"There is not love of life without despair about life."

― Albert Camus, Lyrical and Critical Essays

"Ahahahaha!" Kalina cackled as she dropped several heavy bricks through the air.

Mara winced as they crashed onto the heads of several guardsmen. The patrol had been extorting a local shop keep and Kalina's response had been an immediate attack.

"Hey! You can't..." The last guard stared up in confusion, his face greeted by the falling backside of Ooulin's sturdy form. The turtle struck him, square between the eyes, and he dropped to the ground.

"Look Mara, we've caught our first bad guys!" Kalinian pumped her fists as she darted back and forth through the air. "Let's strip them and take all their gold!"

"We can't rob the guards..." Mara sighed as she walked over and righted poor Ooulin. "At best we can report them to the watch commander." The little turtle crooned his thanks and scuttled into the safety of her hands.

"That's booooring!" Kalina pulled her cheeks down as she rolled her eyes upwards. "Just leave them here, let's go!!!"

"Wait..." Mara stood, surrounded by dazed and bleeding guards, as Kalina darted away. One dragon-kin reached out to grab Mara's shoulder and she promptly knocked him out with a swift chop to the head.

"Hold up Kalina, wait for me!"

Mara lept over the crowd after the miniature goddess, a smile on her face. This is fun, but... Everywhere Kalina went, she created an explosion of chaos. They'd thwarted a dozen would-be muggings and other small crimes. Kalina would bash them over the head and then vanish. If Mara was too slow, she would end up dealing with the aftermath.

"I haven't played around like this in a decade..."

Mara's smile widened into a sharp-toothed grin as she bounded after the speedy pixy. This is what she loved. Helping those who needed it as she punished the wicked. I never wanted to be in charge of the big picture... It was in moments like this that she found her joy.

"That's why you're so boring, little cat." Kalina laughed. "I play every day, that's why I'm so awesome!" She spun in a loop around Mara's head and plucked at the cat-kin's ears. "I do what I want, when I want!"

"Stop that!" Mara swatted the woman away and smoothed her ear-tips. "You know I don't have time to play around..." Her smile faltered and her eyes clouded over. "Grandmaster Ooulin is counting on me."

"Forget about that stupid turtle!" Kalina shook her fist at baby Ooulin, who hid away in his shell. "He put a lot of pressure on you, little cat." Kalina hovered in front of Mara's face, a mischievous look on her face as she poked the cat-kin on the nose. "But he did it because he knows your heart."

"My heart..." Mara's frown deepened, a valley, covered by a noisy haze. "There isn't anything special about my heart."

"Wrong!" Kalina's hand snaked out and seized a handful of the hairs on her nose. "You're a good person, even after you've cultivated to the peak of Martial Master." She tugged, and Mara flinched, tears in the corners of her eyes as Kalina tested the strength of her roots.

"I..."

"No! You are special, little cat."

Kalina released her grip and settled onto Ooulin's back. Her face was serious as she looked into Mara's eyes.

"You have never taken an innocent life, and you've lived true to every standard of the guild."

"Lots of people do tha..."

"On the outside, sure. But you're different, little cat."

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Ooulin's head reappeared and nodded his agreement. Mara's words choked in her throat, and new tears appeared in her eyes, unrelated to the itching in her nose.

"You're not wearing a mask." Kalina continued. "You are genuine in your faith, your belief in the tenets of the Knights of the World." She nodded and patted little Ooulin's forehead. "The stinky turtle has that same kind of faith in you." Kalina gave Mara a wide grin that filled her eyes. "He believes, and so do I."

"I'm not..."

"Enough of that!" Kalina said, her tone sharp. "You haven't even begun your journey, it's not the time to be filled with doubt." She held up a small fist and plunged it into her palm. "No one is perfect, little cat, even Oouin and I failed to accomplish our goals." She scratched the turtle's neck skin, a fondness etched onto her face. "We lived for thousands of years, yet our work is unfinished."

"But Grandmaster Ooulin founded the guild, and you became the Goddess of the Sea!" Mara cast Kalina a doubtful look. "You've done more than anyone I know, saved and nurtured countless lives..."

"And in the end, I sacrificed half of everything I'd built," Kalin's voice was soft, yet it filled Mara's ears. "My own life and the lives of my children, burnt on the pyre of my own foolish beliefs."

"You did what you had to to defeat that... man."

"No," Kalina said as her head shook back and forth. "I chose this path, selfishly perhaps, because this new self of mine will have a chance that I never dreamed of."

Kalina rose back into the air and gazed into the sky. She was silent for some time, and Mara's focus drifted. A small group of children made their way down the street. Led by an older pair, these young beastfolk carried small trinkets and flowers in hand. They offered them to the people as they traveled, gaining a small copper coin or two as they went.

A small bear-kin boy, no older than five, walked up to Mara. He clutched a bundle of wildflowers in his hand, and he had no fear as he smiled up at her.

"Hello, pretty lady! Would you like a flower?"

The boy's grin held a few gaps, where his teeth had yet to come in, and his clothes were threadbare. But he's well-washed, and looks well fed... It was rare for a group of orphans to look so... hearty, even in the capital.

"Ok, how much are they?" Mara asked as she returned a smile of her own. "I'll take one for me, and one for my friend." She waved at Kalina, who still hovered above.

"Oh, they don't cost anything!" The boy said, pride clear in his tone. "We accept donations to the orphanage, but even if you can't afford to, you can still have a flower!" He handed Mara two, vivid blue blossoms. They had bands of purple and a navy center, capped with a yellow stamen.

"Alright then," Mara reached into her pouch and drew out a pair of golden coins. "One for each!" She tossed the gold into the boy's hand, and brought the flowers to her nose. They were rich and heady, a taste of earth and forest lome.

The boy fumbled with the palm-sized currency, his eyes like dinner plates. After they were couched in hand, he turned back to Mara and bowed.

"Thank you miss!" His face was serious as he looked up at her. "Here, have some more!"

He shoved half of his burden into her arms and pranced back to his group. He clutched his prize and crowed, the other children sounding off in disbelief.

Mara paid them no mind. She breathed deep and closed her eyes. These flowers are strange. They reminded her of Ooulin's drink. A subtle blend of home and happiness that she held in her lungs.

"Remember Mara, everyone is important."

Dad... Mara furrowed her brow. She'd heard his voice, a memory from long ago.

"We all have dreams, and it's a knight's job to keep those dreams safe."

"But... what is my dream?" Mara inhaled once more, her face buried in the large bouquet. "I've always followed your path, without question." She asked the ghost of her mind, her voice tight. "What do I want?"

"Speak truth when you stand against the grips of fear."

"Stand true when you speak for the rights of others," Mara answered, the words of the oath, the words of her life.

"Take nothing and give everything, receive the gifts of life and show them to the world." Her father said, as clear in her ears as it had been, all those years ago.

"Walk into the face of the world, and leave it greater with every step." Mara smiled and turned to face the sky. The horizon filled with clouds, and lightning rushed through the air, but did not touch the ground.

"This is the path," Her father's voice whispered, carried on the wind, and she spoke with him. "This is the truth, and all who follow it are my clan."

The skies darkened. The storm had arrived without a sound. It hovered above, the hands of a wrathful god that aimed at the world. The lightning played through the clouds, a serpent's nest of blue forks that coiled, round and round.

"I want to be a protector of dreams," Mara said as she gazed into the maelstrom. "I want to be a Knight of the World and live true!"

"Mara!" Kalina cried as she spun around, woken from her stupor by the eerie sky. "You're about to break through!" She danced, agitated, in front of Mara's nose. "Run to the outskirts of the city, quickly!" The little goddess shoved against Mara's back, insistent that she move.

"Breakthrough?" Mara's face paled. "But, I thought the tribulation was supposed to be small..." This was a heaven-defying show of force. That lightning held enough power to supercharge the air. The static covered her and raised her fur into uncomfortable tufts.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Kalina huffed, hands pressed against Mara. "The Nirvana Tribulation is a small one, but..." The small goddess glanced up at the storm. "This is a bit larger than normal."

Mara finally reacted. She leapt up, away from the crowded streets and over the marble buildings. Kalina clung to her shoulder, one hand pointed ahead.

"There! It's Rafe and Ven!"

Mara glanced to the side and found the halfling. He charged, full steam, across the sky. Ven dangled behind him, connected by the hair to Rafe's tiny fist.

The quiet broke, and wind raged around them. Thunder boomed, although the storm still held the lightning close. Coiled rivers of electric might danced and surged. They joined together, and with a flash that split the world, a thunderous blue serpent descended from the clouds.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Rafe hollered over the wind, Ven raised in his hands like a mighty flail. The halfling whipped Vendak around, faster than Mara's eye could follow, and chucked him into the lightning's path.

"VEN!" Mara cried. She twisted in the air and followed the shadowy man's flight.

The electric snake crashed into Ven's limp form and exploded. Mara stepped forward, hand extended blind, as she flailed toward Vendak. She made a single step. Then the scattered bolts of light caught her up and burned into her heart. A river of electric fire that sought to ruin her and turned the world to white.