Leareth, still trying to recover his balance after the unexpected godinteraction, takes his own turn looking at Velgarth's star in the sky, and then closer, at the planet, the continents - cities, farms, people - but not nearly as many people as there should be... 

And there are bodies.

He sees children's bodies. Two of them, on a goat-track by the side of a river, a toddler and a slightly older child of maybe five. About halfway between an apparently-abandoned farmstead, and the nearest half-empty town. Unlucky enough to lose both their parents, maybe, and they tried to reach the nearest town, but they didn't make it. 

This is happening everywhere. 

He's so incredibly angry with Thanos. 

If he looks around at the other stars, can he see the other inhabited worlds? 

There are millions in the galaxy. An uncountable number, beyond that, but it's very hard to see that far even from here.

There's a huge variety of species with varying levels of sapience. Most worlds are even lower-tech than Velgarth, and don't have magic. Most have no idea what turned half their world's population into dust, and are taking it hard. Between wars, famine, and the loss of critical infrastructure, the worst-hit worlds are on their way to losing half of the half whom Thanos spared.

But there is hope, too. There are as many ancient enemies that joined together in the face of this unprecedented threat, as there are wars of opportunity breaking out in its aftermath. Captain Marvel's mission has helped a lot, there. When people know what hit them, they're—not less scared, if anything they're more so, to learn that weapons of such terrifying power exist, but they at least have something to orient themselves around. Someone to blame instead of each other, even if fighting him is utterly beyond their reach.

And a small minority of worlds are high-tech, or magical (he often can't tell the difference), with wonders Leareth never dreamt of. There are powers in the universe that make the gods of Velgarth seem small. Not only mysterious ancient unique things like the Infinity Stones, but powers that he and the people of his world could one day achieve. They could travel among the stars, one day.

Randi, Shavri, and Sondra are now back in Valdemar.

This sets off an urgent Web-alarm! 

...Valdemar does not, currently, have a single Herald-Mage linked into the Web. 

Rolan, however, does have a certain kind of access to the Web. He doesn't normally use this to alert Heralds, but these are unusual times. 

:Dara. Web-alarm, by the Heralds' temple: 

:Hmm? A Gate?: 

:No. Something - else: 

:I'm coming: 

She runs. 

- and stumbles to a halt, staring around. "I - wha...? Randi -" She's probably hallucinating or something because that isn't possible.  

"It's a long story." 

Shavri says nothing. 

"It's - how..." 

:Shavri, is it - really him?: She's not sure what ELSE this could be, but. 

:Yes: 

Pause. 

:There is a death god. In another world. Everyone went there. He - made an exception. Because of the lifebond. Brought Randi back: 

Another, longer pause. 

:Vanyel, too. Leareth asked: 

Dara stays on her feet and does not fall over. It's taking some willpower, though. Her knees feel shaky. 

"Vanyel's...alive?" she says, wonderingly. 

"Yes." Randi makes a wry face. "Of course, he instantly tried to volunteer for a suicide mission once he was back." 

"Vanyel!" 

"That's exactly what Randi sounded like at the time." 

She glances around. "We might as well go in, I'm sure there's a lot to do." 

"I - right..." Dara's head is still reeling. She feels slow and stupid and miles behind the situation.

After a beat, as she starts to turn, her eyes manage to focus on the unfamiliar woman standing by Randi's shoulder. 

Is that another Herald who she's managed to totally forget about?

"- Wait, hello - you are...?" 

Randi and his Companion look at each other, and then both burst out laughing. 

"It's Sondra. Death god sent her back like that." 

"The death god did what? Huh. Weird." She's confused but this particular confusion doesn't seem like the top priority. "And, sure, let's go in." 

"I already gave Randi the run-down on who we lost," Shavri says quietly as they walk. The Palace grounds are very quiet, the lawns and gardens noticeably unkempt. Flowerbeds are no one's priority, right now. "I - wasn't exactly on top of day to day logistics, though, so not sure what's been going on there. Is Joshel -?" 

"He's managing. Seems about the same as before." 

Wince. "I - gods - I didn't even think to ask for his Companion back as well..." 

Dara opens her mouth to answer, then closes it again, and ducks her head and says nothing. 

They walk inside mostly in silence. 

Keiran is waiting for them. 

"I heard that Randi– oh, you weren't joking. Hellfires."