“You are a little soul carrying about a corpse.”

― Epictetus

Ven stood next to Mara and the armored ape, faces pressed to the glass. The vast runic word touched down upon Kalina and the savage man she locked in place.

For a moment, it vanished, replaced by a strange hum. It thrummed in his bones, a horrible moan, the resonance of the world as it rejected its target.

The building weathered the battle well, but now it trembled. This strange sound dropped dust from the walls as the house howled in pain.

The great ape fell back, hand on his heart as he mirrored the wail. His form flickered, translucent fists clenched, face twisted as he writhed. Before Ven could move to help, the ape vanished, and the house quieted.

The sound rose to a crescendo. A tone that went on forever. It changed the world to a single note, everything locked in step as it drew on the might of the planet itself. Vendak knew nothing else, just the noise and Kalina's icy form in the distance, a moment suspended in time.

The crystal, all that remained of the strange, handsy woman, began to fade. Together with the man she held, and the terrible sound, she slowly lost substance and became one with the wind. I still don't know what's going on... The disaster he'd witnessed came out of nowhere, a battle of gods that ruined the world.

A vast, muddy expanse surrounded them, a drab replacement for the seas. Countless marine creatures lay dead, turned to brittle husks that splintered on the breeze. Amidst this sorry landscape, emaciated beyond words, the large turtle-kin sat, empty eyes still locked on Kalina's vanished form.

The viewpoint of the window shifted to the blind turtle. With a twist that escaped the eye, the glass became an open door, and Ven tumbled through, yanked by an invisible force.

Mara was compelled alongside him until they stood before the giant turtle. The dried skin that remained on his body was a sickly green, edged by white.

Ven stared into the fellow's eyes. They had lost the strange empty infinity that had frightened him during the battle. Now, they merely looked like the gaze of a blind man, shrunken and devoid of mystery. Despite his sorry state, the dying beastfolk raised one hand and pointed at Ven.

"Time, as always, is short."

He tossed a small trinket. Vendak caught the object, a small compass that spun without end.

"I'll send you and those kept safe within the guild to the beastfolk homeland."

The turtle-kin raised his other hand and wrote a series of words in the air that spiraled into a vast circular formation.

"Keep my old house well, water the plants, and feed the pets."

The man's hands fell to his side, and his long slender neck folded down, head rested on his chest. His voice continued, carried on the wind and into Ven's mind.

"Fate is a lie, and behind your eyes, I see the makings of a monster." The runic circle spun, and a half-sphere of light surrounded them, a dome that covered the guild hall. "What kind of monster will you be?"

A winter chill crept into Vendak's body, something it shouldn't feel. What kind of monster? He planned on avoiding such titles. The solitude they held had too much weight.

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"Grandmaster Ooulin, please don't die!" Mara suddenly shouted, her body pressed to the barrier of light. "Without you, who will protect the guild?" Her fists pounded on the translucent film, desperation in her voice. "The common folk need us, and without you..."

"Don't fear child," Ooulin's voice was thin, as if he stood far away. "You'll find a way, Aangor will help you."

Mara leaned heavily against the barrier, tears captured in the crook of her arm.

"I'm a nobody, I can't help stabilize the world..."

Ven frowned. at this, and he stepped forward to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Anyone can change the world, Mara," Ven knew this first hand. "Destiny is forged by effort and will, I believe you've got enough of both to change the world."

Even if they failed to reach their goals, every life left a mark on the world. He gave a gentle squeeze as he tried to comfort her, Kalina's parting words in his mind.

"This blood-soaked soul is right, young one," Ooulin chimed in, his voice no more than a whisper. "Fate comes for us all, destiny is forged."

The barrier around them was now a solid wall of light. Mara leaned back, her eyes closed tight against the glare.

"Reach out, together, a thousand can perfect the work of one."

Ooulin's voice faded, and the barrier shattered like glass, the space beyond changed to a thick, fragrant jungle. Bird calls filled the thick, turbid air, side by side with the howls of beasts great and small. Mara slumped, her knuckles driven into the ground with such force that she raised two small clouds of dirt.

"We can't even bury him," Her voice soft, half-hidden by the sounds of life. "before today I'd only heard legends about him, and now..." Her tail slapped the ground, a small gully formed by the impact. "Who was that huge man?"

Ven wondered the same. The hulking savage had taken the lives of two Earth Deities, and Vendak wasn't sure the man had died. He called himself an avatar, so he's still out there somewhere. A threat that created tension between his brows, a knot pressed to the inside of his skull.

"He's the Conceptual Entity of Change, you know?"

A familiar voice sounded out, several octaves higher than he remembered. Ven and Mara spun around to face the hall and the two small figures that stood in the doorway.

"Today is our birthday, you know? You better get us some amazing gifts!"

A small girl, her dark black hair wrapped up in a loose ponytail, sat on the coral-encrusted back of a baby turtle. Ven could hold the pair with a single palm. They stood less than a foot tall, even stacked together. The girl led her mount forward with the leafy greens of a withered carrot, her pin-sized fingers pointed straight at him.

"Not only that, but you two have our funerals to plan!" She squeaked, her face pinched in annoyance. "We died, and now all that's left are these little seeds." She thumped poor baby Ooulin on the head in disgust. "Now he's just a stupid turtle again!" Kalina shoved the carrot into Ooulin's seeking mouth "Do you know how long it took me to teach a stupid reptile to cultivate? I have to start over now, you know?"

"Kalina?" Ven asked, his follow-up question drowned out by Mara's cry.

"Grandmaster Ooulin! You're alive!" Mara rushed forward and scooped up the hand-sized turtle, squeezing it to her chest as fresh tears ran down her face. "And you're so adorable now!" She crowed as she dragged her furry cheeks back and forth over the retracted turtle's shell.

"Hey, hey, hey!" The chibi Kalina squawked, little fists locked in a combo attack that did zero damage to Mara's face. "I'm not a scratching post you stupid cat!" She stuffed her arms up Mara's nose, hands twined around the hair within. "And I told you, we died, now let me go!"

She yanked, and Mara howled as she dropped poor Ooulin to the floor. The cat-kin's already wet eyes were now overloaded, the brook became a stream, and Ven ruffled her sobbing head.

"If you died, then what are you doing here?" Ven asked as he reached down to help the fairy-sized Kalina turn her turtle friend upright. "Not that I'm complaining of course." He added as the miniature woman glared up at him.

Kalina stomped her foot, her cheeks puffed up in annoyance.

"We're more like copies, you know?" Her face flashed, a complicated stream of emotions that Vendak didn't understand. "I have her memories, but my soul is my own."

She clambered back onto Ooulin's shell and seated herself on a throne of coral.

"This stupid turtle here doesn't even have that much," She pulled another carrot from the air and crammed it down Ooulin's throat. "His dumb little brain won't remember anything until I can train him into a Martial Master!"

This made little sense to Vendak, since Kalina didn't have a brain at all, whatever, magic is as magic does I guess... He pulled a scrap of dried fish from his pouch and offered it to the tinny reptile. Ooulin crooned joyfully as he chomped on the jerky.

"So what the hell is going on?"

Ever since he arrived in Fallun, Ven had been on the back foot. Events had spiraled beyond his expectations, and he was helpless to take action. His plans were meaningless. Ven lacked the power to even follow the battles completely, something that raised a fire behind his black eyes.

I refuse to be so weak that I can't be free.

"I'll fill you in as we plan," Kalina smirked up at him, hands on her hips. "I want the biggest ceremony imaginable and a statue of me and Ooulin, a hundred feet tall and solid gold!"

Vendak face-palmed, the threads of his will stretched thin as he suppressed a heavy sigh. I've barely got the gold to make a small tombstone, let alone a statue of that bulky turtle. Most of his wealth was in magic items and gems. Speaking of, what does this compass do? He held it up to the light, its cool bronze surface warm in his hand.

It still spun without direction, faster than even his eyes could see. A tightly woven line of runes crawled across its surface, a snake that eventually ate its tail. It squirmed and coiled, never still as it struggled to swallow itself.

Vendak brought it closer to his face for a better look, but it vanished from his hand, gone before his eye caught the change.

"This is better off with me for now, little fish."

Kalina said from below, her undersized arms wrapped around the compass, muscles locked in a struggle with its weight. Little Ooulin sank to the ground, his four small limbs shaking as he struggled to stand.

She heaved the directionless wayfinder over her shoulder, where it vanished into the air. Her small hand wiped the sweat from her brow as she looked up at Ven with a determined gaze.

"Come on, old man from another world," A glint flashed through Kalina's eyes, her words like ice water poured straight into his veins. "Let's put my metaphorical corpse in the ground, and then figure out how to bring about the end of the world."