Gehn wiped his brow with his sleeve and it came away damp with sooty sweat. How long was it going to take Rolen to get into town? Reah probably forgot the message or got herself eaten along the way.

  He raised his hammer and brought it down on the hot metal in his forge, sending sparks flying. Damn it, why'd his daughter have to go through this?

  He swore fiercely under his breath, and focused his anger and nervousness on the rod of red-hot metal taking shape.

  A large part of himself simply wanted to toss all his work into the coals to melt into slag. He would then go up the hill to the chapel, and he would explain everything to Leeda. Maybe the way he should have so long ago. It had just been so easy to stick with this lie, though, when he'd never lied to her about anything else. She hadn't even wanted to remember, so why was it all coming out now?

  But he didn't put down his work. He didn't go to the chapel and explain himself to his daughter. Instead he simply continued to hammer at the metal, slowly giving the halberd that it was becoming shape.

  He only ever made weapons when he was worried. Pretty soon, the halberd would join it's two brothers from yesterday.

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  Mina rapped on the door again. She knew that Leeda had told Karn to leave the previous day, and if her childhood friend couldn't help her teacher, then she had little hope that she would fare better. Still... she was stubbornly determined to keep it up until Leeda either opened the door, or told her to go away.

  "If you keep that up, you'll get bloody knuckles."

  Mina stopped in mid-knock and turned her head. The sky-blue eyes set in her porcelain doll face met with a cobalt-blue pair surrounded by a face that was very familiar. "Brother?"

  Rolen nodded once, gravely. Approaching his sister, he looked her up and down. When he was standing right in front of her, the corner of his mouth turned up slightly, and he said quietly, "I imagine the village boys have recently discovered a newfound interest in the church.... Is she in there?" The question was accompanied by a motion of his head, indicating the door.

  Mina, who had been starting to smile warmly at seeing her brother, suddenly grew cold. "Yes. And she hasn't seen anyone all day. The only way I know she hasn't killed herself is that I hear her walking around sometimes."

  Rolen stood still as a statue in thought. Eventually he asked, "It is bad enough, that you were worried that she might?"

  Mina's anger started to rise up inside her. "She has not been acting herself, and has not even opened the door to eat! Gehn seems to know what is happening to her, but he will not say, and he as much as said that you have something to do with it!"

  Rolen looked his younger sister in the eye, his expression unreadable. "I know this is confusing." She met his gaze fiercely. "I have to be told something first, for it to confuse me."

  Rolen stood for what felt like half an hour. Eventually, he nodded once and said, "Yes. Gehn may have felt he had his reasons, but you should know the truth. It started... well, I imagine it started some time before that, but the turning point took place a decade ago. The year of the Gaiabeast."

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- Chapter Five : Gaiabeast

  Ten years ago...

  In her small room, a young girl dangled her legs over the edge of the bed as she read from the massive tome resting on her lap. Clad in a loose robe, she was a pretty little thing, aged 14 and only recently approaching 5 feet tall. Her long red hair hung in a braid over her shoulder, and occasionally she would nibble on the end of it when she reached a passage that gave her trouble. "'Be not afraid,' spake the Guardian Rosalia. 'Though borne amidst the screams and tears that follow Ragnarok's path, we are children of Gaia, Soul of the Planet. We have been charged to be the guardians and protectors over all living things, so be not afraid. We shall do you no harm.' Much fear yet resided in the hearts of those gathered. One who was brave stepped forward and proclaimed, 'Though your words and forms are pleasant, Ragnarok also bore a pleasing shape and made many promises. Now it strikes us down ten million at a time. Have you any proof of your goodwill?'"

  The girl gingerly turned the page and continued to read aloud, "Guardian Mortanis, who had been silent to this point proclaimed, 'If a thimble's full of proof is needed, then a mountain shall not be sufficient. If there are doubts, then believe our words to be a lie and watch our actions.' And though they were not yet assured, the people were appeased, for the Guardians spoke the truth, and when the Spirit of Law speaks truth, only the most armoured hearts remain closed."

  The girl chewed thoughtfully on the end of her braid. That part had always confused her somewhat. What was the nature of the Ragnarok? No matter how many times she read the lore, no description could be found. Only that it had come to this world from... somewhere else, it never said... and had singlehandedly wiped out over nine tenths of life across the entire planet. At times it was described as a persuasive, intelligent corruptor, and at others, as a mindless beast. A few passages even indicated that the truth of Ragnarok was something outside human comprehension.

  She was about to return to the lore when she heard a faint knocking at her door. An elderly male voice called out, "Leeda? You have visitors!"

  The girl looked up to the door. "Right away, Father!" She closed the massive tome and started to grow. Slowly, she felt her skin slide across the inner fabric of her robes. Her legs lengthened, and soon her feet rested on the floor. She looked around the small room, watching the perspective change as her point of view raised, and then down into her lap. It seemed that the book of lore got smaller and lighter as she grew.

  Soon enough, Leeda felt her normally loose robe tighten a bit, and immediately she halted her growth. Looking at the tome which was almost painfully heavy at her natural size, she picked it up with one hand. It was still heavy, but far more managable. Standing up and taking a few steps toward her dresser, she estimated that she was now a few inches over six feet tall. Quickly, she placed the tome inside her dresser. Once that was taken care of, she concentrated on going the other way, returning to her natural height. When she was done, she opened the door.

  Out in the hall stood Karn and Father Tolliver. Both were smiling widely. Smiles which were returned by the young acolyte as she ran forward to tightly embrace her friend. "Hi, Karn! How are you doing?" Pulling back to look up at her Karn's face which was raised almost a full foot above her own, she giggled and teased, "What's the matter, Karn? You're red as a strawberry."

  Father Tolliver chuckled faintly to himself at the two youths while Karn stammered a reply. He was a small man by the standards of the other men in the village. In his heyday, he had never topped five-foot-two, and now had a hunch from spending years bent over a reading desk. Though he was past 60, his eyes still shone keenly and brightly in his kindly, gnome-like face. Turning around, he waved off the youngsters. "Well, I'll leave you three. I still need to prepare next week's sermon."

  "Three?" Leeda looked confused, and was answered by a voice from around the corner. "Surprise." Rolen peered around the corner, grinning. The youth was had apparently grown a bit as well, as he was usually a little shorter than Leeda. Now, he was perhaps an inch taller than her. He had just enough time for his eyes to widen in surprise as Leeda rushed him and embraced him at least as tightly as she had Karn. She even grew an inch and a half for an extra bit of squeezing power, since she was certain that it would go unnoticed, except in terms of Rolen's ability to draw breath. Still, she stood on tip-toes a bit to help mask the increase in size. "Rolen, you little jerk," she said playfully, "it's been two months! Don't the Caas let you visit more than that?" She gave one more squeeze and let go, dropping down to natural size as she did so.

  Rolen took a few deep breaths to get his wind back and chuckled embarassedly. "Sorry... there were things that kept me busy there. But we can talk about that later. Why don't we go down to the lake? It seems like ages since we've been there last."

  Leeda considered, "I don't know, I'll have to check with Fath--"

  She was interrupted by the old man's jovial voice. "Oh, go on! It's been two months!" There was a moment of silence, and then as one, the three friends started laughing. "Thank you, Father," Leeda called out as she took the lead down the hall and through the chapel to the outside.

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