The next morning, a malak led Rodrigo, Ana, Tania, and Epona to a large hall located in the main corridor of the palace. Inside, it was an open area overlooking the enormous central garden. Numerous ivory columns with golden details surrounded the space, and the scent of various sweet fragrances filled the air.

  At the center of the room was a gigantic round table with several chairs—fifteen in total, though some were unoccupied.

  Athena sat in the chair facing away from the garden.

  To her left sat a man with white hair, tanned skin, and a large dark patch covering his left eye, while the right one glowed red.

  The chair to Athena’s right was empty. These three seats were slightly unusual—each one had a carved bird.

  Athena’s chair bore an owl, the dark-skinned man’s chair bore a falcon, and the empty one displayed a bird unfamiliar to Rodrigo.

  To Athena’s right sat two young men: one with curly brown hair and amber eyes, wearing a Phrygian cap and a red tunic—handsome and striking; the other completely blond, with skin almost golden-bronze, hypnotic golden eyes, and his right arm fully bandaged.

  More figures sat around the table: the Yoruba doctor who had operated on Tania and Ana; an elderly man dressed like a wizard; a bearded man in a Greek tunic; a man wearing an African mask; a tanned skinned, bearded man dressed in orange with a crown of spikes; and finally, a woman with curly blonde hair dressed like a Slavic queen.

  “We’ve been waiting for you,” Athena said as she rose from her chair.

  “Welcome to the decision hall of Orniskem. I apologize that not all participants are present—some of our group’s leaders are currently on important missions,” the goddess said.

  “Hello, nice to meet you,” Rodrigo and the others said with a slight bow.

  “These are Tannit, the Punic goddess of Carthage; Anand, the Irish goddess of war; Epona, the Celtic goddess of horses; and Roberto, whom I mentioned earlier,” Athena said.

  Definitely, I don’t think remembering a name like Rodrigo is that hard, Rodrigo thought after being called Roberto again.

  The members of Orniskem stood up and greeted them.

  “I am Horus, an Egyptian god and one of the three leaders of Orniskem,” said the tanned skinned man seated to Athena’s left.

  “We are Mithras and Sol, a pleasure,” said the god with the Phrygian cap and the blond god with bronzed skin, both sounding nervous.

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  “You already know me—I’m Doctor Erinle,” said the man who had operated on Ana and Tania.

  “I am Myrddin—or as they know me in the human world, the wizard Merlin,” said the elderly man in wizard robes.

  “I am Asclepius, a Greek nefil and senior physician of Orniskem,” said the man in the Greek tunic.

  “My name is Nabu, and I am the chief scribe of Orniskem. I come from the mythical kingdom of Babylon,” said the bearded man with the horned crown.

  “And I am Zorya, the goddess of the morning star in the Slavic pantheon,” said the beautiful blonde goddess.

  Finally, the man wearing the African mask stood and made several gestures.

  “His name is Khine, a deity of the Ghana Empire,” Erinle explained.

  “And forgive him—he is under a vow of silence he cannot break.”

  The masked man bowed and sat again.

  Rodrigo and the others thanked the introductions with another bow.

  “Please, take a seat,” Horus said, pointing to several empty chairs.

  Rodrigo and the group nodded and sat.

  “As you can see, we are a group of various pantheons currently being attacked or destroyed by Lel. Most gods from those pantheons agreed to sign peace with El. But the ones you see here chose not to and were persecuted—eventually taking refuge here, just like you,” Athena said.

  “We’ve never had a Punic deity—someone who was a direct member of Lel’s ruling family. We would like you to take the sixteenth seat, Tannit,” Horus said.

  “I would prefer to be called by my human name: Tania,” the fire-haired goddess replied.

  “And I want to be called Ana,” added the dark-haired goddess.

  “Any particular reason?” Horus asked.

  “We identify more with the human world right now,” Tania answered.

  “Of course, no problem,” the Egyptian god replied.

  “And I must decline your offer for the moment. Honestly, I still don’t feel entirely comfortable here, and I’d like to know more about your objectives before considering a position of power,” Tania said, rubbing her right arm.

  “We understand,” Horus replied.

  “And the group is called Orni… something—I don’t know—what does it mean?” Rodrigo asked nervously.

  The gods laughed.

  “I told you it was a complicated and unappealing name,” Nabu said.

  “Orniskem means ‘Black Birds,’” Athena explained.

  “Both Horus and I have totemas based on birds, so we combined the Greek word for black, Ornis, and Kem, which means bird in Egyptian.”

  “The third member is not a bird, but he was born from a stone egg, so we assigned him the image of a phoenix to make it fit the group,” Myrddin added.

  “The correct name of that bird is Fenghuang,” Nabu said.

  “But he’s never here. He hasn’t set foot in this place in years,” Horus added.

  “Who is he, if we may know?” Tania asked.

  “His identity must remain secret for now, but I can assure you he is by far the most powerful member of this group,” Horus replied.

  “Horus, I am stronger than both you and him,” Athena shot back.

  “Please, Athena. You couldn’t even touch my shadow—much less his,” Horus said with a sarcastic grin.

  “There they go again…” Erinle muttered, bored.

  “Just get a room already and do your filthy business there,” Zorya said.

  The gods burst out laughing while Athena and Horus turned red.

  “Enough with those jokes about us. I’m a virgin goddess, degenerates,” Athena snapped.

  But yesterday she said she was a mother… Ana thought, but kept it to herself.

  The gods kept laughing and playfully insulting each other. Rodrigo began to think that gods were more childish than humans; at least in human meetings of high-ranking officials, people tried to be dignified—here, none of that applied.

  “Alright, enough. You’re embarrassing us in front of the new members,” Athena said, trying to quiet them.

  The gods fell silent.