Gods and Ancients - 12. The Benefactors

Axel led his group down a narrow street in the Medina district in the heart of Marrakech. The Globemaster was safely landed at the airport and the skeleton crew of wolves had enlisted the help of some local mechanics to work on the engines that were clogged with sand and dust. They would have time… at least a couple days… before the plane would be able to take off once again; more than enough time for the team to investigate the whereabouts of the elusive Benefactors.

The troupe of bears and tigers walked single file, following their enormous leader through a local spice market, the many different colors and scents overloading the senses and filling the lycans’ sensitive noses. The sight of so many giant men in matching camouflage uniforms drew the attention of the merchants along the narrow path in the market, and many gave the crew distrustful glares and watched over their exposed wares closely as they passed.

Charlie the cat stood in her usual spot on Siku’s broad shoulders, leaping effortlessly over his head from the right to the left and back again as she took in the sights, and met the stares of the merchants with evil eye glares of her own, causing the merchants to turn away nervously muttering prayers of protection under their breath.

After nearly a kilometer of walking through the narrow passage between the pink-hued buildings, they emerged into a central square, where more vendors and merchants had erected tents and booths.

“Um, Papa,” Adam said bumping Axel’s arm casually, “We haven’t eaten anything substantial since the Emperor’s feast yesterday. You’ve got a whole lot of hungry bears and tigers on your hands. This seems to be a good spot to grab a bite and figure out our next move.”

“Yeah, Cub,” Axel grumbled. “Fine.”

He turned to look back at the eight other members of the team looking back at him with weary eyes. None had gotten much sleep on the plane after the turbulence and near-disaster over the desert.

“Who’s hungry?” he asked.

All eight faces brightened into relieved smiles.

“Yes, please,” Shivay replied. “Something lamb or chicken please!”

“Lamb or chicken,” Axel grumbled to himself scanning the market square. “Do I look like a fuckin’ waiter? Have it your fuckin’ way…”

His eyes stopped on a booth on the corner of one of the rows where he spotted a huge cylinder of meat rotating on a vertical spit. The sign over the booth was mostly written in Arabic, but there were a few translations at the bottom, and Axel spotted the word “Shawarma” amongst them.

“Shawarma… lamb…?” Axel asked crudely and slowly in English as he approached the proprietor working the stall.

“Ah yes my friend,” the man replied with a grin. “I have the finest spiced minced lamb in all of Marrakech! You are Americans?”

Axel was taken aback by the man’s fluent English but couldn’t help breaking out into a grin in response.

“Americans and Canadians,” he replied. “And we’re hungry. There’s ten of us, so give me… fifty shawarmas.”

“Meow!” a voice cried from the group behind him.

“Ah right,” Axel sighed. “The cat. Make that fifty-one.”

“Fifty… one?” The merchant asked uneasily.

“Fifty-one,” Axel confirmed, and slammed six thousand Dirhams onto the counter.

“Ah yes!” the merchant exclaimed happily, his eyes widening at the sight of the money. “Fifty-one lamb shawarma with all the extras! Coming right up, my friend!”

“Extra tahini!” Nameer added.

The merchant began yelling in Arabic toward the back of his booth, and soon a sleepy-eyed boy emerged from behind a curtain, yawning and scratching his head. The merchant continued yelling at him and smacking him around the head and shoulders with a rolled newspaper until the boy grabbed a carving knife as long as his own arm and began slicing thin strips of meat from the rotating spit furiously as the merchant began prepping thick flatbreads with toppings.

Soon, their meal was prepared, and the breathless merchant handed out the completed sandwiches to the giant men one by one, giving an extra shawarma to Siku for the curious orange cat sitting upon his shoulder.

The group found a few small unoccupied tables in the square, and settled down to their meal, drawing even more stares as the locals watched the giant men devouring their loaded and sloppy shawarmas one after the other.

“Hey boss,” Bernie said to Axel across the table. “I don’t know if you had any ideas about where to start our real search, but check out that round sign over there on the corner of that building.”

Axel turned to look in the direction Bernie was pointing and saw that the sign was painted with a picture of two bears on their hind legs holding each other by the paw in what appeared to be a dance. Below the sign was an arrow in bright red pointing down another narrow street off the main square.

“Almost like that was put there on purpose to get our attention, no?” Nukilik asked around a mouthful of spiced lamb dripping with tahini.

Axel growled thoughtfully to himself.

“It’s as good a place as any to start, Papa” Adam commented.

Axel nodded silently and crammed the last of his meal into his maw. The others picked up on his cue and hurriedly finished their own sandwiches with even Charlie urgently gobbling down the last bites of lamb from her shawarma.

“All right then,” Axel said, standing. “Let’s go see what these dancing bears are all about.”

The group marched single file down the narrow path once again. There were no vendors or wares to be sold along this street, just the pink facades of the buildings with occasional doors and windows lining each side closely.

Eventually, they came to a crossroads between the structures and there they found another identical sign with an arrow directing them to turn right. The followed these signs for what seemed like an endless distance, turning left or right as the arrows directed, until they found themselves at a dead-end, facing a large wooden door with yet another of the signs hanging above it, and the words “Tavern of the Dancing Bears” written plainly in English.

“Tavern?” Max asked suspiciously, “Isn’t Morocco a dry country?”

“No,” Bill replied, “It’s legal, just… not that common.”

“This place…” Bernie said, pushing forward and laying his palm on the door, “This is where we’re supposed to be.”

“Good enough for me,” Adam replied, and he had Bill moved to stand directly behind Bernie to either side of him. “After you, big bear!”

Bernie grasped the door by the handle and pulled it open, stepping inside confidently.

The tavern was sparsely populated at this time of day, but there were a few patrons sitting alone or in pairs at some of the tables scattered around the interior.

A voice rose in English from a large table in the corner of the tavern. Female, with a hint of an accent.

“I have been waiting for you, my friends,” the female said from the darkness of the corner. “Barkeep! Please bring Berber whiskey for all my guests!”

The bears and tigers moved cautiously to the dark corner where the voice emanated, and as they grew near, they found a small, thin woman of Asian descent, dressed in a fine silk brocade robe. Her hair was long and straight, black with streaks of white on either side of her head.

“Please, sit,” She instructed the troupe, and Bernie moved to sit in the seat opposite the woman, but Axel held up his arm to stop the Cub.

“Not until you tell us who you are and why you have lured us here.”

“Lured?” the woman repeated with a smile. “So, the arrows that I have so carefully placed around the city this morning have done their job properly. Sit Axel. I know nearly all the members of your group by name, and I know exactly why you have come to Morocco.”

“You represent The Benefactors,” Bernie said in a hushed voice.

“That I do,” the woman replied, “But I’m afraid the Benefactors’ knowledge falls short of your identity, Cub. I recognize Axel and Adam, the famous explorers, councilmembers, and finders of the Ancients. I know Erik and Max, one of the few known polar bear couples, along with Siku and Shivay, Nukilik and Nameer, the polar bear-tiger couples. I even know Bill there, the hero soldier turned teacher, but I don’t know you.”

“I’m…” Bernie began to reply, but he was cut off quickly by Adam.

“This is Big Red.” Adam said. “He’s a relatively new Cub to join our ranks. You probably don’t know about him because we have intercepted and destroyed all your listening devices within the NALC.”

“Yes,” the woman replied, “Along with the death of our spy at the hands of the lions… But, we still knew that you would be paying us a visit today. Not all our ears have been silenced.”

The barkeep arrived at the table bearing a large platter with several cups and an ornate silver teapot.

“Sit,” the woman said again, and with a heavy sigh, Axel grabbed the back of a chair first and sat heavily, followed by the rest of the group. Charlie leapt from Siku’s shoulder once he had seated himself and padded across the table to inspect the woman carefully, her nose twitching side to side curiously and rather than her usual “meow” she began to make high-pitched chirping noises.

“Yes, little one,” the woman replied. “You are far more perceptive than this group of males, aren’t you?”

Charlie began to purr and sat up straight until the woman relented and stroked the top of her head gently, after which the cat returned quickly to Siku’s shoulder.

The woman leaned forward to take the silver teapot and poured a portion into eleven small cups.

“Drink,” she stated to the group. “This is Berber whiskey, and it is traditional to offer to guests as refreshment.”

Each of the bears and tigers took a cup, and Axel sniffed his suspiciously.

“Whiskey?” he grumbled loudly. “There’s no alcohol in this! This is just strong mint tea!”

The woman chuckled.

“Of course!” she replied. “It is the national drink of Morocco.”

The other bears and tigers sipped their hot tea courteously, but Axel growled louder and turned his head toward the bar.

“Barkeep!” he yelled. “Bring me a beer! Now!”

The bartender jumped in surprise but quickly reached under the bar and rushed over to the table, placing a cold bottle of Heineken in front of Axel and popping the cap off with a bottle opener hastily plucked from his apron pocket.

“Gods, Axel,” Bill muttered, “When in Rome, you know…”

“No, it’s quite all right, Bill,” the woman replied as Axel took several swigs from his bottle, “I’m sure he needed a beer right about now.”

“You are lycan, are you not?” Nameer asked, looking carefully at the woman.

“I am,” She replied. “You may call me Masako.”

“Masako,” Nameer continued, “I am a physician, and have examined all varieties of lycans in North America, but I cannot say that I have encountered your species. You are not any kind of feline or boar and are certainly not a bear!”

“Ha!” Axel interrupted, nearly spitting his beer. “Imagine a skinny, female bear!”

“I would imagine that none of your kind have seen any of my kind in many thousands of years, with the exception of The Benefactors.”

“Well,” Axel growled, “Don’t keep us in suspense, babe. What the fuck are you?”

“I am originally from Japan,” Masako said demurely, “And I am a crane.”

The bears and tigers looked at her with stunned awe.

“So, the legends are true,” Siku said, breaking the silence, “The ancient Orient was home to avian lycans.”

“Indeed,” Masako said with a smile, “Charlie recognized my nature right away, didn’t you, little one?”

“Meow” Charlie replied, looking at the werecrane with sparkling eyes.

“Are there others?” Adam asked.

“There are cranes, eagles and osprey,” Masako said with a touch of sadness, “But our numbers are very few. In a thousand years, I fear that we will be no more, as we have neither breeding pairs nor kindred remaining to replenish our ranks. If it weren’t for The Benefactors, I fear that I would not be alive today.”

“Yes,” Axel said, seeing his opportunity to bring the discussion on point, “We need to have a word with your so-called Benefactors. Their interference has resulted in the death of one of our Ancients and nearly cost us the life of one of the most important bears ever born!”

“The Heir of Odin,” Masako said, nodding her head, “The Benefactors understand your position and are in agreement to meet.”

She pulled a rolled piece of parchment from her robe and spread it on the table. It was a map of the surrounding area, and it marked a location within the mountains nearby.

“You will need to secure all-terrain vehicular transport and travel to these coordinates,” she instructed pointing to a spot on the map. “Here, in the High Atlas. I will fly in advance and let The Benefactors know of your arrival.”

“We have vehicles on standby,” Axel replied. “We just needed to find out exactly where to go. How fortunate that you were lying in wait for us.”

“I sense the undercurrent of mistrust in your words,” Masako replied. “Please believe that The Benefactors bear you no ill-will and there is no ulterior motive to this invitation. You have sought them out, and they have agreed to be found by you. It is as simple as that.”

“Then we shouldn’t waste any more time,” Axel said, standing, “The rest of our companions are still with Mad Emperor Kintu, and we can’t guarantee he won’t try to kill them all out of spite.”

“Agreed,” Masako said, also standing, “It should take you three or four hours of driving to reach the coordinates. I can fly there in just two, so we will prepare for your arrival and continue this discussion then.”

She quickly moved to the exit, followed by Axel and the remainder of his troupe. Bill stopped briefly to ask the barkeep if they owed any money, but he just waved his hand dismissively with a smile.

The bears exited the tavern just in time to see Masako drop the robe from her shoulders and tie it into a neat bundle. Once this was done, she quickly shifted form, her neck elongating and her body sprouting white and black feathers until a tall, elegant crane stood in the barren alley before them. The bird clutched the bundle of robe in her feet and with a mighty flap of her wings lifted into the air and soared above Marrakesh heading to the east in the direction of the provided coordinates of the Benefactors.

“All right, you lot,” Axel growled looking at the other nine with a serious expression, breaking their trance-like awe at watching the werecrane take flight. “This is it. We might be walking into a trap, but at least we know where we’re going now. We need to double-time it back to the C-17 and unload a couple Humvees. If any of you want to sit out the rest of this mission and let your Council reps handle things from here, I won’t blame you. You can wait it out at the plane with the wolves. Anyone…?”

The nine bears and tigers stared back at Axel with grim determination and the big bear nodded.

“That’s what I thought. Come on brothers. Time to go meet The Benefactors.”

****

Leopard warriors pounded outside the door to the suite of rooms occupied by the NALC delegation. It had been a difficult morning in the palace. The Kings were all visibly disturbed over breakfast, many even going so far as to attempt to speak with the bears with sympathy over the current situation, but when the Emperor entered the dining room, fashionably late as befitting his position, the mood changed to one of anger and hostility. He openly accused the bears of tampering with their dreams as they slept, and while the bears feigned ignorance, they did not deny the accusations.

After being banished back to their suite of rooms, it was Marcus who devised the next torment to the amusement of the rest.

Sitting alone in his chambers, a cloud formed over the head of the Emperor. Soon this cloud turned gray and began to rumble, and before another minute passed, Kintu found himself sitting beneath his own personal rain cloud.

Indoors.

Wherever the Emperor went, the cloud followed him, maintaining a constant rate of rainfall directly above his head.

Cheetah servants scrambled to attend to their monarch, attempting to hold umbrellas and parasols above his head to divert the consistent downpour, but to no avail. He sent a cheetah servant to the door of the NALC suite with a message.

“His Royal Highness, Emperor Kintu the Glorious and Merciful has bid me deliver the following message to the bears and wolves of the NALC,” the cheetah called nervously from the other side of the door. “He says that if this is the best you can do, then your puny parlor tricks have simply earned you a one-way ticket to the prisons where your flesh will rot in the damp and darkness until you bother the lions no more!”

“Hmm,” Marcus said of the Emperor’s reaction to his prank. “If that’s the case, then we better dial up the intensity just a wee bit more.

“Emphasis on the ‘wee,’” he added with a wink.

Rodney laughed at his Mate’s intention and his eyes flashed green.

At that moment, the cold unforgiving rain above Kintu’s head falling from the miniature thunderstorm was replaced by a warm shower… of bear urine.”

Soon after, the leopards arrived at the door, determined to break it down and apprehend the vile trickster bears.

“Looks like we’ve worn out our welcome,” Ezekiel said to Gunnar. “Time to evacuate?”

“Agreed,” Gunnar replied looking around at Thomas and Joel who nodded in agreement.

“Rodney!” Gunnar yelled, “Time to bug out back to the wolf camp! Make it so!”

Rodney nodded his head and his eyes glowed green with power.

“Wights!” Rodney cried. “Implement plan Exodus! Now!”

The room filled with mist and in a swirling wind, all bears and wolves were caught up in the vortex of the Wights, disappearing from the room in an instant, mere moments before the leopards broke through the doors with spears raised, ready to impale the heretics on sight. The felines looked around the room in confusion, and searched every nook and crevice, but the bears were nowhere to be found. Eventually, the soldiers played Stone, Parchment, Daggers to see who would be charged with delivering the news back to the Emperor, and the unlucky loser headed for Kintu’s chambers with his head hanging low and his tail tucked between his legs.

****

Two Humvees pulled to a stop outside of the entrance to a cave hidden within a crag in the mountain. Five large figures, plus one orange cat exited the vehicles scrutinizing the cave.

“This has to be it,” Axel said, rubbing his chin. “The coordinates match the location on the map exactly.”

“Well, fearless leader,” Bernie said, gesturing at the darkness of the cave mouth, “After you!”

Axel grunted in annoyance but stepped forward, leading the group into the unknown. Shortly after all had entered the shadows of the cave, bright fluorescent lighting illuminated them from above, and a steel door partially hidden at the end of the passage slid open in greeting.

Masako stood smiling in the open doorway in front of a group of a dozen other lycans. Axel sniffed carefully and could detect a vast array of species gathered together. Wolves, boars, and felines of several varieties, all stood together behind Masako’s unique crane scent. The chamber in which they stood was brightly lit, and the walls were clean and light, in sharp contrast to the darkness of the cave.

As the bears and tigers entered the chamber, Axel scrutinized the welcoming group.

“Are these The Benefactors that we have come to see, then?”

“No silly bear,” Masako replied with a giggle. “We are simply their support staff. The Benefactors have recruited us over the years to aid in their efforts and help them stay up to date on modern technology. We represent some of the finest lycan telecommunications specialists, computer programmers and hackers the world has to offer. Brought together to help bring the vision of The Benefactors to reality.”

“Okay then,” Adam replied, standing next to his Papa. “I guess… take us to your leader?”

The group of lycans smiled and chuckled at Adam’s turn of phrase but beckoned the group to follow. They walked down several brightly lit hallways, passing rooms of mysterious importance, until the group emerged into a larger dome-shaped hall. This room was lit utilizing various spotlights in the ceiling, directing their beams at several tables and workstations filling the center of the room, and upon ten large seats behind a long curving desk at the far side of the round wall. The ten figures occupying these seats were undoubtedly The Benefactors that they had been seeking, and the North American bears’ jaws dropped wide at their appearance.

Sitting in each seat was a bear, brownish black in color with reddish-orange fur on their underbelly. One would easily mistake them for a grizzly or other closely related brown bear if not for the shorter length of their muzzles and claws.

“What are they?” Adam asked inquisitively, and the ten bears answered together with a mighty roar.

“They are the Atlas bears,” Masako explained. “The last ten living of their species. They have dedicated their lives for the last two thousand years working in secret to ensure that other lycan species on Earth do not suffer the same fate.”

“Can they shift?” Erik asked, stepping forward, “Can we speak with them in their human form, or should we shift to our bears to communicate?”

As if on cue, the ten bears shifted to human forms, pulling robes of fur and velvet around their bodies as they did so.

“We will speak in our human forms, Erik of Atikokan,” the bear in the center replied. “Our dialect of the bear-language is ancient, and you would not be able to understand us, even in your own bear forms.”

“May I ask,” Bill inquired, stepping forward as well, “How old are you all?”

“We are of the original lycans created by our deity for the protection of his worshippers,” another bear replied. “This was nearly ten thousand years ago.”

“Ten thousand?” Axel exclaimed. “I knew that Matthias and Ezekiel were both ancient, but I never knew that our history went back that far.”

“What do you actually know about the origins of the lycans?” a third Atlas bear asked the group. “I ask this of you now, because facts of those origins are of vital importance to the state of the lycan world today.”

“We know only what has been passed down over the centuries through oral history,” Adam answered boldly. “In a nutshell, the gods and goddesses of the Earth were jealous of one another and feared the worshippers of one god would wipe out the worshippers of another, and so they created the lycans and kindred as the guardians of their people.”

“Essentially accurate,” another Atlas bear replied, “But missing much of the vital detail that is so essential to understand the social dynamics surrounding the Council of El.”

“Council of El?” Axel repeated in confusion.

“There is much you need to know and understand,” an Atlas bear replied. “Let us move to more comfortable surroundings so that we can relate the vital missing information.”

“Look, Liver Lips McGrowl,” Axel growled suddenly, “We didn’t come here so you and your Country Bear Jamboree could give us a history lesson. We came to tell you that we’re not going to put up with your shit anymore. Your little amateur spy ring and subsequent loose lips with the fuckin’ lions are directly responsible for the death of my Papa, Matthias!”

“We understand our culpability, Axel and understand your rage,” the bear at the center of the table replied. “We only had the best interest of all lycans in mind, but we underestimated the extreme reaction of the current lion emperor. We need to inform you of the history of the gods for you to understand the great danger posed by the ascendance of the Heir of Odin!”

At the mention of this, Bernie, Bill and Adam shared a quick glance with each other, silently communicating the need to hide Bernie’s identity from the Benefactors for now.

“We appreciate the concern,” Adam said, placing a paw on his Papa’s arm to indicate that he was taking over the conversation. “Please show us to the space where we can discuss this history with you comfortably.”

The Atlas bears rose, and their gaggle of attendees moved to assist and usher everyone into the next room which was furnished with large floor pillows and low tables in a distinctly ancient nomadic style. Bowls of fruit and nuts were thoughtfully arranged on the tables for the enjoyment of all, and the two groups settled into their seats.

“I know an uppity Cub who’s begging for a spanking when we get back home,” Axel growled quietly in Adam’s ear.

“I’m sorry Papa,” Adam whispered back, “But we need the information they want to provide, and we also need to make sure we keep Bernie’s identity secret for now. There will be plenty of time to throw around insults later, okay?”

Axel growled again but nodded his head in agreement, his cheeks turning red at being scolded by his Cub.

“So, Big Al,” Axel spat in a condescending tone before Adam could resume the discussion, plunking his rear into a cushion and popping a grape from the nearest bowl into his maw, “You were about to explain the Council of El…”

The ancient bear at the center of the Benefactors’ delegation smiled at the Kodiak’s slightly rude prompt and began to speak.

“In the beginning was the Divine Council,” he said…

Before humans or animals, before the creation, El/Elohim/Yahweh/I Am/God presided over the Divine Council. All manner of gods and goddesses of the Earth participated in this pantheon, and each took part in the formation of the world as they saw fit, according to their own personal tastes.

El met with his Council to address various concerns of their creation, and after determining that the world should be filled with living things, they set about creating all manner of plants and animals, each uniquely suited for the environment within the world from which they were born.

After eons of creation and development, the Council eventually agreed that the world needed one living race to be the caretaker and guardian of all others, and so through their combined efforts, was created mankind.

Mankind was the most successful of all the creations of the Divine Council, and soon the gods found that the offspring of mankind were growing in knowledge and cooperation in addition to mere population.

At this time, mankind lived together in one massive city, and through their cunning and ingenuity, began construction of a tower tall enough to reach the gods in the sky. Mankind, in its arrogant ambition, sought to dwell on the same level as the Council and with El himself.

To bring the lofty goals of mankind back down to their appropriate station, El and the Divine Council decided to split mankind into different races and scatter them across the face of the Earth. Each deity was granted a portion of the population and the world, so that they may have worshippers to sustain them in their immortality.

And so, mankind was scattered, their technology erased from existence, and each tribe given a different language by their deity. The Council met less and less frequently, as the attention of each of the gods was directed toward their own personal race of mankind and their own corner of the world.

It was at the final meeting of the Divine Council when El declared that it was his will that his chosen people should rise above all to become the dominant race on Earth, and all other races would be absorbed and converted into the worship of Him. He selected one human to be his messenger and gave him the commandment, “You will have no other gods before Me.”

After dissolving the Council, the other gods were filled with fear and anger that El intended to wipe out their worshippers and take all of creation solely for himself. They began to quarrel with one another and jostle for space in the world.

It was Odin who had the idea to create the first lycans. He created the race of werebears to protect and defend his worshippers. He made the bears and their kindred all male so that they could enjoy fraternal companionship with one another but would not threaten to overwhelm his population of mankind through reproduction unless a bear found a kindred soul to turn to keep their race alive.

Jupiter/Zeus was quickly jealous of Odin’s bears, and so he created the werewolves, not just to protect and defend, but with an aggressive nature to hunt and attack. Thus, he made the first warriors, and he created them and their kindred both male and female so that they could be fruitful and spread out across the Earth along with his human worshippers.

While Odin and Jupiter battled over the lands of the European continent, the other gods were following suit, creating the lycan boars, felines, and avians each in their own corner of the world to defend their way of life from the slow spread of the worshippers of El.

Meanwhile, in the middle-east, Baal was being squeezed out of his own lands by the expansion of Jupiter and his werewolves, the Egyptian domain of Amun-Ra and his werelions, and El himself, who wanted those lands for his chosen people. Baal directed his worshippers into a nomadic life, leading their massive herds of goats where they could graze in the bounty of the vast grasslands of northern Africa and worship him in peace.

Now, Baal had always been especially jealous of Odin, even during the days of the Divine Council. Baal and Odin constantly battled for position of El’s “second” in the hierarchy of the Council, and many were the times that a meeting of the Council lasted for centuries as Baal and Odin argued and debated some insignificant point to impress and sway El to their side. So, when Odin created his bears to protect and defend his people, Baal copied this, and created his own race of werebears to defend his own people out of spite.

The people of Baal were fruitful and multiplied as did their vast herds of goats. The goats ate and ate, consuming all living plants in their path, and as they and their werebear guardians slowly migrated across the grasslands of northern Africa, they left only barren desert in their wake. After centuries, they reached the end of the continent and were left stranded here in the mountains on the northeast coast. They could not return to the middle east from where they originally came as only thousands of miles of desert now remained where they once grazed their herds. The bears went into hiding in the mountains and were hunted by the people of Jupiter, now calling themselves “Romans,” with many bears slaughtered or taken across the sea to serve as sport in the arenas until their numbers dwindled to near extinction.

Over time, mankind learned to defend and lead themselves without the need for their lycan protectors, and across the world, our kind faded into obscurity. In the great desert of the Sahara that he had helped to create, Baal sank beneath the sands to sleep, his people and his bears all virtually extinct. Baal once considered himself to be the second most in the ranking of the Council after El himself, but his competition with Odin never allowed him to achieve the respect among the pantheon that he felt he deserved. As he sank into eternal slumber, much of the goodness of Baal’s godhood faded away, until only the hatred of Odin remained, forever entombed within the sands.

“So, you can see, my fellow bears,” the speaker for the Atlas bears concluded, “Just as you were created by Odin, we were created by Baal, but our creator was long ago corrupted by his hatred.

“We, the surviving few of his race of werebears have made it our life’s work to protect and defend all lycans across the Earth, lest they suffer the same fate. We work with the leaders of all lycan races in secret to keep the balance of power in place so no lycan race has the opportunity to overpower another.

“When news of the kindred human who was also the earthly descendant of Odin himself spread, this posed the first real threat to that balance in a thousand years. Now that we assume he has gone through his first change, we simply need to address two concerns to guarantee lasting global peace.

“Firstly, we need assurance that the Heir of Odin has been trained to only use his demigod powers for the benefit of all and will not be consumed by them to the detriment of the lycan world.

“Second, we need to come to an agreement that the Heir will never set foot upon the soil of Africa. If the child of Odin were to trespass upon the chosen lands of Baal, it would surely waken the corrupted god from his eternal slumber, and the Armageddon brought about by his wrath could endanger all life on Earth!

“Now, do you fully understand why we chose to interfere?”

“Yes,” Adam replied, his face pale and drained, “But it would have been much simpler and more effective if you had just told us of the danger of the Heir of Odin trespassing on the domain of Baal in the first place.”

“We influence events with small nudges, not large pushes,” the Atlas bear explained. “If we had contacted you out of the blue and told you to keep the Heir on your side of the world, you never would have believed us.”

“That is very true,” Bill said, standing up and finally speaking, “But it might have prevented the situation we’ve found ourselves in now. Bernie, I think it’s time to show them.”

“Bernie?” the Atlas bear exclaimed in alarm, “You don’t mean that the Heir is here… now… do you?”

Bernie rose from his seat to stand next to Bill, and the red-haired giant lifted his right hand to the ceiling.

“Mjolnir!” he exclaimed, and with a flash of lightning and crack of thunder that briefly blinded the senses of those in the room, the Atlas bears saw for themselves the power and might of the Bear Demigod himself.

Bernhard stood tall in the room, his red fur gleaming, and the artificial light shining upon his iron and leather armor. His eyes glowed bright blue and electricity crackled around his furry paw pads clutching the hammer.

“Now that you know I’m here,” Bernhard Odinson rumbled to the ancient bears through his toothy muzzle, “I can assure you that the first of your concerns has been addressed. I have been exhaustively trained by Bill here to control my power, and I seek only to defend and protect all living beings.

“But as to your second concern, I believe that Baal is already awake and aware of my presence. I have felt his malicious eye upon me from the first moment we crossed into his domain, and the anger and hatred has continued to grow larger. So, what can we do now to appease him?”

The Atlas bears looked around at each other with worry and distress on their faces.

“I fear,” one finally said with a voice that cracked with nervousness, “That we are all doomed. After so many millennia, Baal will finally have his revenge on Odin, and he will not care how many humans or lycans on Earth are wiped out in the process.”

“If you believe that Odin still answers your prayers,” an ancient bear to the side of the room uttered. “Now would be the time to ask him to save all of our insignificant lives.”