Dawn’s eyes went wide at Niphru’s statement, and her mouth opened soundlessly for a moment.  When she recovered from her shock, she demanded, “What do you mean that was a god?!”

 

Niphru paused to think how to phrase things, then replied, “I decided to speak through the new link while you were asleep, since I felt no real hostility through it.  The response was from a being called Inari, who claimed to be a god, along with the other who tried to talk to me before.  With the power I could feel, I can believe it.  And it made an oath that it was speaking the truth, then, immediately afterward, the pressure that woke you up happened.”

 

“That seems unbelievable; why would a god, let alone two, be interested in you?  I mean, you are great, but…” queried Dawn, her eyes still wide as she shook her head and dropped to sit on the edge of the bed.

 

Niphru felt similarly, but shared what he had been told, “Apparently they were the ones who helped me awaken originally, and I was given a warning that I’m about to evolve.  Apparently, if nothing changes, I might lose my mind and change who I am.  Alternatively, they offered to guide me down the path they’ve helped others take in another realm.  They also said they wanted my help because they have rules they must follow.  But I was also told that they don’t demand that I follow them or work for them.”

 

In response, Dawn closed her eyes in thought for a few moments.  Eventually, she opened her eyes again and inquired, “So, basically they are interested in you because they chose you for something and helped you become who you are now?  But then why wouldn’t they demand you serve them if they basically created you?  I mean, I’m not complaining; I’m glad they aren’t, but it seems strange.”

 

Niphru remained still for a moment as he went over everything again in his mind, then replied, “That seems about accurate.  What do you think I should do?  I’m worried about maybe losing my mind, but I’m also worried about blindly following the instructions of a god that I don’t know.”

 

Dawn’s response shocked Niphru, as she simply leaned back and laughed.  Once she caught her breath, however, she explained, “If you lose your mind, you would basically die.  But your other worry could be solved by simply getting to know this god, right?  While I’m worried as well, it seems like an obvious choice to me!”

 

Hearing it made so simple, Niphru shook his head in amusement before he replied, “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that…  They said I had something like a month at best, but that means I do have some time before I have to go through with one choice or the other.”

 

As Dawn stroked his head, Niphru shifted on the bed and thought about what would make him feel better about the god if he knew.  He felt he could at least trust the being; something about the power that pressed down on the world as it made its oath spoke to him on a primal level.  Somehow, he just knew that the oath held sway, even over such a mighty being.

 

In the end, he couldn’t come up with any specific list of things to ask or talk about and decided he should just talk with this Inari, and maybe Atryna as well, if they learned to not be painful to listen to.

 

After conveying his intent to talk with them again to Dawn, she responded, “I’m still worried about you.  Are you sure you felt that they were safe to talk to?”

 

“I’m not sure of it being safe, but at least they didn’t mean to hurt me, and seemed polite at least,” Niphru answered, somewhat worried still himself.

 

In the end, after a bit more back and forth, Dawn finished with, “If you are sure you want to do this, I won’t try to stop you, even if I’m really worried.  But I should get back to helping with the village.  I’ve already spent a lot of the day here with you, and I’m sure the others are worried.  But if there is anything I can help with, let me know through our bond, and I’ll head back here immediately!”

 

Feeling happy about how much Dawn was showing she cared about him, Niphru nodded and promised, “I’ll let you know if anything happens, and I’ll try to keep in touch so you know I’m okay!”

 

Smiling at his words, Dawn pet him on the head a few times before heading out of the room, waving at him as she passed through the doorway.

 

While he was still trying to build up the courage to bother Inari, being worried about wasting such a powerful being’s time, he heard Dawn through their bond, “It looks like we didn’t miss lunch at least, so be sure to come get something to eat in about thirty minutes!”

 

It only took a moment of consideration before he slipped off the bed and began to return to where he had helped with the food the night before.  He didn’t want to get started just to immediately stop, and this was a good excuse to put it off a little longer.  As he expected, the people making lunch were quite thankful for help bringing the food to the middle of the village.

 

Once everything was delivered, people began to show up, and Niphru quickly ran to sit beside Dawn, leaning up against her for a moment as she scratched his ears.  As they ate together, however, he heard a shout from the direction of the wall.

 

As he looked in that direction, he spotted several shapes growing closer in the sky before an echoing crack rang out, making one fall from the sky.  Several people nearby removed their belts, now revealed to be slings, and pulled stones from pouches sewn into their clothes.

 

Moments later, the air was split by dozens of loud cracking noises and the whistling of air as a hail of projectiles flew upward toward the flock of monstrous birds in the distance.  It only took three volleys before all the shapes were dropping from the sky, and everyone began to wrap their slings back around their waists.

 

The whole time, Niphru sat there in shock, flinching at the deafening noises, despite having pressed his ears flat against his head at the first sound.  Looking to the side, he saw Dawn’s mouth open in surprise as well.

 

“Well,” she slowly remarked, “I suppose that explains why they didn’t seem worried about flying beasts, despite saying they were attacked by them occasionally over the last weeks.”

 

Niphru nodded, still shocked by the very effective response to their sighting.  It took a few moments to get over his shock, but eventually, he was able to resume eating once he had verified that no one else seemed worried.

 

When he finished his meal, he informed Dawn that he was going to help, then repeated his actions from last night, beginning to clean the bowls even as they began to pile up.  Eventually, he helped to stack them under a small overhang near where they had brought the pots.  It was at this point that he realized he hadn’t helped bring the pots back last night, and he began to feel bad about it.

 

Instead of focusing on what he considered a failure on his part, he checked with the people who were cleaning up the pots, finding that none were upset about it, but were quite willing to accept help now.  This made him feel much better, and he joined in on cleaning the pots and returning them to the group kitchen they had used before.

 

Having finished up helping for now, he realized he didn’t have any more excuses to put off speaking to the god, and began to head back to the home he and Dawn were staying at.  Remembering just in time, he knocked on the door before opening it, finding that the man from before wasn’t present, so he hadn’t actually needed to.

 

After getting himself settled on the bed and comfortable, he closed his eyes and mentally poked at the connection in his mind.  There was a short delay, and then Inari’s calm voice came through, “Hello again, I was not expecting to speak with you again so soon.”

 

Niphru paused for a moment before replying, “Well, I think I can trust you; there was a feeling of power when you spoke that oath, but I don’t know you, and it feels wrong to just go along with whatever you say if I don’t.  I don’t want to waste your time, but I also want to get to know who is trying to guide me.”

 

A faint feeling of amusement passed through the link before Inari spoke again, “You needn’t worry about taking up my time.  I simply need to split off a tiny portion of myself to interact with you, while the rest can do other things.  Gods and other powerful beings typically have an immense number of things that we have to, or want to pay attention to, so it is quite the common thing for beings like us.”

This took a moment for Niphru to understand, though eventually he got the basic idea – he didn’t put his entire focus on each of his foxfire orbs when he used them, nor into a single part of his magic; instead, he split his attention.  This limited understanding made him feel better about talking with Inari, since it meant he wasn’t pulling its attention away for himself.

 

“I don’t fully understand, but I think I see the basic form of that idea,” he responded, before pausing to think again.

 

“Why is it that you decided to help me awaken?  Surely you didn’t just do it on a whim, right?” he inquired, his curiosity and wariness both coloring the connection between them as he shifted on the bed.

 

A sense of approval flowed back down the link as Inari answered, “That is correct, little one.  Atryna has been trying to change the course of her world for centuries, but she is failing to make much impact.  I offered a potential solution, with some warnings that it might not work, or might even backfire.  She approved of giving it a try.”

 

A slight pause followed, though there was a clear feeling that Inari was not finished speaking, so Niphru held back.  A moment later, the god continued, “In the realms I am most active within, my servants are mostly foxes that have grown in magical power, some of whom have nearly reached the level of deities themselves, though those are quite rare.  I offered the chance to produce such a being within her world.  Unfortunately, other gods wished to limit our plan heavily, and instead of an entire family, we were restricted to a single individual.  Furthermore, we were not allowed to select, but instead, a neutral third party was brought in to decide who our power would be sent to.”

 

Feeling that Inari was done for the moment, Niphru immediately let Dawn know what he had heard.  He then asked the first question that came to mind, “It sounds like you were planning on controlling me, even if you said you didn’t mean to do so.  Which is it, do you want to control me or not?”

 

The response began as a sense of amusement, which seemed at odds with the inquiry, though the following words made sense, “That is somewhat of a complex topic, actually.  The vast majority of foxes I offer my path to, at least in worlds with sufficient magic, willingly take my path.  A good portion of those willingly choose to serve me, at least part of the time.  Furthermore, there is the luck of you happening to form such a strong bond with another, setting you on the path of following Atryna, as she is an aspect of cooperation.”

 

As Niphru shifted uncomfortably at the idea he was already doing the bidding of a god, Inari continued, “I can feel your discomfort.  You are still in full control of your own choices and actions, Niphru.  You have simply grown in a way that aligns you with Atryna, much as the one you’ve bonded with has aligned herself similarly.  If you wanted, you could simply choose to act differently, though it would likely feel wrong to you.  Another option you have is to return to the wilds, break your bond, and become one of the more powerful beings out there, though your mind would likely suffer.”

 

At the final statement, Niphru felt enraged and was about to respond before another flow of amusement came through the link, and Inari spoke once more, “Yes, I expected as much.  But it is an option you could choose, even though it goes against what both Atryna and I desire.  Our wishes for you are mostly aligned with your own, partially because our blessings influenced you as you awakened, and mostly because of your choices and experiences.”

 

Calmed somewhat by the being’s words, Niphru let himself relax again, finding his entire body had tensed up.  Eventually, he was able to ask, “What would you want me to do if I did follow you?”

 

For this, a feeling of approval flowed down the link once again, and Inari responded, “I would simply request that you continue to grow in power while helping those you can without too much effort.  Eventually, you would become able to wield immense power, capable of reshaping the landscape and blessing entire villages.  However, those are quite some time away, even if your realm allows far more rapid development than most.  Atryna would like you to cooperate with others, even if you dislike them, when it is for the good of all.”

 

Even as Niphru considered these words, a chuckle reached him, and the voice continued, “Are you not already doing that, however?  Conflict’s followers are not exactly the nicest around, yet you are helping them while it aids many others.  This is not something you are being forced to do, but rather something you chose to do.”

 

The addition of that information made Niphru pause.  It was true; he didn’t have to do any of this.  While Dawn had chosen to help, he could have refused, even now, and either stayed behind, or simply followed Dawn without doing anything.  While he was considering this information, he went ahead and contacted Dawn again, finding her opinions on the matter matched his own.

 

He took a minute to think things over before finally asking some less weighty questions, simply seeking to get to know the god.

 

Some time later, he felt more comfortable, and asked one of the other questions that had been on his mind, “If I accept your offer, what will happen to me?  You said it would change my body.”

 

The response to this was one he didn’t expect, “You have already begun the changes, in fact.  You developed foxfire, learned to use illusion, moved much of your power and spirit into an external container so it didn’t warp you, and when we aided you before, you grew in size.  The last part of this portion of the path would see you grow slightly larger, and your tail would split into two.  Those who follow my path gain more tails as they age and gain more magical power, each progressive tail being harder to earn than the last.  The main downside is one that you have already begun to have, that of being able to lose your power or even die if your spirit crystal were to be stolen, and its destruction would be catastrophic for you at best.”

 

Inari paused to give Niphru some time to process what he had said before continuing, “It is likely that if you followed the more natural path of your world, you would find yourself either merging with your spirit crystal, or your spirit would reattach to your body.  Either of these would significantly reduce the downsides you currently possess, and prevent them from getting worse.”

 

After a bit of consideration, Niphru decided to ask Dawn what she thought.  After she brought up that it sounded like he had already followed the god’s path so far, and even had the same weaknesses, they both eventually agreed that it was probably best to accept its offer.

 

Niphru waited a little while longer, trying to see if anything popped into his mind that might change his decision, then finally declared, “I will follow your path, Inari, though I can’t say if I will serve you in the future or not.”

 

“I’m surprised you decided so quickly, little one.  Are you certain?” inquired Inari, a faint feeling of both surprise and confusion coloring the link between them.

 

“Dawn and I both discussed it together, and we agreed on it being the best option,” Niphru replied, surprised and somewhat grateful that the deity actually cared to make sure he really wanted his choice.

 

“I see.  Am I right in assuming you wish your bonded companion to be there when you proceed with your choice?” Inari questioned, further improving Niphru’s opinion of it.

 

With a nod to himself, Niphru immediately responded in the positive, and was told to contact the being again when he was ready to start the process.