Godly
Chapter 27: Confrontation

"Announce yourselves!" one of them demands as they all look at me.

I smile as I stop a good ten feet away, time to make a better first impression. "Greetings! I am Pantheon, God of the Changelings! I am here to meet your leaders to discuss matters of importance," I reply as they slowly advance towards me with their weapons at the ready and each with a wolf beside them.

"God of the Changelings?" one of them says to another confused.

"I thought the tales said they didn't believe in gods..." another says while the eight foot tall minotaur in front is eyeing me carefully.

He has deep brown fur with a lighter shade on his chest and face. He has a crack going through his left horn and his eyes are a sharp blue as they gaze into mine.

He's holding a large stone hammer with tribal carvings in it, and it appears to have seen many battles with the dried blood stains, chips, and slight cracks on the head.

For armour he is wearing what appears to be large snake skull pauldrons on his shoulders, bones linked together with plant fiber bindings across his chest and back. An animal skin loincloth covering his modesty, bones linked together for thigh guards, and the same for his forearms.

On his back looks like a cape made of the same fur that was on that snake those other hunters took into the city.

"I am Stonehide of Hornhiem, son of chieftain Wolfheart! So you call yourself a god?" he asks me not with malice or distrust, but with curiosity. A large black wolf sits beside him with a scar on its left cheek and I notice its glaring at Orion who lies down and whimpers slightly.

"I do. I can change into many forms, each with their own strengths and abilities. But I have come to warn your leaders about Celestia and hopefully bring the minotaurs and changelings together as friends and allies," I reply and bow my head respectfully to him.

"Celestia? What is so dire that you must warn us of the sun alicorn?" he asks me as I notice that he's eyeing Whisper and Orion now and then. Whisper though is looking down and keeping quiet.

"She has been possessed by a nightmare and we believe she will soon target other races once she has subjugated her own ponies. She has already enthralled her own guards and locked down her city," I tell him and explain what happened with Luna after that.

He hums in thought as another minotaur walks over to him. He looks like the shady sort, the kind to stab you in the back if something doesn't go his way.

He has dark grey almost black fur, his horns are smaller than most of the others but look pristine and well cared for. He has a long tuft of fur coming off his chin like a beard, and he's wearing wolf hide armour with a bone spear in his right hand.

But it's his eyes that disturb me, a deep brown with a cruel, sharp calculating mind behind them.

He leans up to Stonehide and whispers in his ear, but I can faintly hear what he's saying. "I don't believe him. I believe this is some trick of the centaurs to get to your father," he tells him while leering at me.

Stonehide hums in thought as I sigh. "Can centaurs change their form?" I ask Stonehide who raises a brow at me.

"Not that I am aware of," he replies.

I change god to Cabrakan, Destroyer of Mountains. I grow to ten feet tall, I'm now taller than Stonehide by a solid two feet. My skin turns green with thick hard dark green scales growing from my shoulders to the tips of my fingers, as well as my thighs, shins, and feet.

I'm now wearing a rope necklace with a greenish cyan aztec themed pendant with a large ruby in the centre. My only clothing is a yellow kilt like skirt with orange trim held up by a thick rope with a buckle similar to my pendant.

My hair is now long and two thick strands lay across my chest tied at the ends with greenish cyan like bracelets while the rest of my hair goes down to the small of my back with two tick bands tying it in place.

On my head rests a aztec themed headdress the same colour as the pendant with gold attached to it. The skin of my chin appears split open with a solid bone or rock look in its place.

Lastly, my eyes glow a light purple with flowing energy in them.

The minotaurs look surprised as I smile down at them and Whisper gasps as she looks up at me. "Now that I've shown I am indeed not a centaur. May I be granted an audience with your leaders?" I tell them and then ask with a deep rumbling tone.

Stonehide looks more impressed than surprised. "You will prove yourself to me first by joining us on a hunt! Only once you've proven yourself as a hunter may I allow you entrance to Hornhiem!" he replies boisterously.

I'm starting to like this guy. "Alright, but first I need to know how you conduct your hunts," I ask him.

"We were about to head into the forest to hunt Jormund Snakes. Although, judging as you are now, I doubt they'll be much of a challenge," he says with a hearty laugh afterwards while the shady minotaur frowns at me. "All you must do is bring the beast down with your bare hands and you will be recognised as a hunter of Hornhiem," he tells me with a smirk.

Jormund Snakes? Why does that remind me of that world serpent god I got named Jormungandr... now I'm getting a sneaking feeling something isn't right here.

I shake my head and smile at him. "Very well, the sooner we set out the sooner I can talk to your leaders," I reply and crack my knuckles.

"Splendid! Then let us be off!" Stonehide says and starts walking off towards the forest in the distance.

I follow him and turn to look at Whisper with a nod towards Stonehide. "Come on, unless you want to stay here," I tell her and she blinks a few times before her eyes widen and she runs to catch up. Orion is by my side instantly.

"So, I must say, you seem interesting for a God. I would have suspected you to be more... arrogant," Stonehide says to me while the other eight young minotaurs follow behind him and Mr Shady.

"Arrogance doesn't earn trust or respect, it makes others just loathe you. So I prefer a more civilised approach to building relations," I reply as each step I take makes the ground tremor ever so slightly.

"Hmmm, I can respect that, though most minotaurs would rather talk things out with their horns," he tells me with a huff.

"I see, so why do you hunt these Jormund Snakes?" I ask him with a raised eyebrow.

"While their scales are too hard to use for anything other than collectables, their bones are strong and sturdy, my armour is made from them, and not once have they broke on me. Their fur is also soft and when woven together make wonderful blankets. Our wolves also like their meat, so we feed it to them," he replies and then snorts. "They are also powerful and make a prey worthy for our fledgling hunters to test themselves against," he then says.

I hum in thought as the rest of the trip was made in silence for me while the younger minotaur hunters are excitedly talking about who can bag the biggest snake.

Once again that feeling of something wrong going on is stabbing at my gut. I frown and before I knew it, we arrive at the forest.

"Right then, hunters! Today you take your first steps into bullhood! We also have a prize for the one who kills the biggest snake they can find!" Stonehide says and the others cheer. "Now go, you have until sundown to complete this hunt!" he tells them and they all charge into the forest with their wolves beside them. This leaves only Stonehide, his wolf, me, Whisper, Orion, and the shady minotaur and his grey wolf.

Stonehide smirks at them before looking at me. "Now let us find you your own prey," he tells me and heads off into the forest as well.

I frown more as the feeling of dread hangs over me and seems to be thick in the air. I follow behind him as Whisper, Orion, and Mr Shady follow behind me.

After a tense forty or so minutes, we find a four and a half metre long black snake eating what looks like a badger a good thirty feet away from us.

"Now then, show us your strength, Pantheon," Stonehide whispers to me.

I stare at the snake and I notice something, it doesn't move like a snake from Earth would behave. It is actively looking around its surroundings with what seems like an expression of worry on its face as it then looks to our right into the forest.

I crouch down as best as I can and I think the only reason it hasn't seen me yet is that my green skin and scales blends in with the bush I'm using for cover. A loud high pitched hiss echoes throughout the forest making our target raise its head higher with wide eyes.

Another snake, this one only three metres long slithers through the bushes and spots the other snake. It makes its way to it and starts hissing at the other. The expression of absolute fear on its face as the other looks at where the smaller one came from with a frown.

I now know why I'm getting that feeling of dread, these snakes are intelligent and sapient judging by how they're interacting with each other. And if I think I'm right, these two are just children.

One of the minotaur hunters charges out of the treeline with his spear pointed forward ready to pierce one of them.

I growl and make a choice that might come back to bite me in the ass. I dig my hands into the ground and the stone beneath forms into two large rectangle shields on rotatable hand grips. I pull them out with a roar, each adorned with gold and a large red ruby in the centre.

This gets the attention of the hunter and the snakes as I charge forward, the small snake yelps and in panic, curls up on itself trembling and whining. The other snake hisses angrily at me but flinches and wraps itself over the other snake.

They tighten themselves against each other as I slide to a stop in front of them and hold my shields up in time for the minotaur to slam into them. I grunt from the force and lean back to soften the blow, I then thrust forward, sending the hunter onto his ass a good ten feet away.

I hear the two snakes whimper from the noise and I look back to them to see them shaking in fear, no doubt waiting for death to claim them.

"Pantheon! What is the meaning of this!" Stonehide says angrily as he comes out, stomping his way over to me, his wolf beside him growling at me.

"Stopping a tragedy from happening. Did you know these Jormud Snakes are sapient!?" I reply just as angrily, stepping in between him and the snakes.

That makes him stop in his tracks just five feet away from me with a shocked expression.

Whisper looks terrified while Orion stands beside her, no longer looking timid but frowning at Stonehide. Mr Shady's eyes are wide and alert, but not an expression of shock like surprised, but shocked like I just revealed something he didn't want anyone else to know.

"They're what?" Stonehide asks slowly, his shock turning to a frown.

I point to the two snakes still quivering on the ground behind me. "Does that look like the reaction of a wild beast? They're terrified right now. I saw how they interacted with each other, and that wasn't how a mindless beast would behave. A beast's first reaction would have been to flee while ignoring the other for self preservation, but the smaller one seemed to beg the other for help who tried to stand up for it," I tell him and walk up to him, making him back up a couple of steps.

I lean into his face with a neutral expression. "Pull your hunters out of the forest and cease hunting these snakes," I tell him.

He scowls at me and pushes his forehead against mine, while his horns go past the sides of my head.

"We have been hunting these beasts for decades! You expect me to believe they have intelligence and never retaliated against us for hunting them after all this time!? Just because you say so," he says with gritted teeth, trying to push against me but is having little success in moving me.

"Perhaps they have a custom or belief that wouldn't allow them to retaliate! Until we learn more about them and find a method of communication, I won't allow you to hunt them any further!" I reply and push back, making him yelp as he falls onto his back.

I notice the other hunter is looking conflicted as he looks between us and the snakes, so I turn to look at him. "Don't even think of attacking them," I warn him and hold my shields up at the ready.

Four of the other hunters arrive from the treeline, two of them carrying a dead snake each. One is five metres long while the other is a little over six. I frown at them while they look confused.

"Hunters! It would appear our 'friend' has decided to disgrace our tradition and has turned on us!" Mr Shady tells them with cruel glare at me. "Ready your weapons and prepare for battle!" he then tells them and holds his spear up.

The hunters glare at me and drop their kills as their wolves growl and stalk towards me.

"I knew this would come back to bite me, but I won't allow these two to be harmed," I tell them and look back to see the two snakes looking at me through their coiled up bodies.

I look back at the hunters and frown. "You still want to hunt snakes? Let's see how you handle this one," I say and change god to Jormungandr, the world serpent.

A portal opens below me and I fall through into an endless void like space that feels like thick water as my body morphs into a VERY long and large reptilian purple snake. Bone spikes line the sides of my body with a straight line of fins going down the centre of my back, with more bone spikes to each side of the fins.

I have two horns on the back of my head pointing backwards. I have two large fins on the sides of my jaws with bone spikes lining my jaw down to my chin. My teeth are large and sharp with a large powerful forked tongue behind them.

My eyes glow purple while a blue energy glows in between the scales along my whole body.

With a roar, I swim through the void and out of the portal, my body rising out over the tree line as I bend my body and head back down. My head alone is now twice the size of Stonehide as I glare down at him and the hunters who now back away from me with fear in their eyes.

Whisper is staring at me jaw agape along with Orion.

"Still want this fight?" I ask them in a loud deep voice that causes the very air to rumble.

Mr Shady just stares at me wide eyed. "Monster... Retreat! Back to Hornhiem! We must warn the magai!" he then tells the hunters who turn tail and run. I notice two of them try to grab their kills but I inhale and gather saliva in my mouth before spitting it out ahead of them. It splashes down onto the ground in a puddle of dark purple toxic sludge that melts the flora that touches it. Fumes coming off of it as the sound of sizzling fills the air.

"Leave them behind or the next shot will be on you," I warn them coldly.

They wisely drop the bodies and run away after Mr Shady.

I look back down to Stonehide who hasn't moved an inch and is glaring at me.

"You still wish to fight? I have no intention of killing or even hurting you, but I will if you intend to harm these two," I tell him and lean down right in his face.

He glances to the two snakes who are now uncoiled and staring at me with wide unbelieving eyes.

While he seems to be debating with himself, I turn to look at Whisper. "If you wish to return to your village, I will understand. After this, I doubt I'll be welcome here again," I tell her, making Stonehide cringe at how close to my loud rumbling voice he is. "I have no regrets protecting children from being killed, even if it means severing any chance of friendly relations with the minotaurs."

"I-I-I..." she stutters in bewilderment, but Stonehide speaks up.

"You really believe these snakes to be intelligent?" he asks me dead serious.

"I do, just because they don't speak our languages, doesn't mean they don't have one of their own. This may be my first time seeing them, but even I noticed the expression of fear on their faces," I reply and lean away from him. "Fear is not an emotion a feral beast expresses, but these two expressed it plenty enough for me."

"W-Who is he?" I hear a quiet young female voice say behind me.

"I don't know... but get ready to slither away when I tell you to!" the voice of a young boy replies to her and I look back to see the two snakes huddled together staring at me.

"H-He's looking at us!" the smaller female says with worry.

I lean over to them making them flinch back. "Fear not little ones, I will not harm you, nor allow any harm to befall you," I tell them as quietly as I can making Stonehide and Whisper gasp.

"What was that!?" Stonehide says in surprise, making me turn back to him.

"H-He's speaking to them! Just like he did with the wolves!" Whisper replies in awe.

"Stonehide," I speak up getting his attention. "It appears they can talk with their own language, so will you leave them all alone from now on, or will I have to protect them myself," I ask him in a serious tone.

He frowns at me and looks to the two frightened snakes for a few seconds before looking back at me. "Very well, I will try to halt further hunts for now, but I alone may not halt them for long. You and I will have a long and lengthy talk about all this later," he replies and turns to leave.

I watch as he leaves the forest leaving Whisper, Orion, the two snakes, and myself.

I turn to the snakes and lean back down to them. "Alright then, you two are safe now. Do you both have names?" I ask them both gently.

The girl snake gulps and speaks up. "Severa" she tells me nervously.

The boy snake narrows his eyes at me and flicks his tongue out. "Hevaan" he tells me next with suspicion in his tone.

I'm barely able to smile with my facial structure. "I am Pantheon, God of the changelings. I came here to make friends with the minotaurs, but it seems I may be making friends with your people first now," I introduce myself and explain to them what I'm doing here.

"Min-na-taurs?" Hevaan asks unsure of the word.

"The creatures that were chasing you are called minotaurs," I reply making him frown.

"We call them kagogres, they've been preying on us for many many cycles now..." he tells me with a frown on his face.

"And what do you call yourselves?" I then ask him.

"We are the Unari..." he says while Severa has her head plunged into my portal.

"SEVERA!" Hevaan yells and wraps his head around her midsection before yanking her head out.

"He's HUGE!" she instantly tells him with excitement. It would appear now that she knows I won't harm her she's acting more like a curious child.

I chuckle but stop as Severa yelps and hides behind Hevaan as she's noticed Whisper and Orion looking at them.

"It's okay, she's with me and she's not like the others. She's friendly and won't harm you, her name is Whisper Wind, and the wolf next to her is Orion," I tell them.

Severa leans to the side to look at them while Hevaan is glaring at Whisper who is nervously standing there.

This is going to be a long day...

Author's Note

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