Round 3 vs. Regan and Daren - Epilogue

The cat and griffon would serve their purpose as a distraction for Adaption. She had guided them toward the den she had sniffed out by its impossible multitude of scents - the sadistic shape-changer never kept the same one for long. 

I would love to see the look on the gods' faces when they attack him, she mused. But alas.

Her tongue flicked out, tasting the spiraling wisps of scent. Senses is still with the competitors; the others are on the arena edges. Good.

She plunged into the ground, sliding through as if it were purest water. The lack of air was of no consequence, the absolute darkness barely noticeable. The earth was her element; the flecks of metal, the squirming of insects, even distant pawsteps - she felt and tasted it all.

Yet despite the natural sense of security she felt as she went deeper, a tinge of nervousness stiffened her scales. She had tried to approach Survival only two nights ago; his rages had forced even her to retreat. The old god was clearly insane - she almost felt pity for him. Her own body might be rotting, but at least she still possessed some clarity of mind. 

But ultimately he deserved no pity. It was his fault that she was reduced to this cage of flesh, her glory lost to dreams and ancient memories.

You could have saved my land and I from our fate - my gratitude would have been immeasurable. Once, we made such diverse and wonderful creatures together...I wager you don't even remember. So many are gone now, which only loses you more followers and contributes to your own madness. Fool.

The distinctive tang of igneous rock signaled that she was at the base of the volcano that housed the mad deity. Even from kilometers away, she could feel his hissing and writhing and flinched out of instinct - they had gained sentience around the same time, but he was still so much older and stronger...

Doubts began to erode the serpent's initial confidence in her plan.

Nonsense! Whatever this "Gift" is, it cannot be too valuable if they are giving it away to some random beast. But I will still make use of it, particularly if I need only pay the price of a servant. Perhaps the animal has fulfilled its purpose.

The goddess slowed her breathing, closing her black eyes to focus. A pinprick of light blossomed in her mind before growing into colored patterns that shimmered like oil then exploding to an entire continent made of memories. Stories retold themselves in seconds, cycling again and again as seasons blurred past and the temperature altered from frigid to boiling and back again. Animal souls wandered in and out, most lost, only a few relaxed and at peace.

This was a tiny piece of the Dreaming.

--- 

She submerged herself in it completely - dangerous, but the only way to hide from her quarry's senses for even a short time.

How foolish I was to not think of this before, the great snake mused as her soul slithered through the layers of history - layers of rock in the physical world. She drew closer to the slumbering monstrosity at the bottom...as well as a tiny light almost completely hidden in the shadow of its protector's bulk. A green light that seemed to pulse gently and...grow? She could feel the vital energy increasing increment by increment, drawn from...where? Was this the Gift of Life?

A baleful, seeping consciousness began to sink its insidious tendrils into her soul-shape as she pondered and nearly trapped her until she dissolved in its grasp and reformed, whipping away and back up as its roar shook the entire Dreaming, patterns and stories becoming churned and confused as Survival pursued her through the ages. She escaped back into her body with a gasp, now hearing the actual roars of frustration and...pain? Could it be? She slithered away, her mind racing as quickly as her decaying flesh could, back to where she had landed.