The Hollow God

The manta had fallen asleep through the night and only woke up the next morning when he heard some movement on the ground underneath him. He found that most of the healthy people from the shore had walked back to the village through the night when they heard the news from the small clone the manta had sent them.

As the two groups met there were many people that cried of happiness when they saw their loved ones still alive. Of course not everyone had survived, there were hundreds of bodies covered in cloth lined up side by side in front of the town hall. As time passed there were more and more people accumulating on that spot. They would look through each body until finding the right one and breaking down beside them. The villagers that were lucky enough to not lose anyone would quickly sit beside them helping them go through this tough time.

Even though this was a sad scene, the big manta in the sky was feeling a little jealous at how much they cared for each other, until he felt some movement on his back. The little crab had woken up and was slowly stretching her limbs.

'I'm not alone anymore' He watched as she finished stretching before moving to the side of his body and popping her head out to watch the interesting humans curiously.

It seems they had left a part of the group back at the shore which were the injured and the ones to look after them, therefore some people were preparing to go and bring them back to the village now that the danger was taken care of.

"It's time for us to go little gold" the large manta said

"Where are we going?"

"The amount of information we can get from a mortal is limited. He told me about the cities that were close by and there is a holy city a couple of days east from here. Its primary focus is delivery but they also work with information gathering. Little gold! Let's go meet our first divine!"

"Hmm!" The big manta could hear the excitement in her voice.

As the large shadow in the sky started receding the people on the ground looked up. They felt slightly relieved but at the same time they felt a bit disappointed. Even though that shadow was a bit oppressing it also made them feel safe at the same time.

Everyone watched with conflicting emotions as the large manta moved through the air as it would underwater. The dark clouds started to gather around him obscuring him from view as he got further from the village.

The speed they were moving might have seemed fast for the villagers but the manta had decided to move slowly towards his destination so he could see a bit of the world. At this speed they should reach the city at about half a day.

After around an hour, as they were moving over a large grassland a sweet voice suddenly sounded from his back.

"let me down!"

"???? little gold you actually want to walk?" The giant creature in the sky slowed down his speed to a stop.

the small crab lifted off his back and descended towards the large grassland underneath them. As her large pointy legs touched the floor they sank slightly into the dirt. She looked around curiously for a bit before raising her small claw.

A large amount of dirt suddenly started gathering together about a dozen meters away, becoming a large sphere twice as big as her body leaving behind a big crater on the ground. All the plants, bugs, and stones had been filtered out as the dirt was gathering together becoming a perfect sphere of dirt.

'What is she doing?' The manta thought as he watched curiously.

Glowing gold once again the little crab started to rise off the ground with the ball of dirt following closely behind her. She floated onto the center of the manta's back before putting down the large ball of dirt. Even though he has lost her from his vision he was still curiously watching with his mana.

Once the large amount of dirt was safely on his back the little crab started waving her small claws side to side as the sphere of dirt started to slowly change its shape. It was only around an hour later in that he was able to finally make out what she was making. The dumbfounded manta didn't know if he should laugh or cry.

'Little gold aren't you getting a little too comfortable? How am I supposed to refute the fact I'm not your mount now if you built a house on my back!?'

It looked like a larger version of one of the simple houses he had seen in the village. He wanted to say something but seeing her happily creating that tiny home he decided to stay quiet.

'My back is so large anyways so it shouldn't be much of a bother, and it's not like anyone can see it off the ground either, especially when I'm covered in darkness.' He quietly waited for her until she was fully satisfied with the small one room house she had built.

Though he said "small house" it was because he was comparing it to his own body, it was actually much larger than the original at the village as it had to fit the small crab inside of it. She might be small to the manta but when comparing her to humans she was as big as a house. Once she was satisfied she opened the door and walked in before closing it behind her.

*Sighs...* seeing as she was finished the big manta let out a big sigh before he started moving once again.

Even though the small crab wasn't interested in the outside world at all, he was! The big manta would stop every time he found a new or interesting looking creature or even just a beautiful scenery which he would quietly appreciate for some time before once again going on his way.

Just on this short trip he had seen a pitchblack lake that had no ripples on its surface, a group of mountains that seemed to have been shot through by giant bullets creating perfect tunnels from one side to the other which made a sound as if the earth itself was speaking when the wind hit it just right. The amount of different creatures he had also seen was practically uncountable, both normal animals and magical beasts.

'I'm very lucky to be able to see such a beautiful place with my own eyes, it's very different from seeing it through a screen. Just being able to make some new memories already makes it worth it.' He thought to himself as he hovered above a large mountain that had its upper half made completely out of ice as he looked down at the lands underneath.

It actually ended up taking them a whole day before reaching the boundaries of the holy city. He was able to tell he was close once he started seeing a large amount of birds in the sky. They could see thousands of them flying together in a whirling everchanging pattern. Even the little crab came out of her house to watch that beautiful scene that reminded them of the fish in the sea.

All of the birds were just normal animals with the exception of one. It was a white falcon with blue stripes on his wings. It didn't follow the group of birds and instead flew straight in a certain direction. There was also a small container stuck to its leg which he knew had to contain a message for someone.

Ralfe had told him how the city used birds to communicate quickly to other places, they worked with information after all.

As the two went deeper into the territory they would find more and more white falcons moving around, some were even carrying small packages in their talons. The large manta could already see a large city in the distance. It looked busy as there were constantly people moving in and out of the entrance, and there were even many times more falcons flying in and out carrying things.

What left the manta even more surprised is that the city and the roads looked very clean. He was expecting it to be covered in bird poop but it looked like they were very well trained.

As the two got closer they suddenly felt a strong gust of wind push them back and a powerful feminen voice sounded out.

"How dare you!? Hmph! You creatures of darkness sure are getting more and more unruly! You dare ignore the rules and come to my city in person?!" You could easily make out the hostility in her voice.

The gust of wind had taken the manta by surprise and actually made him slightly tip to the side. It had made the flustered little crab have to react quickly not to have her small house fall apart. Once she was able to get it under control the annoyed little crab used her little claws to grab a bunch of his dark skin and pinch his back.

'!!!!!!' Holding back his scream the large manta turned towards the newcomer that had appeared in front of him in anger.

It was a beautiful blue bird with large wings and bright eyes who was a bit larger than little gold. She stared at the large manta that was covered in darkness in anger but her overall beauty made her not look intimidating at all!

'!!!!!!!!' The manta suddenly felt his back being pinched once again!

"Why??!" He asked, feeling wronged.

"Hmphp!"

Noticing that he wasn't going to get an answer he brought his attention back to the bird in front of him. She was staring at him angrily waiting for an answer.

"Ahem .. ahem … Greetings fellow divine creature!" As he spoke he released the darkness surrounding him giving the blue bird a view of his gigantic body along with the small dirt house on his back