The letter had warned him not to, but he didn’t trust that letter. Especially a letter designed to cause panic?
No, Kohra was having none of that. He was already unfriendly with the Whenvern, the Dragon God of Time who had abandoned him and left him to die. Kohra didn’t mind being a vague annoyance for the Goddess of Life either. Especially when the one who had saved Kohra from death was the Lord of Death himself.
But rather than just sit around and do nothing, Kohra wanted to see how… real that letter was. He wanted a confirmation that it was from Yisini. Arkadin would be able to tell him.
As always, he took the same path he always took to get to Arkadin’s home. It did have a name but Arkadin had never told him what this strange place was called. Kinigi or something like that? Kohra wasn’t sure.
But the moment he stepped though that doorway and into those strange plains, Kohra could tell there was something wrong.
The cosy little cottage at the top of the hill, the little house that the Lord of Death called home, was gone. In its place was nothing but smouldering ruins.
The rest of the landscape in comparison though looked… well. There were fresh trees growing. The grass was a rich green colour, rather than dry and brown and rotting. Many of the scattered bones and skulls were gone, replaced with fresh, flowering bushes.
Kohra hesitated, then decided to approach the cottage’s remains. Most of it had burnt away, but there were strange, tattered sheets of black, rubbery material lying around, each piece no larger than a sheet of paper. Occasionally, Kohra would spot a piece of yellow plating among the rubble.
Something had happened, but Kohra couldn’t work out what. Was there an explosion? A fire? What?
Before he could even attempt to answer any of those questions, Kohra felt a tap on his shoulder. He immediately summoned a glowing, blue blade, only to find himself wrapped up in vines.
“I like the fact that you completely and utterly ignored my letter…” Yisini hissed as she swished her hands around, making the vines twist around Kohra’s body. “I totally said to not come here any more.”
“What happened?” Kohra asked straight away. “You’re not-”
“I’m the Goddess of Life, you really think I’d actually harm you?” the Allbirther smiled as the blade in Kohra’s hand dissipated and the vines let go of him. “And to answer your other question? I have no idea either.”
Yisini slithered off. As she did so, the grass around her rejuvenated, and saplings started to grow from the freshly burned ground.
Not sure what to do, Kohra followed her.
“So why are you here?”
“These lands, this place, it was once kinda mine. Me and Arkadin were supposed to share it. Kinigi was supposed to be a place showing the true nature of the Cycle, the circle of life and death. Was a pretty nice place actually. But I got complacent and Arkadin got hungry. I was busy fertilizing the rest of the universe and kinda forgot about Kinigi. So Arkadin ate it and make it his own home. He didn’t have a home back then.”
“You’re… growing stuff again?” Kohra asked, looking around at the new vegetation. He had to admit, now that everything was starting to grow in, Kinigi looked far more inviting. Behind them, a large tree had already started to grow from the remains of Arkadin’s home. “Won’t Arkadin be annoyed at you for this?”
Yisini shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone off to do his job properly. Turning into the hungry grim reaper he was supposed to be.”
Kohra paused. “Why do you keep on mentioning hunger?”
“Because he’s hungry.” The Allbirther didn’t really have a good answer. “He was kinda always hungry. Just managed to keep it buried while he worked with the rest of us…” Yisini sighed loudly. “You know, we were pretty close to mellowing him out. Making Arkadin a respected god like the rest of us. Wish I knew what made him snap…”
The Goddess of Life stared at the sky. Normally, nothing could be seen past the clouds, but stars and galaxies were beginning to peak through the mist.
“You didn’t do this. Just so you know.” Yisini smiled again. “But don’t worry too much. This happens occasionally. As long as you stay away, the universe will be fine. Everything will carry on as normal.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am!” Yisini waved goodbye. “In the mean time, I have work to do. You run along now, like a good little boy…”