《God of Change: A Chaotic World》 A Whole New World I found myself outside the atmosphere of an unknown world. I had no idea how I got there, but that was the least of my problems. As I looked at my surroundings I saw several other beings slowly be born into existence. I was unsure where they were coming from, but they seemed to be appearing quicker and quicker. After who knows how long I finally saw something other than the figures snd the planet. A gigantic figure larger than all of the others combined. They appeared to be shrouded in mist and began to speak as they approached. They informed us of our situation with a cacophony of voices. ¡°My, there seem to be many of you, they must have wanted fierce competition for resources. It doesn¡¯t matter, nothing changes for me anyway.¡± At this, a creature with many legs and a chitinous appearance spoke out. ¡°Who are you? Where are we? Why are we here? When did I get here? What am I?¡± The smoky figure gave a chuckle and asked the chitinous creature to calm themself. ¡°Everything will be explained shortly. There is no need to worry.¡± The voices of the giant ranged from a cruel demon chastising the creature to a caring mother comforting her child. It was incredibly unsettling, but the chitinous person did stop speaking. ¡°Now that there aren¡¯t anymore questions, let me explain. You all have been created to take over this world in any way you see fit. You are lesser gods created by higher beings than even I, and are allowed to do basically whatever you want. Do note that you will only be allowed a small portion of faith, and that you will die if you don¡¯t have any. You gain faith via the praise or fear of mortals, and can use it to cause miracles within your domain. You can figure those out yourself.¡± The fog spilled away for a moment and showed a large grin plastered on the giant¡¯s face. ¡°That¡¯s all I have to say, good luck children.¡± He disappeared as quickly as he came, and the people erupted into chaos. Everyone began either screaming, crying, or running. I was part of the latter. I ran towards the planet as I shifted into a sleeker form. I was unaware that I could do that before this, but if it got me away from the chaos I wouldn¡¯t complain. I ran towards the world as fast as I could, and made it there surprisingly quick. I didn¡¯t have a plan when I first entered the world, so I decided to look around. I ended up in a forested area with trees as far as the eyes could see. I don¡¯t know how I knew what a tree is, but I pushed that question to the back of my mind and kept moving. I walked for about sixteen cycles before I finally found something different. There was smoke in the distance, and it wasn¡¯t big enough to be a forest fire. There had to be people there, and I needed people in order to survive.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I turned into a bird and followed the smoke as quickly as I could. I had felt the faith slowly draining from me over the past few days, and I didn¡¯t want to run out before I even had the chance of obtaining more. When I finally found the source of the smoke I was excited beyond belief. It had rough walls around it and a camp within. It was bound to have people that I could get to worship me. Sadly, the people inside were awful. At first I thought this place was perfect. A slightly struggling group of people that I could help and gain their praise, but looking closer led me to a gruesome discovery. There was a cage within the camp, and that cage held a teenage girl. There were several people with sticks poking her through the bars and treating her like a wild animal. They taunted her and called her beast while eating just outside the cage. The girl looked just like the others besides being extremely malnourished and weak, so I don¡¯t know why they were calling her a beast. She didn¡¯t look anguished however, instead she looked livid. She could barely walk around, but she had the rage of every god that cursed the misty giant when he abandoned them without remorse. I could feel the resolve to get revenge oozing from her. She would make a great first follower. I came here to make the entire camp my worshipers, but now I would do no such thing. I don¡¯t know why, but the actions of these people disgust me. Instead of gaining a group of horrible monsters as my followers, I would gain a better one that I saved from an awful situation. If nothing else, she would be more loyal than these horrific people. I waited for the mortals to fall asleep before I made my move. They had a man guarding the girl¡¯s cage, but he fell asleep shortly after everyone else. The girl was the only one awake, and she was pacing around her cage slowly. I could hear her mumbling curses and prayers under her breath too. Now was the perfect time to help her escape. I had a slightly smaller amount of faith than when I first started, but I could still get her out of here with my remaining faith. I somehow knew what my domain was, and understood why the misty giant didn¡¯t talk about it. I intrinsically knew that my domain was change, and change is needed in almost every situation. This one isn¡¯t any different. I had already changed my own form twice, what if I tried to change something else? Something like the wood of the cage. Changing it into sand shouldn¡¯t be too hard, right? I began turning wood into sand, only for me to stop immediately. It cost a lot more faith than I thought it would. Changing my own shape cost practically nothing, why was this any different? If I tried to turn the cage to sand like I did before I wouldn¡¯t even destroy a single bar. I needed a new plan. After a few minutes of thinking I realized how dumb I was acting. If I couldn¡¯t turn a full bar into sand, why not just cut the top and bottom? The bar would fall and she could slip out by herself. Now all I needed is for her to grab the bar so it doesn¡¯t fall and make noise. How do I make her grab the bar? I can¡¯t carve out a message because it will take too much energy. Maybe I can change the light? I don¡¯t know how much faith it takes to change light, but I can give it a try. With a little bit of concentration I manage to create a small glowing ball that circles around the girl. I then make it circle the bar I want to destroy. Just a moment later she follows and grabs it. I waited a little longer to build up my courage, and began to cut the ends of the bar. It did break, but she did fall backwards and yell because of it. She muffled it quickly, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s gonna stop her guard from waking up. Surrounded ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª POV: Kayara ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª When I woke up this morning I had not even considered the idea of my prayers being answered. To see them being answered before my eyes was definitely making it feel like I was dreaming. If it weren¡¯t for the pain I was feeling from my fall then I would¡¯ve still thought I was dreaming. Luckily I had some sense knocked into me, unluckily the idiot guarding my cage was waking up. It made sense, but that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t ruining my plan for escape. If I didn¡¯t figure this out quick I was gonna lose my chance. The man groaned and slowly got off of his chair while rubbing his eyes. He looked at me blearily for a moment before groaning once more and stretching. I quickly decided that this man had nearly zero chance of not seeing the missing bar, and decided to take care of him while his guard was down. Thinking quickly I swung the bar like a staff and hit the man right on the dome. It didn¡¯t knock him out, but he was too delirious to yell for help. I quickly ran to the opening on the other side of the cage and went towards the closest wall. The adrenaline running through my body was the one thing allowing me to work myself this hard. I ran for the wall, and scaled it as best I could. Luckily the wall was shoddily constructed, or I wouldn¡¯t have been able to scale it. It had pieces of wood jutting out at several points that gave me some much needed handholds. After scaling up one side and down the other I ran as fast as I could. I sped up even more once I heard yelling in the distance. I don¡¯t know how long I ran, but it felt longer than my entire imprisonment. I never thought I would be so happy to be able to run. This day felt like the best in my life, and it was all because of this unknown god. Thank you, whoever you are that helped me. I owe you more than you know. I will pay you back for this, and then some. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ªPOV: Unnamed God of Change ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª I was not expecting such decisiveness from someone suffering from malnutrition, but I am happy nonetheless. The girl was able to temporarily stun her captor and run for the forest. I was incredibly surprised when she scaled a wall without issue. I know it was poorly crafted, but it was still impressive. She even managed to run for a few hours after that. I¡¯m glad she managed to make some distance. Now we just have to hope they can¡¯t find her. Before she inevitably fell asleep she managed to climb a tree. She hadn¡¯t bothered to hide her tracks and could be followed, but maybe they were poor trackers. One can only hope for a miracle. Now all I can do is watch and wait. The camp is currently putting together a small group of people to look for their exhausted escapee. I¡¯m taking this opportunity to learn more about the group and their plans. They seem to be very open about their plans. The leader seems to finally be giving a rundown on the plan too!This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Ok everyone, listen up! That beast somehow managed to escape and attack Monty a few hours ago. We need to kill it as fast as possible. We were keeping it captive in order to study it, but it¡¯s more important to get rid of the threat than to keep it contained for research. ¡° All of the other people nodded as I looked on in confusion. They kept referring to the young lady as ¡°The Beast¡±, but I couldn¡¯t understand why. She looked and acted no different than the rest of them. It was very perplexing if I was being honest. What had this girl done to be referred to in such a manor? Well whatever it was, the hunt for the girl was starting. ¡°Alright everyone, be on your way. Find that creature and slay it before it can cause us more harm. Monty deserves to be avenged. Even if he didn¡¯t die, his pride took a grievous wound.¡± The hunting group nodded and exited through the gate. Nobody actually knew what direction the girl fled to, but they would find the trail soon. On the other hand, the girl was still sleeping peacefully within the branches of a tree. I really did need something to call her other than ¡°the girl¡± soon. I probably need something to call myself soon as well. We can handle that another time. Right now we need to survive, and the chances of that happening seem slimmer each moment. The hunting group had found and began following the girl¡¯s trail. I really hope they lose the trail somewhere along the way. I would make some fake branches off of the trail, but I¡¯m currently lacking in the faith department. A few hours later the girl woke up. She yawned and stretched for a moment before realizing where she was. She quickly grabbed the tree and stabilized herself. She seemed to look around and contemplate her situation for a moment before she heard voices. It was at this moment when I realized just how close the hunting party had gotten. I had been slightly distracted by a heard of large, cricket-like creatures. They had been circling the area for a while now as if they were looking for something. I thought that they might be a threat to the girl, and I was curious as to what they were looking for. They hadn¡¯t found whatever it was yet, but I had other issues right now. The voices of the group were getting louder and louder. ¡°It couldn¡¯t have gotten much farther. Either our tracker here is awful at his only job, or it¡¯s somewhere around here.¡± The tracker looked offended at that remark and scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re right about it being somewhere around here. The trail ended not too long ago. I¡¯ve done my job, now do yours.¡± The only woman in the group laughed at that remark. She grinned and yelled out through the forest. ¡°Come out you little monster! You either surrender, or you get killed! There¡¯s no point in trying to escape or hide!¡± The malnourished girl obviously didn¡¯t respond to the manic looking woman. The woman then smirked and began to cackle. ¡°Ok you little monster, guess we are doing this the hard way! Ready or not, here we come!¡± The group then split up and began scouring the area for the girl currently hiding in one of the trees. The people were surprisingly effective in searching the forest, and they were getting closer and closer to the girl. She seemed to be trying her best to hide, but it didn¡¯t seem to help. Just a few minutes later I watched as one of the people made a whistle sound while looking at the tree the girl was hiding in. Within just a few minutes the tree was completely surrounded. I had no clue how we were meant to get out of this situation. Saved? ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª POV: Kayara ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª When I woke up from a dream about running through the hills and mountains I was startled. I looked around myself for a bit and stretched before realizing where I was. I quickly threw myself back towards the trunk that had supported me through the night. Falling out of a tree was not on my to-do list today. I observed the area from my vantage point and was questioning the best way to get down when I heard the voices of a few of the people that kept me captive. ¡°It couldn¡¯t have gotten much farther. Either our tracker here is awful at his only job, or it¡¯s somewhere around here.¡± When I heard that my heart sunk. I had escaped with the help of my godly benefactor, only to almost be found a few hours later. Why did the world have to be so cruel. Couldn¡¯t I just live how I wanted? Why did I have to be followed by these awful people? My line of thought stopped once more when the woman of the group began screaming. ¡°Come out you little monster! You either surrender, or you get killed! There¡¯s no point in trying to escape or hide!¡± I thought about giving myself up for a moment. I didn¡¯t want to die, but I also didn¡¯t want to be held captive. I wanted to be free from these cruel people, and if surrender led to my capture then I preferred death. ¡°Ok you little monster, guess we are doing this the hard way! Ready or not, here we come!¡± I spent the next few minutes attempting to hide myself better within the trees while they looked elsewhere, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Once one of them looked at my tree they let out a shrill whistle. My tree was quickly surrounded, and the woman spoke once more. ¡°Look what we have here! The little beast skittered up a tree and tried to hide! Who would¡¯ve thought they would make it so easy to surround them. What are you gonna do little monster? How are you gonna escape this time? You can try to do what you did to Monty, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll succeed this time. ¡° All I could do was give the woman the ugliest glare I could muster. I didn¡¯t know what I was gonna do, but I¡¯d do whatever it takes to escape. I wouldn¡¯t let them take me back to that foul camp. I would kill myself before I go back there. The woman laughed once more as she grabbed a rock off the ground. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re gonna be this stubborn we might as well make this fun.¡± She then threw the rock at me. It flew through the air quickly, and hit me on my lower back. It felt like getting kicked by a horse, with my weak body having nearly gave out. The woman then cackled as she threw another stone. The stones kept coming, and the others joined her in throwing a variety of objects at me. They ranged from fruit, to rocks, to twigs, and more. It hurt like hell, and nearly caused me to fall off the tree. If I hadn¡¯t angled myself against the tree, then I would¡¯ve fallen into the group of hounding coyotes.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The creatures below me were no longer people in my eyes. They were slimy monsters that deserved to die, but I couldn¡¯t kill them. I was too weak to stop them. They deserved to die, but I would probably die before they would by a long time. I just hope my benefactor helps others escape their captors. I know of way too many camps that somehow treat their captives worse than I was treated. If they treat me like a beast, they treat them like the scum between their toes. Even if I don¡¯t get my happy ending, I hope that they do. I stayed strong under the assault with that hope behind me for a while, but eventually my strength gave out. My spirit was ready to continue struggling with life, but my body couldn¡¯t handle it anymore. I prayed one last time for the people treated like slaves, and then I blacked out. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª POV: Unnamed God of Change ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª As the girl was pelted by objects I rushed to think of anything I could do. I thought for a good while, but couldn¡¯t think of anything that wouldn¡¯t kill me. I barely had any faith left, and there was nothing I could do. I had given this girl false hope, and was gonna be the reason for her death. I knew that helping her was risky, but it had just felt so right. I hadn¡¯t wanted the worship these wild animals under me, and she was right there. She acted how I believed people should, and was still young enough to change the bad habits of. It had felt perfectly logical. I had also felt obligated to free her. I don¡¯t know why, but I had felt what she was going through. I knew that it was wrong, and that she hadn¡¯t deserved it. I had wanted to help her get back to a normal life, but instead I just got her killed. I wish the girl had gotten help that could actually save her. I thought I would be able, but I only gave her false hope. I wasn¡¯t able to help her. I caused her soon to be death. She deserved a better god than I. When I said that within my mind I paused for a moment. There were many other gods, a few of which I had seen just a few days ago. If any were nearby, maybe I could get them to help her. I would still die without any faith, but at least she could survive and be helped by the god I left her with. I began screaming for help. I sadly wasn¡¯t able to shift my form to something better for yelling, but my normal voice would have to be enough. I yelled for what felt like hours as the girl was pelted with dozens of objects. I screamed for someone, anyone to help her. I would do so until the girl died, or someone showed up. The girl eventually blacked out and began to fall. It caused my breath hitch. for a moment before I began screaming even louder. I was not going to give up until this girl was free. Hopefully she was alive in her freedom. I¡¯m sure death would be freeing, but I didn¡¯t want her to die because of my actions. The woman had caught her, and she looked as if she was going to enjoy killing the girl. I still didn¡¯t understand why she hated the young girl to such a degree, but the girl was about to experience that hatred more up close and personally than she ever had. The entire group had manic looks in their eye to some degree, but this woman looked utterly insane compared to some of the others. She was grinning wildly as she held a knife above the girls throat. Then, I saw a figure out of the corner of my eye. I looked at the figure for a moment before begging for his help. I probably sounded deranged, but I didn¡¯t care. Even if I died, I wanted the girl to live. She shouldn¡¯t die because of my actions. She deserved a better god than me. I just hoped that the god in front of me would help her. Conversation ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ªPOV: Unnamed God of Plants¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª My time walking around the planet had been rather uneventful. There was a large variety of plant life around that I took the time to inspect, but other than that, nothing that interested me had happened. That was until I heard screams more desperate than the gods after the mist giant left. I went to check it out, and it was a sight to behold. There was a colorless god crying and screaming for help. Their form seemed to change every time I blinked, and it interested me to no end. I was going to examine them more closely in order to understand what was happening, but then they looked at me. They looked at me as if I was a lone tree in the middle of a storm. It was as if I was the solution to their problem. It confused me slightly, but I listened to their muttering in order to get a clearer picture of the situation. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ªPOV: Unnamed God of Change¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª The tree-like god before me appeared to be observing me with curiosity, but I didn¡¯t care. As long as he saved the girl, he could observe me for as long as I was still alive. I just didn¡¯t want this girl to die because of my actions and inadequacies. The good news was that he seemed willing to listen to my story. The bad news is that he seemed to be because of curiosity, not because he wanted to help. I just hope that he does end up helping. I don¡¯t care about why, I would be thankful whatever the reason. I just don¡¯t want the girl to die because of me. Now all I need to do is convince him to help her. ¡°Hello, please help that girl. I helped her escape from a camp a few hours ago, but they ended up tracking her down. I know that you don¡¯t have any reason to help, but I would be eternally grateful. I can¡¯t give you anything, but I¡¯ll probably die anyway. You can probably take her on as a follower to get more faith. Just please help her, I don¡¯t want her to die because of me.¡± The tree man seemed contemplative for a moment, but ended up smiling at me and speaking. ¡°I already have my own followers in the form of a few partially sapient trees, but I¡¯m sure we can make a deal. How about this, I¡¯ll save the girl and you can describe what your domain is. Then once I know what it is, you will have to do three favors for me.¡± I didn¡¯t even think before I agreed to the proposal. This was a route that allowed both the girl and me to live. I wanted to be able to help her far more than I had. A child did not deserve to be treated so harshly. I wanted her to be free from these awful people. She deserved to be happy. ¡°I agree to this deal, now please save her. I don¡¯t want her to experience anymore pain than she already has.¡± The tree god in front of me smiled and walked towards the group surrounding the girl. With a wave of his hand, roots shot out of the ground and surrounded the girl. The roots soon sprouted flowers, and the attacking group looked on in confusion. The woman who had been enjoying abusing the girl most then spoke up. ¡°She is a monster. No human could surround themselves with roots! She needs to die, or she might just kill us instead.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I looked at the plant god in worry for a moment, but then I heard the chirping in the distance. I remembered the cricket-like creatures and felt a shiver run down my spine. Those things had looked vicious. Their front legs had ended in sharp points, and their mouths could fit a human head. That, mixed with the fact that they were pack animals caused a horrific image to go through my mind. It did not stay in my mind for long. Soon the people that were once attacking the girl I had helped escape were being torn limb from limb by dozens of giant insects. I looked to the tall man before me for answers about how he managed to cause that, but he just stood there smiling. ¡°That should solve my end of the deal, now what does your domain do exactly? Your appearance isn¡¯t exactly normal. You have been changing shape this entire time.¡± I felt myself solidify into a single form before looking at the man again. He was looking at me with curiosity once again, but now it seemed even more pronounced. ¡°I didn¡¯t even realize I was changing shape. Thanks for pointing that out. From what I have figured out, I believe my domain has to do with change. I¡¯m able to change my appearance very easily, and I have managed to change wood into sand. I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to do anything else because of my lack of faith.¡± His curiosity seemed to grow even more as he looked me up and down. I felt a little awkward and accidentally changed my form once again. He quirked an eyebrow, but stopped his examination. He looked me in the eye for a moment before bowing his head. ¡°My apologies if I made you uncomfortable. I have been examining plants for the past few days, and they do not have the ability to feel such things. Your domain just intrigues me. It has a much larger versatility than my own.¡± I looked at him for another moment before shrugging. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I was just a little caught off guard. I haven¡¯t really been seen by anyone for the past few days.¡± The man seemed to relax at that statement. He slouched a bit, and looked over at the carnage that he caused. There were bits of flesh and bone scattered around the area. Most of which were currently being eaten by giant crickets. I gagged at the sight, but then I looked at the roots surrounding the only mortal I liked. ¡°How do we get her out of the roots? I don¡¯t necessarily have the most faith.¡± The large tree man let out a small laugh and looked at the roots. ¡°I will take care of it once these bugs leave. My faithful trees will gain me enough faith in about an hour. What shall we do in the meantime? I am not used to interacting with others.¡± I just shrugged as I looked at him once more. ¡°I¡¯m not exactly experienced in the matter. We only came to exist a few days ago. I don¡¯t think anyone could be experienced at anything right now. I guess we could discuss what we have done over the past few days?¡± ¡°That is as good of a start as any, though I haven¡¯t really had an exciting time. All I¡¯ve been doing is analyzing the plants I come across. It is actually how I stumbled upon my believers. Other than that, I haven¡¯t really done much.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t really do anything exciting until yesterday. I ran through the woods for a few days, saw a few other gods, and changed my shape a little. I only did anything exciting when I saw the fire from the camp these people inhabited. I ran over there to see if there were mortals I could use to get faith. There were, but then I found this girl trapped in a cage. She was being poked with sticks, and they were saying she was a beast.¡± I shook my head in confusion and looked at the tree man. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand it. She looks just like the rest of them. Why were they saying she is a beast?¡± He seemed to contemplate for a second before shaking his head. ¡°I don¡¯t really know. Maybe she did something that they find barbaric? That might explain it.¡± I sighed before speaking once again. ¡°I guess, I¡¯m just glad I managed to get her out of there. It was pretty simple, but it was still scary. I had to test out my domain on something other than myself, and hope I didn¡¯t mess up. I¡¯m just glad that it¡¯s finally over. Thanks for saving her.¡± The man seemed to blank for a moment before responding. ¡°You are welcome, I hope that you will also help me in the future.¡±