The next day I woke up to find Dibidi and Libidi curled up like cats beside my chair. While sleeping it was easier to differentiate one from the other. Libidi's face was a bit softer, and her eyebrows curled up more. Dibidi's were a straight line, almost like he was frowning, and he had a tiny bit of drool hanging from the corner of his lip.

Voices and shouting from outside indicated that the wagoneers had started getting ready to move out, but there was a different tone to it compared to the day before. I could make out a few words from the soft muttering close to my door.

"They…. -ere….. all night... -ey … dangerous?"

Great. Now what, I thought as I got up. As soon as I moved, Dibidi and Libidi surged into motion. Before I could get fully upright, they stood with their daggers in hand, looking around with cold, calculating eyes. Any difference I had noticed disappeared right away.

"Something is going on outside," I said, moving towards the door while trying to ignore the dangerous vibe in the wagon. When I opened the door, I saw a small group of guards standing a few meters away and looking at the gate. Galir stood there together with the hooded archers. When the door to my wagon opened, the guards turned to me.

I jumped from the two-foot-high ledge, moving towards Galir. I saw one of the guards grin and laugh from the corner of my eye as he looked at the two Isirow that followed me. Two others snorted, then took something from their tunics and handed it to the laughing one.

Have they been betting on if the Isirow were with me? I thought, slightly annoyed. The longer this continued, the worse it was going to be when I had to explain it to Eliandra. A soft howling from outside caused the guards to look at the door, all hilarity gone, replaced by worry.

"There are Wirgs beyond the gate," Dibidi or Libidi said, and I decided I was going to have to mark them somehow to keep them distinct.

I didn't respond, but increased my pace to a trot. When I reached the gate, Galir was looking at me. For once, he didn't comment on the two behind me.

"We've got trouble. There's Wirgs, Wargs, and something I've never seen before blocking both gates."

"How many?" I asked, getting a bad feeling.

"Come look for yourself," Galir said, moving towards the nearest stair that led up the wall.

I followed him, and when we reached the top, I cursed. Hundreds of burning red eyes were looking up at us. Most were from Wirgs, but I saw enough of the larger Wargs between them to know this wasn't something I wanted to tangle with.

"Those big ones seem to all be siblings," Galir said, pointing at the largest concentration of Wargs. They were lying between the others, close to the western edge of the woods.

I examined them for a moment but didn't notice anything different between them and the others. The best I could tell was that they were a bit bigger than even the rest of the Wargs.

"What do you mean?"

"Wait till they move," Galir said, pointing at one of the Wargs that rolled over trying to scratch its back. A large, familiar scar sat at its side. It was the same as the one I'd seen on the Warg I'd fought.

"See that wound? That's a magical defect, and they all have it. According to Linery, it means they all come from the same nest. One of their ancestors must have gotten on the bad side of some nasty critter at some point."

"Wait, what?" I said as I frowned at Galir. "Are you saying that one of their ancestors got wounded and that wound somehow carried over to the following generations? That makes-"

"No sense?" Galir interrupted. "Yeah. That's what I said, but Linery seemed sure of it. You're welcome to ask her for more details on it."

"Nah, I'm good," I said, looking out over the mass of ugly canines blocking our way.

"You said there was something you hadn't seen before with them?" I asked.

"Yeah. It should be back in a bit. It seems to be patrolling the keep," Galir said softly.

We waited for a while before he suddenly pointed to the side between some trees.

"Here it comes."

I leaned forward, noticing something massive was moving towards the road. A shadow appeared first, and as soon as it did, the other canines got up, turning their eyes towards it. Then a thing that barely looked like a Wirg or Warg stepped out from between the trees. With long black fur, green patches placed around irregularly, it was twice as large again as the Wargs. It had large triangular ears, one of which was torn, and two deep green eyes that radiated light.

"Linery says it might be some form of new deity, one for those things," Galir said. He had a hand on his bow, but I wondered what he thought that would do.

Thinking about what I knew of deities, that seemed more than a little unlikely. That would mean that one of the Wirgs or Wargs had found a proto-deity egg somewhere, and what? Imprinted on it?

"I don't think-" I began, then stopped as the head snapped up, and the green eyes turned straight towards mine. The massive wolf-like thing burst into motion faster than any of us could react. Before I could blink, it had bridged the few hundred feet separating it from the wall and leaped up.

"Flaming balls," Galir squealed as he dodged back, away from the edge.

I jumped backward, suddenly realized I had brought neither of my axes and slammed into Dibidi and Libidiy. The Isirow fell on the ground behind me as a massive shape sailed across the ramparts, landing ahead of us. Shouts came from the walls behind us, and I sat on my ass, looking at two green eyes staring at me.

Up close I saw that the green eyes had flecks of gold and silver and sparkled with intelligence.

A soft growl, interlaced with barks and yips, came from the thing. It almost sounded like a language, but I had no idea what it meant. The canine cocked its head, and then its eyes burst with a golden light.

A loud ping came from my status window, and I felt an itch follow. The creature began growling again, but this time it sounded like a raspy, deep voice.

"Friend of the Wyergin, you can understand me now."

I gaped at the massive creature. It wasn't showing any aggressive tendencies, projecting a calm, collected atmosphere, and I slowly crawled up.

"Yes," I said carefully. A quick gaze to the side showed me that all of the Wirgs and Wargs were standing now, looking at me. Their penetrating gazes held a warning as well as curiosity.

"Who are you?"

"I am Wyerg, Deity of the Wyergin, what the other people of this world call Wirgs, Wargs, and Worgs."

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My mouth went dry, and I focused fully on the thing that had named itself a deity. I'd never heard of Wyerg before, but if Goblins could have a deity, why not Wirgs? Now the only question was, what was this guy doing here?

"I am Est," I said lamely, wondering if the deity didn't already know this. I was about to say I was a follower of Rathica when I remembered how many people were looking at us.

"Yes, I know. You are the one who befriended two of my followers a few moons ago," Wyerg said. The corners of his mouth curved up, his teeth bare.

Although I knew it was a dog's way of smiling, my hair still stood on end at the sight of the super-sharp teeth the size of small daggers.

So, what should I do now? Ask what Wyerg came here for? How I could help? Neither seemed like a great idea and as the silence continued, things became more and more awkward. Finally, Wyerg nodded, sniffing the air.

"I have heard you gave both of my kin names, Smell, and Scar? They are good names for Wirgs, and Scar uses her's with pride."

Wait, only Scar? I got a bad feeling and frowned as I formulated my question. "Are they both alright?"

Wyerg's stare didn't change, but somehow I got the feeling he was slightly sad. What gave me that impression I had no idea.

"No. Smell did not survive the encounter with that ancient Hag's followers. What they did to her left her mind-addled, and she turned feral. Scar eventually had to kill her sister."

"What? Couldn't you fix her?" I blurted in surprise.

Wyerg's eyes gleamed ruddy for a moment, then it disappeared. "No. What the hags did was irreversible. Had Smell evolved to her second form, I could have at least saved her mind."

I nodded, somehow feeling sad. I had not really thought about Smell and Scar that much the last few months, but my memories of the period we traveled through these same woods had left a strong mark on me.

"Scar is alright?" I asked.

"She is. She is with whelp now and was unable to come and see you. I am sure you will meet each other again one day."

I nodded, wondering if that meant she was going to leave the Howling Forest because I was sure as hell not planning to come here again after I'd left it this time. Third time’s the charm, as they say, and the dank, dark and dangerous place wasn't my idea of a great time.

"So… why did you come here?" I asked carefully.

Wyerg was quiet for a long time, and I almost asked again.

"Your deity must be fairly lax if she allows you to speak to deities like this," Wyerg said. His voice was still friendly, but there was a dangerous undertone to it.

"When those ancient fake ones left and the four-armed deity returned, the equilibrium of the last era shattered. Cinderage is gone, the Hag is still mostly busy with her own realm, and…" Wyerg’s eyes turned fully red as a wave of hate wafted from him. "Preyatatarrr has gone into hiding.'

I waited as the red slowly faded from Wyerg's eyes. When the hateful aura retreated, the deity sighed.

"I have waited and hid for thousands of years, watching my people slowly turn into prowling ravagers. But now, there is a chance for my people and me to stop hiding from the hunters!"

I still had no idea what he was getting at but didn't think more questions would help. The deity would get to his point eventually, hopefully, sooner rather than later.

"The four-armed one has forged a new pantheon. Fin'r, Percussion, and the Hag have joined him, although not voluntarily," Wyerg said, his eyes turning glazed for a split second as if he remembered something.

Shit, now I remember what I should have asked Raparion, I thought. How had I forgotten that?

"He is hunting Rathica, but he won't stop at that. Those who don't join him will meet only death as he takes control of the surrounding solar systems. That leaves only two options. Hide and hope he dies, which will likely take thousands of years, or form a pantheon strong enough to oppose him."

Surrounding Solar Systems, I thought as I wondered how many livable and populated planets there actually were close to Kernstalion. Wyerg was staring at me, and I nodded. I had a general idea of where the conversation was going. The next few lines showed I was right.

"Rathica is constantly fleeing or hiding in her realm, making it impossible for me and the others to contact her, so I have come to you. Contact her, and tell her that she should create a new pantheon. The Stone, Flowheart, the ancient tree dweller, and I will join her and accept her guidance. Although none of us can stand against Nimron alone, together we are more powerful than he and those four, although just barely."

Flowheart will follow her guidance? I couldn't believe what I heard and blurted out the question that popped up.

"Flowheart will? Why don't the four of you do this without her?"

Wyerg barked a laugh. "This is not for a Prime to know. She will understand and explain if she deems you worthy."

I nodded, realizing this Wyerg character was more in line with what I had imagined a deity to be before I came here. "I'll relay the message, but right now, I can't easily contact her."

"I understand. You should wait until you are out of the forest. Nimron's presence is constantly scanning over it, and if you contact her now, the chances of him finding you are far too large."

The memory of me creating a small statue and summoning Rathica came to mind, and I wondered why he hadn't found us that time. I'd have to ask Raparion about this after I asked him about Pantheons.

"One more thing," Wyerg said. "Tell her I have what is needed to create the Pantheon."

Wondering what that was supposed to be, I nodded.

The large deity turned to the side and howled softly. Immediately the mass of canines outside the gates ran into the woods, disappearing within moments.

"Why did you bring all of them?" I asked. I couldn't imagine it was to protect himself from me.

"You have no reason to know," Wyerg said. "Contact her as soon as you leave the woods, and tell her to contact Ulderion."

Annoyed at being blown off twice, I just nodded. The massive deity possessed Worg, for I imagined that was what it had to be, leaped down from the wall, landing with a heavy thud. Then it disappeared into the woods.

"Flowheart have mercy on us. What was that all about?" Galir whispered.

Looking to the side, I found him huddled in the corner, his face pale as a sheet and covered in sweat.

"It had a message for my deity," I said, putting my hands on the rampart and staring at the ground below. Tracks were everywhere, testimony to the Wyergin that had been there.

"How could you speak with it without breaking down?" Galir asked as he moved beside me. His legs were still shaking, and I smelled a slight scent of urine around him.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Galir looked at me for a moment, then shuddered. "You didn't feel that constant pressure, as if something was trying to worm its way into your mind? It was horrible. It felt as if all of my secrets were being revealed."

"I didn't notice," I said, knowing it was likely my mindscape and the Mildasir tree. At the same time, I felt more than a little happy that I had gone through the pain to evolve it. Even if it hadn't given me Chaos Poison resistance directly, this alone felt worth it now. Perhaps I shouldn't dismiss the idea of continuing daily training to work towards milestone two? I noticed Galir was still looking at me as if he expected more.

"He was a bit hard to understand?" I said as I shrugged.

Galir looked at me in disbelief, shivered a few times, then got up and moved to the stairs.

"I need to clean up. Then we are leaving."

As he disappeared, I could hear him mutter to himself. "This is the last time I'm coming here. Horrible, backwater, piss-stained, dangerous-" He continued cursing under his breath until he was out of earshot.

I took one more look at the forest, then followed him down. Halfway towards my mostly finished mount, I saw Galir speak with the hooded archers, and my status pinged. I waited till I was nestled on the mount before taking a look.

> Gained the title 'Fearless four-armed Prime'

> Your title, "Fearless four-armed Prime, was used to describe you

> You've gained karma: 1

> You've gained karma: 1

> You've gained karma: 1

> You've gained karma: 1

I guess it beats Rot Bane, I thought as I looked at my karma and whistled.

> Karma 13/200

The cap had doubled.

Nice!

I grinned as I took my carving knife from where I had left it on the mostly finished statue. It was time to finish this thing!