Original Story - Succubusfeuer

A few things: This story is originally written by me in German. I’m translating it into english as soon as one part is done. However, much to my distaste, some facets are lost in the translation. In addition, I’m not really that good in writing in English, so feel free to correct anything or suggest better choice of words.
Here’s what I have so far:

Looking back in history can only teach us one thing: peace and freedom, luck and wealth can never be created without external enemy. We all need something that we can outcast, or we will create artificial borders between ourselves. I have to remember our history with hard feelings: the forming of the first Empire after the era of pillages was cheered by everyone involved. But already 20 years later, the empire fell due to unhappy rebels that pretended to fight against the tyranny, but only had their own interests in mind. Especially those, that summoned the demons first, pretended to fight for humanity.
— Imperial Senate, 751 NT

I do not know if I even will forget that horror. We were so sure to do the right thing, but maybe everything was a lie? I don’t know and don’t want to know. There were eight of us who wanted to close the demon gate after the rebels opened it 2 years before. The warriors that accompagnied us had to fight against myriads of natural and unnatural creatures, until we reached the stonebuilding, which symbolised the gateway between our two worlds. The incarnation of the banishment spell needed 3 hours. 3 hours, we had to watch how our fellows were killed one after the other by their enemies. Snakelike pressed the air out of them, birlike picked and scratched deep wounds, Swortdemons caused them uncurable wounds and robewearing ones fought with the magic of the dead. Nonetheless, I couldn’t oversee that they didn’t seem to want what they did. Rebels and Empire both called the demons to fight on their side, but did they ever ask themselves, what they called and how they forced it into their service?
At least it is over. I don’t really want to be able to remember more. I just want to forget. I want to forget the tortured faces of humans and demons. And still I know that no sleep will give me peace, no potion will allow me to forget. Maybe not even death will be able to give me peace. I can only hope and pray to the gods.

— From the scripts of the archmagus from Tiefwaldern shortly before his death, 679 NT

I command you to a duel, Masked Mage! The one of us who is able to do the mightier in one month will be the one to own the artefact. I choose the summoning of a demon. As you know, the door to them is closed. That means it needs true masters of magic to summon one of them to our world. Be prepared!
— Letter by the magician Therelin from Himmelsbrück, 763 NT

The events start in 763 NT.

—Intro—

The sun hung red and spooky over the old ruins. Only a wave of wind that came from the ocean, could bring a bit of relief to the breathing in this air smelling like sulphur. Little did it matter to the people in the ruins. The man bound on the altar had other worries than his breathing. And the demons that stood in front of him reciting ancient incarnations in an almost forgotten language actually liked the sulphur-smell. That is, if he actually had the time to concentrate on it. But as things were now, he only had enough energy to finish the ceremony. Because it was important. More important than what his being was.
Suddenly, she appeared, the warrior. Only half a head smaller than the demon, wearing an old leather armor, with an added dark cape. Her shoulderlong red hair hang down sweating wet from her head. She was breathing heavily, her golden eyes narrowly focused on the back of the demon, who hadn’t realized she was here or didn’t care. Obviously, she had run here. In her right hand, she was wearing the old family blade, that had seen more battle than she was years old. “Creature”, her shout was heard all over the ruin field, “I have come to put an end to you! Face the combat!” The addressed stopped his incarnation and stood up completely. Without wings and with lighter skin, he would have passed as human. Maybe an old warrior, hero of many battles. But right now, he was only the embodiment of the phrase that demons are the dark brothers of humans.
“Ah, the heroine appears to kill the beast and restore peace”, he answered with a slight laughter and it was as if a child and an old man had spoken at the same time. “No more games! Surrdender to the challenge!” screamed the challenger, slowly moving towards the altar. “Ah, I see. The heroine is here to save her brother, who’s innocently lieing here on the sacrification stone. How nobel. How useless.” Abruptly he turned around, his right hand raised. A few syllabuses escaped his lips, so fast that almost no human would have been able to see them. The effect of those syllabuses took place faster: a beam of darkest energy shot out of his right hand, aiming at the warrior. With shock-widened eyes, the warrior recognized the doom in the last second, she jumped aside just in time. A short blick out of the corners of her eyes showed her that this dark demon magic turned the soil around and burnt it - earth there was as dead as she could have been. Without a second thought, she threw herself forward, the family sword risen, to bring down the stranger, the alien, the demon once and for all. She hit him with as much power as she could, again and again. Her first strike hit the demon at his arm, the second in the middle of his torso. During the third strike, the sword, the heirloom of the family’s tradition, broke. The demon began to laugh, seeing that he was barely more than scratched. With a rough sulk, the warrior sank down to the bottom, hermind as broken as her sword. She failed. Her brother was lost, she was lost. There was no hope left.
“Sssstop it!” a voice was heard from beyond the ruins, “T’Nari, the elder wantsss to ssse you!” With a sigh, the warrior stood up again and look at the caller. Of course, Serena, the youngest of the snakebodied Agayprs, highest cleric of the three demon goddesses and equipped with way too much no-nonsense loyality. “Do you really have to stop a theater-testplay? We would have been finished soon anyway!” she shouted back, dropping the leftover of the sword. “Yesss, I had to! You have way too much fun playing humansss, T’Nari! Never forget what they did to ussss!” The warrior sighed again and turned around to her theater-partner. He nodded silently, as if he was saying: “You can’t change it anyway.” T’Nari shook her head and followed the Snakelike back into the village.
They followed the old street that had been created a long, long time ago by many hands for a while. After the fall of the old empires, no one that could keep them intact was found, so that they were engulfed by the landscape more and more. Especially during sunsets, when they are dumped into the unreality of the beginning night, those relics of passed times would have been a popular motive along artists. But if you have to fight for your daily survival, then art and also the theater play is less than just a minor thing. That way, T’Nary and her collegues were more than just the black sheep of the community - they were almost a new elite. Many of the oldest that experienced the human wars hated them for that. T’Nary wasn’t sure herself if the elder was among them. So far, he hadn’t put any stones in their way. On the other hand… one word of his would be enough to cease the acting once and for all. And then…
At this moment, Serena stopped abruptly, so that T’Nary bumped in her while being elsewhere and totally unprepared, something that doesn’t bode well for pondering about things. The cleric hissed, while T’Nary tried to apologize with many words. “Forget it, it isss unimportant, childe!” she hissed, while her tail began pendling back and forth, “but what is much more worssse, do you really want to ssstand before the elder like that?” An irritated gaze answered her, until the tragedist realized, that she still looked like a human. Another apology followed immediatly, that Serena refused with a short gesture of her hand. “Care more about looking more worthy, not like one of thossse ratsss.” “I understand, of course”, answered T’Nary and prepared herself for a transformtion.
The Changers are of one the oldest surviving demon races. They can choose and change their form almost as they wish. However, every change is painful for them - transforming bones, flesh and skin within minutes is everything but comfortable or a simple task for their bodies. That’s why they mostly choose one form and keep it. T’Nary used to change her form more often - it’s a big advantage, if you want to be an actress at a theater - but it wasn’t any less painful.
In front of a person like Serena, T’Nary was too proud to be able to show any weakness while horns drilled themselves out of her skull and long, leathery wings grew out of her back. More than a few twitches in her face weren’t noticeable, and thusly, Serena nodded satisfied while watching the slow transformation - which is as embarrassing for a Changer as if you had to undress in front of a crowd of people.
As the transformation was finished, T’Nary was now in her “true” form. An intense fire burned in here eyes, which could cost a lesser being like a human or an animal easily their mind. She gazed directly at Serena, in hopes to provoke any reaction. However, she wasn’t successful. The cleric simply turned around and continued her way. The Changer sighed, shook her head and followed her, the dull wish to fly the way in the back of her head.

I’ll read it more carefully when I get back from Stockholm, but it’s looking good. You have nice descriptions, for one.

Kthx. :slight_smile:

In the meantime, it started to become night. Although it never became really dark - because the two small moons always hang softly glowing blood-red over the landscape - but even in the shelter of this doubtful darkness, shades were moving that are as number- and nameless as the drops of water on a wet field in autumn. And several of those creatures noticed the smell of yummy, satiating flesh, as the two wanderers would soon have to find out.
At the beginning, there’s always the headache, as fast and hastily, as if someone had splitted your head with an ice pick, kicks you and then, happy with themselves and the world, laughs about your suffering. Shortly thereafter, the visions appear, as confused as if you had a fever. Only the strongest are able to widthstand and escape those visions without training, and fight against the enemy. The ancestors of today’s demons had to pay those lessons with blood and many victims, but nowadays, hardly anyone fell victim to those enemies that, out of weakness, hide behind the rape of the mind of their victims. Thusly, T’Nary and Serena were busy shielding their mind agains the alien, desctructive thoughts after a few seconds. The cleric uttered a short prayer, to call for help, while T’Nary lost no time and grabbed her weapons out of a bag - two thick gloves, croned with the claws of a Night Griffon, her sole pride and her most valuable possession - and started to look for the enemy. After a few seconds, she saw them - two shapes on a nearby hill, that looked like big, malformed amoebas at this distance. The demons called them “Eyes of Agor”, because they possessed a big, gray blue eye in the size of a head. They were the embodiment of the catchphrase “If looks could kill, then…”. Even though they were able to break and destroy the minds of their victims with visions and pain, they were physically weak, the weakest in the family of the Agorim.
With a giant leap, T’Nary rose into the air and flew - with stretched wings - towards one of the two Eyes. Without much resistance, she forced the claws into the quicksilver-colored body of one of them, that thereafter broke and liquified silently (how is a blob with an eye supposed to make sounds anyway?). The other eye gazed directly at the attacker and seemed to concentrate. T’Nary prepared an attack that was supposed to split the body of the Eye all over the hill, as suddenly the pain increased. Then a vision was forced in her mind.
She is in a marmor-clad mausoleum, at the walls scenes from the human wars. In them, triumphing humans slaughtered helpless demons and celebrate their victory. She is is in a similar condition: beaten, bloody, kneeling and gritting teeth while staring at her opponent. This one stood self-assured in front of her: a human clad in a silver armor, with long, golden hair, the eyes glowing in the shine of his “self-rightousness”, holding the sword - looking like it was a steel-made lightning bolt - in his hand. “Silly demon girl”, he says, and it is, as if a mountain of ice would break, “I killed your kind already, when your body hadn’t been created. And you wanted to battle me?” And then he laughs, his laugh sounding like a dozen bells ringing at the same time. Then he rises his sword, looks into the eyes of his victim one more time, as if he wants to see the anger that reflects in them one last time, and then - at this moment, the vision broke apart.
T’Nary found herself at the hill, breathing heavily, the liquified remains of the Eye in her claws. Cold sweat was on her forehead and she had difficulties to calm down. “So, those are their vicions”, she gasped to herself, “unbelievable. Simply unbelievable that something so fragile can be so strong. But, who was that man?” “The echo of the passst, T’Nary, a being that onccce wasss a human”, hissed Serena. With a sudden movement, T’nary turned around and looked in her eyes. “Did you free me from that vision?”, she asked puzzled. “That I have. You mussst sssshhhield your mind better, becaussse nexxt time I will not help you anymore. The weak die, thisss isss our world, thisss isss the will of the goddessesss.” “Right now, she will attack me, to show me that I always have to be on guard”, T’Nary realized, a fragment of a second before the body of the cleric bolted forward. At almost the same speed, T’Nary rose her arms in a block-position and parried. “Very good. You learn fassst. Alwaysss be careful, or every moment can be your lassst”, Serena hissed proudly. “Of course. Shall we continue our travel now?” T’Nary replied nicely, maybe a bit overly nice. Maybe, because she just realized that Serena must not have been only responsible for her rescure, but also for the unexpected strength of the vision, to show T’Nary her possible or real weakness. But who can tell with demons?

End of the intro.

It was already ‘dark’ when T’Nary and Serena reached the edge of the settlement. Since a long, long time, demons lived in caves, that they connected through tunnels. Every cave was created around a Homestone. This stone - as soon as it was given the blessing off the goddesses through the clierics - change a hole in a mountain into a home. Many demons enchanted that stone with additional spells, so they could close the entrance and the tunnels if needed, for example. Other than that, it was responsible for keeping the temperature comfortable for the inhabitants and that noone could be attacked in this home, unless the guestright was broken before. So it has always been and so it will always be, even though the generations change as fast as the leaf on a tree in autumn.
Of course this tradition gave great power over all demons to the clerics. But it seemed like they were wise enough to not misuse this power for their own interests: on the one hand, candidates were chosen pretty good, on the other hand, those, that would have been capable of abusing it, died a sudden and natural dead. Thusly, the clerics were little more than the advisors of the settlements, although most of the time their advice was followed without questions. In T’Nary’s village, it was like that, of course. In addition, the Elder was a respectable person: once a proud warrior of the clan of the Gargyles, the human wars broke his spirit. His only saviors were the clerics, that held to him and prevented him from facing madness and mindless rage. To thank them, he stayed with them, to help others how he was helped. Now, he was ancient and did nothing more to sit in the temple meditating and thinking. That was partially, because he - like all of his people - had started to turn to stone at the end of his natural life. He could do not much anymore, but his mind was still intact, maybe more free than ever before.
T’Nary had to gulp unconsciously as she entered the temple cavern. While the entrance was rather unspectacular, the interior was in its own way of stunning beauty: the walls were covered with phosphorizing crystals, that were made to grow in a beautiful way. They covered the whole temple with a surreal, blue and purple light. The warm springs, that gave all of the village fresh water and nice warmth in the cold moons, had an opening here, too. All of the time, sacks with herbs were put into it, to gift the air with a refreshing scent.
Just like in the last years, the elder was kneeling in front of the three statues of the goddesses in the big part of the cavern.
Serena commanded the tragedist to not move with a gaze, then went forward to the elder. Just like always, T’Nary used the time to look at the statues again. They always seemed to change with every visit.
To the left was the statue of Saryn, the creator, a white seasnake. Sary was the maker of all things, the world of demons one of her numberless eggs. All lifeforms happily lived on the outisdes of these eggs. The greatest day in her name was always that of the remembrance of birth. It was a day of silent loneliness for the celebrated, though. At that day, you had to retreat into the wilderness, to bring your thanks silently in the midst of her creation.
In the middle was the statue of Bhyurei, the ever-changing, a Changer in a long, black dress, holding a knive and a book in her hands, both symbols of her doings: to change and to remember. The fest to her honor was the one of full age, when a demon showed that they were able to take care of themselves. After that, they left their settlement and joined another one or lived alone for a while.
At the right was that statue of Amarayn, the destroyer, in the form of a greenskinned Darkalb in a dark green uniform that was entrusted with a cape. In her right, she wielded her pike: Soulcatcher. Even though she could have been feared, she was loved as much as the other two goddesses. Well, who wants to imagine the torture of a live without end, of a creation that had to be eternal? Whenever a demon died, it was a day of joy, for they would be part of the egg again, ready to be created anew.
“Come forth, T’Nary”, the voice of the elder suddenly echoed through the cavern. He spoke very faintly, but she could understand him very well. Maybe it was just because of the echo, but not even Serena’s voice sounded that special. As she walked in front of him, he looked at her for a moment and then continued speaking: “Ah, there is you. I am sorry, if Serena caught you in the midst of something important, but my time is short-lived and the problem is important.” “I can assure you, elder, that it wasn’t the case”, T’Nary replied with honest friendliness. “Good, good. You can surely guess why I had you summoned here?” T’Nary nodded silently. After a short pause, he continued: “I remember, when I was young. So full of power. I lacked a focus in life, a quest. So I fled into my strength. I was proud of it, to be strong, to be better, to be superior.” He suddenly stopped and stared into T’Nary’s eyes for a moment: “Back then, many things were different from how they are now. There were more of us. The cruel pain of the war, we never experienced it. Even the Agorim didn’t exist then.” He suddenly coughed, short and harsh. Maybe it was a laughter, T’Nary was unsure. “But”, he restarted his speech, “today is different. We had to fight long. For our survival. We won. We will survive. One day, someone will succeed in eliminating the Agorim and to step over the memories of the Human Wars. Maybe, T’Nary, you will live to see that day.” “I hope so. It is a dream of mine. We could…” “No”, he stopped her, “we can nothing. It will be too late then.” Confused the tragedist looked at him. What did he want for real? She expected him to order her to stop preparing a theaterplay. But what now? Even Serena seemed to be curious.
“No, my dear. Those are problems from tomorrow that we may solve today”, the elder mumbled, “because today, an embassy came to me that requested me, to prohibit the theater. Because of the danger to move that far away from the settlement and because it would weaken the morale and fighting edge of our kind.” T’Nary nodded, feeling rather bitter. She expected something like that. Way too many wanted to be just hunters, focused on the here and now. “And another thing”, the cleric stopped her trail of thoughts again, “I was told that you spend too much time in human form. That would be a insult for every single one of us and should be punished with banishment or death.”
The silence that followed was just broken by the soft sounds of the hot springs, that - unimpressed by the dispute - filled the air with with the scent of fresh herbs.

Finally, T’Nary gathered enough courage to ask a question: “So, what is the decision?” The elder shook his head: “What would be the lesser evil for you?” “I…” she stopped. If she was banned, she could move away or live at the theater. Care for herself, but staying alone until one day she’d get up and move to another settlement. Or maybe not. In all cases, it would become dull, with no real meaning to it at all. But she would live… “I… don’t know. Banishment, I suppose.” “You suppose? You let me down. I anticipated that you would be ready to die for your theater.” Shocked, the tragedist widened here eyes, her thoughts racing through her head: “Does that mean that you want to kill me?” “No, of course not”, he tried to calm her, “neither banishment nor death shall be your fate. Quite the contrary.” T’Nary’s nervousness that almost disappeared came back with a vengence at his last words. The contrary? What could be the contrary to death or banishment, if almost the whole settlement is against you?
Just as if he guessed her thoughts, the elder continued: “Of course I can understand if that makes you concerned. Therefore, let me explain what I await from you: After I pass away, you will make important decisions. You will slowly but surely look that those blockheads open up again and find back to the old spirit of freedom. You will…” “Hold it!” she broke his sentance. Serena made a grimace and wanted to start a tirade about respect to the aged, but a scorn look of the elder had her gulp down her bitter words.
“But this… does that mean that I should be the next eldest? Your successor?” “What are you thhhinking, cchhild? You don’t underssstand anything!” Serena hissed at this blasphemy. “Oh, but she understands it. This is exactly what I demand from her. A new spirit in a new age”, the elder replied with a faint laughter, as if he waited for this kind of behavior. “But elder! Sshhe isss not even a ssservant of the goddesssesss! An uneducated in your shoesss? That is treassson on everything that I believe in!” she uttered, watching her world-view collapsing. “But of course she is no cleric. I know that as much as you do. But realize: Knowledge can be many things. A small river, a large one or a giant stream. But insight will always be an ocean.”
“I… understand. My punishment will be to mess with blockheads, to force them to change. Slowly and subtely?” T’Nary had to control herself to not break out in hysterical laughter. “Yes, exactly. I see that you have realized the difficulty of your quest, my child”, the elder said bitterly, “do you think it was easy for me to decide? Do you think I am happy about it?” His pain seemed to become almost touchable. “I… am sorry, elder. It’s just so different from everything I wanted to do, wanted to be. I have to sacrifice my freedom, my future… myself for that. For a quest I would do everything for to avoid”, the tragedist sighed, “And even then, I don’t know if I would suffice for a cleric. Thinking about how many times I’ve had arguments with Serena, that is so much more than doubtful to me.” Mentally resisting, she had to realize that both of them shared that opinion: “That isss true. Elder, how would you know that she can live up to thisss burden? You can not be thisss thoughtlesss!” “If I was thoughtless, then we all would not have the pleasure of this conversation, would we?” he contered, “I am surely still able to make decisions by myself. Just as T’Nary is.” He looked back at her: “Noone will force you. But realize: In the end you will either be a leader or a death candidate. Which one of those fates shall be yours?”
“I… I need to think about it, elder. I am sorry, but I can’t decide this right now.” He nodded, understanding, “Of course, of course. I suggest you come back tomorrow in the noon-hour to tell me your decision. But realize two things: You will not be able to undo your decision. And I will under no circumstances try to force your decision. Listen to your heart and your mind, they shall be better familiars than traditions and expectations.” After a short break, he added: “Now, go! Think about it! Ponder!” “Y…yes. Thank you.” With a short bow, T’Nary left the cave via shaking legs. The warm, dry air hit her like a punch with a club. She sat down on a big rock next to the temple-entrance and started to cry.

“Did he treat you that badly?” a voice was heard next to her. Suprised, she twitched, turned around and looked in the eyes of the man she was working with at the theater. She pulled herself together and answered: “Yes. No theater anymore, no matter what happens. Never again.” “WHAT”, he yelled in shock, “how CAN they presume to tell us what we may do and what we may not do? We didn’t get anyone into danger! And they treat as us if we were criminals!” She suddenly had to smile and layed her hand on his shoulder. “No”, she said softly, “it’s not that way. His wish is that I will take his place. He thinks that my way shall lead the demons for the next times.” He stared at her with big eyes, openly trying to work that information up. “But…” he started, tripping over his thoughts. “Yes, it’s incredible. The honor is so big that it’s already a punishment”, she grinned bitterly, while the last of her tears were rolling over her cheeks. “T’Nary…”, he started again, “I… don’t know, what I should think about this…” “Me neither, Veramar, me neither…”, she replied, “I don’t believe that I can find the answer if I’m good enough for that alone.” “Not alone? Who do you want to ask? Of all those living here, there are maybe two or three whose judgement I would trust! And even they couldn’t help you. Something like that has never happened before. You aren’t even a cleric!” “Not yet, my friend, not yet. Should I agree, my education would start tomorrow.” Veramar closed his eyes and started massaging his temples: “What if you refuse?” “Nothing at the moment. But he’s dieing. His successor won’t like like he does and she’ll banish us, I think.” “Serena”, he mumbled, “always her, her, her. Of all blockheads, she’s the worst!” He looked at her as if he was waiting for consent. Just, she stayed calm and stared at the distance, at the far away parts of the Blackmountain range. They stayed like that for a while.
Eventually she sighed. Concerned, he asked: “T’Nary? What are you going to do?” She shrugged helplessly: “I can’t decide that. Today I want to hunt in freedom for the last time. Tomorrow… we will see.” Abruptly she stood up: “Farewell, my friend. Until then!” “Until then, T’Nary. I wish you everything good.”
With a large jump, she rose in the air, spread her wings and flew away. Just like many other of the large wing-bearing animals and peoples, the Changers used an subconscious magic that allowed them to stay in the air or even rise with the wind. A fool once called it “air-swimming” and that is what it is, just as intuitive, just as liberating - or maybe moreso. As she was gliding over forests, rivers and hills, T’Nary pulled her sorrows into the least corner of her mind and concentrated on what she needed at the moment: Prey. As she reached the border of the ocean, she softly landed with a few strong flaps on a rock at the beach. She closed her eyes and breathed in. She stayed like that for a while, keeping her breath and listening to the sounds of the ocean. How important was time now? That moment was endless.
Finally she released the air by breathing out, and started to prepare for the hung. Her clothes would only hinder her, so she undressed and put them under the big rock. Then she rose back into the air, directly over the ocean. There she started transforming into a hunter of the oceans, a black head shark. Her skin peeled off, revealing large scales underneath. Her legs went back into her body, the head became large and deformed while the lungs liquified. As she was just forming gills, her wings shrunk and moved back into her body, too. She began her free fall into the cold wetness of the eastern ocean. When she touched the surface of the water, she was already full shark.
At first she was idle, waiting for the pain to leave. Then she started looking for prey with the cold, emotionless logic of a hunter. She swan through the water, following the trail of a swarm of fished. Her hunt had her pass underwater plants, sunken ruins and caves, but she was fully concentrated on her prey: a swarm of dogfishes - they’re called that way because of the barking sounds the make in the nets of fishers. As sudden and unsuspected as a cool breeze, she attacked. The fishes were totally surprised - as much as fishes could be so - and T’Narys reward for the first strike was a maw filled with yummy, moving, bleeding fishes. With a few gulps they wandered in her stomache, not much more than an appetizer for the lare, mighty and dangerous shark. The other fishes tried to flee, breaking up into several swarms that dispersed in all directions. But the black head shark was not one of the most feard predators of the ocean: within minutes the surrounding water was tainted with the taste of fishblood. Satisfied and satiated, T’Nary swam away, before the carrion eaters arrived.
She kept swimming around for a while, without aim, but without much thought she kept coming closer to the coast. Finally she reached a rock that was large enough to have it’s head over the water level. Following a sudden idea, she let herself drift to the surface and started another transformation. Her fishbody became smaller, while her upper body turned back into a human form. As she was sitting on top of the rock, she had taken the form of one of the classic figures in fairy tales: a mermaid.
As if she wanted make fun of the authors of those tales, she started to sing while looking over the darkened ocean, her back turned to the coast. Lonely, but enough for herself at the moment.
Finally, she stopped. She had found all the answers she was looking for. Now she knew what she would say the elder tomorrow. She realized what she had to do to come to a conclusion. As she turned back into her true form to fly back to the coast - and later, home - she was smiling.

Chapter 2

Let-down surprise was in the voice of the elder: “The third life? So this is your decision? Are you sure about it? You know that there is no way back… with your choice even less than with the other possibilities.” T’Nary had to gulp down a large lump of bitterness as she replied. “Yes, that is my decision, following the traditions of my people and made with my conscious mind.” “A decision that could easily cost your life.” T’Nary smiled: “That’s what a part of all decisions. Elder, I beg of you: I accept your wish, but for that you have to accept mine.” “That I have to,” he grudingly replied “but nevertheless I do not wish for you to go allone. You should not die when you search for an epiphany.” “Of course, there should not be excitement at the moment”, T’Nary grinned cynical, “but who should accompany me? The only possible witnesses would be Changers. But at the moment I am the only one here and Amayrn knows where others are. I had a misguided travel on a Night Griffon behind me when I landed here, remember?.” “Yes, it is a problem… only beings with the blood of Changers may… oh”, he stopped himself, as if he stumbled upon enlightenment. “Oh?” Hestitatingly the elder continued: “Well, as far as I know, only beings with the blood of the Changers are allowed. But it is not part of the rite that only Changers partake.” “…no. Ooh no”, she resisted, “there is no way that I will allow someone to drink my blood just so that I don’t have to travel alone to that ritual place. If it comes down to that, I will experience it alone.” “But thi…” “No”, she hissed, “observers are the last thing I want. It is too personal to have someone watch. Please understand me.” Sighing, he tried to wave the issue away, but stopped it soon later: “If you absolutely insist… but let us prepare you at the very least. It is already dangerous, but trusting in only your strength is downright foolish.” T’Nary nodded: “Of course, elder.” “Well, I will ask one of the acolythes to prepare you. Now leave, I will pray for your journey.” She left without adding another word.

Outside she felt the murderous heat of the sun. It was busy burning down the grass and the gardens. Whoever could was having a nap inside through these hot hours. T’Nary sneaked back into her cave through the shadows and closed the entrance with the old, wooden door that had served more than one inhabitant before. The moss which was living on the outer cave walls and the clingweed at the wooden partition kept the inside cool and fresh all the time. Reliefed she let herself belly-fall on her bed and chewed on a stalk of straw while looking at an interesting spot on the wall. “I got what I wanted…”, she mused, “so why does it feel so wrong…” Getting up, she walked to the large mirror that was hanging close to the entrance, right under the stuffed head of the infamous Night Griffon. The same one that presented her with her favorite weapon. Her bundle was already prepared and was waiting for her to pick it up in a cave niche just under the mirror. Dull, she gazed at her mirror image. After the third life was fulfilled, she wouldn’t be herself anymore. “Cowardly somehow. I let a judgement by the goddess decide on my fate and my existance.”

Finally, she decided to stop pondering about it, layed down and took a nap. And dreamt.

The hall is large, almost gigantic. Made with marmor and engraved gold, old weapons hanging from the walls. He, the golden one, Titan among Humans, stands upright like a victor and a victor he is. The impure world is cleansed, the foul ones are gone and he became the absolute truth. He raises his head and laughs, laughs because he won, laughs because he is truth, all good and the winner over evil. And his gaze flies over the lands that he freed and the see the crystals that once were human beings. The crystals that are covered by thick snow and ice. Yes, that is his world. A world of absolute order. A world of good. And he raises his scepter and it changes into the stick of a fool. A fool’s stick with a masked face on it. As it begins to bleed out of the eyeslits T’Nary woke up, breathing heavily and with a massive headache.

Despite being tired, disoriented and woozy, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Brr… I hope that never happens again. Must be an aftereffect of my fight with those eyes…” Lazily she got up and shuffled to the exit and opened the wooden perch a bit. A wave of clean air was her reward, as it was already late in the afternoon. She closed her eyes and leaned against the stone walls of the cave, still relaxing her mind from her nightmare.

She was caught in surprise as someone stepped in front of her, blocking the sun from letting its beams reach her face. Angrily, she opened her eyes and closed them soon after, as the sun was still too bright to look at, even though a person in a body-covering robe stood in front of her. “Are you the acolythe the elder sent?” T’Nary asked wearily. “Yes, that is me. I have been told to prepare you for your pilgrimage tomorrow in the morning.” a clicking voice answered her. “Do you want to come in and sit down?” “I thank you, but no. If you are ready, please follow me so I can show you what lies ahead for you.” T’Nary nodded, closed the perch and followed the acolythe across the settlement. Life was coming back, as most inhabitants woke up and - being a bit hungry - formed hunting groups. Most of them were too busy or “busy” to notice her, but those who did nodded grimly and roughly. She returned the nods with the same attitude. After all, they never understood her or what she believed in.

Finally, they reached the largest cave, the one where the acolythes lived and worked most of the day. And the one where T’Nary had spent so much time, reading up on the books contained in the library. “Hey, where is everyone?” she asked, “it has never been so empty in here in all those years.” “Oh, worry not,” the acolythe replied, they are merely preparing for your preparation. “So this is going to be a big event all in all?” The acolythe could not surpress a faint laughter, “If you want to call it that, sure. From what I know it is the first time they have to prepare someone for the third life. So we all want to avoid errors wherever possible, since the outcome could be fatal, you know?” “Why certainly I do know.” T’Nary snarled back. “I… apologize.” They continued their way in silence, through the library, the gardens in the inner sanctum until they finally reached a large hall that seemed natural. However, the glow on the walls and the perfectly round form of the hall distorted every doubt that this was the product of anything but magic or a miracle. Or both.

The acolythe turned around: “Sit down”. He pointed to a place at the bottom. Following the lead of the six-fingered hand, T’Nary sat down, wondering about what she would have to suffer now.

“Now, before we begin, would you mind telling me what the third life is?” T’Nary was a bit thrown off by this question: “Why, do you not know? How can you even think about preparing me if you don’t know what it is about yourself?” A sigh escaped the robed figure: “I am but a lowly acolythe, new and unprepared. All of those that know are not but busy with preparations. I am to tell you about the dangers of the place you will go to and how to avoid lethal situations, but knowing anything about the ritual itself is beyond me for the time.” “Go figure, heh.” T’Nary stretched and scratched her chin, “well, where do I begin. Do you know the reasons for someone undergoing the ritual?” The acolythe nodded: “A change in one’s life that they cannot decide by themselves, as in this case. I understand it is made if there is a decision that will have to be decided by the goddesses or it would be blasphemy.” “Yes, that is one reason. The other one would be power.” “Power? But I thought it was about gaining enlightenment?” T’Nary grinned, “In some way, yes. In another, no.” “Oh, I understand. You, being the children of Bhyurei, not only change mentally but physically as well, yes?” She nodded: “True. The ritual itself is basically that we give ourselves to Her as sacrifice. She decides if and how we return to this world. While we can take many forms, we have one form that is our true one, the one you see right now. However, during this ritual, she also decides how our true form changes to reflect the change in our life. But it isn’t that easy to accomplish… it is truely one of those “shed as much blood as possible” rituals, so it is only attempted by the most desperate or powerhungry of us.” “But… why?”, the acolythe mumbled confused. “The sacrifice part is to be taken literal. At a place dedicated to Her, we build a small altar, burn four herbal sacrifices - one north, one south, one east and one west - then finally we cut ourselves, lay down on the altar and prepare while our blood drops into two sacred vials. I went after the herbal ingredients this morning and I had those vials from my time before I came here. They are given to us at birth and we keep them close to us, since they are not only used in many rituals but also very practical since they only break when one of us betrays the goddesses.” “I understand now. Thank you for sharing this with me.” “Noematter, Grefx. I owed you that anyway for back then at the lake.” “Please, do not call my by that name anymore. Grefx died together with his pride and sins. I have no new name yet.” After she did not reply for what seemed to be half an hour, the acolythe began to talk again: “So, now to my part. I am to tell you of what you should prepare against.”

“Alright then, lead on.” “As you may know”, he started,“there is only one place where the ritual could be done, the everchanging tree in the depths of the forgotten forest.” “So they told you to tell me all that and didn’t bother to tell you about the ritual itself? Talk about selective information.” He nodded: “It was not my place to ask them. However. As the name implies, people do not go in the forgotten forest anymore. I believe they stopped doing so directly after the Human War centuries ago. I think it was because there are so many agressive animals and with sudden appearance of the Agorim, our ancestors tried the hardest to survive. Going there would have been the least intelligent idea.” “And due to overgrown beards and tradition, noone has been there to date,” she said, looking concentrated at an invisible spot at the wall. “I am afraid so. Anyway, as you wished to go alone, you will need to watch out for the seemingly innocent trees. Many of them are home of large spiders, that eat everything that comes their way. Fortunately the do not weave webs and are rather slow, solely relying on the element of surprise. I think they were regular ingredients in soups at one point.” Both chuckled in unison. “You might also want to watch out for darker patches of grass. It often is room for certain small game, like snakes and centipedes. You know, the larger ones, the size of a foot?” “Yeah, seen a few before. First time I saw a poisonous centipede.” “Indeed, they are quite a surprise the first time, but if you know where to step, you can avoid them. The snakes however…” T’Nary sighed. This would be a long day…

This one something I had meant to get around to reading, and when I finnally did it seemed to had dissapeared. I’d haver searched for it, but…I couldn’t remember how to spell the title. ^^;

You’re quite a good writer…and your english is better than that of a few Americans I know. You could use a bit more spacing in the first chapter, but other than that you’re doing fine.

And its quite an interesting story so far…I would very much like to see where this goes. You can bet I’ll be keeping up with it.

Aw thanks. I will try to write more now, since I try to organize my day.

The sun had already disappeared behind the mountains for a long time when the acolythe formerly known as Grefx finally stopped talking. “Now that I know the flora and fauna of the forgotten forest by name, it is about time you are done”, T’Nary drily commented, “So, what now? I need my sleep after all, or I will surely fall prey to all sorts of evil animals that you were so busy describing.” “That is what you will do now.” “Huh?” “This way please.” Curious, she almost jumped up and followed him deeper into a small hallway. Soon, they reached a small hall where other robed figures were waiting for them. Suspicious, she raised her eyebrow and stared at them. “That isss it. Well done, you can go ressst now.” she heard an all too familiar voice. The acolythes nodded to her and passed T’Nary on their way out.
“Well, what is a priestess like you doing here? I thought this is where the worker bees are?” The priestess raised her left arm in an abrupt motion and shivered. “That doesss not matter. Here isss the placcce where you will ssssleep thisss night.” T’Nary raised the other eyebrow. “Do not look like that. I wishsh you as much sssucccessss asss I can. I did not exxpect you to follow the traditionsss, but it pleassesss me.” “That is… nice.” “Sssssure. By any meanssss, we can not ssstand around and chat too long, for you need to finish your preparationssss”, the cleric guestured towards the door behind her, “It issss a cleaning of body and mind. If you ressst this night, you will be refreshed and twiccce asss ssstrong.” T’Nary shrugged, “Fine, if you say so.”
Staring at the Changer for a few seconds, Serena finally turned around and opened the door. A gust of warm, humid air flew out of the room, as if chased by extinction. Yet, there seemed to be plenty more inside. “Are you sure I am to rest and not to suffocate in there, Serena?” The cleric hissed: “Do not quessstion thisss. Go and ressst. Maybe you will dream sssomething ssspecial.” “I see.” T’Nary entered the small cavern, the door closing behind her. It was amazingly warm and humid inside, even though there was no clear indication of the source. As she stepped in, admiring the walls that emitted a faint blue light, her foot hit something. Irritated, she stared down at the crude metal box, containing a large sheet. With a sigh, already starting to feel tired, she pulled the sheet out of the box, undressed, put her clothing into the box, wrapped herself in a sheet (being careful about pinching her wings), then finally layed down and already drifted away.
The shadows move, finally able to. They were freed by those that cast them before. Now that they are alive, they replay what their owners experienced in their lives. They are more like humans now, standing tall, but casting no shadow of their own. They are shades, shadows, darkness where light once was. And they tell a story.
“Breaking the body, breaking the mind, then reforming it, this is what it all is about. Decide who you are then decide who you want to be. Then break yourself. That is my motto, that is my believe. But you decide to resist, do you not?” the shade asks. “I have always resisted and I will always resist”, the other shade angrily replies. “You are a fool. Always were, always will be,” the first shade laughed, “that is why I am a god now and you are dead.” “You are as dumb as you always have been. Do not think you can escape the ocean. The ocean is everything.” The first shade dissolves, silently. “No one can escape. Never could, never will.” The second shadow turns from pitchblack into blood red. Finally, it looses shape, staining the soil it stands on, turning into a puddle and then a small river. It disappears.
A green bird grows out of the soil, its wings torn apart by an angry man with a windmill standing next to it. “I will show you, you damn thing. You cannot do that to me. DO YOU HEAR ME??” They, too, turn into a blood river and finally disappear.
“My little girl, all grown up and ready to fly away. Make me proud, show them what you are made of.” Father… “We won’t worry if you don’t come back dear. Just make sure you stay alive.” Mother… They are whispers now, over the endless sea. Standing on a cliff, looking down on the ocean, the red ocean, the blood red ocean, where everything began.
Finally, the shades raise again. “I told you that you can’t escape the ocean…,” the second one whispers, “noone can escape, ever…” “I will. You just wait. I will.” “Noone can escape…”
Finally, everything fades away. And he is back, the titan, the giant among men. “I see you are recovering. This will be my last visit to your mind. Too bad I couldn’t destroy it just like I did with so many others before.” he says, his bright face shining, the hair moving in a slight breeze. He’s smiling. Warm and comforting. Then he takes his sword and … sneezes?

Achoo”, T’Nary woke up quite suddenly and unhappily.