Meeting outsiders isn't a common occurrence here in our snowy village, surrounded by mountains. Meeting visitors in our world at all is a rare occurrence. I never thought I'd see an outsider in my life, so imagine my surprise when I actually met one! Not one actually, but two!

Why is it so rare to find outsiders anyway? Well, legend has it that long ago, our world was well populated. No sprawling metropolises or marvels of technology, of course, but entire countries existed nevertheless. In this world existed one of many gods. This particular god, who happened to be the god of civilization, always pined over a goddess who he had hoped would help satiate his loneliness. The goddess wanted nothing to do with him, of course, so she sealed herself in a palace with a darkness so thick that no god could ever see through it, save for her. She didn't take into account mortals, who were never once meant to be able to reach the palace, since it existed outside of the physical realm. Well, this god figured that he could take a mortal through this realm and into the palace to lead him to the goddess. Fancying himself crafty, he took three mortals under his wing: one bold male to head the charge through the perils of the palace, one ornery female for coercion, and one kind-hearted female for persuasion of a more gentle nature. Given the nature of our world now, you can guess how the story ends for the god. After his rejection, in his anger, he erased almost all civilization. Lucky for us, he wasn't in the right state of mind to be thorough, and so we at least have some villages around.

I'm sure that's difficult to swallow, but the village leaders swear up and down that they believe it.

Not too long ago, we got those visitors I mentioned. These two weird chicks rode into town on a dog sled - at least, I think they were dogs, but once they stopped, I swear they dissipated. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it! And being the only one who saw it, I couldn't very well tell everyone I'm having some wild hallucinations.

The first one I noticed was taller than her partner, with a more filled out bust size , and even taller than me, with wonderful blonde curls down to her lower back. Of course she would be the first I noticed, with her height, and magnificent shining hair. To compliment it she had the palest skin I ever did see and the deepest blue eyes! I swear you could see every vein in her body! But not in a gross, repulsive way. She was so pale she practically glowed with all the blinding white from the sun on the snow.

The partner was shorter by at least a foot, with considerably smaller breasts, straight black hair cut to just above her shoulders, and skin much less fair. She was a far cry from tan, still, but at least she doesn't radiate to the point of blinding any onlookers. She was much skinnier than the first girl, almost as if she was a twig, and her thick apparel appeared to practically swallow her whole. I assume that her more temperamental nature stems from the fact that she's much smaller in all areas. That is, aside from her voice. I swear, this chick never stopped yelling for even a second, or at least talking a good 10 decibels above everyone else, and at least 20 decibels louder than the first girl, give or take. You'd think she was compensating for how much her partner overshadows her in height and all the "important assets". Neither one of them could have weighed more than 120 pounds. They probably didn't even weigh 150 combined.

Their status as outsiders and the unique visual qualities compared to our village's dull brown hair and eyes aren't the only things to set them apart. The constant raving about how "incomplete" the world is and how very "busy" they are "repairing it" (a bunch of baloney if you ask me!) really pushed them from outsiders to outcasts. Of course, they didn't just show up at our village for no good reason. They needed something.

That something was a person.

That person was me.

I was the most able-bodied person in the village, or at the very least, one of the few who climbed the mountains surrounding the village and made it down alive. It was for this reason that I couldn't wrap my head around why they needed me. They claimed it was because I had seen everything, 'knew' everything; I could be the best guide. But a guide for what?

All I saw was empty, barren, cold land. I assumed the whole world was like that, and that all was the whole world. I was content in my village, safe from the vast, empty world of nothing. Not even trees were beyond our mountain borders. And yet the girls kept repeating that they needed me to guide them to certain sites for "building". They even showed me a map! A completed map, that showed other villages, and even a city! How could a map even exist of something that doesn't exist? I assumed that whoever gave it to them probably scammed them out of money or something. However they even found a person with such an odd map is beyond me. They must have come from very far away, that's for sure.

And you can bet your apples (what an odd saying, when we have no apple trees? I've never seen an apple, and I don't even know what one is, but it's a saying the elder uses, and so I guess it has some meaning) that the elder didn't let them take me without a fight. I wasn't even aware of the argument as it happened. I just was minding my business, chilling around the village (as I'm apt to do when I'm not working on chopping firewood from the forests within our valley) when I wandered by the elder's hut.

"If you don't let us take that guy with us, we can't ever finish building the world again!" I heard the ornery one shout.

"Mairi, calm down. We have to be reasonable if we're to get our way," I heard the well-mannered one say. I was probably the only one who even heard it, because after I heard Little Miss Ornery (who I can only assume is Mairi) shouting, I couldn't help but listen it. With Mairi and the elder trading blows, I was sure neither of them even heard the reasonable one, until Mairi flung up a tiny hand to hush her. At this point I had sneaked in the hut from the back and positioned myself at an angle behind the reasonable girl. Behind her thick coat I thought for sure I could hide my presence. It worked, sure, for a good while, when suddenly -

"Don't think I didn't notice you there, boy!" Mairi snapped. Man, how'd she even noticed? I guess she heard me, but I coulda sworn I was silent as a mouse! "Why don't you tell this crotchety old man how much you want to get out of this village!" Man, the gall of this girl, putting words into my mouth!

"He wants no such thing!" grunted back the elder. Yes! It's like he read my mind.

"Who are you, grandpa, to decide what a perfectly capable young man wants?" she retorted. Of course she'd be one to compliment my freedom as an individual when it benefits her needs. Give her another line and she'll probably be trying to force me with her against my will.

"Besides, we can't ever restore the world to its former glory if we don't have him. No matter what he wants, he has to come with us!" she added. I called it. I totally called it! Let that one go in the records! Score one for me!

"Alistair is not permitted to leave the village under any circumstances!" shouted back the elder. And now he's using me in this argument. In their ferocity, it's hard to tell if they're arguing towards a certain goal or just butting heads. All the while, the quiet one sits by, trying to get a chance to interject.

"Hey, quiet girl. This is crazy. What's say we go outside and let the loudmouths work this out themselves?" I whispered to her.

"But... But I... I have to stop her..."

"Don't worry about it! Let's just get outta here for now!" I grabbed her wrists and had to practically drag her out of the hut.
"It's not that I want to stay, but... I... I have to calm her down...," the quiet girl mumbled as she tried to veeerrryyy slightly tug herself back to the hut. I could tell she wasn't trying hard to resist resisting me, but man, she was compelled to calm her down like the two poles of a magnet are compelled to meet. After I finally managed to wrest her from the hut entirely she took a deep breath and calmed down. "Thanks, I guess...," she mumbled.

"You're gonna have to speak up, uh..."

"Miri."

"Yeah, Miri. Hey! Miri and Mairi! Your names are like a pair!" I thought I sounded witty, but I probably sounded nutty and rude instead. Miri didn't seem to mind. "Now, aren't you glad that I got you out of there?" I asked her over the muffled shouts of the two hotheads inside.

Our peace wouldn't last long. Before I could manage another sentence, Mairi stormed from the hut at incredible speeds. You could see her anger practically melting the snow as she rushed towards Miri, hair flowing. She glared at me as she passed while she grabbed Miri's wrist and began dragging her towards the wooden guest cabin we had ready for them.

Figures guests get the only cabin while the rest of us get lame little huts with a fire in the middle. The cabin even had a fireplace! It was said that it was the only building here when our village began, necessitating the need for huts. We didn't have enough manpower among the elderly and children here in our village to chop enough trees to build more cabins, nor the know-how to build such advanced buildings, so we settle for huts, while every man and woman either hunts, or chops more of the trees our valley so graciously provides (and man are there a lot of them!) for firewood.

I began after the M's as they headed towards their hut, but I decided against it. I swung around on my heel, and marched off in the other direction towards my own residence. It was getting late, and I decided to get some sleep.

I was awoken in the night by a hushed argument outside. It was Mairi and Miri, of course. I hoped so desperately it was the sound of them leaving. Sure, Miri's nice enough, but Mairi's such a handful and she turns our peaceful little village into a noisy frenzy of complaints and compliments. She loved being lavished in compliments by the villagers (even though most were directed towards Miri) and the villagers loved lavishing her with complaints behind her back. Of course they didn't complain about Miri.

But, as we all know, the hero can't be left in peace to live in his village. It just doesn't happen. And boy do I wish it would! Lucky for me, I had the element of surprise on them. If they didn't know I was awake, they might not bother me (or, provided luck fails, it would make them even more likely not bother me). Lord knows they will once they catch any hints that I'm not busy sleeping, snug as a bug next to my fire. Even more distinctive was the height their shadows cast on the walls of my little hut from the fires of the other huts.

I saw their shadows slink off, and heard the crunching of the snow and ice beneath their boots. I was saved! Immediately, I let fatigue take back over, and I slumped to sleep instantaneously. Just as instantaneously, I was awoken again to the sound of the back entrance to my hut ruffling. Before I even had time to gather what was going on, I was blindfolded and my mouth bound so that I couldn't make any noise. I could feel that Miri was just watching, as it was a tiny pair of hands coiling a rope around my wrists. At least I knew that struggling was pointless. I tried to scream something, or make some noticeable noise, but it was all muffled by the binding preventing me from speaking.

I felt a rough tug at the rope: a signal, I assumed to begin walking. So I did. Slow, methodical walking. Part of it was because it's incredibly difficult to walk when you're blindfolded - a critical piece of advice nobody ever mentions - and part of it was that I hoped that the longer I took, the more likely I was to be noticed and rescued.

It's terribly frightening (and honestly boring) being led around against your will, without even knowing where you are. Slow walking with hopes was probably pointless, as my hut was on the edge of the village, and so it was likely that I was being dragged a decent distance from it. I could hardly feel any heat at all. Even worse was I wasn't very prepared for the cold. My hair did little to resist the cold that clothes would have conveniently prevented. My captors would find me dead of frostbite before they got me to their intended destination!

After what seemed like a freezing eternity through an empty abyss, which our world already seems to be, I felt a foot kick mine, which I could only assume was a signal to stop. That, or a very cruel prank played by a random onlooker sitting nearby, which is obviously the most likely choice. Surprise surprise, the "least likely" choice is canonical. At the very least, I felt a gentle touch place a thick coat over me; finally I am granted warmth from my captors.

At this point I was unbound and the blindfold was removed. I could see I was at the edge of the woods, too far away from the village for yelling to matter any. Besides, I was tied, as it were, to my captors. The sled had nothing to pull it, and appeared to be holding food that was gifted by the villagers, as well as a foreign cargo: boxes and bags of wooden tiles. They were small, no larger than my thumb each, and there must have been thousands of them at least. Maybe even more. Among the rest of the cargo I always found some spare coats, water, and a knife, and three small swords. I wondered why three, if there's only two people and a captive. My only theory was that they had a third traveling companion at some point before.

"This cart is all well and good, but how do you propose we carry it at all with us?" I asked.

"You'll see!" Miri said, giddy with excitement. So giddy that she followed it with a giggle. She reached over to Mairi and plucked a hair from her - Mairi cringing a bit as she did so - and whispered something, an incantation, maybe, to it, and dropped it to the ground.

Now what I saw, I could hardly believe myself! In a small flash of light, I could see the hair go from a fine black thread on the ground to a morphing mass. It began to bubble and sizzle and turn orange first, like the color of fire, to a deep, blood red as it melted the snow around it. It grew and morphed from a hardly noticeable hair in a sea of white to a deep red ball in a matter of seconds. Another few seconds later, I could see the ball, now solidified, crack first down the middle horizontally, and then vertically, and even diagonally in both ways. As it cracked, I saw it start to split like an egg, and a preliminary shell came off, to release eight gooey, red forms, which slowly began to expand and swell, and take the form of at first what appeared to a rodent, but as they grew, they took on a distinctly canine shape. They grew to massive sizes compared to the hair that had originally spawned them. Even more baffling than what appeared to be sled-dogs from nowhere, was that they were already harnessed to each other, awaiting only a final connection to the sled. They stood in two perfect rows, silent sentries ready for any command. Mairi moved to the harness and hooked it to the sled. Miri tugged at my rope gently, which Mairi had handed to her while she moved for the harness.

"Take a seat, and get comfortable."

I did as I was commanded. After I had sat down, Miri went to Mairi's side, and whispered something to her. I can only assume Mairi was none too pleased by whatever Miri had to say, as I heard her voice rise and she shook her head violently. I still couldn't hear what Mairi had said, even once she hit her higher volume, so I just sat in silence. Miri gave a pleading look, and I could hear Mairi grunt this time. Miri walked over to me, and pulled out a knife, brought it to my wrists, and slashed the rope.

"Now don't think this means we're letting you go!" Mairi yelled at me.

"I figured as much! No need to yell when we're only a few feet away," I told her. It was obvious they weren't going to release me without so much as an explanation for why they stole me from my hut in the first place. "So where are we going?" I questioned.

"Wherever is nearest on the map," Mairi answered, as she pulled out the map from her side pouch and shoved it into my hand. "Now which way is this uhh,,, direction?!" she snapped at me. It felt more like a statement than I question, but what could you expect from someone like Mairi? I doubt she'd ask me for anything even if it was a drop of water to save her life.

"Uhh... I guess it's to the north of here, and you have to take the pass between the two tallest mountains if we plan to get there safely and by sled...," I mumbled. It felt so obvious, telling directions as simple as "Take this pass, get here, go through there". Really, when there's not much civilization, describing a location isn't entirely necessary. Look at this landmark, keep it here or there in your sights, it's all so simple! I guess I've got to deal with taking orders from two people I hardly know. It all felt especially moot when a map isn't even that hard; just look at the pictures and look at where you seem to be, and logic it out. But I digress.

"Speak up, navigator!" Mairi snapped once again. Lucky for me, Miri filled in by whispering to Mairi where I told her to go. Maybe all of that yelling has made Mairi go deaf. By this point, Miri had gotten situated beside me on the sled, and Mairi took the front so that she could control the dogs. And with these directions, we set off.

We rode for hours.

And I do mean hours.

The sun had risen. The sun had almost set.

We never even stopped.

"Hey, are we ever going to stop? I need to stretch my legs," I complained.

"Yeah, why? So you can be prepared to go running off into the night?" Mairi assumed, shooting me a dirty look over her shoulder.

"But Mairi, if he does that, he'll likely freeze to death before he makes it back, even if he took all of our clothes for warmth." Miri rushed to my defense. Or maybe she was just being reasonable, and defending me was just a side effect. Either way, at this point, she was my hero.

"Alright, fine!" Mairi barked, as she pulled on the reins to slow the dogs. "We'll rest here for the night. But we depart early morning!"

"Well let's at least find a cave or something to rest in, or something!" I pleaded. Another dirty look, and I cringed.

"First you want to stop, and now you tell us to keep going? Make up your mind! No, wait, actually, I'll make it up for you. We're stopping right here, right now! And no arguing!" Mairi yelled at me, yet again. This time I could see she was more angry, as she reached for the sword she had been carrying on her side since we had left the village.

"Mairi, I don't think that's such a good idea..." Miri tried to convince Mairi, but she was having none of it. I found out that even Miri wasn't safe from the glare. Mairi pulled the reins hard, and the dogs stopped almost instantaneously.

About an hour later, camp had already been set up, with three sleeping bags (three? Why did they just carry a third? Had they been planning to find a village to steal an average, capable sucker who in this case happened to be devilishly handsome, with gruff, manly stubble and dashing smooth long hair?) placed snug around the fire I was forced to build using some spare firewood lying on the sled. Not the precious wood chips, oh noooo. We can't use thoooose. It would have been a hell of a lot more convenient. Instead, I had to split the wood myself. I'm surprised a captive was given possession of such a murderous tool like an axe. Even later, after some food from the sled had been feasted on, we were all cozied up in our bags, and I drifted off to sleep, the fire keeping me better and more pleasant company than my captors.

But I couldn't just comfortably sleep. No, this was the second night in a row I had to be awoken by the M's. At least this time it wasn't to kidnap me. They already accomplished that, and with deadly efficiency. You'd think they were well versed in the art of kidnapping, had there been more chances for that in the world in which we lived. This time I was awoken in a rush by Miri and handed a sword. Being used to chopping wood and doing other physical labor, I found the weight of the blade to be trivial. It measured about the length of a regular hatchet, with even less of the weight. Of course, being entirely different beasts, I don't think I could reliably wield a sword. But why had this been thrust into my hand? I scanned the surroundings for Mairi real quick, and found her ducked down behind a rock.

I started to stand and was ready to walk over to her, but Miri put her hand on my shoulder and forced me to stay low. We crawled through the snow, trying to avoid being seen by who knows what, until we reached the rock. I started to open my mouth, but once again, Miri was there to stop me from making another blunder, as she quickly thrust her hand over it to silence me. After she removed her hand, she nodded at me, and both girls motioned for me to look around the rock.

I was met with the sight of three odd forms. All stood hunched over and appeared feral, and yet taller than we were by at the very least a small margin. Their muscular features were accented by what appeared to be fur, their faces containing features like snouts, with the largest even having tusks, and all three were entirely unnatural and inhuman in every way. They were at most comparable to hogs. In their hands, each carried their own hatchet as they sniffed and searched around. Given that we were hiding, I could only assume that we were whatever they were searching for. I glanced towards the sled and noticed that the dogs had been dispelled.

"These are minions of Civruz, the god of Civilization. They most resemble pigs, but they're neither pig nor human." Miri whispered in my ear. "We'll tell you more, but first we have to deal with them. They've been on our trail for a few days now." Miri gave a nod to Mairi, and both approached opposite sides of the rock, and drew their swords quietly from their scabbards. Another nod and Mairi leaped forth from the left side of the rock. This startled the creatures, and they all readied their weapons. The two lesser opponents with the smaller axes both charged Mairi at once, snorting and howling and snarling like psychopaths on the hunt , while the larger of the three, with the largest axe observed. You could see the steam rise from their noses as they snorted and rushed in.

While all of this was going on, Miri tugged me out from behind the right side of the rock, still low and behind all three of the beasts. We rushed as quickly and silently as we could, hearing the clash of Mairi's sword against the metal of the monster's axes. Neither side seemed to have landed a blow yet. I drew my sword as we hurried along and out of sight.

When we were a good deal behind and out of the peripheral vision of the larger enemy, Miri signaled for me to stay put. She continued further until we formed a small angle between our paths to it. I braced myself, as I knew I must charge. I couldn't afford to be hesitant, no matter how little combat experience I had. I had hunted before, but nothing could compare to killing something with weapons ready, fierce as a wolf, with steel too. I took a deep, silent breath, and raised my sword slightly, ready to charge in at top speeds and eliminate our target. I glanced at Mairi once more. She seemed in her element, dishing out damage and releasing her anger. She also seemed to only be toying with the enemies, rarely attacking at them, and dodging everything with swift and nimble movements left and right. The monsters may be vicious, but they certainly weren't bright enough for a synchronized attack, or anything more than a crazy flurry of attacks.

A thumbs up from Miri was the signal I needed. I raised myself, and waited until I saw Miri's first movement. My heart was racing impossibly faster than before. The moment I saw her begin her sprint forward, I began mine. As we closed in, the third monster heard us, and turned into Miri's direction. He turned sharply and brought down his axe to try to crush her, but she hopped slightly to the left of the attack. Just as she did so, she thrust her sword into the stomach of the monster, and I followed suit with a stab to the chest. The monster let out a roar of pain as I felt its blood flooding from the wound, all over my hand and the snow. It was so warm it sizzled in the snow and I saw a puff of steam rising from where the blood hit the ground. We both pulled out our swords and Miri jumped back. I wondered why she would need to jump away when we had just vanquished our target, but soon I found out why.

The monster let out another roar, and this time snapped his head to my direction. Fear shook my body as the vicious sound pierced my eardrums with what felt like more force than my sword had pierced his chest. I shifted my glance to his weapon, which, rather than raising, the beast had rotated. I was able to anticipate, barely, that it was about to try to swipe me with an upper cut.

"Look out!" I heard Miri yell. Her voice startled me into action. I dropped my body down to the legs of the beast and quickly scrambled between his legs. Just as I did so, the swing of the axe went whooshing past where I had been not a moment before. Surely had I been hit I would have been cut clean in half, with such a powerful swing. I used my advantage of being now behind the beast to raise my sword in a similar fashion, and slash open the monster's back, much in the same way it had probably meant for me. It let loose another roar, and this time dropped its weapon, clenching at its back wildly. It fell to its knees and began panting and squealing.

All I could do was stand and watch, covered in blood that had spurted from the final wound I had inflicted. I was overcome by the stench and warmth, and the adrenaline pumping from my first ever actual skirmish. I had felt the rush and thrill of the hunt, but when your life doesn't hang in the balance as strongly, you don't learn to appreciate how much adrenaline can drive you into action. Until this night, I hadn't even imagined I could deal such an injury to something so big and strong.

The beast continued to squirm and squeal, until Miri walked over to it. It stared up at her, having flipped to its back to reveal its injury to the snow, with fear and contempt. It was almost pitiable, had I not known that these things were after our life. I glanced over once again at Mairi, who, having finished messing around, quickly dispatched the smaller enemies: one with a quick jab to the heart, followed by a dodge of the other foe's weapon, which flowed seamlessly into a magnificent full-body thrust upwards into the throat. Watching Mairi glide about in the heat of battle, it almost appeared as if she was dancing more gracefully than someone who had danced their whole lives.

I looked back towards my victory just in time to see Miri drive her blade through the eye and into the brain of the still struggling monster. It appeared by all accounts to be quick and painless, as the monster stopped its horrible deathly gurgles in an instant.

"Not bad, for someone who just woke up and hasn't fought these guys before! You could still use some practice. As rough as you took him down, it was obvious you have no real combat experience." Mairi said to me, with - get this - genuine cheer in her voice. She even gave me a smile!

"Thanks." I replied, happy that, for once, I hadn't been yelled at by her. All in all, a successful start to the day. I survived an encounter I never expected, and even got complimented

"I figure you guys owe me an explanation about what was going on this morning." I demanded. It had been a few more hours, and we had packed up camp and were on our way. By my guess, just a few more hours would put us at our destination.

"I can't believe you're demanding an explanation from us..." Mairi grumbled.

Lucky for me, Miri was happy to oblige.

"As you were told, those were minions of Civruz, the god of Civilization from the legends. Nobody knows why he made them into wereboars - such unsightly things! And completely contrary to a civilized human being! We were his targets. He sends them to us to try and kill us, to prevent us from completing our mission."

"Yeah, and you still haven't said a lick about that 'mission' of yours!"

"Right, sorry for assuming you would know..." she mumbled apologetically. "Well, we're servants of the goddess from the legend: Delilah, goddess of war and strife. She's sent us, with these objects pilfered from Civruz's old domain, to rebuild society!" Miri seemed more excited than I thought she'd ever be. And that's all well and good, but what's the purpose of a goddess of strife sending these two girls out to do something so... tame?

Miri seemed to read my mind. "I'm sure you wonder 'why her?' Well, the whole mess was caused by her rejection of Civruz, so she partly feels obligated. She also has a passionate side, contrary to popular belief. You see, many years ago, before even the Old World was in its prime, the God of war, Delial, had to deal with a rebellion form a mortal turned god named Belial, seeking to replace Delial, who he felt to be unfit as a god. Belial used his history as a mortal to incite many tribes to join his cause. The rebellion, of course, failed, and Delial struck down this young god. However, Delial felt compassion for the followers, who knew not what blunders they committed, and so he spared them."

My gracious story-teller waited a moment to let the information sink in, and then continued. "Delilah, however, would have none of this. When Delial had returned to the realm of the gods, Delilah went around his back and slaughtered every follower of Belial, which besmirched Delial's name in the process. Delial, unable to stomach the unorthodox killing and unable to handle his tarnished reputation, fled his domain and left behind his title and power as a god, retaining only his immortality, so that he may roam the world until he deems it or Delilah fair and just, and able to handle war and compassion simultaneously."

We took a break for water, and then Miri continued. It was obvious she could talk herself hoarse about all of these legends. "He is said to still live somewhere. I wish we could find him and tell him of Delilah's new demeanor, her regret, and her desire to be forgiven. Maybe he's aware of her changes... Regardless, Delilah has taken her chance to aid us in rebuilding the world, so that she may atone for her crime."

I could barely muster a reply to all of this exposition. "Well, uh... thanks for telling me. So that's what we're doing right now? Returning to the site of an Old World village and rebuilding it? How are we even supposed to do that without supplies, or entire teams of builders?"

Miri clapped her hands together excitedly. "It's really quite amazing!" she exclaimed. "You see those wooden chips? You weren't allowed to burn them because they are enchanted! Some of them have the power to form into items of any particular kind, provided the user has the abilities to use them. The others can be dropped to form buildings and return life to a location! And when we're done, we place a final tile: the beacon tile. It alerts the goddess that we have finished reviving a town, and then she can lead the people she guards within her domain to the homes of their ancestors. My explanations could never do such an amazing feat justice!"

"You mean there's more people than the few villages alive hold?" I questioned. It seemed entirely unfathomable! I had grown up my entire life learning that there was so little in this world, as had my father, and his father, and his father before him, down a countless chain of ancestry. To think there were more people, hidden away in the realm of the gods!

"Of course! When Civrus wiped civilization, Delilah was able to rescue many people from around the world, while the smaller groups that remained behind were able to avoid detection by Civrus. Of course, being the realm of the gods that they are hidden away in, they don't have the same relative comfort or familiarity as if they had lived here in the world, as is proper, and as we were created and have evolved to be. Another method that Delilah atones for her sins is by being the caretaker of the mortals while we fulfill our duty."

"That's great, but how do the people make their way back to the world en mass?" I queried. I wasn't sure how so many people could be hidden away from the world.

"It's all quite simple! Between our world and the realm of the gods is a barrier known as the 'Spirit Barrier' that prevents mortals from entering the realm of the gods at will. The only way for a mortal to pierce the barrier is to have died. When a mortal dies, they split into three entities: their earthly body, which was their vessel in life, Soul, and a Spirit. The Spirit is the energy of life; the Soul is the metaphysical existence of the individual. People often use the terms interchangeably, when in fact, they are not. Then their soul gains the ability to slip through. However, the only way to otherwise get through is with a protective barrier granted by the gods themselves. These barriers are made using the spirit energy of the deceased, which even the gods are unable to harness without permission from the soul who once contained it; when a soul allows the gods to harness its spirit energy, it loses all ties to everything, and ceases to exist. Delilah, having rescued the many, gained the debt of all the deceased, who wished for their descendants to be returned to where they belong. They willingly give up their spirit energy and their place and existence in the realm so that the many may return. In order to create the gap to allow the passage, they must give up their existence entirely." I was beginning to understand. Also, my ears were beginning to hurt from both the cold wind and Miri's constant speaking.

"This was a wonderful lesson and all," I finally said, breaking the silence, "but I think that's all I can try to comprehend today; I daresay it was heavier-handed than I expected, and I doubt I'll understand it all any time soon. It's been a long day, and I'm extremely tired. I think I'll just... close my eyes..."

And with that, I dozed off immediately, before I could even hear Miri's reply.