As Veil stepped out of the forest into a clearing, an unknown tingle came over his body all at once he looked to Tank and asked; “Was this some kind of magic?” Yes it is the magic of the forest Veil the pup replied sardonically. He came face to face with a large wooden palisade. Each log was thicker than Veil and at least 15 feet high, the tops carved into large spikes. Veil walked to the edge of the wall, carefully peeking over the side of the wall. He knew if he were caught by anything that could construct a barrier so large, well, it wouldn’t be good. He could hear the bustling of a village on the other side of the wall but couldn’t bring himself to look into the gaps just yet. So instead he continued on his path of exploration.

As he looked out, he took in his surroundings. The village he was near seemed to stand upon a small hill, allowing him to see for miles all around. Before him sat a beautiful glade; a bubbling river flowed freely, the light rapids produced a chaotic rippling design across its surface. Purple and pink flowers spattered the rest of the grassland. Deer, or what seemed to be deer, yet were a multitude of colors from deep rouge to nearly completely black, stood in the corner of the glade, seemingly unaware that Veil was watching them. He was lost in the beauty of his surroundings. “This is beautiful,” Veil said under his breath. Tank began to yell out from somewhere behind him.

Veil, Veil! Tank yelped, causing Veil to spin around. Someone is coming… Tank’s voice trailed off. Veil looked up in time to see a large shirtless man running towards him with a spear aimed directly at his wolf puppy. Veil threw himself over Tank, shielding him from the large man.

“Stíh, ḱwṓn, héu mórti. Só esti tówos sm̥wḗhmos wórdn̥ti.” The large green man yelled.

Tank snarled, trying to wriggle free of Veil’s arms so he could attack the man. Touch my person and I’ll rip you limb from limb.

“Stop!” Veil yelled, still crouched over the pup. “Stop it!”

“Kwis esti tú, dhǵhm̥ó? Kwid ei tú pres̥i só gwhéris?” the man said, pressing the sharpened edge of his spear into Veil’s back, causing Veil to shift his weight and giving Tank the freedom to escape his clutches. Tank immediately lunged at the man attempting to release the fire ability directly into the man’s face he narrowly missed as the man spun backwards parrying the attack and throwing Tank to the ground with a loud thud, the ability impact with the ground caused sparks to spatter across the dried brush of the glade and as it began to smolder. The large man yelped, jumping back in surprise.

“Tu-” he said without taking his eyes off the attacking pup, rolling out of the way as Tank lunged at him again, jowls snapping at the empty air. “You are bound to this thing.” Anger flooded his words as he spoke.

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Veil jumped up, throwing himself in front of the attacker, arms raised to show he was surrendering. “Stop!” he yelled with everything in him. “Just stop.”

Both Tank and the man halted their movements. The man’s spear sliced down, cutting deeply into Veil’s face and causing Veil to stumble to the ground. The edges of his vision grew dark as he saw the large man’s reinforcements rushing to help. As the world was enveloped by darkness, Veil wondered what had just happened..

“W- why did they at—”

“Wow, that was quick,” a voice said. Veil opened his eyes, taking in the field of golden flowers surrounding him.

“Huh?” Veil said, sitting up.

“Most of the time - or at least I’d assume, you’re my first - you guys last longer.”

“Wh- what?” Veil asked. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, sorry. I am thinking more to myself than speaking to you. Do you know who I am?”

Veil looked towards the voice, seeing a spark of light floating close by. The light had no discernible shape or edges, constantly pulsating, growing brighter for a moment with each word. Eyes wide, Veil pushed away from the glowing ball.

“What the hell are you? How are you talking? What’s going on? Am I-”

“Dead?” the ball of light said. “Yes. Yes, you’re officially dead. It’s actually how I am able to speak with you. Nice, isn’t it, being able to have a conversation so soon after I brought you here?” A clapping sound echoed all around Veil, seemingly coming from the ball of light. Tears stung Veil’s eyes again as the realization that he was dead struck him like a ton of bricks.

“Oh, don’t cry, boy. I’m resurrecting you as we speak, which means we don’t have much time. And we have so much to speak of before you go back to being you.” The ball of light went out completely, as though it was winking at Veil. “I am Deiwolivos, but you may call me Dei. I am the god of life. Once I commanded vast armies against my brothers and was worshiped far and wide. I was once the most powerful god in all of the land, and in that time, I extended all the creatures of the world’s lives. I loved all the creatures of the land as much as I was loved by them, but I have since been forgotten. I brought you here, to the land of Nova, as my champion. Oh, look at the time,” the ball of light said. “You should be waking up right about now. One last thing. You must ingratiate yourself to those of the tower to succeed. Sing to the glory of my grace, young one.”

The words of the god rang through his mind as he sat up quickly with a deep exhale, his life force flooding back into his body. The large green man standing over him jumped back, yelling something in a language foreign to Veil. It took him a moment to realize it was the same language the man was speaking during the fight.

“Esti wógatos, es-esti wógatos!” the man yelled, running out of the small tent. A small group of the green men rushed into the room shortly after.

“Where is my dog?” Veil asked.

I am fine, Veil the young wolf’s voice sounded inside his head. Relief overwhelmed Veil, causing his whole body to relax. The edges of his vision started turning black again, his body sinking back upon the makeshift bed he had been laid upon. At least Tank is okay…