10. Epilogue
Higgis crept towards his target. Not for fear of being seen, or distrust in his eyesight, but uncertainty about the path he was about to take.
Was it forbidden to ask this? What if it couldn’t be done? Would the beast tell the others and make Higgis a target for all?
But of course, despite Higgis’ best efforts, he was immediately noticed by the Hespryhound. He slept with chin on the floor, but was wide awake at an instant. A true guard dog.
“Dear, erm, sir Hespry, hound, erm, oh valuable pet of the gods—”
“Say your say. Then let me sleep.”
“Everyone knows you can convert animals into meat eaters with a touch. Could you … could you do the other way around?”
Hespry frowned and sat up more straight. “You ask me to convert you back into a plant eater?”
“Yes. Yes, that my ask.”
The hound let out a long breath that forced Higgis to roll backwards. “If only I could. I tried. The first time I accidentally created a meat eater, I immediately wanted to change them back. Undo my mistake. But I couldn’t. From that moment on, I tried to keep everything balanced. To help plant eaters who were terrified and wanted to become a meat eater for safety. But the inverse?”
“I am sure. Someone waits for me. We can’t work together if I keep seeing him as food.” Higgis looked sad and whispered. “I don’t want to use my sharp teeth, but now I have no choice.”
Hespry rose to his full size, casting a deep shadow over Higgis. He placed his snout above the lizard’s head.
“Certain? I think I won’t succeed, but I can try. If I fail, I might accidentally make you the biggest meat eater there is.”
“Certain.” Higgis thought about Magim. He thought about plants, about living in the Rainbow Forest with Eeris, how never having to attack anyone or taste blood again.
Hespry’s snout gently touched Higgis’ head—and he felt everything change.
Magim was already at step five of the plan. He gathered animals to live together, so they could protect each other. It had only been a few months ago that meat eaters had been allowed to roam freely, and now they were everywhere.
The carnivores ensured there were never too many herbivores, which ensured no entire forests were eaten within a few months anymore. But if they ate too much meat, too many animals would die, and they’d let themselves go extinct. Balance, Feria called it.
Time seemed to speed up. They were still immortal, but only if you worked hard and stayed out of their jaws.
The Rainbow Forest provided plenty of food. Eeris took great care of them, though it still wasn’t enough for some. They whispered about the cruel gods, about their arrogance, about their hatred for the herbivores. They spread new rumors and legends about a faraway place, away from Origina, past the Impossible Wall and Sea, where the gods did not rule. How great and truly free life had to be there.
Darus felt endlessly guilty about pushing plant eaters into meat eater claws. Guilty enough that he promised to carry any animal anywhere, if they wanted, and promise the gods would never come and rule them in that place.
Magim studied himself every day in the Aparant River. A second tooth grew. Nobody found it strange. After crossing the Nightriver, only the strongest animals had remained—those who could defend themselves. Thus, everyone in this area had something odd or sharp: spikes, nails, a discolored skin or a tail that ended in a pointy edge.
The insects did the same thing. Each insect that moved too slowly, was pulled from the air and swallowed by bearded dragons. So only the fastest insects remained.
He had no issue with the gods. He found their decision the right one: it would make life stronger and speed up events. And now that he now what agony meant, it felt much better to be safe.
Now that it was possible to be truly in danger and almost die, it felt beautiful to walk through the forest, friends and group members around, and feel safe.
Still, nature had taken a hit. Entire animal species, too weak to defend themselves, had disappeared. Plant species went extinct. The meat eaters had changed the entire chain of food.
The gods were too late to recognize the severity of these events, for they really tried to not interfere this time. They ended up calling it the fourth Mass Extinction.
Panicked, Darus had sped up his tectonic plates. The world, which had been a single continent before, now split into multiple pieces. Even if one continent was having a terrible time, it would not influence the others.
But a clean-up could also have great consequences.
It cleared the path for lizards to grow. They kept laying larger eggs, out of which grew larger bloodthirsty lizards. Who lay even larger eggs which needed more meat to stay alive. Meat they could access now, for plant and meat eaters walked among each other, everywhere.
In the Rainbow Forest, things were calm for now. But Magim heard the areas around the Saursea and the Mouth of Din already teemed with such monsters.
The gods even invented a new name for them: dinosaurs.
And so it was that life continued…