Ashh
Frettzo
Vec
&
Li’Kalla
Goddess of Rain
8 FP - 9 MP
&
𝔖 𝔢 𝔦 𝔥 𝔡 𝔥 𝔞 𝔯 𝔞
Time: The Day the Gods Came
When Seihdhara finally woke up, the memory of all her dreams hung heavily over her like a cloud that spat lightning and rain, but was also immediately at peace blowing in a blue summer sky. As individual memories came to her, she found herself brooding over that strange mice dream. It frustrated her that she had not been able to get to the sword - for the sword was the problem. The sword that always tore her from her loved ones. She looked down at her palm, and there about it was that familiar golden hue and the ghost of a silver-bladed short-sword boasting a pommel in the shape of a furious roaring bear head. It was called Ursus Mater, the sword her son had created and gifted to her. When sheathed it simply dissipated into a golden sheen around her. She had come through into this world along with her sword, for it was attached to her soul.
But had it truly been the sword in the dream? After all, it had all been a lie, and she had known it to be a lie and chosen - at last - to bask in it even so. Bringing her hands about her knees, she looked around the room she was now in. For a few moments she thought her eyes were deceiving her, but then it became apparent that the Purlieu and cave she had fallen asleep in was indeed no longer there. She reasoned that Urhu had likely moved her here at some point.
She remembered the sight of Urhu’s sleeping face beside her, utterly at peace, and the memory of that brought calm and joy to Seihdhara’s heart. She closed her eyes, lingering there and treasuring that memory; committing it to the depths of her mind so that even if she was utterly destroyed that memory would gain a life all its own and live on. Exhaling, she rose to her feet. Urhu’s boat, the Nyeothay Tag, felt like home already to the goddess and she wandered about it until she was on deck. She looked at the various animal effigies on top of the great cabin-like structure on the boat, and her eyes were drawn to the canines. Dogs, she had instinctively known them to be, although she had never seen them in her home world and no one had deigned to create them in the previous universe. In the memories of her hair, however, she could find wild dogs roamings all the forests of her making, which she decided would not be called forests or jungles like other forests, but weihrds. She thought once more of that sleeping Urhu in the cave, and she wondered where her beloved was now. She continued staring at the canines, and an idea came to her, causing her green eyes to light up immediately with inspiration and her hair to brighten so that it seemed like embers lay in the endless fiery mess. Her lips broke into that characteristic full-toothed, hearty smile.
The goddess rose into the air until she was up top by the canines, and - gently - she tapped the two large effigies. They creaked. She tapped them again, and they shivered, their heads gaining greater definition as the two dogs stretched. Then - before she could tap them a third - they had leapt from the cabin and were growing in size down on the deck. Seihdhara jumped down after them and, to either side of the saffron-haired goddess, they lost their golden metallic quality and each grew a thick, harsh, and rough coat of black and grey on their body, head, and legs. It was especially long and wiry around their eyes and under the jaw. Before long they were so big that their heads reached her chest.
Horton, Irish Wolfhound/Wolf Cross. Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary. © Georgina De Caigny.
Twin Dogs of the Fray: Seihdharid Wolfhound
She stroked the two, and they yapped and pranced about her, and one of them - the stud - reared up and placed his forelegs on her shoulders and got to licking her face. She scrunched her face up and moved her head away.
‘Hey now big boy, I don’t know you that well.’ She said, laughing and pushing his head from her until he was off her. She then turned to the bitch and stroked her also, bringing her in for a hug. She decided then that she would give one of them to Rhu-rhu, a constant companion for her wherever she went during her endless travels and adventures, a second pair of eyes to witness all the tremendous things only the Wanderer could. Seihdhara considered this thought for a few moments. Could it be that Rhu could see the world in a way that no one else could? Could it be that her domain over wandering meant she could appreciate the novel and the beautiful in ways that no other god did? Seihdhara smiled absentmindedly. No wonder she loved travelling so much! She looked at the stud who was wandering all over the deck and she laughed. It was clear that that one was a curious wanderer too, so she decided that she would give him to Urhu so that she would never be lonely on her travels again.
The female dog ambled over and stared out over the side of the Neothay Tag, her intelligent eyes alight with curiosity. Seihdhara bent down to her knees and placed a hand on the wolfhound’s head, and both looked out for some time. ‘Hehewuti is a fitting name for you.’ She murmured, and the large canine turned her head towards the goddess and whined.
The goddess then looked over the side of the boat some more. She was not sure where on Galbar they were. And where was Urhu? ‘RHU-RHU!’ she shouted at the top of her voice.
The wanderer had returned to her own ship for a while, yet the non-euclidean interior of the vessels were large enough for the two goddesses to miss themselves, especially when Urhu was in the deeper rooms, sorting her store. “Oh… seems like she finally woke up!” the wanderer said before quickly going up the stairs, soon appearing near Seihdhara, donning her new outfit of gold, fine strings and leather. “Good morning! Seems like you finally escaped that bed.” she told her with a smirk. Seihdhara laughed and scratched her head in embarrassment.
‘I was out for a long time wasn’t I? I blame the bed. That softness is almost criminal!’ As she spoke the two wolfhounds ambled about the goddesses and Seihdhara pointed to the male. ‘Look Rhu, I got you a dog to keep you company! Those two weren’t doing anything up on the cabin, and now you’ll never be alone again while adventuring and exploring.’
“I did make those figures as an alarm and guidance system, so, uh, first of all, I will need to get some new ones since otherwise I might ram the ship into a mountain, but second, I wonder if it kept some of those traits.” she said, looking down at the canine, before smiling and rubbing its head, noticing its reactions to see how he preferred it. “But thanks! He is very cute, all doggies are.” Seihdhara seemed wholly pleased with Urhu’s reaction, though her eyes did widen guiltily at the mention of the navigational uses of the effigies. She looked at the dogs and thought it an interesting thing indeed if the dogs had some unique abilities due to their previous purpose.
‘How can we test if they do have some special ability?’ She asked the other goddess. Then she turned and looked out at the land before them. ’Do you know where we are now?’ It was a heavily forested place - forested, now that Seihdhara thought back with a frown, by her own hair. It had never done that kind of thing before. Perhaps its baptism by fire and experiences to date had caused it to develop a level of independence greater than in the past. Seihdhara did not mind all too much, but she did wonder at what that meant for her whenever her hair did decide to go off again. As if to reassure her, a few strands stroked her cheek. Shaking herself from her reverie she looked over at Rhu. ‘S-sorry, did you say something? Didn’t quite catch that.’
“I was saying we were near that Kalmar guy’s continent. Didn’t meet the guy yet, though he is my sphere neighbour, I think, makes sense to, we are kinda similar, I guess…?” she shrugged. “The island we are near to, however, doesn’t have his unique quirks in its landscaping, meaning its the act of another god, can’t guess who though.” Seihdhara nodded and smiled at how Rhu could already identify the quirks of this Kalmar’s landscapes. If only she could be as perceptive!
‘Alright! I’m ready to explore, fight, and meet more gods. I’m feeling in a fighting mood. Do you think we should ambush whoever made this place? You know, for a bit of fun.’ She looked mischievously over at Urhu, reaching out and touching the goddess’ pretty new dress with sudden interest.
The wanderer, in turn, looked back at Seihdhara for a long moment. “No.” she sighed. “But you are already sneaking out of the ship to do that, aren’t you?”
‘I, uh, n- noo?’ Seihdhara was a terrible liar and she knew it, so she slowly took a few steps from Urhu as if preparing to escape a potential telling-off. But then she stopped and pointed a finger at Urhu, ‘Hey! I wouldn’t trust that you could watch my back if we were going to ambush someone! In fact, we won’t be ambushing any gods until you’re in fighting shape! While your new dress is very pretty,’ she looked at it again, still impressed by how delicately and beautifully the gold and strings were wrought together with the leather, before getting back to what she was saying, ‘it won’t do you any good in a fight. So here.’ She reached into her hair and rummaged around with her right hand until she drew a short golden blade to match Rhu’s attire. It was an ever so slightly curved cutlass, though its blade was thin and elegant (which, Seihdhara knew, was not the norm: for this was meant to be a brutish blade).
A piece of her heart for the goddess dressed in gold
The goddess extended her right hand and leg in front of her, leaving her left foot in line with her shoulder, then swiped easily over and across with the sword. She moved it to and fro in a loose grip between her thumb and forefinger and seemed satisfied with its balance. Turning it over, she presented the hilt to Urhu. ‘For you,’ she said simply. Once Urhu had taken it, the battle goddess manifested Ursus Mater. Rather than its usual shortsword form, it too was now a cutlass.
“Huh? For me? What are you on about…? A sword?” The wanderer looked at her weapon with confusion. She had never been a sword user, so this was surprising, she couldn’t say she did not like the look of the weapon. She searched for the other goddess to try to understand what she was planning.
Walking away from the side of the boat, Seihdhara turned to Urhu with a flourish and took up a guarded position. There was a knowing smile dancing about her lips and a mischievous excitement in her eyes. She had missed this. She gestured for Urhu to take up the same stance.
En garde!
‘First things first - your weapon. As you can see it has two main parts. This here is the blade and this is the hilt. If you feel here, you’ll see that the lower half of the blade is not sharp - you use this part for parrying, not cutting. The upper half has a sharpened edge though, and it tapers to a point. The back edge at the top here is sharpened as well. This provides you with a greater degree of flexibility as to how to go about attacking. When a conventional slash,’ the goddess slashed downward, ‘or stab,’ she lunged suddenly, ‘won’t work, a surprise backward slash like so can subdue an opponent who is not expecting it - here I’ll do it slower: bring it around, like this, and it wraps round to strike at angles an opponent is not anticipating. Don’t worry about remembering that for now, we’ll go over it properly in a bit.
To know the blade
‘So the hilt here protects your fingers - yours has a basket-hilt, mine here has a cupped guard; both function in the same way. They prevent the opponent’s blade from getting to your fingers. But these guards are also useful if an opponent gets up close and personal: if they get very close you can easily punch at them, the guard acting as a metal glove. You can also hammer down with the butt of the blade. So a good punching and bashing weapon if the need arises. It’s pretty nifty overall and should serve you well if you master the technique.
‘Now you don’t want to wrap your fingers fully around the hilt - this isn’t a club, you want something that’s fluid in your hands, a true extension of your arm so that you have complete control of the blade at all times.’ She moved her wrist fluidly, causing the blade to jump back and forth with ease, though she did not even move her arm or wrist. ‘So use a pivoting grip like so - you see? Thumb on the back of the grip, aligned with the back edge of the blade, so you are easily able to squeeze and release into the palm of your hand. This allows you a great deal of flexibility and you can very swiftly change your angle of attack or quickly defend and counterattack as the need arises. So if you hold the weapon up straight in the grip, it's completely straight, then a simple squeeze into your palm and the grip pivots in your hand so that the blade moves forward without any great movement or exertion on your part. Minimum energy input, maximum output.’
To be the blade
The other goddess clumsily started to follow the torrent of advice she was being given. However, as a goddess, she was still able to get the hang of things quite quickly, especially when being instructed by none other than the goddess of combat herself. Soon she had her weapon raised in a confident manner, for many this weapon design had an air of elegance and trickery, though when wielded by the wanderer it had a sleek aura of swiftness to it, with a stiff stance and the unmoving eyes of a hunter observing their surroundings. “Like this?” she questioned, wondering if she had successfully followed instructions. Seihdhara’s sword dissipated as she inspected Urhu’s form. She tapped her back leg and told her to bring it back slightly and ensure her foot was facing outward.
‘It gives you a firm foundation, see? And the knees, keep them bent. Like this you’re strong, you can step forward quickly and retreat easily, and you’re in a good position to lunge and recover.’ With that said she inspected the Wanderer’s arms, bringing her elbow in slightly, ‘a tucked in elbow ensures your opponent doesn’t have an easy target. Like this it’s in line with the rest of your body, behind your guard. And here, you want the front edge of the sword to be facing towards your outside, like… so.’ With that said she expressed satisfaction at Urhu’s posture and got back in front of her, sword in hand.
‘Now, to the defence! With a short blade like this there are three basic parries you can make. There are others we can get to if you wish, but these basic three will serve you well. You begin with the guard position - sword in front, elbow tucked in, knees bent. Good. If someone cuts towards your leading shoulder, you want to gently move your blade from centre to cover that line, to deflect the blade around you - this one we’ll call the ‘first’. If someone cuts towards the other side, towards your chest, you bring the sword back and cover that line in the same way - this one we’ll call the ‘second’. If someone cuts for your head you simply lift and provide that protection - we’ll call this one the ‘third’. As much as possible you want to meet the strike of an opponent with the lower half of your blade. The closer to your sword’s hilt the blow lands, the stronger your defence - and if you’re clever and swift, you will know how to catch your opponent’s blade just so.’
The three basic parries: The ‘first’, ‘second’, and ‘third’
With those basic defences explained, Seihdhara now moved onto the six cuts one could make from a guard position or as a riposte from a parrying position with a sword of this nature and with this particular sword fighting style. ‘So the first two cuts are downward strikes - one comes down from the right and the other comes down from the left. The second two are upward from the right and upward from the left. And the final two are straight from the right and left. You could also cut down vertically and up vertically, making it eight cuts. Once you get used to the movements you should be able to very easily flow from one cut into another without moving anything but your wrist - no big swings, no elbow leaping all over the place, just a simple wrist movement. Now if you combine this simple wrist movement with a swift step forward, similar to what you do when lunging, then you give the cut extra power and lethality. The twisting motion of the wrist makes it difficult to predict what angle you are coming at until the last moment - and you can easily change from cutting into lunging, thus utilising the point of your blade. You lunge like… so.’
The lunge
‘Come, let us practise this. If you can master these basics then you will be well able to protect yourself - and then... well, then you can create and innovate!’ She waved her hand, and immediately the two blades lost their sharp edges. ‘Sharpened weapons are for killing, not sparring.’ She commented in a casual manner, extending her own sword and taking up the fighting form. Then she shouted for Urhu to begin.
Urhu was somewhat lost in the flash flood of words, Seihdhara was one of few words, yet suddenly she was delivering upon the wanderer very complex and conceptual ideas, though also with a strong practical backbone as the constant repositioning of Urhu’s body under Seihdhara’s command seemed displayed. Still, the goddess of travel could not help but to pout slightly, even though she was doing her best to follow everything that was being said, being strictly under such a strong set of rules was definitely not her style.
“Well then, let’s see how it goes! For sure the goddess of combat is in her home as we fight, but… in the end, what is fencing but trying to find a passage through your enemies’ defence?” the wander said, before slashing forward at the other goddess at a decent speed, her first moves followed Seihdhara’s instructions. But they never landed for the goddess willingly stopping her blade before it met the rival blade, relocating it as the shock of the lack of the expected sensory input was still in the mind of her rival, trying to do a sudden side lunge at Seihdhara, who smoothly lifted her blade so that the lunge was redirected up and above her head.
‘That’s a good lunge. When someone lunges at you, the parry to use depends on where the lunge is striking at. For a high lunge like this one, you take their blade and redirect it above - the third parry. Then you can riposte!’ She twisted her wrist so that the blade went from a third parry into a downward cut towards Urhu’s head, but as she had been speaking the wanderer had already assumed her guard position and could easily parry in return. ‘Remember Rhu, once you master the basic principles you can begin to be more creative. It’s like… hmm, like, if you know where you’re going right? If you know where your destination is then you can be creative as to the routes you take to get there. For now you’re not sure about the destination so I’m showing you a simple route. But once you master this route and know where the destination is, then you’ll be able to explore, find new routes, and create your own. Does that make sense?’
“I get that, and I am grateful, however, I still can find that time in which I am stuck to the old roads to be a bit boring. No matter, I will make sure to get used to it fast so I can take the more unusual paths.” she said, deciding to tone down her trickery for the moment.
The two goddesses danced around one another for some time, practising the different cuts and parries. It was slow and cautious at first with many stoppages and comments. Then the comments grew less and less, and they were not stopping anymore but easily parrying and riposting, stepping back and forth as now Urhu gained ground and as now Seihdhara pushed her back. Seihdhara lost track of how long they practised for, but by the time she allowed Ursus Mater to dissipate Urhu seemed well able to take care of herself in a fight. She had already started getting creative and coming at the combat goddess from novel angles that would have almost certainly gotten the better of less skilled opponents. The wanderer was of course no match to the military might of the other goddess, but she knew how to use her aspect of travel to pull-off distracting attacks and parries, taking the battle out of the conventional. It was a necessity when she did not have the stamina to keep up with a conventional battle for as long as the warlike gods. Nevertheless, Seihdhara would feel Urhu had truly understood the basics and was not merely moving adlib but had actual battle plans.
Still, Seihdhara wished for her beloved’s complete safety and knew that having her uncover her soul-name would go some way to increasing her natural martial skill. Then she realised that she had never told Urhu about soul-names. ‘Rhu! Did I ever tell you that I made soul-names?! Mine is Bear Over Red Water - we have to go find out what yours is! Maybe when we’re exploring the island?’ She looked at the wanderer with wide, excited eyes. The relatively level-headed instructor from before seemed to have completely disappeared.
“Soul name? Isn’t Urhu… or well, Rhu, good enough?” she laughed, clearly tired after such intensive training. “Seems… curious. Perhaps it will help me to understand my past better. You have a peculiar soul name, Seihd, for some reason, I always noticed the connection you have with bears.” she added offhandedly. Seihdhara seemed surprised at this, but then she smiled and her face reddened.
‘I guess it shows. I grew up with bears back home. The part of my soul that was true bear may have been torn away, but a bear’s a bear in the end.’ There was a slightly distance in her eyes as she remembered, but it swiftly disappeared as she took Urhu’s sword in her hands and passed her fingers over it so that it returned to its sharpened state. ‘So I guess our souls do hold memories that open the door towards knowing what is forgotten! When we get into those weihrds there-’ she paused and looked at the endless forests on the island. She could not quite get over the fact that she had created those even though she had never willed it, ‘when we get there you just need to be on the lookout. Eventually it will come to you!’ She returned the sword to Urhu. It was now in a beautifully decorated scabbard, lined with silver and red gold. Here and there gems were embedded - they seemed to be making a route round and round the sheathe. ‘Let’s rest a while and then we can head out. All that jumping and swinging seems to have tired you out.’
They had walked into the mist covered forest for a while now, after a quick rest in Nyeothay Tag. Urhu didn’t exactly plan to ‘ambush’ the god of this land, whoever it was, though a test of her sneaking skills would be interesting. She was mostly tagging along to make sure Seihdhara would not get herself blown up, killed, or eaten again. The wanderer’s hand was gently staying near her sword, which she had named Sheoneg Yin, Summer’s Horizon. She had yet to identify the owner of this land, as so far she had not seen these design peculiarities elsewhere in the world and the hints were not obvious, especially because she had just kept an eye on the more aggressive looking gods. It was a damp land however, almost depressing, the sky was oftenly overcast and colors gave away to the grey of mist. Despite Seihdhara’s weihrd being somewhat young, moss already crept up many trees and rocks.
“Oh, sorry, I am hurrying forward again.” the wanderer said, slowing her steps. “This thick fog is not as distracting to me, well, it is, but it's impossible for me to stray from my path.” Seihdhara caught up, though there was a frown and a concerned look on her face.
‘It’s alright - just… be careful Rhu. Something’s… off.’ She looked up ahead where yet another puddle had formed due to the incessant raining. She did not know why, but there was something just off about all these puddles. Like… there was something watching. She could not see anything, but she could feel it - a concentration of soul energy around some of the puddles. And it was not normal soul energy at that.
The wanderer, less sensible to the pain of souls, looked around confused, even glancing at the reflection of the damp spots but completely missing the ‘terror’ in the air. Instead, she focused on her surroundings, and there she found nothing, even if she reached with her godly senses. “Hmm. I will stay alert. If you spot anything weird do tell me.” the wanderer continued.
Going deeper into the island, the duo would soon notice the sound of thunder, as rain started to fall upon the land. The goddesses could simply will themselves dry, but it was another sensory distraction as they braved unknown lands. Soon, the trees would disappear, along with the shrub and grass, as they walked into what seemed like a very shallow lake. Looking down, Urhu saw her reflection perfectly along with Seihdhara’s, reaching down and taking some of the ground and sampling it with her tongue. “Salt. Seems like we are in a salt flat. Too bad it's raining and the mist is so thick, when its not, these things look like huge mirrors.”
Thousands of little ripples distorted the reflection of the shallow water. On the other side, nothing could be seen but an overcast sky and the falling rain. Seihdhara took a step forward, and when the water stilled enough to show a reflection, the two goddesses were no longer visible in it. Instead below them was a woman with long, black hair, dressed in an ornate white and golden gown, drenched in rainwater. She was standing, looking up at her sky. That is, until she gasped and turned around. Seihdhara slowly got to her knees, her hand hovering just above the strange reflection, her eyes were wide and pupils dilated and she seemed unable to peel her eyes from the black-haired woman. Her shadowed face couldn’t be seen in the reflection, but she balled up her gloved fists and walked away into the ripples of the rain. And then she had disappeared and Seihdhara was looking here and there, her hands passing above the water as if to draw her out once more. Soon there emerged after her a great lumbering shadow that blocked out the entire reflection, seemingly chasing after the woman. Its size and weight seemed to threaten breaking through the reflection but it never happened and when the shadow was gone, the reflections of the two Goddesses looked back at them as if nothing had happened.
Seihdhara stared at the puddle for a few moments more before rising to her feet and looking around with hard eyes. Her nostrils flared and her eyebrows furrowed. She could smell it on the air, feel it on her skin, taste it. Somewhere not far from here death-battle had been given. Her eyes were cold as Ursus Mater materialised in her right hand, once more in its short-sword form. She looked over at Urhu, and her frown seemed to deepen momentarily. She extended a hand to the shorter woman and placed it on her shoulder, squeezing ever so slightly. She glanced down at Urhu’s hand, resting on the hilt of her cutlass. ‘It may be so that the time of drawing that has come,’ Seihdhra said in a low, gentle voice that was at complete odds with the animalistic focus in her eyes and on her face. Her nostrils flared once more and her eyes suddenly attached themselves to one unseeable spot ahead of them, off in the midst of the fog and mist. ‘There she is.’ And with that, she began stalking forward. Every now and again she paused and looked behind her to ensure that Urhu was close by, even though it was more likely for Seihdhara to get lost in the fog and rain than the lady of travel.
The wanderer had no seen as much as Seihdhara on the reflection, but by now even she could understand that this was no normal misty island, she nodded reassuringly at Seihdhra and smirked, as if to lighten the mood. “So much for ambushing this god, eh, Seihdh?” she said, drawing Sheoneg Yin, but not raising it, still keeping it near her hip as they walked forward. Seihdhara could not help but chuckle at Urhu’s words. It was rather ironic how swiftly this had turned from an attempt to pull a prank on some unwitting god to something… far more sinister. She looked back to her sister, relief washing over her when she saw that she was still there. Urhu raised an eyebrow each time Seihdhara looked back at her, as if telling her, ‘yes I am still here, yes I am still whole, there is no need to stop now.” And then she looked back again and Urhu was suddenly not there.
Seihdhara froze, her eyes widening. She looked first in one direction, then in the other, trying to penetrate the fog with her sight. For one reason or another, she found that she could not bring herself to shout out her name. A moment passed. Her grip on Ursus Mater tightened. She shifted, turning her body so that she was now facing where Urhu had been not moments before. A quick glance here and there followed… and then she took a step.
Almost immediately the goddess found herself bathed in blinding sunlight, and a great screech ripped through the deathly quiet and incessant rain of the island. Seihdhara instinctively raised a hand to shade her eye from the sudden light, but before her hand could do any shading she found that a shadow fell across her face. Looking up, she beheld a great hawk flying right out of the eye of the sun. Her eyebrows rose, and her mouth fell ever so slightly open. And then Urhu was by her side again. Seihdhara looked at her quizzically, then back up at the single spot of clear sky and sunlight that had suddenly arisen in all the fog, and the hawk.
Urhu had notice the opening in the clouds, for a moment she even thought she had been the one to call for it, with some innate passage powers or something similar, but it wasn’t the case. A bird seemed to have taken the opportunity of the opening to dive towards the bogs bellow, aided and coated by the sunlight. The wanderer rubbed her arm seeing the creature, in particular, a spot on her forearm. “Ah, this makes me quite nostalgic, and I don't even know why.” the itch continued, and she followed the hawk’s dive with her eyes, now the bird was cloaked among the mist, catching an unsuspecting lizard before scanning the area. Gold met gold, and almost instinctively Urhu raised her right arm in a stiff position at the height of her shoulder, the bird understood the invitation and flew towards the goddess, landing on her forearm.
Four golden eyes stared straight at Seihdhara, Urhu smiling as wide as she could. “Hey, look at this.” she said with an easy to notice tone of adrenaline-fueled eagerness. “Seems like we got a new ally, and just when we most needed one.” With the sun bathing them in its light, the danger and strangeness of the island seemed to slip away suddenly, and the wary Seihdhara relaxed and approached Urhu and their new friend. Smiling curiously, she extended a hand to the hawk and stroked the top of its head with a finger. As she stroked the bird of prey, she cast a sidelong glance at Urhu.
‘You realise this is no coincidence, don’t you?’ she grinned, her eyes gleaming as though she had just secured a mighty triumph, ‘do you feel something? Did something come to you when you first saw the bird?’ The small bird of prey extended its wings and ruffled them slightly, shaking its head and releasing a screech before settling back down on Urhu’s hand, who looked at both Seihd and the hawk and closed her eyes. “Outside of this feeling of familiarity?” she questioned.
“It's not the first time I see this image on my head. I guess I also saw it when I was creating the symbol I would use as my signature. The sun is about to set, but still fully visible, strong colors fill the sky, then, I notice a hawk in the eye of the sun, approaching, diving quickly towards the dark lands below along with the sunlight.” she told, opening her eyes. “Gah, it feels silly to talk about such things.” Seihdhara turned towards Urhu more fully, fixing her green gaze on her.
‘And what’s wrong with silliness Rhu? Go on, tell me. I want to hear all the silly things.’ She stroked the hawk again, which then turned its beak against the goddess and pecked without fear, causing Seihdhara to half-smile. ‘And a hawk in the eye of the sun is no silly thing at all. It is fearsome, powerful, sure! It sees everything, the world bows before it for miles and miles and its claws dispatch death or allot life. And it can, if it wants, descend from on high and fraternise with gods.’ She smiled and raised an eyebrow at the hawk before returning her attention to Urhu. ‘So tell me the silly things.’
The other goddess shrugged. “What is there more to say? I already told you the flights of my mind, now there is no more to say beyond what has been said already, I guess… Well, I like contrast, the bird in the eye of the sun is living contrast, it stands in the center of the light yet it turns into a pure black shadow. Though, there is more to that, I do not like dualities, people see night and day as the two opposing halves, yet sunsets and dawns are worlds of their own… Should we truly be talking about my mind in this situation? There are surely better topics! Such as, for a quick example, survival!” Seihdhara looked around, the strange spell that had descended broken. The ray of of sun quickly disappeared and clouds returned, and rain. She nodded wordlessly and moved off. Eventually their walking brought them to a ring of marble suspended in mid-air. It was ejecting a constant plume of clouds and steam, and not too far from it was an utterly ruined manor beside a bubbling lake. Seihdhara surveyed the area for a few moments, a deep frown on her face, then sighed.
‘There’s nothing here. Whatever fight took place is over, and it seems that the ones fighting are gone too. I don’t think we’re going to find any gods here Rhu. Shall we keep heading north? I’m sure there are all kinds of creatures and landmarks about. Or shall we head back to the Nyeothay Tag?’ But a few moments after the words had left her lips she looked at the ring of marble ejecting the constant plume of smoke. It seemed to her like the soul trail she was following disappeared into that. She looked at Urhu and gestured towards it and, kicking off easily into the air and leaving her hair behind so Rhu could clamber onto it like a staircase, she rose up to investigate the ring. ‘It’s weird. There are plumes coming out of it from this side but… there are none going in from the other side.’ She placed a hand on the ring and then stuck her foot into the thick plumes. For a few moments nothing happened, and then she found herself being drawn in. Her hair, with Urhu on it, was swept into the ring.
With Urhu safe in the grip of her hair, Seihdhara surveyed the familiar landscape. It was extremely similar to what they had seen on the other side of the ring. There was the ruined manor and the steaming lake. But unlike the other side, this place wreaked of conflict and blood was everywhere. Below them was what appeared to be a giant lizard, asleep. Seihdhara glanced at Urhu before placing her on the ground and releasing her. She landed softly and walked over to the sleeping lizard. There was a flower on its snout, which caused Seihdhara to raise an eyebrow. Already she could see that the winged lizard was severely hurt. Seihdhara could identify marks of damage no doubt caused during a fight on it. Its soul was deeply frayed and… had actively been broken? Bits and pieces of it were missing in ways that did not seem to have come about from a natural fraying process. Idly she picked up the flower from its snout and fiddled with it before placing it on her head where her strands latched on to it.
The souls before her seemed to have been split in two, the smaller part taking on the form of a shard embedded in the side of the larger mass. She extended her consciousness to feel around the shard ever so gently, trying to coax its consciousness to speak to her.
To Urhu it had been shocking Seihdhara had not reacted with more caution upon seeing this situation, so shocking it made the wanderer believe the other goddess had her reasons, being far more sensible to the world of the supernatural than her. The brown haired goddess, however, was still very much in the visible realm, and there was a lot to be investigated while Seihd focused on the beast, which she could identify as a god, though Urhu did not recall any god like that ever exist.
Looking around, two types of ichor could be found, raw ichor was easy to identify, Vakk and Li'Kalla , yet three godly trails were found, she could sense K’nell. Rubbing under her chin, Urhu tried to replicate the situation. Was this the shifty dream god’s doing? It could be possible. It was then she noticed something, a broken door in the ruins of the mansion, the goddess of passages could immediately notice this door was not ruined in the same way as the rest of the mansion, which had been broken from within, debris outside, the door had been broken from outside. Lowering her hands, she touched the door. The same way Seihdhara had an affinity to souls, Urhu had an affinity to passages, and it just happened one of the acts committed on this ruined land had been trespassing. She could see in the door, the wish for it to stay closed, the wish for it to bring safety, then the break-in. Someone had been a bad guest, an uninvited one, and now Urhu knew his name. Behind her, Urhu sensed the monster begin to stir.
There was a low rumble as the Monstrous lizard covered in blue scales and vines twitched, scrunching up its snout. Behind its closed eyelids, its eyes started moving rapidly and violently, and a green glow started to seep through the very flesh covering the eyes. Then, its eyes opened. Like two spotlights of green light, they focused immediately on Seihdhara. It tensed up the muscles in its limbs, and let out a small growl when it tried to stretch its wings, the broken one of course not moving.
It got up, never taking its eyes off Seihdhara, and with a slightly open maw, extended its long, rough, and saliva soaked tongue toward the Goddess and licked her. Seihdhara could not help but laugh at this, the peals infectious and free. She placed a hand on the lizard’s snout and stroked it, and even as she touched it the physical wounds that had been inflicted on it began to heal and its wing snapped back into shape. ‘That’s better now,’ she murmured with a motherly love. It would take a lot more to see to the lizard’s soul however. Again she extended her consciousness towards the lizard’s soul and towards the shard, attempting to coax any consciousness out with assurances and consolation, remaining calm, still, and unthreatening. ‘Talk to me missy,’ she continued.
The monster regarded the strangely haired Goddess curiously, its tongue running over her more and more intensely, savoring the taste and scent. It stretched its wings and flapped them numerous times, sending immense gusts of wind that knocked over rubble and lesser trees. Seihdhara brought her hair beneath her to steady her as the lizard continued its oral gymnastics more and more insistently. It seemed to her that the small shard lodged into the greater soul mass was attempting to call to her - it was a muffled cry, however, terrified and uncertain. The greater mass seemed to be actively preying on it, and even now Seihdhara could feel the shard losing a shred here, a piece there. Like a giant parasite eating up what remained of its once-host, the soul of the lizard was destroying the shard.
Aware now of the lizard’s essentially predatory nature, Seihdhara could not help but view its tonguely ministrations with some caution. But there did not seem to be any reason to think that it intended to go from its relatively benign licking to anything more aggressive. She hummed a small tune for a few moments, and then began singing in a low voice, to keep the lizard calm and passive as she worked on loosening the shard enough to work out the best course of action for the soul as a whole.
‘This one is for my children. I haven’t seen them in a long time see? So it goes - listen now, or you might miss it… it goes…’ she took a deep breath and sang softly. ‘My children lie over the ocean… my children lie over the sea.. My children lie over the ocean… oh bring back my children to me!’
She felt the shape of the shard, felt where it began and where the rest of the lizard’s soul ended. It did not seem like it was sealing anything in. Simply removing it did not seem like it would have any destabilising effect on the rest of the soul.
‘Bring back, bring back, oh bring back my children to me, to me.. Bring back, bring back, oh bring back my children to me, to me!
O blow ye winds over the ocean, o blow ye winds over the sea.. O blow ye winds over the ocean, and bring back my children to me!’
Slowly she isolated the shard from the predatory aspects of the lizard’s soul, preventing anymore of it from being consumed. She listened. It was still difficult to make out what the consciousness within the soul shard was saying, only that its terror was now all the greater.
‘Bring back, bring back.. Oh, bring back my children to me, to me! Bring back, bring back.. Oh, bring back my children to me!
Last night as I lay on my pillow.. Last night as I lay in my bed.. Last night as I lay on my pillow.. I dreamt that my children were dead!’
She tugged gently at the shard. The soul seemed to exhale. She paused.
‘Bring back, bring back.. Oh, bring back my children to me, to me.. Bring back, bring back.. Oh, bring back my children to me!
The winds have blown over the ocean.. The winds have blown over the sea.. The winds have blown over the ocean.. And brought back my children to me…’
She did not tug this time, but drew in a slow, certain, and clean motion - and the shard was out, hanging between her ethereal hands. She froze.
‘Bring back, bring back.. Oh, bring back my children to me, to me.. Bring back, bring back.. Oh, bring back my children to me…’
As the last word left her lips, she drew back from the lizard and looked up to it with a great smile. She stroked its snout with one hand, her other gripping the ethereal shard. No anger or pain came from it. Instead, it was simple curiosity. Its wide open eyes regarded Seihdhara closely before it opened it maw wider and the muscles in its jaw tensed.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a sound came from deep in the Monster’s throat. It resembled a growl, but words snuck their way into it every now and then.
“... GIVE… I WANT… SHE...”
The words came slowly, and eventually gave way to an aggressive growl. It closed its mouth and blew hot air onto Seihdhara from its nose, a snarl forming on its snout. Seihdhara bathed in the heat for a few moments. It was a nice sensation all things considered. ‘You want me to do that too?’ She asked. Nodding, she took a few steps back then took a deep breath of her own and sent a warm breath towards the great lizard. The breath had a distinct orange colour and seemed to be almost aflame, but it was nothing of the sort. It bathed the lizard in a sunset glow and was as a gentle evening breeze after a long summer’s day at the beach. With that Seihdhara bounded a few steps into the air and looked at the lizard. It had shown some signs of aggression this was true, but a part of Seihdhara felt that it just wanted some company. Someone to have fun with. She laughed again and sent a mischievous strand of hair to tickle its snout.
The tickle made the beast recoil and sneeze, and then it stomped its clawed feet onto the ground in frustration and roared. The roar was strong and bone rattling, the earth shattering and the mist dissipating.
After a few moments, it fell silent. Its wings still outstretched menacingly and its legs twitching, it leaned closer to Seihdhara and licked her again, its large tongue subtly making its way around her arm and trying to pry open the hand gripping the shard. The saffron-haired goddess frowned. She knew now what the lizard was after. So it had felt the removal of the shard after all.
She tightened her grip around the shard until it cut into her. She tightened it further and suddenly it was no longer in her hand. Rhu, catch! She spoke directly into the other goddess’ mind. The shard emerged in Seihdhara’s free hand and she threw it in Urhu’s direction in one swift motion. Even as she did she opened the hand the lizard was trying to pry open. ‘My hand? See, there’s nothing in it. Lick it all you like!’
The Monster licked the palm and froze, then it withdrew its tongue and roared, stomping the ground. In a split moment it snapped its head towards Seihdhara, maw open and ready to devour her even as its eyes followed the trajectory of the shard through the air. The battle goddess sensed the change in the lizard’s disposition almost immediately, and the hair that had been idling about on the ground and in the air suddenly flared like a second heliopolis. Seihdhara’s gaze, playful and motherly not moments before, had become terrible visage, as steel, and her mouth set in a small grim line. Swift were the strands that caught the monster’s jaw and muzzled it so that its mouth snapped shut just before it reached Seihdhara. And when it reached her, she placed her hands on its snout and looked into its eyes. She sent calming waves into its soul, trying to avoid a confrontation with the creature. ‘There now,’ she spoke firmly, ‘you have no need to fight me. Settle down, calm. We were having fun.’ She glanced briefly at Urhu - while the Monster struggled and resisted against the bonds of her hair - to see whether she had caught the shard.
Unknowing to Urhu, she had slowly developed a dark cloak around her body as she watched Seihdhara approach the beast. She trusted her sister to know what she was doing, though many times she had tensed up to jump in and help, she was allowing the other goddess to lead. When she was finally given the command, she swiftly moved forward, grabbing before staring forward, at the beast, who seemed to have followed the path of the throw all the way to the goddess of passage. Confused with what she had in her hand, Urhu looked down, pressing it slightly, trying to not lose her sight of the monster, however.
There was a sharp stab of pain in Urhu’s hand and when she looked back down, the shard had disappeared and a gentle glow extended throughout her body before disappearing. At that moment, she could feel it. It was as if a foreign entity had reached her core, and she could feel what it felt. Hopelessness. A distant, muffled sobbing that died out every few seconds. But also relief and gratitude towards the Goddesses. The wanderer looked around trying to find the sobbing, clawing over her chest lightly as she felt that foreign sense of melancholy. “Who… is there?” she asked, not knowing what else to do, it was disorienting to hear the echoes of sobs and feel her body react to emotions that were not her own, a gut wrenching sensation within though she felt no fear.
”I-I’m sorry, I… I just thought- That maybe- I’m… Li’Kalla.” A soft voice whispered inside her head, but quickly fell into silence and the sobbing continued.
The wanderer stopped, looking to the side, as if trying to stare at her own ears. “Uhh… maybe? Usually you don’t guess who you are. Though Li’Kalla was a good guess.” crossing her arms, the wanderer started to understand a bit more of what was happening. “Hey, you don’t need to worry, you are no longer inside that beast. How did this even happen though? Did the creature consume or absorb you somehow?”
“This can't be real, but- but, why does it feel so vivid…?” the voice said, falling silent once more. This time, after a tense moment, it spoke again. ”it got angry at him, Vakk, and I couldn't control my body anymore. I was trapped in there… inside my own body. I had no idea I could be this… well, this.”
“So the creature is part of you…” Urhu took a moment to weigh up those words, she wanted to ask more about Vakk, but she assumed it would not be a pleasant topic for the broken soul. “We need to calm it somehow, Vakk is gone, there is nothing to be angry at!”
”T-That’ll be difficult…! She’s terrified, of everything. I felt her… So much anger, she thinks she’s defending herself.” A feeling of deep seated disgust washed over Urhu suddenly, and she could hear the voice groan, ”I’d say let her tire herself out, b-but… She’s a Goddess now.”
Urhu shook her head, not so much to disagree but instead to try to shake off that foreign disgust making her sick “Well, I reckon Seihdhara can tire her out, but I would rather not risk so much.”
”Seihdhara! That’s the one that’s keeping her tied up? W-Wait, look! A wing-” At that moment, the ground exploded into a wave of dirt and grass and the large form of the beast, having freed its wings, flapped into the sky, Seihdhara in tow as she still tried to apprehend it. As the great winged lizard flew free Seihdhara’s hairs snaked about its arms and legs, but she did not attempt to bring it back down. The goddess glanced at the ring that they had come through. Uh, Rhu. Not sure if it’s a good idea to stick around. Maybe if we leave the lizard will go back to sleep or something. I can’t get through to it and I don’t see any reason to hurt it.
The wanderer jumped close to Seihdhara, placing a hand over her shoulder as she also looked towards the monster. “What a change of heart. But you are right, for now it seems to be worthless to stay here any longer, we will just be hurting it and ourselves.” she added, before taking Seihdhara’s hand and running away from the clearing where the ruined mansion stood. Seihdhara released the flying lizard from her hair’s bonds and, tightening her grip on Urhu’s hand, leapt forward and shot very suddenly towards the ring in an attempt to effect a swift, clean escape. Her hair erupted behind her like a comet’s tail and roiled.
A loud rumble echoed through the Sphere as the Monster flapped its powerful wings. The thick mist thickened even further, perhaps trying to defend itself against the onslaught of wind blowing it away. Waves took form on the surface of the boiling lake.
It roared, and its roar died in its throat as a loud CRACK echoed. It shut its jaws with all its strength around the comet-like tail of Seihdhara’s hair and pulled her back, its eyes boring a hole into the back of her head as it let itself drop onto land to get better leverage. The hair flexed at the attempted assault, but for all its pulling the lizard could not seem to be able to pull the goddess back. The hair seemed endlessly long and Seihdhara disappeared along with Urhu into the ring. The hair did not move or attempt to repel the maddened godlizard’s bites for a few moments, but when it became clear that it was not going to give up the hair began to thicken and churn and bristle angrily. Burning tendrils slipped around the lizard’s neck and the base of its wings and tightened. Other strands crawled about its face and aggressively assaulted the innards of its snout to force it to open its mouth. Within its mouth strands leapt fearlessly down its gullet in an attempt to cause it to retch and convulse and open its jaws.
The Monster recoiled and bit and growled, but the hair kept moving, assaulting it. It's wings tensed and it gagged. Once, twice, until eventually it bowed its head and vomited. Tons of material was expulsed from its gut. Leaves, acid, wood, as well as dirt, copious amounts of a dark, almost black Ichor and chunks of godflesh. The foul mix seeped and mixed with the hair.
The strands recoiled, partly in disgust at the spew and partly due to having secured freedom from the monstrous jaws. Whipping here and there to get the ejecta off, the hair quickly retreated towards the stone ring. It was immediately noticeable, however, that a significant portion of Seihdhara’s signature red hair had become stained a dark green as though Seihdhara had dyed her hair ends. The last of the hair made it through the stone ring gateway and the great lizard was finally - truly - alone, left retching and growling.
On the other side, Seihdhara did not stop outside the gateway but took off into the air. She held tight onto Urhu’s hand and made for the Nyeothay Tag. The hawk from earlier swung alongside them, having waited vigilantly outside the sphere. When they got to the boat it perched up on the main cabin and watched with disinterest as the goddesses were excitedly greeted by their two wolfhounds. Seihdhara patted Hehewuti, but her eyes were distant. She then seemed to remember something and turned to Urhu. ‘The small shard of soul. Is it ok?’
Urhu had commanded the ship to start flying away, she stopped, and nodded though she didn’t seem quite too sure. “Well, I am no soul specialist, but it seems to be fine… well, fine enough. Its sobbing a lot, and its sending a lot of emotions to me I’d rather not deal with, but overall, she doesn’t seem to be fading away or something.” Seihdhara raised an eyebrow at this information and approached Urhu.
‘Odd. It wasn’t very responsive with me before. Probably because of the lizard. Let’s see.’ She released her soul and extended her reach towards the shard, finding that it was now snugly embedded in Urhu’s soul. It was of no danger to Urhu and the reverse was also true, but Seihdhara found that she could now hear the soul clearly. While the proximity between the shard and Urhu’s soul made the movement of emotions and thoughts easier, Seihdhara reckoned she could bolster the barrier so that communication between them could only take place telepathically and with active will from either. Urhu did not seem to appreciate the constant influx of foreign thoughts and emotions. She considered asking Rhu if she would like it bolstered, but she took pause. Urhu was very closed off and it was not easy for her to open up. Maybe an experience of this sort would be good for her? And the shard was closed off from the world, to close it off further so it could no longer feel the warmth of another soul’s presence would likely be harrowing. Yes, best leave the connection between the two permeable and natural. Maybe they would even become good friends!
With that thought, Seihdhara nudged the shard slightly in an attempt to get its attention. Hello there. How are you doing? Nothing to be afraid of anymore.
At those words, a gentle mist seemed to emit from the soul shard. A thin, nearly invisible thing that spread before finding its direction. It flew upward, outside and onto Urhu’s shoulder, and there it congealed into the transparent, easily disturbed by wind and breeze image of a fair-haired, beautiful maiden dressed in an ornate white dress. Her irises were a striking silver in color and, even though weakened and darkened with sorrow and sadness, its core shone brightly and beautifully, and filled Seihdhara with pleasant feelings in her tummy. ”H-Hello, Miss S… Seihdhara…? We’re okay? We escaped?”
The saffron-haired goddess grinned and nodded. Yep, it was a glorious escapade. They’ll sing of it round fires for years to come. She declared with pomp and ceremony, then chuckled. It was easy enough. That little beastie in there had a wee bit of a tantrum, but nothing a bit of firmness couldn’t deal with. What’s the story anyhow? How’d you come to be huddled in there all curled up on yourself?
”Easy?! Did you hear how it growled and roared, Ms. Seihdhara? That was terrifying!” The little apparition gasped for breath, even though she had no lungs to breathe with, ”And, forgive my cowardice, b-but… I was scared. I didn’t want to face my s-situation. I didn’t want to acknowledge where I was. Like before...” She trailed off, looking down at the ground far below her perching spot on Urhu’s shoulder. After a while, the maiden looked up at Urhu and did her best to smile, a shaky grin forming on her face.
”T-Thank you.”
The wanderer rubbed behind the back of her neck. “Oh… uh… you are welcome. Always out to help a sister, especially one that was stuck inside a beast.” she then turned to face Seihdhara, placing a hand over her mouth before whispering. “There is a little person inside my body, what the… We need to find a way to bring her back to her own body safely.” The maiden’s forced grin slowly vanished and her image wavered before dissipating completely. Seihdhara watched as she dissipated, and she sympathised with the poor woman. She had not even learned her name, but she decided to leave her with some words before returning to Urhu.
Here Missy. There's no shame in fear. But understand this - the coward is ruled by fear, while the hero rides it like a wild stallion. Heroes are people who face down their fears. It is that simple. A child afraid of the dark who one day blows out the candle; a woman terrified of the pain of childbirth who says, "It is time to become a mother". Heroism does not always live on the battlefield - why, that is seldom the fear we face! Fear... it is like a fire in your belly. Controlled, it warms you and keeps you alive, a small fire burning that heats the muscles and makes you stronger. It can be good because it makes us cautious and aids survival. But uncontrolled it is panic and terror - it burns and destroys you, consuming all courage and pride. Then it is like slow poison; it paralyses the limbs and blurs the mind. Consider fear to be your friend - but it is a cowardly friend. You should heed it, but know that if you afford it the chance it will sink its claws into you and drag you down into the deep dark pit where it dwells. And with those words, Seihdhara’s soul placed an ethereal kiss on the little shard and returned to her body.
She turned to Urhu with a grin. ‘Yeah, I noticed your little person. She’s cute! And she’s a brave hero, I can tell.’ She paused and thought for a few moments. The little Missy was only a shard, a fragment of a soul, and it was not clear where her body was exactly. Even if they did create a new body for her and place the shard in it, it was doubtful whether the shard alone would be sufficient. ‘I’m not sure if we should remove her from you for the time-being. I think you should try speaking to her more and working out what happened to the rest of her soul. She’s incomplete. If the rest of her soul can be tracked down then there may be a possibility of returning her to a body. It’s possible that the lizard ate it all. Either way, until a solution is found, you’ve just become someone’s guardian angel.’ She said the last sentence tongue-in-cheek, but it held truth in it.
“I don’t think that is how it works, I mean, I am all about hospitality and the likes, but making my own body someone else’s home is a whole lot to take… I mean, what if next it's Chopstick here, following the real estate opportunities.” the goddess jested, laughing at her own joke. Seihdhara’s laughter rang out loudly and she punched Rhu’s shoulder playfully. She seemed to find the joke genuinely funny and muttered something about real estate opportunities as she wiped a tear from her eye.
‘W-well-’ in that case you- you,’ Seihdhara paused and tried to get a grip before continuing, ‘in that case you’ll have to tell that Meatchops to get the bloody hell off of your turf!’ She chuckled for a few moments more before acknowledging the seriousness of Urhu’s concern. ‘Look, I know it’s probably really uncomfortable for you. You like your emotions to stay your own and you certainly don’t declare them to every bird and dog in sight like yours truly, but consider that the little Missy is depending on you. She was embedded in another soul before and that kept her anchored. I imagine if we remove her from you now she’ll be swept off to that Cat-head. And look at her, so lonely and sad - she needs the warmth of a friendly presence after so long in that lizard. This is about more than hospitality, this is about protecting what little of her yet remains and strengthening it. Even heroes stumble. Be her support now. And…’ she looked at Urhu and took her hand, ‘and maybe she’ll be good for you too.’ She allowed the words to hang between them until Hehewuti got up and started vying for the saffron-haired goddess’ attention. Seihdhara was only too happy to spoil her.
She walked her around the deck for a while and then stared out at the world below. It was all stunningly beautiful - far more than it had been when her strand had flown over. Now there were mountains and rivers and greenery, and there was another great landmass. It was great! There would be so much to do, so much for them all to do and enjoy, together. And- Seihdhara’s eyes widened as she recognised the river from that single strand’s memories. She shouted for Urhu to make for the river and the lake that was its genesis.
When the Nyeothay Tag had landed, Seihdhara leapt off and made her way through a forest of strange moving trees. They seemed to recognise her and did not disturb her and Urhu - and Hehewuti - as they made their way through to the lake.
With Hehewuti by her side, Seihdhara stared at the blood lake, her face impassive. So this was where her body had made landfall. Somewhere in the depths of this seething mass part of her original body lay still, gushing blood eternally. The thought caused her breath to catch in her throat for a few moments.
She turned back to Urhu, her eyes glistening. ‘H-hey,’ she managed as she leaned in and wrapped an arm around Urhu, brushing her lips against the other’s cheek. Strands wrapped around the wanderer’s wrist and waist as if it to keep her forever near.
Then Seihdhara spoke softly; words that she had spoken thoughtlessly long before - she spoke them thoughtfully now. Her brush with death had taught her something - not all things could last, not even her. Powerful as her form was, mighty and fearless as she was - even Seihdhara could fade away, perish, die; at the stroke of a fickle and capricious universal pen. That was all it would take - what was she, truly? What was her defiant but ultimately imagined strength and eternality when the hammer of petty tensions far beyond her was brought down and the pen wrote and unwrote as it pleased?
And so she spoke simple words as her lips brushed her lover’s cheek; ‘hey, Rhu… don’t forget me,’ and barely had the words left her mouth before she turned away. In one swift motion she disappeared into the depths of the burning blood lake, her hair whipping the heavens for a time before eventually following her into the depths below. Hehewuti followed after her and, by the will of the goddess alone, passed through safely into the Seal.
She remembered this place from the dream. She walked through the verdant and virile land until she reached the stone circle at the centre and the great oak with leaves aflame. There she conjured up a rocking chair, just like the one an old man with an endless white beard once sat in, and she sat on it and began to rock. A fire erupted before her and her hair snaked here and there - on the ground and in the air, about stone pillars and in the flaming tree. Hehewuti lay down by her, guarding her creator. There erupted from the goddess two great apparitions - the first was a mighty werebear and the second was a great formless spirit. Each took up their positions atop two of the stone pillars. Seihdhara rocked gently, firmly, and the warmth of the fire carried to her sweet memories and laughter. And even the tears, even the pain, was oh so sweet to her. She rested back and closed her eyes.
And when she opened them again, she was nowhere and everywhere.
