They had moved outside, into the vast expanse of sand. It had been a little sketchy trying to get Eshu out with them, but Gage had found a ladder. Propping it up to the hole in the ceiling, he had to carry the dog out very carefully. It had very much been worth it though seeing Eshu release his pent-up energy, zooming around in the sand before finding a spot to make his mess. Gage chuckled, watching the dog as he waddled over to him and plopped down into the sand, happy.

“Alright, Ma’tuk, how do we do this?” He was seated on a thin blanket he had laid out, legs crossed under him. “Do I cast a spell? Or just will it to happen?”

It floated gently in a circle around him, “Nonono. No. Earth was the least magically inclined world. You would probably implode or something if you tried to jump right into spellwork.”

“Ookay? What do I do, then?”

“Ah, weeeeeeellllllll... you need to connect with your power before anything can really happen. So you should do that, yes? Go on, mediate with yourself.”

Gage took a deep breath and let it out slowly before shaking his head. “Mediate? Mediate yourself. Right.”

“Well, it is not wrong. Go, go. Try. You will see.” Some of the light from the orb moved away from it, almost as if it was shooing him on.

“Right. Well, here goes nothing.” Gage closed his eyes and began to breathe. In and out. Slow and steady. Well, as best he could. His mind was whirling with everything he had learned. Just a day ago the world had been ending. He had said his good byes. Now? Now he was a burgeoning god on a, mostly, new world. How did you even have a ‘mostly’ new world? What would it mean being a god?

He kept the steady, breathes. In through the nose, out through the mouth. The thoughts ran through his mind. He did not try to stop them or answer them. Instead letting them run their course. Time passed and he listened. He listened to the wind, the rustle of the sand, and the soft snores coming from Eshu. As the thoughts quieted and slowed, so did the sounds around him until they could only faintly be heard.

In and out. He could feel his heart beating. The pulse through his body. With each beat it pulsed again, spreading just a bit further through him. He focused in on the pulse as it flowed through him. As he did, something else flowed along with him. It was like a shadow, a gentle touch that echoed the beating of his heart. With each breath in, it pulled into him, pulsed through him, and released with his breath out. A soft seed of light bloomed in his mind. It was a pink glow, a few shades lighter than his hair- as that thought crossed his mind the light dimmed and flickered. He let the thought go, keeping his breathing.

The light pulsed with his heart, with his breath. Steady and even. He let the image of it solidify in his mind. ‘What am I supposed to do now?’ He had found what he now knew was his power, for he could feel himself inside of it just as he could feel it in himself. ‘I am supposed to be fixing my wound, right?’ As he thought that, he focused on the feeling on his head. The dull ache of pain, the crust of blood in his hair. He began to picture what he thought it looked like.

The image of it sharpened in his mind as he slowly added more detail. It was a gruesome wound. The skin at the crown of his head had split. He was certain he could even see a bit of bone where there wasn’t enough skin to cover it. With a breath out, he released his queasiness. ‘Okay, so how do I fix this? Do I just...’ He started with picturing the wound clean, starting by picking out the dried blood, sand, and dust. It was weird looking down at the back of his own head, but he ignored it. After the wound was cleaned, he pulled the hair back from the split to give himself a clear view. He didn’t even know if picturing this way was helping at all, but it made him feel better about it. It made it slightly more real, more tangible.

In. Out. ‘Now? Now. Ah.’ He reached into himself, into that pink light. As it pulsed, he directed it towards the ache in his head. He imagined the pink light filling the wound and attaching to the edges of the wound. Using the light, he pulled the edges of the wound shut. A line of pink, so thin it could barely be seen, marked the wound like a scar. Uncertain on how to actually make the flesh mend back together, he left the pink light there hoping it would keep the wound close so it could heal itself. Taking a step back from the wound, he paused. A bald spot mirrored the wound.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Taking in another breath, he pictured the light growing out of his head, like strands of hair. As the new growth of ‘hair’ reached a length close to the rest of his head he focused his mind, solidifying the light. As he let out the next breath, exhaustion took him. It rolled through his body with the next pulse, as he tried to catch his breath, his focus broke. Suddenly the sounds of the night rolled in, louder than before. His eyes flickered rapidly as he gasped wildly for breath, falling backwards onto the blanket. The light of the moon and stars blinded him. The sounds of the wind rustling the sand grated on his ears.

Forcing in a breath, he began the cycle again. In and out. Not focusing on anything but trying to shut out the sight and sounds. He did not feel the pulsing again, instead a warmth at his side. Weakly he opened his eyes and looked around. Eshu was laying against him, looking at his face. With a shaky hand he pet the worried dog’s head. “Hey boy, shhsh, it’s okay. I’m okay.” His voice was raw, scraping his very dry throat. With some effort, he pushed himself up.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Ma’tuk danced nervously near the edge of the blanket. Below him a bottle of water was laid out on the blanket. Gage focused on the bottle and grabbed it. Greedily he drank from it, stopping to sputter and cough. “Gage! Are you alright? You have at it for hours. We were getting worried. Did it work? I bet it did! Let me see!” The excited orb whirled around behind him. After a moment, it whistled. “Not healed, I see, but you bandaged that quite nicely. Quite nicely indeed. Um, did you mean to give yourself pink hair?”

Taking another, more conservative sip, “My hair was already pink.”

“Well, yes but it was only made to look pink. This is actually pink. Your hair is pink.” It was quiet for a moment. “I like it.” It bounced back in front of him. “What do you think? Was it fun?”

He stopped the bottle back up and set it against his head. The water was still cool. Ignoring, “Where did you get this water?”

“Oh that? From the ice box. I may have done a little to make sure it stays cool for a little while longer. But it is your own. It is your own right?”

“Of course.” The coolness of the bottle eased his mind. “I saw, and felt, a light inside myself. It took a while to find it, but when I did, I just kind of assumed and used it to fix my wound.” With his other hand he reached up and tentatively ran a hand over where the wound had been. It was almost imperceptible, but he could feel the line where the split had been. The hair was thick and solid around it. It was even clean. He couldn’t feel any tangles or debris stuck in his hair at all. “It worked.” He breathed out the word.

“Of course it did! You found and used your power! It looks like it took a lot out of you, but it is a start!” Ma’tuk did his happy bob once more, this time adding a soft strobing effect.

“But,” He watched the orb as he resumed his petting of Eshu, who had calmed down seeing that he was okay. “What was it?”

The orb paused and started a gentle spin. “Heka. Qi. Ruach. It has had many names through the many different societies of Earth. Do not confuse it with magic, for it is more than that. Simply put, that was your Breath.” It said the word with a clearness that made it stand out from any other word spoken and with a confidence as if it answered everything.

Staring blankly at the orb. “I’m sorry, but my breath?”

“No, Breath. It is, hmmm. Your essence. The trueness of who you are. It changes with you. Like the air you breathe,” It did a little nod, “You cannot live without. It is a part of you from the inner most depths of your soul to the edges of your being.”

Gage sat and pondered that for some time, not sure he fully understood what it meant but positive he wouldn’t be getting a clearer answer than that for now. “And does everything have this, Breath?” When he said the word this time, he could hear a faint clearness to it. It was not as strong as when Ma’tuk had said it, but enough to realize that it meant more than he had originally thought.

“Kinda? For mortal things it is, as best described as, the Soul. But for you,” it whizzed around him so fast, Gage felt a little dizzy for a moment. “For you and other god, -lings, it is so much more.” He nodded along, each nod lowering his head further.

“I see- Huuuaaah!” A yawn interrupted him, as his chin touched his chest. As it did he sat up with a stretch, blinking around owlishly. “Let’s get everything back inside before the sun comes up and I pass out, yeah?”

“Very well, my Lord.” Gage only grunted at the term, tossing the blanket and water bottle down the hole before carefully carrying Eshu back down. Back in the depths of the house, he once again made sure Eshu was fed and watered. Then he curled up in his blankets and as he passed the line from wakefulness to sleep, 'How did It carry out the bottle...'