They were dressed in thick cotton clothing of triangular patterns embroidered into a dark-blue back-drop. The triangles were red or golden, with some wearing more intricate patterns than others. Almost every one of them had sashes of some kind with a thinner fabric which not only held their breeches up, but complemented the clothing with matching colors. Were they always dressed this beautifully?
Among the many tribesmen, there was only one person courageous enough to step forward. He was an old, old man, nearing the end of his natural lifespan. Next to him, a younger man helped him along towards me. I couldn’t recognize either of them, despite a portion of my soul aching in longing for them both.
The fervent love I felt for the old man, and the way my heart ached to cherish and hug the younger man brought me to conclude that they were Lenuru’s family.
I could not remember either of them, however. As it stood, I retained more memories from my time as a sprite than I did from Lenuru’s lifetime. I was only granted her humanity, but my mind… it was my own, slotted in the template of a human’s.
The old man coughed into his hand and steeled himself. What I saw in his eyes was not adulation, or fear, but grief. Doubt. Sorrow. My heart ached for him, not the part of me that was Lenuru, but the part of me that was his shepherd.
“Speak your mind,” I said gently. “What is it that bothers you so?”
When I spoke, the dozens of tribesmen gasped. Their God had spoken to them, after all. I didn’t spend much time to enjoy their awe, still focusing on the old man, the old… Ruman.
“Are…” He began softly, pausing. “Are you… really Astra…?”
I smiled and nodded. “That, I am. I know not what else, nor who else I could be. I was born from the marriage of sprite and human essence, bound to the wellbeing of this tribe. I am Astra.”
Ruman’s eyes widened as he believed my every word, knowing them to be true. As a God, I could not lie to them. I would not.
“Then…” the old man continued. “Is there anything that you want? Anything at all? We shall move mountains to see it done.”
I narrowed my eyes at those words, still smiling a little. Moving mountains was probably an exaggeration. I knew what humans were capable of biologically, but moving mountains sounded like a tall order.
An expression, something in my heart supplied to me. A human expression, a function of language. It was quaint. I could ignore the dishonesty, as Ruman obviously did not mean to exaggerate or lie.
They would do everything in their power, and that was more than enough, almost too much for me to ask of them.
So… what did I want?
The answer appeared in my mind almost instantaneously: to become more powerful. If I became stronger, then I could protect my people more effectively.
My power grew with their adulation. Emotions could boost me, but tokens of their love could do the same. The sacrifice of things they loved, such as food and art, would feed me well. Pious prayer, too.
Such acts needed a dedicated place, a place where these emotions would pool around me and make for easier absorption and to increase the capacity of my personal power. The forty-nine tribesmen before me had the right idea, them staying bunched up so I could receive their love readily.
I knew exactly what I wanted.
“A place of worship,” I said. “Love me, and I shall return the favor a hundredfold.”
Ruman nodded hastily, almost feverishly. “It will be done.”
I smiled widely. It would be done!
And then…
…what else did I want?
Knowledge, of course! How else could I repay them, with so little knowledge of what ailed humanity, or what would make them happy?
“I wish to talk to you,” I said to Ruman. “You, who is so old and wise. You may tell me all about your people, and all about the things I can do for you in return for your love and devotion.”
Ruman bowed his head. “It would be my pleasure, Astra.”
000
Len
Len helped his grandfather walk beside their God, their real God, Astra Himself! The ethereal creature, noticing grandpa Ruman’s plight, merely carried the old man gently, placing him on his back with Len’s help. Astra was tall, taller than any of the other tribesmen. He was built like a warrior from one of those distant tribes with the best hunting grounds and the largest farmland.
In comparison, everyone else in this tribe looked mundane, almost ugly. Len was above average in height, and yet he only reached the handsome God’s shoulder.
Despite walking naked, no one saw it as anything less than natural. Astra’s magnificence, the constellations covering his body, couldn’t, nay, shouldn’t be hidden.
Len led him to their house. It was well-built, thatched roofing with leathers underneath keeping the elements at bay, while strong wooden pillars kept it standing, mud and clay making up the walls. In comparison, most others had much less protection from the elements, but the tribe helped each other when they could, and that was always.
It was one for all and all for one.
The room should have been dark, but Astra’s stars, and especially the shining sunlike blue orb on his forehead illuminated everything. Len pulled up a chair for the God, but he merely put grandpa on it and remained standing. Len pulled the God another chair, and gingerly, he sat down, unused to the action.
Len took his own chair, and then watched the proceedings.
“So,” Grandpa began. “You said you wished to sample my wisdom.”
“I would love that,” Astra said, his voice melodious and pure. “Human concepts; how are societies held together? How does power concentrate? Who should hold power, and in what ways are you not completely satisfied with your lives?”
Len was completely lost by such questions. The concentration of power? Society? Such concepts were beyond him. In his sixteen years of life, Len never thought that he would be asked such things. Maybe if he was asked the approximate time harvest would come, he could answer, or maybe if he was quizzed on tracking game, he would have been more prepared. Especially if the question was based around swordplay. His grandmother had taught him well, after all!
Grandpa Ruman simply explained, and Len decided to listen. He launched into explanations about how laws held together the social fabric, that everyone was expected to adhere to such things in order to create a functioning community. Farmers were held in high regard in more established settlements, as farming could produce food which was vital for survival.
But Grandpa was only beginning. He talked about humanity’s plight during winter, the comings and goings of disease, of both the human and crop variant, which would threaten to starve large amounts of people. He went on about wars, the acts of barbarity it entailed, and all the ways in which it made life oh so difficult.
Magical beasts were a concern which he also raised, but assured Astra that the tribe could stand up to them without his help.
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Astra hummed at the last bit. “It makes sense that magically enhanced beasts would attack this settlement considering the magic minerals below us.”
Len’s eyes threaten to bulge out of their sockets, while Grandpa began to tremor with excitement. “Magical minerals below us? Are… are you certain?” Grandpa asked needlessly. They could both feel Astra’s certainty, so why even ask?
Because it was entirely unbelievable.
“Yes,” Astra merely responded. “Why? Is this somehow valuable to you people? What do you use them for?”
Grandpa Ruman took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Depending on the type, they could be used for a variety of purposes. Verdant Green is the most coveted type of mineral. It promotes plant growth which can be used to improve crop output. In a pinch, they can be used to completely eliminate the chance of famine.
“Fire Red, like its name suggests, emits heat, and when impacted, emits even more heat. It is a great weapon, and a convenient firestarter, but very volatile and difficult to handle.
“Deep Blue generates clean, drinkable water. Depending on its purity, even a fist-sized version of itself could sate a whole village for months. This resource is invaluable during drought years. There are others, but they are less useful for human purposes, though I hear rumors about magic-wielders, or mages from the City of Neulea, who affix these stones to long wooden staffs and cast spells.”
Astra nodded in satisfaction, smiling deeply. “I am glad that I can be of service, then. I pulled on these minerals, and the magic of our environment to construct my body. I know much about how to locate them, and will gladly impart my wisdom as you have yours. Do you have a way to extract these minerals?”
Grandpa Ruman shrugged. “We can dig far enough down to reach bedrock, but I fear that the minerals you speak of may exist deeper yet,” at Astra’s nod, he continued. “We do not have the implements, unfortunately. Our last blacksmith died last summer. He was burned by his forge, and sickness set in on the wound despite our local herbalist’s best efforts. We will need to order from a foreign talent. Great God, can you help with this?”
Astra seemed almost crestfallen. “My essence is severely limited. It may be improved with more worship, but my current limits would only allow myself to fly, and very little more. I could not conjure these implements if I tried. On the bright side, I won’t have to eat,” he smiled bashfully.
Grandpa Ruman nodded. “Then we will just have to wait.”
000
I watched in fascinated satisfaction as the tribesmen all chipped in on the construction efforts of my new temple. They spared little effort and expense, felling the largest trees and collecting as many natural resources as they could.
On the first day, they had finished the outer walls. On the second day, they had filled the inside with as many things as they could; burning herbs to improve the inside’s smell and decorating the floors and walls with neat patterns.
On the third day, they had almost finished the thatched roof. A small mishap was averted by myself, warning a builder to move away before he could be crushed by a falling log. With a short bout of celebration, the builders redoubled their efforts despite my warnings not to.
On the fourth day, the roof was entirely finished. The temple was a bit cramped when everyone showed up, but none of that mattered when they laid their eyes on me again and deemed the discomfort worth it.
In turn, every person came up to me and gave me their wish. Most commonly, they wanted their families to be well-fed, and prosperity for the tribe. Some wanted protection from wars and magical beasts. Others wanted protection from famine and disease. There were a few chronically injured people who came up to me with help from their family, but they did not ask me to heal them. They just asked me to protect their families and their tribe.
I promised them that I would.
Soon enough, the service ended and the people filed out in order to continue on with their lives. Only Ruman remained, along with Len of course.
“I would like for you to come with us,” the old man began. “There are men with shovels ready outside. You need only lead us to the point where we can find the magic stones.”
Their fascination with these magically enhanced minerals brought me much happiness. As a being of magic, I could track them down with ease and bring the village much happiness. I knew intuitively the many ways in which they could be used.
The way magic interacted with humans, however, was still new territory for me, something I wished to completely categorize. There was only one reason why; I wanted to defeat death. It seemed that everything the humans were afflicted with eventually resulted in death, as did all things that walked the earth, but I wanted more for these creatures, and I knew that magic would aid them.
I just didn’t know how. I needed more data.
I flew towards the highest concentration of magic minerals. As a sprite, I remembered congregating here with my brethren because there were humans here, but that probably wasn’t the intentions of my siblings.
This whole area was simply loaded with the magic minerals, and ever so rarely, a nigh-invisible sprite would sink into the earth to join the concentration of magic power.
The area I marked held many ‘Verdant Green’ minerals, which I purposefully led them to. Letting them have an easier time of food was a great boon for them. It would allow them to devote more time to me, and also allow me to experiment with more of them on the nature of magic and humans.
The humans soon begun to dig a deep trench, working hard and consistently. While they did so, I flew up in order to get a better view of the village.
There were twenty houses in total, arranged haphazardly around my temple, though it was more accurate to say that my temple was placed at the center of the village, equidistant to most of the houses. We were a mountain village. The towering slabs of stone were a mile ahead of us, stretching from one end of the horizon to the other. The shade it provided left the crops with less sunlight in the mornings, which consequentially made them grow slower, not to mention the fact that the mountainous soil was less useful for farming than most other types. This was an issue only ameliorated by the handful of acres of farmland that the villagers tended to without fail. It was hard work for so few people, but they made do since the only other alternative was death. Everyone pulled their weight.
Over into the distance, further from the mountains, were forests. Most animals who lived there were reportedly mundane, though an odd magical beast or two would amble in or out, and sometimes attack settlements. They were mindless, but much more capable than their mundane variants, and could only be defeated in groups, but injuries were common, and often life-threatening. They would attack this settlement because of the concentration of magic energy. That was one of the ways they could increase their power, after all, by consuming the minerals.
The village would occasionally hunt in the forest for deer, but got most of their meat from slaughtered animals. They kept a dearth of livestock which they mostly used for their byproducts; cattle for milk, chickens for eggs, et cetera. Meat was a major commodity, but the lives of the animals were more enticing to me. I would, however, not ask them to sacrifice their animals, no matter how much power that would grant me. Even a single cow could double my current capabilities, but that would be at the cost of valuable milk.
I couldn’t demand of them anything that would cost them their happiness.
I circled back to the deepening ditch. They still had several more times the current depth of the ditch to go before reaching the minerals, but the soil would soon give way to harder substances. When I flew back to Ruman’s side, I caught him in a heated argument with his grandson.
“-this one opportunity to go to the outside world, grandpa!”
“You’re still too young,” Ruman groused. “You know not of the ways of this world!”
“But he can learn,” I cut in with a smile as I softly descended to the ground. “What seems to be the matter, Ruman?”
Ruman looked down on the ground, clutching onto his walking stick nervously. “My grandson Len wants to go to a nearby blacksmith to requisition the mining tools. He’d need pickaxes, but the problem is that we only barely have enough coin for three, and the blacksmith is very far away. There are perils on the road like bandits and dangerous animals. Harvest is soon incoming, and we do not have enough men or women to spare for a caravan.”
“Ah,” I nodded in understanding. “Then would it be too much trouble if I accompanied him?”
Ruman gasped. “T-that’s… I don’t think that is a good idea. You’re our God Astra, but you’re also… out of the ordinary. It may bring us attention which we can ill afford. Worship of Gods are banned in these lands.”
This was… worrying. Ruman noticed my concern, but merely shook his head. “Lowlanders rarely venture towards the mountains, anyway, so we will easily keep you secret while here.”
It didn’t completely assuage my worries, but it wouldn’t do to dwell on such things. I had to start with what was within my power.
I was out of the ordinary. My outward appearance made me look decidedly inhuman. Though it was a hefty expenditure of my current magical energy, I decided to will myself to seem more human. My skin lightened and settled on a deep tan. My hair became brown and my eyes a mundane hazel. It wasn’t a true change, but a manipulation of light. My starlit skin still existed beneath the deceptive coating.
“Do I seem more human now?” I asked Ruman honestly. Both him and Len seemed almost panicked at my change, but calmed down as soon as they recalled my nature. The men digging the hole had also stopped to take in my changes, shocked and awed by my ability.
“You do,” Ruman nodded. “I have never seen a man as tall as you, but you do look undoubtedly like a man, though a remarkably large one. If you’re clothed well, then few will suspect anything out of the ordinary.”
Len was almost shaking with excitement. “Thank you so much Astra! Wait here, I will get you clothes!” He ran off quickly towards the village.
Ruman chuckled wistfully. “He’s a boy that hungers for adventure. Are you certain that you can keep him safe with how powerful you currently are?”
“I am far beyond human limits,” I said. “For a God, that is not enough, but for a traveling human, it definitely is. If it is suspicion that you fear, I shall not reveal my capabilities unless forced to, and your grandson will be under my protection. You have nothing to fear.”
Ruman nodded in satisfaction at my words. The clothing that Len brought for me hugged around my body very tightly, but a cloak managed to hide this apparently embarrassing sight from view. Len did not waste time setting off, a large pack of food and water on his back.
We set upon the trail then, Len with the excitement of a nascent adventurer, and I with a burning desire to sate my boundless curiosity.