In his sleep, Werner goes through a very long phase. Power sears through him. Within him, a transformation occurs.
In his mind, the scene changes. He's lying just outside a country church in Uri.
Or rather, he's lying in a cemetery. He studies the tombstones. He can't tell, because he can't read very well in his sleep...but he thinks he might see the names of people he knows on them...
High above, the sky is a scary blood-red color. It could be Bloodforce magic...or something far more sinister. Werner's got a dreaded feeling this dream he's in is a prophecy of sorts. He...just hopes it isn't the self-fulfilling kind...
Every now and then, lightning flashes across it. Right now, it's too far up to intimidate Werner. Alas, he's not so sure if he should expect more of that in the long-term...
"The drums of war beat on high, Werner."
Werner looks around. A Bulgarian Goth chick lies near him. Her hair is bobbed, and very black. She doesn't wear much...but it's all either black, or metal, or both. Werner knows her better than he once wanted to. Now, however...he can't help but sense a mutual attraction to her...
She flaps her bob, and grins. "They come for money," she tells him, "and they come for power; gods' powers, mainly."
Werner shrugs. "It's a conservative society. They tend to."
"Some shades," Angela continues, "have found various ways to graft the powers of a god to the beasts of Middle Sfär...and Yggdrasil...and Svarga. Some of these beasts are as great as those who roam the wilds of the Spine...or the Fénwood...or the Beor Mountains."
"I'd expect them to be. Shades tend to be attracted to power...despite already having way too much for themselves."
"Others, however, are no bigger than mice or rats. Shades never mean to make greatness of these vermin; they're little more than test subjects in magical experiments. Alas, sometimes, some of them escape. And soon," she lowers her hear to Werner's, "they will be your mission...Werner of Appenzell Innerrhoden."
Werner scoffs. "You want me to become a Pied Piper of lab rats?"
"Me?! Oh no. I could care less of what your destiny is...although I'm pretty sure that whatever it could be, it'd make me wet thinking of you. Even so, your destiny is not to become their Pied Piper." She fixes parts of his hair. "You, my dear Werner, are destined to become a chimaera-rider."
He gives her another confused look. "What the Hel does that mean?"
She only smiles with black-stuck lips, and bats her much-mascara-clad eyes...
Werner wakes. He's still in the same pit as before. Alas, all of the green-lit debris has vanished.
Uphill, the Urzhad growls. Werner's heart freezes in his chest. It sounds closer than it really is.
Moments pass, before Werner realizes that he's now a ten thousandth his normal size. Shit; life just got SO much harder for him. It's already bad enough that he hails from a farm in Bavaria's least-populated canton...
Overhead, something weird-looking flies. Its huge shadow passes right through Werner, and keeps going.
Werner looks up. He's never seen anything like it. It looks like a chimaera fish...only it flies. It also generates green-glowing ectoplasmic psionic energy, as it does.
From her mouth, she spits a green spark. It flies before her, explodes, and becomes a portal of her own psionic energy. She flies through it, and vanishes. Behind her, the portal vanishes, too.
Another one opens uphill from Werner. She comes through it, and lands before him. Her image is a bit terrifying at this size; hence, she knocks Werner down without touching him. But of course, with her psionic powers, she could to that, too.
"You must be my rider," she says telepathically, "Werner of Appenzell Innerrhoden."
He studies her. "You...can hear what I think?"
She nods. "It's part of what he did to experiment with me."
"He?" He studies her more. "You're a...chimaera?"
She nods again. "I am Sulfira. And the shade who experimented on me, and did this to me? His name is Essex. He's a Saxon lord."
Werner nods. "Essex; I've heard of him. I couldn't have told you he's a shade, though."
"He grafted me with the powers of æsir, vanir, and dievas. Since then, and by the leave of my new powers, I've escaped his captivity. She faces him from one side, and lowers herself towards the ground. "And I hereby invite you, my new rider, to join me in my flight."
"Are you sure you want to involve me? I mean, if a shade is hunting you..."
"He's not. He's a Saxon duke. He's got better things to do than chase mice. A bit ironic, if you ask me; a lot of nobles like to compare themselves to cats."
Werner shrugs. "A lot of nobles HAVE cats; not that I've seen that with my own eyes."
He climbs onto her back, and saddles himself just behind her dorsal fin. With pure green-glowing psionic energy, she improvises a saddle for him. Werner is amused at how comfy the saddle is.
"If you're not used to air travel," Sulfira tells him, "this might be sickening." With that, she paddles forward across the surface of the ground, as if it were the surface of the sea.
Before her, a portal of her own green-glowing magic opens. Werner holds his breath and ducks, dreading what's on the other side of this...
Soon, she's airborne. She improvises a pair of wings out of pure green-glowing psionic energy, and beats them whenever she feels like it. Naturally, some of her powers come from none other than Amora, the ásynja Enchantress; she doesn't necessarily need a thermal to stay airborne.
Gradually, Werner rises from his ducked position. His balls ache, when he looks off both port and starboard, and sees tiny parts of the Central Reich pass beneath him and his new mount.
Alas, if Appenzell Innerrhoden was down there, he wouldn't be able to tell. Not only are they not very populated, they don't have much land. They get overlooked a lot, hence, whenever the Five Koenigs go around, handing out benefits...or relief, even...
From up here, though, he can sure see Bavaria...and Lower Austria...and Hungary...and Bulgaria...and Turkey. A bit farther north of Bavaria, Werner can also see Saxony, the kingdom that Sulfira's ex-captor lives...as well as its brother-kingdom, Saxony-Anhalt. Hmm; based on this, Werner can't help but wonder if Lord Essex has a brother of his own...
This'll have to wait, though. Right now, his mount is descending towards Budapest...the capital of the kingdom of Hungary. Hungary is one of the "Big Five" of the Central Reich.
Just beyond Budapest, the Fénwood lies. Legend has it that there are portals in this wood that connect Hungary to Alfheim, one of the Nine Realms of Yggdrasil. For that reason, there are elves, or ljósálfar, who live in the Fénwood.
But then, the same people probably say that there are dwarves in Turkey, and dark elves in Bulgaria, and fire demons in Iceland...