“Tell me about your brother,” Lex said breathily as they climbed up the rocky slopes. The horses grazed in the foothills below them, content to wait for their return. Pebbles shifted under their boots and instinctively they reached for one another. 

“He’s a hermit,” Aydin said as he pulled Lex up next to him. “Ever since his twin died, Krypte hasn’t left the mountain. He’s not mourning necessarily. He just doesn’t have any interest in the world anymore.” 

Lex blinked and furrowed her brow. “I thought you and your brothers were immortal.” 

Aydin chuckled. “Nothing is completely immortal. I may never age, but there are still things out there that could kill me.” 

“Such as…?”

A seriousness fell over his face as he stopped and turned to Lex. “There are weapons that exist, made to kill gods. The world didn’t have a peaceful beginning. Many of the gods warred with one another, and just as often killed each other. My brothers and I aren’t gods, per say, but their weapons are about the only things that can kill us.” 

Aydin leaned against a protruding boulder as he continued. “The last war of the gods ended with a treaty that appointed my brothers and I the stewards of the humans. We looked after them, protected them from the worst calamities nature threw their way. Of course they would get restless every couple of centuries and think of us as the bad guys… And sometimes we weren’t our best, but we’d let them have a little rebellion and they would go back to their little lives and all would be well.’

“The last rebellion was different though. They were being directed by a lesser god, Nerius. We didn’t realize until it was too late that he had given the humans his own weapon. Three of my brothers were ambushed at the top of this mountain, one of them died. The retaliation was swift.”

Lex stood silently for a moment, her hands held in his. “I’m sorry.” 

As suddenly as he had turned serious, Aydin was back to his nonchalant self. He stood back up and began their ascent up the slope again. “It’s not like I was here for it anyways. I was down south, by Rivertide, when it happened.” 

With an affected indifference, he led the way up the trail, pointing out birds and plants along the way. Lex followed, humoring him with excitement and awe while she quietly wondered how deeply the loss of his brother affected Aydin. When they reached the plateau, Lex looked a bit bewildered for a moment as she wondered where the rest of the mountain was. On the flat expanse before them stood a great marble pillar, at least 50 feet tall, and a modest cottage, complete with a small garden and a couple of fowl pecking in the front yard.

Beside her, Aydin held out a hand and asked, “Ready to meet my brother?”  

Nodding, Lex took his hand. As they approached the little house, they heard crashing from within and the front door burst open.