Godly
Chapter 28: New friends

I sigh internally as I'm not sure if I should send Whisper back to her village or not. "Do you have a village or community?" I ask both Hevaan and Sereva.

Hevaan looks between us before groaning. "I'm taking Severa back home. I'd be thankful if you brought Usara and She'an back with us," he replies and looks to the two corpses the hunters brought.

I smile sadly at him. "I can do that. Once I change form, I won't be able to understand you again. So I'll just follow you to your home," I reply and change god to Hercules.

They look at me in surprise as I walk over to the corpses. I lean down to pick up the first but my eyes widen as its not dead but breathing very lightly and raggedly with unfocused eyes. It looks like its neck is broken but I should be able to heal it.

I change god again to Aphrodite and quickly place my left hand on its neck and pour my energy into it. I can feel and sense the bones realigning while the crushed and torn muscles are mended.

After a tense couple of minutes, the snake gasps and starts coughing violently. I give a tiny bit more energy to soothe their throat as they just lay there breathing heavily. I move to check on the other snake but unfortunately, this one is dead. I really need to learn how the underworld gods work and see if there is a way of bringing back at least recently deceased people...

I change back to Hercules and pick up the still living snake and wrap it carefully around my shoulders like a scarf, then pick up the dead snake with my left hand.

Once ready, I look towards Whisper. "Now then choose, I send you home or you can come along. I'll protect you should they decide to attack you," I tell her making her frown in thought. Orion though instantly moves to sit beside me.

"I want to come. This is big, for decades we thought they were just wild beasts, but you just proved they're more than that. I want to see the real them," she replies with an expression of determination.

"Alright then. Stay close to me in case they decide to attack you," I tell her, making her quickly run over to me. She now looks nervous as she fiddles with her pack's strap.

I turn to the two young Unari and smile at them with a nod. Severa looks at me in awe while Hevaan looks shocked at the snake around my neck who seems to have fallen asleep if the hissing like snoring is any indicator.

Hevaan shakes his head and hisses lightly at me before turning and slithering away with Severa close behind him. I jog along after them where Whisper yelps before following. Orion easily keeps up beside me as he trots along.

I have to jump over some bushes and fallen trees now and then as the two young Unari easily navigate the forest. Although Whisper seems to be lagging behind, never having had to traverse a forest at this speed most likely.

After a good half an hour through the forest, we come across a waterfall flowing into a small lake which has a river running out from it. Flowers and other beautiful plants populate the edges of the lake as the rays of the sun shine off the water's surface.

Hevaan Stops to look back at me and hisses before he and Severa slither to and through the waterfall. I just grumble that I'm going to get wet before Whisper jogs past me and uses her water magic to split the waterfall, allowing us to pass through dry.

"Thank you," I tell her getting a strained smile in return.

I quickly pass through where Whisper and Orion follow me in. Whisper then gasps as she stops casting and the water flows naturally again.

"You okay?" I ask her.

"Y-Yeah... Constantly moving that much fast flowing water is a bit stressful on my magic..." she replies as she pants for breath.

I notice both of the young Unari waiting for us and staring at Whisper warily.

After a few minutes she recovers and starts walking over to me. I turn back to the two Unari and nod to them. They start heading into the dark cave and we follow behind where a faint light at the end of the tunnel can be seen. I almost trip a few times on some unseen rocks but once we get to the end of the tunnel, I have to blink to readjust to the bright sunlight.

I look around and notice the whole area is enclosed in a large crater like bowl, I think this is a very old meteorite crash site. Nature has long since reclaimed this place, but I still see rock spires and many small crevasses around. A small woodland area sits in the centre with a strange faint blue glow within it.

I spot more Unari to our left near what looks like burrows in the rocky walls where Hevaan and Severa head over to them quickly while three rather large ten metre long Unari surround us with mild frowns on their faces. The middle one has a scar across his left eye and the eye itself looks blind with a milky white cloudy look to it.

"Hi..." I say dumbly as I look up at him. I'm guessing either they're waiting for us to do something or they're not attacking due to the two Unari I'm currently carrying.

After a tense few minutes, Hevaan and Severa come back over with an old looking seven metre long Unari with grey scales and white fur going down its back. It hisses at me a few times but I have no idea what it said. So I carefully put down both the dead and still living Unari where two of the ten metre long Unari gently clasp their mouths over their necks and carefully pull them away.

I use this chance to change into Jormungandr, once again falling into the portal that opens below me, morphing into the giant world serpent. But this time, I come out slowly and calmly as to not startle them. Though that still doesn't stop most of them from flinching back at my shear size.

From my vantage point in the sky, I see the whole crater and that its thriving with the Unari all over it. Dens or homes litter the wall’s rim all the way around and I can see the glow in the centre more clearly now. It appears to be coming from the meteorite that must have crashed here ages ago.

Birds flee the area around us from my sudden appearance as I lean back down to the Unari staring at me.

"Told you he was HUGE!" Severa tells the others with a giggle.

"Greetings, I am Pantheon, God of the Changelings," I introduce myself to them.

The elderly Unari then slithers closer with wide eyes and leans up as close to my face as it could, staring into my eyes and replies in a female tone. "I do not know what a god is, but you have my gratitude for saving my hatch-lings offspring and She'an, as well as returning Usara's body to us. I am Avir'ra, and welcome to our home," she replies and bows her head to me. Though she looks towards Whisper and Orion with worry.

"I am glad I was able to help. And do not fear Whisper Wind and Orion, they are with me and will do no harm to any of you. I came here to build relations with the Minotaurs, or the Kagogres as you call them. That was before I learned of your people and decided to help Hevaan and Severa instead," I reply.

"So you are friends with those savages." The Unari with the scar doesn't ask, but states coldly.

"No, I went to make friends with them, but it would appear I am now considered a monster or enemy by most of them now for protecting Hevaan and Severa. Whisper Wind behind me is the only one I have managed to befriend and she too would like to befriend your people," I reply to him neutrally.

"Friends with a murderous savage!? I would rather have my scales removed and my fangs torn out!" he replies before shooting Whisper a cold glare, making the poor Minotaur flinch.

His glare turns to me as I lower myself more to block his view of her. "To harm her is to harm me, and I will protect her, remember that before you do something we will all regret," I warn him, making him hiss aggressively before slithering away.

I sigh and turn back to Avir'ra who speaks up. "I apologise for his attitude, but the Kagogres are the ones who killed his sisters when he was younger... and he blames himself for not being able to protect them, its where he got his scar from," she informs me with a sigh of her own.

"I see. That would make anyone hateful towards the ones responsible," I say and frown. "Let me see if I can take a more convenient form, as I don't think I'll be able to move around in this form without destroying something," I tell her and think of another serpentine god.

I think of Kukulkan, Serpent of the nine winds.

My body shrinks down to about eight metres long and two pairs of orange-ish red feathered wings sprout from my body, the top pair being two metres long while the pair under them being just over one metre.

My scales turn dark green while my under scales are a paler green. In between my "chest" scales orange-ish red energy glows and pulses with each breath I take. My eyes glow with the same colour and energy while a Mayan themed golden headdress sits upon my head with orange-ish red feathers coming out the back of it.

I immediately start flapping my wings to prevent myself face-planting the ground and the Unari around me look in awe at my new form.

"There, this should be better for getting around, I hope you can still understand me," I say and ask Avir'ra.

"We can... never before in my many cycles of the seasons have I met a being as interesting as you," she replies and looks me all over.

"I don't suppose you know who Discord is then would you?" I ask with a chuckle.

"If it is a name of a being from the other races, then no. It is not like we could have learnt their tongues being confined here," she replies sadly.

"I see... but now that I am here, perhaps one day I can teach you the common language of the other races," I tell her as I gently land on the ground and fold my wings to my sides. "Now then, since my plan for befriending the Minotaurs has been sidetracked, I suppose I should start with yours. Would you mind giving us a tour of your home?" I ask her kindly.

"I would be honoured, it is the least I can do for what you have done for me," she replies and starts slithering away.

"Whisper, Avir'ra will now give us a tour of her home and the area. Stay close to me," I tell my companion who meekly walks over to me and gulps as some of the Unari are still staring at her. Orion is instantly beside me as we follow Avir'ra.

There's not much around as Avir'ra guides us. I guess having no means to manipulate objects would be a handicap to advance or progress.

The burrows in the crater's walls are just dug out holes with enough room for four ten metre long Unari to fit comfortably. There are also nests or beds made from large leaves and moss inside each burrow.

"What is the blue glow coming from the woodland area?" I ask Avir'ra.

She turns to me with an expression of thought. "It is a sacred stone that we believe keeps the Kagogres from finding our home," she tells me.

Perhaps it is radiating some kind of magic? "I see. How long have your people been here?" I ask then her.

"For many seasons. I am of the seventh generation since we've been here," she replies as Severa slithers over and coils around Avir'ra's body until she reaches her head and rests her chin on top.

"I'm of the ninth generation!" Severa tells me with a giggle.

I can only smile at her carefree attitude despite nearly dying today. "And how many seasons do you live for?" I ask Avir'ra.

"Hmmm, about two-hundred at most. I am one-hundred and seventy-three seasons old myself," she replies.

"That's a long time. Have you ever thought of venturing out beyond the forests around this crater?" I ask her.

She sighs and shakes her head. "Many have tried to see the world beyond, but they all fell to the Kagogres. If any made it past them, they have never returned to tell the tale," she replies with a sad tone.

"I have the ability to make portals to other locations I have been to before. If any of you want to see other locations, I'd be happy to help you see them," I tell her making her frown.

"We have lived here for a long time now, I'm not sure if we'll ever leave this place," she replies while looking at a few young Unari playing together.

I smile as one of the young Unari tackles another while laughing. "It's something to think about at least," I say and turn to her.

"For now we are content with our lives, but thank you for the offer," she tells me and coughs lightly with a pained expression.

"Are you okay?" I ask her with worry.

"I fear I may not have much longer to live, I have contracted an illness two seasons ago that will someday take my life," she replies making Severa look sad.

I frown at her and then smirk, while Aphrodite can heal physical wounds very well, she's not great with illnesses and diseases. Though I have another healer goddess named Hel who is great at cleansing illnesses and negative magical effects.

She also affects my personality depending on which stance I'm in. In light stance, I'm kind and bubbly and don't feel like hurting anyone. But in dark stance, I'm aggressive, easy to anger, and rather vulgar.

"I may be able to help you with that," I reply and smile at her. "I will change form and will be unable to understand you, but I believe I may be able to remove your illness," I tell her.

Her eyes widen and she stares at me. "You can?" she asks in surprise.

I nod and change god to Hel, Goddess of the Underworld. I change form to a woman with pale skin and long golden hair, My eyes glow with a golden energy my clothes are a pure white shoulderless robe with thick white fur lining revealing a lot of cleavage and exposing my hips. I have thigh long light grey stockings with golden rings around my ankles and shins.

On my head is a large white hood also with a white fur lining with gold trimming behind it.

Around my waist is a golden belt with a golden wolf head in the middle and a bigger wolf head on each hip. Around my neck is a golden necklace with a ruby or garnet in inlaid.

Lastly, I have two bicep long fur lined gloves with golden bracers over the top.

I hold both my hands out and use Hel's Cleanse ability, a golden spell circle with Norse runes forms and starts spinning under Avir'ra.

All the Unari around us and Whisper stare as the circle glows brighter before flashing and fading. Avir'ra's body glows with a golden light and she sighs as her body relaxes. I then cast Restoration, throwing a golden orb from my right hand at her which moulds around her body, healing her a little bit in case the illness did any internal damage before jumping back to me which I absorb.

Once over, I change back to Kukulkan and slither up to Avir'ra. "So how do you feel?" I ask her.

She takes a deep breath and sighs. "I... I feel better than I have in many seasons..." she replies contently. Her eyes are closed and a smile on her face as her tongue flickers out for a second.

"Good to hear. Now then, I need to head back to the Minotaurs city to see if I can get them to stop attacking you. Stonehide has agreed to halt any further hunts for now but we don't know how long that will last. You can use this time to gather anything you need from the forest outside, and I recommend you keep to groups of at least five at all times. The Minotaurs seem to pick you off if you're alone so staying in a group will hopefully deter them," I tell her and look to Whisper who nervously looks at Heevan who is next to her and is looking back at her with narrowed eyes.

"You would convince them to cease hunting us?" she asks in surprise.

I look back to her and smile. "Of course, you are a young and still growing race, and I want to help you grow even further," I reply and turn back to Whisper who is now leaning away from Heevan who has his head next to hers with still narrowed eyes.

"Thank you, I shall pray to the winds that you are successful," Avir'ra says and bows her head to me.

"I shall return when I have any good news. I can make portals that allow me to travel to wherever I have been to before, so I will use that now to leave so you can see what they look like and not to worry when you see one open again. I shall open it near the entrance of the waterfall when I return okay?" I tell her.

"Very well, we look forward to your success," she replies and looks back up at me.

I nod and change to Janus, then hover over to Whisper. "Are you ready to go, Whisper?" I ask her getting her to nod quickly while Heevan just hisses lightly and backs away from her.

I chuckle and open a portal to the crude road heading into Hornhiem. I gesture for her to go first and she quickly goes through with Orion close behind her. I turn to Avir'ra and politely bow to her getting a deep nod back.

With a smile I head through and close the portal.

"S-So how did it go?" Whisper finally speaks up.

"Better than I could have hoped. Now we just need to convince Hornhiem to stop hunting them. Something I think will take a miracle to do," I reply and sigh.

"Well... if we tell the magai what we discovered, I'm sure they'll listen and... stop?" she says with uncertainty.

"Perhaps, but we won't find out unless we talk with them first," I tell her and look towards the city. Already Minotaurs are gathering at the gate with weapons in hand. "But first we need to talk with them..." I say in annoyance. I notice Stonehide at the front and he seems to be waiting for me.

"If things go south and they attack us both, I'll make a portal back to my city so we can escape without fighting, okay? After that you can decide to stay with us for a while or I send you back to your village," I tell her seriously.

"O-Okay... though if I had to choose and stay with you, I ask you to bring my family as well. If I'm declared a betrayer, they'll punish my family as betrayers as well," she replies. She's scared and shaking slightly.

"Very well, stay behind me and don't say anything about the Unari," I tell her and start hovering over to the gate.

She keeps up behind me and Orion stays beside her. We keep a good twenty feet from the gate and Stonehide frowns a bit before walking over to us.

"So you've returned," he says to me and stops right in front of me so we're face to face. The other Minotaurs look on edge and ready to fight.

"Yes, and after spending some time with the Unari, I am perfectly certain they are an intelligent, sapient race just like us," I reply.

"Unari?" he asks confused.

"It's what they call themselves, and they call you Minotaurs Kagogres," I reply.

He hums in thought and looks down for a couple of seconds. "I see... And how do you propose to stop a tradition we've held for centuries?" he asks me.

"I hope to speak with your magai and convince them to leave the Unari alone," I reply.

"And if they refuse?" he asks with a raised brow.

"I won't fight you if that's what you're wondering. But I will relocate all of the Unari so you can't hunt them any more," I tell him sternly. "What I want from this is everyone getting along, though the Unari will take many years to forgive you for killing their friends and families. One of them hates Minotaurs so much because they killed his sisters," I tell him.

"Then unfortunately for you, Horn Point informed the magai before I returned and has convinced them you are some evil god and the snakes are now your servants," he tells me with a huff.

I look at him surprised. "And they just believed him?" I ask.

"When he's the son of the grand magai, he'll listen to his own blood over just the chieftain's son," he replies with a frown.

Great... This is going to be tough. "Can you at least get them to hear me out?" I ask him with a frown.

"I can certainly try. But it might just be best to take the... Unari right?" he asks and I nod. "Take them somewhere else. This is a very old tradition and I doubt they'd just stop it just because we've learnt the snakes are smarter than we thought," he tells me with a groan at then end.

"If it comes down to it, I will. I also have to ask, will Whisper be seen as a betrayer just because she followed me? All she's done so far was guide me here," I ask him with worry.

He looks at Whisper who whimpers quietly. "Most likely. If you have to leave take her with you, otherwise she'll have her horns removed and exiled to the wastes," he tells me and looks behind him towards the gate.

I now notice Mr Shady there glaring at us.

"I will stay in this form so if we need to flee, I can just portal out with Whisper and Orion. Now let's go see if we can convince them," I say and gesture towards the gate with my right hand.

He snorts and rolls his shoulders. "That's if the hunters don't attack you first," he replies and walks off to the gate.

I turn to whisper and nod towards the city. "Come on and stay close," I tell her.

I keep Khepria in my thoughts just in case I need to portal out fast as we move to the gate.

Author's Note

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