One Month Later

  I stood at the center of my dream scape for the first time in a very long time. I had been procrastinating, anxious about seeing and speaking with a friend that I knew I would would never see again after this. It was somewhat selfish of me, true... But to Draxly and the other departed souls, time meant nothing any more. Whether I had come to see them off instantly or a month later, they would not know the difference.

  Still, having not been here for so long, i was rather shocked by the changes that had been made. It was still a place existing in a twilit dark forest, with purple blossoms in the trees. But it felt so much more open and welcoming now. The white marble stone work felt less cold, the fire a little more inviting, and the forest a little less daunting.

  Normally this place would reflect my inner feeling, it being a literal manifestation of my state of mind and all that. And to say that my inner feelings were a bit of a mess right now would not be an under statement at all. I was still angry with the ogres, hurt at the losses, and at the same time, hopeful for the future. yet, looking at this place, one would think that everything was right as rain.

  Speaking of rain, the outside world was getting more than it's seasonal average of it at the moment. Again, this was likely due to my mood. But, here the sky was clear.

  A few new things were now present, of course. For one, there appeared to be a small seating arrangement near the platform my fire rested upon. A small, wrought iron table and two similar chairs padded with purple seats. It looked like a grand place to sit and have a cup of tea, if I were being honest. Was I unconsciously expecting guest here?

  Then I remembered that it was like that was impossible. After all, I had already had one bubbly red head here before.

  Speaking of people lurking in my head space... Aeros was still as present as ever. The large lizard was currently napping near the tree's edge, ignoring me as if the master of this place had not just arrived after all this time. That was fine, I didn't particularly wish to speak to him either.

  Another new addition were the many butterflies fluttering about. They were small and appeared to be made of purple-ish pink energy. I was not surprised by these, as they had been intentional. One could say that they were a project that I had been working on over the last month since returning to the estate. They were a creation that I had planned to use as my eyes around my territory. They could fly out across my lands and relay information back to me in real time.

  Not only did I hope that they would improve my over all awareness of the comings and goings of my territory, but I also hoped that they would act as a sort of early warning system, as well as a deterrent. If monsters like Varda saw these little guys around all the time, they would be less likely to try and defy me and my ideals. And if they did get any funny ideas, then the butterflies could relay that information to me before the fools could raise another army that i would be forced to take out again.

  Was this a little overbearing and interfering in the lives of my people? Yes, it absolutely was, and had this been the me of about a year ago, I would have been horrified at the thought of invading peoples privacy or sense of privacy at least. it wasn't like I had the things following people around individually after all. Not at the moment any way. But I had already decided to take a more active and interfering roll here anyway. I made it perfectly clear at the end of the conference that it was going to be my way, or no way from here on out. And as far as i was concerned, that meant that the surveillance was a must, unfortunately.

  Heck, from the way the monsters described other gods- namely Aeros- it seemed that they could also see what their people were up to most of the time as well. None of my current subjects had voiced any concerns when I had shown them the butterflies at any rate.

  There were many ways to send the dead on. Most of the time it was all done rather automatically. Almost as if it was just second nature for me to send their energies back out into the world, and send their consciousnesses off to where ever it was they went after death. Perhaps there was a heaven here, I did not know. I had learned that the many and varied peoples of this world held many beliefs and I did not know even half of them.

  what I did know was that Land gods acted as a sort of middle man. We handled the energies that animated bodies, gave them magic and life, and redirected those energies where ever it was that the world needed them. As for the souls of individuals... well, there was a little wiggle room there. So long as the souls remained in the mortal realm, it seemed like I held some power over them. As evidenced by my disillusion of Varda's cohorts and my manipulation of Mittens (also referred to as the Specter) into a cat form rather than just sending them onward.

  As for the souls that I released off into the great nothingness... well, I really had no clue what happened to them, other than the 'true gods' handled it. The way I pictured it was that land gods like myself were sort of like supervisors or managers, while the 'true gods' were like CEO's or something.

  Either way, once the souls were released, they were out of my hands.

  And I think this, above all else, was why I had procrastinated handling Draxly's passing till now. I was simply putting off the day I had to truly say goodbye to my friend.

  I walked past the dragon, who I was pretty sure was just faking to be asleep, and past the gazebo like structure holding the large bonfire, and enter the surrounding woods. It was here that my mind had constructed a sort of send off point for the souls of my people. Whether they be people I knew, people I never met, or even creatures that were not people at all but rather small monsters that lived within my lands. All went through here, divesting their mortal energies back into my fire where I then directed them as they need to go, and their souls departed onwards.

  The structure itself was rather simple: a marble dais, over grown with roots and vines and currently a large number of butterflies. There were two cracked marble pillars, roman in design, and between them was a swirling, pale blue, portal of sorts. I suppose it was my mind's representation of a doorway to the after life.

  I did not see a massive crowd of deceased here. There was no long waiting line, nor some sort of strange, purgatory waiting room. Just the forest and the portal. But every few seconds it looked like a figure (A person, monster or animal) would materialize before the gate before stepping through and vanishing. This repeated it self every few seconds.

  There was one figure that was present, however. Standing off to the side as if he had been waiting there all along was none other than Draxly. The foxie male stood in fine black leather armor as if her had just walked in before a battle, his fur clean and sleek, bright eyes locked on me and crinkled at the corners in a pleasant smile. It was my friend. It was just Draxly...

  I felt my chest tighten and i nearly stumbled as emotion swelled up. I took a deep breath and approached the man. He was still taller than me and had too look down. It all just felt so familiar, and he looked so solid and not dead. One would almost think he were still alive after all. But I would not allow myself to think that, not even for a second. Draxly was dead, and there was no bringing him back. At least not to my knowledge.

  "Lady Enna." He said, with a smile. Almost a laugh, really. His voice did sound strange, however. Almost like I was hearing if at the end of a long tunnel. I was deep, quiet, and far away. This, more than anything, seemed to make the fact that he was gone feel real.

  "Hello Draxly." I said, whipping a tear from the corner of my eye. I had to force myself from saying something stupid like 'how have you been?', or 'you look well.' out of habit. Instead, I lowered my head and said: "I'm sorry..."

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  To my surprise, the foxie laughed. Well, it was more of a chuckle, but for Draxly that was almost a full bellied laugh! "What is there to be sorry about? People die, Lady Enna, no matter how much you may love them. Death comes to everyone eventually. Even the gods..."

  I looked up and saw that Draxly's eyes had been looking past me where you could just make out Aeros' dark scaly back past the trees. He did not comment of how a supposedly dead god was hanging out here, catching a nap. Nor did he ask if this dragon was, indeed, Aeros at all. Maybe such concerns were a bit of a moot point once you died.

  "This was, quite simply, my time to die. Please do not feel regret for my sake." He said, a furry hand extended to pat me on the head. It was not something he would have done so easily in life, but I really did not mind. In fact, I savored his touch, knowing that it would be the last. "I will not be foolish enough to tell you that I am leaving this world with no regrets at all... but I have lived a good life. A life where history was made, and a life where I was able to usher in a new and brighter future for my kin. It was a good life, Lady Enna. One made all the bright for having you in it."

  "Um... Luxana..." i started, sheepishly. I did not want to make him sad when he seemed to be in a relatively good mood despite the circumstances.

  Looking at him, however, I saw only contentment and peace. He smiled. "Luxana also knows the fickleness of Life. I am more than happy to have spent the last weeks of my life with her as I had. It means one less regret that I have. And it is thanks to you, Lady Enna, that I felt secure enough in our future to pursue her as I did. I hope only that she does not grieve me too long, and that she can continue to be happy."

  "Um, well... actually... Luxana, she is pregnant." I said nervously. i wasn't sure why I was so nervous to tell him this. Probably I did not want to add another regret to his list. After all, he no longer could watch his child grow.

  And it was growing! I had never really thought about it before Luxana told me of her pregnancy, but apparently monster gestations were much shorter than human ones. At only just over a month along she was already showing. And, according to Brixie and the other females, she was due to give birth in just over a month!

  Apparently monsters gave birth according to their environment. Because the forest was so rich and vibrant now, the baby was able to grow much faster than babies that had been conceived before I became a god. According to Brixie, she had been pregnant with Ozzie for nearly six months. It looked like Luxana would be due in a little less than three months total. On top of that, I was also told that monsters come to adulthood faster than non-monster races. The exact speed differed per race, but I was told that Luxana's pup could be up and running in less than six months!

  To say that my mind had been sent spinning by this information had been an understatement. the others found my excitement around the baby amusing and endearing. But to me, that little baby was going to be my niece or nephew and no one could tell me other wise. Brixie had clicked her tongue in amusement at my fussing, claiming that the baby would be too spoiled for its own good. She was probably right.

  I watched Draxly's eyes grow wide and then a smile broke over his face, it was the largest I had ever seen him wear, bearing shiny white teeth in the process. "Truly?" He asked, seeming to be delighted.

  I nodded. "She seems very happy about it. We all are. The others think that I am too happy about it... " I added, a little sulkily. who were they to tell me I couldn't make a massive playroom for the baby? Or get it all sorts of clothes? I was simply bolstering our growing economy, that was all!

  Draxly laughed. "I am glad." He grew silent for a second, just staring down at me. Then he reached out a hand and set it upon my shoulder. "Thank you, Lady Enna. Indeed, I unsure how I can express just how grateful I truly am."

  "Huh? Why?"

  He laughed again. "I am not surprised that you are confused. It is the reaction I have come to expect from you, after all. I am grateful that my child will grow up in a world created and governed by you. Before you came along, birth rates were at an all time low, deaths at an all time high, and the future was bleak. The foxkin were on the verge of dyeing out, either to famine or at the hands of the goblins. There was no food in the forest, no fish in the lakes and rivers, and it seemed that the very air we breathed was becoming poisoned. Then, one day, Ozzie brings you home..." At that Draxly grinned brightly once again. "And a greater gift he could not have found. I do not know how it is you came to be here, nor why. What I do know is that this forest would be drastically different, and far worse off, if you hadn't. So thank you."

  Embarrassed, I found it hard to hold his gaze. "I don't think it was anything all that grand. i was just paying back the kindness shown to me in any way I could. Really, i am pretty sure that I am just managing this whole Land god business by the skin of my teeth... People like Brixie and Margund are the real people holding it all together."

  "True, we have many great leaders. And you have wisely decided to let them do just that. But Margund and Elder Brixie, for all their talents, can not purify the waters, tame the wilds, and bring together the races living in our forest. These are things that only you can do, as our Land God. And I am sure that it is a job that, had you actually wanted to, you could have cast aside. You could have left the forest and joined the humans in Pern. You could have lived a life there, amongst your own kind and abandoned us monsters to the lives we were living. But you did not. I don't even think it crossed your mind, as a matter of fact."

  "Er..." I said, unable to deny that. It actually had not crossed my mind that I could have just left the forest and tried to live my life as a proper human of this world. I did not know the intentions of what ever being that brought me to this world had, but they did not seem to have put any such shackles on me that would prevent me from leaving. Not that I ever actually tried.

  "I don't think you have any intentions of leaving either." He continued.

  "No." I said. I was here for life now, no matter if that 'out' was still available or not. I didn't think I could possibly pass as human any more. But even if I could, I didn't want to. This was my home now.

  "so, I guess I have but one request before I head though that gate way over there." Draxly said, nodding his head toward the portal that still have souls flashing through it. I nodded, heart heavy, as I waited to hear my friend's last request. "Please keep doing what you are doing. I know you are sad to see me go, and I know that you will have to say farewell to us all at some point... Except, maybe, Kishi. As a guardian, her fate is tied to yours. But the rest of us are mortal, and you are not. I am sad to say that we all will leave you in this manner eventually. Whether it be through battle or through the erosion of time. But please do not loose heart. Know that, like how Luxana is welcoming my child into this world. others will be doing the same. You will never be left alone in this world, Lady Enna."

  It was then that I could hold my tears back no more, and they silently slipped down my cheeks. I didn't know what to say. Heck, I didn't know what I could say. Draxly set his hand on the top of my now bowed head and continued.

  "My request is that you keep protecting and guiding these lands so that my child, my child's child, and everyone that comes after can also know the joy of living under your rule. Do not grow distant as those like Aeros have done. Continue to love and cherish us, so long as we continue to love and cherish you. I want my future family to grow knowing the world I had become accustom to seeing through your vision."

  "I can do that..." I said in a choaked voice and felt the hand slip from my head.

  Draxly walked toward the portal and I simply watched him go. my heart felt so heavy, though it wasn't exactly with sadness. Yes, it hurt to know my friend was gone, but he was right that all things must die eventually, and that the living must keep going. He stopped just before entering the sky-blue doorway and looked back at me, his face calm and contented.

  "If I could ask one thing of the True Gods, I would ask that my soul be aloud to come under your service once again." He said, looking quite happy. "I would not care in what form it was, only that I might continue to protect the future you have painted for us Lady Enna. A future where my family can grow as large as they want, and not care one bit about the worries I had as a child. it is a good future, and I hope that it is a future that I can keep on protecting, even in my next life."

  With that, not even waiting for me to say a last farewell, he stepped through the portal with the smallest flashes of light. Then he was just gone.

  But, I wasn't sad anymore. Well, maybe a little. But not as I had been until then. Draxly may be gone, but all that he loved and cherished still existed, and my friend had left me with a job to do. I would not let him down. No matter what trials I had to face in the future, I would meet them head on, and protect what needed protecting.

  I walked away from the portal, and back to ward the dragon. Once I reached him, I set a small pale hand on his scales and sighed.

  "The horns and wings and an interesting new look." Drawled the dragon, proving that he had been faking the whole time.

  I looked over my shoulder at the branch like wings growing there. I was rather fond of them, actually. Though I was also glad that, outside of this dream world, I could hide both them and the branch like antlers. Other wise they would always be in the way. Though, I had noticed that my hair- which normally was closer to white when not in my 'true form'- was now permanently more silver in color. And the glow, which I had become so used to that I had basically forgotten was a thing, was now more pronounced as well. I was basically a walking dim torch these days...

  "Thanks..." I said in an equally sarcastic tone.

  I think it was safe to say that the future, from here on out, was going to be interesting indeed.