“One second left!” Irita shouted. I heard a note of panic in her voice.
“Why isn’t he dying!?”
“Because he is a god!” Movarak shouted out from the undergrowth. “The Great Reptile!”
The Montosaurus expanded, returning to its previous size, and rose. I lay on the ground, protected by Immortality, unsure what to do. If he was immortal and couldn’t be killed, then what…?
“Scyth, look!” Bomber shouted.
Turning, at first I saw the guys standing there with their jaws on the floor. Gyula was praying furiously to the Sleepers and crossing himself over and over. Patrick remembered that he was a priest and did the same. The brawny trogg chief fell to his knees.
I slowly turned to the Montosaurus, surprised by the descending quiet. My pets stopped attacking the beast god. I heard the measured wingbeats of the dragoness and the low buzz of the swamp needlers hovering in the air.
Strangely enough, the first thing I noticed was the green text in the Montosaurus’s profile. Only then did I realize that the beast god stood before me immobile, bowing to me.
A system window opened:
Attention! The Montosaurus, Ancient Reptile, has decided to become your battle avatar.
If you refuse, the Montosaurus, Ancient Reptile, will be disincarnated.
Accept? Decline?
Gifts like that don’t come every day. I agreed at once, and the beast god’s profile changed:
Montosaurus, level gog
Ancient Reptile.
Battle Avatar ofScyth.
“Hey, I dealt damage too!” Infect shouted. “Why is he Scyth’s pet?”
Your reputation with Montosaurus, Ancient Reptile, has increased: +5000.
Current reputation: adoration.
Unlocked achievement: Beast God Conqueror!
The beast god Montosaurus, Ancient Reptile, hid from the New Gods for centuries in a spatial pocket on the island of Kharinza, where he desti’oyed all life. The Montosaurus acknowledges only strength. Having lost a duel to you, he is rww your battle avatar!
Reward: Beast God Conqueror title, Beast God Conqueror perk (+10% reputation with beast gods).
“Ho-o-oly shit…” Irita approached the beast, stretched out a hand to pet him. The Montosaurus looked at me sidelong and lowered his head. “Good dino…”
“A shame you weren’t with us at Darant, chosen one of the Sleeping Gods and Conqueror of the Great Reptile,” Movarak said. “You would have found a way to take down Knock-Knock!”
Still pleasantly shocked, I opened my pet and mount window. Iggy, Storm, Crash and the nameless mechostrich had been joined by Ancient Reptile Montosaurus. The description said that the battle companion needed feeding and time to rest, tracked by a hunger and vigor bar. I gasped when I saw how much meat the reptile needed every day and turned to our supplier.
“Irita! I think we’re going to need our own farm. Or we won’t be able to feed this giant.” I raised my head, looked my new pet in the eyes. “I forbid you to eat the sentients that live in the fort. Got it, lizardbrain?”
The Montosaurus roared, but whether he agreed, or even understood, remained a mystery. However, judging by the fact that he wasn’t attacking my clanmates and the troggs, he wouldn’t touch any of my allies again.
“A farm is no problem,” Irita answered. “I’ll buy some cows, sheep and other animals. But where do we get a farmer?”
We returned from the jungle victorious conquerors of the terrible Montosaurus. He made for an uncomfortable mount, but I had a reputation to maintain, which meant I had to ride him back.
The news was already spreading through the fort—the troggs from the meadow beat their message out on their drums, telling the others. Everyone streamed out to meet us. Exulting workers, barking kobolds and roaring troggs mixed with the cultists of Morena, whose hands trembled. The dark ones always valued brute strength, and here they saw proof that they’d joined the strongest—those who could tame a beast god. And they didn’t even know about Orthokon.
‘Bring him to me, Initial!” Behemoth’s powerful voice boomed out over the fort.
Riding the Montosaurus down the street wouldn’t be the best idea. We’d have to rebuild the fort again after. So I mentally directed the dinosaur to go round, to approach the temple from the jungle. The square before the temple was packed with sentients. There wasn’t enough space for everyone, and many climbed onto the branches of the Tree Protector and the roofs of houses.
Behemoth descended the temple steps and approached us, stopping before the palisade. Space crumpled and the fence parted before the Sleeping God, who continued his march. With each step, Behemoth doubled in size until he towered over the Montosaurus.
“I warned you,” Behemoth admonished the beast god in a fatherly tone, stroking the top of his head. “No, reptile, your creator Leviathan is not yet here, but now that you are the battle avatar of my Initial, you have the protection of the Sleeping Gods.”
Both of them reduced in size until they were seven feet tall. The Montosaurus emitted a series of plaintive shrieks, and Behemoth answered:
“You will be this size only in ordinary circumstances. Look at it another way, reptile. You won’t need so much food!”
The beast growled something else.
“Worry not. In battle, your true size will return, Montosaurus.” The Sleeping God turned to me. “Take this, Initial. Now that he is your avatar, he has lost some of his divine being and is now mortal.”
“With no ability to resurrect?”
“His resurrection takes time. He must gain strength beyond the Barrier. That may mean a century, or… If you summon him after death, he will return, but at a young age.”
We’d done almost all we’d set out to do. All that remained was to convince the White Snake, but now I had one more ace up my sleeve for him.
*
First, two orange eyes appeared in the air around the size of small saucers. Their black vertical pupils hypnotized, and while I drowned in the abyss of the beast god’s eyes, his entire ghost-white body appeared.
There was an inaudible dialog between the snake and Yemi, at the end of which the First Priest of Apophis bowed low and disappeared
