If you’re not tied up in the main conflicts of the world then you most certainly have one thing in common with everyone else. You pray. You pray to something, someone, some otherworldly being, something that by no means should exist inside the mortal world. The Mermaid, the Witch, the Wolf, the Elf… Or whatever made them.

You ask them for forgiveness, you ask them to show you the right path to walk in life… You pray for better days. Many people want the war to stop, but I’m afraid it’s just beginning. News travels far and fast and despite being way up here in the North, we know it’s not getting much better in the South. And the further South you go the worse it gets.

Not to say we don’t have our own problems up here. I grew up here in the snowy tundra known as Free Rahtoa. The name was ironic because Rahtoa was far from free. While most of my life has been spent trying to survive the harsh weather of Rahtoa, the people of this town had no idea that an army was amassing just outside our gates. It wasn’t long before the tyrant came.

Muda of Cabali was a ruthless leader and his army was vast. I didn’t even know that many people lived on this continent, but when they stormed Rahtoa it was obvious we stood no chance. Muda crushed this town and declared it free despite owning us as slaves. The torture our people endured over the next few months was brutal and we found it hard to keep our faith. However, in our cells at night there wasn’t much else to do but pray.

In order to respect each other and our diversity… In an effort to keep our humanity, we dedicated different nights to the four different gods and let those who believed in each have their own night of prayer. I found it hard to believe in any of them during this time. Morska could swim across the sea and liberate Rahtoa… Yet she stayed primarily in Vorpal from what I heard. Enror and Aradia, the wolf and the witch, would most likely condone Muda’s actions and be on his side. That left the Elf god… And from what I had read about him he cared more for himself than his people.

Then it happened.

One day one of Muda’s men grabbed me by my collar and dragged me to an ancient library underneath Rahtoa. I had no idea this place existed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if our elders didn’t either. It was beautiful and so big that I could not see the wall where it ended from where I was standing! I wondered why Muda’s men didn’t just burn it down, but apparently Muda was looking for a specific volume from the library. I wanted to ask how he even knew this library existed, but I also wanted to keep my teeth, so I thought it best not to pry.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I spent the next few days going through the books and the only information I received was that the book Muda was looking for would have two wolves on it. As I sifted through book after book, Muda’s men would occasionally send down more slaves to help look. I feared I might not be moving fast enough for their liking, but I think they just realized the library was too big for one person to cover alone.

I never found the book with the wolves on it that Muda wanted… But I did find a book that stuck out to me. It had this deranged face upon it, and I could have sworn the moment I found it that the eyes glowed. Curious, I picked it up and began to read. If Muda’s men caught me distracted by another book, they would have probably killed me. The first chapter in the book read: “Rask, The Forgotten god.”

I had to read more, but I knew they wouldn’t let me, so I hid the book in my shirt and waited for that night in my cell. I shared the book with the others and we each began to read about this other god whom none of us had heard of before. If the main gods on Fenrir would not come to our aid, then perhaps…

We all thought it was wishful thinking, but we took one of our nights dedicated to the 4 gods who did not answer our call and we joined hands and prayed… To Rask. In the book it stated that Rask was a god of all elements and many of us began to think that maybe he was the one who created the others. But judging by the history inside the book it felt more like Rask came into existence at the same time as the others, but since he wasn’t present on Fenrir people didn’t know about him. Then again, someone must have known enough to write the book.

Days passed and some of us continued to pray to Rask, but most of us assumed he was a false god or forgotten for a reason. Until we woke up one day and our cell doors were open. I remember this day very vividly as I woke up sweating, a rarity in Rahtoa with the harsh climate. As a matter of fact, I will never forget that day because of the weather in general. It was a warmth I never knew before that moment.

I joined the others, some of which had been awake for a while and trying to fill in everyone on what was happening. I wanted to listen, to better understand, but something was drawing me outside. Maybe it was the fact that I had been stuck in an old ancient library for days or because I spent a long time in those cells, but I just wanted to breath fresh air.

When I got outside, I took a deep breath, but felt the sun hitting me and Rahtoa. I immediately opened my eyes and looked around to find the once snowy land of Rahtoa melting. Not the buildings of course, but the snow all around us was beginning to melt away. I wondered what happened to Muda’s men and I was most likely the only one to wonder that so soon. I made my way to the building Muda was using as his personal headquarters and found him and his men frozen. Despite the sudden heat wave we were experiencing in Rahtoa, Muda and his men were now made of ice with no signs of melting.

I rushed outside to tell the others and that’s when I saw it. How I missed this on my way inside, I’m not sure. The whole experience must have overwhelmed me. I looked down at the ground and etched within it, under the snow that had melted, was the same face I saw on the book. The face of Rask, the Forgotten god.