Book One – Chapter 10

Midnight reflected on the intricate balance of differences among creatures. She surpassed many beasts in height, yet there were others towering over her. Her strong teeth could tear through a rockshade weaver, but those weavers possessed venomous fangs which she had not. Four powerful legs granted her exceptional running and climbing abilities, distinguishing her from avian beasts with only two legs. Conversely, the winged creatures could soar through the air, a feat beyond her reach.

Considering this perspective, even a dragon was fundamentally just another beast different from Midnight. Their greater height, robust teeth, powerful legs, wings, and wizard abilities set dragons apart, because they were greatly superior to Midnight in various aspects, but at the core, they were still just different.

Was a God not simply a being even more powerful, even more different than a dragon? Where lay the distinction between a beast that was merely very different in the way that she was very superior, and a God?

Midnight had shared this contemplation with Yves once. He had very much agreed but added that Gods were considered different from strong creatures because they were creators. Some Gods were believed to be the creators of entire peoples. This response had left Midnight dissatisfied, as it seemed to imply that she, too, could be a God. Like all females, she could create life if she chose to. There were females everywhere on the continent. The pathera females created all pathera. The fersis females created all fersis. The rockshade weaver females created all weavers. All the living creatures on the continent and in the seas existed only because females created new life.

During their conversation, several years ago, Midnight had not been sure if Yves understood this. He was just a wizard, after all, and they did not have females. They could not birth their own children. Then again, Yves created so many lifelike beings, and so often treated his illusions as if they were real life, that Midnight believed he was, in his wizard way, as close to being a female as any male could get.