Charlemagne ignored the other animals attempting to secure his aid and looked intently at Ndiogou Gueye, who had just welcomed the destruction of his own species.

  “Bawk?” he asked.

  The man stopped his deranged cackling at the sky and turned the gaze of his clouded eyes upon the rooster.

  “What do you mean? Do you want to hear my story?”

  “Bawk,” Charlemagne confirmed.

  Ndiogou suddenly advanced a few steps with grim purpose before plopping down on the uneven turf of the overgrown soccer field.

  “All right, I’ll tell you everything.”

  The human relayed his sad story to the rooster. He told him about the joys of seeing his children born one by one and building a quiet life for them in Malanville, where they grew up in relative ignorance of the harshness of the world around them. How he had frequently traveled for work, and what had brought him to Cotonou. How the atomic bomb that had destroyed Porto-Novo had blinded him, and how the arrival of the System had granted him sight. How he and the others had struggled to make their way to Lagos on foot, and how he had served his deity as the Blind Hunter. He relayed how he had received a Divine Quest to search for the aftermath of a large explosion and to kill what he found. The human then outlined his thought process as he stared at the suffering bird in front of him and found that he, although he was a hunter by nature and by trade, he had no stomach for such an execution. He finished by describing his return to the north, touching on the fear that the locals held for Charlemagne before narrating what he had found on his return to Malanville, ending with his commitment to destroying anyone who had a hand in murdering his family.

  It took a while for the Blind Hunter to get through the last part, as he kept breaking down. Charlemagne said nothing but listened intently to the man, strange emotions surging through his chest. For the first time in his life, the rooster felt that he could identify with the struggles and the loss of another.

  “That was soooooooo sad,” Bridget wailed, interrupting the rooster’s introspection.

  “Yes, it is,” the human agreed. “And while I am sure that others have lost just as much, I cannot bring myself to care. My thirst for vengeance must be quenched before I can give a thought to anyone else. As it is now, I welcome our impending death. At least the asteroid will avenge me…and I can go to be with my family.”

  There was a long pause. Even Phatagin and Sirius had ceased their bargaining and were listening attentively to Ndiogou.

  “Bawk?” Charlemagne asked after a few moments.

  “You know…the afterlife, where everyone goes after they die,” Ndiogou added.

  “Bawk?”

  “I don’t…I don’t know if there is a separate one for you? I mean, we know that every kind of animal, humans included, have a deity, so there must be…must be some sort of afterlife. I guess I’ve always believed in one, but once the System arrived and I learned about Brett that settled any doubt I had.”

  “I don’t believe in an afterlife,” Sirius declared firmly. “Dog would have mentioned it if it existed.”

  “I believe in one,” both Phatagin and Bridget responded at the same time.

  “But please, this is no time for philosophical discussion,” the pangolin added. “We have a more pressing matter to deal with, I should imagine.”

  Charlemagne looked up at the sky and then lowered his gaze again.

  “Bawk,” he said.

  “I am very interested in your tale,” Ndiogou said, his voice still thick with emotion. “Please tell me everything.”

  “Bawk, bawk bawk bawk bawk baawak bakawk bawwk,” the rooster began to narrate the story of his own life, going through the events as he remembered them. While some of the details were a bit too gruesome even for Bridget, who feasted on blood, no one dared interrupt. Charlemagne told them about his fights against the military, his evolution, finding more of his kind, and his short-lived bliss as the sole male on a chicken farm. How the fight against a strange-looking but powerful human had resulted in his brood being born, liquefied, and consumed all in a few minutes’ time. He spoke about how he had felt after the battle, how he desired to create more children but lacked hens, which were somehow essential to the process through their ability to lay eggs. Finally, he told them about meeting Bridget and Phatagin and the Dungeons they had delved.

  When Charlemagne finished, Sirius looked very uncomfortable, while Ndiogou, Bridget, and Phatagin were all sniffling. Some of the male canines in the pack had tears running down their snouts.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Despite the impending doom from above, the entire group sat in silence for almost a minute before anyone spoke.

  “That was…a beautiful and terrible story,” Ndiogou said, wiping a tear from his cheek. “It is so ridiculous that it must be true.”

  “Bawk,” the rooster replied.

  “You are certainly dressed for courtship,” the human replied. “I do not think there is a sharper-dressed being on this entire planet. And these are the rewards you obtained from Dungeons?”

  Charlemagne nodded.

  “Then I must see about locating this Lippity Dungeon if we survive. I need to gather strength if I am to avenge my family.”

  “Do you think we could run the Lippity Dungeon?” one of the canines asked Sirius, who merely held up a paw and answered, “Later, okay?”

  There was another lull in the general conversation as sidebar chats broke out among the dozen creatures milling about the soccer field. Most of the canines seemed to be wary of the others, perhaps still anticipating a confrontation. They whispered among themselves as they held themselves at attention, ready to leap into action if needed. Finally, after a few minutes of this, Canius yelped for quiet.

  “I have just received an update from Dog,” she announced. “Charlemagne’s deity, Grimfalk, Brett, the deity of humans, and Dog have come to an agreement to stop the asteroid before it impacts Earth. Charlemagne, would you like me to tell you the details?”

  “Bawk,” the rooster agreed.

  “Very well,” the canine continued. “Grimfalk has agreed that there will be a truce between himself, Brett, and Dog. None of his Champions will be directed to kill humans or dogs, but they are allowed to defend themselves if attacked. You, as his strongest Champion, will receive the aid that you need in order to face the asteroid at maximum power. In return for you taking the greatest risk, both Dog and Brett agree to cease their attempts to deprive you of mates. Is this acceptable to you?”

  The rooster reacted as if he had been struck.

  “Bawk?” he demanded.

  “That’s…that’s what it said,” Sirius responded.

  “BAWK!” the rooster crowed.

  Ndiogou stood and, like magic, a pair of short blades appeared in his hands.

  “Do you want to destroy them? I shall aid you if so,” the human asked the rooster.

  Charlemagne, calm down! Bridget yelled through the Party chat.

  I must agree with our overly loud compatriot, Phatagin added. It is unwise to attack the bearer of bad news.

  The canines had formed up and were facing off against the other four creatures. Sirius snarled through her own Party chat for them to stand down, but it was difficult to maintain order when the rooster was radiating a malignant aura so strong that it frightened even a hardened fighter like her. She had no illusions about their chances: a physical confrontation with Charlemagne’s Party would end in her pack being wiped out. Still, it was difficult to sit there and do nothing when faced with death. So, she stepped forward and lowered herself to the ground.

  “If you must take vengeance on someone here, kill me and spare the others. None of us have participated in culling chickens ourselves, but I am a Champion of Dog. Spend your fury on me.”

  For a moment, it looked like the rooster was going to attack. There was a tense moment where the canines braced themselves for combat, none of them willing to charge into the jaws of certain death but all ready to sell their lives dearly if needed. Then he took a step back and his suffocating aura diminished to tolerable levels. Sirius let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. The rooster looked once again to the sky and then over at the pangolin.

  “Bawk,” he said out loud.

  “I confess I don’t understand you. What do you mean, ‘it sped up’? If it’s an asteroid, its velocity would be fixed,” the pangolin protested.

  “Let me check in with Dog on that one,” Sirius managed to get out. She moved to an empty corner of the soccer field and began to talk to what appeared to be empty air.

  “Bawk,” Charlemagne repeated.

  “Well, I didn’t say that I didn’t believe you,” Phatagin protested. “Just that I didn’t understand.”

  “What are you going to do?” Ndiogou asked. Charlemagne, appearing to be deep in thought, didn’t respond.

  “Dog says we don’t have much time!” Sirius confirmed as she rejoined the group. “Maybe even less than an hour!”

  As if in agreement with Sirius’ timetable, the Squiggles appeared at that moment with a message for Charlemagne.

  Along with the Challenge came another message.

  It took a few moments for Charlemagne to digest the two messages and decide on a course of action. There wasn’t much time remaining before the asteroid crashed into the Earth, and he could sense the immense amount of mana it radiated from an incredible distance. Unless he was able to drastically increase his own power, there was no way that he was going to survive the impact. As much as it pained the rooster’s ego to admit it, he needed every scrap of help that he could get.

  With his mind made up, the rooster explained what was going on to the group quickly and efficiently. He soon found that Phatagin and Sirius hadn’t been idle while he had been otherwise occupied: the pangolin had filled the canine in on Charlemagne’s ability to absorb radiation and they quickly settled on the group’s next destination.

  “All right, listen up,” Sirius told her pack. “You all need to clear out of here. Head east and warn Lagos as you’re passing by that they need to get underground if possible. Then keep going, and don’t stop until you see the asteroid falling. Then find shelter yourselves. As for us, we’re going to Accra.”

  “I’ve always wanted to visit Ghana,” Bridget said cheerfully. “Hopefully, we won’t die there.”