Fayde floated alone and in silence. The beauty of the endless and vast expanse would make one speechless. Everything, and yet nothing was there within his sight. It was dark, foreboding, lonely and cold. However, there was also the light and warmth of the stars. There were the planets and a plethora of other things to keep one company. How could any one person grasp such boundless and infinite potential? To Fayde, it was beyond his imagination. But he also felt that if he wished it so, then all could in fact be his.

He resisted the temptation and forced himself to look away, and below he could see a shattered world. It was immense and yet so small. The world was barely holding itself together, although broken into many parts. Some were large, others tiny, miniscule even. They were all once part of the planet Earth. A strange and dense aura permeated many of those parts. The aura seemed magnificent and holy, but this was a facade. For deep within, Fayde could feel the darkness that was its true origin.

“Those must be the various fragments left of the Earth. They are the domains of the Divinities. Their so called holy planes, heavens or dominions. Whatever they want to call them, it’s all the same. I can’t even imagine what kind of arrogance it would require for one to attempt to seize godhood, but these false gods are truly audacious beyond words. They are immature and foolish children playing as gods.”

He could see their nature clearly, but it seemed that their inner desires had been twisted and warped. Most likely while they may have thought they were in control of the power of the Void, in reality, it was the Void which controlled them. Only Fayde could understand this reality, because he himself felt the temptation that lurked somewhere deep within his thoughts. The Void was always present and Fayde could only continue to struggle with his will to ensure he remained always in control.

“Hmm, the dragon gave me his power and control over the fragment. It is a small piece, but it should have united with the fragment I already partially control. Unfortunately, I do not have full control over the fragment because the control orb was destroyed back then. It released the Void Power which had been trapped within. I was able to absorb much of it, but still some returned to the Earth. I can only imagine the implications of that and have been pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind for some time. However, the consequences… I just don’t know.”

Fayde had too much on his mind as he floated above the shattered world, but he knew he couldn’t remain for long. With his increase in the Void within him and his new knowledge of the fragments he received from Allein’s older brother, it would only require a slight use of his power to return. Of course, he could only return to the fragments under his influence and couldn’t yet enter the fragments of the Divinities. At least, not yet.

“It’s time to go back.”

Fayde used the power of the Void to open a dimensional rift in space and he stepped through it. This was an ability which wasn’t as great as it seemed. He could only use it to return to the fragment which was now part of the original fragment he came from. It wasn’t a power which would allow him to teleport across any distance. He only fully controlled that one small fragmented piece which had previously been under the control of the black dragon. And so, that is exactly where he returned to. Nonetheless, it was still quite amazing that he could use the ability to traverse from space back to the Earth, even if it could only be used to return to that one specific point.

In the future, when Fayde had full control over more fragments, he could use this ability to travel between them.

“I’m back! Hahahahaha.”

Fayde laughed uproariously as if he were the only one there. Of course, he had just come from space so he had thought he was alone. He continued to laugh until he finally heard a slight coughing sound which interrupted his laughter. He was surprised and caught unaware. He had really been careless and hadn’t paid slight attention to his surroundings.

Of course, if anyone truly wished to harm him at that moment, it would be impossible. He was practically invincible in a fragment he controlled, unless of course it were a Divinity which were trying to harm him. However, it wasn’t so simple for a Divinity to enter a fragment under the control of another. There would be consequences and the owner of the fragment would know immediately.

“Felicia? Err… right.” Fayde said somewhat embarrassed at losing his cool.

It wasn’t every day that one could be freely floating in space in one moment, and then standing on the Earth in another. It was just too cool of a feeling for Fayde not to get overly excited. It was kind of like the first time he had used his powers to fly and showed off to all the Beastkin.

“Fayde? Are you okay…” Felicia asked with concern.

Fayde nodded and then realized that there were many more people watching him with weird looks. It seemed that everyone had successfully been transported along with the fragment. He had already been told this would happen, but he was relieved to see that it was in fact so.

“Good, you are all here. I suppose we need to get the rest of the shapeshifters together.” Fayde brushed off their strange looks and pretended nothing happened.

Kerron, Branz, Laz, and a few other shapeshifters were present, they had been the ones to escort Fayde and Felicia when they infiltrated Mystra’s war camp. As for the rest of the shapeshifters, they were initially fighting the Dark Elves in order to fool Mystra into thinking that they were aiding her. Because of this, the tens of thousands of shapeshifters were elsewhere.

“Are you guys listening?” asked Fayde, finally turning to observe his companions only to see them gaping at the sky above.

“Eh…”

Felicia was confused at their actions and didn’t know how to respond to their strange behavior.

“That’s right. Did you forget Felicia? The fragment we came from was entirely filled with darkness. There was no sky to speak of, or at least it wasn’t visible, which is strange in and of itself. This is probably their first time seeing the sky in who knows how long.”

“Ahhh.. “ Felicia nodded her head, “It must have been hard on them, but now they are finally free.”

Branz and the others finally looked away from the sky and made an embarrassed expression.

Branz chuckled and rubbed his head with his large bear paw, “Yeah, hehe, it’s been a long time. I don’t think any of us ever thought we would be able to escape that place. To see a clear blue sky… and the morning sun again, It’s hard to believe it’s real.”

“Where are the rest of the shapeshifters?” asked Fayde.

Laz, who was still in his animal form, came closer to Fayde before answering, “I know where they are. Although the fragment has returned to a different place in the original world, this fragment should be the same. The only difference is, where this fragment has returned to. It is somewhat complicated, but since the world was shattered I don’t think it can ever be returned to its original form. This place was once apart of a large continent, but now it has been shifted to a different place and has connected with the fragment you come from creating something new. I don’t know how this world will end up looking, it definitely won’t ever be the same.”

Fayde rubbed his chin which had grown some stubble, “Hmm.. I always found it strange that the world seemed so small. No one seems even aware of what else might be out there. They only talk about the seven Northern kingdoms or the Empire in the south, but I never did hear mention of anything else. Even the sea is a place which not many venture out to. It is just too dangerous, but now I understand that there is another reason. There just isn’t anything there and I guess that the knowledge of the people living here has been altered or perhaps they just simply no longer remember. Over generations, it has been forgotten or suppressed.”

“We won’t get anywhere sitting here and wasting time, we should reunite with the rest of the shapeshifters.” said Kerron while shifting to his Human form.

The others soon followed suit with loud growls.

“That never gets old.” mused Fayde. “Maybe you should look away Felicia.”

Felicia nodded and turned slightly red with embarrassment before turning around. Unfortunately, whenever the shapeshifters shifted between forms, it was impossible to keep their clothing in tact. Usually they would remove the clothing before shifting to their beast forms. Or at least, that was how it was done in the past. Being trapped on a dark and dreary fragment for who knows how long, it wasn’t necessary to wear clothing usually. This would now become a concern once more.

“Maybe you guys should warn us before you change shape? It isn’t so bad for me since we are all men here, but Felicia is another issue. Also, I don’t know how well the sight of thousands of naked men and women shifting in the future will work out for everyone.”

The shapeshifters chuckled when hearing that and nodded.

“Well, this is something we can settle at a later time. For now, we need to reunite with everyone and quickly move towards civilization. The wilderness is a home in its own way to us, but we aren’t really the savage type. Many of us are quite refined, minus the naked aspect.” replied Laz cheekily.

“I am concerned though, will everyone truly be willing to follow me? Don’t they see me as a Human that they despise?”

“It is the will of the General, his last will. Whether they like it or not, they will follow your lead from now on. It is the same for all of us. Our ancestors were once all Human anyway, even if we have long become something else. We have the same origin. That anger and distrust, there is good reason for it but at the same time, those who once oppressed us are all long gone.” replied Kerron.

Branz scoffed and said in a deep voice,“All except those pieces of trash who call themselves divinities!”

Laz nodded, “Aye, those few are the last of them. They are also the worst of them. If your goal is surpassing them Fayde, then you can truly count on our support from the bottom of our hearts. We must get revenge, especially against that bitch Mystra!”

“I think, whether I want to or not, they are going to be my enemies. I haven’t thought too much about it honestly, but I doubt they will be able to coexist with me. I don’t think many of them know about me yet and I don’t really understand the game that Mystra seems to be playing. I only know that it has something to do with the Void. If my guess is correct, then the others do not know about me. Mystra on the other hand, has known about me from the very beginning. This can only mean one thing, she is plotting something and it definitely has something to do with me and my connection with the Void.”

Fayde sighed as he felt some pressure from the unknown.

“Don’t worry Fayde, no matter what happens I will protect you!” chimed in Felicia while patting Fayde on his shoulder. She seemed very serious about her declaration.

Fayde laughed at seeing how serious she seemed, “Right, but who is going to protect you?”

“Hmph! I don’t need anyone to protect me! Whoever gets in my way I will just smash with my hammer!”

Felicia swung her hammer around swiftly to demonstrate her point.

“Yeah yeah. Stop wasting time you two lovebirds.” chided Branz before walking off.

The others laughed and followed.

“Dammit, didn’t I say it wasn’t decided yet. Whatever!” Fayde shrugged it off while mumbling to himself. He then followed the others as they made their way through the brush and trees of the dense savannah like terrain.