None of Whisper's encounters with djinni were as taxing as the first, and she came to regret not consuming the vengeful sprite when she had the chance.

Not to say that any of them were easy. No elemental approached her with any sentiment more positive than a sick curiosity. A longing to reach out to the taboo and come back unscathed. Sculptors had always been a bitter rarity, and now there were even fewer. The fae blessings kept them safe but could not aid their regrowth. Deprived of any real object for their prejudice bar the (for the most part) still and silent lens that Urtelem so defended, the djinni she met expected a variety of strange things, holding- though they claimed to know better- superstitions not unlike that of the mortals. 

That she would use metal wands to enchant any who looked upon her and reduce their minds into an infantile state. That she came from the moon Azmund-Y'Vahn, whose colours derived from stained glass, and was borne down in the belly of a gigantic, fattened grub. That everything beautiful she touched would turn to dust, and so she worshiped everything ugly.

The last one Whisper found oddly chilling, though she knew it wasn't worth dwelling on.

For the most part she got what she wanted out of the spirits. Allowing them to feel validated and powerful by not fighting back, even acting wounded, played neatly into the elemental ego, at least while they were small and foolhardy. Some simply feared or respected her enough to speak with her.

Those that were too cautious, or large enough to report to others without simply being absorbed like dust in the wind... She'd been in fights, all of which she had won. Whisper told herself to be grateful for the nourishment. And the scarlet rune iterated on.

[colour=LavenderBlush][i]Past, future, present, perfect. Indicative, conditional, imperative, subjunctive. All denoted by consistent affixes respectively before and after the infinitive stem- An adverb for continuity. Stems linked by phonetic and kinesthetic similarity to a noun of high association. If they feel confused, they can point to what they want... That might offend them.[/i][/colour]

...

Whisper encountered her next conversational partner entirely by chance.

Deep in thought and looking out for communities and spirits rather than lone wanderers of the type that rested between the lichenous boulders below, the change-eater swept over Zotash'e like a cirrus cloud of unnatural speed and colour, and she held her breath as it passed, exhaling only to see it turn and rush back before her quickened heart could slow.

It was no lie, found Zotash'e, that one's memories flicker into vision when Death grows near. Though she still leaned flat against the boulder as if to hide her shadow, she turned her head towards the Abomination and the fluttering, crackling hums that it made. And she raised her staff to it.

"Back," breathed Zotash'e.

[center][hider=She saw an eye that had once been bright.][img]http://68.media.tumblr.com/c8775ad80cc12c5d1236d05da31ad85b/tumblr_onvaqj1JCE1r1kgcho2_540.png[/img][/hider][/center]

Her wrist was shaking and she knew it, but the initiate only tightened her grip. "Get back," she repeated, mouthing, "for Zephyrion is with me." She went on. "And the children of Vetros do not die easy to such as you."

The monster seemed to understand, but it did not leave her. The cloud of black and blackening hues settled onto the earth and... Congealed, coagulated, into a cluster of misshapen bubbles. For a moment she thought she saw a flicker of deep red. It leaned in, and then-

Zotash'e screamed, and the thing receded from her. Quartz shards began to jut from her fists as she held the staff before her, now in a warrior's stance. It was a tiny flicker of a djinn, but it was the only one that followed her.

[colour=AliceBlue][i]"You know Zephyrion?"[/i][/colour] came the whisper again.

"Yes!" yelled the initiate. "God is with me and He protects. And I know of you, too. I know the one that sent you."

[colour=Honeydew][i]"...Of course,"[/i][/colour] said the thing, in its voice of perfect clarity, and, Zotash'e realised, a deep tiredness. [colour=Ivory][i]"How?"[/i][/colour]

"...How what?" she blurted, knowing that there was some wise shamanic retort she should be able to give and lacking any idea of what it was.

[colour=MintCream][i]"How is he with you,"[/i][/colour] repeated the monster, [colour=MintCream][i]"if he's been banished?"[/i][/colour]

"What?" More indignant confusion, but she knew she had to say something. "God is in all things. He is all-seeing, all-powerful, and no force could banish him, for He is righteous."

[colour=LavenderBlush][i]"..."[/i][/colour] The being flicked. Something told Zotash'e that it was not in fear. [colour=LavenderBlush][i]"I see."[/i][/colour] There was a pause, and she could have run, had she not seen the speed at which this spawn of Y'vahn had crossed the sky. [colour=MistyRose][i]"You know these things. Tell me about them."[/i][/colour]

No, the shaman-to-be realised, not without a touch of youthful hubris. No, she would not die today. This was not the thing that had bloodied Vetros. This was not the Emaciator that the good king had described. This was part of the other Y'vahn, the one that drove the possessed monks mad and made them into demons. But she was safe. She would soon be- She [i]was[/i] a shaman. Zephyrion would be with her. Did not the writings say that there the path of the righteous is hallowed ground?

"...About what?"

The eye turned on her again and this time she saw that there were many of them. [colour=AliceBlue][i]"That spirit."[/i][/colour]

"Oh..." The crystal spikes on her fists rippled. "This, ah, is a lesser djinni of earth. I've bound it to me by- Using the shamanic arts of my mentor."

Zotash'e realised that it might be heretical to divulge such knowledge to an agent of the Enemy, but the whisper was sharper than that. 

[colour=Ivory][i]"Shamanic arts."[/i][/colour]

"Yes. Of course. Don't you know of them?"

[colour=MistyRose][i]"Only heard,"[/i][/colour] said the demon. Zotash'e got the strange and sudden impression that it was a foreigner. Which was, she supposed, accurate, but...

"It is... How those chosen by Zephyrion, and by His chosen in turn, exert authority over the world we have inherited," she began, repeating words usually taught to children. "The djinni come to know us by name and by voice, and we them. They lend us their power, if we treat them with due respect and- Fellowship, and sometimes perform certain rites that, um, please them. Sometimes the smaller ones become bound to our will, or develop a trusting friendship with-"

The creature's voice was as soft as a feather and as sharp as a knife.

[colour=Honeydew][i]"You earn the loyalty of elementals by just [b]talking[/b] to them?"[/i][/colour]

Zotash'e saw a vision of her mother wrapping her bruised knee and gulped. "...Yes?"

There was quiet.

[colour=GhostWhite][i]"Sing something,"[/i][/colour] ordered the being. A kind of vocal fry had entered her voice. The glowing fluids within her were roiling.

"I, uh, I..."

Whisper writhed, no longer listening. The bubbles contorted and shriveled, and suddenly Zotash'e saw teeth, claws, spines, segmented tentacles- that spread and blocked the sky above and burned marks into the air and-

[colour=AliceBlue][i]"[b]How?[/b]"[/i][/colour] fizzed the voice. [colour=AliceBlue][i]"Tell me. [b]How. Did. She. Do. This.[/b] Tell me. Tell. Me."[/i][/colour]

"I..." Zotash'e had fallen, had stumbled back under the weight of starved rage that flowed from the sprawling demon above and around her, and she was crying. And she knew that somewhere, deep in the light, under the stains, it was crying, too. "Sister, I-"

[colour=GhostWhite][i]"[b]How did she do this to us? HOW COULD SHE DO THIS TO US?[/b]"[/i][/colour]

No answer.

[center][h3]* * * * *[/h3][/center]

[center][colour=MintCream][i]Today I met a girl of earth
With feet of clay and bones of loam.
I met her in a barren place
Where solemn spirits roam.[/i][/colour]

[colour=LavenderBlush][i]I met her in the border land
'tween peace and war and lust and chaste.
We sang together for a while
Of hate and death and haste.[/i][/colour]

[colour=Ivory][i]Tomorrow is another day
That I must bear alone.
My girl of earth knows not the sins
For which I must atone.[/i][/colour]

[colour=Honeydew][i]One day beyond the final veil
I'll meet my girl of earth again.
A sinner's cross I'll bear no more
And I will find her then.[/i][/colour][/center]