When Ardex placed his tiger paws at the bottom of the stairs, he noticed that the gate doors had been ripped from their hinges.

Deep gashes split the wood, seemingly carving a message. Though the path to the throne of the gods was long, Ardex reached the top in mere moments, panting.

When he called for Bella, silence was the only answer.

Ardex shook his fur, but could not relax. He didn’t want it to be true. He told himself there was a good explanation. Of late, the animals had seemed happy with the gods again! They had opened their gates to them. Perhaps a clumsy elephant passed through? he thought.

The symbols on the door were numbers, written in some ancient script. Ardex could make nothing of them. He searched the deserted halls, pushed off pillars to increase his speed, until moments later his claws slid across an equally empty throne room.

Bella’s throne was empty. Its left armrest crumbled away, the stones fallen to the floor like tears. He crept closer. A tuft of raccoon fur still clung to Cosmo’s jagged throne.

“Bella? Is anyone there?”

He did not recognize his own voice. If they have done anything to her, he thought, if any being has so much as touched Bella …

He paced around the room. There were no traces of life, but endless traces of a fight.

His breathing quickened. The fur on his back stood up and his enormous tusks scraped the floor as if Bella might be hiding underneath.

No! It couldn’t have been just one being. A whole group had certainly overpowered his little sister and dragged her away like a sack of sand. Guilt stormed through his thoughts. How could we leave her alone, the only goddess with no powers to defend herself?

Until all thoughts halted. He felt only fury. His mind emptied, but his muscular body tensed. The fire that always burnt within bubbled to the surface.

He clambered up the walls until he left the Throne through a back door.

“Bella!” he roared over the forest.

He ran and ran, his thick tail lashing the ground. The animals fled from this wild lunatic, retreating into their stone homes.

They did not see that every blow, every thrust, every growl made a hill on the horizon grow. Higher and higher, until you’d rather call it a mountain, until animals pointed at it with shivering claws, until Ardex himself had to run around it.

“Bella is kidnapped!”

He made sure everyone in the East could hear. That was easy, for since that dreadful Howlnight the entire Eastwood had become nearly uninhabitable.

The mountain he created slowly turned brown and then black. An opening appeared at its peak.

“I will find the culprit!”

Smoke billowed from the mountain. Red streams trickled down.

“And I will personally hurl them into this volcano.”

Ardex already knew who the culprit was. It had to be the Proto-Turtles. They had never shown respect to the gods, for as long as they lived, which was such a long time that people now called them Ancient Turtles. They were surely strong enough to do such a thing. And several creatures had overheard conversations at night, stemming from the Midterra Sea, about secret plans.

The Ancient Turtles had done it. They were too big to hurl into the volcano—but he could always bring the volcano to them instead.

By causing an eruption.

He turned toward the Midterra Sea in the North, when a wing blocked his vision. Cosmo, a large bird and god of the air, barred Ardex’ path. “My dear brother, tell me now why volcanoes appear?”

“Let me through. I know what you think, I know what you all think of me, but this is no unnecessary fury. Bella is kidnapped.”

“Pardon?”

Eeris hopped toward them, still laughing. The giraffe was goddess of nature, but sometimes they thought her true animal form was grasshopper. That cheerful behavior constantly irritated Ardex. He stepped closer to the territory of the Turtles, but Eeris grabbed his back paw with her long neck.

“I think it’s very nice that you created a volcano for my birthday party, but—”

“It’s your birthday today?”

“Not really. But I convinced the animals it was, so now I have to play along.”

“Brother! Sister!” Ardex jerked free and sank his teeth into a tree, just to stop himself from biting his own family. “Bella is kidnapped! I’m serious.”

“She would never allow that to happen!”

“And yet it has happened.”

It took far too long, in Ardex’ opinion, before his siblings’ faces became as grave as his own. But their presence did calm him, and the volcano stopped growing and sputtering.

At least they were unharmed. It seemed only Bella was taken. Now they could solve this together.

“What do we do now?” squeaked Eeris.

“Records,” said Cosmo, already walking back to the Throne. Ardex reluctantly followed. “Bella holds an audience with forest animals once a week. Everything they say is written in the Lifelogbook.”

“By whom?”

“Magic.”

“Oh yes,” Eeris chimed in, loping faster and faster. “That log just appeared one day. And it works great. But we really must find out who enchanted it.”

Together they shuffled through the splintered doors. The log, a collection of large wooden tablets stuck to the wall, stared back at them. Cosmo searched for the latest addition.

“Leion of Paraat. Reason for visit: asked Bella to accompany him to solve a grave problem. He gave few details. Bella refused.”

“Then we go to Paraat,” said Eeris as if discussing a cheerful adventure. Cosmo kept staring at the symbols with a frown.

“Nonsense,” Ardex growled. “Bella refused. It says so right there. So she didn’t go with this Leion character. I’m going to the Ancient Turtles. I know they did it.”

Cosmo nodded. “We split up. You go to the sea, we go to Paraat.”

The punishment for stealing was twenty lashes of the whip. That was, however, only if you were caught. Something that happened easily when there were only ten places to steal from, according to the Challenge rules. Even more easily when it rained, sharp thorns were strewn in the mud, and you’d barely slept due to endless training.

But taking part in the Challenge wasn’t a choice. It was one of the mandatory lessons every Paraat son had to learn. Whether you gave up—and were tossed into the icy, stormy sea as punishment—that was a choice.

And not one Leion wanted to make. Even as his muscles trembled with fatigue and he saw danger in every shadow.

He’d chosen his victim. The Honeybadger family with yellow fur, unlike the black kind all other Paraats had. Yellow fur used to be common, but the Blacktrail Explosion had reached even their habitat, sparing only their backs.

Their home of mud and twigs stood at the border. If things went wrong, at least he had ample space to flee. Two crooked square windows in the back seemed unguarded, but that was, obviously, a trap. Just like the family’s father sometimes opened the front door to step outside, leaving it wide open. Not even a baby would fall for that, he thought.

But how else could he enter? He wasn’t strong enough to dig a tunnel or smash the roof. Some classmates had befriended everyone in town and uncovered the secret ways to steal something. A good soldier can do three things best of all, his teacher said daily. Fight, steal, and talk.

His classmates had surely finished the challenge long ago. He had to steal something before nightfall or get banished from Paraat. He’d seen it happen often enough. A kick in the behind, a lecture about what a failure they were, and the poor badger was left to the wolves.

The sunlight steadily dimmed.

He crawled around the house once more, hidden in the bushes. Every entrance was guarded. His prize lay right in the middle of the room: a chain with a Darusstone. In some of the mud huts, torches were already lit against the darkness, a new invention by the apes.

I see only one way out, he thought. He already felt the whip lashes on his back. He didn’t want to, but he had to.

His claws dug deep into the mud and pushed off. He ran at the open front door, in full view. The honey badgers saw him right away. They tried to close the door, but he was too quick. Once inside, he grabbed the chain with one paw while using the other to scramble up the window.

As he rolled through the opening, the family’s intimidating father already stood on the other side. He grabbed Leion, claws cutting deep into his fur.

Leion, however, had kept the chain between them at all times. He could let go and fall to the ground, holding onto the Darusstone, while the yellow honey badger remained behind, bewildered, with only two broken halves of a chain.

“Hey! I caught you!”

Leion sprinted away. The father made a valiant effort but lost the race before it began, stopping when he stepped on a thorn.

He didn’t dare look back. He ran and ran, prize clamped between his teeth, until he was far outside Paraat territory and heard unfamiliar voices. Voices out of breath, almost panicked.

“It’s pointless. Her throne is no longer there.”

“Where is it then?”

“She’d let us know. Maybe she’s still searching?”

Various shades of yellow, orange and red flashed by in his peripheral vision. He felt as if eyes watched him from behind. I should go back. I passed the challenge, right? he thought, but his nose kept pointing the other way.

“If Feria no longer dwells in the Tree of Life, who does?”

The question went unanswered, because Leion crashed at full speed into two gods. They stumbled several steps before regaining their balance. Meanwhile, he flew with his back into a tree trunk.

“Sorry! We’re in a hurry.” Leion scrambled upright and looked into two kind giraffe eyes. “Do you know the fastest way to Paraat?”

Leion thought it was a trick question—maybe still part of the Challenge. “But … this path leads straight to your Throne’s backdoor. We even call it Backdoor Trail.”

“How do you know of that back entrance?” The bird looked far less friendly.

“We built that path together with Bella.”

“He’s just a child, we should—oh dear, did we really do that?”

She tapped her snout on the many wounds and scars on Leion’s back and paws, like rivers winding around him. At the lightest touch, a nasty gash on his shoulder split open again.

“No, I did that myself. Pretty good, huh?”

Eeris looked troubled. She bent her neck down before Leion, but he turned away. “I can walk by myself.”

They raced back to Paraat. At the gate lay Tikidas, Leion’s teacher. His eyes narrowed at his approach, while all his proud students formed a half-moon behind him.

Leion held out the Darusstone. “I succeeded,” he said, voice trembling.

“You’re a worthless thief. You got caught.” Tikidas pressed his forehead hard against Leion’s. “You know the laws. The Paraat touched by an enemy soldier, might as well lay down his arms. And of course: One never shows their true face upon first contact with enemies, to allow backing out if the situation goes sour.”

Tikidas let go of the pressure and sighed. “You’re fortunate, however, to be a small, fast dwarf. I’ll count it a pass, because a soldier must always make optimal use of his talents. But you need to learn disguises, to coax secrets from others, to sneak so stealthily that no one notices you.”

Leion breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes teacher, I’ll practice right away.”

“No. You explain why you brought the gods here.”

“Oh no,” Eeris stepped forward, “we ran into him.”

“Bella has been abducted.” Cosmo spoke solemnly. “Which of you goes by Leion?”

The entire town sighed. Everyone pointed at Leion, alone in the center, while Tikidas stormed off as if he were poisonous.

“You last visited our sister,” said Eeris. “What did you discuss? Did she seem in danger? Did she seem afraid?”

“You went to the gods in secret?” Tikidas sounded more surprised than anything.

“I … erm … it’s like this … I wanted to ask … if maybe I could … live somewhere else?”

Now the entire town cursed at Leion.

“Feel free to leave then,” Tikidas spat, “we’ve no use for you here. If you return, a hundred lashings await! A thousand!”

Eeris protectively stood before Leion. “You obviously didn’t do it,” she said. “But does anyone know anything that could help?”

“Abduction?” said Tikidas, plucking at his black whiskers. “Then they didn’t come here.”

“How do you know? You don’t even have a wall around your city.”

“We don’t need one. Every one of us is a soldier one hundred times better than any other soldier. We stand at your side and will help if desired. No Paraat would ever allow something so scandalous.”

The gods looked around. The area exhibited a faded blot of muddy huts and exhausted, wounded children from all the training. If that’s not convincing evidence of our discipline and might, thought Leion, I don’t know what is.

“There are … reports from the West,” he began.

“Scaremongering,” grumbled Tikidas.

“Entire groups of animals fleeing this way, from some danger.”

Cosmo and Eeris exchanged glances. “It’s the first clue that’s reached us.”

“Then we go West.”

They thanked the Paraat, but declined their offer of help. Leion wanted to come along, flee the daily beatings and challenges, but also knew he could never return if he did.

The gods had cheered, time and again, when the Ancient Turtles had swum even farther from the coast. Now, however, Ardex regretted it. He walked along the silent Midterra Sea and saw only open water, a long blue emptiness to the horizon.

“Surface!” he bellowed. “Abrahon, Ancient Turtles, the fire god wishes to speak and you will obey!”

No life appeared. He was certain they could hear him. Their ears had been pricked for Ardex ever since his threat to set them ablaze if they crossed the gods again.

He also knew he could not enter the water. His entire body, his entire being was fire, lava, heat. The moment it touched water, it turned to steam and he turned into the god of immense pain.

“Ancient Turtles, I give you one final chance. Meet me at the shore and provide answers.”

At the horizon appeared silhouettes he didn’t recognize. It was no animal. Across the sea there was only more water, and beyond that the Nordic Iceplates, so he didn’t understand the sight.

Ardex tried another method, though it still consisted of shouting at waves. “We are not the enemy. We are good. We helped the animals in the West when they were attacked by beasts from another continent. We helped you when you nearly went extinct. Come here and speak with me.”

The water remained still, but he noticed movement between the trees in the distance. Strange, he thought. I didn’t feel any living presence there.

He stepped closer and saw he was right: it was no being indeed. A wheel turned in the water. A round wooden circle with notches to catch the falling water, which then spun it round and round ceaselessly. No being was needed to make it move.

The word Ektro was carved on the outside. It meant light in the language the Ancient Turtles spoke before Dovish took over the world. Originating at the wheel, a near invisible line scratched by a claw led toward the trees.

Ardex stepped over it—and he shouldn’t have done that.

The treetops bent toward him. A flat tree trunk shoved in front of him like a wall closing in. He leapt through the tiny gap left. A snapping sound preceded a boulder flying at him. Rocks as big as his head came from all sides, but he still felt no life nearby.

He couldn’t dodge the last rock. It hit his side, causing him to stumble into a pile of leaves that immediately reacted by scattering and revealing a hole in the ground. Ardex spread his paws wide to grip the edges and prevent falling into the dark depths.

New trees bent to strike him. He’d had enough and spat fire from his mouth to burn everything.

It didn’t work!

A pattern of spatters ran across the ground. He followed it and discovered that even the water here came alive and constantly sprayed the trees wet.

Ardex jumped. His body nimbly turned and landed perfectly on its paws, as only a feline can. He raced back to the wheel, back over the line, to safety.

The trees returned to their original spots. Every leaf neatly hid traps again, and the water stopped spraying. All without anyone controlling it.

It happens automatically, he thought. The wood comes alive. But only the gods have magic, we made certain of that. Just as I’m certain the four Giants are the only living trees in the world.

He followed the line until, on the other side of the forest, it touched the sea again. He’d circled the entire area and had no idea what it hid inside.

I was foolish, he thought. I should have brought the others. Gulvi can summon the Ancient Turtles. Eeris can tame the trees.

It would take at least two days to fetch them. Two days in which anything could happen to Bella. They might have tossed her in a deep pit. They might be hurting her.

Ardex’ Fearvolcano rumbled again.

The Ancient Turtles had done it. And he would catch them red-handed before the day was through!

For that he had to enlist help closer by: a small village right next to this strange forest. Their homes were larger and sturdier than any Ardex had seen before. Everything was built from thick colored stones. They were polished and shaped into structures that reminded him of the Great Staircase from years ago, though only in grandeur. Where did this tiny town get all those money and riches?

Two snakes curled around the pillars by the gate.

“Take me into the heart of that forest,” he commanded. The snake eyes followed his paw.

“Elwoda? No one can enter there.”

Elwoda. Godswood. They even still spoke that ancient tongue of Abrahon here.

“You clearly maintain strong contact with the Ancient Turtles. Do you deny it?”

“Well, hmm, I wouldn’t say strong exactly. They come by every now and then. We’re acquaintances.”

“They have committed a grave crime. They abducted Bella. Send word they must meet me immediately.”

“They did? Abducted Bella?” The snakes slid down, leaving a wet trail on the stones. “And how exactly did they do that? What path did they take? How did they walk on land without leaving a path of destruction? How did they shrink to fit inside the throne room?”

Ardex had to calm himself to prevent lashing out at the slippery snakes. “That’s what I want to ask!”

“Tough luck, tiger cub. They only come ashore once a year, in winter, so you have some waiting to do.”

“I’m your god. You will speak to me with respect.”

“What god allows fellow gods to get abducted?”

Ardex’ claws were in the snake before he could stop himself. The being writhed and squeaked.

“You will bring the Ancient Turtles,” he hissed between his saber teeth, “or I will personally hurl you into my volcano.”

“I don’t know! I don’t know! They really only come once a year! But last time, they said rich creatures from the West were coming toward our continent. Look in the West! Look in the west!”

Ardex flung the snake back to the gate.

“Then they asked another species to do it.”

He stomped his paw. A path of black stones appeared, as if the start of a trail towards his volcano. “If I find you had anything to do with this, I’ll toss this whole village into the volcano!”

Why did those birds have to go to war with each other? he thought. I could really use some independent aerial eyes right now. And beings who could swiftly fly over the sea.

He thought of the numbers carved into the Throne gate, but still didn’t understand their meaning. It seemed unlikely someone from the Equianforest had come. They would have had to pass Darus’ Impossible Wall, and the lions, and the capital of Amor. All without being seen!

His search led him further into the bleak East, as swiftly as he could go.

It took five minutes before the gods noticed they weren’t alone. Leion had tried his utmost to follow Tikidas’ advice. He’d smeared himself with mud and stuck leaves against it. He didn’t run at full speed, but at a snail’s pace without sound.

Five minutes was better than nothing, right? he thought.

Cosmo looked grumpy, but Eeris lowered her neck again. “Or, brave Paraat, are you still walking yourself?”

He wanted to refuse, but he was no longer in Paraat now. He’d left that behind. Why waste more energy than needed? He was tired, he wanted to sleep, so it didn’t take long before he snored atop Eeris’ back.

Until her entire body shook and bounced unexpectedly. Fortunately, his reflexes were more than quick enough not to fall off.

Before them stood a beautiful pinkish fox wearing multiple necklaces.

“Feria! We were just looking for you!”

“I was looking for you too.”

“Where have you been?”

“Garda. There’s a whole world out there, dears, on that other continent. We can’t just stay on Origina. But that’s a matter for later. Let me guess—Bella’s been abducted?”

“How did you know?”

Feria shook the necklaces until they fell to the ground. She knew the top one by heart.

“You’ll get your sister back if you promise to disappear from this world.”

“But we can’t disappear! If we knew how, we’d have gone back to the Heavenly Palace long ago.”

Leion scanned the entire area for danger. It tired him, but he couldn’t stop. He could easily imagine Tikidas following him, to test another of his nighttime surprise attacks on him.

His eyes noticed the broken twigs on several trees. The five stripes on a trunk that probably came from a large claw. The raindrops slowly falling on lower and lower leaves.

Cosmo impatiently flew back and forth. “Why did those criminals give this to you?”

“Did they leave nothing behind in the throne room?”

“Just chaos and some numbers on a door.”

Feria thought for a moment. “Because I was closest by. My new throne is in Preza, which holds at least half of Garda by now. Must have been someone from there.”

“Unlikely,” said Cosmo. “I didn’t even know Preza existed. You don’t steal a god just for fun.”

“We’re no enemies of theirs,” added Eeris. “We don’t even know who they are.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” said Leion, pointing. “But could that be a raccoon pawprint?”

Eeris pressed her snout to the trunk. Her study didn’t take long.

“Yes! Bella’s the only one with such large paws and five toes. She passed this way.”

The gods immediately started running. Leion didn’t understand. His voice shook with each of Eeris’ hops. “Where are we going?”

“The kidnappers didn’t pass my throne,” Eeris said. “Gulvi would have seen them if they went by the Wise Sea. So, we know they must have gone diagonally westward, toward Darus’ Impossible wall.”

Surrounded by these godly beings, who could come up with such things instantly, he felt even smaller. He reminded himself that, at least, he could run faster than they could. That was his sole advantage.

If the gods ever attacked Paraat, though, they wouldn’t survive. Despite all their great soldiers. He had to warn Tikidas, but he’d just laugh at Leion and train the boys even harder.

When evening fell, they halted at the High Hills. They purposely did not take the easy Green Path. Leion didn’t dare ask why, so he’d pondered it for hours until the answer became glaringly obvious. It’s a wide path, always full of creatures. So you can’t run very fast there and the secret kidnappers would never take it.

Who knows, maybe I’ll grow smarter than the gods someday, he thought. Because as strong a solider as them … I’ll never become.

“We can’t leave this planet,” said Eeris. “So what do we do?”

“We find Bella without the kidnappers’ help,” said Cosmo.

Feria lay on her belly, gazing at nothing with sad eyes. “I can’t believe anyone overpowered her. I hope they’re treating her well. That she’s not in pain.”

“I’m sure she is,” said Eeris. Her laugh was fake, like Tikidas’ smile when he encouraged Leion and said he was doing great. “She’s probably chatting with them, asking all kinds of wise questions until they release her voluntarily.”

“So that’s it?” said Leion, as he started a fire, the way Paraat had learned from the apes: with stones, wooden sticks, and lots of patience. “You have one risky plan?”

“He’s right,” said Cosmo.

“If we don’t find Bella,” said Feria, “then we make the kidnappers think we’re leaving.”

“That will never work,” said Leion. “You get Bella back, but a few months later they show up at your doorstep to wage war over your broken promise.”

“But we get Bella back,” Eeris said softly.

“What if we overpower the kidnappers? A reverse kidnapping?” said Cosmo. “We call on all Clansteads to fight together. We ask Paraat to come help after all.”

“No,” Eeris said curtly. “They’re savages. Look what they do to their children!”

Feria paced around the fire that had finally sparked. “Preza is big, brother, I’ve seen it. The culprit may have more power than you think.”

“How did everyone travel from Garda to Origina?! Darus’ mountains should block them! And if not those, the Dolphin Pass should!”

“Unless … that’s not so.”

They exchanged glances. Leion had to leave the warm fire again, to his annoyance, because the gods had found a new location to visit.

In Gushersand, Ardex heard sentences he never thought he’d hear in his life.

“Can’t they visit four times a year? Start of each season?” grumbled a bear. “Now I have to fish in the sea myself to get proper food.”

“Too dangerous,” said a snake. “The gods wouldn’t appreciate it. It’s scandalous how blind they are to the Ancient Turtles’ grandeur.”

Ardex walked under a stone overhang, through a large opening, into the merchant’s shop.

“It’s scandalous how blind animals are to the Ancient Turtles’ wickedness,” he said.

The bear and snake eyes grew wide as pigeon eggs. They promptly cast them to the ground, along with the bag of fish they held together. Ardex lumbered toward them. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. Feel free to say negative things about the gods. I only have questions.”

The bear wiped mud from his fur and tidied up the shop. “Name’s Hibb. Ask away.”

“Do you know where the Ancient Turtles are now?”

“They’re past the Tail Islands, that’s all I know.”

“Do you still have contact with Abrahon? Or know anyone who might conspire with them?”

Hibb and the snake looked at each other, frozen in place, conversing without saying anything. Eventually Hibb straightened his back and looked the tigergod straight in the eye.

“Ardex, how do you think this city was built? Where do you think our riches come from?”

Ardex sighed and muttered to himself: “You don’t just have contact with Abrahon. You work together year-round, because why not.”

“They travel great distances and bring back things from lands far away. So when they come to Gushersand, we trade. That’s how we receive endless square stones, large supplies of fish, and news from the rest of the world.”

Ardex tapped the rows of expensive wares displayed in the shop. He’d never seen anything like it. This one place had to be worth as much as ten Darusstones. It surprised him thieves weren’t at the door every heartbeat.

“News such as?”

“I don’t know if it’s all true, mind you. I don’t believe it all, mind you. But … they said creatures from other continents had come here to Origina. Beings who somehow crossed the mountains. And then you helped the original inhabitants fight back and drive away the invaders.”

“That’s true,” said Ardex, frowning. “Our laws on territory and clansteads are clear. Though we didn’t know the invaders were from another continent. We thought the animals fought beasts from the sea.”

The snake lazily slithered through the shop—and suddenly made a beeline for the exit.

“Stop!”

“I have an appointment.”

“Bella’s kidnapped. The Ancient Turtles are prime suspect. If you know anything … if you’re involved in any way and you’re lying to me … then you’ll soon meet—”

“The Fearvolcano, right?”

Hibb quickly stepped between Ardex and the snake. “That’s what the animals call it. News spreads fast here. But no, Your Divinity, we know nothing and aren’t involved in anything. The Ancient Turtles are good. They help us. They protect our coast from wars like in the West.”

The fire god’s eyes flamed. “Then they have you under a spell.”

“Not that we know, sir god,” said the snake, outside by now. His eyes spit venom. “If you don’t mind, o divine divinity, my wife was also abducted a week ago and they demand a hundred diamonds to release her. I’ve only fifteen so far.”

He slithered away between a sea of animal feet, which tried very hard not to step on him.

Those are the numbers on the door, thought Ardex. Ransom! The price we must pay to get Bella back. What was it again? A thousand? A thousand diamonds?

But there was no location specified. No one to meet, no drop point.

The chaos grew on the central market of Gushersand. A herd of Equids, protohorses in all sizes and colors, stamped the colorful stone paths even deeper into the soil.

“Bella’s kidnapped!”

“I know already!” Hibb shouted back.

Ardex didn’t like it at all that they made a game of it. Bella was in danger. They toyed with the gods, acted as if they were nothing. Maybe they were hurting her. Maybe she’d been tied up for days.

The Fearvolcano bubbled and spat small streams of lava.

The Equids had more to tell. “They say she’ll be murdered if the gods don’t show up within a day.”

“What?”

Ardex spontaneously combusted. Hibb quickly shoved him out of his shop. He already sprinted away from the city again, toward where his family was headed, until he skidded to a halt right behind the Equids.

It’s a distraction, he thought. I’m getting closer. The Ancient Turtles are clever. They want me gone.

He turned around, strp;;ed back and gave two Equids a pat on the shoulder.

“Nice try. Now tell me where the real abductors are.”

The Equids neighed and shuffled, eager to depart again. Their hooves scattered piles of sand from the coastline through the town. “We only bring the news, as fast as we heard it.”

“Can you also bring news to the Ancient Turtles?”

“Maybe.”

“Tell those ugly turtles I’m coming to burn them alive.”

The gods increasingly grew tired of Darus’ games. As the only god with multiple thrones, he had made no less than four throughout the mountains. This forced everyone to guess which one he would occupy that day. Yet from his Impossible Wall, he had a clear view of it all.

“Hooray!” cried Eeris as Darus met them at the opening of the first gate, the northernmost one. “We guessed right this time.”

“Sorry sis, I saw you coming from afar. I was actually at the second gate. Better luck next time!”

He bumped his snout against Feria’s, an encounter for which Eeris was too impatient and Cosmo lacked a snout.

“Bella has been abducted,” said Feria. Darus’ playful grin disappeared. “Could it be possible that flightless creatures have crossed your mountains after all?”

“No, no, no.”

Darus waddled back into the cave. Eeris had to crane her neck to fit inside. Leion feared they would walk for hours in total darkness, but after a few steps, lights already appeared in the rock walls. Diamonds in all shapes and colors, embedded deep in the stone. They either glew of own accord or were illuminated by the charming glowworms that crawled along the walls.

His mouth fell open, his claws went limp. It was a gorgeous tunnel that wound into the heart of the mountain. Darus has the most beautiful throne of all, he concluded.

“Even Cosmo still struggles to fly over it. Flightless creatures would have to climb that entire distance, up steep slopes, past jagged points and crumbling rock. Going up is hard; then going down is like riding a taxeies that cannot brake.”

Leion guessed Darus referred to the taxis, the Equids that delivered messages across the land and sometimes offered their services as transportation. You could ride on their backs and they would take you wherever you needed to go. Well, as long as it wasn’t too far, they didn’t have to cross water, you weren’t too heavy, and you paid them handsomely. Quite the invention, that “money” thing.

“So no, no creature has crossed these mountains. Though I understand your question.”

“How so?”

“Strange creatures have arrived on our lands nonetheless. I saw them recently from the northern mountain peaks. Some kind of cat plaguing the coastal villages. And many more, but they were too small to identify.”

“And you didn’t think it might be a good idea to take a closer look?”

The further they went, the wider the hall became, until they were flooded with the bright diamond light and entered the throne room. An empty hall, except for the multiple stone thrones, made as comfortable as possible with soft leaves.

Darus let himself fall onto the first throne he touched. “The villages are by the water, far from my mountains. I thought it was Gulvi’s responsibility.”

Leion remembered a Challenge he did at Paraat. He had to get past a stone wall to retrieve something inside the house. But his solution—running full speed—clearly wouldn’t work in a mountain. The other solution, however …

“They didn’t go over the mountain,” Leion shouted over the gods’ conversation. “They went through it, or under it.”

Darus sighed. “Who’s this? Another one of your friends, Eeris?”

“He’s the last one who visited Bella. And he has a point.”

“Show me an animal that can dig through miles of rock.”

Leion jumped in front of Darus. “I can’t, because that kind of animal clearly never shows itself outside the mountains. Just like a mole almost never pops his head above ground.”

“So you want us to look for an animal … which we don’t know … in a place we can’t find?”

“Yes!”

Darus looked at his family. The throne room branched off in four passages: to the next throne, back outside, across the hall, and one just for fun that went in a random direction.

The gods and Leion had each chosen their own path to explore.

“Fine,” said Darus. “Let me know if you actually find something. I’ll go ask Gulvi some questions in the meantime.”

Leion rushed down the passage. It grew darker quickly. This place clearly received less attention than the main entrance, resulting in a narrow tunnel full of jagged points. But Leion didn’t care—he had been forced to sleep on sharp rocks at Paraat for years.

The passage wound wildly, leaving Leion no idea if he was going in circles or deep into the mountain. We’re looking for a hole, a place with an inexplicable amount of rubble and gravel, a place with—

Noise. Above his head, something scraped. Glowworms were everywhere, but they were too light and soft to make a racket. The sound disappeared. A few cautious steps later it returned, now in the wall to his left. It grew louder and moved along the edges of the tunnel.

Leion followed it. Even as his passage grew so dark he sometimes had to reach out a paw to feel for walls. Even as it narrowed until he had to suck in his empty belly.

Pebbles rained down on his head. A thud. Two heavy footsteps. No, more like hundreds of tiny footsteps in succession.

“Is someone there?” said Leion, before mentally scolding himself for not staying quiet again. “I’m a friend, I want to talk.”

He took a deep breath and confidently leaped forward—but the tunnel ended abruptly. And then, a speck of light in the darkness, grew before his eyes.

“Aaaaaah!” Eeris’ scream reached Leion’s perked ears. She had to be right next to him in the mountain, yet still unreachable behind the layers of rock. He felt trapped, more than ever. “My eyes don’t work anymore! It’s dark everywhere!”

Shaking his head, Leion looked ahead again. The light bumped against his snout, blinding him. He slashed his claws forward to throttle his attacker—a practiced move drilled into his body that he couldn’t stop in time.

He caught only air.

From the stone wall, an animal had appeared after all. It looked like an elephant, except …

The creature fit in his paw. He had nearly stepped on it, certain it would have been fatal. Yet it resembled an elephant, with ears, trunk and tusks to match.

“We would have appreciated you not ratting us out to Darus,” it said irritably. “Now we have to do some damage control.”

Amazed, Leion watched as a whole herd of animals appeared, all existing species but much smaller. Their front paws sported thick, sharp claws, and almost all of them had tusks.

They crawled over the ground, walls and ceiling, seemingly without effort. Leion silently followed them until they reached better lit tunnels, where this herd met other herds of the same composition.

In the throne room, Leion reunited with the rest. They didn’t dare take a step, surrounded by a sea of tiny animals threatening to swallow them whole.

“Oh,” said Eeris. “There’s nothing wrong with my eyes. They really are small.”

The elephant jumped onto the throne in the middle of the hall, nearly drowning in the pile of leaves. “Listen. We didn’t abduct your Bella. Let us live in these mountains in peace, we’re no bother to you.”

“We’re just supposed to take your word on that?” sneered Cosmo.

The elephant made a facial expression, but it was too small to properly discern. “Do we look capable of dragging away a large, powerful racoon?”

“You look mostly like … cuties!” Eeris dove down and nuzzled the fur of tiny rabbits, Equids, Gosti, and even some dogs.

“We are the Cavedwellers. We’ve been fleeing Preza in the west for years, but the only way was through the mountain. So we tunneled right through it.”

Feria was light-footed enough to jump onto the throne without crushing any dwellers. She inspected the elephant as if it were a work of art.

“And over time, your children who were smaller had an advantage. They could move through smaller tunnels. Just like children with sharper claws had an advantage when digging. So now you’re all tiny and sport claws! Amazing! The world should know of your existence!”

“We’d rather they didn’t. The Pricecats kidnapped many of us. We only got them back by trading diamonds and gold coins. We’ve nearly emptied the entire mountain of Darusstones to pay their ransoms! Forget about us, we want nothing do to with this war.”

Cosmo snapped his beak, glared threateningly and shot up so fast that he hit the ceiling.

“No. You have everything to do with this war.”

When Cosmo spread his feathers and made haste, he couldn’t be overtaken, not even by Leion.

Eeris shrieked as she tried to pull him from the sky. “Slow down!”

“We have little time,” he called down.

“What do those cute animals have to do with this?”

Reluctantly, Cosmo flew lower, forcing him to swerve around trees. “Long ago, we supported the animals in the west. Remember? I’m leading us there.”

“They were under attack by an unknown invader. Of course we defended our animals.”

“The enemy, however, was not so unknown after all. They must have been the Pricecats.”

Leion required all his muscles to restrain Eeris. Clods of mud flew upwards under her stomping feet. Feria nimbly swung from branch to branch, but was soon a panting fox buried under sticky leaves.

“Any animal they could abduct has fled. Their pile of diamonds grew as did their arrogance.” Cosmo flew even faster.

“And so they attacked our lands, Origina, hoping for new victims,” said Feria after a short pause. “We supported the fight against them. They didn’t appreciate that.”

“So they went straight for the gods’ heart,” Eeris puffed, eyes wide and fixed on her family.

“And you know what a Pricecat does?” Cosmo yelled. “No payment has been received on time? For the victim it’s the end of line.”

The rest of the journey passed in silence. There was little breath for talking, but also nothing left to say. Bella was in mortal danger. Maybe she was already dead. No one said it, but everyone thought it.

After a long journey, they found the region they had supported in that long ago war: Thon. There, Gulvi awaited his family.

The dolphin looked mournful and could barely get the words out. “They … they have Bella. But I didn’t dare do anything, or they would hurt her.”

“She’s still alive? Where is she?”

“I think so. I hope so. I don’t know.”

Cosmo angrily stomped away, but Eeris took the time to tell Gulvi it wasn’t his fault and he did the right thing. In the distance, Thon looked peaceful—deceptively so.

“Tell us everything,” said Feria, as they walked toward the village.

“Those cats call themselves Pricecats. And they just walked over the water, which made no sense, so I went to take a look, and it turned out they were riding Ancient Turtles, but those Ancient Turtles had strange spikes, so I almost didn’t recognize them, and before I could do anything they reached land and raced like madmen toward Thon, and—”

“Watch out!”

Leion had scouted the surroundings for danger again. He hadn’t consciously noticed anything, but his peripheral vision had picked up on something. And when Cosmo came close he immediately yelled, even though he didn’t know the threat.

This made the warning useless.

A wheel spun around in the water along the beach. A line extended from it, scratched into the ground. Above it, a tiny wire was strung between two trees, right by the entrance to Thon. The wire snapped when Cosmo ran into it.

All the trees slammed down like hammers. Leion got away just in time, but Cosmo’s wing was crushed under thick layers of wood. The gods fought against nature, but it moved on its own to dodge each blow.

Leion didn’t understand it. There was no attacker in sight. Yet their surroundings did exactly what was needed to defend itself.

Feria ran toward Cosmo, but dug her paws in the sand when a new creature leaped into the circle. The trees were now a prison. Cosmo was trapped. And before them stood a large, muscular, black-spotted jaguar, with dozens of golden bracelets around his legs and a crown of fused diamonds atop his head.

“We almost thought you wouldn’t come. We would’ve murdered Bella for nothing!”

The Prizecat stood with his back to Leion. I have one surprise attack, then it’s over, he thought. He found a branch and rapidly gnawed it to a razor-sharp point. Jutting it forward, he searched a sturdy bit to push off of, to initiate the leaping attack. But that’s foolish. I’m never stronger than him. And there are surely more.

So he put the stick down.

His paws found a patch of soft mud. He smeared it over himself until he looked like a beaver. In total silence, he stuck on leaves until he stealthily shuffled behind the tree trunk pinning Cosmo down.

The Pricecat looked back. “And now we’ve caught another.”

He playfully tapped Cosmo’s head, then suddenly, with one wild swing, reached behind the trunk. Leion saw the claw pass by and grab another tree, which the Pricecat hurled on top of Cosmo’s other wing with brute force.

“Why are you doing this?” asked Feria tonelessly. “If it’s riches you want, we can provide it. Darus made all those riches.”

The jaguar slowly circled his prey in the wooden cell. “We did want gold. The amount is carved on your gate. Until … we realized we could ask for more.”

The Prizecat suddenly lept forward and roared. Eeris shrank back, but Feria stood unfazed.

“Ha! So it’s true? You can read animals’ intentions?”

“I make no claims about my powers, certainly not to criminals. What do you want from us?”

“Didn’t you get my lovely message?”

“We can’t—”

A thin river appeared. It widened, pushed some trees aside, and circled the group until it was steady enough for the water to flow.

With his snout, Gulvi pushed a raft on which Darus stood. His fur had deep scratches and his paws showed blood spatters. His tail already shot up, ready to magically slam the prison’s floor.

The jaguar roared. This time at full volume, and Leion flinched.

“If any of you take one more step, you’ll never see Bella again! Don’t you dare use your powers. Don’t you dare try to escape.”

By now, Leion had left the tree trunk and crept through the bushes behind it. He could just see and hear what happened, but climb a few more trunks, and he’d be free.

“We want proof you actually have Bella,” said Feria.

“Ha! That would be quite the trick. Someone else kidnaps Bella and by chance we make demands that same day.”

“We don’t believe it,” Feria insisted. Only now did Leion notice that she glanced at him sideways in the bushes. “Why didn’t you let us know a meeting place?”

The jaguar laughed, long and heavy. “There is only one thing keeping the animals under your paws. Your powers are a mystery. They fear you. I tested whether the gods really knew what was happening in their world. You have failed, failed, failed deeply.”

Feria’s face betrayed nothing. She remained the regal fox she always was. Still, Leion thought he saw her ears trembling. Then again, he was trained to read body language—friend or foe.

“We are indeed minor gods. We cannot make decisions without consulting the Supreme God.”

“Supreme God? Don’t make me laugh. That’s a fairy tale for dumb animals, disproven long ago by some staircase.”

“It’s true. If it were a lie, why would half the world believe it? We must wait for his judgement.”

Feria nodded. The most subtle movement of her head. The gods planned to do nothing and keep questioning the jaguar.

The jaguar signaled, in every way, that he had the upper hand and didn’t fear a fight. Just like he revealed that his right paw was stronger than his left—he used it much more—and he couldn’t see well what happened below him—as he kept glancing down while walking.

And Feria signaled Leion had her approval.

He slithered past trunks, slow as a snail, his body twisting as if he were a cloth draped over them. Unseen and unheard, he reached the end of the makeshift prison.

And he ran away.

Barto’s Blockade could prove problematic. It blocked the entire High Hills from this side and while Leion could run fast, he couldn’t climb over towering tree trunks.

Unfortunately, he had to take another, riskier route.

He ran to the Impossible Wall. He soon found the small entrances the Cavedwellers from Garda had used, on the outside, and picked one in which he fit.

The passage was wet and musty, the rocks ice-cold and jagged. He ignored the pain, as trained, all his life. One last time, he told himself. I’m getting the Paraat warriors. Then I’ll go live somewhere else. Somewhere you’re greeted with a hug from Eeris instead of a caning.

After centuries of darkness and getting lost—or so it felt—he emerged on the other side. And he did what he did best: run faster than gods.

He quickly found the Green Path. It was busy again, but all beings moved in the same direction as him. Away from the coast, away from the Pricecats, toward the safety surrounding the gods’ Throne. They even moved at nearly the same pace.

That safety, however, could disappear quickly. If the gods gave in to the demands and left this world. Leion used the thought to spur himself on.

He ran until he no longer felt his paws. He ran until he was no longer aware of where he was or what was happening, dodging all tree trunks and taking the right turns purely on instinct and reflexes.

His mind emptied and the road stretched endlessly before him.

He whooshed past the deserted Gathering Tree that used to be the forest’s centerpoint. He raced by the Disaster Caves where the famous dinosaur Donte had lived.

His body refused to go on. He wanted to stop running, curl up against a tree and sleep for a week. He was no longer going straight but meandering off the Green Path. Animals asked if he was alright, or thought he might be drunk from those delicious grapes now growing in Origina.

He never responded. There was only the long road ahead. And it grew dark. He ran deep into the night, blind, his panting and grunting the only sound. Until he reached the edge of the Rainbow Woods, where it transitioned into the Backdoor Trail.

The path under his feet grew muddier, narrower, sharper. He barely felt it anymore. His running became trotting, his trotting became shambling, and by the time he entered Paraat he collapsed, legs giving out, heart pounding as if it would burst from his ribcage, watching the sunrise lying on his back.

Tikidas’ face soon hung over him, blocking the sunlight.

“Hmm. You have more guts than I thought. To come back after sneaking away, knowing we would punish you harshly.”

“Mejk klekl opaoal.”

Leion was too tired for words. Even his jaw ached and wanted to sleep.

“No, you have no guts, you’ve lost your mind somewhere.”

“Hoepoe alfope!”

The volume returned, the words had not. His heart struggled to settle. His hot coat rapidly cooled against the cold ground, leaving him both utterly exhausted and overheated, as well as shivering with cold. Compared to this, all his training had been easy.

“If you’re trying to garner sympathy, then—”

“Gods. Help.”

“What?”

“Gods in danger. We must help.”

“They didn’t seem so keen on our help the first time I suggested it.”

“Different now. Supportive.”

“And where are they?” More and more faces gathered over him.

“By … by the Mare a Thon, the sea next to it.”

“Thon? You ran all the way here from there?”

Leon nodded.

And his eyes fell shut. His body shut down. This was too much, too long, too hard. Someone splashed water over his head. It quenched his thirst, but his body insisted on falling asleep, which it did.

When Leion finally awoke, he wanted to grab the face above him by instinct, but his limbs wouldn’t move.

“Easy, easy.” A female honey badger with unusually soft hands checked his body. “You’ll need at least a couple weeks’ rest. Even Tikidas says so. He’s never seen a body under so much stress and pain.”

She wanted to leave the mud hut, but paused in the doorway. “He even wants you back in Paraat.”

He wants me back. I made an impression, I’m a real Paraat, he thought with a smile.

His exhausted heart, however, was clear. He never wanted to put his body through this again, unless he really had to. Unless he could rescue the gods with it. After the warmth of dear Eeris, every rule of Paraat, every custom, felt devilish.

But the gods still needed rescuing this time around.

“Don’t care. Are we helping?”

The honey badger smiled. “Yes. Tikidas has assembled all warriors, just leaving a few behind to guard.”

Leion smiled. “How long did I sleep?”

“A full day or two. Maybe a bit more.”

“Then they must be nearly there by now.”

Everything would work out, he told himself. Bella would return alive. The gods would thank Paraat, and especially him.

His caretaker frowned. “They still have to depart. You know the strict laws.”

The laws of Paraat. Always the darn laws.

With the realization, he hopelessly sank back onto his hard stone bed. His legs wouldn’t even carry him two steps now. He could do no more and might as well have stood helpless with the gods inside their prison.

Tikidas’ voice floated through his mind. “One always waits two days before joining a conflict, so one can reconsider and avoid grave mistakes.”

The godchildren were a sorry sight. And it wasn’t sad, it wasn’t even surprising anymore, but disappointing. Right after Leion left, more Prizecats had shown up and tied up the gods for good measure. Cosmo had thrown the tree trunks from his wings with a gust of wind—after which he was tied up even more thoroughly.

It was pitch-black between the trees. The only light came from the moon reflecting off the diamonds, worn by the jaguars as if they were part of their fur. The Prizecat who first addressed them had introduced himself as Kajar: one of Preza’s princes.

“Return Bella to us,” said Feria curtly. “And work with us from now on. Together, Origina and Garda, we can solve everything.”

“You have accomplished one thing,” Kajar growled. Any uncertainty that lived in his voice before, had entirely left by now. “I will never abduct a god again, because the only thing they do is talk and talk until you drop dead. You know my price. Bella in exchange for your departure from this world. If the Supreme God existed, he would have come by now.”

He raised his claw and brought his nails to within a hair of Feria’s eyes. “You have until sunrise to accept. Or Bella will be hidden in a place where no one can find her.”

The gods found each other’s eyes in the dark. They had already delayed the moment far longer than they thought possible. But soon the jaguars would make good on their threats. They didn’t want to, that much was clear. They wanted all the gods to leave, not for one to die.

The decision needn’t be spoken out loud: they would never leave their dear sister behind.

“Where is Paraat?” Feria whispered.

“No idea, I don’t hear anything yet,” Cosmo whispered back.

The jaguar overheard and laughed. “They’re not coming, because you don’t have a single friend left.”

“And you?” Feria stepped forward despite the ropes that tied her down. “Half of Preza has run away to us because of you. Don’t you hang the Juradom banner? Doesn’t that call for brotherhood and loving thy neighbor?”

“Not everyone is Juraad. Certainly not us.”

All the jaguars circled the gods, licking their teeth from time to time. Cosmo lightly tapped Feria with his wings. He heard something in their surroundings.

Kajar peered into the darkness between the tree trunks. But he didn’t see an army or rescue, only innocent fireflies. And behind that, the village of Thon they had thoroughly ransacked. Although his Pricecats had seemingly set the buildings ablaze, which he had strictly forbidden.

“Tell me,” he began. “You still aren’t afraid of us. It’s ice cold, but you don’t shiver. The stories say that when the dinosaurs went extinct and the world nearly exploded, you all frolicked about as if it were a lovely sunny day.”

He stopped circling and butted his forehead against Feria’s. “Just how far do your powers go anyway?”

“If we tell you that,” Feria growled. Only serious effort prevented Kajar from pushing her back. “Will you let Bella go?”

“You know my price. Disappear.”

“But we can’t disappear!” squeaked Gulvi.

All jaguars froze and turned to him. Kajar didn’t have to study the gods for long … to know it was true.

Feria’s eyes could have killed Gulvi. She tried to salvage it. “That’s why we’re trying to find another solution!”

Eeris looked over her shoulder and whispered: “Ardex? That you?”

“Enough chit-chat!” Kajar yelled.

The sun rose. The gods shuffled backwards, all at once, stumbling and falling over their ropes.

What are they doing? thought Kajar. They know what I’ll do if they try to run, if they even manage it. He was wary of a trap and kept his distance. The gods kept backing away. Cosmo nodded a few times, and Kajar saw his wing subtly point to a spot outside the prison.

“Search the surroundings again,” he ordered the rest. Why are they walking backwards? With their backs against the wall?

Kajar lost his certainty. What if Paraat was coming? They would easily slaughter all the Prizecats. They’d only just come ashore—the only escape was back to Garda.

He couldn’t let it show. He cautiously stepped forward to lessen the distance to Feria. Oh, but what if the fire god shows up?

The uncertainty must have crept into his face.

“Yes! Be afraid! Our rescuers will kill you!” Eeris yelled.

“Nonsense,” he said quickly. “The sun has nearly risen. And all I see is some gods working themselves into a corner.”

They can’t disappear from the planet, Kajar thought over and over. It took a while before he realized it was really true.

And what the implications were.

He had asked for a price the gods couldn’t pay. The greatest mistake a Prizecat could make. The king would laugh at him when he returned. No, even worse, banish him to a tiny island far from both Garda and Origina.

Unless … gods can die, he thought. It was the only hope he had left.If that were true, however, it would change all future wars.

The gods huddled in the corner of the prison now. The Prizecats had unknowingly followed and were now precisely in the middle, far from the edges. We’ve been stupid, Kajar thought immediately. They’ve made us vulnerable to an attack from the sides!

No such attack came.

Feria looked in all directions, pleading with Cosmo as if he could change it, but no unexpected army stormed in. With drooping wings, Cosmo had to concede that the sound he heard resembled the tiny footsteps of Cavedwellers—hardly a formidable force against jaguars—and he could barely hear it anymore.

The sun had risen. The rays reflected blinding light from his array of diamonds and gold coins. Kajar laughed and pointed at the sky.

“So … you really can’t leave this planet?”

“Believe me,” Cosmo snarled. “If we knew the way, we’d be back in the Heavenly Palace already. Leave you to your own mess.”

“In that case … I have another price.” Kajar could barely contain his luck. The gods were vulnerable. Eeris’ lips quivered and Darus’ thick fur stood on end.

“It’s simple. More than you’re worth. Tell us how we can permanently kill you.”

Some trees caught fire.

“Ardex?” Feria called. “Help!”

Instead of a tiger, more jaguars arrived, carrying torches in their mouths. The sun had definitively risen. They could avoid it no longer, they could delay it no more. The price had changed to one they could pay.

And as Kajar expected, they would pay any price for their beloved Bella.

Feria walked over to him, defeated. She whispered exactly how the gods could be defeated.

But that, dear reader, I still dare not repeat to this day. Such a terrible secret. Someday you will discover it yourself and cry along with me.

Kajar’s jaw dropped and his tongue helplessly lolled out. His claws shot from his paws, back in, and out again. When he regained control of himself, he turned to his fellow jaguars and nodded.

A long silence followed between the gods and Pricecats. Kajar’s smile only grew wider. Laughter built up, louder and louder, exploding when the prison vanished and Bella was dragged forward by the jaguars.

For he knew he had definitely won.

Sure, he might be forced to leave Origina. The Pricecats were few and had no safe place here, while the gods would now use everything—even Paraat—to destroy them. But he had won.

They dropped Bella from a safe distance. As if she were nothing but an old piece of clothing tossed aside. Then the jaguars ran back to Garda, as one frightened cat, over the spiky shells of Ancient Turtles on the horizon.

Bella crawled across the sand. She stumbled over mud and twigs, exhausted, her fur bald in places, until her shivering body fell against the warm embrace of her family.

Paraat came, and it came too late. The gods ran into the group of Honey Badgers about halfway their journey home. Tikidas apologized so often it secretly went against the strict laws of Paraat. Bella would have said something wise. Something like “we thank you for the help regardless” or “good friends, we will need your army in the future”.

But Bella slept and the rest were pissed off, so Paraat was brushed aside. Back at the Throne, Ardex stormed up to his family.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He examined Bella, inspected all her wounds, and gave her hundreds of kisses on the head. “I should have been with you. I should have burned all those Pricecats.”

“Yes. You should have been with us,” Darus chewed him out. “But you were in your own little world again, weren’t you? What rage fit caused your new volcano this time?”

“Brothers,” Feria called out, “let it go.”

“No,” said Ardex softly, “he’s right. I was stuck. I was certain the Ancient Turtles did it and I let anger guide me. I’m trying to be better.”

Ardex and Darus stayed behind as the rest walked on. They spoke to each other in increasingly soft and friendly tones—their brotherly ritual. The others carefully laid Bella in her bed and refused to leave the room until she awoke again.

Not even a day later, Tikidas stood before their destroyed gate. With Bella unable to perform her duties as head goddess, the task fell to Ardex. Cosmo was usually considered the “second wisest god”, but he had immediately flown to Garda to see what exactly was going on over there.

“We apologize again,” said Tikidas. “It’s our fault. We could have arrived in time.”

“It happened.” Ardex mostly felt exhausted. He could accept Paraat had other rules to which they wanted to adhere, he couldn’t accept how cruelly they treated their children.

“We have a proposal. We will assemble an army, to help you, to make Preza answer for their deeds. We’ve already arranged five clansteads, including the Cavedwellers. A name we should probably shorten, I think.”

He smiled, something that only made a honey badger look scarier. “We’ll call ourselves the Delja: the avengers.”

Ardex somehow found the strength to tap Tikidas on the head with his tusk. “Maybe later. For now we just want peace and safety for Bella.”

And we don’t want those barbarians of yours under our command, he thought. Tikidas nodded. “We will continue building the alliance. Let us know if anything changes.”

The Fearvolcano behind the Throne now rumbled all day long. When Ardex heard the Prizecats actually moved across the seas on the backs of Ancient Turtles, it took all his effort not to erupt.

He told of the strange automatic forest in Elwoda, suspiciously similar to the prison in which the gods suddenly found themselves. The animals in the area called it electro: godlight. But the gods knew they had nothing to do with it. And it didn’t seem like any other magic, either.

Ardex joked he had placed the volcano in the wrong spot, but no one laughed. They stayed at Bella’s bedside to care for her.

Leion came by later. He still walked with some difficulty, but had refused to let Tikidas bring him. Even if he disagreed with Paraat’s laws, there were limits.

“They must be so proud of you, right?” Eeris began hopefully.

“Yes, so proud—the Paraat way. They’ve devised a new Challenge based on my run: the Marathon. Young honey badgers now have to run that same distance as fast as possible. That’s supposed to make them stronger, says Tikidas. Madness!”

“Just you wait,” said Eeris, laughing. “Before you know it, the Juradom will act like it’s a sacred path and make everyone run it annually as a spiritual challenge.”

Leion tilted his head quizzically at the laughing Eeris. “Living creatures are strange, aren’t they?”

“Infinitely strange. It’s fascinating.”

“It’s frustrating and unnecessary,” Ardex grumbled, sitting uncomfortably on Bella’s throne.

That was the moment Leion decided. He said farewell to the gods and departed south. He had never been there, but wanted to meet the creatures and tribes. With his speed he could travel the entire world; with his training he need never fear danger.

The animals had by now shortened Cavedwellers to Dwarves and saw them emerge more and more often from holes in the Impossible Wall. Darus claimed he really had heard them, all this time, but thought Ardex was annoying him again with lava streams in the mountain.

And on the exact day Bella awoke, their lost little sister happened to appear. Or maybe it was the other way around.

When Hanah walked into the throne room, no one knew what to do. They hadn’t seen her in so long. They were certain she deliberately avoided her family. But she looked the same as always: a small, cute, lively red panda.

Her family regarded her as a stranger, but in the panda’s eyes her brothers and sisters were still the love of her life.

“Why are you all being weird? Come here, come here, give me a hug.”

Bella found her strength first and ran to Hanah. They soon covered her with hugs and kisses, only stopping when evening fell, and they looked out over “their” world from the high roofs of “their” Throne of Tomorrow.

“Why did you come back?” asked Bella. She stared at the stars, supported by Eeris and Feria.

“Because you revealed the secret.”

“How do you always know these things?”

Hanah sternly eyed each member of her family in turn. No, not stern—a look Ardex didn’t recognize. “I’m … scared. I’ve never been scared before. But now we’re vulnerable.”

Bella spoke, her voice raw, but still just as warm. “Same as always, back to how it was. Give this planet more beautiful life than anywhere in the universe. Care for them as best we can. That’s our duty, right? This doesn’t chance that, right?”

Ardex, however, felt it in everything. He saw it in Bella’s eyes, in her fur with bald patches. The bear who was would never return.

And so it was that life continued …