I watched mesmerized as tendril after tendril began to straighten up and fade as Sania connected them to her core.

“I will do my best to protect you all, I promise,” she shouted as she worked. I saw unshed tears in her glassy eyes and I understood. It was a hell of a burden to bear, but I had no doubts she was up to the task. Better than me, if I was honest with myself. I felt like a damn leaf on the wind still.

When she had linked the tenth bond to her, she seized up in a full body cramp. We probably should have rehashed what happened at this stage, and I felt a pang of guilt as she stood convulsing like an electric current was coursing through her.

While others rushed over to check on her, the memory of my experience flooded my mind and, I looked a few feet above her body with Singularity Sight to where her soul now hovered. It looked more like a perfect pencil drawing of her, only etched in a stunning, interweaving mix of gold and gray energies.

Panic had clearly set in, which was understandable, and she frantically looked around until her eyes landed on me.

I smiled and waved up at her. “Welcome to Ethereal Stage one,” I thought across our bond. I wasn’t sure it would work in her current state, but she heard and a wide smile lit up her golden gray face.

“This is so strange,” she replied. A slight tremor in her mental voice.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine. Just go through your Ethereal Notifications and you’ll be back in your body before you know it. Now I know you’ve got a lot to do, so I’ll let you crack on.”

With an Ethereal nod of her head, she turned back to inspect something I couldn’t see. Though moments later Ewan’s identifier changed. To my surprise, it did not say Aspirant. It flickered briefly on Scout of Sania before changing to Hunter of Sania, which I assumed was the equivalent to Cleric Level. The sudden move in his position was no doubt due to him referring the other Wultr as followers.

My mouth dropped wide as I realized how many fucking referrals he was about to get. I was also pretty pissed that my followers weren’t called Scout and Hunter. That sounded way better than Aspirant and Cleric.

As the night wore on, with Sania accepting the Wultr, bonds, there really wasn’t much to see, and the onlookers began to drift off and get some sleep for the evening. I noticed Ealmu, the leader of the Saleels with us above ground. Watching Sania and the Wultr in wonder. I hadn’t spoken much to them since they’d joined us. But that couldn’t be helped as they spent a good eighty percent of their time in the ground. Was the lie I told myself. The truth was that it was hard to accept them after Daz’s death. But as I watched the peaceful looking Saleel, his innocent expression as he watched events unfolding. I knew I’d been a prick. They deserved to be made feel as welcome as anyone else. If anyone was to blame for the Saleel bounty hunter killing Daz, it was either Angelica, or the Dwarves, and I hadn’t treated either of those with the same kind of distrust and disdain.

It was time to make amends. Stalking over to him, carefully stepping over the sleeping goblins on my path, he turned as I approached and his content expression dropped to a cold mask. I could hardly blame him.

“Hey Ealmu, how you doing so far?”

“Elamu is alive. Family is alive,” he replied simply.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “That’s the sign of a good day for me, too.”

He chuckled a little, which lessened the tense atmosphere a little. “I hope you like it in Far Reach. It’s very mountainous and I know you like the rocks, but I don’t know the places you like to live.”

“We nest in mountains, hunt in plains. Not sure what we hunt in Far Reach. Will see when the time comes.”

“I’m sure we can sort something out. What do you hunt?”

He grinned a rocky toothed grin. “Greatworms.”

I nodded, not really getting the reference. As far as I knew, we hadn’t come across a great worm on our travels yet.

“They big?” I asked, growing more intrigued by the life of a Saleel.

He was chuckling again at that question. A sound like distant thunder. Height ways they be twice Elamu’s height. Length they may be a hundred Elamus, lying flat on ground.”

“Ah shit. Huge then. You know, I'm sure I heard something about them in the Nideland. That they ate the rock and made tunnels.”

Elamu nodded vigorously. Yes. They the biggest, and tastiest. One Greatworm feed whole Family for many visits of the sun.”

“Are they easy to kill? Seems like that would be dangerous.”

“Very dangerous unless you are Saleel. Only Saleel kill Greatworm.”

“Lies!” Freeler shouted, waking the surrounding goblins. Elamu gave the Bugbear a questioning look.

“We kill a Greatworm once. Freeler bashed it on its head.”

“Worm must already be dead, and no kill Greatworm by bashing head. No things there to kill.” Elamu protested.

“Freeler bashed head of live Greatworm and Greatworm died!” Freeler responded. And while my first few meetings with Freeler would have led me to call bullshit, having seen him fighting once or twice now, I was inclined to believe him.

Elamu shook his head. “Not possible to kill a Greatworm you…”

“My Tenet is to protect our pack, above all else!”

Sania shouted distracting us all as she reached her one thousandth follower. Her voice had a strange rumbling bass that resonated underneath her usual tone. I could feel it in the air and the ground but also along our bond, causing a strange tingling sensation deep within me.

Having reached Ethereal stage two, there was no perceptible change beyond her increased luminosity to my Singularity Sight. There was a change for Ewan though as his indicator changed for a third time, now reading as Sentinel of Sania. I stifled the irritation that he got to jump up to a prominent position immediately. All because he’d told the others to bond with her.

Reminded of an old saying I muttered to myself, Money goes to money. Promptly followed by- stop being such a grumpy fucker, Clive.

Shaking off my negativity, I wondered about what power she’d have chosen to give her Sentinels instead. I reckoned it had to be flight, and a flying Wind of the Wild would certainly be a huge deal for us.

As Sania got back to work, I was tempted to ask Ewan about his new powers as a Sentinel, but the bickering from Elamu and Freeler had begun again.

Glaunk was there now trying to smooth things over.

“The worm was injured when we found it, but still very much alive,” he said to the giant Saleel, with his hands held out placatingly.

I was tempted to wander off and stay out of it, but I still wanted to attempt to bond with Elamu.

“Worm alive would go underground if in danger. That is where Saleel kill Greatworms.”

“No teeth,” Glaunk replied. “ Couldn’t get away.”

“Ah! That makes sense. When Greatworms very old, they lose all teeth and come up to surface to die. Explains how the killing was done.”

“Freeler waved off the Saleels conclusion, grumbling under his breath.”

“So how the hell do you kill one, then? I asked bemused.

“Simple,” Elamu said. “We strengthen the ground around its neck and squeeze. Once it can’t move, we continue to squeeze until head, with teeth pops off.”

His description had me reliving Daz’s death again, though I tried my best not to let it show.

“Elamu continued, unaware of my discomfort. “Both parts still alive, but body defenseless till new teeth grow, and head can’t move without body. Then we eat head quickly. Have longer to eat body before new head grows and worm stays fresh until finished.”

“Well damn, that’s both Gross, but impressive. What do they taste like?” I asked.

“They taste like Greatworms,” Elamu replied, seriously.

I fought the urge to sigh. It was hard to argue with the logic after all.

“Taste like meat and dirt together. Stringy too.” Freeler offered. “Better burned on fire first. Less dirt taste more meat taste.”

“Thanks, dude. Sounds like a half decent source of protein if we're desperate. I might be able to do something to make them taste better. Slow cooked with lots of spices ,” I mused out loud.

I talked to Freeler and Elamu for a while longer. It wasn’t a particularly engaging conversation. Elamu didn’t have much to say, and Freeler was competitive about everything. So I was glad when Sania finally finished bonding the two thousand Wultr who had joined us from the Palathi peaks. She looked around for me, then attempted to slump to her knees, exhausted. With a little boost with flight, I was able to get over quickly enough to catch her. “Come on by the fire,” I said softly and supported her weight as we headed back over to where Danivra, Grigor, and Olata sat.

“I feel so strange,” she drawled, as if she’d been drinking.

“I know,” I smiled gently. “You just went through a hell of a lot of changes very damn quickly. Like my last six months in a few hours. Oh and welcome to Ethereal Stage two, I believe?”

She nodded. “I can’t believe that just happened. And so quickly. I was dead a few days ago,” she mumbled. Hardly able to move her mouth with exhaustion. I understood how it felt, all too well. When I’d bonded larger numbers, it definitely took a toll and I’d done nothing like two thousand in one go.

“Well you can’t die now. Not properly anyway. And once you’re confident with your Ethereal power we should see if we can get you on the path to the Immortal Shell. I’ve got to say from a purely selfish perspective, it feels good to have someone along for the ride. Can you sense your Ethereal Core?”

“I can, yes,” she mumbled. “Is yours the same color as the ethereal blasts you produce? The white iridescent color?”

“It is, yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Mine isn’t the same then. It’s a torrent of grays like the energy of the mountains, but interlaced with golden aspects.”

“I saw it,” I replied. “When your soul left your body, it was made up of those colors. “Which means your abilities will work differently to mine. Did any of your notifications tell you what you can do?”

She nodded, stifling a yawn as she attempted to answer. “Something called Accretion has appeared in my stats. My own version of your Singularity I imagine. I don’t know quite what it means yet:

Innate understanding of Neuma’s interaction with physical structures. Will increase with personal level from inception. (Cannot be leveled by other means.)

I listened carefully. “Damn, that sounds interesting. I can’t wait to see what it does.”

“Me either,” she said. But her eyes were trying to close even as she spoke.

“Get some rest tonight. We can look into it more tomorrow.”

She nodded and smiled weakly as she lay back, holding her hand up to her temple, which was probably unnecessary. She sent herself off to sleep.

I looked at the others, they were all deep in thought. It was a momentous and unexpected occasion for them all. We had just put Sania on the path to godhood and it was a huge deal.

“This is quite the development,” Grigor noted. Breaking the silence of the others. “How will this affect those who we encourage to follow in the future, Lord Clive?”

I grimaced a little at that. “Well I’m not exactly trying to spread the word. People need to be able to do their own thing. And I’m sorry you don’t get to be a follower of the potential Wultr god, dude.”

“As we discussed earlier. I’m content as things stand. It is an honor to fight alongside you and serve as a paladin to you, Lord Clive. But not spreading the word, particularly for Sania's ascension, seems foolish. At the very least, we should attempt to rally as many beast kin to our cause as possible. As a figurehead for our much maligned race, Sania will be a powerful symbol that many will flock to follow.”

I nodded along to Grigor, impressed by his words. “You've been boosting your Intelligence, mate?”

“I have indeed,” he said shifting uncomfortably. “I divide my points equally between Ethereal Awareness, Intelligence and then alternate between Strength, Agility and Speed.

“That sounds pretty damn smart if I’m honest. No Constitution though?”

He shook his head. “With your ability to heal fatal wounds, it is not an immediate necessity. I will no doubt pull back from Intelligence once I reach a certain level, and from there invest more heavily in Constitution. But my current Intelligence level dictates I continue to invest in the areas I’ve spoken of.

“Fair enough. And good work, Grigor. Searching for more Wultr and beast kin in general sounds like a grand idea.”

“This may come as no surprise. But I fully support that plan, Grigor,” Ewan added. “Imagine the army we could build.”

“To protect.” I added to the end of the sentence meaningfully. “How’re you feeling anyway, Ewan? Sentinel of Sania?”

He flashed a white-toothed smile at me. “Far more positive than I expected to. I feel as though I have done a great deed for my people at the very least by setting up a Wultr God. Now I must ensure that she reaches the pinnacle of what can be achieved. And by extension you,” he added as an afterthought.

“I’m glad to hear you are not losing sight of the need to raise up, Lord Clive,” Danivra said with a bit of snap to her words. “There are a finite amount of neutrals on Falritas that can become followers, after all.”

Ewan snorted derisively at the statement, and I found I didn’t much like what Danivra was getting at, either. Whether she had a point or not. “I’m sure there’ll be more than enough willing followers for us both if that’s what it takes to reach the final Ethereal stages,” I replied.

“Indeed. Though might I suggest no further ascension of others until you have reached Godhood or have a stronger understanding of the process.”

“Even you?” I asked directly across our bond.

“Until we are sure of your own ascension, then yes. Even me,” Danivra replied. “Though if it is possible at some stage, I would be more than willing.”

I chuckled at that. “I bet you would. I’ve given it some light thought as well and I figure that if the original Creation made all these other gods to help him out, then I should be able to do it too.”

“Remember that these other gods are now warring with each other like spoiled children, destroying the fabric of the Universe itself,” Danivra replied.

“Do you wanna be opened up to godhood or not?” I laughed.

“I do. But it is something that should be considered with extreme care.”

“Well right now, the only people I’d even consider are you and Joel.”

“Joel? Your friend from home?”

“Sure. God of buildings or something.”

Danivra laughed. “Perhaps it is something we should give even more thought to that I first realized. I imagine there are many potential pitfalls but for now, the focus should still be on you.”

I agreed for now and broke free of the conversation to listen and respond to Olata.

“… get settled in Far Reach, then I think we would like to become your followers, too, Lord Clive. I have only positive feelings, when I think about it and there is safety in numbers.”

“As long as you know there’s no pressure, Olata. You do what you want.”

She beamed a wide smile at me, causing me to grin back.

“And Olata,” I quickly added to Danivra. I felt humor come back through the bond.

“But not Wind of the Wild?”

I didn’t reply to that. I didn’t need to. Looking over to Ewan, the Sentinel, he nodded back.