9/25/2997: The Night I Had a Vision

Previous Entry

Rucejk La’Buq ab Jujnis, 2997

Curse the cosmos for giving me a dream the same night my body decided to finish growing it’s wings. Already I want to stop writing, but I fear I’ll forget the details if I wait for the pain to fully subside. I had an unexpected vision last night. Why I would receive such? I don’t know, but it truly came at the most needed time. My mind feels a peace, though it could very well be that I’m in the eye of the storm rather than the calm of one having passed.

My eyes stubbornly woke to find my room quite dark. It couldn’t have been more than a few hours after falling asleep that I found myself being aroused... but by what? I looked about the room and saw nothing. With a heavy head, I placed it back on the pillow, waiting for sleep to take me away.

But then I heard it! I single note, low and crisp echoed in my ears. I sat up, eager to find the source of the sound. Again my eyes were met by the dull shapes in the dark room. I had begun to question if I had heard anything when the note struck again. Though it was the same note, this time I heard my name in it. I got to my feet, grabbed my shawl, and after wrapping it around me, approached my door. I wasn’t sure if it had come from the hall, but it seemed like a good place to start.

As my hand enclosed the doorknob, the note struck again, starting at my hand and rippling throughout my body. Malaney. My name was sung so clearly, but it wasn’t my ears that heard it. It was in the pulse that rocked my body.

The door opened to reveal a man. His hair was blonde like a wheat field and rested just above his shoulders. His hazel eyes were kind and warm. I could see his Elven ears stick out subtly from his long hair. He wore a pale green vestiture that flowed to the floor and in his hands was a lyre.

“May I help you?” I asked. The Elf maintained his smile but said nothing. Instead he struck a few notes from his lyre.

I am Adam, I felt. I wish I could describe it better, but as the notes filled my ears, their pureness consuming my being, words lit up in my mind. I looked at Adam with great curiosity. And as I spoke his name to confirm what I knew, his smile brightened. He continued to strum the strings on his instrument, inviting me to follow. I nodded and walked beside the increasingly familiar person.

We walked down the halls of the monastery, walking to the over look. However as we approached, the valley below was replaced with a small farming town. There was nothing familiar about it and I wondered how it was there, so high in the sky.

Here is where we are needed, I felt Adam say. The sounds of the dying mingled with the notes the Elf played filled my ears. A feeling of dread chilled my bones. With haste I moved toward the town, ready to give aid where needed. Soon I was wading through hundreds of bodies all sick and suffering. Instinctively I knelt down and proceeded to try and heal any and all I could, but my magics held no power. I could feel my energies flowing into them, but whatever laced their veins seeped through my spell like water through a strainer. I couldn’t flush out illness.

“Malaney?” a familiar voice  called to me. I looked over and saw Achmath. My heart fluttered for a moment before breaking. He was sick too and with renewed fervor I tended to him. Wave after wave of healing I channeled through his weakened body, desperately hoping to relieve him of his suffering.

“Adam!?” I cried out, hoping he might know what to do, “What is wrong with me? Why can’t I fix this?”

The music from the Elf’s lyre filled the air and I felt it before the words collected that there was no hope to be had. I looked to the man I then recognized as my second manifestation. Somehow his face, though solemn, held such love and regret as he continued to play out the words, Sometimes, there is nothing we can do.

My tears of helplessness poured. I never truly wanted to say good bye to Achmath and there he was dying in my arms. Soon he would forever be gone.

Malaney, Adam called out. My attention remained with Achmath. Not out of anger toward my former self, but because I couldn’t bare to hear anything more. Which is better? To let him suffer? Or, to relieve him of such?

The mix of fear and peace was curious as it swirled in my mind. The dread at thinking of killing Achmath was pointed. Yet he was to die. I knew it. Every fiber of my being knew it. So I had to wonder; was it more cruel for me to leave him in such a state until death took it’s toll or to kill him?

I looked at Achmath, a blurry vision in my arms. He smiled the best he could. It was more of a grimace really, but I knew what he wanted. I leaned down and kissed his forehead, whispering, “Uil æaer.” Then, as though it was always there, I took the Lyro Blade and killed Achmath.

Though it was but a moment, it felt like an eternity. Eventually his body wisped away and I was left clutching my own form for comfort. There was guilt as my mind cried out, “Was it really necessary? Was there truly no other way!?” as the other part of me was certain I had done right.

Then something warm embraced me. I looked up and found my love before me. Health was in his countenance and a smile secured on his face. He wrapped me in his arms and simply said, “Thank you,” before I found myself back in bed, the room dark with night.

There was a  moment that washed over me as I realized it was just a dream. Soon my eyes were heavy with sleep again and what felt like I had just drifted into a deep slumber, I found myself being called awake once more. My mind recognized the sound, the way it was playing my name, and with curiosity I opened the door to see if it was who I thought it would be. Sure enough, Adam stood before me in the same green vestiture and piercing hazel eyes.

“What do you want?” I asked the Primordial.

I am Adam, he replied.

“I know. But what do you want now?” Once more he plucked at the strings that beckoned me to follow. We walked again through the halls of the monastery and to the over look. Once more, the town I saw earlier was there and I felt a mix of eagerness and apprehension.

Here is where we’re needed, Adam informed me. This time I ran in and found Achmath right away. Though I knew it wouldn’t work, my hands defiantly found his head and my lips proceeded to offer up the words to channel my magic. Hope clung in every word as I tried to heal him of the illness, but to no avail. I brushed the hair from Achmath’s face and knew what to do as Adam repeated the same words of, Sometimes, there is nothing we can do, and Malaney, which is better? To let him suffer? Or, to relieve him of such?

And so once more I killed Achmath, anticipating his hug of thanks, but this was where the vision changed. I opened my eyes wondering where my love was. Instead of seeing a glowing persona of him, I saw a cloudy landscape in the midst of the universe. 

It was exactly the same as what Destiny had shown us the night before. But there was something ominous. I stood, Lyro Blade in hand, and looked around. Before me the stars began to disappear one by one. Something was replacing them. The foreboding presence grew and grew until I found myself staring into a black abyss. And from it’s depths came two glowing red eyes and a smile that matched. And through the blackness, the creature that formed emanated something even darker.

Thankfully Adam didn’t abandon me to the monster. He must be stopped, he said. I remained immovable. Remember the weeds that choke.

Again, that same resolve swept over me. Though unsure, there was determination. And so I charged at the creature, taking flight as my arms suddenly were full fledged wings. I weaved in and out of the wisps of darkness that tried to bind me. With fervour greater than anything I knew I made it to the creature and plunged my sword into the depth of its heart.

The blackness that had covered the stars dispersed, leaving me in a sea of light. I stood on the cloudy surface before collapsing onto the ground catching my breath. The echo of the monsters anguished cries rang in my ears, but there was a sense of pride knowing I had done the world a service.

I then watched as the stars once more blotted out, one by one, until I was staring at the ceiling of my room once more. My hand ran along the top of my brow, wiping the sweat that had formed. I looked at my arms and found my feathers no where near the size they’ll need to be to carry me through the air.

My mind had just begun to settle back down when the familiar call sounded again. I got to my feet quickly and approached the door to see what it was Adam wanted. He greeted me in the same fashion and once more I was whisked away to the town of the dying. Straight away I went to Achmath’s side and delivered him of his agony. I didn’t bother to try to heal him. There wasn’t anything different about the scene, like the other times, other than how I approached it.

Again, Achmath didn’t appear when he vanished and the world reverted to the stars. I watched as the darkness consumed the light, my arms preparing to fly off and destroy the creature once more. For a moment I was curious as to what Adam would show me afterwards, but my anticipation was again misguided.

The second manifestation plucked his lyre putting in my mind, Not all attacks needs be gruesome.

How else would I bring the aggressor down? I thought. Then came the image of rest. How peaceful the body was in it’s state of sleep, where pain wasn’t felt.

I looked at the swirling darkness, the mouth wide with its glowing red smile. There was nothing physical about it. In fact, how was I able to kill it last time with the blade of my sword? Though I doubted, a sensation rippled through my limbs and Adam played the words to the spell; Alm nak uin la’bejk rejux (Alm nigh oon lah-beZH ray-uff).

My lips formed the words that danced along my tongue, repeating it as my hands gathered the darkness. It was as though I was harnessing the creatures energies and  compressing them into a ball within my hands. The more it collected, the harder I had to focus on the words. Saying them became difficult, as though the very act of speaking was pulling a hundred pound weight through sand.

At the peak of the spell, the ball of dark energy swirling violently in my hands, the monster let out a weary sigh before collapsing on the cloudy landscape, wisps of black and red fog blowing away in the whirlwind that followed. Once more I was standing in the universe, the evil defeated. This time there was no cry of anguish that lingered. Everything that remained was in a peaceful state as I stared across the stars.

Adam stood before me once more, a serene smile on his lips. You did very well, he played. There was pride, though the idea of celebrating my victory seemed out of place.

“Why did you show me this?” I asked.

Because you shouldn’t have to give up what makes you you, I felt him say, Malaney, you deserve to be happy and not a slave to your duty. Rora and Leryst unfortunately never got the chance to figure that out before the pressure of our responsibilities got to them. I couldn’t let them have the only word again. The cycle has to stop. But, of course, it depends entirely on you as to what you will do.

I don’t recall ever feeling so empowered before. A sense of value also came to see someone believe in me. Unlike the many times Bordel and Kimaris had mentioned their confidence in my capabilities, I didn’t doubt Adam. He wasn’t just saying it to be nice.

The former primordial then looked to my right and gave a nod. With a twist of my head, Achmath came to view, his boyish grin echoing my own joy. He then held up my copper piece Ahmiaus had given me.

“Were you not instructed to keep this on you always?” Achmath teased. He then whispered in my ear as he took my right hand in his, “I’m still waiting for you. I’ll always be waiting,” and placed the metallic disk on the inside of my wrist. Without waiting for a response, Achmath began to sing a melodious tune in his baritone voice and I watched the copper stretch and twist across my arm. Light poured from it as it collected between my wrist and elbow. Soon it was too bright and my eyes clamped shut as the magic energies flared about.

Then the calm returned and the light began to dim. When I opened my eyes, I was once more back in my room, standing and staring at the walls glowing in the morning twilight. There was something weighted about my right forearm and there was hope I’d see Achmath. Instead my eyes found a copper design that at first glance might appear only as artful music notes, but as I stared, I could feel my love’s presence. Uil Æaer was what was written in the midst, for those who read Elven.

Of course the entire night had slipped by and I had scarcely time to relish in all that I had learned when the morning gong sounded. As soon as it struck, it was as though something erupted in my head. A pain throbbed and continued with each note that signaled the waking hour. But it wasn’t in my head where the pain resided. It was my wrists! I could feel something breaking free from my joints in which my hands were helpless to relieve. I stared through my tears wondering what was happening. My voice called for help but the gong sounded louder as it proceeded to ring over my cries. My body twisted and turned, trying to rid itself of the pain, but to no effect.

Then came the final piece for my wings. A bone, long and thick, extending out and doubling my arm length. I don’t know when the growing pains stopped, but I vaguely remember being curled up on my bed, my head in someone’s lap. My arms shook with pain and all I yearned for was sleep. It had been a long night. The only comfort managing its way in was the feeling of Achmath watching over me as I read the copper inscription on my arm. Next Entry

9/24/2997: The Switch Box on the Heart

Previous Entry

Halejk La’Baer ab Jujnis, 2997

And just like that I’ve botched up my training. Halejk is the day of testing, where the monks apply what they’ve been taught in a simulation, except I wasn’t aware that it was a simulation. Ahmiaus, being impressed with what I have already picked up in a short three days thought it would be best to see how I fared my first trial. Of my peers in school, I was the one who looked forward to quizzes. It was my way of shining by showing how well I knew the material. I was so eager to demonstrate the skills I was learning with my Lyro Blade and magics, that I had a hard time sleeping.

If I was sleep deprived, I knew not. I arrived on time to the testing grounds and waited my turn. It was just after the lunch hour and so I had Bubbles quiz me. As he did, I noted that there were a series of doors, each numbered one through six. Within a half hour of waiting I was called to enter room four. I was anticipating a training room, maybe even a fellow monk to fence against, but what I found was a dim hall and Ahmiaus standing alone.

The Monk informed me that my party had been taken captive and that I need to go save them. I looked incredulously at my teacher, wondering if he spoke truth. I then heard Destiny let out a choked cry and any hesitation I had vanished. Ahmiaus grabbed my shoulder and said, “It is one from the Order. Be smart and careful.”

When I think about it now, I should have realized it was nothing but an illusion and just the test I was to perform. But in the moment, I didn’t question how it was a member from the Order of the Empty Cup managed to capture my companions without resistance, nor why it was up to me to save them alone. All I could think about was finding and freeing them.

Sure enough, upon facing the man who had beaten, gagged, and bound my party members, Destiny being held by the throat, I coward. I threw my healing energies toward Bordel and Zaren, Daevri being awake and acting his usual cocky self. The man continued to mercilessly strangle the girl. I tried to run toward my companions to free them of their restrains, but was met with fire.

The laugh that rings in my ear as I realized my helpless state still gives me chills. Sure I had my Lyro Blade and a new smite spell that I could have used on the man, but the thought of causing pain choked me up. I pleaded with him, begging for him to let them all go and to take me in their stead, but he wouldn’t. My hands and mouth worked the fear spell I knew with no effect. I tried to grab at him, to loosen his grip and free the girl, but to no avail. My hands shook, my lungs burned as I tried to breathe through the smoke, and my hysteria peaked as Destiny became limp.

Still... I couldn’t will myself to avenge the cruel actions the Order member performed.

Suddenly, through my sobs, I heard Ahmiaus’s voice and felt his firm hands take each of my shoulders. “Enough!” he commanded. My eyes blinked rapidly as I took in his image. He was disappointed, if that is even the word to describe it. I mean, it was clear I had failed which only added to the awful state I was in. Whatever sense of accomplishment I had was shattered as I was reprimanded about how I needed to defend and protect. That is what being a Paladin is all about. “You’re not some frail girl! Now buck up and accept your role as a Primordial!”

I then was sent to complete fifteen sets of Ahmiaus’s Vrum Lejkmars (Spirit Breakers, which consist of ten push ups, a five minute wall sit, twenty wall sprints, the peg master, and ten hanging sit ups). It took me until the dinner hour to complete my punishment and to top it off, my teacher withheld his healing magics. I’ve managed to ease some of my soreness, but I’m still rather miserable.

Dinner was quiet as I sat down with everyone. Bubblesnort, too enthusiastically, asked how my test went. I thought about lying, but with the pain that pierced me when I inhaled to speak, announced my failure. Daevri boasted of his marks saying it was rather easy. “You’d think they’d try harder,” he added, twirling one of my pens.

Destiny asked which simulation they put me under. “One that made me believe you, and everyone else, died because I couldn’t attack the aggressor,” I confessed. Despite my best effort, I quietly cried, my head hung in shame. Let alone everything about me was sore.

Bordel tried to cheer me up saying I’ll do better next time, now that I know it’s just an illusion, but it did little to make me feel better. “But even then, it won’t prepare me for when the fight is real,” I responded.

I dismissed myself early, feeling rather tired what with the excitement of the day gone. Bubbles flew along with me, trying to cheer me up too. “Not now,” I told him. Thankfully he didn’t persist and gave me my space.

Slowly I made my way back to my room. The corridors were quieter than usual due to the monks being in the dining hall. As I passed a hallway, a figure caught my eye. I looked over to see a woman eyeing me. Her hair was red and strait and her eyes a bright green. She gave a quick smirk and ducked behind a corner.

I pressed on, and was rather close to the hall my room was in, when I passed another passage and once again spotted someone out of the corner of my eye. I glanced in the direction of the person and once more saw the woman with red hair. She smiled at me, jerking her head so as to signal I should follow. She then walked out of view.

For a moment I was about to ignore her and get some rest, but her dress was different than the monks. So my curiosity got the best of me and I went to see what it was she wanted.

The woman, who wore a black laced shirt, black pants that tucked into knee high boots, and thick eye liner (which was why her eyes stuck out so much) was leaning against a pillar on the balcony that overlooked a different section of the mountains. Though her appearance was far different from the sophisticated lifestyle I grew up in, that feeling of ‘I know you’ was strong.

Sure enough, she called me by name, introducing herself as Leryst. “And you know me how?” I questioned.

“I am you. The fourth manifestation to be exact,” she began before leaning toward me and with cheek adding, “I know how you like things to be exact.” I pursed my lips and waited for her to explain why she was there.

Leryst went on explaining how she felt I could use a helping hand. I questioned her motives. She instructed me to sit down, going into how she never wanted to be a primordial. “I doubt any of us wanted this to begin with. And we the least of it,” she went on. She then bobbed her hands side to side as though weighing something, “You and I who are to bring about 'Balance'. Have you ever wondered why you can’t remember with clarity your past life?” My eyes remained on her as my lips held their peace. “It’s because we keep failing. It’s Io’s way for us to ‘do it right this time’.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I cut in, not liking her ‘I’m too good for this’ tone.

“To help you understand-” she began, but once more I interrupted, explaining to her how well I knew of Balance. Essentially good and evil go hand in hand. The one needs the other and the role we play is to make sure neither sides rise up against the other.

Leryst then challenged me, proving how well she knew me. “But when those sides rise, will you be able to defuse them with your words alone?” she said. I feebly insisted that I would be able to manage such a feat to which the fourth manifestation called me out. She did a good job in reminding me how vigilantes and extremists listen to noone but their own cause or Deity.

Vehemently I relayed to Leryst that it wasn’t as simple as she made it seem. To just decide to inflict pain, even if it means to save a loved one’s life did not come naturally to my body. “I remember how Rora felt,” I explained, “I’ve tried to channel it... but this body loathes the thought of hurting others. It seems so contrary to everything I hold dear.”

Her stupid smirk played across her face, she seeming to find great humor in my seriousness. Leryst then nonchalantly mentions that I just haven’t learn how to not care. I gave her an incredulous look, hating how hard she was trying to get me to be like her. But suddenly the hardness that seemed to protect her from the world softened as her features pondered a time long before mine.

“I wasn’t always this uncaring,” she said thoughtfully, “No. Humanity just hurt to much.”

It took me a moment to get what she was saying. Suddenly I understood why she sought me out. Leryst struggled like me. I then thought about Rora and that strange calm she had. I asked my former self if that was what it was like to not care.

“Hollow and empty? Yeah,” she quipped, snapping back to her hard exterior she presented first, “But you certainly can see more clearly when you don’t give a skeiv about people. Sure it makes us a psychopath to a degree, but I’d say the world would benefit from more of us.”

I pointed out the contradiction in her words. If I didn’t care, why would I bother to uphold the duties I have as a primordial? She gave an analogy of a garden:

“Like a garden that needs to be pruned of its imperfections, beast and folk need to be thinned where necessary for the world to continue its functions. Let a few bad weeds flourish and in the end you’ll have to clear out a bigger patch of the garden that was choked and malnourished.”

Once more I debated her words saying that by her definition, even the weeds had a place. But she reminded me that whether good or bad, I was the one who got to decide what flourished and what was destroyed. Overall the object is for the garden to function optimally in all its variety. If any of the flora got out of control, it could make for a greater destruction as that portion of the garden would need to be uprooted to protect the rest.

“A few deaths here and there is certainly better than wiping a nation that prevailed under corruption.”

A great silence fell upon us as I thought over Leryst’s words. How true they are. They make great sense, but being the one to make the call about who lives and who dies is something I doubt I will be able to do with my heart intact. It certainly made the idea of not caring more desirable.

But then I thought about love. If I learned how to silence my heart, I wouldn’t be able to receive and feel such affection, let alone extend it to others. So I asked if there was a way to switch it off and on. Leryst shook her head slowly saying I’d have to give them all up. Kimaris, Bordel, and Achmath. I tried to debate that my reason to care only needed to be off when fights arose. The Primordial laughed. She then reminded me of the dams that I’ve read about. If one were to break, the reservoir of water built up would destroy all in its path. And with my guilty conscience, Leryst predicts I would not survive such an onslaught.

I pursed my lips as I warred within myself. I need to become reliable and capable for the sake of my party. I am the weakest link, the one who will likely be the cause of all our failures. But I don’t want to be uncaring to the point of being ‘cold’. Or what if Kimaris comes back? If my affections toward Achmath left him heartbroken, how much more disappointing will it be if I couldn’t reciprocate an ounce of warmth at his return? Then again, I put so much stalk into thinking the boy still loves me...

My thoughts continued to contend one with another, swimming around my head, when Leryst placed a hand on my shoulder. “Think about it long and hard. I’ll teach you when you’re ready,” were her parting words as she got up and disappeared.

Next Entry

9/23/2997: All is Alright

Previous Entry

Ojtejk La’Baer ab Jujnis, 2997

I must say, I am doing remarkably well! The training with Ahmiaus has been better than I could have anticipated. We’ve continued with the same pattern of fencing in the mornings and strength/stamina training in the afternoon. With my quickness in picking up the tricks, he mentioned having me join his other class of monks. I have to wonder if my other companions will join too, but in the meantime I’m truly enjoying myself.

With my mood so light, I’ve taken to playing my flute on the overlook as the sun sets. It’s a little bit of free time I get after dinner and so far, no one seems to mind. Bubbles particularly enjoys it. He was just asking me tonight why I didn’t play more. I informed him that he found me at a very low point. My spirit was broken and hope seemed a joke.

Actually... now that I think about it, I never wrote about Bubbles! He is a faerie dragon and came to me the night before the Dryads debacle. I had finished writing the lyrics to my song when a light caught my eye. In due time, a silvery, opal colored dragon flew nigh, calling me by name. I remember feeling so surly that I raised an eyebrow with great suspicion. I had asked the creature who it was and how it knew me.

“I’m Bubblesnort!” he replied enthusiastically! “I’d recognize a Belrue anywhere!” Bubbles went on to say how he was expecting to have found my grandmother, Yosemedy, to which I informed him of the unfortunate news.

Like any faerie, though he being significantly bigger, Bubble’s miniature dragon frame could only hold one emotion at a time. His cheery face suddenly shedded large tears of remorse toward my grandmother’s death. He tucked his head as he perched on the branch in front of me. But about as soon as his solemn state fell over him, he took a deep breath and let it out before looking back at me and saying, “I guess that makes you my new master then.”

I thought the creature daft for wanting me to be his master. I tried to dissuade him from the idea, but he insisted saying I held some birthright, he being a sworn protector of the elder who bore it. My lips confessed their confusion, not knowing what he spoke of.

"The birthright you carry is what lured me here. I had thought it was Yosemedy, I having searched for her for so long. When I felt the power, the call, I came quickly. I was surprised to find you, but how good I did for now I know Yosemedy is no more and I can continue to fulfill my duties as a guardian."

I shook my head. Nothing came to mind about the birthright he spoke of. “Surely someone’s told you. I know you have it,” Bubbles persisted, “It would have been given you on your sixteenth birthday.” I explained to him that that time of my life was met with much drama, what with my father dying, unexalted, and me renouncing my faith... no. I was not informed of any birthright.

Apparently I have been bestowed with a unique set of powers. It is given to the first daughter born to the mother. However, Yosemedy only had boys. And so the birthright was to go to the first granddaughter of the oldest son. I had to stop Bubbles there because I wasn’t the first daughter AND there’s a good chance I’m not Theedain’s daughter. So if I carry the birthright (which I seriously doubt), I haven’t a clue how. Nevertheless, the faerie dragon is insistent that I have been given such powers and so we hope the monks will be able to help me recognize them. I have yet to mention that to Ahmiaus.

Bubbles really does have a lovely optimism that has grown on me now that the cloud of despair has departed. As I finished playing my flute earlier, he being curled around my shoulders asked, “Your grandmother use to tell stories. Might you know any?” I looked at the twilight sky and sang him a tune I use to perform back home:

There once was a boy who searched all of Iadumija

For a lady so pure and fair.

To relieve him from the world so dark

With sadness everywhere.

He came upon a town so quaint

Where the darkness was blinded by the light.

The folk danced and laughed all gay to celebrate

The Festival of Light.

They sang:

Sonoyrid, it’s a beautiful night!

Tijs with all of your heart!

Your fears today

Are far away!

Mois da æae, all is alright!

Soon the joy overcame the boy

Who fell to his knees, filled with ‘Ah’.

A lady came over to help the lad up

And held him in her arms.

She asked where he came from. He simply replied

That he had been searching for her along time

And that he needed a home for tonight

She smiled so warm and her eyes shown bright.

She sang:

Sonoyrid, it’s a beautiful night!

Tijs with all of your heart!

Your fears today

Are far away!

Mois da æae, all is alright!

The boy stayed there for the rest of his life.

He grew into a man and took him a wife.

And as he tucks his little ones in at night

He sings them a song as they close their eyes.

He sings:

Sonoyrid, it’s a beautiful night!

Tijs with all of your heart!

Your fears today

Are far away!

Mois da æae, all is alright!

Celebrate, it’s a beautiful night!

Dance with all of your heart!

Your fears today

Are far away!

Peace to you, all is alright!

Indeed. All is alright.

Of course, shortly after singing, Destiny was by my side and we had a lovely conversation. She wanted to know what I was doing before I learned of my primordialness. I mentioned that I was looking for a place to call home. In fact, I had settled in Lythmeir for a time, where I met Achmath, and it was the first place that felt like home since I had left my town. Of course I had to move on and thankfully the girl didn’t ask why.

Every time I think of Araja and how the day transpired... I just feel so lost. It doesn’t seem fair that she had to die so young. Barely five years old and gone on a peaceful afternoon. I won’t lie that often my mind wanders as it wonders what she looked like. Was it painless? Did she really drift away unexpectedly in her sleep? How is Sakmon doing? He’ll be turning three in four months. I wonder if he still remembers his sister or perhaps he has a new sibling?

Anyways. Eventually Daevri made himself known. Destiny had just informed me that I could get in touch with Kimaris through the link us Primordials have. So I checked to see if anyone was in the connection to which the Human answered. Quickly I turned the link off not wanting to deal with him. He then called up to me saying what it was I wanted. Daevri was hiding under the balcony the whole time!

“Why are you down there!?” I asked him. It seemed like a lot of effort to torment me, but instead he was avoiding his teacher. Daevri climbed up and over the edge, his arms shaking from hanging for an hour.

The conversation then warped to talking about who we were as Primordials, Destiny having been around since the first manifestation. I asked if she knew what the feathers were all about on my arms. My assumption was that they were decorative since my arm length isn’t nearly long enough to support flight. The girl mentioned that she hadn’t a clue since my past manifestations didn’t have any. Daevri’s, however, did. The first had black feathers.

The Human then got oddly serious. He began to talk about how he was born, but wasn’t and being rather secretive to the point I asked if he was cursed. He gave me a look like I was daft and soon my thoughts began to wonder if Daevri was just pulling our legs.

But he persisted to talk about how his body wasn’t his. The Human- well... I can’t really call him that any more. On the outside he looks Human with short black hair, sky blue eyes, pale skin, and a built that is slender and slightly shorter than my own. He wears a yellow coat of sorts that is sleeveless, but has a hood. His forearms are wrapped in a white, bandage like coverings and never had I questioned them before.

Daevri began to take the material off of his left arm; thick, black hair and dark skin becoming exposed. My eyes grew wide and I asked what had happened. He mentioned his arms were always like that. Being skeptical, I poked at it and sure enough, it was real.

My companion then took a knife and cut a deep gash on his forearm. Through my scolding words, he said, “Look,” his fingers pulling the skin apart to show something metallic. Once more, feeling like maybe he was teasing, I reached within and felt the metal core his flesh encased. Perplexed by my companion’s anatomy, I healed the mechanical man.

Daevri pointed out his spine as I pestered about whether it was just his arms that were affected. They were more rigid than anything I knew and barely hidden under his coat.

The next question that came from my mouth was how was it he was a Primordial? Fern had walked away, abandoned her post, only for Daevri to fill her spot. Maybe I’m naive, but how is it that some mechanical being now had the spirit of a supreme being in it? Destiny shrugged unsure, but didn’t seemed bothered by the idea.

I didn’t ask it then, but hopefully I’ll remember the next time I get a chance to speak with Daevri, if he has any memories of his childhood. Maybe he was born, but some kind of medical intervention took place that replaced the bones with metal... then again, that sounds so extreme. 

Ultimately I haven’t a clue. For all I know, the whole thing could have been a fantastic illusion and one of these days he’ll use it against me. But if I’m honest, I really hope it isn’t. For the first time it felt like Daevri was trying to be something more than a nuisance.

Next Entry