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"A Mongrel's Tale"by Midge"Mama?" The young mongrel snuggled into her mother's lap as the sun dipped into the sea. "I met a Varati boy today and he told me that mongrels were so dumb that all the Gods had turned their backs on us." The mother looked down at her child and frowned. "Is it true?" the young girl asked. The mother lowered her head to kiss her daughter's brow. "No, love. It's not. Shall I tell you what we believe?" The child nodded vigorously. "When a crossbreed child is born," the mother begins, "all the Gods from all four corners of the earth watch. We are disliked on this world because we are a mottled collection of all four of the races, but that's what makes us so special to the Gods. They see in us the soul of their kind. "And so the fighting begins. For, over each mongrel soul, the Gods argue over who should protect and watch over it. The Atlantean Gods, the Varati Gods, the Sylvan Gods, even the Empyrean Gods all see a piece of their children in our souls. And some days they find agreement and the Gods smile down on us. And we are protected from harm and misfortune. But on most days, the Gods bicker over us, and we are left to protect ourselves. That is why so many trials come before us, lovey. We are the only race the Gods spend more time fighting over than protecting. But rest assured, we are loved. Perhaps we are loved the most. "And when a soul of a mongrel rises up to go Beyond, again the Gods cannot decide. No mongrel soul have ever entered Beyond. Instead, the Gods break it apart into four pieces, one for each bit of the races that are within us, and return them to this world. And we are reborn four times, and each of our pieces returns Beyond in its own time, to remember the others and celebrate them. Sometimes the pieces are torn badly and another mongrel is born. Sometimes, they're torn right down the middle and we get Halfbreeds. "But the Gods do look out for us, little love. And next time you see that Varati boy, you just tell him that." But the little girl didn't reply. She had already fallen asleep. FIN
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