Nupian carefully waded the snow-covered vines and branches to the side. Her furred attire shook whenever bits of snow and dew fell on her, dampening her clothes. She moved through the dense forest, her eyes darting for the occasional patrols and wild animals.

She encountered nothing special on her journey to her secret base. The patrolling warriors were slacking, and the nearby forests were devoid of dangerous Wild Beasts. Only inconspicuous animals lived in this area.

After making her way through a particularly overgrown and slanted hill, Nupian finally reached a cosy grass roof, where a heating stone rested at the centre, melting away the snows, keeping the flowers and bushes alive. The surrounding trees receded to give space to this open space, permitting a small number of seats for the fortunate guests who stumbled upon this open-air theatre.

While smiling, Nupian lay on her back, took out a small leafy package, and unwrapped the fruits and dried meats. She nibbled on the jerky as her thoughts wandered, tracing the silhouettes of the stars so far above that their radiance flickered whenever she shifted.

Throughout this vast world, only the sky could transcend the horizon. Only its habitants, the stars and galaxies and other mythical phenomena, may remain eternal, monumental. No matter where one was, the sky would be there, overlooking, enduring.

What was the view like, higher than the world, grander than the horizon?

The sound of nimble footsteps broke Nupian’s train of thought. She kept smiling, kept drawing with her gaze the constellations.

“You’re late, as always,” she said. “You can’t blame me for not waiting.”

A lady in a dark green cloak climbed up the hill. She whisked off the remnant snow and dirt on her before she came to stand beside her lying friend, who held a piece of bitten jerky in one hand and supported her head with another.

“You’re blocking my view, Aconite.” Nupian shifted her posture. “Getting back at me this way is unfair.”

“Who would be as petty as you? I merely wanted to see your face.”

“Are you jealous?”

Aconite had a soft pause. Her best friend, her childhood friend, did not have any heavy responsibility. Her beauty raised morale, and her praises rang charmingly for her peers. Her wild disposition escaped reproach and restriction. She was free, a wild rose worthy of the world.

“Unlike yours, my home has multiple Hunters guarding it.” Aconite sat beside her friend and took a piece of honey-covered biscuit from her friend’s bag. “And I do not have your illusory mystique.”

“Your priestly power is much flashier and more beautiful.”

“Too eye-catching, too extravagant. It’s the power borrowed, a magic bargained.”

“I could teach you my magic if you beg me.” Nupian smiled. “I envy you, Aconite. You’re the most precious jewel of our tribe, treated with utmost delicacy, dealt with utmost leniency.”

Aconite chuckled. She ate a star-shaped dessert in her hand. Its crumbs dirtied her cheeks. She did not wipe them. Her focus was on the unparalleled sweetness. A cheap, unhealthy biscuit like this wasn’t something a priestess should eat.

“I envy you, Nupian,” she said. “If I am the star of our tribe, then you are the flower at the summit. They only revere me, as I am unapproachable and untouchable, too sacred for all but the holy and the selfless. But they will admire you not only from afar but also up close. You’re their reachable dream, their grandest prize.”

“A prize nonetheless.” Nupian pulled down her friend to lay by her side. “I might always smile, but it doesn’t mean I’m always contented.”

A lone comet rushed through the sky, drawing a thin milky line across the firmament. It cut through the constellation, temporarily separating the night into two regions, which rejoined after all the commotion. A dim trail of that vanished comet briefly persisted.

The cold seeping through Aconite’s cloak and into her body could not contend against the warmth in her chest. She squeezed her friend’s palm. It was hot, hot enough to melt the snow in her heart.

“You may pursue your interests, smile at whomever you choose, and decide your schedule for yourself. You live freely, laugh lightly. Is such a life not a delightful one?”

“It is a blessed life, but still an impermanent one.” Nupian shifted her gaze to her best friend. “My spiritual magic, unlike yours, requires a sacrifice. Be it blood, vitality, or shamanic materials. It isn’t as wonderful as it appears.”

Nupian untied her hood and revealed her torso. Magnificent tattoos covered her chest, assembling into Mother Nature’s silhouette. The dark green lines, etched onto her flesh, glowed whenever her body shivered, absorbing her breaths of life. Tiny leaves sprouted from her abdomen, with various illusory flowers squirming beneath her skin.

Aconite looked away, not from disgust, but from embarrassment. The sensation stuck in her abdomen spread to her neck, reddening her ears. She curiously touched her friend’s stomach, stroking the living petals.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Nupian trembled. “Do I still look so beautiful, so flawless?”

“Becoming one with the world . . . sounds wonderful.”

Smirking, Aconite forcefully plucked a leaf. Nupian let out the cutest moan, which echoed down the hill like the cry of the loneliest maiden. It haunted Aconite’s ears, planting a kiss onto her cool heart.

“That’s itchy. These leaves are a part of me, a price of my power. Would you . . . still want to learn this wicked art?”

“I might not have much free time compared to you, but I never neglect our relationship.” Aconite’s fingers turned icy blue. She tapped her friend’s chest. All the illusory leaves and flowers dispersed as radiance. “The magic of our tradition requires a great sacrifice; but this side effect, only an apprentice would fail to control it.”

“I . . . was merely teasing you.” Nupian shamelessly laughed. “Was it convincing?”

“Your moan, or your laughter?”

The two lay beside each other, having only their warmth as their company. A light snow persistently covered the land, sprinkling paleness throughout the dense, twining forest below.

“How do I look, Nupian?” Aconite whispered.

“The fairest of our tribe, the holiest of our land. You’re the crowning jewel of grace. You’re the priestess of our faith.”

“This priestess commands you to tell the truth. Will you disobey her?”

“What I said is true.”

“I want to hear your truth, Nupian. How was I, when I walked down the ceremonial ground, surrounded by my attendants?”

Nupian caught her friend’s hand, seized those slim fingers, and pressed her hand against the soft palm. Only the finest items could reach this pair of noble hands. Her own coarse hand could only taint them, but she couldn’t stop touching them.

“You’re an angel, Aconite. Your skin flickers under the lantern light, and your hair flutters under the cool breezes. No one could’ve stolen the focus from you.”

“Angel is a being bound to her goddess. How fitting.”

“An angel is a being above mortal, a being close to the divine. They do not have to worry for their goddess, only for themselves.”

“Then you, too, are an angel.”

Nupian let go of her friend’s hand. Her appetite for the salted jerky faded. “Maybe I used to be an angel, but it will soon no longer be that way. Although people say I am free, I am no freer than you, Aconite.”

“Do you wish to be free?”

“As much as you.” Nupian pointed at the brightest star in the sky. “What do you think happens when those stars flash their light for the last time?”

“Their fall will be wondrous, their trail an inspiration of tales millennia to come.”

“What about us, we who live and die in this snowy mountain range, as a priestess and a shaman of this modest tribe?”

“Your name will be remembered by your family, your ashes scattered across the field, your portrait painted by the artists as once the lady of autumn.”

“We will be but a footnote in history, a pair of maidens buried by the snow.”

“What terrifying thing are you implying?” Aconite deeply inhaled. “I . . . we will continue to come here, even after your marriage.”

“He . . . is a good man, a hardworking and skilful hunter. His father is one of the elders responsible for crops and food preservation. Our families have great ties, and his brothers love my sisters.”

Aconite did not interrupt her friend’s unnecessary explanation. It wasn’t for her. She only stayed by her friend’s side, consoling her through a pervasive silence that embraced her while contemplating her choices.

“A maiden’s goal is to tend to her husband and raise her children.” Nupian bit her lips. “I cannot imagine myself doing that. I hate being tied down to one place. I hate missing out on what could have been.”

“We cannot always have what we desire.”

“Why can’t we?” Nupian rolled to her side, staring at her friend. “Are you contented with being a priestess? Do you enjoy receiving those distant awes, those flattering gazes?”

“Our tribe needs me. Our kin depends on us, on our devotion to our cause.”

Mere replaceable footnotes like us?

“What is your dream, Aconite? What is your desire?”

Those words plagued Aconite’s heart. It twisted her feelings as if seducing her with sensitive touches and bewitching whispers. Her grasp on herself slowly loosened.

“I have no idea what I want. For now, I want us to stay like this.”

“Was it because of freedom that you envied me?”

Aconite nodded. “You were never really free; we were never really free.”

“Then what is it that I have?”

“You have your name, Nupian, and your personality.” Aconite could no longer understand what she was saying. Her flushes overwhelmed her mind, melting her heart amidst the cold winds. “I just want us to stay together forever, no matter where, no matter when.”

This earnest tone unstartled Nupian. She hurriedly looked away, turning her back to her friend. “You’re not thinking straight. Did you have that cocktail before coming here?”

“The night is cold. Will you warm me up?” Aconite gently hugged her best friend. “You won’t leave me, right? We’ll still be . . . friends . . . right?”

Nupian couldn’t resist. She placed her hands on her friend’s and shrank into that embrace. She too did not want this night to pass. The moon should reign forever, the sun should vanish from heaven, the stars should fill the sky. It felt so wrong—so, so wrong.

The priestess must hold onto her purity, the bride her chastity. The hunters and gatherers must follow their tradition, raising their tribe above their lives.

“What I want,” Nupian mumbled, “is to see the world as it is. I want to travel farther than this mountain range, than this region, than this land.”

“Should we . . . leave this place?”

“I do not mind taking my friend out of here.”

“I . . . am your friend, am I not?” Aconite’s voice faltered, but she could hold back her emotions. “We’ll leave this place behind, leave that ruin behind, leave everything tying us down behind. Will you regret it?”

“I am not leaving everything behind.”

Nupian turned to stare at the vulnerable, muddled woman hugging her. She could no longer discern the meaning behind those pursed lips, even though they had always been so clear.

“Aconite,” she whispered. That musical name pleased her ears like none other could.

“There will be no time for regret.”

“There will be no regret.”

Their faces touched, but their lips did not. Nupian gently pushed away Aconite, blushing. Her body sweated under her clothes, dampening her cloak. The drifting snows could not bring down the heat within her.

“This marriage of mine,” she said, “will be my last.”

There was a saddened pause. “Upon midnight, I must finish the ceremonial prayer. No one is to disturb me, not even my closest attendants.”

“Will you take my hand, then?”

“I will gladly bear this sin.”

“We will bear it together.”

Nupian held Aconite’s hands. Aconite too tightened her grip. The snow carefully concealed their figures from the stars. They were alone, linked by their thoughts, entangled by their dreams.

The moon blessed them with its pale radiance. And above them, an illusory silhouette flickered.

The crimson rose witnessed their promise.