“FUCK! You are him aren’t you?” Furengur said.

“Yeah sorry. Didn’t intend to lie but that felt like the best way to ease into the conversation,” I said.

“Ya are sneaky fucker I give ya that. Ya just do that soul thing I heard bout?” He asked.

“Yes. It was the reason for our battle in the first place. You are the first person with a similar body shape that I have connected to,” I said.

“Similiar body huh? So this whatcha really look like then. Ah well, that’s fine I guess. To the victor go the spoils. If a beasty had gotten me they would have eaten my body. Ya just taking that a step further,” he said.

“Glad there are no hard feelings. Speak with Hardok and Tiny about settling in. They will help you figure out how to make stuff in this world and how to occupy your time,” I said.

“I’ll do just that. This drink tastes like piss. You better help. In Fortress of Molten Steel, you will find an old Giant cook. He is nearly blind but his skills at kitchen work have only improved. I don’t think he will mind a more permanent retirement if you give it to him. And if you plan on claiming a few of my clansmen and women, you will want him here to keep their bellies sated. They will bitch and moan about dying but we all know we can’t choose when it happens. At least here isn’t too half bad of a place,” Furengur said.

“Will do. Nice to meet you Furengur,” I said. He raised his keg.

I left to go find the assassin next. The elf’s name was Lanerous. He was a young male around 80 years old. He had been raised on the glory of the elves used to have and a hatred of the empire was cultivated in him. Poor guy had been radicalized against his own people. It's not like the empire doesn’t make it easy for some people. I found him sitting in the newly created Memory Hall. My old system of organization had been rearranged by Clarion, Rubert, and a few others who could be trusted. It was now easier for them to find specific memories and events instead of just my days. The extra help also lets them curate what memories they could let others see. They had a selection of memories anyone could take and they had a board detailing the things I had recently done. If someone wanted to see something they did not have on offer they could make a request and a curator would provide it in a few days.

Lanerous was sitting in a lounge area outside the hall. He had a memory orb of Bysaes Tyl. I sat down in an oversized bean bag chair across from him. The planning committee had to design everything to fit a wide range of body shapes so bean bag chairs were the best they could do. He soon came out of the memory. He took a second and then focused on me.

“You. I know you,” Lanerous said.

“As you should. Our first meeting was not a good one,” I said.

“NO SHIT HUMAN! You ruined everything! Our mission would have succeeded. We would have taken out the puppet government and shown the empire dogs we would not be bullied. Then you and that traitor fucked it up,” he yelled.

“You would have accomplished nothing. Political assassination only works when done from a position of strength. No leaders rose to fill the positions of the Ring of Three. No nation backs your organization. You were simply a child manipulated into joining a terrorist organization. You would have never been able to beat the Empire. Dwendal would rather chop down the entire Pearlbow Wilderness than let a rebel city threaten his rule. He has enough rebel organizations to deal with. A whole city turning against him would lead to a full-blown civil war with your city being burned to ash for starting it,” I said.

“We have the magic to defend ourselves. The empire would have never reached us,” he said.

“They don’t have to. He would have made the Ludinous do it himself to prove his loyalty. The bastard would have done it too. He has no loyalty to his race only himself,” I said.

“We can-” he tried to speak but I cut him off.

“You keep saying we but that's a lie. You tell yourself that if only you had succeeded everyone would listen. That the whole city would have risen in arms against the empire. Guess what. They wouldn’t. You would have either fallen apart in a month from infighting or someone else would have taken you out,” I said.

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He just stared at me with hatred in his eyes. I hated that look because it was the same look I had when I thought of my father. I took everything from him and he had a right to be angry. I shouldn’t be yelling at him. He didn’t deserve that. I am just mad he is sitting here brooding. He has died and been given a new life and he is wasting it reliving the previous one. I should be helping him.

“I know where the curse of the Savalirwoods came from,” I said.

“What?!” He said jumping from his chair.

“Yes. I have already informed Elves in Uthodurn of this and given them all the information they need to find out what happened and hopefully undo the destruction,” I said.

“When did you learn this? How did you learn this?” He asked.

“During my trip to Eiselcross, I found a forest where the mages of Aeor experimented on plant life. It was just like the Savalirwoods,” I said.

“What are they doing?” He asked.

“They are planning on an expedition to Aeor. I told them of the many dangers so it will need to be either a very big one or they must send their best. Aeorian ruins are fucking death traps. More than two-thirds of the people that explore them probably die so they will be expecting casualties. I hope they minimize them as best they can,” I said.

“If we can go home. We can rebuild our culture and our city. We can recover so much,” he said.

“The hope is good but it is no longer we. You died and now must live here. I don’t have the power to bring you back to the material plane and even if I could you no longer have a body. You would probably return as undead,” I said.

“No. no no no! I need to do something. It can’t end like this!” He yelled.

“It already has. I told you this so you can live here with the hope that the people you left behind will fight for a better future, but you need to move on too. This is your world now. So go make this place better,” I told him and left.

I was too tired to deal with the Shorewardens right now. I wanted to go fight some giants. That seemed simple. At least until I have to deal with them here.

………….

Furengur had a nice body. No innuendos intended. Each Giant had incredible strength that people often tried to replicate with magic items and potions all the time. Most warriors dreamed of belts of giant strength. Technically my Roc form was stronger but the muscles were different. With the Roc it was used for flight and carrying things. With this Fire Giant body, I can dent iron with just my fists. I threw a punch at a large spruce. My fist flew through the tree causing it to come crashing down on top of me. I pushed it off my body easily.

“I like this,” I said and a deep laugh came from my throat.

I gave myself some modesty and didn’t recreate his penis. I covered almost my entire body in as much fur as I could manage. I had more because of the mammoth but I still should have gotten some rugs and stuff in Uthodurn. I threw some more punches and used a few trees as weapons to get some practice in with this form. There was a lot I could do so I needed to make sure I remembered my abilities. Having an ability and not using or remembering to use it was my biggest weakness.

The well in my chest shook and I pulled out the cold and warm energies to provide me with those immunities. My blood flowed out of my heart and began to constantly fix issues as the regeneration started to do its job. I created eyes around my neck so I could see in all directions. Furs protected my skin as well as a layer of subdermal alligator skin to provide further resistance. Fire Giant bones were already strong enough so I left those. To help with some cosmetic appearances I created a skirt of feathers that went to my knee. Their brown reflective color made me almost seem like a spartan. My back had just barely enough room to create the shoulder bones needed to create wings. It would restrict the rest of my movement but I could fly using Roc wings with this form. The amount of muscles I needed made doing much else difficult.

All this practice and work took me most of the day and it was nearing sunset. Time to get to work then.

………

“He will show up here? Attacking this fortress alone is suicide,” said the warrior.

“For a normal being yes, but he has powers that give him a good chance of survival. This clan has long relied on their home to protect them. Their wards are failing and they no longer practice the old arts. They are weak and he will show them what their arrogance has cost them,” the wise one said.

“Then what are we going to do here?” The warrior asked.

“The Matron wants us to help him. He will upset the balance and cause untold destruction. His powers are constantly growing and soon it might consume him. The Hells are scheming already, finding ways to shackle his powers for their benefit. Old Evils squirm in the darkness making unknown moves,” the wise one said.

“Then why not kill him now?” The warrior asked.

“The decision to guide and protect him has been made. There is great risk in letting him be but so are the rewards. We are to help him here so that he accrues a debt. We then point him to Vasselheim,” the wise one spoke.

“Ugh, Vasselheim. If it is training he needs he should return with us. We can give him all the skills he might require,” the warrior said.

“It is not our place to do so. You will learn in time that the power of mortal young one,” the wise one said.

There in the darkness they watched and waited. Not for too long as soon a crash came from the fortress above them. Blue chitin fell on the wall. A large insect creature roared to life as it had been dropped from the sky above. Now angry at everything around it tore into the Giant’s defenses. Soon a second crash came down as a giant figure crashed into the opposite wall. This giant was different than others on the wall. They were blue, covered in furs, and had two heads. They both screamed in rage and now the entire fortress was alive with panic. A perfect distraction as no one saw the little bat fly down into the fortress depths.