The time for explanations has come as we find out just what is going on in this world.

Two illustrations are included in the PDF for this chapter. One is by  oddeyresproductions and there is another by  acidic.

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Chapter 15

Vel waited patiently along with Masumi. The kirin had taken a seat in a very luxurious chair while he had been placed on a table right next to the chair. Vel kept his distance from Masumi as the giant impatiently tapped a finger against the table. That was causing the table to shake more than he was comfortable with. Vel was not sure if the kirin would have stopped his tapping if he happened to get too close, and a finger of that size could have crushed him like a bug.

Now that all he could do was wait and think. Vel rushed to ask a question before Masumi could answer the question before he asked it, “Why do you hate me so much? My people have never even encountered yours before.”

“It’s nothing against you personally,” Masumi said as if he were lecturing Vel, “All the sapient herbivores that have been absorbed into my world used to be the rulers of their own worlds. Their intelligence allowed them to conquer creatures that had once preyed on them, and many even exterminated their former predators. And then, they get here and find predators just as smart as they are but are far stronger than them, seeming almost supernaturally so.”

“It’s like they found themselves in a world of monsters,” Vel said quietly, “But, surely the carnivores had things to prey on from their own worlds.”

“Oh, they did, but that did not stop them from preying on us too.”

“Couldn’t they have been convinced not to after all this time? I’ve been in the company of the gnolls for a few days, and as terrifying as they can be, they’ve also shown themselves to have a sense of honor. There were times when they even came off as sweet, in their own way,” Vel said.

“That might have been possible in the past, but that chance has long passed.”

“What happened?”

Masumi snorted, “Those damned Djallowuo cultists happened. They created a magical plague with the intention of wiping out the carnivore’s food supply.”

“If something like that is possible, why didn’t they try to kill the carnivores instead?”

A sardonic smile crossed Masumi’s face, “For the same reason they don’t just teleport all the carnivores into a volcano. There are some spells that can be resisted with the force of will alone, which any sapient being could do. The spell the cultists created was a brute force thing meant to target anything over a certain size. It did drive the creatures that the carnivores preyed on into extinction, as well as any feral carnivores that could be a serious threat to beings of a proper size.”

“But didn’t other things they could prey on appear when other worlds converged,” Vel asked.

“That plague is still active to this day,” Masumi explained, “Actually, if I or anyone of a more proper size than yourself were to lose the will to live, we would get sick and die just like those beasts.”

“Did they actually think they could starve the carnivores like that,” Vel asked incredulously, “That would have left you people as the only food around for them, besides other carnivores.”

Masumi laughed bitterly, “They thought we could hold out in fortified cities, and they assumed the carnivores were little more than wild savages who would turn on each other in an instant. Well, savages they may be, but they were more than capable of forming alliances. Though we far outnumber predators, as you said, they are practically monsters. They did manage to bloody the carnivores a bit, but, in the end, they smashed the walls of any cities that dared to keep them from a meal, and the rulers of said cities were the first on the menu.”

“How could they have underestimated the carnivores that badly?”

“What profession do most of your people practice,” Masumi asked instead of answering Vel’s question.

He was unsure where the kirin was going with that question, but he went along and answered, “At a guess, I’d probably say most people are like me, farmers.”

“As most herbivores are gatherers,” Masumi stated, “And most carnivores are hunters, which meant they were the ones most herbivores had contact with.”

“And?”

Masumi continued, “I assume you have soldiers, warriors.”

“Yes.”

“So do they,” Masumi explained, “They had mostly been used to fight each other over rights to…hunting grounds. That cockamamy Djallowuo plan resulted in those warriors getting turned in mass against herbivores for the first time. Their hunters were already monsters compared to us, but their warriors were monsters among monsters. Our ancestors were completely unprepared for an onslaught from such creatures, even though my own ancestors faired much better due to our mastery of magic. Those, how did you put it, sweet gnolls you’ve been traveling with are that same breed of monsters among monsters, by the way.”

Vel took a moment to think about that. He had thought things were bad for humans since they were bugs among giants. But these herbivores were the only things large enough for the carnivores to live off. To them, this was a nightmare of a world they could not wake up from while Vel had managed to negotiate the protection of his people from what were supposedly some of the most terrifying monsters in that nightmare. Then Vel ventured to ask, “And why do you hate me, hate humans? It’s not like I’m a serious danger to something of your size.”

“After all this time, we, and I mean all herbivores, now have a general hatred for anything that eats meat,” Masumi said dismissively, “That includes omnivores like yourself, even if I could crush you beneath my thumb. That is very tempting to do, by the way. Even the fact that you sound like you managed to get along with predators like those gnolls is somewhat infuriating.”

Masumi looked like he was about to continue when a look of annoyance crossed his face. He rolled his eyes, saying, “I can’t believe he’s going to put on a show to impress such a tiny creature.”

Vel was startled when he heard another voice entering the room, “There’s nothing wrong with a bit of theatrics for my guests. And it wouldn’t hurt you to at least fake being kinder to the human.”

Vel looked over to see one of the more serpent-like dragons, like he had seen at the city’s gates. While he looked far from old, something made him think this azure-scaled creature was far more ancient than the dragons at the gates. His antler-like horns were larger and more ornate, the twin tendrils coming from the top of his snout were longer, and he had a larger but very well-kept mane. Like Masumi, he was so finely dressed that Vel could only guess at how much of a fortune the outfit must have cost.

Like all of the titans, his size alone was more than enough to impress, but this azure dragon had another amazing feat on display. The dragon’s paws were not touching the ground as he floated into the room, his long tail swaying gently behind him as he did so. Considering he was not a winged dragon, this trick was even more impressive to Vel.

Masumi seemed totally unimpressed as he said, “Oh, cut that out, Lanzui. I’ll bet that little act is exhausting, and all for a savage that’s not even the size of most of your claws.”

The dragon, Lanzui, did settle down on his paws, but he did so with an amused smile on his long face, “As gruff as ever, I see, honored Masumi.”

“Having to wait for a bunch of ancient fossils that think they have all the time in the world to sleep away can do that to me,” Masumi replied grouchily.

“Says the 1,900-year-old kirin,” Lanzui chuckled. The kirin snorted as Vel turned to marvel at the kirin. Was it even possible that something could live that long? The kirin did not even seem to react to that information. Living that long did not even seem worthy of note to him.

Vel’s attention was quickly drawn back to Lanzui. Now that he was walking, the sound of his heavy paws thumping toward him was very clear. His movements were very elegant and graceful, but something of his size could only move but so quietly. Lanzui’s clothing made him look somewhat slender, but he saw a very powerfully built figure from what parts of him were exposed. He even might have been slightly larger than Iah. This was no creature to be taken lightly.

Lanzui stopped just short of the table Vel was standing on and then got down on one knee. Even then, he still towered over Vel on the table, but they were much closer to eye level, which seemed to be the purpose of the act. The dragon smiled down at him as he dipped his head respectfully before saying, “As my jolly companion has already mentioned, I am Lanzui.”

Lanzui was interrupted by an annoyed harumph from Masumi before he continued, “I know this must all be a lot for you, especially for one so small. But I can assure you this is all for the better. If the Splithallow clan had delivered you to me and my other partner, your death would have been part of an ongoing disaster. Now, it will have a greater purpose to it.”

Vel blinked in confusion as he took in what the dragon had just said to him, “Wait, you hired Iah? Then why have someone else kidnap me?”

Lanzui had a look of amusement mixed with something more like annoyance as he answered, “My partner would not have believed the story I had to tell him and would have insisted you be turned into mana powder.”

“Why wouldn’t he have believed you? And what do you plan on doing with me?”

Masumi answered the first question, “His partner wouldn’t believe anything coming from a kirin.”

“That’s correct,” Lanzui nodded in Masumi’s direction, “As for our plans…”

The dragon was interrupted by yet another newcomer to the room from a side door, “We’re going to decide who gets to eat you. Don’t worry, you are included in that ‘we.’”

The new speaker looked like a fox to Vel’s eyes, except for the nine long tails flowing behind her. Her fur was dark as midnight for the most part. All of the tails, as well as the ends of her arms and legs, had blood-red fur. Her face was also covered in such an ornate pattern of red fur that Vel had difficulty believing it looked that way naturally. To him, it looked more like a tattoo.

Like the others, she wore a highly ornate outfit that was probably worth a kingdom’s ransom. Considering her size, that might have been literally true. There was something different about the cut of her outfit than the others, though. It was hard to tell for Vel, not being accustomed to such a highborn style, but it felt like it was meant to…appeal to the eye. Vel did not want to say anything about that. For all he knew, this could just be a style, and saying something like that could anger the creature.

“You’re really trying to seduce the human, Oshiko,” Masumi said incredulously. That answered Vel’s question about her dress.

Oshiko smiled in amusement, “I’m just letting him know he can be a part of something beautiful.”

While they were talking, Vel also thought about what the nine-tailed fox had just said upon her entrance and looked around at all three titans before saying, “Wait, one of you are planning on eating me? I thought I was valued because mana powder could be made from me. Am I some sort of delicacy now?”

The question only seemed to amuse Oshiko, while Lanzui looked more awkward, and Masumi looked like he could not care less. They were about to respond when they heard metal clashing on metal from outside the main doors to the room. To Vel, it was a very intimidating sound. This was not the sound of normal swords clashing, but the sound of huge pieces of metal that could destroy the largest buildings Vel had ever seen, at least before coming to this world of titans, with a single swipe. They all turned to look at the noise, and Vel asked, “What’s that?”

“Probably our last compatriot,” Oshiko said sourly.

Just a moment later, a trio of unicorns burst into the room. Two males, one blue and one brown, flanked a smaller snow-white female. All of them were wearing gleaming heavy armor that reminded Vel more of what he pictured a noble eques to look like. The only thing that ruined the pristine image were flecks of blood across their armor. It probably was not much by the standards of titans, but to Vel, it was a hideous amount of blood, far more so than any human body could have contained. The armor made them look bigger and more intimidating than they really were. Even the two males were only around Oshiko’s size, and the female was even shorter, making Lanzui the tallest person in the room by almost a head. Still, they were the most threatening presence in the room right now to Vel, especially given the way they looked at him, Lanzui, or Oshiko.

There was a veritable horde of titan herbivores right behind them, but Masumi recited a spell almost right away. This had not surprised him that much. The unicorns looked ready for an attack, but when he finished, all that happened was that the doors sealed shut behind them. Pounding could be heard on the doors as the others tried to get in the room. With their reinforcements cut off, the unicorns looked a little annoyed. However, the female unicorn soon recovered and strode forward with a look of self-righteous confidence. She said, “Starting without me, I see. Can’t say I’m surprised that a couple of carnivores would stab me in the back like that. I expected more out of you though, Masumi. Where are Deja and Arnkell?”

“The phoenix and the griffons already managed to capture their gifted humans and have more than likely converted them into mana powder already, as was agreed upon,” Lanzui said, a hint of anger creeping into his voice, “They were lucky this convergence. Several portals near settlements with gifted humans were located especially close to where their trackers already were.”

“How fortunate for them,” the unicorn said sarcastically.

“Based on this assault on my property, I’m guessing you were not as successful in your acquisitions, Lunaria,” Lanzui stated flatly.

Lunaria snorted in disgust, “The little vermin managed to get themselves killed by those vermin of yours. The convergence has barely even begun, and they’ve already started spreading like a plague across yet another world.”

Oshiko had come to sit next to the table Vel was on, and she rested her massive head on her arms atop said table right next to him. She seemed relaxed, but it did seem like she had positioned herself to defend him if need be. Still, she sounded unconcerned as she said, “And now you are trying to take the human set aside for us.”

Lunaria cast an accusing glance at Masumi as she said, “Odd that my retrieval teams managed to arrive too late for all three gifted humans despite the guidance from your predictions.”

Masumi returned her gaze with complete indifference, “Yes, odd that.”

Vel was getting tired of being confused by this whole conversation and finally spoke up, “What’s going on? Were you all working together?”

The unicorn looked outraged that Vel had even spoken up. He would not have been surprised if she stormed over to swat him like a bug that very second. Indeed, she did start to walk in his direction before Lanzui imposed his formidable form between them. Then he said, “Calm down, Lunaria. A tiny savage he may be, but he still deserves to know what is going on.”

“That he does,” Masumi said matter-of-factly, “We just need one more person to show up before explanations are in order.”

Everyone turned to look at the kirin questioningly before they all realized something. For all the time they had been talking, there had been pounding at the main door to the room. However, things had suddenly gone silent. Then the doors burst open and the scene outside was something Vel would never forget. It was a bloody nightmare out there. The group of herbivores that had been standing outside the door all lay dead, many of them in multiple pieces, with more blood decorating the hallway than Vel would have thought possible.

Despite the scene’s horror, Vel was relieved to see the cause of that nightmare. Where once the herbivores had stood was now a group of gnolls led by Iah. Seeing them right then, splattered in more blood than a city of humans could have produced, it was easy to see why they were viewed the way they were by the herbivores of Patch.

Iah rushed into the room, her clan trying to follow behind her as the male unicorns began reciting spells that sounded close to the one Masumi had cast earlier. Once again, the doors swung shut just behind Iah, preventing the rest of her clan from entering the room. Iah appeared to take note of that, but her eye stayed focused on everyone in the room, quickly taking in the situation.

She was moving frighteningly fast for something of her size. After spotting Vel, she looked over at Masumi and her arm twitched in a way that made Vel think she was about to throw one of her axes right into the kirin. Then she seemed to think differently, and Vel heard the kirin let out a breath he had not known the kirin was holding. He thought back to the cane he had put his scent on at Masumi’s insistence and to Iah’s reaction now. He wondered if the kirin would be dead right now if he had not done that, and he wondered how such a small act could have a consequence like this.

“Are you alright, Vel,” Iah asked instead of attacking, still looking like she was ready to attack anyone in the room at any moment.

“I’m fine. Just wondering what’s going on here.”

“As am I,” Iah said, sounding a little relieved before turning to the dragon and sounding far sterner as she asked, “Would you care to offer us an explanation, Lanzui?”

“You don’t deserve an explanation about anything,” Lunaria shot at Iah.

Iah looked about, ready to pounce on the unicorn, and the trio was preparing to cast spells. Then Lanzui interrupted, “I would respectfully ask that you all not try to make any more of a mess of my property.”

“And I would respectfully ask that you quickly tell me what is going on,” Iah growled, sounding far more ominous than Vel had ever heard, “Or do I need to ask your partner when I get out of here?”

“That would be a bigger disaster than you realize, Iah,” Lanzui said placatingly.

Iah asked, “And why is that?”

The unicorns looked impatient and about as ready to fight as Iah looked to be. This all seemed amusing to the nine-tailed fox as she chuckled right next to Vel, “Lunaria, you do realize that this is going to be the three of you versus the three of us plus a renowned mercenary. I like our odds right now.”

This only made the unicorns more tense, which was quite worrying for Vel. He was used to riding out these fights between titans while somewhat secure beneath Iah’s armor. Now, he was standing on top of a table that seemed all too flimsy in the presence of such massive beings. Then Masumi finally spoke up, “You really should let everyone speak Lunaria. Perhaps the sides aren’t as clear as everyone believes.”

That was able to get a raised eyebrow from Oshiko, but she remained silent while a suspicious Lunaria said, “Very well. It’s not like anything said could weaken my position anymore.”

Lanzui nodded in acknowledgment to the unicorns before turning to a still very aggressive Iah and asked, “Matriarch, are you aware of what causes a convergence? Why this world degrades and is rejuvenated after it happens?”

Iah’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, “It’s a natural occurrence as far as anyone has been able to figure out.”

Lunaria snorted in derision while Oshiko shushed her, “Now, now, you can’t blame the primitives for believing that. All our people have worked hard to ensure the truth doesn’t become widely known.”

“What does she mean by that, Lanzui,” asked Iah.

Up until that point, the dragon had been looking as composed as could be, but that composure faltered for just a moment as he said, “Iah, when we extract the mana powder from the gifted, like little Vel here, there are…side effects that have not been made known to those outside the elder races.”

This seemed to get Iah’s attention, and she looked away from the unicorns for the first time to turn an angry gaze toward the dragon, “What side effects?”

Lunaria responded to that, sounding derisive as she said, “Mana isn’t just used for magic. It’s the very thing that sustains creation itself. When we extract it from the gifted, we are taking a little bit of the force that keeps creation going. When nothing is left, this world converges with another, where the gifted are still strong, to prevent the destruction of everything.”

Vel was unsure how Iah took that news as her eye twitched and eventually came to rest on him. There was a mixture of confusion, anger, and possibly even an apologetic look there. She was too stunned to say anything, and it was up to Vel to ask, “You’ve known that all along, and you’ve been doing this anyway? Why?”

Oshiko shrugged and said, “Because there were always more worlds to exploit, and we had conflicts to fight, lesser races to keep in line. No offense intended, Matriarch Splithallow.”

Iah had managed to compose herself once more and asked, “And what’s changed now? Why are so many elder races concerned enough about one gifted person to tell us all this?”

“The humans are what changed,” Masumi sighed, “A race far smaller than any others, a race that all our prophecies ended with.”

“What do you mean by that,” Vel asked.

Masumi looked straight at Vel and seemed to stare into his soul as he said, “No matter how hard the greatest prophets my race ever produced, we could not see past you because there was nothing to see past. You humans are the final gifted race left, the only race capable of sustaining all creation. If anything were to happen to your race or your gifted, that would be the end of everything.”

“What,” Iah roared, deafening Vel, and looked between Oshiko and Lanzui accusingly, “I might expect this of herbivores, but your people would allow this to happen. You know how sacred the consumption of life is, and you participated in the destruction of the gifted, knowing it would lead to this. You had others, and you had me also take part in it.”

“Yes,” Lanzui responded somberly, “But it was a necessary evil. Order had to be maintained. Or would you have preferred that such power be left only in the hands of those like the Djallowuo cultists? Do you doubt that they would have wiped out every predator and omnivore in their path if given the opportunity?”

Lunaria snorted at that statement. Iah looked more thoughtful, but Vel did not think she had calmed down. Her lips were pulled back in a snarl, and there was hatred in her eyes when she looked at everyone but Vel. After being given a moment to think, she looked around at the elder races one more time and asked them, “You can make mana powder by having the gifted simply touch the powder, and it doesn’t kill them. Why are your methods necessary? Do both ways erode creation?”

With the exception of Masumi, all of the other titans looked surprised by those questions, including the unicorns. In fact, Masumi laughed at the questions, “Of course, she figured it out. You’ve all been getting sloppy in your desperation.”

Lanzui cleared his throat and said, “No, both methods don’t cause harm, only the one that results in the destruction of the gifted. Destroying them doesn’t even get as much powder out of them over the course of a lifetime, but it does get much more all at once. The gifted are the foundations of creation, and we’ve all been chipping away at it, all for our little power games.”

“She doesn’t need to know all that,” Oshiko glared at Masumi, giving him a little warning growl.

“And what difference does it make now,” Masumi shot back, “And you need to stop lying to yourself, Lanzui. We weren’t doing this to maintain order. We did it to maintain our position of power. You and the nines are the top predators, along with the griffons and even omnivores like the phoenixes. The other predators are little more than your vassals, paying tribute that keeps you all fat and happy. As for the unicorns and my own people, most predators would not dare to touch us except for yourselves. Most herbivores would kill for the privilege of only having four possible predators.”

Lanzui and Oshiko were frowning at Masumi’s little diatribe, but their annoyance seemed to amuse Lunaria. In fact, she decided to throw more fuel on the fire by offering up some secrets herself, “Matriarch Splithallow was it? I suppose you know about the golden mana powder, too?”

Iah eyed her suspiciously, “Yes.”

“Well, let me tell you what it does. That golden powder can be used to alter the very laws of creation itself. It has been used to prevent anyone on this world from progressing any further technologically than we have now. You see, some races had mastery of technology that rivaled our power over magic, and we could not have that. So, we changed the rules, and now we are the ones who remain in power while everyone else has to bow to us.”

“That is enough,” Lanzui growled, his noble visage fading as his much more frightening predatory side came to the surface.

“What does this have to do with your plans for Vel,” Iah asked, starting to sound impatient.

Masumi suddenly sounded more somber as he said, “It’s like Lunaria said, golden mana powder can be used to alter reality itself. However, as that powder comes from the gifted, it is inherent in their nature, and the unicorns need a living gifted human.”

“For what,” Vel and Iah asked at the same time.

“They’ve been developing a plague that can work on sapient beings, one that can’t be resisted by willpower alone,” Lanzui explained, “They just need one more component, a living gifted from the race that they wish to target.”

A very puzzled Vel said, “But you said that if my people are wiped out, then all of creation would crumble.”

Lunaria sneered, “That’s the point. Try to keep up, pest. This foul creation, one where people as noble as mine, should be subject to the denigrations of meat-eating, blood-drinking abominations, is not the work of the gods. It is the creation of devils, and it deserves to be destroyed, once and for all, so we can ascend to a true paradise. “

“As much a zealot as ever,” Oshiko said mockingly before turning her gaze towards Vel. With her head still on the table right next to him, he could see his reflection even in the black eyes all these titans seemed to have, with a great red iris boring right into him. “And that is why we must protect you from these mad cultists.”

“By eating me,” Vel asked.

The fox creature’s anger and annoyance towards Masumi and Lunaria was suddenly replaced by a look of mischief, “Of course. If you were to die right now, it could take anywhere from a few hours to a few years for your gift to pass on to the next human, depending on whether or not you have any descendants on the way in the foreseeable future.”

“This is passed down through the family,” Vel asked.

“Yes, unless you don’t have any. Then the gift will select another family line,” Oshiko said.

“And what does eating me change about anything?”

Oshiko graced Vel with a predatory smile, “If one of us were to eat you, and I mean every last piece you before your gift started to fade away, then it won’t be passed on until we die. Your gift would be safe from these cultists, and all of creation would be safe from one more gifted human falling into the wrong hands.”

“Doesn’t that mean gifted people would have to sacrifice themselves to you for the rest of time, or at least as long as these cultists are still around,” Vel inquired. He had just come to this world, and now he was trying to understand the implications of how it worked. Secrets kept for untold amounts of time were being dumped on him and his head was swimming.

“Isn’t that wonderful for you,” Oshiko flashed him a sickly sweet smile, “Such a puny race as yours should have barely been brought to our attention. But circumstances have conspired to ensure at least some of your people be allowed to have a fate far above their station.”

That last comment elicited an angry growl from Iah as she asked, “Why?”

“Why what, matriarch,” Oshiko cooed.

“Why would eating him prevent his gift from getting passed on?”

Lanzui, seeing that things were not going well between Iah and Oshiko, intervened and answered that question himself, “We’ve all heard the rumors about the nine-tailed foxes eating the livers of the gifted. Well, it is true, but they were not doing it for pleasure alone. It was done as part of research into restoring the full abilities of the elder races. They were able to get partial restoration of their powers for eating parts of a still-living gifted, but in order for it to last, we would need to be able to fully devour and dissolve a gifted before they have a chance to die, which has never been possible, until now.”

“And you can do this without jeopardizing creation,” Iah asked doubtfully.

“Yes,” Lanzui nodded.

Masumi laughed derisively, “Oh, you sweet noble dragon. You truly believe in the innate honor of the elder races, and that has made you foolish.”

Lanzui flashed the kirin with an angry glare, “What do you mean by that.”

“The nines reveal the full truth about anything about as much as any of us,” Masumi said while Ohisko began to growl dangerously, “Oh, cut that out, Oshiko. I’m over 1,900 years old. Do you think I care that much about dying anymore?”

Masumi’s gaze rotated between Vel, Iah, and Lanzui as he said, “The method of the nines will chip away at creation as well, more slowly than tearing the mana out of the gifted, but it will still result in the end of all things.”

Iah’s dangerous glower shifted to Oshiko while Lanzui looked disbelieving. Oshiko was looking none too happy to have her plans exposed, while Masumi just had a smug smile. Lunaria and the other unicorns were looking tense. That was it. Everyone’s motivations had been exposed for all the others to see.

Vel did not know what to make of all this. He had somehow found himself involved in affairs so great he had never even dreamed them possible. And he was not given the chance to contemplate them for long. Oshiko had her teeth bared, and he thought she would lunge for the kirin’s throat. And indeed, she did make a lunge, but not for the kirin. No, Vel found an open maw with a giant pink tongue and fangs far larger than he was coming straight at him, warm breath already washing over him and his legs frozen in place as his mind struggled to grasp that the fox was trying to end things right there.