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“Rajan’kin,” Gage-jun dropped her voice low to speak with the alajin. “Please stop at the healer’s hut, after you are done speaking with the Respected. I am sure she will have questions and I trust you to do your best.” Rajan’kin nodded and Gage-jun stepped away.
Making her way over his patients. “Griz’tek, Keylan,” she looked down at the quivering bundle of fur in Keylan’s arms. “How are you both doing?”
“I… I do not… know.” Keylan stared at the fox in his arms. “I was not… expecting… this.” As he spoke, Gage-jun put her hand to the side of his throat and released a wave of soothing warmth. Keylan looked up to her gratefully.
“Do we have to take care of him now?” Griz’tek was frowning at the desert fox.
Gage-jun put a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention. Looking him in the eye, “No. You are not required to do anything. You could leave him right here. Right now. I will not be kind though and say that he will be fine. He probably won’t be. His home was taken from him, like it has been for all of us. The one thing he found that thought he could hold onto turned out to be a lie. Now, he is not even in his own body. He knows nothing about how to survive as he is. Could he learn? Possibly. Will he do so in time to survive? I don’t know.”
Griz’tek’s brow furrowed, and he turned back to Keylan. Gingerly he picked up Liu’ye the fox by wrapping his hands around the furred belly and held him before him like a child. Liu’ye was visibly trembling, his ears were limp, and his whole body sagged. “I don’t know if I can forgive him… but I think I can teach him to better.” Griz’tek looked up at Keylan.
The bull man sighed, “Yeah, alright. You are keeping him though. I don’t think I can sleep in the same tent as him.” Keylan looked over his shoulder at his brother, who snorted. “And I am sure Taylon would punt him from the tent first chance he has.”
“Come,” Gage-jun began to move, gesturing for them to follow her. “Let’s get back to the healer’s hut and we can talk more about how to take care of Liu’ye.”
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It had been a long day and it only seemed to get longer. Keylan and Taylon excused themselves before reaching the healer’s hut, with the promise to come running if Keylan had any issues. Griz’tek and Gage-jun had barely settled in when Rosehip arrived. After she heard the tale, she pursed her lips as she looked over the fox. With a sniff, she left to return an hour later with an assortment of food. Together, she and Griz’tek began the process of drawing Liu’ye back into focus and getting him to eat.
Gage-jun left them in one of unaltered side rooms to work with the most likely, traumatized, fox. Now she had the chance to settle down with a cup of tea at the back of the hut. No sooner had she sat and put the cup to her lips than Rajan’kin arrived. Apparently the Requested had only mused at how Asura Salikat had looked remarkably similar to a hero of the Akalahari tribe of several thousand years ago. She had then left Rajan’kin with Daughter Ndya, and the two had talked about the trial and its details. It had been an extraordinary turn of events, and many did not know how to take the situation. Rajan’kin, at the very least, had been able to assure the Daughter that the Asura would not be showing up regularly. That it had done so this time merely for the fact that this was the first crime that had been committed, not only against Kin, but in his name as well.
“Rajan’kin, I know this was not what any of us were expecting.” Gage-jun sipped on her tea, “I mean I was expecting perhaps death or some sort of curse or… I’ll be honest I am not sure what I was expecting but turning him into a fox to learn a lesson was not on my list of possibilities. I suppose it is fair though, in a way.”
She watched as Rajan’kin sipped on their tea thoughtfully. “This one admits to their surprise. During the course of the accusations and things were becoming… heated between the Respected and the Son, this one felt a sense of calm and assurance. The Asura whispered in this one’s ear. This one wasn’t sure if it was true, or perhaps another trick. But…” Rajan’kin hesitated, looking in their tea. “Something about it felt right. This one trusted it, though this one does not fully understand what actually occurred today.”
Gage-jun nodded sagely, “Perhaps you should pray or meditate at the shrine tonight. You can use the one here if you like, even though it is more for wakes. Perhaps you will get some sort of answer?” And it will give me time to think of one.
Rajan’kin nodded, “This one thanks you, but will use the one at home.” The alajin looked to Eshu who was laying down just off to the side of them. “Would…” They hesitated, “Would you like him to stay here, with you?”
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“I…” Gage-jun fell silent and felt a pang of sadness as she watched the sleeping dog. Wait… what if… She closed her eyes. He let his power flow, shifting ever so slightly in her body. She opened her eyes to see Eshu perking up and looking around. His nose was twitching as he stood, sniffing about. With a chuff, he bounded over to her and started sniffing. Then he sat down and looked up at her, his head cocking back and forth in confusion. He gave another chuff.
Gage-jun smiled softly, “Hey Eshu, hey boy.” Suddenly he jumped up, his short tail wagging furiously as he shoved his snout in her face and started sniffing frantically. “There’s a good boy! Good boy Eshu!” She started to pet and hug the dog, giving him pets and skritches along his back. Catching the amused look Rajan’kin gave them both, Gage-jun cleared her throat. “I, uh, changed my scent for him. He can smell… me.”
“This one will leave you two to get acquainted then.” Rajan’kin rose to their feet, bending down to whisper. “He missed you.”
“Thank you.” The alajin gave a subtle nod to Gage-jun’s thanks and left. “Come Eshu, let’s head to bed. Yeah?” She stood and the dog happily trotted along with her as she went to enter the private quarters. “Oh, and Griz’tek.” She stopped to look back at him. He and Rosehip looked up from Liu’ye, who was trying with some difficulty to lap up some water, “You did a good job helping Keylan. You can stay here with Elfric and I. If you do, then I will teach you what I know.” With that she stepped through the divider into his own personal space. It was starting to become more frequent than not, but before her head even hit the pillow he was walking through the canyons of Haven once more.
He once again in his own body, with the same outfit he had created for himself. He marveled at how comfortably it fit him as he made his way through the valley. In the back of his mind, he could feel the far off reaches of the Waste he had created. With a sigh, he put a pin in it. Perhaps he had created the Wastes with out much thought and out of anger, but… though the concept of Hell hadn’t dissuaded everyone from misbehaving perhaps the Wastes could help in that regard a little bit.
Gage was lost in thought as he neared the lake, when a voice stopped him in his tracks. “Excuse me? Are you…the Body?”
Stepping out onto the path before him was a young woman. She had deep, umber skin with a shock of tightly curled, grey-charcoal hair. Her eyes were a light chestnut brown with a broad scar raked through her left eye. The eye itself did not seem to be damaged, or at least she had gotten to a good healer in time to save it. She wore a blue tank top with a worn leather strap wrapped around her torso with a pair of thick, protective pants. In her hands was a finely crafted spear.
“Uh, who?” Screwing his face up in confusion, “And who are you? How… how did you get here?”
She let out a small, frustrated sigh. “I am Kira and I am the Speaker for the She-Who-Sings, the Goddess Siren, Salassara. I am here for… Goddess, she kept saying ‘the Body’ or ‘Kin of the Gods’. I apologize, I am new to this. She sent me on a very long journey to get here to pass along her message.”
Gage stared at her for a few good moments. Long enough that she began to frown, her eyes narrowing at him. “I am Kin.”
Her eyes seemed to glaze over for a brief moment before she focused in on him once more. “You speak the truth. I will see myself out, but first a gift from my Goddess.” She opened her mouth and began to sing. The melody rose and fell in a soothing, resonating vocalization. Gage felt his mind wander from where he stood, though at the back of his mind he could still see where he and the woman stood.
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The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows over the ever-expanding desert. Gage stood at the edge of a newly discovered oasis, the clear water reflecting the first stars of twilight. Eshu, his faithful corgi, padded silently beside him, ever alert to the sounds of the night. The temporary camp set up around its edges, bursting with so many people.
Elfric approached, his steps barely making a sound on the soft sand. "The scouts have returned," he said, his voice carrying a weight of anticipation. "They've found something... extraordinary."
Gage turned as his curiosity was piqued. "What is it?"
Elfric's eyes shone with a mixture of awe and uncertainty. "The edge of the desert.”
Gage felt a surge of hope. "Lead the way," he said, a sense of purpose invigorating his steps.
The elf stopped him. “There is more. They found something else…”
…
As they approached, Ma'tuk hovered closer, its light casting an ethereal glow on the weathered stone. "This place... it hums with power," the Archon whispered, its voice a mere breath on the wind.
Gage stepped through the archway, the air inside cool and still. Ancient runes covered the walls, pulsating with a faint, rhythmic glow. He could feel the resonance of the place, a deep connection to the Breath that he had come to understand as his essence.
"Kin," a voice echoed through the chamber. It was both his own and yet not, a harmonic blend of his identity and the divine essence he embodied.
He turned to Elfric, who watched him with a mix of reverence and friendship. "This is our path," Gage said, his voice resolute. "To rebuild, to unite, and to guide this world into a new era."
Elfric nodded, the determination in his eyes mirroring Gage's own. "Together," he agreed.
As they left the temple, the first light of dawn broke over the horizon, bathing the desert in a golden glow. Gage felt a renewed sense of purpose.