“God has placed the most interesting things behind fear” – Will Smith, Actor from Old Earth, circa 2017 of the old Era (OOE)


    Jessy Peal was watching T.V. On the screen were Billy Smith and a few people just sitting around talking and joking. As they joked, Jessy Peal played with the keyboard computer which was connected to the T.V. and it seems to be producing music where Billy Smith and his friends were sitting and talking and having fun on the other side of the T.V. screen.


    Billy Smith and his companions commented on how well the performance was and praised others who were singing in accompaniment with Jessy Peal and were watching Billy Smith on T.V. as well. So the scene seemed to be as though the two groups were interacting with each other and using each other’s activity as entertainment.


    After some time, Jessy Peal Turned of the T.V. As he walked to his couch to sit, those in the room with him all left to pursue other activities, saying their goodbyes.


    As he went to sit on his couch, someone walked into his living room casually and sat on his couch next to him. Before he could turn to see who it was, the person made a comment – “That was very interesting!”


    Jessy Peal turned abruptly to see who it was. He immediately noticed that it was Billy Smith sitting next to him.


    “What the . . .!” he wondered. “What is he talking about?” Jessy Peal thought, “why doesn’t he simply just state what is interesting before commenting on it? Is he trying to test me or something? What is he doing here in my living room? How did he get in my living room? Why would he be in my living room? Why would he be having a conversation with me in the first place? OK, let’s just go along with this and see where it takes us,” thought Jessy Peal.


    “Hmmm . . . interesting?” he said, Billy Smith could not possibly have been talking about his performance on the keyboard just a few minutes ago or the singing that accompanied it – whereas that was somewhat interesting, it was not nearly interesting enough to bring Billy Smith from God-knows-where to his apartment – and in such a hurry at that.


    The speed with which he got there was nothing less than unbelievable. If they had been interacting on the T.V., as he believed they had been, then either Billy Smith’s location was a lot closer than he had thought, or Billy Smith employed some miracle to get there so quickly. Whatever the case might be, it couldn’t have been the music that brought Billy Smith to his apartment so quickly.


    The channel that he had selected for their viewing was at random – it is not like he knew Billy Smith as anything other than a T.V. personality. The channel choice was mere happenstance and the fact that it was an interactive channel featuring Billy Smith and his companions was just random chance, wasn’t it? What could Billy Smith be talking about then? The only thing that came to Jessy Peal’s mind was Billy Smith’s interview with Will Crosby a week ago. Was it possible he was referring to that interview? If he was, that would have some serious implications.


    A week or so before this, Billy Smith had an interview with the famous Motivational Speaker and Philosopher Will Crosby in which he was able to show, as he had put it, that “God had put the most interesting things behind fear.” It was a very pungent interview and his point, once made, was undeniably true. He showed how his experience bungee jumping off the peak of mount Neverest was only scary before the act itself.


    Once the miles long diamond-wrought titanium bungee cord was secured and he actually jumped, it was, as he put it, “the most exhilarating experience” of his life – “just the greatest thing that one can experience.”


    All the fear, though, had come before he actually made the jump. After the jump, he came to realize: There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of – everything before that jump was completely fear-filled but once the jump happened, the free fall was extremely enjoyable.


    “That’s what he must be talking about,” Jessy Peal thought. So he replied: “Yes, that was very interesting indeed. God has put some of the greatest things behind fear. That was a very remarkable and impressive interview. I was greatly moved by it.”


    Jessy Peal was very pleased to see as the expression on Billy Smith’s face revealed that he had guessed correctly. He could have simply discerned what was on Billy Smith’s mind but the rules prohibited him from doing so unless the circumstances were right. “You have been making very insightful deep thoughts known. Those thoughts have changed the lives of many people and helped them to accomplish a great deal in their lives. As a result, many people love you. It will not be long before the people demand that you become a candidate for the god elections.”


    Billy Smith simply smiled and said nothing. The smile spoke for itself. Jessy Peal knew now that his second guess, that is, his thought as to why Billy Smith was here in his apartment, must be correct as well. Since that was the case, the rules no longer prohibited him from discerning Billy Smith’s thoughts.


    The god elections were a thing of legend. Only a few people in the entire history of Tergia had been nominated to the elections and even fewer have passed the testing to be confirmed as gods of Tergia. These “gods of Tergia” were gods, not in the absolute sense that people used when talking about the “True God that created all things” – such as when Billy Smith had said “God has placed the most interesting things behind fear,” but were gods of Tergia because they were the ones that, through the history of Tergia, had been tasked with meeting and defeating all external threats to the world of Tergia – in the history of Tergia, those have been very great and many.


    Some people might say a better term for them would be “Heroes of Tergia” – except that these “Heroes” were endowed with far superior powers – powers that were nothing short of divinity once they were confirmed as successful candidates of the god elections.


    Those individuals that make the above argument also state that calling these Heroes “gods” was sacrilegious. But like it or not, “god elections” they have been called from antiquity and try as anyone may to change it, the name had stuck with the public and had never changed.


    “As true as that statement you made to Will Crosby is,” Jessy Peal continued, “God has also put some great horrors behind fear as well,” Billy Smith’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?” He asked, looking Jessy Peal directly in the eye, his interest piqued. “What do you know of the Tiel?” Jessy Peal asked.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    “The Tiel?” Asked Billy Smith, his interest deepening, “Who or what is the Tiel?”


    Jessy Peal walked over to his large T.V. screen and placed a finger directly on the display while he closed his eyes and seemed to mumble some words under his breath. The screen came on, brightening until it was shinning like a small star – then the whole room changed. Suddenly, they both seem to be outside in a great wide plain.


    Billy Smith looked around - to his right, there was a great plain. To the left, though, was a breath-taking scene.


    The landscape stretched out with rolling hillocks covered with fine grass that terminated in a little area filled with trees overflowing with greenery. In the background of that, was a towering waterfall with water that roared as it hit the floor of the waterfall. The water from there formed a stream that flowed down into the trees and seem to divide many times to water the trees and the greenery. Then it converged again into one stream as it continued down and stretched into the horizon.


    Beautiful as that was, it held no comparison to the beautiful creatures that were bathing, playing, and some seemed to be working on the little rivers and at the waterfall.


    They were bi-pedal with faces that were rhombus shaped with the height of the faces being about four times longer than the width. They had two stalks attached to the top of their heads closer to their faces; they had two parallel perpendicular slits on their faces in the same location as on a human face where a nose would be, along with two shinning lidded grey eyes.


    Their mouths were lipless but in the same location as a human mouth. Their skin had a wet looking beige texture. They had two hands, each with three digits – an opposable thumb-like finger and another two fingers – though the fingers were a lot longer than human fingers. On their heads, there was no hair, just a smooth continuation of skin. There were no obvious ears. They wore transparent clothing that seemed to be a part of their bodies but covered them much as human clothing would. They moved in very graceful strides. They ranged from half a meter in height to about one and half meters in height. The one that seemed to be babies were smaller than half a meter in height. Every motion they made seemed to be part of a dance.


    As Billy Smith was mesmerized by the scene, there was a great booming sound that startled him out of his reverie. He turned looking up in the direction of the noise to see a great craft coming down to land. At first, he wondered what kind of craft that could be. He had never seen anything like it before. Sure, Tergia had many space-faring crafts, but he had never seen anything like this one before.


    He saw something that looked like an obsidian ball with pointy rough spikes. It descended with great speed and crashed into the meadow creating a crater several meters wide and deep as great plums of dirt, dust and sand flew into the sky.


    The creatures that were working and playing by the waterfall started fleeing, screaming, shouting and running around in great panic. Those creatures who seemed to be mothers picked up their young from the stream and ran with them, seeking places to hide.


    The obsidian ball suddenly had an open hole in it – out of it, creatures jumped out. The creatures had no specific shape except that they were bi-pedal and had multiple appendages ranging from one to as many as eight. They were grotesque looking and seemed to be amalgams of other creatures.


    Each of them seemed to have a great mouth with many jagged sharp teeth that seemed special made for ripping and tearing. Their skin oozed stinky mucus that dripped as they ran. Their speed, though, seemed to be designed for hunting. In a few seconds they chased the fleeing mass of creatures that were at the waterfall. When they caught some, they ripped into them and started eating them while they were still alive, ripping off arms and legs, and eating them whole as well as their innards.


    One of these creatures took a baby from one of the other creatures that were at the waterfall and ripped off its head and threw the head into its maw, crunching down on it. Billy Smith could hear an audible pop as the baby’s head was smashed. Then it placed the baby’s neck against its maw and sucked the blood from the dead carcass’ neck while squeezing the baby’s body. Immediately, everything froze.


    Billy Smith threw up. When he looked up after heaving many times, he heard Jessy Peal’s quiet voice. “I am sorry I had to show you that, but you had to see it for yourself to fully understand who the Tiel are,” he said. “Won’t you say the people of Humye had good reason to fear the Tiel?” He calmly asked Billy Smith.


    During this entire showing, Jessy Peal had observed Smith closely. He had closed his eyes and let out his senses, probing Billy Smith’s emotions and thoughts, gauging his reactions to the sights, sounds, smells, and tactile information he was receiving. “Yes,” he thought, “this one would make a good candidate for godhood. I will help him if he meets the forms.”


    “So, those things – the ones with the big mouths and stinky skin – those are the Tiel?” asked Billy Smith, as he regained his equanimity. “Yes,” replied Jessy Peal in one word.


    The scene vanished. They were back in Jessy Peal’s apartment. “Tell me why you are here, Mr. Smith,” Jessy Peal said. “You didn’t seek me simply to tell me how interesting your interview was, now, did you?”


    “You know why I’m here, Jessy,” replied Billy Smith.


    “Well, I’ll give you this: You sure did your homework, Mr. Smith,” said Jessy Peal, “You even know my name. But regardless, Mr. Smith, I cannot help you unless you spell out why you are here. The forms have to be kept. We all must abide by the rules,” Jessy Peal continued.


    “I have come to earn the assistant. What must I do to earn the Divine Assistant?” Billy Smith asked.


    The Divine Assistant was a creature that helped candidates for godhood succeed in the god trials. The god trials where the last part of the god elections where the candidates demonstrated their fitness to be gods of Tergia.


    The god elections were only elections in the sense that the first part required that the majority of the population that voted elect a candidate to be tested as a god of Tergia. Their similarities to an election ended there. Every single candidate had a chance of making it. There were no limited spots to become a god of Tergia, just limited people passing the trials. Every individual that was elected to candidacy was tried individually and had to pass the trials on his or her own. They were not even told, often times, all that was needed – they had to figure it out for themselves. For example, no one was told about the Divine Assistant.


    Those that became candidates had to figure out that they existed, that they were needed, and figure out how to go about getting one of them. The knowledge of the existence of the Divine Assistants was a highly held secret. Even prior god candidates that found out could not repeat the knowledge to anyone. There were devices and procedures in place to make sure of this. The Divine Assistant was not mandatory for candidacy; it just made success as a candidate more likely.


    Of all the candidates in Tergia’s history, only one, Killian the Mighty, ever passed candidacy without a Divine Assistant – all others that tried the feat without one, either died or failed their candidacy. All those with the Divine Assistant, to date, have passed candidacy without exception, although there was no guarantee that having it would make one pass. The public, of course, was unaware of this.


    So, the fact that Billy Smith not only knew of the Divine Assistant but was here in Jessy Peal’s apartment asking him what he needed to do to gain one spoke volumes for Billy Smith’s candidacy. It also explained why Billy Smith arrived in Jessy Peal’s apartment in such a seemingly mysterious manner – he did it to be impressive. The more impressive he was, the better his chances of success. Jessy Peal smiled to himself as he rubbed his hands together. This young man was impressive indeed.


    “For that, Mr. Smith,” said Jessy Peal, “you will have to successfully complete a quest.”