I could tell I had unsettled all three High Emperors, but Flowing Silver recovered smartly. “AND THIS WOULD AFFECT HUMANS NOT AT ALL. AFTER ALL, YOUR WEAKEST ARE STILL SAPIENT, THOUGH THEY LACK USE OF MAGIC ENTIRELY...”
“Exactly, Your Majesty. The power to use Mana is, for the Beasts, an unseen dependency on that power, especially when it comes to your physical bodies. You simply cannot live without it. The Human Tribe would be thrown off their stride if Mana were to evaporate, but we would adapt quickly enough. The wielding of Mana is not necessary for us to prosper.”
“COULD THE EVOLUTION OF HUMANS THEN BE A SIGN?” The Sea Emperor rumbled cautiously. “A TRIBE BORN WITHOUT NEED OF MANA, IN CASE THE MANA LEAVES?”
“I do not have the experience of the Elders here. There might well have been Tribes born who could not naturally wield magic in the past, but in a world of Mana, that is a crippling weakness, not a feature.
“The fact is that Humans have been born without innate power to wield Magic, but can still learn to do so. Thus, they have a foot in both worlds. From the perspective of the world, it is a powerful survival trait.”
“AND IN THE OTHER WORLDS THE NETHERLORDS DRAW STRENGTH FROM, THAT MAY WELL BE THE SITUATION,” Flowing Silver mused aloud. “INDEED, WOULD NOT THE FACT THAT THERE ARE SO MANY GREAT BEASTS WIELDING SUCH POWER BE NEW AND NOVEL TO THEM, IF THEY HAIL FROM SUCH WORLDS?”
“Indeed. They would look at such worlds as ours like vast game preserves to have fun hunting in. The idea that such Great Beasts are truly their equals would no more occur to them than Humans being equals would occur to most Great Beasts. The fact such Beasts are intelligent just makes them better prey and pets to be subdued, not equals.
“Look at how they recruit Human mages and favor them so. Indeed, they will take mages directly into their service in their own Realms. Being gifted with such potential power and control of Mana seems to be a highly valued thing among them.
“In contrast, look at the lower rungs of their servants. They have little to no magical power, in many cases, merely powerful physical forms, despite their potential intelligence. There is a clear bias towards magical power in their ranks, with physical power being an afterthought.”
All three High Emperors growled despite themselves, but it didn’t last. The other side had Realm Lords, and had the power to be as arrogant as they liked. Having that turned on them was a novel feeling for the Dragons, at least.
“AND YET, THEIR MIGHTY HAVE SIZE,” The Ice Emperor pointed out coldly. “THUS, WHATEVER MATTER OF MAGIC THEY WIELD, IT APPEARS TO FOLLOW THE PATH OF GREAT BEASTS MORE THAN THE PATH OF HEALER FAE.”
We all agreed to that. “Perhaps an additional novelty, watching Great Beasts follow their path to power, while us Humans employ a completely new one?” I hazarded. “In any event, it is plain that the path to Realm Lord is very different for the Humans of this world than it is any other Great Beasts.”
That perked them all up. “WHAT WOULD BE THE KEY TO BECOMING A REALM LORD, THEN?” The Ice Emperor spoke up gravely. “IT HAS ELUDED ALL BEASTS UPON THIS WORLD...”
“AND THERE IS ONLY THE BEAST LORD IN MY NATIVE REALM,” Flowing Silver added curiously.
“Yes,” I nodded with a sigh, looking to Flowing Silver. “And what else is the biggest difference between the Beast Realm and the Mortal Realm, Your Majesty?”
The Dragons looked to the Fox, who stared at me for a long, quiet moment. “THERE ARE NO HUMANS ALLOWED UPON THE BEAST REALM...” He finally stated, and the Dragons’ eyes widened.
“And do you know one of the key things that Humans have that can be integral to elevation to true power, Your Majesty?” I asked softly. “Something that is rather alien to almost all Beasts?”
He turned His head, looking, I knew, in the direction of the Pyramid there, and its ultimate purpose. “FAITH,” He finally said quietly. “HUMANS READILY GENERATE AND ENDOW FAITH UPON THAT WHICH THEY BELIEVE IN.”
“And thus, with no mortals, and no sources of Faith in the Beast Realm...” I led Him on.
Flowing Silver High Emperor’s pale blue eyes closed as He exhaled. “THERE CAN BE NO NEW REALM LORDS, WHO MIGHT RISE AND CHALLENGE THE BEAST LORD. THIS REALM IS HIS AND HIS ALONE.”
There was a spark deep in His light blue eyes again as that realization crystallized within Him. He looked up and around at things the Dragons could not see, and realized something.
That restriction did not exist in the Broom Closet...
“YOU PLANNED FOR THIS...” Flowing Silver murmured, His blue eyes popping wide with delight at discovering He had been misled and tricked.
“If Heaven arrives to contest Sin and Axiom here, they will need a champion who can perform at the realm of the Divine,” I agreed quietly. “Such a champion should also need a Realm of their own they can grow, a sign and place that others can believe in.
“His Imperial Majesty is clever, open-minded, not unduly proud, and for all His sly wit and willingness to leave things alone, He is most Aware of everything going on and willing to act both blatantly and subtly as He feels He should to rectify matters, to the point of willingly conversing with High Emperors of the Mortal Realm to stave off the danger to the Beast Realm He knows exists here, and shamelessly taking advantage of the Humans who are such a nuisance and danger to the native Beasts here.
“His Majesty may have turned a blind eye to it as foolishness, but of the Humans who dwell in the Broom Closet? There are many who Believe in You.”
It wasn’t unexpected, actually, and Reynard was actually the source of much of it, being an obviously Celestial Golden Winged Fox, and thus a servant of the Heaven He espoused. A non-hostile High Emperor, lording it over a whole court of non-hostile Low and True Emperors here, in this fantastic realm hundreds of thousands of Humans were now living in?
It was totally natural that some of them treated Him like a god. The fact He could hear and feel their thoughts and desires, and occasionally even responded subtly to them in amusement, only solidified what was going on.
They didn’t have a Church to Him yet, and certainly nothing like a creed, but the fact was Flowing Silver was already believed to be a Servant of Heaven sent to help them, and what Humans Believed... tended to come true, in a magical world.
I turned to the rather disbelieving Dragon High Emperors, who had naturally spurned Humans as the young and rather irrelevant Tribe that we were, certainly a bad influence upon the world. “I would turn the thoughts of Your Majesties to the Totem Beasts, the great protectors of Humanity when our Tribe was young, and before the revolt against them pushed forward by the Netherworld and Nirvana. The Totem Beasts could even return from the dead with the power of the faith and belief of the Humans they protected... a power no other Tribe could endow upon another.
“The High Emperors are ancient and mighty, and yet, they are limited by the world we live upon. You believe not in gods or the Divine, for you have seen no such things, and you believe in that which you can touch, feel, and sense.
“The existence of the Netherworld and Nirvana are clear declarations that the universe is far vaster than our world, and that there are Entities greater than we. Faith and Belief have power here, but of the Tribes of the Mortal Realm, only Humans readily generate and confer it upon others.
“The Great Beasts of the Mortal Realm are alienated and distant from Humans. The Lords of the Netherworld and Nirvana directly turn to them for power, directly solicit their worship, and their minions and servants are derived from mortals, as they themselves seem to have risen from Mortal origins.
“The Nether and Nirvanan Lords are High Lords, and the Mortal Realm has nary a one.”
The two Dragon High Emperors trembled despite themselves. “IF THIS FAITH IS THEIR GOAL... IT EXPLAINS MUCH...” The Sea Emperor realized. “THEY BROUGHT DOWN THE TOTEM BEASTS. THEY ESTABLISHED RELIGIONS AND PHILOSOPHIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, AND WOVE THOSE BELIEFS INTO ALL OF THE HUMAN TRIBE.
“IF THIS FAITH IS THE POWER THEY CRAVE, THEN TRULY BEASTS HAVE LITTLE TO OFFER THEM. THEY HAVE BEEN STEALING THE FAITH OF HUMANS, AND MAKING CERTAIN THAT THE GREAT BEASTS CANNOT RISE TO HIGH LORD AND BE A THREAT TO THEM...”
“I am not certain, but I believe that Faith is the key to rising to Realm Lord. They have fanned animosity between Humans and Beasts, and made certain that the High Emperors would never seek such from Humans, all the while expanding their grip on this world and distracting the Emperors with many conflicts.
“After so many thousands of years, and most recently The Great Flood, there is no chance of the Mortal Realm’s High Emperors earning the Faith and Belief of Humans.”
The two Dragons looked at Flowing Silver High Emperor with complicated gazes, and He looked at me with lolling tongue.
“CLEVER LITTLE HUMAN,” He murmured with a chuckle. “I CAN DO WHAT THE DRAGONS CANNOT, AS I COME FROM BEYOND THEIR MACHINATIONS...”
“I believe that with enough Faith, Your Majesty will eventually have no trouble breaching the Veil to the Mortal Plane... though it might mean leaving Your domain in the Beast Plane behind, as I think not that the Beast Lord will want a High Emperor accumulating Faith to remain in His Realm.”
“AND THUS GROWS THE BROOM CLOSET, THAT IT MIGHT BE LARGE ENOUGH TO SATISFY AT LEAST A MINOR DOMAIN FOR ME...” Flowing Silver High Emperor barked with a laugh.
“THE... BROOM CLOSET?” asked The Sea Emperor cautiously.
“WHEN HEALER FAE SLEW THE LITTLE PHARAOH IN THE LAND CALLED AFRICA, SHE STOLE HIS DEMIPLANE, ANCHORED IT TO ONE OF HER PYRAMIDS, AND HAS BEEN GROWING IT BY EXPANDING THE PYRAMID. SHE SPECIFICALLY SET IT BETWEEN THE MORTAL REALM AND THE BEAST PLANE SO THAT I AND OTHER EMPERORS MIGHT BE ABLE TO ENTER IT AND CONVERSE. IT IS LIKE SO.”
Flowing Silver’s Psychic power rippled about us, and the world seemed to change.
The two Dragon High Emperors reared up high immediately, looking around in astonishment and wonder at the immense size of the place. No detail was spared, this was a massive illusion that could be investigated and sensed with Awareness, and both High Emperors were more than capable of taking in the entire eighty-mile radius without any difficulty.
From the floating islands in the sky occupied by dozens of powerful Avians, Whales transitioning through the waterway between one Portal and another, Humans busily working at growing cities around the Portal points, gardens of rare and powerful Plants springing up while the inner areas were occupied by constantly growing wilderness and mountains occupied happily by Great Beasts, while below ground more and more levels of such territory were being put into place by millions of Ants working constantly and tirelessly, transferring stone from a rock the size of a small continent far out in the void...
The sight of it all reduced them to silence, especially when they could look up past the clouds and islands and see the glorious alien sky of the Beast Realm above, dissolving into the swirl of the Aether between worlds here and there... and the long, long line of constant power being pulled out of that void into a massive Pyramid over two thousand feet tall and still growing.
This was the Demesne of Me. It rang in the air and the stone, trembled in the magic and the light. And through me, it was the domain of Flowing Silver High Emperor, My Emperor.
Almost as one, the two Dragons turned to look at me, and I looked serenely back.