Godly

Godly
Chapter 25: Gathering allies Part 3

I've been following Whisper for an hour now as we walk along the open plains. She's not said another word but occasionally glances at me now and then while adjusting the pack on her back.

I sigh as I scratch the back of my head. "Soooo," I say trying to start a conversation. "What can you tell me about Hornhiem?" I ask her.

"Oh! Errrm, w-well... It's the largest city in Minos a-and home to about one-hundred thousand minotaurs..." she says nervously.

"I see. And relax, no need to be so tense around me. I'm not going to hurt you," I tell her with a forced smile.

"I k-know... but still, you're the first god I-I've met...it's a little intimidating..." she replies quietly and takes a deep breath.

"You'll get used to it eventually. So, anything else I need to know? Laws, rules, important people?" I say and ask her with a more friendly tone.

"Erm... Well for laws, challenges for claims of property or land are settled in a horn duel where the victor gets rights to the items in question... Theft is harshly punished with losing a hand, and if you have no hands left, you're exiled. Killing another outside of a Kargeth challenge will get you the death sentence. Clans may not start a blood feud unless they get the magai's blessing as witnesses," she tells me.

There are also other laws about status and deeds that don't interest or affect me.

"As for important people, the Grand Magai Jurai runs the council of magai. He decides who joins the council... stubborn old bull says I'm too weak or young to be a full magai... I'll show him I can surpass them all!" she says with a growl at the end while gripping her pack's strap tightly.

I chuckle lightly making her blush before coughing. "The others you want to avoid insulting are the clan leaders. They'll most likely challenge you to preserve their honour," she then warns me.

"Well, if they're as strong as Gareth, then I don't think I have to worry about challenges. But I'll do my best to avoid conflicts," I reply and think. I'll have to be careful about what I say here.

"Please do, unlike Gareth, you'll be expected to kill the clan leader that challenged you. The only reason you could have left Gareth alive is due to that was his village and no official magai was present. If you're challenged in Hornhiem, one must die and the magai make sure the defeated falls," she then tells me.

"Harsh," I say with a frown. "Do you have a form of currency?" I then ask her.

"What is currency?" she asks confused.

"Err, its used to trade for things, like food, supplies, land, or as payment for hiring someone..." I reply and change god to Ratatoskr. I then open my small pack and pull out a few different value Gil coins and hold them up to her. I've discovered that I can store practically anything that can fit into the bag and leave it there until I need it again.

She leans down with sightly wide eyes looking at me as I slide the coins into the palm of her large hand. "These are Gil made from a soft metal called gold, and its the changelings new currency. As I said, we'll be using them to trade supplies or for the services of others. They in turn can then use them to buy things they need from others, or pay their own workers," I tell her as she looks them over.

"Oh... I've never heard of gold before, its so shiny," she replies and holds a single coin up and moves it to reflect the sunlight.

"So how do minotaurs trade things? Like the zebras where they trade supplies and food for other supplies and food?" I ask her.

"Well, some of a clan's harvest is given as tribute to the magai along with pelts and crafted items. In return, the magai protect Hornhiem while going out to settle clan feuds, heal the sick or injured, or removing threats. But mostly it is as you said, we trade materials or food for what we need the most," she tells me and giggles as she jingles the coins in her cupped hands.

"That's good, I wouldn't of thought well of them if they just took the stuff and gave nothing back. At least they help those around them," I reply with a smile. "And it's good to see you more relaxed now," I tell her with a light grin.

She blushes slightly and looks away. "Well... I figured if you wanted to hurt me you would have done it already... And I was mostly nervous as this is my first time leaving the village without my mother or any of the hunters with me..." she replies shyly.

"I see, how old are you then? I want to say twenty-four," I ask her and guess.

She blushes a bit harder and looks down. "I'm nineteen..." she tells me quietly.

"Oh, well... I suppose we should keep moving," I reply and change back into Chiron.

"R-Right!" she says and holds out the coins to me.

"Keep them, think of them as a gift. Perhaps I'll give you more as payment for guiding me," I tell her, making her smile and look back at the coins.

"Thanks," she says and places the coins in a pouch on her left hip.

Over the next four hours of travel, she tells me about how minotaur magic works. They gather the mana from within themselves and can infuse it to an element that their souls are attuned to. Whisper is attuned to water, though she swears she managed to conjure a tiny flame one time when she was younger, but hasn't managed to since.

The day passes by slowly and it's now sunset. "I have a question," Whisper asks me as she gets out her bedroll made from animal pelts. I'm now Geb, just sitting out in the open near the still burning campfire.

"And what would that be?" I reply slowly.

"Since you are a god, do you know why the sun and moon are moving so strangely recently?" she asks looking at the setting sun while holding her bedroll.

"Oh that? Yeah, I put them back into their natural orbits. The alicorns don't move them anymore as that was too dangerous to keep doing," I reply and yawn as the sun is halfway down the horizon.

"You... You took the sun and moon away from the alicorns?" she asks stunned and drops the bedroll in her hands.

"Oh, would you prefer the alicorns to keep controlling them? I'm sure nothing bad would have happened should they die or use them in anger," I reply with my own question and a smile.

"Errr..." she replies dumbly and slowly leans down to pick up her bedroll. "That would be bad..." she then says as she unrolls her bedroll and lays it flat on the grass.

I chuckle and look back to the setting sun. "Yes, yes it would," I say and yawn.

Whisper lies down on her bedroll and pulls what looks like a thick handmade woven blanket made out of some rough looking cloth or linen. "I must ask... what happened to the moon alicorn's horn?" she asks me with a frown on her face.

I turn my head to look at her and sigh. "Celestia has lost her marbles and we think she's been possessed by a nightmare, which is some kind of energy, ethereal, or magical parasite. She attacked Luna, broke her horn along with beating her to a pulp. I'm debating whether or not to just subdue Celestia now while she's still trying to build her forces, or to continue to get the aid of the other races first," I tell her and look back to the sunset.

"She... She attacked her sister?" Whisper asks sadly.

"Yup, and I think I might be the one who angered her enough to let a nightmare get her..." I reply and grumble a bit. Not my fault she's a paranoid, xenophobic, and hostile bitch. "Now then, get some sleep. Hopefully the next village will be more hospitable," I tell her and close my eyes. I could use some training in the practice dream.

I open my eyes and look around and smile at the sight of the practice area.

"New Gods added," a female sounding voice with a slight echo I haven't heard before says aloud making me jump.

"Who's there!?" I demand and look around.

I look up to see three floating panels with faces above my head and names under them.

King Arthur. A middle aged looking man with short blonde hair and a trimmed beard wearing a crown.

Merlin. Slightly older looking than Arthur but with slightly longer brown hair with a white streak through it and longer beard. He also has a small claw mark over his right eye which appears to be glowing blue.

Jormungandr, the world serpent. A large looking purple snake with fins on the sides of his head, large teeth, and glowing purple eyes.

I stare wide eyed at them for a few minutes before the icons fade away. I slowly start to grin as I think of being King Arthur. My body changes and I'm now in ornate plate armour with gold trimming. On top is a red coat going down the right side of my torso and down to my shins.

In my right hand is one of the best damn swords I've ever seen, Excalibur! It has a red grip with a gold band swirling around it, the pommel and hand guard are golden coloured with detailed engravings and the blade is a large lightly glowing blue piece of steel. Not as big as Tyr's sword, but its not that far off.

I roll my shoulders and neck, the armour is comfortable and the sword not too heavy. A screen of sorts pops up in front of me showing the skills and stats of the god and I blink a few times. He has eight skills instead of four... dashes, AOEs, a slow, a stun, a silence, and what appears to be a version of Cloud's Omnislash from Final Fantasy seven as his secondary alt.

This guy looks insane! I head over to the buff camp area and frown, the place looks different. I see icons on the floor with the colours of the different buff camps.

I walk over and step on the red icon, and in the circled area ahead of me, spawns three manticores. They glare at me but don't leave the circle.

A grin spreads across my face as I ready my sword and feel energy flow through me. I swing my sword as blue energy flows out of the blade as a vertical slash of energy travels towards the manticores.

Three hours and seven minutes later.

I continue to practice for hours and start to feel fatigued. I've moved to another new area that allows me to summon any gods I want to duel with and I'm currently fighting Sun Wukong. With a final rush, I run towards him and he humphs with a smirk as he swings his staff horizontally at me which extends to fifteen feet.

I duck under the attack and feel a burst of energy as I use King Arthur's secondary ultimate skill, Excalibur's Wrath! I dash towards Wukong and uppercut him with a powerful blow, sending him into the air where I jump up after him.

We both float in the air as I then rapidly slash him six times leaving deep looking gashes across his torso before finally hitting him one final time with an over head swing, sending him slamming into the ground below. He struggles on the floor for a bit but collapses and fades away.

I land on the ground and pant for breath. Now this is the kind of warrior I can get behind!

The world around me fades away as the feeling of something shaking me gets my attention. I blink my eyes open as I see it's still night time but the sounds of growling gets my attention.

I feel someone huddled up behind me while I look at a few wolves stalking their way towards me. I frown and yawn as I slowly stand up still as Geb.

"Okay, now I'm cranky," I mumble and roll my neck.

"What are you going to do?" Whisper asks from behind me.

"Scare them off hopefully. If not, then I'll have to kill them," I reply and stomp over to the approaching wolves. "Alright pups, bugger off or we'll see what's harder, my fist, or your heads," I say to the wolves. I wonder if they're as smart as the ones from Whisper's village.

They growl louder and they eye whisper hungrily while ignoring me, makes sense as I'm currently made of stone.

"Hey now, none of that," I say and raise both my arms above my head before slamming them onto the ground.

A shockwave followed by a tremor sends dirt and bits of rock into the air as it spreads out towards the wolves. They yelp as they're sent into the air and away from us.

The shockwave tapers out and ends just as the wolves hit the ground. They quickly get up and run off towards a small woodland area off in the distance to the south.

"Wow..." Whisper says as she slowly walks back to her bedroll.

"Right then. Get some more sleep, I'll keep watch," I tell her and sit my ass back down while watching the wolves run off.

"O-Okay..." she replies and lies back down on her bedroll.

Perhaps I should have made a giant stone tent to protect us... I'll keep that in mind for the next night out.

The wolves are now out of sight as they run through the trees, I yawn again as I start making my floating fingers spin around my large stone forearms.

After about an hour of making my fingers do tricks, I hear howls sound out from the forest as a large pack of fifteen wolves run out and straight towards us.

I frown and quickly get up and turn to Whisper who bolts upright after hearing the howls and she looks terrified. "Stay still," I tell her and place my hands on the ground.

With a burst of energy, I raise stone up in the shape of a tent around her with the front and back also sealed.

"AHHH!" she yelps as she's closed in. I leave a gap at the top of the front stone for air though.

"Stay there and wait while I deal with this," I tell her and change god to Fenrir.

"Okay..." she replies and I can see her trying to look through the gap in the stone.

I turn back to the still oncoming wolves and roll my neck. I then lean back and raise my head with a long and loud howl of my own.

With that done I look to the wolves and see they've stopped and start to surround me but keep their distance.

I look to the biggest wolf who is behind a couple of others in front of me. I stand up and flex my fingers where my long sharp claws rub against each other.

"So, instead of leaving, you went and got your buddies huh? Well then, if it's bloodshed you want, I'll be happy to spill yours," I say and growl deeply. My body heats up as I feel anger and rage building within me, my runes glowing brighter by the second.

"What are you..." the pack leader asks warily making me shocked.

"I errr..." I mumble in confusion, can I understand them now because I'm a wolf now? "I am a God, my name is Pantheon. Who are you," I reply and ask with narrowed eyes.

"I am known as Stormfang, the Alpha of this pack. Members of my pack told me you interfered with their hunt, why do you protect that prey. Have you also thrown your pride aside to do their bidding?" he asks with a growl at the end.

"I'm protecting her as she's guiding me to where I need to go. And I interfered because I won't just stand aside and let you harm her," I reply and bare my teeth where molten drool drips out. "Just so you know, your little pack isn't enough to bring me down, but try if you must. Their deaths will be due to that 'pride' you mentioned," I warm him and get down on all fours ready to leap at him.

There is no pride or honour in a battle of life and death, no code of conduct or unspoken rules, just the victor and the fallen. The method in which you win doesn't matter as long as you stand on top and the threat has been dealt with.

Stormfang narrows his eyes and glares at me. "Watch yourself pup, we have you outnumbered. What can you alone do against a pack," he threatens me angrily.

I grin maliciously at him with a chuckle. "Attack and find out, but remember, their deaths will be your fault," I reply and dig my claws into the dirt, muscles tense and ready to charge as the fur on my neck and back stand on end. Though I plan to ignore the others for now and go straight for him.

Some of the wolves back off and whimper while Stormfang growls angrily. After a tense moment, he makes his move. "KILL!" he yells in a loud bark like manner making most of the pack charge at me, only four backed off with their tails between their legs.

I ignore the pack and release the tension in my legs as I leap straight into the air toward Stormfang who looks surprised at the height and distance I get.

He leaps to the side as I land next to him, but without warning I use my Brutalise skill and perform a quick shorter leap with my arms and claws raised. He fails to react in time as I swing down and tear into him, eight deep gashes line his back and left side, but I'm far from finished.

I perform three more short leaps, this time leaping over his body upside down as my claws rip into him, blood and fur flying off as I continue to jump and slash. Once over, he's no longer breathing and he's covered in at least twenty or so deep cuts, blood pooling quickly under him and staining the grass.

I turn back to the pack to see them keeping their distance and whimpering.

"Well? Are you not going to follow your alpha's order?" I ask them and shake most of the blood off my claws.

They look to each other while one of them is glaring at me.

"No? Then bugger off back to the forest and don't come back, or I'll tear you all up as well," I tell them and start walking my way to them.

All but one whimper and run off to the forest. The last one who is the one still glaring at me slowly walks around me before growling and runs off.

I huff as I change back to Geb and walk over to the stone tent.

"Are you okay?" Whisper asks me timidly.

"I'm fine, just get some more sleep, I'll leave the stone up until morning," I reply and plop my ass down in front of the stone tent.

"Okay, thanks for protecting me," she says and I hear her shuffling about and go quiet.

"You're welcome," I reply and just watch the forest.

A few hours later.

The sun has risen and the wolves haven't returned since the fight. I yawn as I place my hands on the ground and push the front of the stone tent back into the ground. I then stand up and turn to see Whisper yawn and rub her eyes, waking up most likely due to the slight rumble of the shifting earth.

"Morning," I say and step back to allow her out.

She yawns again and rummages about in her basket backpack. "Morning..." she replies and pulls out her water skin she used to put my water into and drinks a few mouthfuls of it, followed by eating what looks like a loaf of bread.

She then shuffles out of the stone tent while pulling her basket and bedroll with her.

"Right then, get packed up and lets get going," I tell her and yawn again, I'm still feeling a bit tired from less sleep.

"Don't you need to get some more sleep?" she asks with worry.

I was about to reply but I get an Idea. "Then you can carry me for a bit so I can get some shut eye," I reply and change to Ratatoskr.

She stares at me as she stuffs her bedroll into her basket. "Oh, sure. I guess so," she says and straps her basket pack onto her back.

I walk over to her and she carefully picks me up and I blush a bit as she holds me to her chest like a newborn.

"Wake me up if something attacks or happens," I tell her and just close my eyes and let her warmth lull me to sleep.