《The Dawn of the Renewal》 Prologue: The First Sign. Waiting for the manager to let us out after the store is closed always sucks. They can take forever counting the day¡¯s receipts and preparing the deposit for the next day. Or whatever else they have to do back in the office to finish the business day. Once everyone else finishes with their shift. You just have to wait until the managers get done. It really sucks tonight because I¡¯m feeling very warm. Sometimes you work up a sweat and it takes a while to cool down. ¡°You okay Eddie? You¡¯re looking kind of sweaty.¡± asked Tina ¡°Yeah, just was rushing while straightening that last aisle. I was so close and wanted to finish. Didn¡¯t want to get stuck in here tonight though,¡± ¡°Here comes Carla. She¡¯ll let us out soon enough.¡± Soon as the door opened. We all virtually ran out. The cool night air hit my face and felt so wonderful. I lit my cigarette and walked over to Tina in the lot while she waited for Carla to finish locking the door. ¡°Eddie, you¡¯re smoking.¡± ¡°Well yeah, that¡¯s what the cigarette¡¯s for.¡± ¡°No, I mean your body is smoking! Look at your shoulders!¡± At that moment the world became fire. Blue-white flames stealing across my vision. The heat burning through me down to my bones. My every molecule coming apart. Then the world was smaller. Everyone looked so tiny. Being fairly tall, I occasionally felt like a giant around really short people. This wasn¡¯t anything like that. Everyone was as short as a toddler next to me. Fire consumed me once again. Once it faded. My world returned to normal. Or so I thought. ****** The first sign that something was different was when naturalists and hunters started finding new and unusual species that resembled mythical and fantasy creatures. Officer Micheal Dennison had been with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for decades. A tall suntanned man, his torso was just beginning to show a touch of the middle aged spread. He was currently live trapping small game for tagging and population survey outside of Geneva. ¡°Doctor McCarty, I just found an unusual animal while trapping. I need you to examine it so we can figure out what exactly is going on. I¡¯m hoping it wasn¡¯t caused by some sort of small ecological disaster. Sure, I can bring it in tomorrow.¡± As usual it was next to impossible to find somewhere to park on the Cornell Campus. After half an hour of driving around in circles Mike finally found a spot reasonably close to the Veterinary Hospital. Reaching into the back of his patrol SUV he picked up a medium size pet carrier. Upon entering the building he was recognized by the receptionist and ushered into an examination room. He set the carrier on the examination table, and only had to wait a couple of minutes before Doctor McCarty entered. She was a short businesslike black woman with a kind smile. ¡°Take a look in that carrier Doc, and tell me what you see.¡± ¡°I told you to call me Jen, Mike. You know I hate being called Doc.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why I do it.¡± he teased. Peering in through the grate at the front. Doctor McCarty jumped back with a jerk. ¡°What the hell! That looks like a jackalope. Those aren¡¯t real.¡± ¡°Not outside of creative taxidermy.¡± Pulling on a pair of examination gloves with a snap. Jen reached carefully into the crate and gently pulled the jackalope out. Setting it down on the table, she examined it from antler to soft tail. ¡°Outside of the head, the anatomy is the same as any other rabbit I¡¯ve examined. Rabbits are pretty well muscled in their legs. So they¡¯re similar to brawnier individuals I¡¯ve treated. At first I thought the antlers were some kind of surgical implant. Like the horns body modification addicts get implanted in their foreheads. However, there¡¯s absolutely no sign of scarring. The skull case seems to be a little thicker to support his antlers.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Where the hell did a real jackalope come from?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but the other day one of my colleagues from Tennessee posted a picture of an Unicorn that a farmer had found with his herd of horses. I thought it was a joke¡­¡± ****** The first sign that things had changed. Was the magic. I was so thirsty. Miss Jacobs wouldn¡¯t let me go get a drink from the water fountain. She said I was just being disruptive and wanted to cause a scene. My throat was so dry. It felt so scratchy. I know I¡¯d asked to go to the potty or get a drink to just get out of my chair before. I really really needed a drink this time. I pretended that my hand was a cup and started sipping at it. The goodest tasting water I¡¯d ever had floweded into my mouth. I did it again. More yummy water. I wondered how much water I could get and started pouring it out of my hand onto the floor. It was like when I splashed in the bathtub. All the water on the floor¡­ Uh oh. Mommy yells at me when I get the floor wet like this. ¡°Jason, where did you get that water from!?¡± yelled Miss Jacobs She ran over to my desk. ¡°It¡¯s like you poured out a whole bucket of water back here.¡± she scolded. ¡°I made the water.¡± I telled her. ¡°You mean you peed?¡± ¡°No, I made the water. See.¡± I spilled lots and lots of water on the floor. My hand had lots and lots more too. Miss Jacobs looked like she ate a worm, walked away, and called the principal to our room. ****** The first sign that the world would never be the same. Was the Changelings. President Robert Bennett was giving his 3rd State of the Nation address. His balding white hair and visible wrinkles a stark contrast to his youthful energy. His political opponents always created a nothing-burger about his age. This always failed, because simply, their alternative was only 3 years younger than President Bennett. Thanks to a trick of demographics. The entire government had a problem with elderly men and women still holding on to power long past their time. ¡°In the coming year we will be focusing on¡­¡± To everyone¡¯s horror. President Bennett¡¯s eyes lost their focus. His visage became blank and lost. Ten, twenty, thirty seconds, a full minute passed. His younger wife (she was only in her 60s) shook him in a vague hope of pulling him out of it. He nodded his head when he felt his wife¡¯s touch. ¡°As I was saying. In the coming year we will be focusing on the economy.¡± President Bennett finally continued. At that point he collapsed like the proverbial puppet with it¡¯s strings cut. Vice President Keisha Thompson intercepted his limp form before he fell to the carpet behind the dais. Secret Service agents and EMTS rushed to their side. ¡°He¡¯s okay. No obvious reason for loss of consciousness!¡± yelled the senior EMT. President Bennett was wheeled away to safety on a gurney. For the next week footage of the ambulance pulling away from the capital dominated all news coverage. White House Spokesmen would only say that the president was in great condition, and that there was nothing to worry about. When pressed they refused to provide any details. Especially a diagnosis. On the one week anniversary of President Bennett¡¯s collapse. The White House Press Secretary announced that the President would be holding a press conference later that evening. The White House Briefing Room was predictably packed to the brim with reporters from every credentialed news agency in the world. Carrie Chupek, the White House Press Secretary entered followed by two men. The gathered staff recognized the White House Physician, but the second man was a mystery. There was a strong resemblance to President Bennett¡¯s middle aged sons. However, this man looked to be in his late 20s. With shiny black hair, slim features, and long pointed ears. Secretary Chupek took her place and began speaking. ¡°This is going to be an unbelievable announcement for many of those attending today. I¡¯m not even going to attempt to explain things. I¡¯m just going to hand things over to Dr. Groff.¡± Taking Secretary Chupek¡¯s place behind the podium. White House Physician Dr. Groff wiped his forehead. Before nervously beginning to speak. ¡°In the last week. President Barrett has been under constant supervision of medical staff. There is literally no known medical explanation for what has happened.¡± Dr. Groff paused and took a deep breath. ¡°My staff watched as President Barrett underwent a metamorphosis. Signs of aging seemed to reverse before our very eyes. Bones and cartilage reshaped themselves. In an effort to find an answer genetic samples were taken and compared with older samples from the President. His DNA was unchanged. Samples were also taken from his relatives. Comparisons were done, and the results were consistent with our expectations. We have absolutely no idea why President Barrett now resembles an Elf from fantasy fiction. Including a young and healthy appearance. Further investigation revealed that this phenomenon, for lack of a better word, has been appearing around the world. With only the mythological or fantastic creatures represented as the final result being the variant in the phenomena. Since President Barrett¡¯s health is now actually better than it was when he took office. It was decided that he should return to duty. I will now attest that this man is President Barrett. No matter how changed his appearance.¡± As Dr. Groff stepped aside and the rejuvenated President Barrett took the podium. A deafening silence filled the Press Room. The First Change Pulling into my driveway. I was still feeling discombobulated. I took a few minutes to check my phone and take a few deep breaths. Which helped somewhat, but barely. I needed to go in before my wife started to worry, and came out to check on me. She always hates it when I don¡¯t come in and let her know I am home as soon as possible. Steeling myself for more social interaction, after being drained by people at work. I finally exited the car and headed into the house. Built around the turn of the last century. It was modestly sized and just perfect for the two of us. Although, we had stuffed it full of collectibles. Graphic Novels, German style board games, Action Figures, and Friendship Bears. ¡°Husband! You¡¯re home!¡± Nikki called from the kitchen. ¡°Are you working on dinner?¡± I asked while walking into the room with her. Pulling an enameled pot out of the the oven, and muttering to herself about it just needing to cool for a little bit. She looked up at me, and a frown pinched the corners of her mouth. ¡°I thought you were working tonight. I saw your schedule and you were supposed to be on shift today.¡± she stated with uncharacteristic suspicion in her tone. ¡°What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t go anywhere but work. I came straight home right after. I did spend a couple of minutes talking with Carla and Tina , but you¡¯re used to me doing that¡± ¡°You expect me to believe that when you obviously dyed your hair wherever you were?¡± ¡°Dyed my hair? I only do that for job interviews, and I haven¡¯t had one for months. It should be gray right now.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything to your hair? Then why is it brown?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not joking? My hair looks different?¡± I pulled out my phone and activated the selfie camera. I looked like I was in my mid-twenties again. Nearly fifteen years younger than my actual age. My hair was brown with a reddish tint to it, and my tightly trimmed beard was dark red again. No trace of gray anywhere to be found. Or any other signs of aging for that matter. ¡°The fuck!¡± To say that I was stunned would be understatement at the level of calling a twenty car pileup a minor whoopsie. I was so shocked that I literally blue screened like an old computer. ¡°Eddie. Eddie! Eddie!?¡± ¡°Shit, I think I know what happened.¡± I spent several minutes explaining about my weird moment outside of work. Finally, I decided that it would be easier to just show her. ¡°Follow me outside, Beautiful.¡± We lived on a side street so I knew that there wouldn¡¯t be any traffic. Walking into the street out front of our house. I sat down in the center and closed my eyes. ¡°Stay in our yard. I don¡¯t want anything to happen to you, Sweetheart.¡± Searching for the feeling of fire, flames, and strength I¡¯d felt the first time. I focused deeply. ¡°What the hell are you doing, Honey?¡± Nikki nervously asked as the smell of smoke came back. Finding what felt like a deep well of magma pounding through the earth at he center of my core. I visualized that lava like sensation filling my being. The blaze consumed me and grew into a heat-less conflagration. Nikki later told that it lit the street as brightly as the midday sun. The heat inside faded away until it was just the deep foundation of magma again. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Opening my eyes . I realized that my nose was about to be caught on an electrical wire. Cautiously pulling my neck back. I felt something snag right above my head. A quick tug and branches descended from a nearby tree. Thank goodness I¡¯d asked Nikki to stay back. The first time had been over too soon for me to check myself over. I was sheathed in dark greenish scales. The indescribable sensation between my shoulder blades must have related to the wings erupting behind me. My hands had grown sharp stubby claws in place of my fingernails, but were still clearly hands. All eight fingers and two thumbs accounted for. Wait¡­ Eight fingers? I¡¯d lost my right ring finger in a childhood accident. In my previous daze I hadn¡¯t even realized that it had regrown. Flexing my hand caused my claws to extend. So they were retractable like a cat¡¯s claws. Standing up I found that my balance was helped by a whip-like tail. Worried I was now mute. I cleared my throat and searched for my voice. ¡°Sweetheart, can you take a picture of this?¡± Not getting an answer. I turned my attention to Nikki, and she was frozen in shock. Clearly having a panic attack. Releasing the volcano within my soul. I returned to my original body. Scooping Nikki into a tight hug. I held her until the tension relaxed from her muscles and she was able to breathe evenly once more. ¡°How, what, why!?¡± Nikki exclaimed ¡°I have absolutely no idea. That¡¯s the first time I did that on purpose.¡± ¡°Your clothes and stuff. They just vanished. Where the hell did they go?¡± ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°You need to call your doctor and make an appointment tomorrow.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll have any more of an explanation than I do. This feels a little outside of known medical science.¡± With my arm around her shoulder and gently plying her with reassurances. I led her back inside our home. As I closed the door behind us. I saw a cop car cruise down the street. Nothing unusual for them to find now. ¡°So what did you make for dinner Sweetheart?¡± I asked following her into the kitchen. ****** ¡°Bzzt, Bzzt, Bzzt.¡± Semi-conscious. I hit the snooze button. Insomnia kept me up half the night musing about my new draconic nature. Long past puberty, I wasn¡¯t exactly expecting any sudden body changes. My bladder abruptly told me that it had done it¡¯s job while I slept. Focusing on my most pressing need. I wandered down the hall to remedy that particular need. Coming back. I realized that my wife¡¯s ears had migrated to the top of her head, and were now shaped like a cat¡¯s. They were a pleasant tan color that coordinated with her dark brown hair. ¡°Nikki, Nikki, wake up. It wasn¡¯t just me.¡± Nikki opened her bright blue eyes. Reminding me of a college friend¡¯s eyes. They now had slit pupils. He had trouble seeing because of the slits, and I hoped that she was still able to see properly. ¡°Sweetheart, go to the bathroom and look in the mirror.¡± ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong?¡± I tugged on one of her ears. She slowly reached her own hand up and found her metamorphed ears. Jumping out of bed. Nikki ran to the bathroom. My eyes having been drawn in by her new catlike tail. I watched as she exited the room. A feline or dancer like grace in her distinctively changed stride. ****** The 8 pm prime time news cast for the cable news network NDC began with the host Christopher Maddow. A serious looking bespectacled blond man. Gazing resolutely into the camera. ¡°On a normal night we would be talking about the President¡¯s speech yesterday and unprecedented transformation. We will still be talking about that later in this hour. However, another story has completely knocked that out of the top spot tonight. In today¡¯s top story. God is real, and making personal appearances. Not just the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim god. But all gods and demigods, saints, devils, and various mythological figures. To begin with Sun Wukong the Monkey king appeared behind Chinese President Liu while the President was making a televised speech, and proceeded to make ¡°funny faces¡± behind his back. We¡¯ve received reports that Sun Wukong is now in Los Angeles and is engaged in a prank war with Loki, Anansi, and Coyote. All of the stars on the walk of fame are now dedicated to Loki. Anansi has appropriated the home of tech billionaire Will Bates and is holding a giant banquet for all of the cities homeless. No word yet on the actions of Coyote and Sun Wukong. Zeus, Lugh Silverhand, Odin, Thor, and Bacchus are holding a drinking contest at the Guinness brewery in Dublin, Ireland. So far millions of dollars of product have been consumed. Jesus appeared in person this Sunday in Prosperity Gospel pastor Lowell Boorsteen¡¯s Megachurch. To personally denounce Pastor Boorsteen for using the name of God in order to raise money for his personal enrichment. Joining me now are my friends and colleagues to discuss the implications of these religious figures in the flesh.¡± Friggin Pixies. My wife¡¯s angry shout jolted me out of the book that I was reading. She had returned from the bathroom some time ago. After complaining about how no matter what was happening to us. There were still bills to pay. Nikki had begun to prepare for work. Having reached the point where she was ready to pick out her outfit for the day. ¡°I can¡¯t wear any of my underwear, and all of my pants are a problem too,¡± she wailed. Examining her closely. Her tall zaftig figure hadn¡¯t changed markedly. Although there was a greater sense of strength and grace to her stance. ¡°Nothing fits? How is that possible.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my tail. My tail keeps my panties from fitting properly, and I don¡¯t even want to talk about what it felt like to put my tail down my pants leg. I wasn¡¯t even able to put them on until I tried that. Since my tail sticks out of my tail-bone, and that¡¯s pretty far down my ass,¡± she complained. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea. Give me your most worn out pair of panties.¡± Leaving the bedroom room for the craft room. I returned to the bedroom with my hand sewing basket. I took her panties and cut a slit where I estimated her tail would fall. Curling the fabric slightly. I quickly sewed some stitches to reinforce the hole. Sliding them on, a look of relief crossed Nikki¡¯s face. ¡°With these on I can probably get away with wearing a dress or skirt. Thank you Honey.¡± ****** My supervisor called me over as I walked into work for the night. ¡°Eddie, go clock in. We have a job that you need to take care of, and it¡¯s going to take a while.¡± ¡°Crap, what the hell is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not even going to tell you what it is, but your unique situation means that you¡¯re probably the only one who can handle it?¡± ¡°Wait, is this because I¡¯m a dragon?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know how to answer that. I¡¯ll meet you out back once you get clocked in though.¡± Hurrying back to the locker room I put my 2 liter away in my locker. Grabbing my vest and slamming my locker shut. I ran to the back room. Yelling for Jerry once I passed through the double doors. He called me back to where we Located (ask your Retail employee friends about this) the overstock. Hearing a giggle. Something buzzed my head. Looking up I saw a six inch humanoid figure with crystalline insectoid wings. Was it a Faerie? No wait, Faerie was another world linked to this one, and everything from that world was a Faerie. At least that¡¯s what the news had been saying. This was properly called a Pixie, maybe. It dived again, and I swatted it away. Flying unstably. It chittered angrily at me. Several dozen more Pixies flew towards me. Emerging from the most unlikely places. How did one even fit in that pair of children¡¯s shoes? Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.Some long buried instinct told me exactly what I needed to do with these creatures. Concentrating I called on just a small portion of my power. I grew half a foot taller than my usual six foot two and occasional blue or green scales dotted my skin. Luckily my clothes seemed to adapt to my body whenever I called upon my abilities. Drawing in a deep breath. I prepared myself. ¡°Stop it now!¡± I shouted Pixies started dropping to the floor from shock. Quickly shaking themselves off they lined up in front of me like preschoolers. From the corner of my eye. I noticed Jerry was staring at me in stunned silence. ¡°Get out of this building and never come back.¡± The Pixies looked like a row of bobble heads from how quickly they nodded yes. Which surprised me since I had heard that they were only as intelligent as dogs. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to get rid of them. We just thought that they might find you scary and leave you alone.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed? You have a slightly menacing aura around you since your change. Okay, now let¡¯s get to what I pulled you back here for. I need you to sort out all of the boxes that the Fairies broke into and ate. Set them on this Four High to get Delocated and Damaged out. Be sure to put the intact boxes back in the right location. We don¡¯t need anything Located wrong.¡± Getting right to work. I let my mind wander while I performed my rote task. ****** Working 16 hours shifts was definitely leaving him exhausted. The fact that older doctors acted like there was some glory to half killing yourself when you first started practicing. Seemed like a generational relic to him. Getting enough sleep and having the best judgment for your patients made more sense. Doctors needed a real union, an organization that cared more about the well being of health care workers more than industry profits. Mused the young resident as he entered the Emergency Room. ¡°You look like death warmed over tonight, Doctor Jameson.¡± Quipped the Nursing Supervisor. Whose name David was still struggling to learn. ¡°Thank you,¡± he paused and surreptitiously glanced down at the man¡¯s name tag, ¡°Ivan. You don¡¯t look much better.¡± ¡°Fucking budget cuts. They think we can squeak by with half the staff we had last week. ¡®Oh, the Pandemic is over, we don¡¯t have the extra funding we used to.¡¯ Bullshit. They just wanted more money.¡± ¡°Be careful that admini¡­¡± David¡¯s formulaic reply was cut off as something opened up in his soul at that moment. Sensations of pain, anger, confusion, loss, and agony overwhelmed him. Head swimming with vertigo. He instinctively reached out and grabbed onto Ivan, as he began to collapse. With Ivan¡¯s help. He managed to fall to his knees, instead of flat on the floor. In an effort to focus David muttered his personal motto. A bit of bad Latin doggerel he¡¯d heard overheard somewhere in college. ¡°Asclepius, sana nos omnes.¡± At that moment. Doctor David Jameson began to glow from within with an indescribable light. That was somehow both white, and pulsating with the colors of the rainbow at the same time. Impossibly, the light passed through walls, ceilings, and floors. Spreading outward in a sphere. Cutting off with as little warning as it had first appeared. Leaving David drained as though he¡¯d just run a marathon, or swum across the English Channel. He felt Ivan and another nurse lifting him as his consciousness faded to black. It wasn¡¯t until much later that David would find that miraculous recoveries throughout the hospital, neighborhood, and even passing vehicles coincided with his ¡°Awakening.¡± Thankfully, his collapse would not be connected to the miracle until much later. When many more people with a gift of healing magic were active. That Damn Elf Tradition, it¡¯s been called peer pressure from dead people. Traditions continue long after the knowledge on why they were started fades from memory. Get married in June so Juno the Goddess of Marriage (better known by her Greek name Hera) will bless your union. Putting candles on a cake and blowing them out as an offering to the Goddess Artemis. It¡¯s bad luck to find a bean in your bread on Christmas. Since now you¡¯re the Corn King, and lost the world¡¯s worst lottery. It¡¯s seven years of bad luck to break a mirror, because mirrors are expensive and it will take at least that long to pay for a new one. Some traditions though. Some are based in cold hard experience. It¡¯s good luck to have a horseshoe over your door. It¡¯s good luck to leave bread and milk out for the little folk. Or, if you want to phrase it more bluntly. Smack a piece of iron on your house so the vicious fairies can¡¯t get in, and bribe them to leave the rest of your homestead alone. Dangers long forgotten since the Doors closed. Closed in self defense. Isolating a cold magic starved world that was draining the life from the Lands Beyond the Shores We Know. Doors that were blown open in the recent floods of power. ****** ¡°I thought you hated moving the damn Christmas Elf?¡± ¡°I do. Thank you for dealing with it Sweetums.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t touched it. I thought it was you.¡± ¡°Must be one of the kids. Probably Jessie, she¡¯s old enough to know that it¡¯s just a fun little game.¡± As the big ones walked away, tricked yet again by his illusion. The gremlin couldn¡¯t believe his luck at finding body coverings to replace the nasty rags he¡¯d been wearing for the last decade. He¡¯d stripped them off of a strange poppet. As long as the big ones continued to believe that he was the ugly doll. He could stay in this warm den that had lots to eat. These big ones were too dumb to ward against his tribe with the nasty cold evil metal. Darkness swept through the room, except for the tree with the odd lights tangled in its branches. Brightly colored boxes nestled under the tree. The gremlin had opened one a few days prior, and one of the immature big ones had been punished for it. The bogey¡¯s mouth watering at thoughts of the small big one. A decision was reached. The following day he would go fetch the rest of his tribe. He knew from past experience, that if they lured the young one away. They would be able to feast for days. The females would grant him their favors in recognition of his achievement. Maybe he could get one of them to return to this den and reside with him in its nooks and crannies. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.The gremlin had seen tasty treats placed in socks, and were now sitting under the bedecked tree. Jumping off of the shelf that he had been resting on when the big ones spotted him. Scurrying towards the socks. A loud thump from the upper area of the house startling the invader. He froze in place and prepared to cloud the mortals minds yet again. When no big ones descended from their sleeping nests on the upper floor. A wave of relief swept through the pest¡¯s muscles. There were no obstacles blocking himself from his tasty treats. Feeling a sudden presence behind him the boggart spun around and looked up. ¡°Another one of you little pests. Clearly the people of this age need to be instructed on how to keep you nasty little things out.¡± Santa Claus muttered to himself as he grabbed the repugnant dark fae. ¡°Andrew, Meredith, Jessica, Joseph, Angelica! You need to come down here right now.¡± Santa bellowed. ¡°What the flaming fuck¡± came the equally loud reply from upstairs. A baseball bat in his hand. Andy slowly descended the stairs. Hoping it was just a prank from his immature little brother. A corona of holy light surrounded the divine being known as Saint Nicholas in this place and time. A sensation of comfort and understanding filled Andy¡¯s being. ¡°Merry, Sweetheart, it¡¯s safe. Bring the kids down.¡± Andy shouted up the stairs Several minutes later. The remainder of the family trooped down. Santa began to lecture. ¡°Okay, everyone, this a gremlin, this is how you keep it and all of the other dark fae out¡­.¡± The last thing the gremlin ever experienced was the dark opening of a humongous red bag approaching its head. ****** Christmas Day, newsrooms, newspapers, and subreddits were flooded with reports of Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Pere Noel, and various other local midwinter gods delivering presents the preceding night. Rainbow Bridges, Tails of Disaster, and Wolves in Sheeps Clothing. Portals, Gates, Doors, there are many terms used to describe the accesses to other realities and realms. One of the more well known paths is called the Rainbow Bridge. Crossing the Rainbow Bridge will eventually lead us to a grand palace. Not one of the more modern fairytale confections with elaborate gardens, gilt frames, and sprawling lawns. This is a palace that is clearly a functional defensive earthwork. If anything it resembles a modern airplane hanger. Soaring walls lead to what on first glance resembles a tiled roof. Approach the fortress and this impression is quickly dispelled. The roof is made of overlapping warriors shields. Everything from plain wooden circles, heraldry covered towers, to modern acrylic riot shields. Some had been demolished and repaired. In an effort to invoke their former glory. Passing through massive doors that could accommodate the passage of dragons or an ancient brontosaurus. A cavernous feast hall with endless rows of rough tables and benches polished by eons of feasting stretch as far as can be seen. Normally occupied by the blessed dead, the Einherjar, Odin¡¯s warriors awaiting the end of their world. The current inhabitants of Valhalla defied facile description. The outskirts of the hall sheltered existences that were continually splitting and merging. Fluctuating in form from one moment to the next. Approaching the high table, the attendees became more stable. A dark skinned man in tattered clothes with a band of thorny vines on his brow; and bleeding holes in his palms and feet, a woman of clear Asian heritage with red and white robes; and light shining from within, a tall red haired woman in armor surrounded by crows, and an equally large red haired man holding a war-hammer with an unnaturally short handle were just a few of the beings found crowding the head table. The weight of the gathered divinity, would have been fatal to any mortal who had the misfortune to be present. Rising from his place at the high table. Odin, who only lead the current proceedings, slammed the butt of Gungir onto the flagstones, and a sound not unlike an explosion rang through the hall. Once he had the attention of the all the gods. Odin began a proclamation. ¡°A Decision has been reached. You all know the agreement that has been made today. Go forth and inform our children. We all know what must be done.¡± ****** Partway through her shift at Sheds and Lords Booksellers. Nikki¡¯s heart dropped when she heard the sound of several dozen books falling onto the floor behind her. This was at least the third time her tail had knocked books off the shelf in the last two hours. Her new appendage seemed to have a mind of it¡¯s own, also she just plain couldn¡¯t get the hang of holding it close to her so it didn¡¯t act up. She sighed internally, and got to work reshelving the books. Nikki was starting to fell like her entire shift was being taken up by fixing shelves that she¡¯d knocked over. At this rate April the current manager on duty was going to be having ¡°a talk¡± with her soon. ¡°Nikki, I have to talk to you.¡± April called from the drive aisle. Speak of the devil, Nikki thought to herself. It was like her thoughts had summoned April, and that ¡°talk¡± she was dreading was coming right now. Continuing to put the books back to order. She waited for April to approach her. ¡°Nikki, I have cats sweetie. I know what it means when their ears are flat and their tail is wagging like that. Don¡¯t worry, this isn¡¯t anything bad.¡± Bemoaning yet again that she had no idea on how to control her ears and tail. Nikki replied, ¡°What¡¯s going on? I thought I was going to get in trouble for knocking things over again.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.¡°Oh Sweetie, we all have days like that. I certainly do, and I don¡¯t even have a tail. What¡¯s going on is we just got word from Corporate. They said that President Bennett signed an Executive Order that Title IX, Title VII, and the Americans With Disabilities Act applies to Changelings. Their definition of Changeling includes people with animal features, like your ears, eyes, and tail. I just wanted to check in with you and see if you need any accommodations.¡± Nodding her head towards the books she was still re-shelving. Nikki responded right away. ¡°Maybe some extra time to fix these messes my tail keeps making.¡± April quickly reassured her that it was fine, and that she¡¯d certainly seen enough coworkers with crutches and scooters make bigger messes. Disasters that had been much more disruptive than a few dropped books here and there. Everyone would be patient with Nikki until she was adapted to her unfamiliar appendage. ****** The jazzed up Gospel Choir finished their rocking version of ¡°Jesus Has a Friend in Me.¡± The stage lights lowered and everything went dark for a moment. The only sound was the Choir quickly making their way off the stage. Lasers began to illuminate billowing smoke. The clouds suggested Heaven to the nominally Christian audience. Two Spotlights converged on the center of the stage, and Pastor Lowell Boorsteen appeared. Glorying at being the center of the crowd¡¯s attention. ¡°Friends, recently we were beset by an attack from Satan himself. That¡¯s right, many of you were here to witness when the Father of Lies appeared before us. On this very stage. In an effort to truly lead us into the fires of perdition the Great Snake claimed to be our lord and savior Jesus Christ.¡± At that point the stage lights brightened to their normal level, and the large screen behind the Pastor lit up with an image of Jesus and Pastor Boorsteen engaged in deep argument. Lowell¡¯s finger pointing at Jesus in accusation. ¡°Friends, this is not the Jesus that I have had a personal relationship with all my life. Does this look like the Lord Jesus that we see in our hearts when we pray. NO! This demon looks more like a terrorist to me. See his dark skin, short curly hair, and long dark beard. How do we know that this Demon was not our Lord and Savior? We know because he was trying to prevent us from collecting Love Offerings. Trying to convince all of you that I¡¯m just in this for the money. That your donations aren¡¯t going to support good works. I¡¯m here to tell you that was a falsification straight from the deepest pits of Hell.¡± Pastor Boorsteen than proceeded to list of charitable activities that while real, wouldn¡¯t even use a fifth of the donations that his organization received regularly. Mostly volunteer labor meant that his operational costs were cheap. A good Eighty percent of those donations were going straight to enrich the ¡°good¡± Pastor and his family. Moving on from soliciting donations. ¡°Now Friends, it is clear that the day of Reckoning is here. That we will be hearing the Great Archangel Gabriel¡¯s Horn any day now. Until that day it is our duty to oppose the forces of the False Gods and those who have sold their souls to them and become demons. Elves, Dwarves, Beastfolk, Werepeople, Dragons, and Onikin. We know that our former family and friends have sold their souls to the Great Beast in exchange for power. That they are now the forces in Satan¡¯s army here on earth.¡± The ¡°sermon¡± continued on from there. Stirring more anger and envy in the hearts of his followers. Targeting that anger towards minorities, the poor, and the other usual targets for the small minded bigoted folks his audience consisted of.