The mist was thick and ominous. A menacing purplish-red color with flashes of light that almost made Arianna think that it was charged with static electricity. She had no idea what the real effect of breathing it in would be, but she did know that her animal companions wanted her no place near it. They did their best to be sure that Arianna stayed as far back in the cave as they could, as it seemed like the stuff could reach right to the mouth of their cave.

  But, as curious as Arianna was about the mist, there was another issue that kept her from dwelling on it too much: she was sick. She had the shivers, and even she could tell that she was feverish and clammy to the touch. Oddly, however, she did not have a runny nose nor a cough. which she was almost sure was supposed to be present if she were in the midst of a flu or cold. But given the nature of her hazy memory, she could very well be wrong about that.

  All she could do was curl up next to the bony wolf and hope that both the fever and the mist would pass soon.

  As for the two animals, they knew exactly the cause of Arianna's fever: mana absorption. But just like the young woman shivering on the cold stone floor, there was nothing they could do for her.

   chuffed the raven, his sparse breast feathers on end as he glared down on the girl from his stony perch that jutted from the cave wall.

  
   Observed the raven in an almost passing fashion. He pretended not to care, but the wolf knew that he was just as concerned for the girl.

  

  The accursed mist was the visual buildup of mana within the dome. It was the greatest curse that the witch had placed on those she had held prisoner here. And every year the effects got worse... The accumulated mana shed from the unbound spirit beasts could not spread over the land, as it was trapped with them. So it stayed within the dome, collecting and becoming denser with every passing day. Thanks to the witch, it could not even be absorbed into the swamp she had fashioned for them, making it so they could not even make this awful place at least a little more healthy.

  The witch was truly cruel and shameless.

  The red mist mana was a death sentence to most beings. At first it was hardly more than a mild irritation to spirit beasts like the raven and the wolf, but, over time, even the beasts were not immune to the toxic concentration. The weaker beings started dying off one by one, then some began to collapse and drift off into an eternal slumber, waiting for death. There were very few who still walked the dome of clear mind. Most of the ones not dead or asleep had gone mad, attacking everything in sight.

  No doubt the raven and wolf would soon be joining those poor souls.

  Looking at the girl, the wolf felt a pang of regret. He had been watching over her for the shortest of times—seemingly insignificant compared to the span of years he, himself, had existed—yet what would become of her if he and the raven finally gave in to their looming deaths?

  Then again, she herself may very well die before the morning comes.

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  Arianna was surprised to be alive the next day. Not only alive, but mobile as well. Though, she was nowhere near better. She still had a fever and was weaker than she could ever remember being. Not that that was saying much, given her memory extended back about a week...

  Using the wall as support, she went to the mouth of the cave. The raven wasn't in the cave anymore, so she assumed that meant that the mist had passed. That and the wolf merely walked alongside her, rather than trying to stop her.

  Sure enough, the mouth of the cave was clear of mist, though Arianna could see a little of it around the roots of the mostly dead trees.

  "Not going out yet, it seems..." Arianna mumbled, one hand on the cool stone and the other buried in the fur of the wolf.

  With a nudge of his wet nose, the wolf encouraged her back into the cave. Arianna didn't bother to resist and started the weak trudge back into the dark depths of what was her current home. As she settled against the cool wall, appreciating the stone that sapped a little of the heat still coming off her body, Arianna wondered how long she had been out with the fever. Logic said that it was probably a day at most, as she didn't think fog lasted for long periods of time. Maybe?

  Rubbing a headache born of frustration from her temples, Arianna sighed. She had no memory, yet seemed to hold knowledge or assumptions from her previous life all the same. Rather than getting irritated, she supposed she should just be grateful not to have to learn everything all from the beginning.

  As she sat there, ruminating about life, she felt the cool touch of the wolf once again, this time on her forehead. She watched as the shabby beast withdrew and couldn't help but feel grateful. It would have been five hundred times worse to have to live in this miserable swamp if it weren't for her two animal companions.

  "Are you worried for me, Wolf?" She asked, the slightest of smiles reaching her usually apathetic face.

  He let out one of those dog sneezes that generally meant he was in agreement.

  "Thanks. I think I am better than yesterday, though. Maybe I am allergic to that mist or something... As soon as it showed up, I started to feel like I was melting from the inside."

  Stolen story; please report.

  Just as she started to vocalize her inner thoughts to the wolf, the raven came soaring in. He let out a muffled crow cackle before something landed in her lap, then he flew a single lap around the cave before grabbing his favorite perch nearby.

  Arianna looked down and saw that he had found her a fruit to eat. And not just any fruit, but one that looked the least bruised and withered that she had seen yet.

  She took a bite, then swiftly chewed and swallowed the somewhat dry but quite sweet morsel before telling the bird, "Thank you, Raven."

  The bird's response was to fluff up his feathers and glare at her before averting his gaze. She saw the wolf glare at him for a moment before making a grunting sigh. He then decided to simply settle himself down next to Arianna while she ate.

  "You know..." She said as she finished the last bite of the apple-like fruit, core and all. She didn't like the core but figured it was best to savor every bite she could get, given how sparse food was here. "It might get rather confusing just calling you both 'Raven and Wolf.' What if we find more ravens and wolves? I can't call them all that..."

  Huffed the raven as the girl spoke, preening his feathers on his perch.

  The wolf glared but decided to answer all the same.

  Just as he said this to the raven, the girl said, "I think I should give you guys some names. You both seem very smart, so you may already have them... but I can't speak animal and therefore can't learn them. I have to call you something."

  The raven let out an angry caw.

   Drawled the wolf, rolling over slightly so that Arianna could get better access to his belly.

  Spirit beasts were created by the gods. They acted as both companions and avatars of their respective gods, able to walk across the lands more freely than the gods themselves could, as their power was far too great for this world to contain them for any length of time. When a god created a spirit beast, they were given a name, and that name acted as a sort of collar and leash, connecting the beast to their master. If a god adopted another god's lost or abandoned spirit best, they were given a new name, thus tying them to the new god.

  As a human—no matter how much power the Witch gave to her chosen summons—there was no way that any name that Arianna gave them would have any meaning beyond being a simple way for her to distinguish them from any other wolf or raven in her mind. There were other wolves and ravens in the swamp, though they were lesser, mundane versions.

  Then again, in their current, half-dead state, he and the Raven did not look much better than mundane animals ready for the grave...

  "Hmmm," said the girl, unaware of the conversation between her companions. "I should think of good ones."

  Arianna could not explain why, but in that moment two names seemed to fit just right, though she had no memory of their origin. She smiled at the half-rolled-over wolf and said, "You will be Vilkas," then turned to the raven, who was still not looking at her, "and you can be Varnas."

  She was quite pleased with her choices but was unable to congratulate herself on her newfound talent for naming things. Suddenly it felt as if all the energy in her body simply vanished, and she collapsed sideways onto Vilkas with a pained gasp. He swung his head around and let out a whine, while the raven let out the loudest call she had heard him make yet.

  "What—" She managed to mumble faintly as her vision began to blur. But, as consciousness left her yet again, she thought that Vilkas seemed oddly bright beneath her shoulder...

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   The raven raged for the sixth time in half as many hours. He was still on his perch, black eyes with a slight reddish tint trying to bore a hole in the wolf's head.

  No. They were no longer 'the wolf' nor 'the raven.' They had names now. True, honest-to-goodness names. Names bestowed upon them by their new god and master... Truly, Vilkas was still in shock and awe.

  Arianna—their new goddess—lay in the dirt of the cave next to him. She had passed out the second the mana needed to name them had vacated her body, but this was just a resting sleep. Even her fever was gone, now that the mana she had been absorbing was being funneled into her and Varnas.

   He snapped at the cantankerous bird, fully fed up with his whining.

  Varnas puffed up his now fuller and rather glossy black feathers in continued agitation.

  "Enough!" Vilkas snapped. He too was looking much better now that the mana of Arianna was sustaining him. She was still absorbing the mana around them, but now that mana was also being used to nourish her and Varnas. No longer was he sitting in a patchy grey/white coat of mange-ridden fur... No. He now saw that he was a sleek—almost iridescent—white color. Do not insult the master. She is no witch's pawn. Unless you believe that one god can make another their pawn? >

  At Vikas's calmly stated words, Varnas seemed to deflate a little. He knew fully well that something like this was impossible. Gods could make alliances, friends, and enemies, and even slot themselves in a self-imposed hierarchy... but one god could not simply control another. It wasn't in their nature and went against their magic.

   Vilkas mused, simply enjoying the feeling of being healthy and alive once again. He knew that Varnas must be feeling the same. That bird was just far too stubborn to admit it.

   Varnas said, his feathers now sleeked back down, red-tinted eyes passing over the form of the girl.

  Varnas wasn't wrong. In her madness, the Witch had done irreparable damage to this world, even if she did not think so. It may not be soon in the way mortals saw things, but in a few thousand years, this planet would be devoid of any life. One vain and self-important goddess could not sustain it on her own, no matter what she thought. In her mind, if she could just be rid of the other gods, then she could just remake the world how she pleased all on her own.

  It wouldn't work. As many of the now dead gods had tried to tell her. But there was no getting through the mind of a mad woman. She was the only god now, and as far as she was concerned, it was just the spirit beasts locked in this cage that were standing in her way of complete victory. Oddly enough, it was harder for a god to kill a spirit beast than it was another god. This was because spirit beasts were sort of between a god and a being of this world. Just like the gods are forbidden from directly smiting random humans, they cannot directly kill a spirit beast either. The same was not true for other gods.

   Vilkas said, agreeing with the raven.

  Varnas narrowed his eyes at the wolf, not liking—or pretending not to like—being called by his new name. .

  Vilkas flashed the avian a wolfish smile, his now silky white tail flicking up and almost knocking Varnas off his perch.