It's a complex feeling, to have no aim for the future.

I enjoyed watching the wolf pursue whatever frivolous fancy struck its mind from moment to moment. To have no purpose was to have true freedom.

But it is not, at least for me, a good way to live.

There was regret and shame and long stretches of boredom. My indifference quickly turned into a burden.

The wolf answered my need for action by leaving the woods. It was purely by accident that it moved beyond the trees and found itself looking over an endless expanse of green fields.

The beauty of the land was breathtaking.

With no trees to shadow it, the color of everything looked brighter and startlingly vivid. It was as if the wolf had stepped into a new world. Even the sky seemed more vast, and its blue was different, darker but no less beautiful than the hue I was accustomed to. Barely a mile into the fields the clouds turned a threatening shade of gray and black, heavy with what I imagined would be a fierce storm when it broke, and though the sun was beaming the sky looked angry.

With no food in its belly the wolf was verging on manic, and when it saw a flock of sheep huddled in the distance, idly grazing on the bounty of greens, there was nothing to stop it from making a quiet approach. For the first time in days, the wolf paid attention to its hunger and was ready to swallow every last bit of wool and bone. It ducked to hide itself in the tall grass, and as it moved drool fell onto its paws.

It set the cloak of stars on the ground, but just as it bent to leap a blow landed on the animal's head. The connection rattled between its ears and blurred its vision. For a moment, all the stunned wolf could do was writhe on the ground.

"Thought you were a clever beast, eh?" spoke a gruff voice above. When the world stopped spinning the wolf opened its eyes and saw the shadowed outline of a man. "I hope you have more sense in your next life."

The shadow raised an object but the wolf cried out, "Wait! I'm not going to hurt you—listen!"

The shadow stilled. "Are you...begging for your life?"

The wolf withdrew, forcing me to take over. In a quick succession of thoughts it told me it was afraid and asked me to explain ourselves.

Of course, you'll leave me with the punishment, I answered as my skin began to peek through the fur.

Instinctively I curled my body to cover myself. The stranger did not attack during my change—A good sign, I thought—but took a step back and lowered his weapon. I held my hand up to shield my eyes from the sun and was finally able to make out the man's face.

He was old, with a silver beard and wrinkled skin that had seen too much sun, but his body had the sturdy build of a person accustomed to difficult work. He wore a plain brown robe that looked like it had been used every day of his life, and his shoes were made of thin straps held by his toes. Atop his head was a straw hat, patched many times with new husks and foliage, which gave the item an array of mismatched colors. In his hand was a wooden staff that curled into a bulbous knob at the top.

"You're a miracle," he whispered. "Where in Lightning's realm did you come from, boy? Surely not the plains."

"I'm Josiah," I groaned as my muscles and bones adjusted after their long rest inside the wolf. 

The man held his hand out to me. I took it, thinking he meant to pull me to my feet, but he shook it and stared into my eyes. I noticed a bizarre detail about the man. His pupils were oddly shaped, not round like normal eyes, but long and horizontal. I wondered if he'd been born with the aberration and if it limited his sight. 

"Jedd," he offered his name, "where are you from?"

"The woods—sir."

He grunted. "Nothin' good comes from there. You a demon?"

His hand tightened around mine.

"No! I'm just a boy. Honest!"

"Just a boy?"

"Well...and a wolf, from time to time. But it didn't mean any harm, I promise! It was starving." My stomach released a well-timed gurgle. "We're both hungry."

"These sheep ain't for eatin'. They're Lightning's flock. I'm their herder, and it's my job to keep hungry danger from snatching them away."

"I understand. I'll leave."

"You'll do no such thing! Me let a boy wander back to the trees? Wouldn't do. Wouldn't do at all."

"Please, don't hurt me. I didn't know the sheep belonged to anyone."

"What I do depends on your answers. Tell me: Are you a good boy? You mind your manners when you speak to your elders?"

"Yes, sir."

He nodded. "Are you an honest and hard worker? Or do you laze about and shirk your chores?"

His tone was so stern that I felt like I was back home and trying to explain myself out of punishment.

"I work hard, sir. Pa always said so."

"Pa? Where's he?"

"Gone."

"When?"

"A long time ago."

"And your mother? She gone, too?"

"Ma is...I don't know."

He released me and wiped his brow with the sleeve of his robe. I stood and placed Ambrosia's cloak of stars, still gathered to form a bag, in front of myself. 

"You're hungry, eh?" Jedd asked. "Well, I could be of a mind to feed you. Finest food you could ask for is grown on this land. Provided by Lightning Himself. But no one gets to feast on His offerings unless they work for it. Can you agree to that trade?"

"What sort of work do you want me to do?"

"Only one kind of work here, and that's watchin' over Lightning's flock. Watch for threats and make sure they graze safely. Think you can do that?"

I looked at the sheep. The field around them was quiet, with only the occasional buzzing of insects.

"Seems easy," I said, "it's peaceful here."

"Save the occasional wolf?" Jedd asked with a raised eyebrow.

I blushed. "I didn't see any others when I approached. Is that what I should be looking out for? Other wolves?"

"Wolves are infants compared to the real monsters that threaten Lightning's land. No, boy, you're going to be watching out for them."

He pointed his staff and my eyes followed it to a plain several miles away. My mouth dropped open. How had I missed them? They were far, perhaps a day's walk away or more, but big enough to be seen:

Enormous, lurking giants.

There were four of them, thin and long-limbed, towering high as mountains. They had the bodies and arms and legs of a human, but the similarity ended at their heads, which were hairless and curled into horns that were unique to their owner.

I could not discern if their skin was blueish or simply shadowed by clouds. In each of their faces were three orbs that glowed white, which I guessed served as eyes. Beyond that, I could not distinguish any other features such as a mouth or nose or ears. At the end of their skeletal arms were gnarled hands that sported claws as long as the tallest tree in the woods.

They stood like otherworldly monoliths with their heads against the sky. As large as they were, I wondered if they could see over the entire forest and beyond.

"Titans," Jedd spat in disgust. "They move slowly, but with one step they cross a distance of miles."

"H-how does one protect against them?"

For the first time, Jedd's face grew a slight smile. "Easy enough...most of the time."

He held his staff in the air and muttered an incantation.

A sharp crack of thunder echoed over the land and several bolts of lightning descended from the dark sky above the titans. One of the giants was hit in the shoulder by a bolt, and terrible chaos ensued as it moved to protect itself. The thunder, it appeared, was just as painful as the lightning, for all four titans covered their heads with their claws. The one that had been wounded reared back and released a roar that shook the ground beneath my feet, then swung its arm out and struck its closest companion. When its claws connected, the sufferer returned the attack, and one by one the titans became engaged in a fight between themselves, pausing only to cover their heads when thunder boomed from the clouds.

"The loud noise scares the monsters," Jedd said with a cackle.

I felt a small pity for them. They'd only been standing and posed no threat to the sheep.

"They keep their distance for now," Jedd warned when he saw my sympathetic expression, "but I promise you, there will come a day when one of them gets a mind to put me in my place. And they are tough, don't doubt that. A single sweep of a claw is all they need to take out a whole flock. Uproot the earth and leave holes as big as kingdoms if they were inclined. Don't ever pity them, and don't ever turn your sight from them for longer than a moment when the sun's out. They look docile standing in the distance, but when they decide to walk they'll swallow you whole and think nothing of it. Herds and houses have been lost because attention went idle and, careful as I am, I'm not immune to their destruction. Lost my fair share of Lightning's property. And friends, too."

After several minutes the sky calmed and the titans settled with it. They straightened their bodies and stilled, and only then did Jedd pull his eyes from them and turn to me.

"That's how we protect Lightning's sheep."

"But I don't have a staff."

"Don't need you to handle the titans. The wolf will listen and watch for a stirring in the air. And it'll keep the sheep from wandering off. Left alone, the poor, foolish things would graze right over to the titans, and if those beasts get a whiff of something tasty they'll stir into a rampage. Have a care about the wind here, boy, and take pains not to injure yourself or the sheep. If the current is traveling in a bad direction the scent of blood will reach the titans in no time, and all the thunder or lightning in the world won't stop them then. I pack bandages to cover any accidents quickly and water to wash and dampen the smell. Doesn't always work, but it might save my life."

"I understand."

He gave a heavy sigh. "Lost a good dog to an accident a while back. Thinkin' now I've found another, one that will do what it's told. You able to control the animal?"

"I wouldn't put it like that."

"How would you put it?"

"The wolf understands what's expected of it."

"Will it obey? And won't try to make off with a lamb?"

"That I can promise you."

"Otherwise it'll meet its end in a flash of lightning."

"Neither of us want that."

"Feel like earning a dinner? Day's watch won't last but another two or three hours. All the wolf needs to do is keep the sheep from moving away and listen for the titans getting restless. It'll sense the shift in the wind long before me, I suspect." A gurgle from my stomach interrupted his last word. Jedd nodded. "Got some bread leftover from midday meal. You can have it to quiet your hunger until dinner."

Keeping an eye on the sheep was easy, but the wolf's gaze continued to move to the massive titans. Jedd sat next to it with relaxed humor, humming every so often at the splendor in front of him.

"Everyone's the same when they get their first look at those demons," Jedd said when he noted the animal's unease. "And you never really get used to them, either. How could you, with something that big and dangerous?" He pulled a piece of straw from his hat and began to chew on it. "I've been a herder since I was smaller'n your human. Pap was a herder, as was his. We're people of the plains, Lightning's Chosen, born and bred to make sure His stock walks freely in His fields."

The wolf cocked its head in curious meaning.

"You know of Lightning, of course."

The wolf shook its head and Jedd's fist curled.

"Not your fault, I suppose," he said through gritted teeth. "Coming from the woods, I doubt you've had any touch of the divine. It's a blessing to bring a new soul into Lightning's Fold."

Neither the wolf nor myself were sure we wanted to be part of Lightning's Fold but remained silent on that point.

"Lightning is one of the oldest gods, and the only deity to ever set foot on this world or care about its people. When He was young, He grew bored of life in the heavens and rode a star down to this land. Plunged Himself right into the very center of the world where there's nothing but fire. Lightning sat there for centuries, warming His body until He was satisfied and began to rise. This is when He met Micah, the First Worshipper. Micah was a simple-minded herder, and when he saw the great being coming from the water, he fell to his knees and uttered the world's first words. Touched by the submission, Lightning bestowed three gifts upon him:

The first was knowledge of language, letters, and numbers.

The second was knowledge of who Lightning was.

The third was prayer, which served as a means to communicate with Lightning.

From that moment on, Micah stayed at the side of his god, and it was his pleasure to show Lightning the plains and describe all the inhabitants who lived there.

Sheep were what Micah herded, and he showed Lightning how their meat was prepared for eating. Lightning found the animals to be noble and innocent, and did not wish for them to be slaughtered. But He could not let His disciple starve, so He taught Micah how to pull vegetables from the ground, and made the soil fertile with His power so the food was delicious and never rotted. My people eat vegetables grown from the same ground, and they are the most flavorful delights one could ever hope to taste.

Sheep were proclaimed to be Lightning's special animals, and to cause them harm would invoke His wrath. Micah was taught how to remove the wool from sheep and create clothing and blankets, for this helped the animals and did not hurt them. In this way, humans and sheep could coexist in harmony.

Micah taught his people the holy ways and they became devoted to their new god.

Then came the terrible time when the titans arrived. These monsters were sent by Lightning's brothers in the sky, and had come to take Him home. But the titans were carelessly ill-made. Foolish and aggressive. They could not remember what Lightning looked like and attacked anything within reach, and when they tasted the first drop of blood it drove them mad. They began devouring the inhabitants of the world.

Lightning's people needed a way to protect themselves, so the god gifted them twelve identical staffs which could summon the powers of a storm. Lightning gathered the clouds to remain dark overhead, always ready when His people needed them.

With the First Worshipper as their leader, the people of the plains drove the titans into submission, until all the brutes could do was stand and wait for an opportunity to strike. Strike they did, many times, but each attack was defended against, sometimes at great cost.

At the astonishingly ancient age of seventy, Micah died. Lightning took his soul and ascended back to the sky. To this day, Lightning and Micah sit in the clouds and watch over the fields, waiting to welcome the last of Micah's descendants into the Plains of Plenty. Those slain by a titan are rewarded with a special place near Micah and are called the Fallen Protectors. From time to time they warn their friends and families of danger by sending rain to the plains.

For now, the titans are allowed to continue their destruction, but there will come a day when the Plains of Plenty are full. Micah will return to the earth as the Great Ram, twice the size of the titans. He will strike the ground with a mighty hoof, and it will open and swallow all evil. Paradise will grow from the ashes, and Lightning's chosen will join the First Worshipper in the new world, where they will live for eternity without any danger, knowing only the peace of Lightning's everlasting love.

This is the story of my people, who are destined for glory as long as we protect Lightning's flock."