As they arrived at the altar, Nick threw the bodies into the altar and waited, Hati throwing her body into the altar.
"Well, that's the last of them," She said, brushing her hands off. Nick sat down on the ground as Stella approached, Mahdi looking at the altar with curiosity.
"Shouldn't someone have responded by now?" She asked Nick, who just shrugged. After a while, Nick was still staring at the altar while Hati climbed a tree and Stella was still by Mahdi, who was placing rocks into a mound. Hati jumped down next to Stella, the muzzle still on her face.
"Shouldn't have something happen by now?" She asked, looking at Nick. Stella shrugged and stood up, Mahdi following. She walked over to Nick and looked at the altar, then at Nick.
"Are you just going to sit here?" She asked, making him shrug. Finally, after a few minutes, Nick stood up and looked at the altar. He then grabbed his Kusaris and swung them at the altar, cutting the stone statue on the altar, chips of it flying everywhere. He roared in anger and punched a tree, his fist flying through it. Stella, Hati, and Mahdi looked at him with shock as he pulled his fist out of the wood. Stella took a deep breath, and started talking in a calm voice.
"Nick, maybe we can do something else," She said, trying to figure out what to do. Suddenly, Mahdi spoke up.
"I might be able to do something," He said. Nick looked at Mahdi with anger before he walked up to the altar, pulling out a Persian coin. He flipped it and it landed in the blood, it disappearing slowly. After a few minutes, Nick laughed.
"Yeah, that looked like it worked," He said when the blood started to spin, the bodies slowly dragging into it when they were shredded like they were in a blender. Suddenly, a pillar of blood hardened into the shape of a woman, then wings sprouted out of the pillar of blood, then the blood fell away, revealing a woman with a blood red dress, white wings, blond hair, and green eyes, staring at Nick. He looked at her, pulling out his Kusaris, waiting for her to attack when she nodded at him.
"So, the Spirit of Arogia has summoned me," She said, smiling. He growled and was ready to charge the woman when Mahdi stepped in front of him, smiling at her.
"Sorry to interrupt you, Ms..." He said, waiting for a name when she bowed her head.
"Pax, the goddess of peace and hospitality," She said. Mahdi nodded and continued.
"Pax, we need your help. My friend here needs you for something," He said, pointing at Nick, who rolled his eyes. Pax raised an eyebrow at Nick, who sighed and put his Kusaris away.
"How do I break a blood oath?" He asked, when she chuckled.
"Well, it's easy. You have to finish the oath in order to-" She started when he cut her off.
"With a god?" He said, looking at her. She froze before she looked at Nick, shock in her eyes.
"You want to break a blood oath with the war god?" She asked, making everyone look at him, shocked. He looked at everyone when he nodded. Pax gulped before she started talking again.
"Let me tell you a story," She said, and she closed her eyes, explaining the story.
"In the time before the Paters, before the gods of Arogia, a great battle was waged. The wrath of the Initium. The very beings who forged the earth, raged out of control for an eternity and from this rage, the madness of war, the Totoribus were brought forth. Neither Pater nor god, mortal nor immortal, the Totoribus were bound to no one, for they were the guardians of honor, the enforcers of punishment, the bane of traitors. When the Shadow King came to power, he found he had little to fear from the Totoribus. The Totoribus sought retribution for only those who are deemed guilty. The first of these traitors, was Proceritas the giant. When the brute pledged a blood oath to the Shadow King, only to betray the king of the gods, the Totoribus were quick to take action. The Totoribus relentlessly hunted Proceritas and upon capturing him, tortured him without mercy for they believed death was too kind for this oath breaker. Proceritas became an example to all. A special symbol for those who might think to break a blood oath with a god," She said, opening her eyes to see their shocked faces, except for Nick's, who was filled with rage.
"I don't care about your story, now tell me, how do I break a blood oath with Bellum?!" He yelled angrily. Pax sighed and facepalmed, shaking her head.
"In order to break a blood oath with Bellum, you must kill the Totoribus, and in order to do that, you must seek out Propheta in Cantus," She said, pointing west. They all looked in that direction when they heard whispering behind them, the air growing cold.
"The Totoribus grow near, they cannot know that I spoke to you," She said, eyes full of worry.
"I will lead them away, good luck to you all, and I will see you soon," She said, and with that, she disintegrated into a puddle of blood. Nick looked behind him to hear fighting and screaming, making Hati grow nervous.
"I smell a very strong evil presence over there," She said, shaking. Nick nodded and looked to the west, where a glint of an ocean was.
"Let's go, before we get tortured too," He said, running away, everyone following him. They walked west when they saw a ship sitting at a dock, waiting for them.
"I think that's the boat she was talking about," Stella said, and they went on it, a captain looking at them before he spoke.
"Where to, mate?" He said curiously. Nick walked to the front of the ship and set his foot on the headpiece.
"Cantus," He said.
"Ah, you going to see Prophetia?" He asked and Nick nodded, the ship pulling out of the harbor and to the menacing mountains that stood in the distance.