Edda had assaulted a Council member, cutting his tongue off and driving her sword through him. She hadn't dealt a mortal blow, she wanted Councilman Stivo to live in pain. To know what it felt like for once. And after her prayer for vengeance had been answered by her deeds, only then did she realize she'd assaulted a Councilman.

Such an act would warrant a hefty punishment. Nothing short of being disemboweled or beheaded. Instead Councilman Yobra had ordered that she be accompanied by Master Kissit on her mission to the Rankf Sea to wake the Goddess who sleeps at its depths to the aid of the Remu. It was such an odd punishment, and one who hadn't lived in the court would think it so. But she remembered what the Knight Terrac had told her, Master Kissit and Yobra were the ones who sprang the trap to catch the Remu traitor, Stivo. Yobra had placed Kissit by her side to see how she'll act towards him. The Councilman was often loud and argumentative, but his mind was always sharp, a great asset and a lethal weapon.

Master Kissit, the lanky Remu master with a bald pate and mouth swallowed by a thick sandy beard that was a sharp contrast to his copper skin, rode beside her. He wore the blue robes of a Master and by his side was the dagger that marked him as one. Age assailed him, as it did all the Masters. Age, however, did not define his capabilities neither did it handicap him. He rode his horse like he'd been doing so everyday since he first learnt to walk. He was silent, but Edda knew as she rode awkwardly beside him, still unaccustomed to stirrups and the gallop of her horse, that the Master will talk to her and when he did she will let loose all she'd been holding in.

The Rankf Sea was a two day ride from the Remu court, a journey she'd never taken before. Ever since she'd arrived at the Remu court as a child, she knew not from where, she'd been confined within the white walls of the Remu court. She ate, slept and grew within those walls. Learning all that she could so she could better serve the Remu. And not once did they think her visiting the sea would be of service to them.

The settlements around the Remu Court were a dark smudge behind them, a sharp contrast to the tall white court walls. They looked like stains beside the court. The Master rode hard and Edda did her best not to fall off her horse as she kept pace. The terrain shifted, the sand becoming looser and shrubbery dotted their surrounding as they rode past scattered villages whose livelihood depended on the commerce beside the road from the Court to the sea. There were some travelers on the road, most of them laden under goods they ventured to trade, most of the said goods were fish.

They had been forbidden a name for the city flanking the shore by the Binorians. Allowed only to name one part of their nation. And so they named the Remu Court, their ruling house. The city that bordered the Rankf Sea was larger, more populated and was referred to in the same context as the Sea. Binoria's hold on the realm had crippled the boldness of civilizations, robbed them of their identity, and ushered in an era of tyranny. All this ended with Ishar, and soon it will end with the fall of Binoria.

The sun was an orange smudge in the horizon when Master Kissit led his horse out of the road, favoring the wild lands. He expertly maneuvered his horse through the underbrush and loose pockets of white sand and Edda followed in his wake. He chose a depressed patch of ground to dismount and announce that they would set up camp there. Edda watched as the Master moved to pull free the weight of his possessions from his horse's back. Watched as he walked around gathering bits of wood for a fire, not even moving from her saddle. Just watching.

Master Kissit then noticed her eyes on him. He stood straighter and faced her. "Yes, I sacrificed you to catch a traitor." He said. His voice as raspy as she knew it to be, yet still carrying the same level of calm that had guided her from infancy into the adult she now was. She waited for him to say more but he didn't.

"I was so proud, you know." Edda started. "When you called me to the smallest room in the Remu court, and I found Ingah in there, the Black Ghost himself. I thought you were proud of me, your eyes showed as much back then. And it made me really proud of myself. To be recognized as adept in what I've dedicated my life to. I was a good spy and I was proud of myself and for being recognized.".

"Edda—"

"It's Sir Edda to you now." Edda retorted. Master Kissit, swallowed and gave a nod. Then he moved away from her, from his horse. And walked off several paces away, where he continued to gather firewood.

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The fire flickered, playing shadows upon the Master's wrinkled face who sat across from her, the fire between them acted as more than just a border. A rift had formed between a Master and one who was once his student, and the consumption of fuel to feed the flame was a metaphor pertaining the rage that fed the rift. Edda's rage.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Silence was what she offered him. They'd just consumed their share of the night ration, bread and dried meat. Her armor felt heavy to her weary limbs yet Edda made no move to remove it, the weight served as a comfort, to remind her that she ranked above the man who sat across from her. Besides, she'd heard there was a way Knights managed to sleep in their armor, what better night to find out how than tonight?

"You can smell it, you know, the sea." Master Kissit said, poking at the fire with a stick. "It smells like salt, and the air gets more humid and the heat increases because the ocean sits at the lowest altitude." Ever tutoring, this man. So fast to offer knowledge as if it were his birth right to do so. "I know you've never seen the sea, you'll see it tomorrow, the blue upon the horizon, endless and full. Merging with the sky. Giving breath to the fact that there exists powers beyond that which we can fathom, for no man can craft the beauty of infinity but the Gods themselves."

Shut up! She wanted to scream to him to shut his mouth, to give silence that was at least her due, to at least notice that she wished she wasn't in his presence, that the Gods did more than create infinity, they gave humanity the option to shut up when need be. And the need was there. Every word out of his mouth sent her to that cell she shared with Ingah's castrated corpse. And the dagger strapped to her side, cried for the same justice she'd used it to deal a while back.

Seeing her silence, Master Kissit pressed. "Edda, I know asking for your forgiveness isn't my right to do so. But do know that I am terribly sorry, and I did spend each moment since I sent you on that dreadful mission, hoping that Councilman Stivo wasn't the traitor. That you would return."

"Sacrificing me, that's understandable." Edda intoned. "I was a mere graduate of the Remu Court. My name wasn't known, I hadn't acted in a way to bring glory to the Remu. I was a nobody." She balled her gauntlets into fists. "I would have died and nobody would have given a damn, but Ingah." Her face scrunched up with rage. "Ingah was the best weapon the Remu had, he was the Black Ghost! Adept in all forms, a force to reckon with. Why sacrifice him?"

"To catch the traitor." Master Kissit said matter of fact. As if it was so obvious. "If it were someone else the traitor wouldn't have risked outright betrayal."

Edda didn't answer. She sat in silence allowing the back plate of her armor to support her posture. "Edda," Master Kissit continued. "I am sorry."

"You're right." Edda said. "It's not in your place to ask for forgiveness."

"Will you cut off my tongue too?" Kissit asked with a smile. Edda didn't answer. The Master got up, moved some distance away carrying his sleeping roll. Unfurled it and placed himself within. "Goodnight." He called out. Edda didn't answer.

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Edda did not know how long she sat by the fire, but she fed it each time it seemed to be dying. And each time she fed it she reclined on the ground beside it, gazing into the flames. Willing the fire to feed on her rage as it did the wood. During this repetitive gesture between feeding a fire and staring into it, that's when she appeared.

A little Remu girl with large brown eyes fixed in a small heart shaped face, took the place of the Remu Master who'd retired to sleep's embrace. The girl was no more than ten in years, her small legs curled beneath her as she placed herself on the ground and her pudgy arms held a transparent canteen of what seemed to be water. She had on what passed as a small dress made of sea reeds and the green dress pooled around where she sat.

Edda, startled, had the steel of her sword a hand's span from its scabbard. She eyed the girl before realizing the infant was harmless but the oddity of the child being in her presence within the wild lands between Court and sea made her wary of the possibility of more people around her, probably planning an ambush. She eyed the darkness, away from the light of the fire, looking for shifting shapes.

"There's nobody else." The small girl said. She raised the case of water and took a sip, wetting her lips in the process.

"Who are you little girl, are you lost?" Edda asked.

The girl seemed shocked. "Lost? Of course I'm not lost. And I'm not little." The girl yawned. "I'm a big girl. Very big."

Edda was touched by how cute and adorable the girl was. "What is your name?"

"I have many names." The girl answered.

"Which is you're favorite name?" Edda said with a smile. "What does your mommy and daddy call you?" The girl had probably wandered from a nearby village, there were many clustered within the wild lands. She'd have to take the girl home come first light.

"Mommy and Daddy?" The girl looked confused. Blinking furiously as if trying to recall something that was forever lost to her. "I don't have a Daddy and Mommy. I have brothers and sisters though."

"What is the name of your favorite sibling?" Edda asked.

"I like Ovek, he is funny." The girl said. Raising the case of water to her lips and taking a sip. "Meena is mean most of the time, but she's kind sometimes when nobody thinks she can be." The little girl smiled. "And Nyawe, my big sister. She is very beautiful and makes me feel weird inside here." She pointed at where her heart was. "And Nielda, he is an idiot." The girl said with a wave of her hand. "I used to have another sibling. His name was Sin, but sometimes he was a girl like me. She used to play with me and teach me about fire but we don't talk or see each other anymore and I'm not allowed to see her anymore because he isn't part of us and it is my job to make sure he never will be." The little girl pouted, then she frowned. "I have another brother, Locha, he wants everything to die so it's not nice to talk about him."

Edda sat still, her lower jaw trembling. Those names!

"Who are you?" Edda whispered.

The little girl tilted her head. "But I told you, I have many names."

"What do your siblings call you?" Edda asked.

"Me?" The girl pointed at herself. "Drink this first and I'll tell you." She handed Edda the case of water. Edda appeared hesitant. "I promise I will tell you."

Edda, as if in a hypnotic haze, reached out and grabbed the case. Suddenly, she was engulfed in darkness. Water all over her, above her. The pressure driving her deeper, into the depths of the endless salty water all around. She tried to scream but the water entered her mouth, through her throat, burning her lungs. She was dying, she couldn't breath. From all around her a voice sounded, deep, rich, beautiful. "I am the Patron of the innocent." She thrashed her limbs, fighting the pull of the water. "Mother of Leviathans." She was disoriented, she could not tell where up was. Her thrashing reduced in vigor, the energy leaving her limbs. "I am Alietsi, Goddess of Depth." Then there was a stillness and Edda gave herself fully to it.

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