obscured by a black cloud that appeared out of nowhere. Tamara suddenly stiffened, feeling goosebumps on her arms and a sense of immediate danger, Lyndvrath's expression changed from one of calm to one of surprise, abewilderment and then horror.

“How did you find this out??” The deity thundered with such an authoritative and furious tone that it seemed more like an order than a request.

However, the entity that had arrived was another god, and had no intention of doing what he had been asked to do. The divinity who had just arrived was tall, muscular, had a beard that reached below his neck and red, swollen hair that fell behind his head like a lion's mane; the man was imposing and exuded an aura of pride, he was wearing dark armor and by concentrating Tamara managed to remember that he was Groffward, another major deity of the Divine Court.

“You're not as smart as you think, Lyndvrath,” said Groffward, crossing his arms over his chest, “what is this little game you're playing? Considering how complicated it was to find you I imagine you know that you are in violation of at least a dozen treaties.”

“This… all this is fully within the rules of the Divine Court! It just hasn't been approved yet!” Lyndvrath protested.

“Yes, of course,” Groffward sighed, “in any case, I'm here to stop this. The girl won't be your champion, you won't have any champion at all.”

Tamara wanted to say something, she wanted to point the finger at the goddess and say that it was all her fault and that she just wanted to go home, but she was stiff as if her body had become wooden, she was unable to even speak or move her mouth. I have nothing to do with it! thought the girl, please take me home and deal with it among yourselves!

Groffward turned his imperious gaze on Tamara, who only didn't scream because she was unable to. “I don't know what Lyndvrath promised you, but it is nullified by law. I can't bring you back to your world and so I'll have to get rid of you in other ways.”

get rid of me?? Do not hurt me!

A black circle swirling like a dark whirlpool appeared beneath Tamara's feet, and she fell into it immediately.

"No! She is my champion! You have no right!” The girl heard the goddess' protests as she sank into darkness.

Tamara's body responded to her commands again and immediately started to scream in desperation as she tried with her nails to cling to that darkness, but only managed to feel that it was something that really had no edges or walls, like a slide of infinite dimensions in all directions and that was quickly dragging her down, down and down into that black oblivion.

There was nothing in there, nothing, just emptiness, silence and deprivation of the senses.

Then she noticed a distant sparkling rapidly approaching her.

"Quick! Touch me!” The sphere of light exclaimed, chasing her into the tunnel of darkness. The sphere was about the size of a basketball, “there's not much time left!”

"Who are you??"

"There's no time! You have to touch me!”

What other options did Tamara have at that time? Continue to fall? Would she at some point cease to exist after falling for long enough? Perhaps the best option for her survival was to touch that light...

And so she did. Tamara stretched out her hands without seeing them towards the sphere of light until she felt the pleasant warmth that emanated from her fingertips; the sensation of heat then spread throughout the rest of her body, giving her back a sense of time and space that caused her a sense of relief, like someone who had just found a safe foothold in a gigantic storm.

And then the light expanded, shattering the darkness like a stone thrown at a car’s windshield.