Kiyora went to sleep that night and tried to go to Seathorius.

Emphasis on tried. As soon as she made it, she felt a grip like iron on her mind and was yanked backward. Suddenly she was standing in front of a pillar at the center of a town and clutching her head. Agony surged through her mind.

"What is this?" she gasped.

"You were attempting to return to Seathorius without leave, weren't you?" asked Raka. The dwarven warrior was holding an axe in one hand.

"It's my country. I'll go back to it if I like," snapped Kiyora.

"You haven't earned the right to do what you like," said Raka.

The pain intensified, and Kiyora collapsed to the ground with a scream. Raka stood over her, a hand on her sword. Her eyes were empty. "We serve the Iron Kingdom. It is ruled by those with a far greater understanding than us. We live and die at their command. Continue to defy them, and it will be worse for you."

The pain disappeared. Kiyora looked up. "Greater understanding?" she asked.

"It is their lot to rule and direct," said Raka, "Just as it is a lot of my brother and myself to act as their sword arm. Those who oppose them must be rooted out for the greater good."

"What is good?" asked Kiyora. "Because from how you people act, I'm guessing it isn't the dignity and well-being of sentient beings."

"We seek the only logical definition of good," said Raka. "The greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people."

Kiyora looked around at the villagers in this place. They were staying indoors. They eyed the soldiers of the Iron Kingdom with mistrustful eyes. The soldiers looked to be repairing a wall that had broken. Kiyora wondered if it was meant to keep people in or out.

"...Great job," Was what she said.

"Security must come before any society may be created," said Raka.

"Oh, is that why you go around killing everyone who disagrees with you?" asked Kiyora.

"Dissent cannot be tolerated in times of crisis," said Raka. She sounded more and more like one reciting something drilled into them from birth. "The Iron Kingdom has been at war for centuries. As the Einheroth raid us, rebels attempt to restore the gods of old. Viokins seek to raid our shores. We are strained to the breaking point and must take necessary actions."

"You want to know how to fix all these problems really, really, easily?" asked Kiyora.

Raka raised an eyebrow in amusement and suddenly was back to normal. "You would claim to know the solution to matters the Iron Council has sought for centuries?"

"Yeah," said Kiyora. "Want to hear it?"

"Speak," said Raka.

"Tear down the pillars," said Kiyora.

Raka stared. "How would that solve anything?"

"It would," said Kiyora. "Because if you tear down the pillars, you could then send messages to Calisha and Harlenor. Says that you want to take up the worship of the greatest god. Instantly everyone would have a vested interest in ensuring you didn't fall.

"You could negotiate for all kinds of benefits."

"You would have us betray everything we stand for worldly gains?" asked Raka.

"What exactly do you stand for?" asked Kiyora.

"The Iron Kingdom was founded to throw off the tyranny of the gods!" said Raka, brushing her hair away.

"Tyranny?" asked Kiyora. "How are they tyrants exactly?"

"They send diseases to plague us. Then they claim benevolence when their healing powers cure some victims," said Raka. "They fight amongst each other constantly. They bring ruin and death for the sake of petty vendettas. They rape mortal women and claim their rights as superior beings.

"But they aren't superior! Take away your powers, and what are you, Kiyora Yagos?"

Kiyora blinked. She'd had some first-hand experience on the subject. "...That's a good question. But I don't see how the Iron Council is any better.

"And from a strictly pragmatic perspective, you should allow the gods to give you advice. If they think they can control you, they are far less likely to try and wipe you off the map. And anyway, what about the afterlife? Who's going to take your souls? The demons?"

"Of course not," said Raka. "The souls of those who die in the Iron Kingdom are drawn into the pillars. There their spirits become one with the magic of the Void Stone. They aid the Iron King in defending against the tyranny of the gods."

"...That has got to be the worst afterlife I've ever heard of," said Kiyora. "You die and get used as a battery so your sociopath of a leader can throw a temper tantrum against the heavens? And I thought Alchara's eternal family sounded like a raw deal."

"Silence!" said Raka. "The will of the Iron King is not to be questioned!"

"Then what are you doing here?" asked Kiyora.

"What?" said Raka.

"You decided to intervene and protect this village. The Iron Council decided to let it burn to the ground," said Kiyora. "Why?"

Raka remained silent for a long moment. "If we could stop the advance of the demons here, they would not go on to plague other villages.".

"In other words, you thought you knew better than them," said Kiyora.

"The Iron Council is set in its ways," said Raka. "They do not understand the military necessity."

"Well, then it looks like they aren't more perfect than gods," noted Kiyora.

"They aren't. We don't treat them as such," said Raka.

"You just obey them without question and do everything they say," said Kiyora. "Sounds like a god to me."

"You don't understand this Kingdom!" snarled Raka.

"And I don't think I want to," said Kiyora.

At that moment, there was a cry. A soldier rushed up to Raka, looking flustered. "Lady Raka, Lord Byran approaches! His armies are with him."

"What?" said Raka.

Raka rushed to the walls. Kiyora went with her and saw the armies of the Iron Kingdom making their way to the village. Their gray armor was battered, and they carried many wounded with them.

"Open the gates!" cried Raka. "Get medical supplies quickly!"

The gates were thrown open, and Byran's army entered. Byran himself had his arm in a sling. His helmet had been lost at some point, and his axe was notched. Raka ran up to him and embraced him.

"Raka, what are you doing here?" asked Byran.

"I've been fortifying this town to repel a possible invasion," said Raka.

Byran looked over, his men streaming in. "Well, it is good that you did. The Fort of Steel has fallen. We narrowly escaped with our lives. Man, the walls and prepare to defend against the Einheroth."

"Where are they? How many?" asked Raka.

"More than have ever emerged before now," said Byran. "Can't you hear them?"

Kiyora suddenly realized she could. There was a harsh and joyful song in the air, spoken by voices like cold northern winds. It rang throughout the trees and made her shudder. Then she heard the tramp of many feet. Even as Byran and Raka rallied their forces along the wall, out of the trees came the Einheroth.

Kiyora had heard people talk about them. But she'd never seen one. Now she wished she hadn't. They were living suits of armor, marching forward in lines. They held axes and spears, and there was a pale flame in place of flesh. The song continued.

Although she could not make out the words, she knew the meaning. It was ingrained in the soul. It spoke of blood and death and decaying corpses.

And from behind the Einheroth poured legions of little green things wearing veils. They held spears and swords and rushed at the walls chattering. Arrows were launched, and many of the creatures died. Some turned and tried to flee back. But these were hewn down in moments by the Einheroth who came behind.

Like a tidal wave, the green creatures rushed toward the wall. They didn't care about their casualties, though the arrows fell among them like rain. Soon they were scaling up the walls. Men and dwarves hacked them down as the Einheroth drew ever closer. For a moment, it seemed as though the defense would be driven in.

But Raka joined the fray. She moved across the wall like the wind, and wherever she ran, the creatures died in sprays of blood. Byran's men came to reinforce them while the soldier stood and reached the top at a walk.

The Einheroth did not fear arrows as they marched toward the gate with a huge ram. They raised a wall of shields to ward off the barrage. Stones were thrown down on them, and several fell. But the rest brought their ram against the gates and smote it. The gates cracked. It would only take another strike.

Kiyora raised a hand and channeled her will into the gates. There was another impact, and they held firm. But Kiyora felt the blow on her hand and stepped back. Then another force arose, terrible and cold, and she felt a vicelike grip hold her. She struggled with it as the gate was struck. It was all so could do to keep from being crushed.

The strain of the contest was too great. The gates broke, and the Einheroth streamed in.

They found Byran waiting. With two strokes of his axe, two fell. Others came forward to replace them, and for a moment, he was hard-pressed. Then came Raka and many other soldiers. The stroke of an Einheroth cut one down. Another drove his spear through the creatures. But he was slashed down. Byran and Raka stood back to back, axes hewing about them. Then they were hidden from view by the press of bodies.

Kiyora looked up at the trees and felt like she could see everything. She saw vast hosts had spilled forth from the mountains. Their harsh song could be heard throughout all the valleys and mountains. What was faced here was only the vanguard of a much greater army.

What was Kiyora supposed to be doing here? Oh right, summoning the trees. She felt a bit detached, but she might as well follow through. She didn't like the Iron Kingdom, but it would be bad if innocent people got killed. Reaching out with her mind, she sensed the trees.

"Would you mind getting rid of all these Einheroth?" she asked.

She had a pointed and harsh reply. There was also a question. Did she truly care?

"No, I'm not particularly motivated to help them, but I feel I should," admitted Kiyora. "What about you?"

The trees felt no obligation to help these people. They had helped enough already, and the pillars had not yet been broken. And really, why should they? Kiyora didn't see any reason they should like the Iron Kingdom or anyone in it. They'd been treated very poorly.

"Oh, you mean breaking the pillars," mused Kiyora. "Well, it could take some time, and I can't promise anything. But if you were to rescue these people, you might be able to destroy some of the pillars yourselves. They'll likely all be so busy fighting each other that they can't stop you."

The trees were incredulous. Kiyora saw that long ago; they had attempted to tear down the pillars. But they had found that the spirits of the dead had resisted them. The pillars had proved too strong.

"Okay, maybe," said Kiyora, "but I'm helping you right now. I'm the Dreaming Goddess. I'll put my own power into you, and you will become strong enough to destroy them." What was she thinking? She didn't have the power to animate whole forests.

Except she did.

Some of her realized that she had always had this power bubbling beneath the surface. She just hadn't realized it until now. Or had it been kept back from her? She could feel her will going out across the land, and the trees answered the call.

The groaning of the woods was everywhere. Einheroth were grabbed and torn apart by roots and branches. Goblins ran back to their holes in terror. And the trees grasped the pillars with their roots.

A vicious will resisted them. It clung to the pillars, and their efforts were in vain. They could not unplant them. Then Kiyora put forth her will to their aid. The pillars resisted for a moment; then, they were broken and torn down.

The trees had smashed through what was left of the gates and scattered the defenders. Upon their roots, they climbed to the top of the village and reached out to take hold of the pillar. For a moment, the pillar held against them.

Raka rushed up the hill and saw Kiyora. "What have you done?!"

"Made a few suggestions," said Kiyora.

"Men, cut these trees down and burn them!" cried Byan. "We'll avenge-"

A root wrapped around his neck from behind.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Kiyora. "You're men don't look ready to pick a fight with trees."

"How are you doing this?" asked Raka. "No one can break free of the Will of Iron."

"Like I said, I'm a goddess," said Kiyora. "You didn't think you could control me that easily? I've only played along this long because I felt like helping the people here. No offense, but not telling me to kill my friends didn't do anything to make me want to work for you people."

"This treachery will not go unpunished," said Raka.

"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, hypocritical self-righteousness," said Kiyora. "You have bigger problems than me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will go find my friends." And she disappeared in a flash.

It was more satisfying than ever before to walk among the trees. As she did, she heard them whispering among each other. Kiyora asked them for William's location and got it quickly. Then she heard several questions.

"No," said Kiyora, "you can't wipe out the humans and dwarves of this place. It isn't their fault the Iron Kingdom oppresses everyone. They're victims as well."

There were disgruntled mutterings among many of the trees. Too many. Kiyora felt that these forests would have gladly washed over the land if she had given the word. They would have gladly torn apart everything in the Iron Kingdom, perhaps beyond that.

"Look, you're angry," said Kiyora. "I get that, and you have the right to be angry. But you have to focus on the people responsible. Keep destroying the pillars and getting rid of the Einheroth." She winced. Images assailed her of felled trees and burned woods. "We'll talk about this once it's over."

A chill went through Kiyora as she felt another wail. The Einheroth had begun to fight back. No longer taken off guard, the undead creatures began to hack at trees with their axes. It took dozens of them to kill a single tree, but a tree took hundreds of years to grow. Already the forests moving all around her were beginning to fall.

And yet more Einheroth poured forth from the mountains. Yet, with every pillar that fell, energy coursed through the trees. They seemed to become more and more vicious. They moved faster and faster, and the earth churned beneath their onslaught.

But soon, the green things came back with many torches. They hurled them and slashed at the trees with them. Most were killed, but several trees were set alight. Kiyora felt them writhing in agony as the flames spread. The fire spread throughout the forests around the Einheroth.

The joke was on them.

Trees could survive fire. Their bark insulated them against it; even if all the leaves were burned away, they could return. It was very painful and unpleasant for them, but unless the fire was very hot indeed, it would not kill them. The same could not be said for squishy green things. The rose smoke choked them, and many were consumed by the fires they had started.

Once again, they fled shrieking back to their holes, but this time few made it. Fires lit up on the horizon, and the trees went still. Kiyora sighed. "Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry about what the goblins did to you, but you've just saved a lot of people."

The trees gave her an irritated reply. She had the feeling they were angry with her.

"Look, I'm sorry," said Kiyora. "But you could have said no and refused to attack the Einheroth. It isn't like I forced you to. And the pillars are destroyed this way."

The tree reluctantly agreed.

Still, Kiyora noticed something. She had less regard for life than she once had. Something had changed in her, or perhaps her spirit's proximity to Arraxia. She'd have to fix this later.

Then she became aware of Laevian. The goddess was watching the destruction with satisfaction. Kiyora eyed her suspiciously, skin now a grayish hue and dress showing a lot of cleavage. "Any reason why you couldn't have done this years ago?"

"I choose not to," said Laevian. "With no healing magic, the Iron Kingdom was a perfect breeding ground for disease. I've had great fun with it, though Elranor still found ways to ruin things. He made me grow plants meant to heal people."

"You mean, you let this happen because you wanted to create new diseases?" asked Kiyora.

"I hate mortals," said Laevian. "I've never understood what Elranor sees in them. Besides, the Iron Kingdom kept the minotaurs from raiding Calisha and Harlenor. They are useless to me now that they are on the verge of falling."

Kiyora looked at her in disgust. "Okay, I know that William claims otherwise, but you are evil.

"Evil is a word with no meaning in the wild," said Laevian. "And I love the wild more than anything else. And soon, the wild will cover all of this continent." Something in her voice put Kiyora on guard.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The Iron King has the Axe of Fortenex," said Laevian, a smile creeping onto her face. "And I know what he wants to do with it. There isn't be any mortal breathing on this continent once he's done."

"Then I'm going to stop him," said Kiyora.

This only seemed to amuse Laevian further. "Very well. Enjoy your fleeting existence as a mortal." And she was gone like leaves in the wind.