Ego of the Mighty
The normally silent and tranquil Silvio Forest was alive with activity one summer night. Animals, big and small, had traveled from afar. Birds had made the long flight from all corners of the planet. Even fishes swam upstream from nearby lakes and rivers. They had gathered to witness the epic showdown: the clash of two mighty apex predators for the title of the strongest animal on Ecovia’s Egg.
The saintly trees and plants put aside their pacifism and prepared a clearing in the forest for the arena. In one corner, hailing from the slopes of Mount Genevieve, stood Augustus, the colossal mammal. In the other, flying from the shores of Lake Clara, soared Titania, the formidable raptor.
Overlooking the scene from a hilltop skybox was Sophiena, the angel of mammals. She was restlessly pacing about in her excitement, chugging down a mug of milk as its frothy foam outlined her upper lip white. Joining her was her younger sister, Aviana, the angel of birds, who was cool and composed, graciously perched on the edge of the cliff.
The buzz and hype around the fight had also drawn the daughter angels of Geoella and Botanella.
“Come on, Augustus! Use your strength and intelligence to win the fight for the mammals!” Sophiena cheered, vehemently waving her mug to spill most of the milk.
The fight began with a flurry of attacks from Titania. She darted in and out, slashing at Augustus with her sharp claws and dodging his counterattacks. Her speed and agility gave her an edge over Augustus, who could only run around helter-skelter.
“Prepare to lose, sis,” Aviana smirked overconfidently.
Sophiena, however, was not worried. She had caught on to Augustus’ strategy. He was wearing out the raptor, waiting for the right moment to strike.
That moment came when Titania perched on a tree branch to catch her breath. As soon as she took her eyes off Augustus to acknowledge the cheering crowd, he seized the opportunity and used his brute force to topple the tree.
Titania barely escaped being crushed by it. She opened her eyes and found Augustus looming over her, pinning her down with his long claws.
One-two-three, the fight was over. Augustus, the mammal, had won the title of the strongest animal in Ecovia.
“This is rubbish!” Aviana squawked, losing her poise. She flew away in a huff, unable to accept the defeat.
Sophiena roared in joy. She carried her generously curvy figure, draped in beautiful fur and leather, down to the forest and tightly embraced the ursine champion. She plucked some wild flowers from nearby bushes and showered Augustus with their aromatic petals to celebrate.
“Hey! What are you doing? Stop that right now!” scolded Floriela, the angel of flowers. She ran up to Sophiena and snatched the flowers from her plump hands. “They are not objects for you to toss around!”
Sophiena glared and growled at Floriela. Instinctively, Dendriela, the angel of trees, intervened to pull her dainty sister aside. “Floriela could have been more polite in expressing her concern, but she has a point,” she said gently. “I understand this is a special occasion, but please ask your mammals not to fell my trees. They are valuable and have a life too.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Sophiena impudently snorted, dismissing them. “I can topple your trees and even set them on fire if I want to!”
“How can you joke about polluting my realm of clouds?” protested Chasitia, the angel of the skies. “If you ever do that, you will face consequences.”
“Shut up!” Sophiena barked back, unfazed by her warning. Turning to the angels present, she announced loudly, “My mammals are smart and strong creatures, and I, as their angel, am superior to all of you. You should make me your leader and bow down to me as a queen.”
“Don’t let your ego get the best of you, Sophiena,” advised Pomola, the angel of fruits. “Stay humble in victory, or you will regret your words when you come to your senses.”
“Pfft!” Sophiena dismissed her with a wave of her hand.
The angels left, offended by Sophiena’s arrogance. They wanted nothing to do with her.
“Fine! Walk away! I don’t care about you lowly angels! I don’t need your stupid company!” Sophiena grumbled, annoyed by their indifference. “I-I was going to invite you to a feast to celebrate the mightinessof my mammals, but-but now you will miss out on all the fun.”
Sophiena, vain and proud, addressed the mammals gathered around, “We are throwing a feast. Clear some land, create some warmth, and decorate the place. Today, we will eat lavishly like mightyrulers. And also, arrange for a show of fireworks spectacular enough to dazzle everyone.”
“Won’t the angels be angry, Angel Sophiena?” Globulus, the enormous, thick-skinned omnivore (like a hippo), a native of the forest, voiced his concern in his loud, fruity voice. “We will be destroying the things they cherish after all.”
“Mm, Globulus has a point,” Augustus agreed. “Mother Naturella might disapprove too.”
“We are mighty and large creatures, don’t think small of yourself,” Sophiena silenced their doubts. “We are better than the rest of Ecovia’s creations. They can’t harm us in any way!”
Convinced by Sophiena’s confident words, the mammals got to work. They cleared the forest by savagely sawing down many peaceful trees, leaving their dead stumps behind. They created warmth by building an unnecessarily huge bonfire from the tree trunks. They decorated the venue by mercilessly ripping the colorful flowers from their bushes. And they set up tables with wastefully large amounts of fruits and vegetables grown in the area.
Sophiena and her mammals feasted late into the night. Getting hopped up on milk, they locked their horns in friendly games of strength. They sang and danced and even watched the show of fireworks with excitement and awe. At that moment, they felt nothing could dampen their spirits. However, they would soon find out that there were consequences for their recklessly arrogant behavior.
“Wake up! Wake up, Angel Sophiena!” Globulus shook her awake late the following morning. “We must get to shelter. Angel Chasitia is flooding the forest.”
Sophiena looked up at the skies and saw Chasitia sailing the blanket of clouds under black sails, hailing down in an icy storm. “Oi Chasitia! What is the meaning of this?” Sophiena barked at her from below. “Stop it, now, before—”
Chasitia exploded in a thunderous boom, silencing Sophiena from speaking further. “You and your mammals sullied my pure, white clouds with the poison of smoke despite my warning. So you have no right to complain when I am only getting even.”
“You are being unreasonable,” Sophiena pleaded. “Stop tormenting my mammals when your beef is with me!”
“Why should I care about your mammals when you don’t care about my clouds?” Chasitia countered, folding her arms.
Sophiena tugged her hair in frustration, having no answer to her logic. Giving up on the argument, she focused on the safety of her mammals. She led them to the shelter of a cave on a nearby hill, where they had a long, painful wait in hunger and discomfort that lasted for days.
When Chasitia’s dark clouds finally sailed away and the flood water receded, Sophiena and her mammals came out of the cave, only to find a desolate plain where the forest once stood.
“Where are the trees?” Sophiena gasped in shock.
“They left,” chirped a bird from his aerie atop a cliff. “The peaceful trees did not want to stay here after you started sacrificing them for fun. They requested Angel Dendriela to transplant them elsewhere, and she willingly obliged.”
“Oh no!” the mammals sobbed. “The forest was our home, our source of nourishment. What do we do now? We have nowhere to go. This is a disaster!”
Sophiena howled in anguish, heartbroken to see her mammals full of full of lament and sorrow. Unable to bear their suffering, she distanced herself to gather her thoughts.
Still refusing to admit her wrongdoing, Sophiena thought to herself, “The nerve of the angels! They must be jealous of me. Nature is mine to exploit; I will take what I want!”
In her spitefulness, Sophiena decided to adorn her pigtail braids with flowers. But she yowled in pain when she tried to snap the blossoms. Floriela had armed her flowers with sharp thorns to protect them. Later, she also found one of her mammals sick on the ground after eating some berries. Pomola had poisoned her fruits to ward off her animals.
All sad, cold, and miserable, Sophiena dragged herself to a pond. She sat on the wet, muddy ground, crying her heart out, wondering how the other angels had reduced the strength and intelligence of mammals to nothing.
Soon, she noticed the glow of Mother Naturella’s rainbow in her peripheral vision through her tears. Seeing it cast near her, she figured she had come to see her. Quickly, she tried to compose herself, wanting to hide her vulnerability.
“You don’t look well. Is everything all right?” Mother Naturella asked, sitting beside her.
Avoiding her gaze, Sophiena replied, “No, it isn’t. The angels are harassing my mammals out of jealousy.”
“Are their actions driven by jealousy? Or is it because you were rude to them?” Mother Naturella stroked her head to soothe her. She explained, “You have to be humble because no matter how smart or powerful you are, you all need each other to survive.”
“What do you mean?” Sophiena finally looked up, wiping her tears.
“You have to respect others and the things they value,” Mother Naturella explained. “Botanella’s daughters, Dendriela, Floriela, and Pomola, provide your mammals with food, nourishment, and shelter. And Chasitia provides clean air to breathe. In fact, cooperating with them will only benefit your mammals.”
“Mother Naturella, you have opened my eyes. In my pride, I did wrong,” Sophiena admitted with guilt. “What should I do to make things right?”
“Make a gesture of apology to show your remorse,” Mother Naturella advised.
Heeding Mother Naturella’s words of wisdom, Sophiena got to work. She and her mammals planted seeds in the deforested land, nurturing them as they sprouted.
Seeing Sophiena’s genuine effort to restore the forest, Dendriela, Floriela, and Pomola forgave her. Even Chasitia saw her repentance and pardoned her of her sin.
Bowing her head before the angels, Sophiena promised, “I will never let ego get the better of me again. I hope we can live together on Ecovia’s Egg in harmony.”
“As long as you and your mammals give us our due respect, we are happy to cooperate,” the angels assured in unison.
THE END
