Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

Auri landed on my shoulder. Iona stepped up next to me, and Night flanked me on the other side. He had hit 3347, slowly and steadily going through the levels. I had to wonder if he’d stop at 3584. Questions for another day. Fenrir squeezed out of the portal, then started to enlarge himself. The moons blinked, going from crescent one moment to absolutely full the next, Lun’Kat’s baleful glare watching us.

The five of us stood on top of a pyramid as the heavens broke open, and a golden staircase shimmered into existence, each step larger than Iona. A vanguard of angels, armed with flaming swords and borne on wings of the purest white, burst out of the heavens, then proceeded to form an honor guard on the stairs.

The gods descended.

I wanted to talk with Night, but given the procession and the light display, we both silently agreed to catch up later. We both bowed to the dozens and dozens of gods and goddesses coming down the staircase. Iona took a knee, which told me that Selene and Lunaris were going to be somewhere in the crowd. Fenrir bent his scaly neck, and even Auri, with all the flourishes the vanity-obsessed bird could do, bowed to the gods.

The first five were immediately recognizable.

Aion, Goddess of Life, with the air around her seeming to grow and thrive.

Thanatos, God of Death, with Black Crow fluttering into existence and landing on his shoulder.

Papillon, God/dess of Change, constantly morphing from one form to another, not even staying elvenoid.

Xaoc, God of Chaos, unusually serious and focused.

Seira, Goddess of Order, looking concerned.

Each one was resplendent and armed, blazing with divine glory. Behind them, I spotted more gods and goddesses. Edor and his trident. Solaris, blazing with the power of the sun and a danger to Night next to me. Ildia, Goddess of Fire. Raiju, holding his thunderbolts. Elarin, whose presence had the sky rumbling with the promise of rain. Argyra, who held the same title as Iona of ‘the Silver-Tongued’. Icelus, who’d sent me a few nightmares when I accidentally desecrated her shrine. Nearly each and every god descended. I was no [Theologist], it had never made the cut for a career I wanted to try - that was Iona’s thing - but I could tell there were a few holdouts. Conspicuous absences, like the God of Apathy. Okay, wait, no, that one wasn’t surprising, but others probably were, at least to the people that cared. The holes were larger than I expected, and my first hint of what was going on was not a single regional or city god was around. Perhaps they were scattering themselves around the world?

I couldn’t help but notice the cliques suggested by how everyone was grouping up. Herculix, the God of Human Conquest, was followed closely by who could only be Felix and Chloe. Each of the great five had entire pantheons of lesser deities that followed them. Xaoc and Seira seemed to have the same number of subordinates, which couldn’t be a coincidence. It was hard to imagine just how much theory crafting about the true maps of alliances and friendships among the divine was being proven or disproven. It was impossible to enjoy, I was distracted by how serious they all looked.

Ciriel waved at me, and I waved back.

And of course, Selene and Lunaris.

All the while, the vast desert around us was rapidly filling up. The first to arrive were the few rare Classers alive that had a Light or related elemental transformation. We were the fastest in the world, bar none, and I looked around to scope out my peers. A few dragons, a kirin, a handful of elvenoids and a single Verdant elemental.

Spatial Classers popped in next, needing just a bit of extra time to figure out where they were going, and from there it devolved into a mess. It felt like everyone and their brother was arriving, and yet, I only spotted a few people below 3500. There was enough chaos I felt like we could briefly chat.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?” I asked Night.

“In all my long years on Pallos, no. This is a first, and it concerns me. Jormungandr stirring? A few gods met with the Guardians and a select number of Classers. Thraximundar’s ascent? He had gods on his side! A mass gathering like this?”

Night went quiet for a moment, clearly reviewing his long memories.

“I fear we are all about to die.” He said calmly.

All of us had stared into the many faces of Black Crow/White Dove often enough to not blink at his statement. I’d gotten a similar sense.

“Brrrpt.” Auri said, and we got smacked by a notification a moment later.

[*ding!* You are in the presence of Thalvinar, The Winter Bloom]

The polar bear with a flower on his head got a round of withering glares from the rest of us, and no other Guardians announced their presence.

People and intelligent beings continued to pour in. I spotted Arachne zipping along. Threads unraveled from her, then pulled her along, only to unravel to the next spot and kept ‘pulling’ her along. She quickly ended up next to us, and I spotted a small army of Pekari marching towards us.

“Dusk. Dawn. Auri. Fenrir.” She quickly nodded to each of us, then grabbed Night’s hand.

“I am at serious risk of getting the last few levels and ascending on the spot from this.” Iona muttered to me.

Paladin, unprecedented event with dozens, perhaps hundreds of gods manifesting on Pallos? Checked out.

The big five gods created a pyramid of light, and ascended to the top. Another three deities came up the pyramid, and settled in below the top. I didn’t recognize them.

“Who are they?” I asked Iona.

“Orris, God of Silence, Elaris, Goddess of Communication, Stravira, Goddess of Organization, subservient to Seira.” She murmured back. “Bunch of other titles, I don’t think we’ve got time for it. Probably here to stop this devolving into a shouting mess and get shit done.”

Lun’Kat landed on another pyramid, made of a shimmering mirage, and eyed the Moon Goddesses hungrily. Dragonwings filled the skies, and the first wave of phoenixes from the Phoenix Peaks arrived shortly after, forming up around Auri. She was the oldest, highest level phoenix, and the others took their cues from her. Which had gotten me mobbed more than once over the years. Dinosaurs stomped over, a river snaked its way over the boiling sands, demigods crested the horizon and sprinted over, and more fantastical creatures and old allies continued to arrive.

A vast Silence fell over us all as the gods crested their pyramid and began to talk. All five of them Spoke in unison, and their words reverberated with existence.

“Before the sun is high over this spot, Pallos will no longer exist.”

I hadn’t made a bet or anything, but I summoned a coin and handed it off to Night. Didn’t matter what the denomination was.

“A small planet, named Erebus, is on a collision course with Pallos. Should it hit, the entire world will burst like an overripe fruit, ending not only all life on the planet, but slaying us gods whose domains are tied to its existence. We must find a solution.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The Silence lifted, everyone started talking at once, but through literal divine intervention we all understood each other and were able to perfectly talk and understand one another. Multiple conversations went on all at the same time, and yet we could all follow it. Auri’s brrpts and Lun’Kat’s rumbles were perfectly translated to all, and for the first time, for the last time, I spoke directly with a tyrannosaurus rex. Speaking at different speeds didn’t matter one bit.

Which was so cool it was almost distracting, but something about we’re all going to die had a way of sharpening my mind and focus.

Night managed to preempt everyone, and got the first word in as the God’s decree echoed.

“We come here in peace to solve a problem facing us all. We are, as of this moment, all under truce, with a sacred covenant to solve a problem that threatens all life. Should anyone choose to disregard the mandate that has been laid on us and seek to selfishly profit themselves at the cost of others, I will personally ensure they regret their actions. Until the problem of Erebus is solved, and Pallos is no longer under threat, I declare Pax Deos, the Peace of the Gods.”

“Can we move Pallos out of the way? Is there a god who has the domain for that?” A dinosaur asked. “Solaris, would moving the sun work?”

“I don’t move Pallos, I move the sun.” Solaris explained. “You’ll want to ask the seasonal quintet for moving Pallos itself.”

The question was shuffled over to five gods and goddesses. One for all the seasons, and one for each season. Kyklos, God of the Seasons, answered for them.

“I can move things to buy us a few more hours, but the attack was clearly planned. We can only move Pallos forward along its path, or stall it out where it is now. We can buy a few extra hours at great cost.” He said.

“Just move Erebus. Simple.” Thalvinar said.

“Just move a planet in a few hours.” Hissed a quetzalcoatl. “Like it’s that simple.”

“There’s enough of us to make it work.” Thalvinar insisted.

“True, but getting there would be difficult.”

“Looks like I need to get a bat and a very tall mountain.” Iona half-joked.

“With how bullshit skills can be, that might be a legitimate strategy.” I added.

“There is a simple solution.” Lun’Kat rumbled with a voice filled with malice. “Simply put the moons in front of Erebus, and use them as a shield. We might lose the moons, but all our lives will be saved in the process. A small sacrifice.”

The couple being asked to commit suicide protested.

“Dragonshit! That won’t work.”

“Just why wouldn’t it work? Throwing a rock in front of another rock to stop it is a time-honored tradition, one that has worked since before the first dragon took flight.” Lun’Kat hissed back.

“Because it’ll shatter the moons and Erebus, but Pallos will be right behind them.” An unknown elf spoke up. “We’ll get hit half as fast, but with twice as much mass. A rocky shield works, unless the projectile breaks the shield. Then you’ve just got twice as many problems.”

A whole set of people started to bicker over the moonshield idea, with math getting broken out at how to exactly clip Erebus to knock it off course. Given that we didn’t have Erebus’s numbers yet, a lot of the math was highly questionable. I could already see some people setting up telescopes and other equipment, looking into the night sky where Erebus was coming from to try and spot it. One bright dot in particular I didn’t remember being there before.

‘We can let Erebus clip Pallos instead of letting it hit directly’ was also brought up. Sure, it’d kill most life on the planet, but enough people would survive to repopulate. I wanted to put my face in my hands when someone called it ‘the fastest Immortal War’.

Yes, because lurching the entire planet and making the day-night cycle five hours long was a solution.

The world was ripe for another Immortal War, and thank fuck this was happening right before one, and not after we’d killed off 90% of the powerful Immortals. I could see the events here either starting the next war, or preventing one from starting for generations.

Night suddenly moved next to me, and an explosion of viscera ended with him holding a head. Well. More like the front of a face. I refrained from shuddering.

He’d done that through my healing. I didn’t need the reminder, but I added the incident to the list of ‘why I should never get on Night’s bad side.’ People continued to arrive, and I spotted Flora along with the Cerulean Scholar and a contingent from the School. I didn’t spot Artemis though, but I had faith she was around.

“Pax Deos means Pax Deos.” Night declared, holding up the severed head. “You may slaughter each other to your heart’s content after the current crisis.”

[*ding!* [The Elaine] leveled up! 4087 -> 4088! Only 8 levels to go! +1073 Strength, +1073 Dexterity, +4302 Speed, +4302 Vitality, +10757 Mana, +53783 Mana Regeneration, +21512 Magic Power, +21512 Magic Control per level!

We can do it!]

Arachne had been watching and thinking the entire time. Given how much thinking I could do, and given that I had a fraction of the [Thinker’s] abilities, it was probably the equivalent of me taking a decade or so on the problem. After Night’s declaration, she spoke up. After rattling off the names of a dozen or so [Thinkers] who started working their way over to her, she mentioned my name and I was suddenly paying a lot more attention.

“Sentinel Dawn, Aelyriath, the Vermillion Oracle, Iskarine, the Sable Warden, and Warden Elenion. The four of you are all capable of ferrying significant numbers of people to Erebus in a short period of time, as well as having experience moving through space. Lun’Kat, the Stygian Deceiver, if you would do the honors of making loading platforms?”

The dragon’s eyes narrowed at Arachne, who dared issue what could possibly sound like a command.

“I welcome a murder attempt tomorrow, as it means we have survived the current crisis.”

Twin jets of flame snorted out of the dragon’s nose, and four grand platforms shimmered into existence. I hopped onto the one nearby, and slammed open the door to my pocket dimension.

The skill was too much of a mouthful these days.

Arachne started calling out names and suggested portals, and we suddenly had a few hundred home invaders.

“Dawn, you’re on the Pole team. Aim for the ‘bottom’ one, we’re sending a ‘pull’ team to the top. Fenrir, with Dawn. Listen to Iona. Auri, Lava eruptions. Goal is to push Erebus and see if we can’t get it off course. Iona, temple duty. You know this better than I do. One grand temple for all the gods or dozens of smaller ones, your choice. Goal is to allow deities to manifest directly on Erebus to impact it. Faerion, you’re heading the shield team on Dawn’s front. Assume a hostile atmosphere, you’re keeping the bad stuff out. Nimrion, you’re the atmosphere specialist for Dawn’s team. Everyone, please avoid locking eyes with him, his curse will place him in an awkward position if you do. Summer Storm, with Dawn. Elarion, astronavigation. Get us everything we need so we’re not guessing anymore, we know. Aelvaron…”

Iona stood just inside the entrance to my pocket dimension, directing people around. Fenrir flew down to the memorial hall and curled up in front of the door, and Auri started baking half of our stores to feed everyone. Arachne continued to list off names and roles, rapidly shifting between different ‘carriers’ and bulk jobs.

As far as I could tell, one of the teams was on ‘deletion’ duty, with Darkness and other related ‘It works no matter where’ classes. Gravity was in high demand for that group as well, with some Classers and gods thinking they could work on the scale of all of Erebus. A fun little idea was Spatial Classers simply ‘storing’ part of Erebus. It wasn’t going to be particularly efficient, half of Darkness mana for mana, but every little bit counted.

The second team was the ‘core’ team. Their goal was to try and drill as deep down as they could, then try various things to solve the problem. My personal favorite was ‘make a portal somewhere else and let Erebus collapse into it’. How they were going to have the planet collapse into it while not having it collapse on them seemed to be a question that wasn’t getting asked loudly enough… but if they believed it was a one way trip, all I could do was remember their names to make a special memorial for them.

My group was what I was broadly thinking of as ‘pushers’, where we were going to spread out and do our best to shove the entire planetoid off-course. The other pole team was going to be the ‘pullers’, and it was easily the smallest group. Someone had the idea to redirect the endless hole at the bottom of the ocean to ‘blast’ Erebus off course, which just sounded like it was going to drown the rest of us and cause far more problems than it solved.

It was far from the most hare-brained scheme I heard. That one went to the mermaid who was excitedly telling everyone about ‘Operation Donut’, where they’d enlarge Pallos, then make a gigantic hole through the planet, and let Erebus go through Pallos, harmlessly ‘missing’ us entirely.

I didn’t dignify it with a response, although Fenrir started laughing. Auri looked far too thoughtful.

That was just the broad strokes. Arachne had thought of a hundred different exploits, wonky skill interactions that might just solve the entire problem all at once. She was getting a few dirty looks at the sheer breadth of information she was revealing, and even then I could tell there was quite a lot she wasn’t telling.

We all needed significant support, and Arachne was doing her best to spread them all out. It’d be a little awkward if one of us landed, then everyone promptly suffocated.

“... Dawn, I know you’ll want to do medical care, but you’re vastly more useful being one of our only ferries to Erebus. Drop everyone off, then return once Elarion, Kim Ji-Hoon, Li Wei, and Hildegard have finished their analysis.”

“How do I find the one rock in the middle of space?” I asked. There was that one spot I thought might be it, but it’d be embarrassing to completely miss. I had no issues asking for help.

The Goddess of Celestial - the element - pointed up, and a golden string shot from her finger into the sky. Okay, yeah, I’d guessed right.

“Follow my sign.” She said.

Thousands of conversations were going on all at once, and I was able to listen in on what other people were planning. One of the more interesting ones was Night, who was giving us a quick update.

“I’m going to tap Nina to ask her contacts to start large-scale prayers to the gods. Similar situation for the on-duty Sentinels, get them to talk with the Ranger teams and organize similar efforts. For…”

I blinked, and the last thagomizer of a stegosaurus slipped in through my portal entrance.

“Sentinel Dawn. Three, two, one, launch!” Arachne declared.

I locked my eyes on the golden beam, and went [Lightspeed].