Jonas Valanciunas realized that he was lying on his back in the grass. Since this was not where he expected to be after having just finished playing in an NBA game, he didn’t yet open his eyes. Instead, he thought about what might have led him to this situation. Had he gotten blisteringly drunk and passed out on the lawn of the team hotel? Had his teammates pranked him in some way? Was he outside the arena, stargazing? None of those explanations rang true. So he opened his eyes.
A blue sky was above him, speckled with wispy clouds, one of which was obscuring the sun. When it lazily moved away, Jonas had to shield his eyes from the sudden glare. If it was daytime, that meant he had been passed out for at least eight hours. Or did it? Sitting up, Jonas looked around at his surroundings, and within a second, he knew that he was no longer in Phoenix. There was too much green. He was atop a low, grassy mount which was surrounded by gently rolling slopes that were almost hills, but not quite. In the distance, there seemed to be a forest, but there were otherwise few trees immediately around him.
The way the sun glanced off the sea of grass…the way the wind carried on it the songs of the birds…it reminded him of home. Of Lithuania.
“We’ve been expecting you for some time now, Jonas,” said a man who was cresting the slope of the hill.
Jonas turned around to see who was addressing him. It was a white-bearded man who bore a sword and shield of steel. “Expecting me?” Jonas repeated. He couldn’t think of anybody in Lithuania who was expecting him to visit other than his immediately family. Besides, it’s not like he had chosen to come here…he just was.
The man chuckled. “Oh yes, I forget that not everybody possesses the knowledge of all spaces and times. Please accept my apology.”
Jonas was still confused, but the natural beauty around him relaxed him and allowed him to continue speaking without frustration. The man’s calm demeanor also allowed Jonas to stand in front of him with no fear of the man’s weapon. “You expected me, but I do not know who you are, or what your expectations are, or who you speak of when you say ‘we’.”
Another chuckle. “Of course. I am Dievas, and I am joined by the rest of the divine pantheon, who have been watching you very closely from afar.”
This fragment of information triggered something in Jonas’ mind. He was brought back to long-ago school lessons about the old ways of his Lithuanian ancestors. The lessons had been so long ago, and scarcely paid attention to. After some though, Jonas recalled that Dievas was the principal diety of the pagan religions in Lithuania which had been snuffed out by Christianization over five centuries ago. Dievas nodded happily while he watched Jonas come to this conclusion.
As Jonas watched in awe, more men and woman appeared on the crest of the hill, some bearing weapons, some unarmed, some humanlike, some not. “Why?” Jonas asked. “Why have I been brought here? Are these the trials of my death?”
“You are very much alive, Jonas” a woman said from behind him. Jonas turned around and beheld one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Her blond hair was impossibly bright in the sunlight and shimmered as the wind caught it. However, he was not filled with lust as he would be back home; instead, his heart filled with reverence. “And now that you have proven your worth, we invite you to join us.”
“Join you?” Jonas repeated. He felt like he had too many questions and not enough answers, but there was also a sense that all his questions would be addressed in time. Part of this still felt like an afterlife sequence, but when he checked for the physical solidity of his body, he found it just as solid as ever.
“You are one of us now,” the woman said, walking up to him and placing a hand gently on his shoulder. “And this land upon which you stand is no longer merely the place of your birth…it is the place of your eternal reign.”
Jonas felt an upwelling of energy within him. Overwhelmed, he sank to one knee. Something was changing in him. His heart was stoutened, his mind enlightened. When he grasped a handful of grass and dirt in his fingers, needing to feel the essence of his homeland, he found that he could shape it and give it life. Pulling his hand up, it was a trivial effort to transform the dirt into a living sapling. Another handful of earth was made into a bird’s nest full of eggs.
“Welcome to your new realm, friend and brother,” Dievas said.
Jonas stood up straight once again and surveyed his new domain. With the power of earth at his command, all things felt possible to him. “My realm,” he whispered. “Lithuania.”