To my delight, when I returned to the scene of the battle, I found the two men right where I had left them. Slumped over, still alive, but definitely unconscious. Moving up to them, I looked them over. They were against trees, heads hanging, arms slightly outstretched to either side as they were obviously tossed back and slammed into the trunks. It looked like they would be in some discomfort when they awoke. Though… since I now had some sort of magic, I planned to try healing them.

It was also easy to see why they had thrown their tactics to the side and blindly charged before. They were no soldiers. Heck, they weren’t even fighters. Their clothing and equipment told of hunters. Late forties in age both. Wearing simple brown wool knickers and a matching tunic each, it was instantly obvious they were not the richest folks either. The numerous patches covering different holes of worn areas solidified that assumption. A few straps held pockets, sheaths, and pouches to their chests. A quiver hung behind each of them.

Hunters. Poor, older hunters. Nothing more or less. Their equipment was aged. Their clothes were patched. Their leathers were fraying and starting to split. I guessed right then and there they were just regular guys trying to keep their family fed.

I nodded to myself, “Yeah, probably.” I moved closer to the older man and squatted in front of him, looking closer. Sandy brown hair, wild, touched with grays, with wrinkles lining his features; along with the occasional scar or two. “Heh, I would have looked like you in a few years there, buddy. I probably would have looked pretty good in gray…” I chuckled to myself and slowly rose, but stopped suddenly when something on his neck caught my attention.

Red marks. Small. They peppered the right side of his neck in a rash-like pattern that favored the artery area. Curious, I moved closer. Sporadic in placement, I could still see that they looked like wounds carried in pairs of four prongs, two above, two below. Some were old and faded, almost healed. Others appeared quite fresh, with the newest a week old at most.

Lightly running my fingers over the wound, I wondered aloud, “Some kind of ritualistic thing? No… an injection? Maybe for a vaccination? Heck, it could be self-mutilation or some kind of magical… magical thing.” I couldn’t help but shrug. The mystery was not going to be solved by my musings.

On happenstance I glanced at the compatriot’s neck and, sure enough, on the right side of his neck were the same marks. It was odd and interesting. Something to definitely ask about eventually, but for now, there were more important things to do.

I began by going through their bags and pockets. While I wasn’t planning on stealing anything, I did want to get an idea for what they were carrying. What possible oddities I could inspect. Maybe find some clues about who they were before I had to ask them. And, best yet, disarm them completely so they couldn’t do something stupid again.

Their bows, swords, and knives I piled off to the side and made sure that while it was in their sight, it was out of their reach. Personal items lay in front of the two; consisting of odd little things such as wooden totems, a woman’s handkerchief, a map, an old watch, a pair of wooden spoons, a canteen, and so on. Their coin purses were placed on the side.

urious to see what the coins were, I opened the draw-sack and dumped the few jingling pieces into my open palm. My curiosity doubled when I saw them.

The term ‘coin’ barely described the bizarre currency. Instead of a traditional, printed disk, these coins were in the shape of small copper saucers with orange gemstones in their centers; like a copper penny bent into a bowl, then having an orange crystal implanted at the bottom of said bowl. The metal was printed roughly, with some type of stamp no doubt, depicting two hands reaching for each other. On the back was a single staff lying across a crown.

Next, looking at the gems, I quickly found them uninteresting overall. Simple, roughly hewn, the color orange. Nothing special. And yet the more I examined the coins, the more I noticed a pattern.

The coins greatly varied in size even though they were obviously all copper coins. Some were large enough to comfortably fit onto my thumb while others had just enough metal to sit on my pinkie. The size of the metal changed drastically from coin to coin. The gemstones? They grew in size as the metal shrunk. I took a large coin in one hand and placed the smallest one beside it.

“Yeah… definitely a difference. So the less metal on the coin, the larger the gem. So the coin is… shrinking, or growing?” I compared the ages of the two and easily saw the larger was newer. “Shrinking. So they shrink and the gem grows… is it the life cycle of the coin or… or…” I held a coin close and saw small rivulets in the coin, as if the metal was slowly being eaten and was thus bending toward the gem. “Or maybe… a currency that grows with age? How odd.”

Against my better judgment I tried lightly biting on the coin to see how tough the metal was. An acidic, coppery taste filled my mouth and the metal scarred slightly, allowing my teeth to sink in. Then, I tried biting on the gem. The instant I applied force, the gem shattered with an audible sound of chimes, followed by a low hissing.

Abruptly, a burst of energy poured in. Like a rushing river streaming through my mind and causing me to jolt up in surprise. I focused on the feeling. My brain seemed clearer. My thoughts more focused. The world became brighter, my hearing sharper, my senses keen. And seconds later, it faded back to normal.

“What… the… heck…” I held up the coin and, sure enough, the gemstone was gone, leaving an empty coin-sized copper donut behind. The burst of focused energy had come from the gem’s destruction. “If that’s so, then maybe these coins grow by eating metal… and their value isn’t so much in the metal, but the gem and its… umm… energy drink effect?” I chuckled a little at that and put the coins down with the other belongings. “What a strange world. Sounds like a mana potion or-”

I stopped myself short. That was exactly what it sounded like. Or some type of vitality potion. It was like those games I once played a long time ago.

I picked up the smallest coin with the biggest gemstone and looked at it, “Then this is concentrated energy. Concentrated magic. I mean, magic is real here. Neato. Eating these gives you a short power boost. Hmmm…” My eyes shifted to the two hunters and their obvious poverty. A wave of guilt hit me. I put the coin back down. I’d have to apologize for ruining one of their coins later.

However, I had to make sure they wouldn’t attack me, or take off running, when they woke up. Taking a rope, I scooted them both up to the base of a tree and tied the rope around their chests and under their arms, then cinched them to the trunk. It wouldn’t take away their limbs’ movement, but, it would still keep them from trying anything funny right off. I double and tripled checked it to be sure, then stood and crossed my arms in satisfaction.

Things were going well.

Eventually boredom hit as I finished examining everything. So, I came up with the best pastime.

“Guess I’ll try out some other magic…” I whispered to myself, a giddy air tinging my words. The thought excited me. Real magic. My magic, to use, as I wanted. I wanted to discover its limits and its potential.

I walked over and grabbed the staff. I tried focusing. Shifting my thoughts to a simple light sphere. Floating. Right in front of me. Motionless, but there. That surging feeling of power began, but was cut short when a loud roar erupted from the sky. I ducked. Looking up, I didn’t see anything but the trees.

“Of course…” I muttered, listening. The beating of wings were definitely there. Somewhere. I wanted to see. But, alas, I couldn’t unless I had…

“Magic.” A stupid grin grew on my face. Getting an idea, I held out my staff with both hands and closed my eyes. “Let me see up there. Ummm… Scry!” I barked, as if that would make the magic come.

The feeling of power flowed through me. A stream. It formed into a roiling river, wild, chaotic, and yet within my grasp pouring through my veins. Pushing it into the staff, I could feel the spell solidify until it snapped into reality.

A sky formed inside my mind’s eye; dark spiraling clouds drifted out from their epicenter back where I had originally landed. What I saw in that direction shocked me. Wings. Beasts. Dragons, griffins, angelic creatures, and every other flying thing imaginable seemed to be congested over the area. Even a massive flying vessel, a blue crystal mountain with buildings atop it, floated within the clouds. Hundreds of beings and beasts swarmed the area while others zipped across the forests. They went slow. Many held staffs and kept them pointed toward the ground while colorful magic circles danced at their tips.

They were searching. For me. Their numbers were so vast I could hear the beating cacophony of their collective wings even from several miles away.

A pit formed in my stomach at that. They really, really wanted to find me. At this point, I wondered if I would actually be able to get away safely. Maybe if Chaos intervened. But when I considered her sadism, I doubted it.

I wanted to see the crater, so I tried willing my spell to move forward, and to my delight, it responded. The tree tops zipped beneath me, my vision speeding over to the edge of the forest some ways a way. Bending a bit down, I saw it. The crater. And just how many people were busy investigating it. Hundreds. If not thousands. The nervousness instantly returned and I took a careful breath to steady the rising drum inside my head. It was terrifying, yet invigorating.

Willing the spell further forward, I glided up close to where several important looking beings stood. Generals. Officials. Something of the sort.

They were all standing around a table, talking, so naturally I put my spell right on the center of the table so I could easily look at each of them. Thankfully, I could hear them too.

A man dressed in white robes and sporting a pair of angelic white wings spoke, drawing my attention. “No! We must devote all we can to finding Chaos’ child!” he said angrily. Based upon his surprisingly handsome face, toned body, and flowing hair, I was certain he was some sort of angel. And his skin. Shimmering, almost, and nearly as white as polished marble. Jeweled medallions adorned his shoulders and a silver circlet crowned his head; not even a strand of hair out of place for his appearance.

“It’d be a waste of time,” a woman said, waving it off nonchalantly. She was the direct contrast of the angel. A slightly more tanned skin, with a rougher appearance consisting of dark obsidian colored armor filled with claws, horns, and straps of leather; yet the armor carefully avoided giving her too much clothing as her midriff, cleavage, and upper thighs were still revealed. Coal black hair turned upward into a bun around her horns gave her a wise, yet devilish beauty combined with her burning yellow eyes. A demon type, I wagered; and a noticeably attractive one at that.

“Oh really?” The angel said, scowling at her. She just smiled at him playfully and blew him a kiss which only turned his cheeks red with anger. Obviously angels and demons did not get along.

Reaching up and twirling a strand of hair between her fingers, she explained, “She’s toying with us. Chaos put on this show to get us all hot and steamy…” she said it with a wink. Some of the other officials chuckled. Some didn’t. “If we just play cat and mouse, she’ll win.”

“Which is why we should devote our best to the hunt! Every major city. Every nation. Put out notices… rewards. This child must be found!” the angel roared. Others nodded and voiced their agreement. The demon and her support countered, and soon an argument erupted.

I didn’t quite understand it all, so I just listened, confused. I gleaned they were terrified of me.

After a few minutes of the squabbling, a woman walked up to the table. She wore nothing but a single tunic of gold with slits along the side that left it bare, yet still gave her some modesty. Her entire head was covered with an ornate headdress of flowers, jewels, metals, and vines that jingled like clashing icicles with every graceful step she took. I couldn’t see her face as a thick silver veil covered it.

The others quieted upon her arrival and turned to look at her. The lesser officials bowed while the greaters did not.

“Oracle,” both the demon and angel said, dipping their heads in a sign of respect.

The Oracle dipped her head in return and walked up to the table and looked straight at me. My heart skipped a beat. Then, I realized she was looking at what was on the table. Not the actual me; hopefully. I looked down at well and found a map of the area. There were mostly forests and lakes for many hundreds of miles, but there did seem to be a few dots and strange words near my landing spot. Regretting I could not read the language, I looked back up at the Oracle and waited.

After a few minutes she spoke, her voice carrying wisdom and authority like a gauntlet. “Times of great peace benefit everyone but enemies, it is said. Is it not?” She waited a moment for a few nodding head before continuing, “But it is not always so. Peace breeds stagnation. A pool of water unmoving turns to a breeding ground for insects, a place for disease, a place where the fish and frogs must oft flee. Naught movement brings about regression. It destroys instead of builds. And peace, for us all, has brought this stagnation and destruction, but has hidden it well.”

“A goddess is no fool. Chaos being chief amongst them. Understanding doth she possess of our ways, our minds, the threads that must be pulled to tear our weaves asunder. She has watched for a millennial in silence. Understanding our ways. Memorizing our processes. Painting our pacts of peace on her wall all in preparation for when she might descend upon us and remove the sanity of our world completely. To wipe it clean. To form her realm. To bring the apocalypse…” she said gently. Murmuring built within the group, but the demon spoke, silencing them.

“And just some powered child of hers can be such a force?” she scoffed, chuckling and sliding onto the table. Crossing her long legs, she tossed some of her hair behind her shoulder. “One man or woman or beast cannot overcome us all.”

“If it was just a woman, man, or beat, then no… look to the clouds and your answer shall be revealed unto you.”

All eyes immediately turned to the clouds. Mine included. I didn’t see anything much, though the clouds did seem to be shaped slightly oddly. They formed a rough ring of symbols around the crater, a couple miles high and miles apart in radius.

“Tha-ilk… te-yer?” the demon asked.

The angel said the word fully with a voice of dread, “Thailkteyeer… Thalwesse.” The moment he uttered the word faces grew white and soft prayers or curses were muttered.

“Indeed. Thalwesse,” the oracle said, her voice unwavering. “A being from a realm beyond our heavens has descended. We must prepare, brothers and sisters, for the killer of gods, bender of worlds, the creators of realms now walks amongst us.”

Chaon… a god slayer? World bender? Creator? Thalwesse? They feared me so much and I sounded pretty special. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.