Eneri couldn’t place a finger on how much time passed in a void of nothingness as slowly, she felt a gentle rocking motion. Waters played a soft melody to her ears as a serene whistle mixed with a soothing humming as if they were the wind, and filled her ears with a gentle song…
She knew she was dead. Be it at the blade that split her skull, or the creeping chill of the Hoarfrost a moment later when her soul cracked. Enrei didn’t loathe it happening, there wasn’t a point… Yet, as time went by in this endless void, she felt herself dwell.
The peaceful, star filled night was shattered. “Why?”
Mother, Miyo and Iyomi were dead, or captured by those monsters. “Why?”
Eneri would never get a chance to see them rise and blossom as people, as legends. “Why?”
A torrent of other statements was given, one ringing out above them.
Because I’m weak. “Why?”
In this ocean of void far from the Grace of Nirvana and the majesty of Heaven’s peaks, it’s all she could do to level the unfathomable… Then, a dim blue light flickered in existence like a lantern lit in the dark.
Naturally, she’s drawn toward it but couldn’t move as if she were a planet orbiting a warmthless, lightless sun. Several more flickered and roared.
Blue’s that shined with frost, whites that shined. Greens sprouted grasses and flowers. Red’s, and oranges cindered and smoked into nothing. Even a Radiant gold brought the choked glory of the heavens. Light and darkness, even pure nothingness found a unique form in this void.
Most were minute like that first blue flame, still immensely more impressive than herself. Some possessed tails like comets, swimming like fish in the ephemeral sea.
Few appeared as giant clouds containing their own sparks orbiting their center, pushing and pulling yet never quite making it.
A scant few after those blazed like stars, and while everything pushed and pulled, they possessed the greatest authority… In paradox to the motion, everything remained still. Near yet far, like the luminance of distant stars. But they lacked the warmth, and the light of them, their true majesty contained to a splendorous mockery.
There’s a seamless tremor and a frigid breath, making Enrei gasp, every hair on her body stood as her now beating heart drummed wildly along with the wind. From the reflectionless ocean around her, the shadows of things that once were formed shapes.
The boat waved with serene tranquility through the river, it’s currents mimicking the birdsong of the wind. With a slight change of tune, the distant stars became encased within lanterns hanging from the endless nothingness they once decorated. Statues of man and beast alike spot the shore, distant echoes of the past speaking between their stone lips.
None save her kept a mortal form in this shapeless realm…
“My, oh my…”
A soft-spoken regality tuned, neither interrupting, nor overpowering the wind's song, rather joining like another instrument to a grand orchestra fit for those above the Kings of Kings.
“You sure are intriguing…”
With newfound sight, Enrei blinked. The calm waters showed reflections, yet nothing reflects off them. The instinctive dread she felt moments or eons ago replaced with a sense of tranquility.
She remained motionless, as if caught within the sight of a great beast. As if moving would be a death sentence. Ahead, a stone Omega curled with vines and glimmering birds form a gateway to the mouth of this river. A stone head of a forbidden and extinct beast, a dragon, waited to swallow her whole whilst four of its kin watched.
It also formed a perch to the herald of the winds choir.
A mix of avian and human features, her elegant and broad wingspan dwarfs even the night sky. Her plumage is lined with edges of blue and purple, forming the border of her cosmic cape where stray dots and swirls ubiquitous in size and color decorate pitch black feathers.
With each breath the figure took, they mixed into the sole light of this place as prismatic rainbows drowning beneath shattered moonbeams.
Though she hesitated, the Sentinel met her sight. Two dispassionate halos burned with the ferocity of the sun, whilst caught between the two horns framing her head is the full moon. Together, they provided illumination, allowing Enrei to discern the grayish blue features and the soft smile she wore.
The boat remained in motion, yet it never got nearer to the end. Enrei trembles beneath her sight, even her pathetic core desperately trying to keep together flared as she mustered all the might, all the courage she could only to stutter out.
“You— Are you…”
“The Great Beast at the Hoarfrosts Heart?” She finished Eneri’s sentence, “Hardly, though I imagine it’s hide would make a good cloak.”
Great Beast? The legends all across the frontier spoke of a Cultivator who reached the peak, yet denied Heavens call and sought refuge at the edge of the world. Yet, every cell within her body knew the figure spoke the truth.
“W–whowha..my— Where am I?” Eneri stammered out, “I–Is my family here?”
“This is the Sanzu, the Styx or simply the Crosstraits of Destiny.” Folding her wings inward, she gently bowed her head, “I, the Boatswain of Destiny.”
“Not Nirvana not… Heaven?”
“Nirvana hadn’t noticed you; Heaven refused your call as they do many.” Destiny solemnly confirmed.
Eneri’s heart skipped a beat, her stomach twisting in knots.
“Is… Is my family here?”
Greedy with hope, Enrei glanced about until she met the Boatswains sight.
“Nor are they dwelling within Nirvana.”
Enrei’s hope shattered, yet a relieved sigh escaped her lips and relaxed her ephemeral shoulders.
“I…I’ll never see them again…”
She stated her heart clenching as if it were waiting to detonate.
“Perhaps.” The Boatswain started, “However, I can make you an offer if you so choose.”
Her words were like a forbidden fruit, a radiant campfire found within the Hoarfrost.
“I can offer you another chance. In exchange, I merely wish to reap a portion of the souls you take in your time.”
“A—Absolutely not!” Eneri replied quickly, her lip twitching; she wanted to… Wanted to see them again, to laugh with them and watch them grow but if… “I–I can’t murder in your name.”
“Hm?” The Boatswain raised a feathered brow, “I’ve not asked you to commit murder, nor hunt for anyone, let alone a finality none can escape.”
There’s a pause, and the Boatswain seized it.
“I understand the burning within your soul. The contempt you feel toward those who committed this atrocity.”
Another pause.
“The hatred toward those that slaughtered everyone you know, toward the ones that make your family walk toward a fate far from Heaven's light and Nirvana’s grace.”
Eneri raised a worried brow.
“What burns within you is as much a voracious flame, as it is a pernicious poison.”
The Boatswain's dispassionate tone slowly shifts to one of somber.
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“One that digs graves, yet one so commonplace in a realm this cruel… Revenge.
My gift commands you not to walk that path, it merely gives you the power to act.”
Eneri chewed her lip; the harmonized voice twitched her ears.
“Wh…What do you gain from this?” The demihuman nervously swallowed, “What… What if I deny this offer?”
A soft chuckle escapes the Boatswain, her lips curl into a soft smile.
“Child, I am the beginning of the end, and the end of the beginning.”
She calmly stated her tone a mix of somber and teaching.
“From this, I gain nothing save a prospect to sing too, and a chance to watch good glimmer in a realm this foul.”
The Boatswain continues.
“Soul’s waking in Heaven or Nirvana. Every being toiling on the realm, the tales you share, and the art you paint… The earth you walk, and the air you breathe… Even the very stars and galaxies decorating your sky will come to me in time…”
Every dot decorating her plumage flared, carrying the breath of galaxies near and far.
“For it is all I have, Until I too take it.”
There’s a pause, letting Eneri sink it in.
“Should you deny my offer, I will sing to a deaf audience once more… Though, it is against my nature to hold grudges, know, you will pass from here and rejoin the Eternal Well. To be reborn here, or a better realm.”
“Should you accept, then I will grant you the power of Vitality. Whether you choose to use it as a blade, or enjoy your newfound life is your path to choose, I will only give you the shoes to walk them.”
On the verge of popping, Enrei’s heart finally rested from endless drumming. If she didn’t need to harm innocents, if she could keep her morals and rescue her siblings, her mother then… It’d all be worth it; they could live happily ever after far from the frigidness of the North.
“I—” Eneri breathed, nearly choking on her words. “I accept… Could– Would you tell me where they are?”
“You are a good person at heart, for that… I must apologize.” Her wings folded inward, nearly shrouding the realm in an endless night. “I can offer guidance where you see fit to ask, but I cannot paint the path you walk.”
Her wings unfold, and light graced the realm once more.
Eneri squints from her radiance, “I–I understand.” She chokes out.
Boatswain’s talon’s reach into the abyssal sky, plucking a bright and burning bird. Brought toward Eneri, she places it in her palm. The flame neither warms, nor burns her hand as she looked to it.
“A phoenix which will never fly again.”
The Boatswain informed.
“You will be its wings.”
Eneri stared at the phoenix which embodied fire itself. Instinct drove her to make a fist, feeling the flame flow through her veins. Steeling herself, she spoke.
“I’m ready…”
“It was nice chatting with you, Eneri.” Boatswain spoke earnestly, “I hope to watch you grow, and prosper.”
The realm dimmed darker than ever; shadows recede into the void leaving the Boatswains cosmic plumage to be the final thing within the River of Destiny. Slowly folding her wings, those too fade from existence, leaving only the waning moon caught between her horns.
When she blinked, all went dark.
Enrei gasped for air, tasting the chilly ash scented Hoarfrost which failed to tingle her skin, her thrumming heart brought back to life exploded like fireworks within her ears as her scarlet eye’s shot wide open, obscured by black hair.
Consumed by panic, she frantically scanned her surroundings and found herself thankful for an empty stomach. All beside her in this pit, are bodies of her fellow villagers and slain barbarians discarded without dignity and stripped of valuables.
Enrei found herself lucky, she may lack Royan, but her bracelet is present on her frigid skin; even her black, bloodstained clothes remain. Adrenaline pumped; For the first time in her life she's thankful for the stygian frost, for none of the corpses truly rotted... Captured moments after their death.
Thawing from the ice that hugged her like a frog, she began an ascent to the surface… Ignoring the faces of her Kinsmen to the best of her ability, pausing only when she heard voices.
“Can’t believe they put up a fight that big.” A thick accented voice spoke, “Even with our new toys we lost a dozen.”
A hark laugh returned to him answering with indifference.
“Twenty-three ya’ mean… Ain’t a big loss, sides, means more loot for us an’ culls the weak.”
“Ain’t that the truth…” He lingered for a moment, “With Brynhile bringin’ those Demihumans back’ta Shanyang… Ya’ think Aryen’s gonna make his move ‘gainst the boss?”
Shanyang… Shanyang… Where has she heard that before?
“Brother.” There’s a moment of silence, “Don’t mess with his flock. Keep yer’ head down less you want to lose it.”
Radiant beams of light glint off the back of their armor, their weapons do so brightly… Possessing a greater Qi.
“Ya’ don’t keep in charge of the Asarge for this long an’ live by bein’ easy to topple, his daughter may be brains an’ brawn but he’s nothin’ but latter.” His brow furrowed, “ ‘Specially with that blade… An if he’s gettin to Nebula… Good riddance to’em all.”
A moment of silence shatters by the howling of the Hoarfrost.
“Man, I hate corpse pit duty.” The younger exclaimed, “We slaughtered’em already by the time they rise again we’ll be long outta’ere.” He shook his head, “I’m goin’ta grab a pint. You want one?”
“Aye,” The older barbarian chuckles, “Anything ta’ keep this cold at bay.”
Once the barbarian went away, Enrei ascended the steep ledge. Years of training and practice paid off along the rough, narrow slopes of the mass grave.
The back of a man… A monster in the shape of one that razed her village… And Eneri is left with a choice. She could run from Snowhaven, and into the wilderness. But then what? She doesn’t have Royan, she has no food, she has nothing…
Adrenaline boiled her veins; in the split moment she didn’t argue for the other side. Each second she did would’ve been wasted. Deftly, she reached to the glinting dagger hanging from the barbarian's belt. Slinking it out easily, the monster too busy humming and staring into nothingness to notice his curved blade leaving his armaments.
The Qi dense metal shook in her sweaty hands, Enrei took a moment to get used to the powerful feeling within it. By no means is it particularly strong, if anything it may’ve been forged for the end of the Qi Realm yet… It possessed more Qi within it then she’s ever gathered in her life.
She relief on a technique she used against a Galazard once when those pack beasts crept from the wilds, and she ran out of arrows. Her free hand grappled his head, shoving the blade through his throat with a nasty slicing sound, and a hammering crack.
Enrei did it twice, then flipped the blade and stabbed it into his chest, sinking through the metal like wood and flesh like paper, when the hilt met the superior Qi shattered his ribs. She rolled with his corpse into the pit, her breathing heavy as she squeezed the blade.
Taking a moment to regain composure, she cleaned the blood from the blade. The beasts may be different, but this is a hunt. She couldn’t be thrown off for a moment, lest she wished to become prey.
Eneri grabbed the silvery sword the man had with him, noticing a peculiarity hovering above his corpse. A small, negligible flame called out to her. It didn’t belong to any fire she knew, rather, the near colorless make constantly swirled around the center like a storm, giving it a translucent, if not slightly opaque appearance.
Drawn in, she looked past his freezing face and seized the flame. It shrank, fitting the center of her palm, blowing a gentle gust up her sleeve. Squeezing it, the odd flame disappeared.
‘Weird’, The rabbit thought and shrugged. It filled her with a sense of ill placed pride. She crawled out of the pit. When hunting a Galazard, the hunt isn’t over till the pack is dead, or scattered.
‘His companion is coming back soon…’ Enrei glanced around her surrounding, the footsteps cut through Anarei’s house. The two-story building at the forefront of town was once the stay place of merchants in spring, but now, it is nothing but a half-smoldered husk.
Eneri nestled in the shadows by the door, where a snow flower bed grew.
A minute passes.
“Bjorn, I got our drinks!”
The barbarian called from within the house, his cheeks already a shade of red as he sipped his stout. Before he descended the final step, a blade severed his neck and shattered his ribs.
Eneri collected the wind flame, noting it’s smaller size and brighter glamor. She hid the body in the flower bed, and made her presence low… Following the shade and shrubbery to her home.
The other bodies gone; Evrin remained a stark reminder to the battle fought here. His body staked on the bone like a grim scarecrow stripped of dignity.
Eneri nervously swallowed, creeping through the ajar door. The small table they dined on lay in splinters, blood stained the room, her stomach forming a knot. There’s more blood than she could have possibly bled.
Tracing a finger on the wall, she hoped to find a clue, a hint to where they went. Hearing a clink from the bedroom, her breathing quickened, and adrenaline pumped with renewed vigor. Desperately, she grasped the slim strand that they had somehow escaped…
Greeting Eneri is a barbarian equaling her in age. He threw a plain Royan back into the room, muttering ‘Toothpick’; around him is one of Miyo’s gutted plushies, stuffing spread across the floor like guts.
He stood and turned, petrifying the moment his bright blue eyes filled with fear and met her piercing scarlets. The familiar look is often shared among birds and rats before the end. Enrei froze too, for the first time since she woke, her sight met with another human and her adrenaline began to pump.
Her conflict ended when his hand twitched toward his blade, and the first decibel left his throat.
“De–”
In desperation, the barbarian raised his sword and attempted to yell.
Eneri severed his hand with the silvery blade of his comrade, his word with her hand. She grabbed him by the throat with the ferocity of a beast, making the wood buckle. In a split moment, the curved dagger cut through air and flesh alike. Again. And again.
These monsters slaughtered everyone she knew. Took her family, and the other demihumans of Snowhaven hostage. They looted her home, and when they met, they stared her in the eye like she was senseless beast. They even begged for mercy and when she considered giving it… They dared to attack her.
If they wanted to live by the law of the strong, then they could die by it. Die by her without mercy. Enrei’s arms and legs trembled with rage, veins popped from her head as her tangent ended with a sickening thud.
In her rage, Eneri savaged her way through his neck, the body lay lifeless on the freshly singed bedding. His disembodied head held in her hand like a ball, the residual warmth still caught in the hut allowing his blood to spill like slurry.
Pausing, she stumbled back as the head coaxed from her hand and rolled along the floor… Next to go is her footing, as her stomach twisted and tied into knots. Desperately, she crawled backward until she hit a wall, not taking an eye off the scene she caused whilst heaving like she’d just drowned.
Enrei hunted Boars, Galazards and the small game within the Taiga. Never once did she claim a man's life until now, in a fit of rage she beheaded him. Someone who’d been born into this life… And in the cruel, twisted moment… She felt… She felt pride, and relief. The very same she felt when she took the life of a beast.
Eneri took deep breaths, staring at the icy blue flame freezing the vapor above him and Royan. Her ears twitched, in the approaching distance she heard heavy footsteps and voices calling like animals.
“ Zarn said he’s checking this hut for scraps.” The first spoke, “Chief’s close to ascending, and if Aryen’s as bold as he says… We can gutt'em both and take the Fang for ourselves.”
“Any minute now…” A second spoke as they neared her hut. “And we’ll take their lives, start a clan without’em.”
Eneri listened to the group long enough to be reminded. These weren’t people she was dealing with.
They're savages who’ve done this before, who saw their kin gaining power and sought to slit their throat.
They knew nothing of family, nor companionship or compassion. Even with intelligence to do more, they sought only to further themselves with tides of blood left in their wake…
Raising to her feet, Eneri kept a blank look whilst she took hold of Royan which sported it’s horns the moment her hand touched it, and the flame above ‘Zarn’ which tingles her digits like frostbite.
These were monsters who understood their malice. Monsters that preyed on the weak, the innocent…
Enrei’s eyes lit with a smoldering fire as she drew an arrow aimed out the door, the tip of her arrow brimming with Qi.
As the sole remaining Hoarfrost Sentinel of Snowhaven…
Even if the barbarians cloaked themselves in human skin, even if Snowhaven is just a smoldering ember... It is her sole duty to slaughter them like the monsters they are.