Propping my head up with my arm, I looked up at the sky. It was dark blue, far darker than any sky I’d seen on Earth, but it had a certain beauty to it. The colour put me more in mind of the sea, but of course there were no waves to be seen here. Beyond the strange waves of the shiny, metallic sand around me.

It was a while before I spotted any sign of the storm the ogres had been so worried about. A few wisps of dark clouds crested the horizon and I thought surely they must have been exaggerating after all. Minutes passed and these precursors were followed by the colossal stormfront behind them. It grew and grew until it stretched across the entire north-eastern horizon.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all… Still, it should be fine. The storm was approaching quite quickly, far faster than I would have expected, but there was nothing to worry about. I could teleport away at any time, there was no risk of getting caught up in it. Keeping that in mind, I decided that I may as well stay and watch. I’d never seen a storm of this magnitude, particularly not up close. It seemed like something actually worth seeing for a change, not like the rest of this place.

Regardless of my opinion, the storm drew closer and I could make out lightning bolts arcing into the ground. It was only when the storm was almost halfway to reaching me that I realised the bolts were only striking the large trapezoids buried beneath the sand. I suppose it made sense, they were the only raised structures and as they were magnetic, they must be made out of metal.

The lightning struck with exceptional rapidity, again and again. The different shapes it took, in the instant they appeared before vanishing, were entrancing. My only regret was that I was watching it during the day rather than at night where they would have stood out that much better. But it wasn’t much of a regret, it was still a beautiful display.

I must have seen hundreds of them before I realised there was something odd about them. The electricity wasn’t coming down from the clouds and striking the earth. It was the other way around; the bolts were coming out of the trapezoids. The edge of the storm was only a few dozen miles away at this point, but I didn’t want to leave yet. I wanted to see more of it. What was the risk, anyway?

I left all my metal equipment on the ground and shuffled away from it and any of the buried magnets. If what I’d seen was any guide, I should be completely safe. There was probably still a little bit of risk I wasn’t accounting for but… After everything that happened, I just couldn’t see myself dying by being struck by lightning. It would be too ridiculous a fate.

The lightning seemed rather predictable and what else was there to worry about? A bit of wind or rain? The clouds were moving quickly but there was no sign of any tornadoes or anything. Curiously the sand beneath the storm didn’t seem affected by wind; it continued to move in the same erratic patterns dictated by the trapezoids’ magnetism. Was there no significant wind accompanying the storm? How was it moving so quickly then?

It didn’t make much sense to me but as the dark clouds passed overhead, obscuring the sun, I didn’t detect an appreciable change in windspeed. Despite the towering mass above with its continual stream of lightning bolts, conditions on the ground were peaceful. Beyond it getting darker, things hadn’t really changed at all; there wasn’t even any rain. Frankly, it was a little disappointing. I suppose some part of me had been expecting a greater element of risk; this wasn’t too exciting.

My position did offer a better vantage to see the intricate, swirling motions of the clouds, but beyond that there seemed little point in having entered the storm. I was considering returning to Elmidath when I saw something emerge from the clouds. Wreathed in a shroud of blue light, it was hard to make out much detail. But whatever it was, it was huge. Though it was hard to be sure at a distance without much frame of reference, it looked easily several times my size.

All thought of leaving vanished from my mind; I had to see what this was and what it was doing. Was it some sort of creature born from the storm? Or had it been travelling with it the whole time? Curiously, as it left them, the entire mass of clouds stopped moving. As the glowing shape descended, I was able to make out two things; that it had an enormous set of wings and that it was heading in my direction.

I looked around to see if there was anything nearby that it might be interested in but there was only sand. It must have seen me then and decided to come over. For what? A meal? I decided that if it dived at me or made some other aggressive move, then I’d teleport back to Elmidath. It was at this point I realised that doing so would mean leaving my armour and sword behind. The armour was replaceable, but it would be a terrible waste to lose Shotensho out here.

There was no sign that the electricity around me had any interest in the metal so being around it shouldn’t be too dangerous. I hurried over, pain shooting through my whole body as my injuries protested against this exertion. By the time I had my sword, the approaching thing was nearing the ground. It had slowed down considerably and appeared to be intending to land a short distance away.

Now that it was closer, I could see that it was some kind of huge birdlike creature. In a flash of blue, it alighted on the ground before me, wings outspread. They were easily sixty feet wide or more; large enough to completely envelop me with room to spare. The glow around it faded as it touched down, revealing a giant bird, with blue-black feathers that had a metallic sheen to them. It had a relatively compact body with a small beak, not at all like the bird of prey I would have expected. If anything, it was more like a songbird; albeit a gigantic one.

And, when the bird’s beak opened, a melodic but distinctly human voice came forth. It was halfway to song rather than speech. “Why do you stand in the path of the storm? Are you not afraid?” There was no hint of accusation; no emotion whatsoever beyond curiosity.

“Why would I be afraid? There doesn’t seem to be anything dangerous about it.” I found it funny that conversing with this giant intelligent bird didn’t faze me in the slightest. If anything, it came as something as a relief after all the recent drama.

The bird drew its head back and looked down at me. “Then you understand nothing. I am the herald of Aplusha, he who shall be born again from the storm. You bear witness to his great body while it is still forming. Once he has gathered enough power to manifest, the world shall tremble before him.”

It certainly sounded ominous but regardless of what he said the clouds above him seemed like nothing more than just clouds. “Who’s this Aplusha, anyway?”

Standing up straight, the herald spread its wings and lifted them up; making itself look far larger. “He is the emperor of the warring sky, the only true god left in this world. Whereas the others have been reduced to fragments, leeching off their followers to survive, Aplusha sits on the cusp of regaining his divinity.”

So this bird guy was trying to revive a god? Not a very pleasant sounding one either. “Uh, good luck with that. Why are you trying to bring back this god, anyway?”

The herald titled its head more than ninety degrees to the side. “What do you mean ‘why’? I have served him from before the merging, I am merely doing my duty.”

“Yeah, but… Can’t you just, not? It doesn’t seem like anyone really misses this god or that having them back would make things any better. By the sounds of it; he’d probably just make things worse. So, can’t you just do something more productive with your time?”

The blue light flicked to life around the herald, brighter than before, and the hair stood up all across my body. “You presume to lecture me on the morality of my sacred task?” Despite its anger, the bird’s voice retained the same musical quality. “Were it not a waste of my lord’s power, I would smite you where you stand. And I still may regardless if you continue to test my patience. You speak of doing something productive? Have you seen anything of the world which you inhabit? Little more than a few survivors squatting in the ruins of civilization. And that is all there will be until a greater being can return order to the land.”

I shook my head, there was probably no point in continuing, but it didn’t feel right to leave their claims unanswered. Someone had to challenge this nonsense. “And this ‘emperor of the warring sky’ is going to fix that? What, are they going to force people to be better? To stop fighting? How exactly are they going to rebuild civilization?”

Blue light flashed around the herald. “You know nothing of my lord’s intentions, nor do you understand anything of his grandeur. The world is a far lesser place without his presence.”

I shrugged. “Then explain it to me. You’re meant to be his herald, right? You must know all about him.”

The herald broke eye contact, just for a second. But it was enough for me to know that it was faltering. Of course it was, everything it was saying was built on nonsense. Even if the gods here were known to be real for a fact, they hardly seemed all knowing or all powerful. How were they meant to decide the right way for people to live? The very idea of it was repulsive. “I cannot claim to understand his will or his intentions. They are beyond yours or my comprehension. How can any lowly being claim to know a god?” It shook its head; a decidedly human affection “The very idea is preposterous.”

“That’s your excuse?” It was all too predictable that they’d stonewall me with this crap, but it was still disappointing. “And I suppose we’re all just meant to take it on faith then that your god will make the world a better place?”

“No.” I blinked, that wasn’t the response I’d expected at all. The anger and uncertainty had left the herald’s voice, now it was certain. “It does not matter what you believe or what you do. You can pray for his return or curse it, but his will shall be done. To be frank, it doesn’t matter in the slightest if he ‘makes the world a better place’ or not. He is a god; a divine being. Whatever he chooses to do with the world is, by definition, righteous. Who are we to judge his actions? He is the highest possible authority.”

The light around the bird grew brighter along with the addition of a low electrical buzzing sound. Had I finally pushed the herald too far? But no, that wouldn’t make any sense. It didn’t seem like it cared all that much about my opinion, or my existence for that matter. The buzzing grew louder and the herald raised its voice. “I must return to the storm. You shall leave this place and await his coming. Tell everyone you meet of his return, that they might rejoice.” Painfully loud now, the buzzing culminated in a crack of electricity accompanied by a blinding flash. When my vision cleared; the herald was nowhere to be seen and the storm was moving forward once more. Seeing that there was nothing left for me here, I gathered my things and teleported back to Elmidath.