Chương 35: The Gaia System Arrives

"Several Native American tribes speak of the Wild People who use poisonous arrows," Shelly explained, face grim.

"They lived in caves and hunted at night. They ate anyone they caught. Settlers thought they'd hunted them to extinction in the 1800's""Apparently not," Luke said.

"There were at least a dozen there. They were all short, dark-skinned, and had almost no neck. They had mouths full of pointed teeth with long tongues." He shuddered before continuing, "And they were smiling. The whole time, they were smiling. It looked like they were fanatics who were about to see their god for the first time in person."

"They had bows," Pierre added.

"Covered in blood and... other things. They had us surrounded and could have killed us easily."

"But they didn't," I said slowly.

"No," Luke confirmed.

"They wanted us alive for some reason, most likely for the ritual. Maybe we were supposed to be the first offerings since they'd already made the sacrifices." The room temperature seemed to drop. As for me, I realized something. So, there's a pattern. Supplicants get a spirit's attention with a sacrifice and then make an offering to get what they want.

"Since you were the offering, and didn't die, maybe the spiritual pact wasn't completed," I muttered outloud, my thoughts still on my own totemic connection.

"What offering?" Shelly asked, though her tone suggested she already knew.

"They started chanting," Pierre said. His hands clenched into fists.

"It was in a language I've never heard before. It made my hair stand on end. It made my wolf want to run and never stop running."

"The symbol got brighter as they chanted," Luke added.

"And the ground started to shake. And then…" He stopped and swallowed hard.

"Then the ground split open," Pierre finished." It was like something was clawing its way up from underneath. From deep, deep down."

"Did you see what came out?" Tala asked, voice small. Pierre and Luke exchanged looks. Even I could tell they were embarrassed that they ran away with their tails tucked between their legs without bothering to look back.

"Not clearly," Luke admitted.

"It was dark. And we were running."

"But it was big," Pierre said.

"Bigger than any bear. Bigger than anything I've ever seen in these woods. It kind of reminded me of a harpy, but bigger and bulkier."

"It smelled like hunger," Luke added quietly.

"And rot. And something ancient and angry."

"That's when we ran," Pierre said.

"I screamed at Luke to run, and we just... bolted. We didn't look back. Couldn't look back."

"We crashed through the forest," Luke continued.

"Branches hitting us, roots trying to trip us. Behind us, that thing was roaring." Claire, who'd been silent this whole time, finally spoke. Her voice was hollow.

"I was on patrol, looking for some of the missing hikers. That's when I saw them burst out of the tree line, running like hell itself was after them."

"I stopped to help," Claire continued.

"And then I heard it too. It sounded pissed, really pissed. Then I heard the sound of trees being torn apart, like something massive was moving through the forest." She looked at me, eyes haunted.

"I didn't stay to see what it was. I just drove away as fast as I could."

"Welcome to the supernatural community," Tala said weakly.

"Sorry about the initiation."

"I'm a park ranger," Claire said, voice rising slightly.

"I deal with bear sightings and illegal campfires. Not… not that. Not cannibal dwarves and summoning rituals and…"

"It's not normal," I said quietly. Everyone looked at me.

"But it's real. And we have to deal with it. Any suggestions about what it might actually be?" Claire stared at me for a long moment. Then she laughed. It sounded slightly hysterical.

"I thought I was ready for anything. I was wrong." Finally, she shuddered and took a deep breath before continuing, "Still, you're right. It doesn't matter whether I'm ready or not. We can't let them hurt anyone else." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Shelly cut through the tension.

"We need to focus. What you're describing, Wild People actively performing rituals, summoning something, this is worse than we thought. We don't even know if they have awakened any other spirits." Fudge me, I thought. I didn't think about that, I hated admitting. Since I didn't want to admit it outloud, I didn't. Instead, I said, "The Wild People are one problem," I said.

"What they awakened is another. We need to deal with them first so that they don't awaken, or summon, something else."

"That's true," Luke said.

"The ritual site is probably still active. We can start by destroying it. Even if it doesn't change anything, it's necessary."

"What if they create a new ritual site?" Shelly said grimly.

"Since it didn't get its offering, it might have killed that group of Wild People in retaliation," Tala said.

"We can also start by looking for where the rest of the Wild People are hiding. We need to know just how many there are."

"We need to tell the pack, and everyone else," Pierre said, finding his voice again.

"They need to know what's in the woods. That Frank is probably…" He couldn't finish.

"Dead," Luke said flatly.

"Or worse."

"And the Grove Council," Shelly added.

"The druids need to mobilize. If Wild People are active again, if they're summoning things using the mana tide…"

"What about normal humans?" Claire interrupted.

"Don't they deserve to know?"

"Know what?" Tala countered.

"That cannibal dwarves are real and summoning monsters? That'll go over well. Mass panic, people flooding the woods with guns, getting themselves killed."

"She has a point though," I said.

"We can't just let people wander into those woods."

"We can close the trails," Shelly said decisively.

"We can keep people out until we can deal with this."

"And how exactly do we deal with it?" Luke asked.

"That thing was massive. And there are at least a dozen Wild People, probably more. We can't fight that." I was a little disappointed by that. I had always pictured the werewolves as being an unstoppable army of regenerating fighters. Well, maybe they will be soon, I thought, considering how the mana surge was affecting everyone. For now though, they apparently weren't too impressive. Because of this, I suggested, "First, we need to stop doing things by ourselves. We need to work together, in groups, large groups.

We ban people from entering the area the best that we can."

"Hopefully, that will give us some time if no one else gets sacrificed," I said, hoping that the evil dwarves wouldn't be able to sacrifice animals to awaken or summon whatever it was. Everyone nodded, their eyes locked on me as if expecting me to provide all the answers. Swallowing, I tried to pull something out of my ass.

"Let's start by seeing what type of divine intervention I can provide." This time, hopeful smiles appeared on their faces.

"Yeah, that would be great," Luke said. Clearly, he wanted a blessing of his own, although maybe one a little more powerful than the one Pierre received.

"Yeah, that's right. You can help us. Afterall, you're a trickster god," Pierre said, complete belief on his face. I could see Pierre's complete belief in me at that moment. Suddenly, I felt a weight on my shoulders. I also felt the distance between us lengthen. I wasn't going to be able to joke around with him like I did before, not anymore. I sighed, and was about to say something when Shelly spoke, apparently noticing something.

"You're Noyasunai. Whether you want to be or not. And people need you." I felt the weight of that. The responsibility I never asked for. But before I could respond, the world changed. That was when I felt everything CHANGE. Without warning, everything seemed to freeze in place. It wasn't by choice. Every person and animal in the room went completely still, eyes glazing over like they were seeing something. As for myself, I saw the notification appear as well. However, I wasn't locked in place.

The fact that even Tala wasn't moving kind of scared me.

"Uh, guys?" I said nervously, ignoring the notification for now. I was more worried about the others. However, nobody responded. Worried, I wondered if this was happening around the world. Concerned, I looked at the notification. Then I blinked and reread it again. GAIA SYSTEM ACTIVATED. Global Announcement. Mana Saturation: Sufficient for Initialization Integration Status: High Mana Areas and Individuals with High Mana Affinity Class Selection Online Evolutionary Paths Unlocked MESSAGE FROM GAIA. Try to survive.

The text hung there. Around me, my friends were still frozen. But I could see their eyes moving now, tracking text I couldn't see. They were reading their own notifications. I did wonder if they could move again. I also wondered, What about people who were driving? Or people who were swimming? I hoped that the system announcement would wait until it was safe for them. Shelly's face was calm, accepting. Tala looked annoyed. Pierre looked proud while Luke looked confused. And Claire... Claire looked terrified.

The notification in my vision pulsed once, then faded. But I could feel it. Something fundamental had just changed. Not just for me, or for the people in this room. That was when a second notification appeared. I didn't read it yet, though. I could always do that after I figured out what was going on with my friends. All I knew for certain was the fact that the Gaia System was online and nothing would ever be the same.