The massacre was swift, brutal, and thorough. Within minutes, all that remained of Agra's followers were pieces. Piles of ash, charred skeletons, limbs scattered across the blood-soaked ground.
The beasts, their fury spent, their bloodlust sated, turned towards Gaya, their eyes now filled with a... reverent awe. They bowed their heads, a silent acknowledgment of her power, their goddess.
Michael, who'd been watching the carnage from above, activated his X-ray vision, his gaze sweeping over the assembled creatures. He could see it now, the energy radiating from Gaya, a faint, golden aura that pulsed and shimmered, connecting her to the beasts, influencing their actions, their very... being.
It wasn't something he'd sensed before, not with this intensity. It was a byproduct of her godhood, of her connection to the monsters of the realm. It made them stronger, more obedient, more feral.
And it made her stronger too. He could feel it, the way her power amplified with each beast that came within a certain radius. The more beasts that surrounded her, the more powerful she became.
He landed softly beside her, as Fayeth, her face pale, dismounted from the griffin, her hand still clutching the silver amulet around her neck.
Gaya sweeping over the carnage, spotted a pack of wolves, their fur matted with blood and eyes gleamed with predatory hunger.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"You," she said, her voice a low growl. "Find that... Qin Jiu bitch. Bring her to me."
As if understanding her command, the wolves twitched their noses, turned and headed towards the temple, their movements swift, silent. They seemed to know... exactly... where they were going.
"They... they know her?" Fayeth asked, raising his eyebrows at Gaya, a bit surprised by the scene.
"They can smell her, you idiot," Gaya chuckled, shaking her head. "Besides, she's been interacting with Agra's followers. Her scent... it's all over this place."
Then, she turned to the deer that had spoken to her earlier, its large, brown eyes now filled with a... grateful warmth.
"Thank you, my Goddess," the deer whispered, bowing its head. "But... what about... my family? The ones who were... taken?"
"You'll have a new family," Gaya said, her voice softening slightly as she gently stroked the deer's soft fur. "I'll... see to it. And they... they'll never be hunted again. Not while I'm around."
A few minutes later, the wolf pack returned, their muzzles stained crimson, their eyes gleaming. The alpha, a massive beast with fur as black as night and eyes that glowed with an eerie green light, trotted towards Gaya, a small, rolled-up parchment clutched in its jaws.
"What the...?" Gaya muttered, taking the parchment from the wolf's mouth.
"What is it?" Fayeth asked, peering at the note.
"It's from that bitch," Gaya snarled as she unrolled the parchment.
Michael, sensing... something... in Gaya's tone, walked over and took the note from her, his gaze scanning the elegant script.
"She... believes in karma," Michael read aloud, his voice a low murmur. "Says Agra... accumulated a lot of it. And that... even gods... have to pay the price."
He paused, his brow furrowing slightly.
"She says... his actions have grown... wilder. More unpredictable. Cruel. Especially... in the last few weeks. After he met... Andohr."
Seshat, unfazed by Gaya's outburst, continued.
"There is another domain, Gaya. Larnia, the domain of Nithroel. The Goddess of Hunt."
Michael's eyes widened slightly. Larnia? Nithroel's domain? He'd just promised Nithroel he'd retrieve her bow, the Agni-King, from her temple in Larnia. He had a feeling Seshat knew about that. But he wasn't going to ask. He'd get another one of her cryptic riddles and he wasn't in the mood.
Gaya, however, almost choked on her own spit.
"Larnia?!" she shrieked with disbelief.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Seshat? Send my beasts... to Nithroel's domain? That's like... sending a flock of sheep to a goddamn slaughterhouse! It's like mixing oil and water! Fire and ice! Cats and fucking light beams!"
She was practically sputtering with rage. The Goddess of Hunt, and the Goddess of Monsters? They were... opposites. Natural enemies. It would be... a disaster. A fucking bloodbath. A cosmic-level shitstorm waiting to happen.
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Ignoring Gaya's outburst, Seshat simply smiled as her gaze was serene as usual.
"You see... hunters... and their prey... as... opposites, Gaya. But the truth is... they are two sides of the same coin. Just like everything in this world... there must be... balance. Day and night. Life and death. Fire and water. Yin and yang. Hunters and prey."
She paused, her gaze meeting Gaya's.
"Without the hunters, your beasts... they will overrun the land. They will multiply, their numbers growing unchecked. And without balance... without someone to cull the herd... they will consume everything. The forests. The rivers. The very air itself. And then... they will starve. They will die." She said and turned to Michael, her eyes filled with a gentle sadness.
"Just like in Larnia."
Hearing Seshat, Michael, and Gaya frowned.
"What happened in Larnia?" Michael asked.
Fayeth, who knew the tragic story of Nithroel's abandoned domain, opened her mouth to speak, but Seshat held up a hand, silencing her.
"After Nithroel left... abandoned her domain... her hunters, her worshippers were lost. Without her guidance. Without her protection. They became prey." Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"The beasts, driven by revenge, by their natural instincts, turned on the hunters. They slaughtered and wiped them out. They thought they were free," She sighed, shaking her head sadly.
"But without the hunters, the beasts multiplied. Their numbers grew exponentially. They fought amongst themselves. For food, territory, and dominance,"
Seshat paused for a moment so her words could sink into their heads. Then, she continued.
"And the land... the land without its beasts, without the natural cycle of life and death... it withered. The forests grew unchecked, the trees sucking the soil dry, their roots strangling the very earth that had birthed them. The hunters had always culled the old, made way for the new, tended the forests, coexisted with the very nature and creatures of the domain. And without them, and the beasts, the land... it became barren. Lifeless. A desert." She looked at Michael and Gaya, her gaze intense.
"Beasts, hunters, and nature itself... they are interconnected. A delicate balance. Remove one and the others will fall."
Balance wasn't just some mystical concept. It was a law of nature, like needing both nuts and bolts to build something useful. One couldn't just have one and expect things to hold up for long. Or like needing both predators and prey to maintain a healthy ecosystem. For instance, if one removed the lions, the gazelles would overpopulate, eat everything, and starve to death. And if the gazelles were removed, the lions would starve to death. It was simple, really. But people and gods, they could be really fucking stupid sometimes. They would chase after power, after control, without considering the consequences or the delicate balance they were disrupting.