Before

Chapter 7: Men are dumb and gods are to cryptic

The wood from the forest was used to build many homes. From what I remember these homes were always quickly filled by families who wanted to live in a new popular town. With even more people flooding into the town, a new group of gods was starting to be worshiped. On my walks I would see people shouting about the 3 gods of the hunt. From what I could tell they were just describing the old man. I mean a human man accompanied by a rabbit and fox had to be him. At the time I thought they were just mistaken, "they probably heard stories of a man who was a hunter with no rival and thought he was a god" Was I wrong to dismiss these stories? The old man l was no ordinary guy, that much I knew. Even now, his presence lingered. But a god? I Ignored the talk of these new gods and continued to work hard on the village's expansion.

Building a working town was much harder than I thought. There were so many things I had to think about when leading, like where was human waste going to go. It is so much work. Diplomatic missions were even more exhausting. All the chiefs of other villages would do is hit on me. I heard comments like "your going die alone if you scowl like that constantly" or "your almost past your prime, have a kid before no man wants you". For fuck sake i was 27 thats not that old. There was 1 man in particular who was especially insistent. When our village started expanding it shrunk the size of a lot of villages in our surrounding area. While most did not mind having a smaller size, this one man must have had his pride hurt. Infore, a 50 or so year old man, he had been leading his village for a very long time. His village used to be the biggest before ours, but with the sudden boom of people moving his village shrank substantially. So ever since then he had been trying to woo me. It was horny love letter after lover letter, gifts of skimpy clothing, and extravagant makeup. I was so annoyed, when I finally confronted him about it he played innocent saying that's what women are supposed to like. First let's get 1 thing clear, yes i might be a woman, but who the hell sends those kinds of gifts. Fed up with his bullshit, hurled insult after insult at him, mainly saying that i would never marry a pig like him. Infore turned bright red in what I thought was embarrassment. Satisfied with myself I left.

That night, I hosted a small gathering at the tavern. The villagers didn't know why I was in such high spirits, but they were more than happy to indulge in drinking and laughter. The air buzzed with the sounds of merriment, the clinking of mugs, and the occasional burst of song. After a few hours of celebration, someone in the crowd raised their mug high and called out, "To Phal, for a good celebration!"

The name sobered me immediately. I weaved my way through the crowd to the man who had started the cheer, my heart thudding in my chest. "Why are you thanking the old man?" I asked, my voice betraying my confusion.

The man's eyes widened in fear, his earlier cheer evaporating. He stared at me as if I had uttered some blasphemy. "Phal is no old man, ma'am," he stammered, his voice dropping to a whisper. "He is the god of the hunt. Please be respectful when speaking of the gods."

His words sent a cold shiver down my spine. Phal? A god? The idea sent my thoughts spinning. Has he become a god? Or were these villagers simply mistaken, weaving myths around someone they barely understood? I needed answers.

I slipped out of the tavern unnoticed, leaving the revelers to their fun. The cool night air hit my face, but it did little to clear the whirlwind of thoughts racing through my mind. I wandered through the dark, the farmland stretching endlessly, until I found myself in the clearing, the place where the old man had been laid to rest. Even in the darkness, the clearing felt warm and peaceful, as though it existed in a world untouched by the turmoil of my thoughts. I sat down between the two gravestones, my legs folding beneath me as I looked around, hoping for a sign, a clue, something that could make sense of the confusion.But there was nothing. It was just me, the graves, and the hum of crickets. A small bug crawled onto my leg, and without thinking, I crushed it between my fingers.

Immediately, the trees began to tremble, their leaves rustling in the sudden gust of wind. But the wind wasn't cold—it was warm, almost comforting. I froze, my heart hammering in my chest as a soft amber glow flickered before me, growing brighter and warmer until a figure emerged from the light. It was the goddess Ambra. "What the hell!" I shouted, stumbling to my feet. My startled cry caused the goddess to jump, her eyes wide with surprise. "Oh, hello there, my child," she said, her voice sweet and melodic, as though nothing in the world could ever faze her."Are you Ambra?" I asked, my voice still shaky. "I'm sorry, little one," she said with a gentle smile, "I don't have much time. But someone familiar will explain everything to you." Before I could even react, the amber glow began to fade, and Ambra disappeared, leaving me standing alone in the dark clearing. Frustration boiled up inside me. A goddess appears and gives me a cryptic message, only to vanish into thin air? I grumbled under my breath, my fists clenching. What kind of divine intervention was that? Just as I was about to turn and leave, a low, ghostly "Boo" echoed from behind me. I jumped, spinning around so fast I nearly knocked over the old man's gravestone."Hey, be careful with that! It's mine," said a familiar voice. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the figure now standing before me. He looked vaguely familiar—a younger, stronger version of someone I knew. "Old man?" I asked, my voice uncertain. "Well, I guess I'm old," he replied with a grin, "but I look pretty good for my age, don't I?" The hearty chuckle that followed was unmistakable. It was the old man. But he wasn't the frail old man I had known, he was different, more vibrant, more alive in a way that words couldn't quite capture. "It is you," I whispered, staring at him in disbelief. "But how? Why?" Before I could barrage him with more questions, Phal raised a hand, silencing me. "I don't know all the answers, Shah. But I do know this: There was a man, one with no left arm and no left eye, who granted me and my brothers the power to become gods, through Ambra's will." The clearing went deathly silent. I stood there, stunned. A power to turn a human into a god? Such a thing seemed impossible, yet here the old man was. The light around him started to fade. "I have to go now, Shah," he said, his voice softening. "Wait!" I blurted out, desperate for more. "What else can you tell me?" He smiled, his eyes twinkling with a mischievous glint I had never seen from him before. "There's one thing I want to say before I leave." I leaned forward, expecting something profound. "You reek of beer. You should probably go lie down." His laughter rang through the clearing as he faded from view, leaving me alone once again, standing in the silent, moonlit forest.