Once the bread basket for much of the world, demand for Iowa corn dropped precipitously after a virus that wiped out millions of head of livestock was traced back to animal feed produced from American corn. Farmers abandoned their land and soon it was reclaimed by weeds and grass. After years of the land being covered by nothing but weeds and grass, something strange started to happen. Trees started sprouting that grew very abnormally, within six months they'd reached full maturity, growth that should have taken over a decade. the forest spread rapidly and within only a few years was large enough to be seen from space. The miraculous growth of the forest attracted many curiosity seekers, some of whom remained and made homes for themselves within the forest. Those that stayed spent their days exploring as much of the forest as they could in search of the source of the miracle and found it when they discovered deep within the forest a goat with golden horns and six tails. As soon as they saw the goat they knew that it was a divine being. It had deep blue eyes that, when looked into, saw into one's soul. It also had a green glow that surrounded it, and when it walked green life burst from the ground at its feet. The inhabitants of the forest, believing that the being revealing itself to them was its way of designating them as the chosen ones, took it upon themselves to become the protectors of the forest and the goat. As a group they took on a militant disposition, they stockpiled weapons and conducted daily patrols throughout the forest aided by hunting dogs. Intruders were captured and released with the warning that if they unlawfully entered the forest again they would be killed. Outsiders could only enter the forest by going through the proper channels of presenting themselves at a designated entrance and being escorted through the forest by an armed guide. Visitors weren't allowed anywhere near the goat. The protectors of the forest had created a special secure area for the goat that was fenced in and which contained a well appointed shelter for the goat where they could offer up prayers and material offerings to it. In the goat they had discovered a god, a god which they intended to keep for themselves. In the world outside of the forest, stories about the protectors of the forest and methods they utilized were exaggerated and sensationalized. Stories about brutal prison camps within the forest, indiscriminate killing, torture and all other kinds of brutality had become common.

Robert had heard these stories and because of them was wary about going to the forest but was reassured by the goose that together they would be fine. Like everybody else, Robert was curious to know what the secret was behind the extraordinary growth of the forest and the goose's reassurance that they would be fine was enough for him to agree to the journey. They made the journey in Robert's car, the goose reasoning that Robert taking it on an airplane with him would be too much trouble. They had a long drive west ahead of them, time that Robert planned to spend extracting as much information from the goose about the Guardian they were going to see as he could.

"Why did the Oracle tell us to visit this Guardian first?" Robert asked the goose once they'd gotten onto the freeway.

"The Guardian that were going to see is the Guardian of the green. Ancient civilizations have represented him in the form of deities such as Gaia. He is the most level headed and respected of the guardians, which makes him the logical choice for us to begin with."

"You said that he was represented as Gaia by the ancient Greeks?"

"Yes."

"But Gaia was a woman, and you keep referring to this guardian as he."

"The guardians are free to assume whatever form they wish."

"So how are we going to recognize this guardian when we got there?"

"He would have reverted to his primal form, he'll be easy to spot."

"Will he be able to recognize us?"

"He'll respond to the egg, being in close proximity to it will act almost as a sort of alarm clock, waking him up."

"Then what?"

"Then we explain to him why we've sought him out and do our best to convince him to join us."

"Are we going to be able to do that?"

"If I'm left to do the talking we should be fine."

"Are you expressing a lack of confidence in me?"

"I'm expressing my concern at our chances of success which is based on my considerable experience. These beings can be incredibly difficult to persuade and if we don't persuade them to come with us and they decide to do things on their own the consequences would be catastrophic, the Egyptians found that out the hard way."

"These beings can destroy an entire civilization?"

"Yes, and civilizations today aren't far flung like they used to be, the entire world is one big civilization, so you understand the stakes that are involved here."

It had been hard for Robert not to think of everything that had transpired thus far as silly and that included the pilgrimage the goose said he must embark upon. He hoped that when they arrived in Iowa and he had the opportunity to meet the guardian there that it would allay some of the doubts that he had about the goose's claims.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, we need to make a stop on our way."

"What are we stopping for?"

"An election rally, in Pennsylvania."

"Who's rally?"

"Jim Balmer."

"The nutcase who rants and raves about how the apocalypse is going to end all life as we know it unless we elect leaders who are of true Christian faith."

"Yes, that's who we are going to see."

"But he's a whack job."

"He's also polling really strongly, a lot of Americans blame the collapse of their corn and soybean markets on divine wrath, plus I'm certain that he is in some way connected to the Raven, there's no way someone can go from being a local councilman to a presidential frontrunner in the space of three years without serious help, the kind of help I've seen others receive from the Raven."