It was morning, and the humans were up and battling. Almost every one of Fred`s creatures were under attack. Really only the dragon wasn`t being harassed. There was a large group of fierce fighters who were chasing down the naga in its big hot sandy lair. Fred wasn`t sure who was really hunting who; the naga was in its element, sliding silently through the sands, and hiding behind the various ruins.

　　Fred would have watched closer, but right at that moment, another group of mostly mages were moving carefully into Kumbanaka`s lair. The lair had a front room, and a back room, and right now the front room was filled with Kumbanaka`s magic. Fred looked carefully, and said to himself, "Show me your magic!" The magic he saw looked like mist, blue and purple and black. As the humans moved into the lair, the mist seemed to wrap around and embrace each of them.

　　Fred saw the humans start to split up, and walk in circles, and call out to each other. A few of them cast spells, and seemed to be able to push away Kumbanaka`s swirling magic. Apparently Kumbanaka saw that too. Those mages found their heads suddenly removed from their bodies, as Kumbanaka moved through the room almost too fast to see. The rest continued to move like blind sheep, and Kumbanaka seemed to take his time with them, toying with them as a cat would with a mouse.

　　Fred felt there was no way Kumbanaka was in any real danger, and he wasn`t breaking any rules, since the humans had entered his lair. But Fred didn`t really want to watch the cruel slaughter any more, so he concentrated elsewhere. So he was paying attention as a new group of humans moved down the ramp, and into the temple room.

　　In the lead was a blonde-headed woman, older, and quite regal, in a white clerical gown. The seven people who followed her were similarly dressed, and were clearly her followers, or something. They all carried baskets and backpacks, and after surveying the main room, and all the side rooms, they unloaded and gathered at the water basins.

　　A ritual was performed, where the Mother (as Fred decided to call her) washed her face and hands in the water, and then washed the hands of each of her followers. They all chanted as they did this. Then, like they had rehearsed it, the followers moved to form a ring around the center light of the room. The Mother stepped into the lighted center, and, chanting, raised her hands. And the light got brighter. And brighter. And brighter. It flooded out of the temple room, shining throughout the rest of Fred`s domain. Fred was surprised, and focused his "eyes", and said "Show me your magic."

　　He saw the white magic, yes, but (a bit like Kumbanaka`s magic) he saw it was wrapping around and reaching out to all the humans. He also saw the silver and gold tree magic mingling with, and reacting to, the white magic spilling out of the temple. It was bright enough that every living thing in Fred`s domain stopped and took notice. He saw that the naga had been killed, but so had a lot of the humans that had attacked it. He saw Kumbanaka`s face and claws covered in blood, and he was licking that blood off very leisurely. He saw Martin`s big nose sticking out of his lair, as though smelling something tasty.

　　The bright white light finally receded, after what felt like an hour, but was really only ten seconds or so. Fred watched the Mother, who didn`t stop glowing, but stood in her ring of followers, all of them chanting, for another minute. And then the first customers showed up.

　　These were the men who`d killed the naga, and remained alive. Every one had some horrible wound, and they`d managed to drag each other into the temple, before collapsing on the floor. And just like that, the Mother and her followers were no longer priestly worshipers, but doctors. They swooped up the wounded, bandaged and triaged them, and sorted them into orderly patterns along the wall.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

　　The man most hurt was already in the center light, and Mother was busy with a scalpel, cutting into him. Fred could hear no screaming; apparently Mother (or something she was connected to) had powerful magic to help during surgery. The arms of Mother`s white robe were quickly soaked in blood, but she didn`t stop, and after that man was operated on, her followers moved him away and brought another to her care. In ten minutes all the wounded humans had been taken care of, and Mother was in a side room, changing her clothes.

　　"Wow", thought Fred. "So much happened all at once. What a way to start your first day on the job!"

　　Then he reached out to Martin and Kumbanaka. "Guys, did you see that? That white light?"

　　"I certainly did, Fred." Martin replied.

　　"Yes, I felt it too. Holy magic, Fred, and powerful, too." Kumbanaka said.

　　"I watched it." Martin continued. "It was powerful, but the Fwen Rounbous magic reinforced it, transmuted it into something even stronger. I have to say, I`m never bored in your domain, Fred, although I expected to be."

　　"Well it came from the new& priestess? She just showed up, and she`s taken over the temple I made."

　　"That is what you wanted, right, Fred?" Martin asked.

　　"Yes, sure. I just didn`t expect the light show. Did she make it herself? Is she really powerful?" Fred wondered.

　　"These clerics are the vessels for their gods, Fred. She borrows power from her deity." Kumbanaka opined.

　　"What? Isn`t there only& What about Aeru? Are there gods living on this world? Like us?" Fred was confused. He`d bought the idea that Aeru was a god-like being, but he`d never once thought that there could be other "gods" around, like& living on Aeru..

　　"Yes, the humans worship many gods. Some of whom actually exist." Martin snarked.

　　"A very few." Kumbanaka interjected.

　　"Yes, most are figments of the humans` overactive imaginations. But this was clearly holy magic, and it doubtless came from a deity." Martin explained.

　　"I guess& I never& Am I gonna have to deal with this god? I mean, is it gonna come down here and take over? What if I piss it off? Humans are dying in here every day!" Fred was getting a bit overwhelmed.

　　"You are something of a god yourself, Spirit." Kumbanaka observed.

　　"That`s not helping, Kumbanaka. Deep breaths, Fred. Gods rarely manifest and meddle in the affairs of their worshipers. They are usually too tied up in the Four Quadrangles and the OverMesh." Martin said with authority. "Of course, if one did show up in a form that spoke to you, it would be wise to be polite. Come to think of it, you should be polite to this priestess, too, since she so clearly has much favor with her god."

　　"You once told me about the Raven Queen. Is that a god?"

　　"Raptor Queen. Yes, the Raptor Queen is a powerful deity, of a sort. But she doesn`t usually manifest in this dimension, much less on this world." Martin said

　　"So this white light magic isn`t an emergency?"

　　"I don`t think so. Perhaps your `Jim` voice will say differently." Martin said. "You wanted a place of healing in your domain. In the time I`ve been here, I`ve never seen you do anything half-way. This is simply more of the same. I`m going back to sleep."

　　"I`m looking forward to meeting this priestess." Kumbanaka mused, almost to himself. "But her magic might see through me; I`ll have to avoid that."

　　The temple was now open for business, and throughout the day, wounded humans came into the care of the Mother and her followers. Fred didn`t know how to think about that; plenty of humans had gotten hurt and killed before the temple opened. Fred wondered what they did for healing, and if they had ever really had any options at all, before now. Still, the idea was that they could heal better and faster, and get back to fighting and getting stronger. Fred saw no sign that this plan wasn`t working.

　　In the afternoon, Fred saw something else. Two& men? approached the entrance door to the maze, quickly and quietly, opened the door, and slipped inside. Intrigued, Fred followed and looked more closely at them. "Minotaurs!" He exclaimed to himself. They had furry bodies, and big heads with horns and bull-like snouts. But then he thought, "Aren`t minotaurs supposed to be huge? Like, ogre huge? `Cause these guys are smaller than a man."

　　Fred was more surprised than concerned. Little Minotaurs were one of the least surprising and disturbing things he`d seen today. "Great name for a band, though."