"Tell your goddess she is not welcome here." The god bellowed.

She didn't know which death was better. Trying to escape primordial jaws and talons that would tear her spirit to shreds or to be slowly consumed by a curse. She clenched her eyes shut, trying to return to her body but the shaman's presence smothered her, keeping her from going anywhere. The god lumbered forward, a gleeful rumble in its chest as his eyes blazed hotter than the lava below.

There was a roar, though not from the god. A moment later Enaru appeared between them.

"Mnimar hold!"

The god stopped short, no longer crouched low in anticipation of an assured kill. He reared up, as though to make himself as large as possible.

"Enaru, Prince of Beasts. Have you come to steal my kill?"

"She is mine and I will take her from here."

"She is a wretched thing. A binder. A blackened one. Why do you help those who bind us?"

"She is mine."

Mnimar glared at Enaru. His eyes burned with the intensity of a midday sun. His jaw quivered, teeth clicking together in rapid succession. For a moment Korsha thought the god would attack. Then he turned, rising up so that only his skeletal legs and the lowest set of arms supported him.

"Get out of my sight."

Enaru craned his long neck to her, "Get on."

Korsha did as she was instructed and climbed onto Enaru's back. She hadn't done this since she was little, before she'd learned to use her magic. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his soft fur. The muscles rippled beneath her as he jumped into the air. She closed her eyes and lost herself in their movement.

Sometime later the rhythm of the muscle slowed and then stilled. She opened her eyes and saw she was surrounded by snow coated trees. Without having to be told, she dropped to the ground.

"What was that place?"

"A sacred place. One that you should not have gone near."

"Why?"

A low rumble filled Enaru’s chest. His mouth opened and he released a breath as he swung his head away from her. Sitting upon his haunches, he stared out into the distance.

"Because you have been corrupted. Taken from the old paths."

A fresh tinge of hot anger blossomed within her, the bitter taste of its fruit hardening her face. Once more Azaelah's corruption kept her at arm's length. Made her an outsider. She closed her eyes and tried to push the feelings away. She wasn't here for herself. She was loyal at heart. Why couldn’t anyone just accept her for that instead of her blood?

"Why have you come?"

The question was cold and it stung. When had she ever needed a reason to come to Keshkigal and see Enaru? In fact he'd often been the one to call out to her.

"I need to find my master's spirit."

"How did you end up in..." Enaru's mouth snapped shut as though he were stopping himself from saying something he shouldn't, "there."

"I use my mothes."

She called upon them, showing them to Enaru. If the Prince of Beasts was impressed, he didn’t show it. Instead he shook his head.

“The direct path isn't always the safest."

Korsha blinked. Her mouth fell open as she realized all these years he'd been guiding her around sacred sites. Keeping her away from them. She'd always assumed that he just understood this world on an intrinsic level that she would never grasp. Why wouldn't he? We can't be trusted. He's just trying to protect others from us. Korsha turned away, closed her eyes and struggled to sooth her fraying nerves. If this journey had taught her anything it was that she needed Enaru. His guidance here was invaluable.

"Can you help me?" Korsha said, hating the tremble in her voice.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Do you intend to bind him?"

"Goddess, no!"

Off in the distance there was a faint rumble of thunder. Enaru turned to face her. He stared into her eyes and then nodded.

"Follow."

Without another word, she did as she was told. For what felt like hours they traveled. The tundra gave way, bleeding into a rocky field. There was the faint clatter of ocean waves in the distance. Soon the rocks merged, became one and turned into a vast plateau of yellow rock. And there in the middle of the plateau was an old imperial command center. The structure was all hard lines, set up in a pentagon. Portions of it had been reformed, old darker metal plates slapped over shiny new ones. Though there were some areas that had been fixed, gaps filled with shadows. She approached the doors but stopped as the air shimmered before her. Her master's daemon appeared in a reddish mist. Its narrowed eyes formed first before the rest of its body manifested.

"What are you doing here, little binder! Finally come to betray your master?"

"I'm here to help. I need inside."

"No."

All the anxiety and frustration welled up within Korsha and released itself in a scream as she rushed forward. She pulled her arm back to strike the daemon. It made several gestures with his hands and she saw a geometric symbol appear before it. A second later her fist was slamming against an invisible barrier.

"You will leave this place. There's nothing in here you need to know about."

"Let me save him," she said slamming her hands against the barrier, the anger that had tinged her voice before bled out as she whispered, "I can't fail him again."

The demon's head snapped to the side, tilting as though it were listening to something. The silence that hung in the air was paper thin. The demon nodded.

"Seek the flame maker."

Korsha clenched her teeth. "I already did that but I lost her trail."

The daemon gave her a smug grin, one that showed the peaks of needle-like teeth. It knew something she didn’t.

"You're not the only one it's connected to."

Korsha punched the barrier again. She'd been aiming for the demon's face. How dare he reduce Deidra that way. The daemon waggled a finger at her. Korsha huffed and considered what the daemon had said. She shook her head.

"Tal doesn't know anything else or he would've told me."

The daemon cackled. A sickly high pitched sound like ice crackling combined with a desperate wheeze. It made Korsha cringe.

"So quick to trust. You think he's just going to give you all his knowledge?"

"He was holding back?"

"Acting according to his own plans. Now be a good and faithful servant and run along." The daemon said, waving a clawed hand at her dismissively.

Korsha struck the barrier one more time and stormed away. Enaru padded up alongside her. They walked until they were no longer on the plateau. Somehow they were now in a forest filled with thick redwoods that dominated the landscape with their hulking forms. Korsha trudged over to a fallen tree, one that was nearly three times her own height. She slumped against it. She slid down, her horns scraping across its rough bark as she sat down. She leaned back, letting it bear her weight.

"I do not trust that thing."

Korsha cocked an eyebrow.

"It is not from this place. I wasn't sure before but then I saw it create that barrier." Enaru shuttered, "That symbol was… unnatural."

"It doesn't matter where it comes from, only that it's my master's guardian."

"It's manipulating you."

Korsha shrugged. Life was all about manipulation. People always gave it a negative connotation but sometimes manipulation was good. Convincing another person to do the right thing was manipulation. Manipulating and being manipulated was just a part of life.

"Thank you for coming."

"I will honor our sacred oaths so long as you do."

"Oaths?"

Korsha didn't remember making any oaths with Enaru when she'd met him. He had just bounded up to her and greeted her like an old friend. Perhaps these were oaths made in the future, a time when she would no longer have to bind people. Did that mean that her master's plans would come to fruition? Did that indicate that he would survive this? That she would survive this? It could just as likely mean that he dies and we’re cast aside, sent elsewhere to be useful to the goddess and her Dominion.

She dropped her head. Shaking it from side to side. A groan escaped her lips as she considered the weirdness of spirits and their conceptions of time. It was something for another to consider. For now she had to contact Tal. Hopefully he’d be willing to share his knowledge with her. He’d seemed willing to extend his hand last time, why wouldn’t he do it again?

She pushed herself off the log. There is nothing else for her to do here. It was time to go back.

"Hold." Enaru said, though his inflection was soft and pleading.

Korsha took a deep breath. She knew what was coming. It was best if she just headed it off now.

"Look, I get it. You don't like some of the things I have to do. Neither do I but it's for the greater good."

"How do you know they are good or that they are greater?"

Korsha rolled her eyes, "Because my master says so."

"What does your heart tell you?"

"My heart?" Korsha scoffed. What was she a child? "My heart was given to me by Azaelah. A goddess who betrayed her own mother. She led countless mages to commit atrocities all across the stars. She stained the imperial interior in a flood of crimson. That's who knit me together in my mother's womb. Her essence is woven into me. I was born corrupted. Evil. Malevolence is in my blood. How could I ever hope to understand the difference between good and evil? The best that I can do is serve."

"After everything, you can't believe that."

"After everything, it's the only thing I can believe."

With that, Korsha turned and ascended back into her body.