Something was wrong.
Vali was waking up for one. He stirred, stretched, and rolled over, nestling into his cosy quilt of silk and gold thread. The galaxies swirling behind his eyes faded. He snuggled deeper into his nest but it was no use - his dreams were over.
The second wrong thing was that there were humans standing over him. The three figures were only black shapes, backlit by the torches they had relit high on the crumbling pillars of the temple. Grim shadows played over the dust and rubble of the crypt, confusing Vali’s vision, but the stupid upright pose was unmistakable.
The tallest of the humans raised his hands, bat-wings of loose robe dangling from his arms. “Greetings, Vali. We mean you no harm, your majesty.”
Vali struggled one more time against consciousness and gave up. The wonderful visions of the next world he would rule were no more. How sorry he was to be back among the two-legs.
“Welcome back to your realm,” the tall man proclaimed. His voice was gruff. His breath stank of vile vegetables. “Though it has been laid low by dark times, we will make it mightier than ever together, an empire of eternity. For we are the Bringers of Rebirth, the harbingers of salvation for the Old Gods.”
“The bringers of renewed power,” droned the companion to his left.
“The bringers of the order that was lost,” intoned the one to his right.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Vali suddenly remembered why he’d found this cosy and peaceful corner of his temple in the first place.
To his dismay, the fools stepped forward. One dirty boot even touched his quilt. “We have spent years deciphering the scrolls of the ancients, the ones who rightfully worshipped you above all,” the tall one was wittering.
“For you are Vali, man’s best friend,” continued the left. “The ever-faithful companion of our race.”
“And you shall be at our side first when we tear apart those who turned away from you,” said the right.
As far as Vali remembered, it was he who had done the turning away. He had only been awake for a minute, a mere moment even in the lives of these transient mortals, and yet he had seen and heard enough to turn away again. These were truly horrific creatures for disturbing his nap of millennia, yet he would not waste precious energy to pounce on something so low, so weak. He began to roll deeper into his cobwebbed corner.
“But Master Vali!” cried the tall human, his voice rumbling like thunder in the empty chamber. He fell to his knees before the god. “We have chosen you above all. The very first for the Ritual of Rebirth. Please accept our greatest offering, the finest gift we could bestow upon your divine kind.”
He stretched out his hand towards the soft down of Vali’s exposed belly. “The Tummyrub of Good Boys.”
One questing finger found fur, and the full force of Vali’s anger came awake. He flexed and his claws slid out from his golden paws in one smooth, satisfying moment. The next moment, and the tall one’s head was sliding across the flagstones on a path of glistening crimson.
Vali raised his owns head and issued a long, snarling meow of rage.
“I - I don’t think he’s a dog,” said the right figure. The Bringers of Rebirth turned and pounded across the vault towards the tunnel from whence they had come.
And, as Vali leapt from his covers, back arched, tail bristling, the speaker’s companion looked back and at last beheld the true and terrible extent of their error.