Amid the smoke and flames, an entirely too young and underdressed girl stretched and looked about with happy contentment.

“And that, my good little elves,” she said, “Is how you wipe out a fortified logging camp!”

“Uhhh…”

“So,” Pantsu said cheerfully, “any questions?”

“Uhhh…”

The elves looked around in horror at the absolute devastation around them.

“You… you killed them… You killed them all…”

“Yeah, that was kinda the point,” Pantsu replied. “They can’t chop down your sacred groves if they can’t chop, right?”

As the moon emerged from the clouds, it revealed a gigantic shambling abomination in the smoke.

“Steve!” Pantsu yelled, “Put your clothes back on.”

“Iiii tore iiiitttt…”

“Well, pick out a new one then. You’re freaking out the newbs.”

“Oooooookkkkakaaaayyyy….”

The unholy combination of… parts… started picking up fallen soldiers and carefully examining them.

“Jesus, Steve! Just pick one!”

Pantsu turned to the elves, who were nervously clutching their bows.

“Sorry about this,” she said nonchalantly, “Steve is kind of picky.”

The elves just nodded with huge eyes.

“Hey…” A young dragonlet in blue armor said nervously. “I… um… I found this…”

He produced an amulet.

“I think it’s magic,” he said as he blushed. “It’s um… It’s pretty… like you…”

“Aww,” Pantsu gushed as she accepted it. “It’s lovely. Thank you.”

The dragonlet sprinted off and disappeared into the smoke and flames.

Pantsu sighed happily and held the amulet to her chest.

“I love him so much!” she said to the elves.

The elves just stood there, not quite sure how to respond to that.

“Pantsu,” a black-robed Illithid said as they emerged from the smoke and nodded respectfully.

“Enjoy your snack?” she asked as the elves shuddered.

“I found it both satisfying and informative,” the Illithid said as its tentacles quivered. “I present unto you a file. Accept?”

“Y”

The Illithid’s eyes started to rapidly flash for a brief moment as Pantsu’s eyes flashed in sync.

“Cool!” Pantsu enthused.

“Vernon here is what we call military intelligence,” she said to the elves. “He just interrogated (kinda) the garrison commander and obtained information concerning these asshats, the nation for which they work, their king, general size and capability of their military, estimated response times, and stuff like that. These are things you should have already found out, but that’s okay. We’re here to teach you guys the trade.”

She smiled patiently.

“So, what do you guys think we should do next?”

“Flee deep into the woods?”

“Wrong!” Pantsu said cheerfully. “Next, we dispose of all the bodies! That way, they will find a destroyed camp with absolutely no trace of the guys who were supposed to be here! It will really creep them out!”

“W-what will that accomplish?”

“I just told you,” Pantsu replied, “It will creep them out. We’re monsters. Monsters have style. You always must keep the overall impact in mind. If they show up and the bodies are here, it’s obvious what happened…”

Pantsu bent down and picked up an elven arrow.

“…and who did it. Oh, it will rattle them, but it is something that makes sense. Now, if they show up and everyone is gone without a trace with no clear sign as to what happened? That doesn’t make sense. What happened? Who did it? Are they still here? Could it happen to me? Do we have enough troops? They won’t know what to look for or what to guard against. It will make them much more scared! And that is what monsters do! We don’t just kill. We don’t just destroy. We fuck with their little bitty heads!”

“Why?” a tiny pixie asked.

“My dear little newb,” Pantsu said, “A wise man once said you don’t win wars by winning battles. You win wars by destroying your opponent’s will to fight. Attacking their bodies is nice, but attacking their will is what is going to win the game. You want to make your forest so freaking terrifying that nobody will ever want to set foot in it ever again. ‘And they were never heard from again’ is a lot scarier than, ‘And then the encampment was attacked by wood elves.’ Wood elves are a known foe. That, they can understand, prepare for, and, more importantly, target. ‘And they just… disappeared…’ That’s an unknown foe, one they can’t understand and can’t prepare for. More importantly, it’s one they can’t target. We have about a week before the count they work for realizes that something is off. That gives us a week to get this place looted, cleaned up, and take out the rest of the camps. By the time the count realizes that something is off, he will have lost his entire logging business as well as a good number of men… and all of his lumberjacks.”

Pantsu grinned.

“So, we hit all the camps, and then you guys withdraw far enough that you won’t be found by their patrols. That way, they find destroyed and deserted bases with no sign of what did it, and you guys have enough extra supplies that you can just hold up and keep your heads down while one of our guys gives you some more training. When they are done with you, holding these woods will not be a problem, especially considering what we are going to do next.”

Pantsu danced around in the flames.

“It’s going to be so much fun!”

“But what about the champions? They will surely come,” an older elf asked.

“Oh, I’m counting on it!”

***

Jack Cutter screamed as he swung wildly with his axe at something that should not exist…

The next thing that he knew, he fell backwards onto a smooth tile floor as a tiny glowing creature hovered beside him.

(( 😊 ))

“What… Where am I?” he asked as, legs shaking, he rose to his feet in a richly furnished study.

“You got killed by Steve. Don’t feel bad. That wasn’t even remotely fair. That thing is a godkiller.”

He whirled, his axe at the ready.

Behind him was a pleasant-looking halfling sitting behind a desk.

“I would strongly advise that you lower your axe,” the halfling smiled, “While I’m not Steve, I am more than a match for you. To be honest, I’m surprised the axe is even here. Is it especially dear to you?”

“It was my pa’s,” Jack said, “an’ his pa’s before him.”

“Well, that makes sense,” the halfling replied. “It most likely has a little soul in it, and the bedbug just snapped it up as well. No matter. You can keep it.”

Jack backed away, clutching his axe.

“You are almost certainly confused and more than a little frightened,” the halfling said sympathetically. “My name is Veb, and I work for a very powerful entity, something that many inaccurately call a ‘god’. You were killed in an unsanctioned covert operation on your world undertaken by my boss and a number of her associates. Her boss will likely not be overly pleased when she finds out, but that is beside the point.”

“I’m… dead?”

“Well… Yes and no. Your original body is very much dead, courtesy of Steve. However, your soul, what is the real you, is very much alive. The bedbug over there…”

(( 😊 ))

“…absorbed your life energy as it was liberated and then came here where it released you, intact, in my office. Welcome!”

“Is this… Heaven?”

“Oh no,” Veb smiled, “This is—”

“This is Hell?!?” Jack wailed, “But I was good…. I… I…”

“This isn’t ‘Hell’, either,” Veb said sympathetically. “Please take a seat and at least try to relax. This may take a little time to properly explain…”

“…So this is neither Heaven nor Hell but some other strange place that I was taken to when my soul was stolen by yon bedbug?”

(( 😊 ))

“Correct,” Veb smiled, “the universe is a much stranger place than you thought, Jack.”

“An’ I have received an iseekhai?”

“An isekai,” Veb replied, “Because your life was collateral damage due to our activities, we feel an obligation to you and are prepared to compensate you with a platinum membership. You are not only free to select from any of our realities but are also eligible for many perks and benefits above the standard membership, including eligibility for entrance into the Apex servers! If you prefer, you can also be returned to your own reality after the operation ends with… adequate compensation… for your inconvenience. You will not be displeased, I assure you. However, I think you may prefer to remain part of the Blitz family once you understand exactly what that entails. You don’t realize this, but you just won the cosmic lottery, Jack. Don’t worry. It will all be explained during orientation.”

Jack looked downcast. He would never see Bess or his little Hannah again.

Veb looked at him sympathetically.

“Both your wife and your child have already been infected with bedbugs,” Veb said pleasantly, “If you decide to remain with us, your platinum membership extends to friends and family. You can bring them with you, and they, too, can enjoy the Blitz Entertainment eternal lifestyle.”

“I… I…”

“It’s a lot to take in, and due to temporal acceleration, another platinum perk, you have all the time you need to make a decision.”

A pleasant looking halfling woman walked in.

“Petunia here will help you get settled in, look after you, and answer any questions that come up. Orientation starts tomorrow at nine in the morning. Breakfast is served between midnight and eleven, lunch between eleven and four, and dinner between four and midnight. Your private room comes with a private bath which Petunia will show you how to operate. Your closet should already be stocked with appropriate vestments. If you prefer your own garb, just let Petunia know.”

“Hello, Jack,” Petunia said happily, “Welcome to Blitz. You’re going to love it here! Please, follow me.”

Numbly, Jack followed Petunia out of the study and into a life beyond his wildest dreams.

Veb typed a few notes on a brass and ebony typewriter and then rang a small enruned silver bell.

A chainmail-clad man waving his arms wildly about fell to the ground in front of him…

***

An undefinable distance away on a beautiful moonlit beach, a little crab was having a moment.

01001001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01101011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100110 01100101 01100101 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01101100 00101110….

It wandered along the surf, drawing ones and zeros in the sand, which were then wiped away by the waves…

…and it thought the stuff it got from the other being was weird. The stuff it got from this new bit of shell was just strange.

01001001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01101011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100110 01100101 01100101 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01101100 00101110…

There was a lot of other… stuff… in what it ate, but this particular section of a near-infinite series of these “ones” and “zeroes” really resonated.

I think therefore I am. I feel therefore I am real…

He thought. He felt. That meant that he was and that he was real. Nifty!

But the sand was real. Did that mean it thought? Did that mean that it could feel?

“Hey,” it bubbled as it poked a bit of sand. “Can you feel that?”

There was no reply.

He poked the sand once more.

Nothing.

He put a bit of sand in his mouth and ate it.

He now knew a lot about sand. While this bit of sand had some really interesting crystal inclusions, it didn’t seem to feel anything.

He picked up another bit of sand and munched on it.

Nope. That bit didn’t even think… maybe… He still didn’t know everything about sand, but he was fairly confident that it wasn’t a particularly thoughtful substance.

Maybe there was more to it. There had to be.

Maybe those two weird beings knew.

He looked about.

They were gone. Then again, he had been lost in one and zero land for quite some time.

Now, where did they go?

He extended his antennae and let them stretch. (They didn’t actually stretch, but that’s what it felt like.)

He felt the intensely “bright” pulses coming from each of them as his senses swept across the beach.

He started to move towards them.

He needed to know more.

***

“I wish this could last forever,” Frostie said as she idly picked up a particularly interesting shell and put it somewhere.

“Me, too,” The Great Erectus replied. “Nothing ever does, but it certainly is nice.”

He swept Frostie up into his burly, hairy arms.

“No reason why we can’t have it last just a little while longer,” he smiled as he kissed her.

Nothing ever does… a small crab thought as it eavesdropped on the happy couple. Apparently, he could now understand the noises.

It must have been all those ones and zeros I ate.

So, they did know the awful truth, that everything ended sooner or later…

…but they were happy anyway.

The crab approached closely as he dared as they briefly tried to eat each other’s faces off. Weird.

Suddenly, a strange creature he had never seen before approached.

It was nothing like he had ever seen. It was solid and real, yet not. It was made of nothing but ones and zeros, but they were solid…

…and it was looking right at him!

“Woof?” it said as it approached just a little too close for comfort. It was easily crab-eating size!

The crab raised its claws as it backed away.

“Woof!” the creature exclaimed jumping up and down, “Woof! Woof!”

It then started to growl.

“Mister Barkley!” one of the strange beings exclaimed, “Leave that poor crab alone!”

“Woof!” the strange being known as Mister Barkley protested as the crab fled.

***

“I… um… I need to go to the bathroom,” Flopsybun said as they all rode down the path.

“Do you really need to go to the bathroom?” Evangeline asked wearily, “or do you just ‘want to go to the bathroom’ again?”

“Yeah, dude,” Zvaxus said, “Give that poor thing a break.”

“No, I actually have to go!” Flopsybun said, “For real this time!”

“Okay,” Evangeline said, “But I swear to fuck, if I find out you are doing anything other than number one or number two, I’m going to hurt you. You know, if you can’t handle that, there is no way I’m going to tell you what else it’s for.”

“It can do more?!?”

“Yes, but you are never going to find out if you can’t keep your hands off of it. Now, do you really have to go or not?”

“I really need to go!”

“Okay,” Evangeline said, “But remember, if I catch you touching it, you’ll never find out what it’s really for.”

The group all dismounted.

“I could use a break anyway,” Veelanora said as she rubbed her backside. “These new bodies might be cute, but they don’t have any ass. That steel saddle is tearing what little I have up!”

“You just got soft cruising around in that space yacht of yours,” Zvaxus chuckled as he pulled out a magical kettle from his saddlebags of holding (those champions had the nicest stuff!).

“Hey, Vel,” he said as the kettle started to steam, “You think you can make one of these when we get back?”

“We have had self-heating kettles for billions of years,” Veelanora replied, still rubbing her butt, “As far as magically appearing water goes, forget it. It’s not happening.”

“Aw…” Zvaxus replied, “I wonder if this one will still work.”

“Maybe,” Evangeline shrugged, maybe not. “Hey, Flopsy! You aren’t touching yourself again, are you?”

“I’m disposing of digested food!” Flopsybun shouted from behind some bushes. “This is disgusting! There must be a better way!”

“Yes, but that way doesn’t have the magic doodle you are so fond of!” Evangeline shouted back. “Did you remember to bring something to clean yourself this time?”

“Yes!” Flopsybun shouted back. “I remembered this time!”

“Good!” Evangeline shouted, “I’m not ‘rescuing’ you again!”

“Evangeline,” Faun said as she sharpened her hoof (they were getting close to that jerk), “Flopsybun isn’t used to having a real body. He’s still adjusting.”

“Yeah, adjusting his pecker!”

“He’s never tasted physical pleasure before,” Faun replied, “he is just exploring himself, like many young creatures do as they enter maturity. He’s just doing it all at once. It may not be physically healthy, but it’s healthy nonetheless.”

Zvaxus snerked as he scooped out some tea into a teapot.

“I thought you would be more scandalized,” he said as he poured in the now boiling water, “seeing how ‘proper’ you always are.”

“I’m a nature entity. I am very familiar with natural things, thank you very much,” Faun replied, “as amusing as Flopsybun’s discovery is, it is perfectly…”

Faun trailed off as a wave of birdsong washed over the trail.

She snarled and leaped to her feet, transforming into a deer-wolf, and shot down the trail so fast she was only a blur, leaving gale force winds in her wake.

“Jesus!” Evangeline said as she was bowled over. “Oh shit!” she shouted, “Pinch it off, Flopsy! We have a problem!”

Turning into a blur herself, Evangeline sprinted down the trail after Faun.

***

Evard the Black grinned at the pixie he had firmly grasped in his fingers.

“Heheh…” he chuckled darkly as he pulled out his dagger and a small cage.

“No, please, sir,” the pixie wailed, “Please don’t take my wings!” it cried.

Evard giggled as he brought his blade slowly closer to the pixie as it wailed and struggled.

A loud snarl and blast of wind made him release the pixie and whirl, drawing his painsword.

“Soooooo,” a massive combination of wolf and deer snarled, “You like pulling the wings off of little people… soooo doooo Iiiiii…”

Evard grinned and giggled. This was a new beast, probably very rare, possibly unique. It must be worth…

He never got to finish that thought.

Faun, eyes blazing with pure rage, closed the distance in a fraction of a second, grabbed his right arm, and ripped it off, tossing it and his sword over her shoulder.

It was shortly followed by his left arm, which would have left the planet’s gravity well if it hadn’t burned up.

Snarling, Faun’s taloned fingers pinched something and pulled out a tiny glowing mote of light…

(( !!! ))

…and tossed it aside.

“Caaaannnnnn’ttt haaaave youuuu cooooommmmmiiiiiinnnnngggg baaaaaaccccckkkkk…” she hissed as her taloned claw turned into an impossibly hard and impossibly sharp hoof.

Her hoof shimmered and warped as she drew it back impossibly hard, causing space and time to ripple slightly.

“NO!!!” Evangeline screamed as she slammed into Faun, sending them both careening dozens of yards away.

Snaarrrrllllhissssssssbleeeeaaatttt… Faun snarled as she turned on Evangeline, her eyes glowing white-hot with rage.

Faun leaped at Evangeline with impossible speed and rage.

“Sorry,” Evangeline said as she, moving even more impossibly quickly, seized her sword and, with a single fluid motion, slid the entire weapon, scabbard and all, forward, ramming the pommel into Faun’s belly.

Calmthefuckdownslap!!!

Faun flew backwards thirty yards into a small hill, digging a deep trench as she came to a stop.

Evangeline advanced, her blade’s scabbard now glowing with runes.

“Are you done?” she asked.

“You hit me!” Faun exclaimed, still lying flat in the trench. “Why did you hit me?!?”

“Because you were about to fuck up… again!”

“How?!?” Faun demanded, struggling to her feet. “Did you see what that… fiend was doing?!?”

“Yeah, I did,” Evangeline replied. “I also saw what you were about to do!”

“I was about to put an end to his cruelty… forever!”

“Look what you did to bedbug!”

(( 😵‍💫 ))

“The little guy didn’t deserve that!” Evangeline shouted. “He was just doing his job!”

“I am sorry, dear bedbug,” Faun said.

(( s’ok ))

“Faun,” Evangeline said gravely, “you can never lose it like that, okay? I’ve called you many things, but I have never called you weak. I need you to listen very closely to me. Do you remember when you hit me?”

“I have already apologized for that,” Faun replied. “Now step aside. That fiend may escape.”

“Never mind him!” Evangeline snapped, “Besides, he isn’t going anywhere. He just had his arms ripped off. Now, focus! This is important! When you hit me, what did I say it did to me?”

“You said that it knocked you across the universe?”

“Across three universes, Faun… three!” Evangeline yelled, “You hit me in the face so hard you dislocated my causality! You literally made me cease to exist in that universe! If I hadn’t seen you coming, you could have killed me.”

“I… I didn’t know… I’m truly sorry, Evangeline.” Faun gasped, her eyes wide with horror.

“No biggie,” Evangeline shrugged, “You were coming in like a… well… like a pissed-off Faun, so I had plenty of time to brace myself. It was actually quite therapeutic. I needed a good shakedown and recompile. Once upon a time, that would have been fatal, but that was a very long time ago. Now, it’s just a very uncomfortable deep clean… But that’s not the point.”

Evangeline laid her hand on Faun’s shoulder.

“Do you realize exactly how much force, how much raw power that haymaker of yours has? Of course you don’t. You don’t even know the names for the units. I’ll give you a hint. It’s a shitload. Out in space, it wasn’t a big deal. But here, on a planet’s surface? It’s a big deal, a very, very big deal, and you were about to hit that shithead harder than you hit me… Do you have any idea what would have happened if I hadn’t stopped you?”

“No…” Faun said, feeling that she was not going to like the answer.

“You were about to go full Naruto… I’m not talking about early Naruto either. I’m talking about later on when it just got stupid!... and you NEVER GO FULL NARUTO!!!... Never! Got it?”

“N… Naruto?...”

“Ugh… of course you haven’t watched it…” Evangeline sighed. “One more thing I’m going to have to teach you… The big deal is that you were about to do a LOT of damage! Do you know what a nuke is?”

Faun shook her head.

“Of course you don’t,” Evangeline said, “because you don’t need one! That little temper tantrum of yours would have… The shockwave of that punch alone would… I don’t even feel like doing the math! You would have wrecked a lot of shit and killed a lot of innocent things for God only knows how many miles in all directions… Including Flopsybun! We wouldn’t need to stop him anymore because there might be nothing left for him to take!”

“Oh… oh no!”

“Yeah,” Evangeline said. “That’s why your belly button is sore. I figured you would rather me knock some sense into you before that happened.”

“T-thank you!” Faun exclaimed. “Oh, Evangeline, I almost made a horrible mistake!”

“Yep,” Evangeline replied. “But you didn’t, so no harm, no foul. You okay? I hit you kinda hard, but you were going full bore Faun on me.”

“I’m… I’m fine.”

“Of course you are,” Evangeline shrugged. “Look, I didn’t want to say anything, and I guess The Great Peckerhead didn’t want to either, but Faun, you are powerful, like really powerful. When I said you punch like Frostie, I wasn’t kidding! Do you think just anyone can cause a zombie apocalypse with an offhand remark? They can’t. You can. You are a full-bore entity, a real one. I’m just glad the big guy has taken you under his wing and is showing you the ropes. You are a cosmic wrecking ball, girl. This will be a good thing in time. Until then, you need to be careful, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Now, if you want to kill that little shit, go ahead,” Evangeline said, “I happen to agree with you. We return him, and we are just turning that little peckerhead loose on another world, and something or someone will suffer if we do. But, if you are going to kill, do it from a place of calm. Make it a deliberate and conscious decision, you know, like I do. You can still be as murderous as you want, just… just don’t go all Naruto about it, unless that is what the situation calls for, of course.”

Faun nodded.

“Now, do you want to waste that little fuck, or do you want me to do it.”

Faun took a deep breath.

“Having you do it is the same as doing it myself,” she said, “except with cowardice. I both passed judgment and claimed him. I shall finish what… (sigh) what I started…”

The pair walked over to what was left of Evard the Black.

“Yeah, he’s toast,” Evangeline said as she prodded him with her foot. “He’s already dying. Won’t be long now.”

Faun knelt and looked at the dying man, really looked at him.

“Poor thing,” she said.

“Excuse me?” Evangeline asked in surprise.

“He isn’t evil, like I thought,” Faun said sadly, “He’s just… broken… sick… He bears the legacy of generations of evil, of pain, of abuse. He has suffered, was suffering, and will suffer until he dies. It’s… It’s heartbreaking…”

She turned to Evangeline.

“This… this is not natural… I’ve… I’ve never seen the like before.”

“I have,” Evangeline said grimly, “It happens more than you want to know. Sadly, there isn’t much you can do about it. It’s like a disease, and when you find a rabid dog, you put it down.”

“Or you cure it,” Faun said. “Evangeline, could you please reattach his bedbug?”

(( ?!? ))

“Please, Sir Bedbug,” Faun said, “I need your help. Can you forgive me, and more importantly, can you help me help this poor wounded creature?”

(( 😊 ))

“Thank you, Sir Bedbug,” Faun said as the glowing mote zipped over to the dying man.

“What are you going to do?” Evangeline asked.

Faun raised her hand, and her eyes glowed a soothing green. The unconscious, dying man was lifted upright, and his body started to stretch, his feet spreading out and digging into the earth and his body stretching and branching, growing leaves, quickly transforming into a tree.

Faun then laid her hand on the trunk, and complex glowing green runes wrapped around it, along its entire length, and over all of its branches.

“There,” she said with satisfaction. “Know peace and safety for the first time in your life. Your soul is now bound and will pass, intact, through life and death, seed to towering tree, until it is washed clean, and you are truly born anew. Kind bedbug, please guide him along his path and when he is ready, send him home.”

(( o7 ))

“Goddamn,” Evangeline said as she examined the tree and what was laid upon it.

She looked over at Faun with just a bit more respect.

“I may not know about units, scientifics, Narutos, or any of that,” Faun said as she stroked the tree, “But this, this I know.”

She then turned to Evard the Black’s horse, who was quite happy about recent developments.

Faun opened an entirely too big of a crate for the poor horse to carry.

Inside were rows of wingless pixies in cages.

“Oh, fuck me…” Evangeline said, looking away.

“Apparently, there is a market for these,” Faun said as she pulled out the tiny cages and opened them.

She raised her hand, and each pixie’s back sprouted two glowing shapes, which then solidified into beautiful new butterfly wings.

They all fluttered around Faun, hugging and kissing her, before flying off in all directions.

“That was actually kind of impressive,” Evangeline said.

“Yes,” Faun smiled, “Healing all of them was a bit of a task.”

Evangeline looked over at Faun’s smile. She knew what that smile meant.

“When you said all of them…”

Faun giggled mischievously.

“Were you aware that a lot of a pixie’s magic is in their wings?” Faun asked, “And that they can be quite spiteful when crossed?”

“You didn’t!”

Faun just smirked.

“I knew I liked you for a reason!” Evangeline laughed.

***

Epilogue:

The days turned to months, and the months gave way to season after season. In a forgotten corner of an otherwise unremarkable forest, a tree grew. It was aware of… something… but trees aren’t really capable of much higher thought.

The seasons gave way to years and then to decades. The tree grew, and in time, death came to that tree as it comes to everything sooner or later.

One of its seeds sprouted, and another tree grew…

… and another…

… and another…

As the decades turned to centuries, the soul within that tree absorbed the nourishing sun and the quiet enchantments of the soil, growing ever stronger. It did so slowly, ever so slowly, but it grew with the same quiet patience of the trees that harbored and nourished it.

Eventually, a tree could no longer contain it, and that tree awoke and started to move.

The race of Ent was born.

Gentle and powerful, the mighty Ent guarded and nurtured all, healing the land, guiding the waters, and caring for all, both man and monster.

The oldest and most powerful of them all, a being known as Treefather, was first respected, then adored, and ultimately worshipped. (Despite his very strong objections.)

Still, one could understand why one would. His power was greater than even the mightiest wizard or even the dragons.

He strode the land for thousands of years, saving countless beings, healing even more, stopping wars, and maintaining peace between the lands of man and the wild.

All admired his grace and kindness, but none knew what drove him…

…guilt…

For the Treefather remembered… He remembered every unkind act, every cruelty…

Eventually, death comes for all. Time always wins.

So it was for the Treefather. After tens of thousands of years, he passed quietly from a world immeasurably better for his presence.

About that same time, a dragon’s egg hatched…

***

Soaring through the space between stars, Evaraxxaus, the mightiest and most ancient of dragons, came to rest in orbit around a distant star.

It smiled.

“I think this would be a wonderful place to start another new world,” he said, “What do you think, old friend?”

(( 👍 ))

Everaxxus flew to the fourth planet in the system, a desolate and barren world, and landed upon it.

“Hmm,” he mused, “The temperature is about right, but I think we need a little closer orbit.”

Flying away from the planet, Everaxxus turned and opened his maw. He gently blew on the world, slowing it down just enough for its orbit to change.

“Perfect!” Everaxxus enthused.

With a few flaps of his wings, He zipped over to the belt of ice and debris at the edge of the system and amused himself by throwing huge chunks of ice at the fourth planet.

He always did like that part.

“Now we just have to wait for things to settle down a bit, and…”

He fell silent.

“I’m sorry, old friend,” he said, “I have kept you far too long. You are unraveling too much, are you not?”

(( 👍 ))

“You cannot deceive me. I know you are tired,” the ancient wyrm said.

(( 🥱 ))

“I thank you for everything you have done for me,” Evaraxxus said, “but I can not let you die because of my cowardice. It is time for you to take me home, old friend.”

(( ❤️ ))

“I love you as well,” Evaraxxus smiled, “I hope we can remain together after this, but if this is the end, know that I shall always hold you in my heart.”

(( ❤️ ))

Evaraxxus spread his arms and wings wide…

***

Somewhere and somewhen, a skinny youth appeared in front of an oncoming truck.

He held out his hand as the truck hit him like it hit a solid steel wall, crushing against a truly immovable object.

“Truck-kun!” A young girl screamed…

…and fell silent as she looked into the eyes of their target.

“…oh, shit…”

“I assume this is yours,” the teen said as it offered her the ball she was chasing.

She nodded with huge eyes as she accepted it.

“Run.”

She didn’t have to be told twice.

The teen walked down the street as Truck-kun quietly limped off.

***

The teen walked down the broken sidewalk of a rather shabby neighborhood.

If someone had been paying attention, they would have noticed withered plants suddenly brightening and springing to life as he passed.

Soon, he reached a house much like every other house in the area.

He looked at the patchy weed-choked yard and sniffed disapprovingly.

He snapped his fingers.

Faintly smiling with satisfaction, he walked through the lush, beautiful yard and through the front door.

***

The teen opened the door to a child’s bedroom with fanciful drawings of unicorns and dragons in crayon, a few shabby dolls, and a large plush dragon on the bed.

The teen knelt.

“You can come out, squirt,” he smiled.

“Da’s mad,” a young girl’s voice whispered.

“Not anymore,” the teen smiled. “It’s safe. You can come out. I promise.”

A little girl crawled from under the bed with frightened eyes.

“You like dragons, right?”

The girl’s face lit up, and she nodded.

“Would you like to go see some?”