1. Worthless Fighters

It used to be everyone’s job to gather food; now it was everyone’s job to fight.

Not long after Bella—Goddess of Wisdom—was taken, the gods were attacked again. And again. Until the gods could do nothing else than declare war on their enemies. The gods had many friends in these woods—but their enemies apparently had even more friends.

The two armies had raced to Traferia. An area that had been unreachable until the fall of the Loveline, which meant is was still untouched rainforest. The trees were so close together they could hug each other’s trunk. The leaves shook hands overhead and kept out sunlight.

Nobody knew what the rainforest contained exactly, because nobody had been there before.

Two small Equids—horses before they were horses—waited in the dark, surrounded by lions, elephants and eagles. That was fine, because they were on their side.

The problem was the other army, who could hide behind every tree and contained animals they had never even seen before on Origina. For all they knew, they had scary cats who looked exactly like trees and were standing next to them right now.

Quili nudged Epoh with her shaking snout. She wanted to be home again, around the Heavenly Flowers of Eeris. “Please tell me again why we didn’t say no to the gods?”

“What do I know, what do I know.”

“Because the gods protect us,” an elephant nearby said. Quili could barely see the red stripes on his tough, gray skin. Three stripes: he was one of the highest commanders. “And they commanded me to come here immediately. Do you doubt me?”

“No, of course not, but—”

“Stop talking,” a lion growled softly.

It had to be midday now, but they trudged through an area as dark as night. The only sounds were snapping branches and crackling leaves. And of course two whispering creatures who would later evolve to become horses, but now were no larger than rabbits.

Two eagles suddenly left their branch. Most weren’t soldiers but explorers, their eagle eyes famous for their incredible sight.

Quili only heard one of them come back.

To her left, twenty voices roared. Before her eyes, a lion reared up and caught a wolf in his claws. The elephant lowered his tusks and pushed two incoming jaguars aside.

The eagles all left their trees, creating a rain of leaves and twigs, to collide with an endless horde of doves.

Quili and Epoh froze on the spot. They looked down at their useless hooves without so much as a sharp edge.

Something heavy landed on Quili’s back. She pranced, but this creature held on skillfully and yelled they belonged to her.

She looked over her shoulder. A Gosti, an ape-like creature who had grown too large to call a Ghost Creature by now, pointed somewhere.

The chaos and the noise delayed her understanding. She was supposed to take him there. She jumped over Epoh, ducked underneath an elephant, and swung between two eager yellow-dotted claws. Then the Gosti jumped off her back.

He was better off: he had a weapon. He fought with two spears, crossed before his body, twisting them round and round. The resulting whirlwind frightened the enemy without even touching them.

A wolf slid past the spears, but the Gosti quickly switched and pricked the spears into the tree like a ladder. As he jumped out of reach, the wolf turned to Quili.

The grey-brown beast made a huge leap and opened his mouth.

A spear came from above and killed the wolf before it could reach her.

Quili knew one thing for sure: she’d search her friend and run far away from this warzone.

And so they did.

One of the commanders had stayed in camp, together with a group of sheep. This lion, named Tibbowe, stood in a tent made from rough cloth, held up by Gosti-spears diagonally stuck into the dirt. It was a new invention. The camp could not hold more than a hundred animals with the few tents they had.

The gods had one rule: you do not hunt other animals within your camp.

That’s probably why Quili and Epoh had said “yes”. While they stood here, they were protected from meat eaters or other dangers.

Tibbowe looked fearful. “You … you are the only ones left?”

He quickly realized the truth. His manes shook wildly. “You ran away from the fight! You have deserted your brothers! Out of my sight. Leave this camp, now.”

“But … but … we can’t fight!”

“That is true,” a voice behind them spoke.

The lion who silenced them earlier walked into camp, dirt all over her fur and deep cuts in her sides. She greeted Tibbowe by licking his cheek and cuddling up to him. “These are truly the most worthless fighters of the entire army.”

Some called them king and queen of the rainforest. Quili found it a strange word and didn’t understand why it was invented. Weren’t the gods at war because other animals were angry they were bossed around? Wasn’t too much power the entire issue?

“Stupid king,” Quili whispered. “Stupid animals wielding power.”

“Yes, erm, yes, what you say,” Epoh whispered back.

She didn’t know if the king had heard. Maybe she should think before—

Tibbowe looked even angrier and she had to suppress the desire to spit in his face. He looked down on two shivering Equids. “Then I’ve made my choice. Disappear!”

The remainder of the army stumbled into camp. They were exhausted.

Some fell asleep immediately after setting foot on the camp border. The others looked at Tibbowe. Their bellies rumbled in unison, like a single roaring animal, and Quili briefly thought the enemy had infiltrated camp.

“My apologies, soldiers. I also have not been able to hunt for food.”

“This is untenable,” the elephant said. “We can’t fight and gather our own food. Certainly not in Traferia, where almost nothing walks or grows outside of this camp. And where are the gods? Is not a single one available to help?”

“The gods are busy putting out fires all around the world,” Tibbowe said sternly.

Quili let her surprise escape out loud: “The entire world is on fire?”

Tibbowe pushed the Equids out of camp with his soft claws.

“Figurative fires. I mean fighting is happening everywhere, which requires the gods’ attention. The honey badgers from Paraat, who started this army, are fighting at the Impossible Wall. To prevent anyone from crossing. If you don’t even understand that, you may surely leave this—”

“What about the sheep!?” Quili yelled. “Why don’t they fight?”

“They have another purpose! How dare you speak like that to a king—”

“Wait,” the queen said.

Tibbowe kept pushing a little longer, until they were at the border. Only then he turned around.

“They are worthless fighters, yes,” she said. “But maybe they can prove their worth by solving the food issue.”

“Yes! Yes! Sure!” Quili said, stepping inside camp again. “Give us a day—”

“Three days,” Epoh added.

“A week,” Quili decided, “and we have your solution.”

“A week!?” a Gosti screeched. “Another week without food?”

Tibbowe studied the group. Roughly fifty animals were left who could truly fight.

“Whoever thinks they aren’t an addition to our army,” he said, “joins these Equids in searching and gathering food.”

He looked somber and nudged his queen. “For a solution is necessary.”

Quili and Epoh were joined by two rabbits, one Equid who repeatedly told them his name was Samson, and a Gosti. His name was Gossin and he said he was a worthless soldier because of his phobia for blood.

As the camp behind them fell asleep, they had to come up with something.

Quili walked with Samson. Surely because the others were tired of hearing him talk.

How could they feed an entire army? If you were hungry, you found a plant. They just … appeared or something. That’s how it had always worked.

Though … Eeris, Goddess of Nature, could make plants grow whenever she wanted. There had to be a way—Quili didn’t know it.

So she hoped to pluck enough berries for the plant eaters and catch enough insects for the meat eaters. That hope disappeared as she scoured every part of the woods without result. And when she wanted to return to camp at night, she turned around and saw … nothing.

Samson was gone.

In his place, on the floor, lay an unnaturally huge seed.