Strange Bedfellows

As she made her way deeper into the wood in a manner that could be misconstrued as stomping, given the way the earth quaked under her immense weight and the trees rattled from trunk to twig, Nithhewer pondered the fickleness of gods and humans alike. Even in these peace times of the World Anew, where all past strife had been laid to rest and death was but a distant memory, they found ways to manufacture conflict.

The Last War of Gods and Beasts was over and done with! They should be embracing this paradise in the spirit with which it was wrought: a paradise for all!

But the gods have ever been scornful of that which did not bend to their will. Humans then followed their lead and even took it a step further by hating anything they perceived as the slightest bit different, judging everyone and everything harshly, including each other. The smallest of grievances could spark the greatest outrage. While no longer moved to witch hunts and inciting violence in this world of rebirth, the social stigma remained if the public at large deemed you unwelcome in their community. It truly ruined the fresh start and easy living of paradise.

Nithhewer settled herself on the shores of a remote lake to sulk in solitude over the unfairness of her lot in life. She had not long lain there when she found herself with an unexpected visitor. A mass of fur came careening out of the treeline, resolving into the shape of a large, shaggy wolf. One that was familiar to Nithhewer.

“Hail, Changed-One! What a surprise to see you here,” she greeted.

A rumbling growl answered her. “A coincidence, I assure you. I would not seek out your company if we two were the last in all the world,” said Váli the Transformed.

“How cruel you are with your words, and to one who has done you no wrong!”

This was routine of their interactions, no matter that Nithhewer might wish otherwise. Of anyone who could sympathize with her situation Váli was the least inclined to do so.

Váli barked a humorless laugh as he staggered uncoordinated to the lake’s edge, where he crumpled in an ungainly heap. The transformation must have only just occurred, hence his taxed physical state. “The Great Wurm claims to have done no wrong!” he huffed breathlessly.

What insolence! Her tail thrashed, sending up a spray of water. “You are as rude and judgemental as the humans,” she said. Flightless though she might be, she was still a dragon, thank you very much. Nothing so lowly and lacking in majesty as a serpent. To be referred to as such was an insult, for certainly no mere serpent possessed the ability to breathe fire, nor were their scales stronger than steel and more lustrous than gold.

“I am a human,” he said, bristling with indignation.

“At this moment you are not,” she pointed out. Not unreasonably, seeing as Váli was currently very much wolf-shaped and not man-shaped.

“Away with you,” said man-turned-wolf grumbled. “I tire of this conversation.”

The dragon shifted her weight to settle more comfortably in the sand, but otherwise made no move to leave. “Need I remind you I was here first?” Nithhewer asked.

“And you are perfectly able to leave first,” Váli quipped back.

“Come now, is the companionship of one such as I truly so abysmal?” she asked, craning her neck to peer at him more closely. “As different as our circumstances are, and as often as you decry any similarity, there are things we indeed have in common. We both are villainized for things beyond our control.”

Váli mustered the energy to swipe at her nose, claws outstretched. “I fail to see anything I share with you, Corpse Eater.”

Nithhewer’s frustration spiked and she puffed out a small burst of fire, though she consciously aimed for the lake instead of her vexing acquaintance. The surface of the water bubbled and hissed in a pleasing manner and Nithhewer managed to reign back her temper. “One would think you would have better sense than to provoke a dragon,” she said at length.

“I do not fear you.”

“I think that you do. You show your humanity in the way you hate what you fear.”

“Better a human than a beast. In the end, it is the humans that always triumph and slay the monsters,” Váli said with a confidence that made Nithhewer snort.

This attitude was reflective of most humans, with all their arrogance and moral superiority. Yet in Váli’s case, the dragon knew his opinion was chiefly fueled by Váli’s hatred of himself.

Working her jaw to hold back another outburst, Nithhewer reached for the dregs of her patience and explained, “If I am a monster, then it is not by my choice. I had no more input in my nature before the Last War than you did. My role dictated that I be the devourer of the honorless dead, so that is what I did. Just as your role dictated that you be your brother’s killer, which you were.”

Váli bared his teeth in a snarl as he always did whenever the topic of his brother came up. “That may have been your role back then,” he conceded, “but that does not excuse the recent killings.”

Here was the crux of Nithhewer’s trouble with the supposed paradise of the World Anew. “This is a deathless world, not a hungerless one,” she said, a hint of a hiss underscoring her words. “And without the corpses of the unrighteous to feast upon and no longer having access to the Tree of Life, whatever else would you have me do? Starve in perpetuity? I cannot change the diet my body was built for. Likewise, you cannot change your form at will.”

The dragon stretched out to her full length to better soak in the sun cheerfully beaming down from above, an absolute picture of relaxation. “Besides,” she added when Váli had nothing to say, “the people I eat come back no worse for wear.” Her tone was flippant, though in truth she felt bad about it. Eating heinous criminals for their punishment was different from eating innocents who had the misfortune of being in the vicinity.

If it weren’t for the weight of his gaze Nithhewer would think Váli to have fallen asleep. As it was, she knew what he was waiting for, even if his silence was uncharacteristic. Perhaps he was especially tired today. “Mayhaps you should give it a try,” she began faux-casually. “In this form at least it may be that you, too, would enjoy the taste of human flesh.”

A thunderous yowl ripped from Váli’s throat. Enraged by the suggestion, he threw himself into motion, lunging straight for her eyes, where she had no scales for protection. It was a good plan in theory, but poorly executed. In his weakened state he stood no chance.

Her teeth flashed as she caught him mid-air. Her great maw snapped shut, and she swallowed him down whole. It was over as quickly as it had begun, though the ringing silence in the aftermath made it seem longer. It took some time for the background noise of buzzing insects and chirping birds to resume.

Nithhewer huffed and clambered to her feet. It was time to move on.

The changeling would be returned to life in a few days time, same as the rest of her meals. And, all protests to the contrary, he would eventually find his way back to her in wolf form. For who else could commiserate with his self-hatred and indulge his desire for punishment? Who else could accept all his faults and still desire his friendship?

With a heavy sigh the lonely dragon wandered off in search of a temporary home once more.