While the boy was just sitting there fis.h.i.+ng quietly, there was a line drawn on the sh.o.r.e, and the man going back and forth over it, arguing first one side, then the other as he crossed the line.

"Why did you attack us?"

"You were destroying everything! I was basically saving the world!"

"You could have just TOLD us!"

"I've BEEN telling you, all of you, generation after generation, and again and again, you come and exploit the land for greed! You never listen!"

"But we never heard anything of that sort! Whoever you spoke to didn't pa.s.s the message!"

"That fault is on your side, not mine!"

"But to destroy all that we've built! All our efforts reduced to nothing! How cruel! And you call yourself a savior? You're the one who's the destroyer!"

"You are brazenly killing Wilds just to sell pieces of their bodies for money! You are destroying the homes of countless more, wiping out whole forests, and even the wood is exported! You would destroy the world for money, and if I must be a destroyer myself to stop you, then so be it!"

"And that's a reason to go around wrecking our town?"

"Don't take it personally. It's not just your people. It's a human thing. It's about greed and how you treat nature, and destroy it thoughtlessly. You'll destroy all the world, in the end. The world is already in pain, and nature cries out in anguish, but you never listen! You only understand power, and violence. Someone has to stand up and speak in a language that you all understand!"

"Have you even tried any other way?"

"Oh, yes, I did! I've tried talking! I've tried preaching! I've tried teaching in schools! Staging non-violent protests! I've even tried starting a company aimed toward inventing green technology! Nothing worked! Humans as a whole, mankind in general still refuses to listen!"

"What happened to the company, by the way? Just curious."

"Went bankrupt. Our products were too expensive, they said. But we'd make losses if we tried to make it any cheaper."

This went on, back and forth, for the better part of an hour, until at last, Doom said, "Why do we even need to argue about this? In this world, might is right! We fought; you lost. So, your people should get out!"

"That's basically just bullying! If bullying is your culture, what right do you have to call yourself civilized?!"

"Wow. That's harsh." Darian piped up at last.

"It's self-criticizism. I can be as harsh as I want." Doom replied.

"Still. Don't you think you're being a bit too hard on yourself?" Darian asked.

"Who's side are you on, again?"

"The line's over there, and you're standing over here. That means, right now, you're on my side." Darian pointed out.

Doom sat down on top of the line, legs straddling both sides and sighed. "This debate can go on forever. It's basically endless."

"Actually, we won."

"Really? How do you figure?"

"There's only one of you on that side, and there's two of us on this side. You're outvoted two-to-one. We win." Darian said with a straight face.

Doom spluttered, half caught between a laugh, a cough and a choke. Going by that rule, wasn't the entire argument pointless? The conclusion had been reached the moment he agreed to help the boy.

"The argument itself changes nothing. Your people must leave and stop polluting the Wildlands." Doom said with finality.

"But there are so many bigger, more polluting countries out there! Why pick on us? Just because we're weak?"

"Because you're here. The Wildlands are different." Doom said, shaking his head. "Those other places will face their reckonings, one day. I will make sure of it."

"So why bring me here?" Darian asked. "If you wanted to drive us out, shouldn't I be packing my bags to leave right now?"

"Because I can teach you. You're not like the others. You live in harmony with the Wilds."

"They do too. We're friends with wolfcats and lynxmice and…"

"They don't. The smoke from the town is proof enough. But you? While everyone else fought Wilds, you were living peacefully with them. You dind't even seem to care that a Beast Tide was headed for you. Weren't you afraid?"

"It's hard to be afraid of anything when you're surrounded by a hundred wolfcats." Darian explained.

"But why take shelter with the Wilds? Why not in the mines and the tunnels, with the rest of your kind? Why not on the airs.h.i.+ps, or in some big heavy castle?"

"I didn't want to." Darian shrugged.

"Wasn't it because you felt safe with them?" Doom pointed out. "Everyone else would have been suspicious, maybe even afraid. Would these Wilds turn on you? You had to be wondering, facing a Beast Tide as you did. Isn't that why the wolfcats and the lynxmice and the wasps were all in the farm, away from the town? So that they couldn't suddenly join the Beast Tide and turn on you humans?"

"I have no idea." Darian admitted. "But I like the farm. I like the wasps, and the wolfcats and the lynxmice. They're my friends. I just wanted to hang out with them."

"Why hang out with the Wilds on a tree? Why not on an airs.h.i.+p with mages and magic? Why not in a factory or a forge, with your beloved machines?" Doom asked.

"I just like it." Darian scratched his head.

Doom smiled. "That is why you're here, and they're not."

"So, what do you want with me?" Darian had to wonder.

"I want you to be my disciple. I want to teach you, and in the future, I want you to carry on my work and my legacy."

"Your legacy? You mean you want me to keep chasing people out of the Wildlands?"

"Oh, it's more than that. I fully intend to save the world."

There was a short pause, while Darian grimaced.

"Why you?" Darian asked, suddenly. "There are kings and G.o.ds out there, and people who claim to be both. There are dragons that everyone, even the Wilds, swear upon. One of them even runs the Dragon Empire, probably the most powerful country in the world."

"If you believe them. People can claim anything, these days." Doom scoffed.

"Again, with all these great powers out there, why are you the one shouldering the responsibility of saving the world?"

"Actually, it's more than that. Saving it is just the start." Doom said, sitting down to explain. "The thing is, we humans have a responsibility to this world, and we are badly messing it up."

"I thought G.o.d, or the dragons took care of nature. Or nature itself?"

"No, no, G.o.d put us in charge of managing the world. He owns it, but the job to manage it is ours. It's all right there in the Bible, but n.o.body reads it. People only want to read it to see how they could be blessed, how they could always have more, more, more." He grumbled.

"You're blaming the Bible, now?" Darian stared.

"Not blaming. Following. I was a priest." Doom explained, thinking back. "And I always wondered why G.o.d even made man and put him here on this world. Given what He told the first ancestor, it seems we have a job. Do you believe in G.o.d?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Remian says there's one. He also says there are dragons, but I wasn't sure they were real, until…" wordlessly, Darian gestured to the Har'es-dras. "So the Bible tells you to destroy all of us?"

"No, no. It just says we're responsible to take care of this world. The reason why it's in such a mess is because we humans messed it up. It is also up to us to clean up the mess." Doom shrugged. "Destroying towns is just the way I protect the Wildlands. You have to realize that Wilds are different from most animals. If mankind messes up the Wildlands the way we've messed everywhere else up, then the world is truly doomed."

"I'm not sure I want to be a part of all this." Darian said, then. "I mean, even if I agreed with your ideas, why would I follow you, the one who attacked us?"

"It's already a mercy that I'm the one directing the Beast Tide rather than one of the Kings or worse. At least this way, I can spare your lives and your airs.h.i.+ps so that you can leave. If it were one of the Kings or Emperors… they'd have flyers and they'd be halfway to Fal'Herim by now."

"You're… saving us, too?!" Darian stared.

"In a sense." Doom shrugged. "So, how about it? Interested in following me?"