Gabriel stood at the ground floor, surrounded by thousands upon thousands of books in their respective shelves. He slowly slid one back into its space.
’What have you done?’ said a voice, filled with rage.
"What I needed to do," Gabriel replied. He tore open space, walked into it, and stepped out on the highest floor.
’Gabriel. Your knowledge might have crossed the threshold and has become stupidity. We need him to be alive, to gather all the generals of the Golden Order, all of them!’ said the voice, barely holding itself together.
Gabriel shrugged. "What is done is done. You wouldn’t have given her the dagger. I did."
White mist in the shape of a man burst to life right before Gabriel. "Do not push me! Do not!" Cain bellowed. His voice made thousands of books rattle.
Gabriel calmly looked into Cain’s eyes, then sat. "He has enough generals. We can’t risk the plan for more. Godfrey was slowly getting out of hand, and you know it."
He slipped his hand through a space tear, took a cup of coffee from a coffee shop in Paradise. From the place where he ordered.
Cain materialized in the flesh. He slammed his heel into Gabriel. The force threw Gabriel back as his chair broke, chunks of splintered wood littering the floor.
Gabriel rose to one knee, glaring at Cain, then looked at his white top.
"There are more! More we could have had. He does not die until we can have all of them. With what you’ve done, we’ve lost. We’ve lost the one with the mace, the one knight that gives the council an edge over us."
Cain towered over him. "I have bowed my head to kings of the ascended worlds. I have made pledges and lowered myself before the congregation of Godkings and Godqueens. I did all that, knowing the time of my reckoning was near."
He looked around. "You’ve lost yourself with books. Knowledge has made you fearful. I will rip you out like I did the fourth."
Gabriel laughed softly. "Do it, and you will not be able to attend your meetings in those ascended worlds. You are exhibiting the anger of Sebastian. His brooding has rubbed off horribly on you."
"And knowledge has made you afraid," Cain said.
Gabriel rose to his feet, his face solemn. His smile was gone. "We have enough. That madman Adam is slowly becoming wiser and tired. What happens if he returns to Earth and we do not have an army like the Golden Order? Or if a Primordial decides to wreck our world? Let’s face it, the ascended worlds are too big and our control too small."
Gabriel looked away. "What we’ve created is exceptional, but the Pathani are the key. Now we have them."
"We don’t!" Cain retorted.
"We have something, at least. Coupled with what your ability allows you to create, Earth will be completely ours in days."
"You’ll have me use the generals to kill the others?"
"There is no other way," Gabriel said. "And Cain. It is we. Not you."
"We might have once been one. I don’t feel like that anymore," Cain replied. His words were dangerous.
"You’re stuck in the past. Ideals change. Sebastian and I ran it all while you slept. You’ve always been filled with greed. Your greed blinds you to reality. I have restraint, knowledge—"
Cain dispersed while Gabriel spoke. He held his tongue. "At least Godfrey is dead. I was no longer comfortable with him. He was growing too deep, keeping too many secrets. The mana tree could have also betrayed us."
Space twisted, and Gabriel found himself before the massive tree whose roots rose to the clouds. He could only see a little of its trunk beyond the clouds.
The true form of the mana tree.
"He survived."

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