Three furtive figures walked in silence through the predawn hours until reaching the shore of the eternal sea. Looking at the water gently cresting on the shore, the smallest heaved a sigh, “It’s true, then.” The largest simply smiled as he turned to look on the water, and the three came to a halt.
“We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t”, the largest made in way of a reply.
“But we can still fight!”, the smallest whispered harshly. In a hundred battles, his forces were undefeated, and through seven long years of campaign, his forces were battle-hardened, fierce and loyal. Even in the annals of the entire nation, only once had his nation’s armies been defeated, and even that lone tarnish was not without its excuses. And yet today they were surrendering.
“Aye, but we cannot still win…”, the largest replied, and with a motion to the sea, “she, herself, shows us that.”
The smallest looked out the the sea, paused a moment, and nodded ruefully. This area of the sea and the nearby areas had been theirs for hundreds of years, and for the first time in living memory, ice no longer touched the shore.
“So what will happen to you?”
“Me? I return to where I came.” The largest handed his sword and shield to the still-silent creature completing the small company.
“You die, then?”
“No, I return to the elements that spawned me. Where no force of might or magic can touch me.”
“And of us?”
“You will go back, Tulu. You will again be a but an able captain and a simple tent-owner. And you will forget about me, and when the invaders come with their heat and arrogance, you will help them destroy my memory.”
A pause.
“…but you won’t destroy it all.”
“They think us simple people. Uncultured. Unsophisticated. And they will look for me in the places traditional to their race - in temples, on mountains, in books and on scrolls. And in these places, and to these places, you and our people will lead them, and help them destroy.”
“But in the bone. On the seal skin. Written with the marrow of our friends and our foes, you will record my name.”
A flash of anger in the eyes?
“You will write of our history.”
"And you will preserve our sacred skills. In whale and seal, walrus and bear, with fang and blood, fat and marrow, you will write of me in places they will never think to look. And these things you will cherish and hold secret.
Nodding to himself, the largest started walking out into the water, speaking “And some many years hence, when the time is right, the people will find me again. And they will call to me. And I will answer. And we will rise again together.”
Waist deep, he stopped and turned to look at the two figures watching him from the shore, “Nothing is forever.”
Two more great steps brought the massive being up to its chest in the water, and it stopped one last time to look back on the shore, “Even gods would die.”
And with that he walked into the sea, descending out of sight.
Pausing some moments, Tulu thought on the final message. Turning, he started to walk the path, not to the great city of his people, but to his simple village. A moment later, the golem moved to follow, with two of the world’s most powerful artifacts clutched in its monstrous hands: the final gift of the Atlantian god Nereus to his surrendered people.
