Zalia arrived back at god island, making her way to the large living bulb that was the only landmark on its surface. It wasn’t visible until she was close but she knew where it was by now. She had travelled between the islands quite a few times during her relatively short time in Cormaine.

When Zalia entered the lower chamber in the temple that the god resided in, she didn’t waste any time.

“I found a few things!” she announced.

She followed up the statement by summoning the big altar right in front of the god, letting her healing solidify it and spread its roots into the existing ones around the floor. Maybe such abruptness wasn’t a good idea but she was hoping to shock some memories into surfacing for the god.

Unfortunately, nothing really happened.

“Another altar,” Delphi commented.

“Yep! This one you might be able to translate something from though, wanna try?” Zalia suggested.

“Right away,” Delphi replied.

That dealt with, Zalia opened her vault and took out the little pendant from the indent in one of the front shelves. She had tried just leaving it on the shelf without being stored but when the vault closed it popped out just before the portal vanished. She could use the herb and plant storing ability to store the smaller altar as well, the piece now a permanent decoration on one of the benches at the back.

“This is a little necklace or amulet that one of your followers must have once had,” Zalia started, holding up the piece for the god to see, “I found it in the temple in Hetheir, behind the altar. Its possible whichever priest it belonged to dropped it when the city fell, I suppose. I was wondering if it would be ok for me to wear it with me at all times, in your honour.”

“The honour would be mine, Druid, if you chose to wear my symbol on your body,” the god replied.

She still wasn’t quite used to the way its voice sounded, somewhat melodious yet croaky. Like the sounds of gravel somehow harmonised.

“Alright, I will make a loop to hang it from my neck. Did the altar bring back memories for you?” Zalia asked.

“I… no. I can feel it now that you have helped restore it but I have no memory of it,” the god said.

“The altar tells a story from what I can tell,” Delphi said, the thought sent to all in the room.

Zalia could tell that because Boreal spoke up.

“Story!” she exclaimed.

“I will do my best to translate,” Delphi promised, “it begins with a young spirit of nature.”

____________________________________________________________________________________

The young nature spirit glided through the treetops, hopping gently from one overhanging branch to the next, listening to the sounds of the forest below. It could hear the creatures burrowing beneath the soil and leaves, the birds singing in the trees and the many animals roaming the lands between. It had always been good at listening, hearing what others could not. It didn’t understand why the others couldn’t hear what it could.

“Do you hear that?” it asked a bird passing by.

“Hear what?” the bird replied.

“The animals burrowing beneath the dirt,” it said.

“There are no animals burrowing beneath the dirt, silly,” the bird said, laughing with a raucous sound.

The bird flew on, back to whatever plans it might have.

The nature spirit frowned. Of course there were animals burrowing beneath the dirt, how could the bird not hear?

So, it decided to go down and find out for itself.

It floated gently down to the ground below and found a little hole in the ground where it could hear the burrowing sounds originating. It squeezed in, its malleable spirit-like form adjusting to fit. It went down the small tunnel until it reached a little chamber in which a tiny furry animal scratched at the walls.

“Do you hear that?” the nature spirit asked.

The furry animal jumped in surprise, spinning around to face the newcomer.

“H-hear what?” the little animal asked.

“The birds chirping in the sky above,” the nature spirit explained.

“C-chirping? In the sky? What animal in its right mind would be in the sky. No, there are no birds in the sky,” the little animal scoffed.

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“There most certainly are! You must come up to the surface and meet them,” the spirit insisted.

“Bah, I am safe down here in my home. I have no need to come to the surface,” the little animal said.

The nature spirit turned away, disappointed in the animal's narrow-mindedness. Couldn’t it see that there was so much to see and hear in the world above?

It left the tunnel and looked around. Maybe those animals that lived on the land could both hear the birds above and the creatures below.

The spirit travelled far and wide, searching for the animals of the land as the sky above turned from day to night. Eventually, it saw a sparkling wolf, translucent with bright stars speckled across and throughout its form. Intrigued, the spirit went down to talk.

“Hello! What are you?” it asked.

“Greetings young spirit, I am the god of the stars above. What are you about at such a time of night?” the wolf asked.

“The stars above! I cannot hear those, they must be so quiet because they have to use all their energy to shine so bright,” the spirit reasoned.

“Very few can hear them, young spirit. I think you might be able to, if you paid them enough attention,” the wolf replied, “for what reason did you approach me?”

“Ah yes, you have keen hearing too, god of the stars. Tell me, can you hear the animals buried below and the birds singing above, when the sun sits high in the sky?” the spirit asked.

“Of course young spirit, why do you ask?” the wolf asked in turn.

“I have spoken to the birds and they cannot hear the animals burrowing below and I have asked those very creatures and they cannot hear the birds above. Why is that?” the spirit questioned.

“They are not interested enough to hear such things young spirit. The birds above see only that which is before them and the animals below need not think of things such as the sky. That is the way of things. Does this strike you as odd?” the wolf asked.

“No, I am just curious about nature and all these animals who live in it yet experience so little of it,” the young spirit explained.

“I see. Go forth and listen all that you can, young spirit, listen and learn all that you can about nature and when you are done, come back to me and tell me all that you have found,” the wolf urged.

The spirit took the encouragement straight to heart and set off into the forest in search of the hidden truths nature kept within its boughs.

____________________________________________________________________________________

“That is all I can get. The rest is too worn near the base for me to read,” Delphi said.

“Damn, I was hoping it would tell us the gods name,” Zalia said in frustration.

“The- the spirit travelled far and wide, searching through every part of the forest and far beyond,” the god started.

They all turned to it. It’s eyes were wide, the silvery glint in them brighter than it had ever been.

“Over mountains and valleys, through oceans and storms it travelled. It met many a creature, those of the sky, the land, the sea and the world below it all. Through its travels it learnt many things, not only discovering the nature of the world but the nature of those that lived in it. It came to understand why the little furry creature below did not care for the world above, why the bird did not care for the burrows beneath the earth. It learnt of the beauties of nature, the flowers of a blooming forest, the cute newborn of two creatures, still ponds and lilies atop. But, it also came to know of the horrors of nature too. Floods and storms, earthquakes and landslides, wildfires and volcanoes. The hunter hunting the hunted, disease and pain. It was horrified by the things it found, suddenly not so excited to be hearing all that it heard,” the god continued.

It paused, shivering as if experiencing the very events as it remembered.

“It returned to that forest where the wolf lit by the light of the stars had told it to go forth and learn. It spoke to that very same wolf once more and asked it, ‘Why? Why did you tell me to experience such things if you knew?’ To that question, the wolf responded, ‘You have done well to see and hear so much. Look closer, listen harder, see what you have not yet seen.’ The spirit was dubious but despite all the horror it had seen, following the advice of the wolf had led it to experience much beauty too. The spirit decided to trust the wolf once more and went out into the world. It saw much the same as it had before, the beauty and the horror. It took a very long time before the spirit saw what the wolf had been telling it to see. The beauty that came from the horror and the horror that came from the beauty. That cute newborn of the two creatures went on to hunt and killed those of others, feeding upon them. Yet that in turn allowed for the next generation of cute newborns to exist. The wildfires tore through the land and burnt all in its path, yet in its wake new life thrived. An earthquake might tear the ground apart but that tear would become a river that hundreds would drink from in the future,” the god continued, its voice growing ever stronger.

There was a tense silence in the room as the power of the god grew stronger. None of them, even Boreal, dared speak up.

“It finally saw what the wolf wanted it to see, heard what it wanted it to hear. It returned to that forest once more, seeking the wolf. When the spirit found the wolf, it told it of all it had learnt. That without the horror there was no beauty. It wasn’t the beauty or horror alone that made nature so wonderful, it was the contrast between the two. The good and the bad that led from one to the other in the constant cycle that was life. That was the true beauty. The wolf congratulated the spirit,

‘What is your name, young one?’ it asked.

‘I have no name,’ the spirit told the wolf.

‘Choose one then,’ the wolf told it.

‘Choose one… I shall be named Nateysta, after nature for my passion and after the stars for your guidance,’ the spirit said.

‘Well, young Nateysta, tell me. Can you hear the stars now?’ the wolf asked.

‘I… can, I thought the way they sparkled so brightly in the sky could not be matched yet the voices with which they sing are beautiful. Thank you,’ Nateysta replied.

That is the end of the story,” the god finished in a whisper.

They all sat in silence, watching the god with apprehension. It didn’t seem any stronger yet it seemed to be able to see clearer. No longer looking around with confusion but watching them with intelligence.

“Hello, Nateysta. It is good to finally meet you,” Zalia said.

“Me? I am not Nateysta, young Druid. That,” it said, nodding its head towards Ro-ak, “is Nateysta.”

“What?” Zalia asked in confusion.

“I am but a remnant of the power held by Nateysta, woken by your actions. It is now up to him to reclaim what is his,” it replied, watching Ro-... Nateysta with a calm acceptance.

Zalia turned around and stared at her little crow friend.

He hopped up to the god, no, remnant of power and looked up with wide eyes. He touched his beak to the remnants foot and a surge of power flashed through the room.