Chương 55: Souls of the Departed

What can I do? The question had been running through my mind on repeat for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. I had divine mana now. The prayers had filled me completely, restored everything I'd burned through creating Lifna. But what good is power if I don't know how to use it? Think, Abe. Think. I could retreat to the Liminal Land and take everyone with me now that I had the energy. We'd be safe there. A notification flashed across my vision. I hadn't noticed it before. I almost dismissed it.

I'd been getting prayer notifications steadily for a while. My followers were sending me their faith and hope and well-wishes. They were sweet, but not helpful right now. This notification was different, though. BELIEVERS DECEASED. List of Names: Whistler (Sparrow) Almond (Squirrel) Unnamed (Rabbit) Pocket (Opossum) + 23 More congregation members MESSAGE FROM GAIA. Bless Their Souls. No. No. No. The notifications kept coming. They kept scrolling, announcing new deaths. My followers. My people. They're dying.

It was happening so quickly.

"No!" The word came out strangled. I was already moving, scrambling toward the ladder.

"Abe, wait!" Pierre grabbed for me, his hand catching my shoulder.

"It's not safe up there! The Wild People…" Then I saw Buck's name. I didn't think. I just reacted. I used Mask of Many Paws. Suddenly, I was bigger, bear-sized in fact. Pierre stumbled back, his grip breaking as my mass suddenly exploded exponentially.

"What the.." Then I was a small martin and slipped between his grasp.

"Goddammit, Abe!" Pierre's roar followed me as I scrambled up the ladder leading to the outside of the cabin. At the top, I shifted again, shoving open the door as a bear once more. Once I was outside, I turned invisible. I could hear Pierre cursing below. Shelly was calling my name. The one who affected me the most was Tala, her mental scream of ' What are you doing?' almost made me pause. My eyes and nose were watering from the smoke as I burst outside and stopped. There was so much blood.

Bodies were scattered across my clearing like broken dolls. Some were moving, groaning or crying. Others were completely still. I recognized many of them, but not all. They were the animals I'd blessed. I'd spoken to them and even shared food with them. These were the animals that had prayed to me. They'd believed in me. Now they were lying broken and bleeding in the dirt. I stayed invisible, frozen in place. This had happened while I was cowering in my cellar.

While I was worrying about what to do with my divine mana. While I was feeling sorry for myself about being helpless. They'd fought for me. And died for me. Bambi was kneeling beside one of the larger bodies, her nose pressed to his fur. Even from here, I could see she was crying. Agnes was nearby, holding what looked like a much smaller body, a young squirrel. Her keening wail made my chest tight. Survivors moved among the fallen. Some were trying to help the wounded.

Others were just standing there, shocked, staring. The battle was over. We'd won, apparently. The Wild People were gone. I was so focused on the carnage that I didn't even notice when Tala and the others emerged from the cabin behind me. Then I felt something. It wasn't with my regular senses. The threads of the Web of Wisdom hummed, showing me connections I'd never noticed before. I could see souls. I could even feel them. The spirits of the animals were hovering near their fallen bodies like faint lights.

Buck's soul stood over his corpse, looking down at Bambi with what seemed like profound sadness. His spirit form was translucent, ghostly. Near him, the young squirrel's soul huddled close to Agnes, even though she couldn't see him. He was crying, his spirit form flickering with distress.

"Buck?" the squirrel whispered. His voice was ethereal, like wind through leaves.

"What happened? Why can't Aunt Agnes hear me?"

"We won," Buck's spirit said gently. His voice carried that same ghostly quality, audible but not quite real.

"We saved him. We saved our god."

"But we're…" The squirrel looked at his own body, cradled in Agnes's arms.

"We're dead."

"I know," Buck said sadly.

"I don't want to be dead." The young squirrel's voice broke.

"I was supposed to help rebuild the church. I was supposed to…"

"You did help," Buck interrupted softly.

"You fought bravely. The Great Trash Panda is alive because of what we did." I didn't have the heat to tell him that I could have escaped without his death. That wasn't fair. Still, what he'd done did matter. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Another spirit drifted closer, the rabbit I'd seen listed in the notifications. Her translucent form moved with the same cautious energy she'd had in life.

"Is this it then?" she asked.

"We just... wait here? Watch them mourn us?"

"I don't know," Buck admitted.

"I've never been dead before." The surreal conversation was happening right in front of the living, but no one else could see or hear it. Bambi was mourning over Buck's body, completely unaware his spirit stood right beside her. Agnes clutched her nephew's corpse, not knowing his soul was trying desperately to comfort her. They could see each other and I could see them. What bothered me was the fact that neither Bambi or Tala seemed able to see the spirits. That's strange. I thought.

Then I wondered, Why can I see them when they can't? Before I jumped to any conclusions, I decided to ask. I connected to Tala through our bond and asked her, Tala. Can you sense anything strange? Any spirits or… What are you talking about? Her mental voice was sharp with worry. Abe, get back here. The souls, I interrupted. The ones who died. Can you feel them? See them? See who? Abe, you're not making sense. She couldn't. Even Tala, with her divine nature and our bond, couldn't perceive what I was seeing.

A new notification appeared, overlaying my vision. NEW DIVINE ABILITY UNLOCKED. Claim Faithful Departed. Souls of followers who died believing may be brought into your divine realm. As a god of second chances and the liminal spaces between life and death, you alone can perceive and shepherd the souls of the faithful departed. MESSAGE FROM GAIA. A new death god emerges. Oh. That's why. Wait! What? I'm a death god? I was confused at first, not able to process what I'd read.

I wanted to deny it since I was supposed to be a trickster god, but then it hit me. Coyote and Raven were more than just tricksters, as was I apparently. Coyote was also considered to be a creator, but he was also thought to be the 'Bringer of Death.' He wasn't death, but he did create it. Now I apparently had taken that domain as my own. Fudge me, am I going to have to face both Loki and Hela? That's not good. Still, it wasn't like I had a choice.

It was now part of my divine portfolio, whether I wanted it to be or not. However, if it meant being able to 'save' a few of my followers, I wasn't going to complain. I didn't hesitate and immediately dropped the invisibility. Several nearby animals startled, but I ignored them. I reached out, not with my paws but with something deeper, and touched Buck's soul. He turned toward me instantly, his spirit eyes widening.

"My lord? You can... you can see us?"

"I can see you, Buck" I confirmed. My voice came out rough with emotion.

"All of you. And I can offer you something. Not life. I can't bring you back. But I can give you a place. In my divine realm. You won't be alone. You won't be lost. You can be together." Bambi looked up, startled not only by my appearance but also by my words. She seemed confused, but relieved and almost happy. Buck's response was immediate.

"Yes." There was no hesitation, no doubt.

"Of course. Whatever you need, my lord."

'I don't need anything," I said quietly.

"This is for you. All of you." The connection formed. I felt Buck's soul respond, eager and willing. It was like... like catching smoke, except the smoke wanted to be caught. His essence flowed into me, through me, and into the Liminal Land. I moved to the young squirrel next, kneeling beside where his body lay in Agnes's arms.

"I don't understand," the squirrel's spirit said.

"What's happening?"

"You get to stay," I told him.

"Not here, but somewhere safe. With Buck and the others. Would you like that? And someday Agnes and the others can join you."

"Aunt Agnes will be there?" Almond sounded hopeful.

"Not yet," I said gently.

"But you won't be alone. I promise." The young squirrel looked at Buck's fading form, already being pulled into the Liminal Land. Then he looked back at me.

"Okay. I trust you." His soul came easier than Buck's. Perhaps because he was younger. One by one, I moved among the fallen. The rabbit elder. The sparrow who'd dive-bombed enemies many times her size. There was even a fox I barely knew as well as an opossum I didn't recognize. Each one came willingly. They were eager to not be alone, to not fade into whatever came after. However, knowing Bambi's power, I also didn't claim those who she would be able to resurrect.

Instead, I moved to her and fed her some of my power, enough that she was able to resurrect those who had not already been resurrected. Finally, we were done, except for the wounded. Unfortunately, even Bambi only had a limited ability to heal. Mostly, she recreated the bodies of the dead. Healing the living wasn't her domain. I'll have to fix that, I decided. At least for now though, we're safe. I looked around the clearing properly now. The survivors were tending to the wounded.

As for the deceased, their bodies were being arranged with care and dignity. It was also time to speak with Bambi. What she'd done was incredibly brave, but it must have hurt her a lot. Because of this, I knew she and I needed to have a long talk. That's when I heard it. Howling from the forest, getting rapidly closer. Multiple wolves, moving fast. I tensed, but Bambi shook her head.

"Reinforcements. They're coming."

"A little late," I muttered. However, part of my annoyance was because I'd immediately assumed it was enemies. Probably my raccoon instincts, I thought, shifting the blame. Then again, maybe it's just nerves. Werewolves burst from the tree line in wolf form, eyes scanning for threats. Behind them came druids, led by Kathy with magic already crackling around her hands in preparation for battle. And behind them... others. I saw Moon-Eyed People and a few fae, with a splash of other supernaturals mixed in.

The wolves shifted as they took in the scene. Alder was first, his human form appearing with the usual unsettling fluidity. Unfortunately, he was also nude. Kathy stalked up and threw a backpack at him, obviously filled with clothing, although not before looking him up and down. Her nod of approval was almost imperceptible, but I noticed. Alder blushed, but said nothing as he got dressed.

"Where are they?" he demanded, looking around at the carnage as he got dressed.

"Where are the Wild People? We got the alert that…"

"Gone," Pierre said.

"You're too late." Kathy surveyed the battlefield, her expression grim.

"The alarm wards went off. Multiple breaches of the territory. We came as fast as we could."

"It wasn't fast enough," I said flatly. The words hung in the air. Nobody argued. What was there to argue about? The evidence was everywhere.

"Thank you for coming," I said, meaning it despite the bitterness.

"Even if you were too late for the fight, we're going to need help with the aftermath." Kathy nodded, already moving toward the wounded.

"We have healers. And we can help with the bodies." The druids weren't the only ones with healers. There were several fae helping the injured animals. Even Luke was trying to help, despite not having any real healing powers. I watched them work for a moment, then turned back to my cabin. It was damaged but standing. The fire hadn't spread far enough to cause structural damage. The shutters were dented and scratched but intact. I watched the healers work, my mind replaying the notifications.

I didn't even recognize most of the names. But they'd died believing in me. Buck had asked if I was safe with his dying breath. Almond had been too young to even understand what death meant. They'd given everything for a god who'd been hiding in a cellar. The Raven Mocker had eaten one of its own allies. The Wild People had laughed while setting my home on fire. They'd come here not for territory or food, but to kill, to destroy. Something cold and sharp settled in my chest. Not rage exactly, I'd been angry before.

This was different. This was certainty. My home had survived. Unlike many of my followers. As for the Wild People, it was time to do something about them. They needed to pay for what they had done. The same was true for the Raven Mocker. They'd brought war to my doorstep. Now they'd learn what a trickster god could do when properly motivated.