Far Away and High Above: A story of Becoming

Chapter One

Six months lost at sea. They’d be out of food soon. Another prayer would help. She dropped her knees to the battered wood where she always went to ask her god for help. Some people claimed to know the name of their god, Alindri didn’t. There was no need to name that which could be only one and only one could be it.

She prayed for safety in the coming days, weeks, maybe months. No, not months; they’d be out of food soon. Maybe she should have prayed for food, but praying for impossible things was a bad habit. Instead, she prayed for peace as their journey came to an end. One way or another it would end soon.

The burlap of her robes stuck to the wood as she rose to her feet and tucked raven hair behind delicate ears. Back home, she’d had to be sure to keep it up in a tight knot, but that was no longer home and that it had been didn’t matter anymore. Six months had made the molding hay cot her home and she couldn’t help but love it.

Voices above deck rang through the constant beating of the waves. There had been a time when voices may have meant land and the passengers would rage forward onto the deck in hopes of seeing the new world first; no one in her cabin lifted their gaze from the yellowed pillows they pressed their faces into, hiding from solemn reality. Alindri wondered what day it was.

The sharp crack of wood and the sudden movement of stopping threw them off the mattresses. The voices above grew frantic and footsteps pounded the deck and stairs beyond the door.

“Land, land, we’ve struck land!” It was strange to hear words of such ill fate sung with such joy.

The cabin erupted in movement, each hoping to see the new world first. Alindri curled up, protecting herself from the storm of stomping boots that rained atop her as her shipmates blasted through the door.

She was the last to leave and the last to lay eyes upon the new world. Six months lost at sea, without sun or star to guide them, and here they stood staring at calm waters lapping on beaches of white sand, mountains rising in the distance. One mountain seemed to climb up forever, lost up above in the clouds, and she thought how lonely it must be to sit so high above the rest with no companion to match.

Whispers and cheers mingled in the crowd and bodies splashed into the ocean, swimming the last stretch to freedom. Alindri fell to her knees and gave thanks to the nameless who had heard her and answered. They’d made it. Six months lost at sea, they would’ve been out of food soon, without sun or star to guide them, and they’d made it.

#

Alindri had been shy back home, but freedom tempts even the most devout and wet burlap was heavy, so she’d peeled off her dress and dove into the waters. It was invigorating to swim in the brisk ocean waters and the warmth of the sand was like a hug from a mother she’d never known. They all lay there, some laughing, others weeping, as the sun beat upon their faces and sand crawled between their toes.

In the excitement, they missed the bodies looming over them from above, staring down from the cliffs above. When, finally, they noticed, a fearful hush crept over the group. It seemed their new world already belonged to another; and these did not look like the people back home.

One was much too large, its silhouette too blocky and with a head all wrong in proportions. Another too thin, ivory skin shining in the bright sun as if covered in diamond. The last was hunched, its knuckles resting on the floor like a jungle creature with not a hair on its body. When they began to move, they did so calmly but with purpose.

The captain quickly organized the crew, those with weapons in the front, women ushered to the back. Alindri did not go back though, she took her place at her brother Perci’s side at the right-hand of the captain. He did not look afraid when the strange creatures approached and if he was not afraid, neither was she.

“The Great Mother has told of your coming, and says you call yourself human.” The large one had a voice like a drum, thick and low. She had not expected to meet anyone in the new world, let alone one who could speak in their tongue.

“Do not fear us you who come from far lands, for Mother has named you a guest and, as such, we extend to you an offer of peace,” The diamond woman’s voice rang like bells of silver and Alindri felt as though she loved the woman even though they’d never met. “If you’ll put down your weapons, we have made camp above and there is room enough for all of you.“

“And good drink,” the hunched fellow spat, his voice coarse and high, “made it myself, I did. Best I’d ever brew. Come now, come along, the best I say it is and so I say it’s true!” His laughter a screech he began to hop excitedly back up the path which he’d came.

The captain looked to Perci, trying to hide his shock and failing. Perci furrowed his brow and called out calmly to the strangers, “You know we call ourselves humans, you speak our tongue, yet you are not like us. What manner of creature are you that knows when we’d arrive?”

The big one took a small step forward by its own measure but would’ve been a full pace by Alindri’s standard. Muscle rippled under dark skin as he growled, “Watch your tongue Xen’atelo for I am no more a creature than you are a sage. I am Gorroxar of the Helitlao, oldest amongst the children of the Great Mother, protectors of Metedoron, and keepers of the sand. From the Mother we have learned your tongue, for She knows all that has been and the future is Hers.”

The woman of diamonds placed a hand on the arm of the giant and stepped forward, “Gorroxar, you speak riddles to them, contain yourself. We are here on behalf of Our Mother, remember your manners.” She turned to face the humans and smiled warmly with soft, crystal eyes. “All will be told in time, but now you are without rest and we have gone through much trouble to make preparations for you. Honor us with your presence and the truth will be made clear. Barnick will show the way,” she gestured to the hunched man hopping impatiently on the path ahead, “and we will join you shortly.”

Perci and the captain shared a moment of pause, but it was clear the group had no option but to obey, if not trust, the strange welcome party. With a nod, the captain began the climb up the cliff after the strange, hunched man to the new world they’d found.

#

Atop the cliff, the view was as beautiful as the moment she’d first laid eyes on it from the ship. On one side a forest sprouted thick and high, a veritable sea of green against the orange sunset sky. To the other side, a tide of sandy waves rolled to heights Alindri reserved for mountains in her imagination. Far behind them stood the lonely mountain, wrapped in its own blanket of clouds. The tent city was impressive to say the least. Thick sheets of canvas hung atop four-post frames and the smell of smoke and meat poured from fires roaring outside of each. Barnick has been right about his brew as well, as far as Alindri could tell without tasting it herself, and men and women alike staggered between the tents singing, dancing, and making fools of themselves. Alindri smiled and huddled closer to the fire before her. She regretted leaving behind her dress, a breeze blew off the ocean and chilled her wet hair. Though it was hard to feel anything but grateful. Retreating to a quiet place behind the tent city, Alindri dropped to her knees once more, thanking her nameless god once more for her deliverance.

Something soft and warm draped slowly over her back and she turned to find none other than the diamond-skinned woman standing behind her, a thick cloak still in her hands. “I’m sorry to have disturbed you, please do not let me distract you.” The soft silver of her voice rang less sharply now, gentle like the song of a flute yet warm like a mother’s. Her platinum hair blew softly in the breeze.

“You need not apologize, I appreciate the kindness. Truthfully, I know not which season it is let alone whether I am prepared for it.” She smiled and the woman seemed to relax, turning back to face her once more. It occurred to Alindri that the woman was still a stranger, her angled face and thin extremities foreign to her, yet she made Alindri feel at peace. “What is your name?”

The woman’s smile was less happiness than amusement, the gentle smile one might give a child asking about money. “Names are a sacred thing to my people, though you can’t have known so I will not hold it against you.” Alindri felt herself flush with embarrassment. “I suppose you will need to call me something though. Your people rely heavily on names, or so Mother says.” She seemed lost in her thoughts for a moment before her smile pierced her lips once more, “You may call me Blossom. A pretty word with prettier meaning don’t you think?”

“It suits you.”

The woman bowed slightly, her smile not fading. “And you are Alindri.”

Alindri felt her smile fade then fought to return it quickly.

“You will find many of us know much about you, and your brother.” Her expression flicked for just a moment, though Alindri could not tell why. “Perhaps you should come with me, Gorroxar and I have much to discuss with you and Perci.” With that she turned, walking between the tents with grace without sacrificing speed.

Alindri rose quickly, pulling her new robe tight as she trotted after the woman. When they came to the campfire where Gorroxar and Perci sat, the woman motioned for Alindri to sit and, once she had, the woman took her seat as well.

“The Great Mother tells us she has called you here, though she tells us not why.” The great man’s voice vibrates in Alindri’s chest despite no longer yelling as he had earlier. “Three if you must walk the path of the dragons, an ancient rite not offered lightly. Make no mistake, it will be no easy task. I will leave it to you to decide who shall be offered.”

“I’ll go,” Alindri responded too quickly. Her brother opened his mouth to object, but the woman called Blossom raised a hand to silence him. After a pause, she said again, “I will go.”

Laughter erupted from Gorroxar, the gravelly sound sending a chill down Alindri’s spine. “I hope you will ask as few questions tomorrow as you have tonight little one!”

Perci scowled and shook his head. “If she goes, so shall I.” He shot Alindri an angry glance and she turned away, embarrassment flushing her cheeks once more.

“And a third?” The woman asked.

“That’ll have to be the captain I suppose.” Perci didn’t look happy with the choice but Alindri agreed, it would have to be him. The rest of their group was made up of thugs and thieves, none fit to walk any path that was too well-lit.

Blossom smiled, a hint of sorrow dragging at the corners of her mouth. “At dawn, we will depart for the Kingdom of Sands. Please be ready.”

The strangers rose and walked past them, Blossom gently brushing Alindri’s shoulder with a thin hand as she passed.

“I hope you didn’t just kill us Al.”

Alindri kept staring off into the throng of tents. “Yeah. Me too.”

 

Chapter Two

A night's sleep on a real mattress changed everything. Alindri felt clear and more herself than she had in months, though fear of the upcoming days trickled in as soon as her eyes opened to the soft light of the pre-dawn sky. She tried not to doubt herself as she donned the robe Blossom had given her the night before, it was her only clothing now, but couldn't shake the feeling that she'd gotten in above her head in something she couldn't understand. And had the giant really mentioned Dragons?

Surely it was only a legend, Father Albert had often told the children at the orphanage back home, "not-home," she reminded herself, stories of the mythical winged serpents dashing from the sky to wreak havoc on the poor shepherds of the plains and those foolish enough to brave the journey into the mountains. No one had ever seen one, at least not that she had heard of, and you'd think a colossal, fire-breathing lizard flying about in the sky would be a hard thing to avoid. As she entered her morning prayer, she hoped that in this land, fairy tales remained in the imagination. Alindri prayed for safety, for fare weather, and for guidance as she passed into the unknown. She wasn't sure her god could hear her here but she'd be damned if she didn't try.

The light spilling between the flaps of the tent was growing stronger and Alindri knew it was time to leave. Pushing out of the tent and to the outskirts of the tent-city, she saw not another soul awake. It seemed the hunched man had delivered as well as she'd thought he had on his brew, the loud snoring of intoxicated sleep rumbled from within each tent. Perci stood with the two from the night before just beyond the makeshift city that now, she supposed, was her home. She was surprised not to see Barnick, the hunched one, standing amongst them. Perhaps he would stay behind to care for the new refugees. As she got closer to the group, she found him lying on the floor at the woman's feet, snoring as loudly as those in the tents she had passed.

Blossom gave her a warm smile as she joined them, "I hope the accommodations were well enough."

"Yes, we are most grateful for your hospitality," Alindri responded with a polite bow.

"Comfortable or not, now is the time for us to go," the giant's booming voice grumbled. He stared off into the massive dunes.

Something about the sands seemed different than the night before. Alindri couldn't tell why but the high sands seemed to be out of place. She stared hard, hoping either to realize the difference or shake her hesitancy.

Gorroxar must have noticed this as he laughed, snapping Alindri back from her confusion to the group before her. "They are not what they were yesterday, no?"

Alindri began to nod, then stopped, deciding instead to shake her head. Perci peered quizzically at the sanded waves, then to Alindri. "I don't see it."

The giant man grabbed the sleeping lump that was called Barnick and slung him over his shoulders, carrying him as a butcher carries a calf after the slaughter. With heavy footsteps, he began trekking toward the sea of dunes before them, his large legs pacing him at a jog for Alindri. As they began their journey, Gorroxar pointed to the dunes and spoke with pride in his voice, "These are the shifting sand of the north, home of the tribes of Huatlao, keepers of the sands. You will be careful to respect the dunes, else you'll find they have a will of their own. They crawl endlessly under the winds and have been known to swallow whole men and great beasts alike."

"Do you fear them?" Alindri asked between panting breaths. She was sweating already, but Perci didn't seem to mind the pace near as much as she did.

"How could I fear what is my own home? The sands are a gift from our Great Mother and I cherish them as such. The harsh sun is a blessing! It makes us strong and warms the blood of our Quetzat. Strong winds teach us to stand firm and brings seeds from the western lands that feed us. A changing land keeps us sharp, we rely on nothing but our Mother's grace to sustain us, as it should be." Alindri wondered more about the mother he spoke of so fondly. Blossom seemed to know her as well. This land must be under a united empire as well, though Alindri had never heard of a woman being allowed to be King. "You must have great respect for your King to call her your mother. In our lands," she began but was cut off by a bark of laughter from Barnick who was now dangling from the shoulder of the giant by his feet.

"The Great Mother, a King! Gore, Gore, don't these strangers sound strange! Our Mother a ruler, yet it's me you call strange!" His laughter twisted manically as he swung side to side, his bald head nearly reaching the giant's knees and his outstretched fingers brushing against the grass below.

Gorroxar dropped the man who rolled to his feet and hopped quickly after him, still giggling madly. The two began speaking in a language Alindri couldn't understand, strange sounds erupting from deep in their throats, amplifying the rumble of the giant's timbre and softening the shrill of the shrieking, hopping madman. She may not know what they were saying, but it was clear the laughing man was pestering the great giant who swatted at him as he hopped around with agility Alindri hadn't imagined he would possess. They were almost human in a way, despite their ridiculous bodies and nonsensical language.

Distracted by the antics of the two strange men, Alindri didn’t notice that Blossom had glided up beside her. Now, the woman moved like a dancer beside her, not jogging as Alindri did, though they were similar in height, but instead merely stretching her paces. She looked like a deer.

The woman’s steady gaze rest on Alindri. Such attention made her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t escape the calm that Blossom exuded. Perhaps it was that she was the only woman from this strange land she had met, or maybe it was just that she looked and seemed the most human. Either way, it was a comfort Alindri did not want to question.

The woman squinted, curiosity oozing from her eyes and wry smile, “Do you not know the Mother, or at least have one of your own?” Alindri’s smile wavered and she felt the warmth of sorrow press up in her eyes. She looked away for a moment, hoping the woman hadn’t noticed her expression. With a tone firmer than she had intended, Alindri replied, “I never knew my mother. So, no, I suppose.” She bit back the flow of words that cascaded from her heart to her tongue, best not to over-share with strangers.

A soft hand gripped her shoulder and Alindri turned back to see a warm smile, the woman’s empathy thick in the lines of her face. “I am sorry, it mustn’t be easy to be so alone. But that is not what I meant.” The hand on her shoulder retreated and Alindri missed its warmth immediately. “Our Mother is the source of this world. From Her flow all things that grow and to Her all things that fade return. This land, all lands, are Her gift to us; she loves us from afar, suffers our separation from Her so that we may know the joy of living. This is what I meant. Mother is a King in Her own way, though she governs us not. Do your people have such a thing, a Mother of their own?”

“Oh, you mean that she is a god. Yes, of course, there are plenty of those back home. You mean to say there is only one here?” Alindri fought back a snicker as she thought of how boring the history of the homeland would be if everyone had agreed on just one god. There probably wouldn’t have been an army or a single orphanage across the whole Empire.

The woman shook her head, glee returning to fill the place of the sadness in her smile. “Well, the Laosolos have their many, the Helotlao their one, and my people have none we call our own; but all are merely reflections of the Mother. She is greater than a god, without the desire for worship they command.”

“You don’t have a god?” Surprise leapt into her words.

“No, we listen only to the song and offer worship instead to ourselves and those around us. I hope you have the chance to hear it, the song. It’s beautiful and full of longing, sorrow incarnateand wrapped in the joy of birth and love and warm spring days.” The woman’s gaze lifted to the sky, her eyes closing as a gentle breeze pushed back the hair resting on her shoulders. “You know, I think the Helotlao hear it too, Mother’s song. They say the wind carries her messages to them and so they worship the wind, though in this breeze I can hear it even now, calling our names and guiding us to where we will be next.” A smirk broke the peaceful trance of her face and she opened her eyes once more. “You mustn’t tell Gore I said that, I couldn’t stand to suffer another lecture on the Wind Lord’s winged embrace.”

With that, the woman galloped off to extricate Barnick’s wiggling body from the firm grasp of Gorroxar’s meaty fist. She wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed before, but she say that the giant had only three thick fingers and a long thumb, equally girthy. Gazing down, she saw his tracks left indents of only two long toes and a stubby hind-toe surrounding the tremendous dent of his massive feet.

She turned to Perci, “We are in the dream world now, brother. Be careful we don’t get lost.” He smiled at her and they continued their mission, passing into the hot sand of the ever-changing dunes before them.

#

They’d camped and crawled up and down the rolling dunes for the better, worse more like it, part of a week before they made it to their destination. Each morning, the dunes had slid around them, disorienting the three newcomers. One morning, Perci had wondered why the dunes didn’t swallow their camp in the night and Gorroxar had explained that the Lord of Wind protected his faithful from the shifting sands and gave them “dominion over the winds of change.” This was the kind of answer that raised more questions in Alindri but the giant was quickly irritated with her questioning and she was forced to return to her imagination as she panted through the scorching desert sun.

Atop the last dune, they looked over a vast valley between the dunes, enormous tents stretching skyward and plumes of smoke carrying the smells of sweet meats and melting metals over the travelling group. Gorroxar seemed a bit more at ease once his home was in sight.

“Welcome to Philan’atol, the moving city, home to the Helotlao.” Alindri couldn’t imagine the work required to move a population of this size. There must have been 10,000 tents, all centered around a vast, circular dune that looked like the mountains that breathed fire she’d read about in the Empire.

“What’s in there?” Alindri pointed to the massive center-piece of the city. She had more questions but new the giant would only hate her more for asking.

He stood tall as he gestured grandly to the volcanic dune, “That is the great colloseum, where every dispute amongst the tribes is settled, crimes are punished, and glory is won.”

Perci raised an eyebrow, “Organized fights, sounds like fun.”

“You’d be very unlucky to set foot in there Xen’atelo. The only outsiders allowed within the arena are those who commit crimes against us. I have seen many a Karpogon water the sands with their blood and you would be no match even for them, let alone the great warriors of mine people!”

“What, or who, is a Karpogon?” Alindri asked, her face a mask of confusion. She hated the way Gorroxar peppered his speech with the foreign language. He only did it to frustrate them and she still hadn’t learned why he referred to the humans as Xen’atelo.

Blossom waved a hand, “That would be I, or rather us. My people that is.” She looked tired. Alindri imagined her people did not spend much time in the desert and she could understand why. Her fair skin glowed pink after the first day and she’d had to wrap herself in a long shawl to shelter her delicate body from the sun, trapping herself in her own heat without the breeze to cool her.

“I have had enough of your ceaseless questioning Xen’atelo. I will deliver you to the sage so I may return to my forge, I long for the comfort of its heat and the taste of steel in the air.” Alindri couldn’t imagine missing heat in this infernal desert, but a week before she couldn’t have imagined anything she’d seen since.

Gorroxar made true on his promise and delivered them to the sage, departing without so much as a nod. Alindri felt that she wouldn’t miss him much. The captain had had a hard time adjusting over the week and kept to himself, trotting behind the caravan for the week-long journey, but the shade of the sage’s tent seemed to lift his spirits as he dove into a pile of pillows arranged haphazardly in a corner. Perci and Alindri remained standing, unsure of themselves in the strange tent.

Bones much too large or too small and everywhere between hung by chains from the ceiling and rattled at the slightest breath of wind and the room smelled of things long dead and, beans? Without knowing what strange things even existed around her made it harder for Alindri to place the scents.

“I’m off, I’m out, I’m on the roll, the sage’s wisdom is much too drole!” The hunched man sang as he waved and bounced off into the bustling city beyond the tent’s flaps.

“When you have finished here, I will be waiting for you at the gates to the south. South is the direction of the forest, remember.” And Blossom too disappeared with a smile and a playful wink. They were alone now, three humans in a world of make-believe with no guide to show them the ropes.

“Cap, I think it may be time we talk about an exit strategy,” Perci said quickly.

“Way ahead of ya Perci. I saw some ships dock north along the coast. Look to me to be sea-farin’ vessels, not just lake-hoppers. We’ll be needin’ one of ‘em if we’re getting’ out.”

Perci tugged at a bone hanging above him, “And I suppose anything is a weapon when you’re desperate enough.” Alindri stared at the men with surprise. “We can’t leave!”

“Course we can,” the captain spat back. He’d been a friend of Perci longer than she’d been alive, it was going to be hard to dissuade the two once they’d made up their minds.

“Al, if we stay here, we’re good as dead. We can’t just wait for them to-“

A giant walked in form the back of the tent. He was a lot shorter than Gorroxar but still toward above them. Scraggles of white hair dripped off the sides of his head and his chin, stark against his near-black skin. So they could grow hair, Alindri thought to herself.

“Waiting is about the only thing you’ll be doin’ if you is as smart as I’m hoping you is,” the tiny giant rasped. His voice wasn’t as strong as Gorroxar’s either but help the same power.

Perci’s hand dropped from the bone and he bowed. “You must be the desert sage. We are honored.” The captain scrambled to his feet, dropping into a sloppy bow.

“Ah cut the act kid, I know what you's up to, talking of cuttin’ and runnin’ but I’ll tell you only once, it isn’t the idea you hope it is. Your life though, the consequences of your choice is your own.”

Alindri stepped forward, pushing the rising fear deep down into her belly. She hoped it didn’t show on her face but knew that it did despite her efforts. “Sir, we beg forgiveness. Know that we bear you no ill will, this land is a mystery to us and my brother is only trying to protect his friends.”

“And that makes you Alindri then. Been heard you like to put your own head on the block for someone else. Might want to start thinking if a good idea that is, hmm.” The old man waved a wrinkled hand. “Either way, choices is yours to make. Not a matter to me one way or other.” He padded around the tent, gathering small bowls and a pitcher in his large paws as he spoke. “Choices is yours but the telling is mine, now onto the task at hand, yeah.”

On a small table between them, the sage placed three bowls that looked to be wooden but clacked hard like stones onto the wooden table. He grabbed a handfulof sand and poured it into each bowl, filling each halfway. Then, he reached for his pitcher and filled the remainder of each bowl with water, turning the sand into a muddy glob. He motioned for each of the humans to take a bowl, then spoke when they had, “Three days you have, not a moment more. Hold onto the sand but the water fall away. I know my sand from the rest so don’t hope to fool me, I is old so I is wise, not to be fooled.”

The three companions glanced between one another, confusion coloring their expressions as the sage moved forward, shooing the humans from his tent. “But how can we do that?” Alindri questioned, a note of panic in her words.

“That is the question it is,” and they were pushed from the tent, left on the outskirts of the city, staring at the dunes with not a clue as to how to solve their predicament.

When the sun set, Alindri dug herself a hole to sleep in a prayed to her god that she knew couldn’t hear her to save her from the nightmare she fell asleep in.

#

Smells of fresh bread and cheese roused Alindri from her slumber. The sun was still yet to peak over the crest of the dunes but the sand was still warm from baking the day before. Perci waved a loaf of bread in front of her face with a smile, “Welcome back to the world of the living sleepyhead. Come on, you’re gunna need your strength.”

“Where did you get this?”

“Begged it off a merchant up the way. We gotta eat, don’t we?”

Alindri hesitated for a minute, then took the bread, tearing into it. She was ravenous. Since leaving their people behind, all she’d eaten was the strange dried fruits and vegetables Blossom had shared with them as they traversed the wasteland of the desert. It was nice to eat real food again.

Perci and the captain had finished their portions already and were already focused on their bowls of sand. Perci was grabbing handfuls of the mud and squeezing the moister from the balls of sand into the sand beneath him; the captain struggled to drain the strain the water between his palm and the edge of the cup and Alindri could see grains slip past him. It wasn’t much, but it would add up if he continued.

Examining her own mud bowl, Alindri saw that the water had receded on its own. It was hot enough, she should’ve expected the evaporation. She wondered if three days baking in the sun would be enough. Scooping the sand to the sides, she pressed out as much of the water as she could and saw that the pool in the middle was fairly shallow. She stood with her bowl, beginning to climb the nearby dune.

“Hey, where’re you going?” Perci shouted after her.

“Somewhere hotter, I hope,” she called back down the slope.

Atop the dune’s ridge she could see the rising sun clearly. She placed her bowl on a hot patch of sand and sat beside it, hoping her plan would work. For a few minutes she watched the bowl, becoming bored quickly. There was nothing else to do now but wait. She prayed first, then simply lay in the shadow of the dune as the rest of the day slowly wasted away. Below her, Perci strained and sweat to squeeze every last drop he could while the captain continued his attempt to strain. By nightfall, Perci had made excellent progress and the captain’s bowl was clearly missing some sand. He looked nervous. High atop the dune, Alindri didn’t bother to check her own progress. It would work if it did and if it didn’t, well, what good would it do to know she’d failed now?

The sun rose on their final day. No bread greeted her, though the sage had seemed to stop by in the night to refill their waterskins. Alindri thought it was kind of him to care for strangers as he had and she made sure to pray for a blessing upon him. Perci returned to his exhaustive task; his sand was much drier now and the effort it took to push water from the balls of sand only increased as he went. At midday, he climbed up to Alindri with his bowl. “It’s impossible I tell ya. Can’t squeeze out these last drops.”

Alindri crawled over to her bowl and was surprised to see a ring of dry sand caked to the edge of the bowl. Showing it to her brother, she motioned toward the sun, “Shouldn’t take long to bake now.” She fought a smile as Perci stared at her bowl, dumbfounded.

“You’re a genius sis,” he said finally, a big smile creeping across his lips. He planted a hard kiss on her forehead and climbed up to find a good spot for his own bowl to bake.

Alindri slid down the dune’s edge carefully, bowl in hand, and showed it to the captain. He looked miserable again and had withdrawn into himself. His sand was mostly dry now, but it was half as full as Alindri’s. “We’ll just have to see, won’t we,” was all he could say before laying down, staring into the bright light of the midday sun.

The next morning, the trio awoke to find the sage already standing before them, the three bowls in hand. They exchanged nervous glances as they crawled out of their sleeping holes and approached the withering giant.

“Not bad, is rare to see three succeed, rare indeed.” He smiled softly, but Alindri’s heart jumped. She jumped into her brother’s embrace and smiled excitedly at the captain, grabbing at his shoulder in excitement.

“See cap, no need to worry about a little missing after all!”

The captains smile fell quickly and Alindri looked at him questioningly for a long moment. Realization struck her in the chest like a blow from a hammer and she swung her gaze to the sage, a sad smile already on his lips as he began to pour one bowl into the sand.

“Not a fool is I,” he said and walked slowly back into his tent. Alindri stared after him, wishing he’d return. If he’d just let her explain she could make it all right again. If she could just explain…

She dropped to her knees and felt the warmth of tears in her eyes, but none came. The dry winds took them before they could even fall. And so, even without tears, she wept.

#

It hadn’t taken long for Gorroxar to arrive. They’d waited in the sage’s tent for what felt like an eternity but couldn’t have been more than half an hour, and then he’d arrived.

“Xen’atelo, you have commited a crime against my people,” Gorroxar’s booming voice carried with the full weight of his anger. “You are sentenced to the arena. Today you will face trial by combat.” The captain’s head hung between his legs. For a time, he’d plotted his escape with Perci, but fate is a hard thing to avoid and when you’ve seen your own, sometimes there is little else to do but wait. Gorroxar continued on reading from the parchment he held before him, but no longer did he bother to speak in the tongue of the humans; this was no longer their problem, the captain belonged to the sands now.

After several minutes, Gorroxar turned to Perci and Alindri. “And as for you, bread thief,” Alindri’s head whipped up, the tears disappearing quicker than they’d come, and looked between her brother and the giant before them. Perci didn’t share her glance, only staring stonily back at the messenger of his doom. She opened her mouth to protest and Perci quickly clasped his hand over her mouth, still not looking her in the eyes. When Gorroxar finished once more, Perci and the captain rose to their feet, two guards moving forward to restrain them.

As they were being led out, Perci finally locked eyes with his little sister, and smiled softly. “I’ll be back Al, come too far to die now. And trial by combat is a get-out-of-jail-free card for me. You know it.” The guard behind him shoved him to the flap in the tent. “One last prayer for me sis,” he yelled as he disappeared into the city beyond.

Tears welled in her eyes and the sage placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, “Their choices is, so is their consequences.” Her gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze then retreated to the back of his tent. Before he left, he paused, lookin over his shoulder at the little girl weeping in his tent. “Blossom’ll get you soon,” and he disappeared. Just like that, she was alone. Truly alone. For the very first time. Alone.

#

Blossom had come for her as promised. Alindri hadn’t noticed her but didn’t fight as the woman pulled her out of the sage’s tent and through the sizzling sands of the city’s streets. As they continued, the iron overtook the meats and breads that had permeated the air behid them. Inside the sprawling arena, the iron was even thicker, layered with blood, flesh, and human waste. Alindri couldn’t remember why they were here and wouldn’t have cared if she could; Perci was gone, this time for good.

She’d watched him hauled away by city poice before, walk away from fights he probably shouldn’t have with blood on his knuckles and hate in his heart, even thrown out a window once. None of those times hurt with the finality of his most recent condemnation. Perci could fight, but those monsters would tear him apart, quickly if he was lucky.

Blossom was talking, either again or still, Alindri hadn’t been listening. “… but it’s enough to hold on to.” Her voice was gentle and her face looked unfamiliar without the smile it carried as long as Alindri had known her. She gestured for Alindri to sit.

Alindri looked around and saw that they were inside of the arena, high up in the stands of a coliseum built from sand pressed hard until it was like stone. “What are we here for? I thought we were leaving this dreadful place,” she sat hard and her tailbone stung. She thought of wincing but was too tired and she let the pain numb her.

Blossom looked frustrated but did well-enough to mask it. The two sat staring at each other, one empty behind wet eyes, the other full of sadness and fear. When the moment had lasted as long as it needed, Blossom pointed out into the center of the pit.

On the sandy floor surrounded by grand stands, two little men kneeled in the sand with shackles restraining all four of their limbs to posts behind each man. “You brought me to an execution?”

“A trial.”

Alindri stared down at the dirty men. They looked like they’d been rolling in mud for the better part of their day, puddles accumulating between their knees. “Doesn’t look like any trial I’ve seen.”

“Alindri,” the woman’s voice shook slightly, the flute no longer singing in it, “That’s Perci. This is his trial.”

#

Perci stared at his hands. None of the shackles had fit him or the captain so Gorroxar had decided to form their handcuffs in the snuggest way possible, forming them to the flesh directly. He was still surprised how much his hands had smelled of the meat pies he’d grown up eating.

Flesh curled around the irons, black and leaking something clear and viscous. It probably wasn’t a good sign. A few yards in front on him, Jeremiah looked to be suffering the same pain. He’d been a captain because people liked him, not because he was strong. Perci could see his heavy sobs heave his chest.

Above the stands, in a far-away viewing pavilion built into the arena’s stands, a voice boomed in the guttural gurgles of the native language. It was obvious they were talking about him, even without his noticing the cries of “Xen’atelo” booming from the speaker and the crowd alike. One of the brutes approached with an axe, and Perci made his peace. It was always going to end like this for him and he’d known it for a long time. Sometimes, you just run out of luck.

The axe whizzed through the air and his chains cracked sharply. He whipped his head up in bewilderment and saw the giant thudding away, back into the side of the arena where he’d come from, but without his axe that sat upright, plunged deep into the earth in front of Perci. He looked across to his old friend and saw the same had been done for him.

So, they’re only going to let one of us go, he thought. He’d killed before, even killed friends, but he really wished it had been anyone but the captain across from him. Maybe Al would’ve been worse, but not by enough. He’d never loved her right. He regretted that. He regretted a lot; it wasn’t hard to file them all away into the emptiness where he assumed most people felt love.

Jeremiah rose to his feet, Perci could see he’d realized the situation as well. Sobs gave way to a palpable fire in his eyes as he glared up at the crowd. “You think I’m gunna kill my friend? My brother!” His words rang throughout the arena and Perci smiled softly at him. At least one person had really loved him in his life. “I will not! You brutes don’ know a thing about humans! We don’ bend, we don’ break, we sure as hell don’ kill one another for the likes of a bunch of savages! That man is my brother!”

Jeremiah turned to look back at Perci and was stunned to see he wasn’t there. For a moment, he looked at the empty spot his friend had been in, then his body sagged.

Perci’s hands wrapped around the man’s head, one under the jaw to the left, another pressed firmly to the opposite temple. He leaned into the man and whispered, “Awful noble of ya cap.” He tightened his muscles and spun the man’s head like a top, a crack emanating from his throat as his body went limp. Perci smelled shit, and the crowd erupted. Over the cheers, he heard a familiar voice stretched into a primal shriek.

“No! Perci, no! What have you done!” He saw his sister in the crowd, restrained by the beautiful woman, rivers flowing from her eyes. He turned away, filing the momory into the void with the rest of his regrets.

“You were a brother to me too, cap,” he whispered to himself as his drowned in the shame of his success.

 

Chapter Three

Three days slipped past. After what Perci had done, Alindri lost herself. She’d screamed, cried, and tore at her hair until they forced her to swallow something bitter and leafy, sending her into restless sleep. It’d gone on like this every day since. She’d wake, see Perci, and disappear into her hate once more until they stuffed the leaves into her mouth and she went away, deep inside.

She dreamed most of the time, strange encounters with women who claimed to be her mother or scenes of Perci growing horns and swallowing her with a snap of his dragon jaws. She’d wake more tired than she’d been when she drifted off and the knot in her chest where her heart had been only twisted itself up tighter as time passed.

On the fourth day, she was surprised to find herself alone beneath large trees. Bird song mixed with the rattle of leaves in soft wind into an orchestra of the world around her; everything smelled of honey and fresh cut grass. It was the first moment of relaxation since…

She let her mind wander from the memory, she was too tired to hate anyways. Voices rose and fell in a gorgeous harmony. Alindri couldn’t understand the words, but the song sounded familiar; Blossom’s flute-like voice mingled with a deeper, solemn voice she did not recognize. Following the song through the trees, she soon arrived in a small clearing. In the center, a lone tree rose high above the tops of the others, branches growing around the trunk in a crude spiral, mimicking a staircase. As the tree rose, it’s body bubbled and deformed; no longer a cylinder but a bulbous shape with small holes through which light shone as if someone had carved out the tree’s inners and filled it with candles.

The song poured from the holes in the bark. Perhaps they were windows, Alindri guessed. After all, if people could live in a sea of dunes then why not also the trees; at least a tree would provide shelter where the desert had rebelled against its inhabitants at every moment. Despite the sureness in her gut that Blossom would be waiting atop the rugged staircase for her, Alindri did not climb. Instead, she found a comfortable place to rest at the base of the great tree and listened to the song sung from high above. Every living thing seemed to move to the melody; the trees swayed with the breeze as if dancing to the song, strange birds beat their wings in time to the tune, even the grass swung to-and-fro in accordance with the music. It did not take long for Alindri to begin humming along, as if by instinct she knew where it would rise and fall, swell or falter.

So she sat at the base of the great tree singing along to a song she hadn’t heard but knew, her eyes closed as she felt the breeze push ever stronger on her face. Minutes passed, or maybe hours. When she opened her eyes, Alindri wasn’t sure how long ago the duo had stopped singing or when they’d descended the tree to sit beside her.

Blossom leaned on the shoulder of a man who looked like her but was not nearly as thin with long hair as dark as Alindri’s that fell wildly down his torso in stark contrast to his porcelain skin. Compared to Blossom’s refinement, the man looked wild, one with the careless forest around him. Alindri stopped humming, embaressment filling her cheeks with heat and rosey colour.

“You have a beautiful voice,” Blossom said, not lifting her head from the man’s shoulder. Her smile was different than it had been, more relaxed maybe. Alindri hadn’t thought she’d been forcing the gesture before, but it was clear now that it hadn’t been fully genuine. “I’m excited to learn that your people can hear the Tel’melo. This will save us much time during your coming trial.”

Alindri blinked at the woman, unsure. “The Tel’melo?”

The wild man laughed, his shoulders bouncing Blossom’s head as theyshook from the laughter. “Let me guess, child; it is like a song you have always known but never heard, you sing along because you must but you do not know the words.” His voice was coarse yet sweet and his smiled spread through his whole body. Alindri was tempted to like man without even knowing his name.

“The song that you were singing?”

“And the song you sang with us,” he nodded.

“Well,” Alindri felt the urge to argue against what the man had said battling her unwarranted trust of the man. He was right after all, she’d sung with them in a way even without knowing the song. “Yes, I suppose this is all right. But how could you know what I felt? Is that your magic, that your people can read minds?”

The two laughed and Alindri felt stupid. She should’ve known better then to guess at the magic of this strange world. “No, child, it is much simpler than magic of any kind. The Tel’melo is the song of life and creation,” the man started.

“It is what I have spoken of before we entered the desert sands, remember?” Blossom interjected, though it didn’t seem to bother the man at all.

Continuing when she’d finished, “Yes it is in all things, the power of the mother crafted in time by the Sons of Silver who beat their wings into the winds of time so that the song might stretch on forever!"

Alindri was only getting more confused by the man’s answers. She wished desperately someone would tell her what was going on in plain speech instead of feeding her all these riddles. Suddenly, she remember there had been more in their party than just herself and Blossom, yet they were nowhere to be found. “Where’s Perci?”

Blossom frowned, not angry but not happy to hear the name. “He’s gone along with Barnick to the mountain city Gepolis. I figured it would be best to separate you two for a time, I don’t like having to sedate you constantly and his presence would not be productive for your own training here.”

“So Perci won’t have to take the trial with me?”

“Actually,” Blossom hesitated, “Perci has already passed his second trial.”

Alindri shook her head slowly, eyes fixed on the ground. “I must have been asleep much longer than I thought.”

“No, it has only been three days since we left the Moving City. Perci, well, Perci didn’t need any time to answer the questions.”

“What questions?”

The man straightened himself, trying hard to look dignified despite sitting in the dirt like a child at play. “In the desert, you learned the way of the sand, yes. The ever-changing nature of all things. For you, the truth was patience; Perci, on the other hand, learned to make change through force. So it was that both of you have received the blessing of the winds. Perci’s power has already manifested. Yours, however, seems locked within you.”

“If Perci could unlock his power, I’m sure it can’t be that hard. How do I do it?”

“That’s the thing, child. Perci did not unlock anything, you have locked your own power away though. This is a mystery you must solve before the forest can bless you. The way of the trees is acceptance. You must learn to accept yourself and your circumstance, something Perci had done long before he came to me. Now, you must learn to do the same.”

#

Alindri sat on the floor of the tree-house. For hours she’d sat and talked with the wild man about herself, her story, her struggles. It was frustrating to be behind Perci in their training, but even more disconcerting was the fact that it was her own fault that she was where she was. The trial was simple enough, or at least it should have been. All she had to do was answer three questions honestly: who are you, what is your goal, and why haven’t you achieved it yet? It made sense why Perci had outpaced her here, he was always so sure of himself. Blossom had been kind enough to share his answers; they weren’t what Alindri had hoped for but fell in line with what she’d expected. He was the man with no history and no future, striving only for vengeance against those he felt had wronged him, and the only reason they still breathed was his own weakness. So he would get stronger.

They were simple questions, but the answers had changed so quickly as of late, Alindri wasn’t sure who she was anymore, or why she should be anyone for that matter. She had been a priest, someone who lived to please the nameless god and know the peace such faith would bring. There was nothing that had stood between her and that peace, she’d had all she ever wanted. Now, she was a lost little girl in a world she couldn’t understand where her god couldn’t hear her cries for help. She wanted to go home, to her real home, not the tent-city on the coast that had been her home for less than a month and she’d only spent a single night in. She could never have this life she dreamed of, and she knew it.

The wild man had taught her the ritual practice he called Medosoph, where one sits and clears away their thoughts until the Tel’melo was loud within. He’d promised this would show her the answers she seeked. No one told her how long it would take, or what it would mean if Perci finished first, but the pair of beautiful creatures taught her words in their language.

Days passed and Alindri threw herself into her studies, studying in the mornings and practicing Medosoph in the afternoons, continuing well into the evening. Gradually, she felt less lost in her own mind and found herself at home with the wild man and Blossom. Maybe, home was where you make it. Spiritually, she felt herself heal with time. On the third day, she prayed for the first time since leaving the sands of the Moving City. Her god was nameless, too great to be captured by the mortal mind, so why should he be limited by the land she inhabited? Alindri heard his voice in the song, ringing out from within her; she heard him whisper to her in the wind as it rattled the branches of trees and whistled through the grass.

#

On the seventh day, Alindri woke with a sense of peace she’d not known before. In her dreams, she had met the Great Mother who told her they would meet soon; Alindri wasn’t in the habit of trusting her dreams, but she knew this was more of a sign than a dream. Her god had finally answered her. More likely, her god had never stopped answering her, she’d jus stopped listening to his answers. And he was a She, he always had been, the Great Mother in disguise as a nameless man. Alindri thought it was terribly funny, though she doubted her companions would.

She descended the spiraling steps to the forest clearing where she knew the wild man would be waiting for her as he had every morning since she had arrived.

“Gone anatole, kore,” he greeted her in the traditional way, as she’d been taught.

She replied with the proper phrase for when addressing an elder, “Meta neos helio, anarkissos, archos.” She was proud of the progress she’d made with the strange language and enjoyed the way it sounded in her own voice, unfamiliar yet unchanged.

Blossom entered the clearing from the forest with a basket full of leaves and berries for their breakfast and smiled lovingly when she saw Alindri. “You seem well sister,” she’d taken to calling Alindri by this nickname since they’d discussed the power of a person’s name and the control it gave other people when they knew it. Alindri had learned Blossom’s real name as well, though hadn’t spoken it out of respect; the same was true of her master, the wild man.

“More than well, sister. I think I have my answers,” Alindri said cheerfully. She was surprised that she wasn’t more anxious about the trial. The wild man stood and looked at her with serious eyes. “What has changed in you, child?”

“Our Mother has visited me, and I know now what I must do.”

Blossom and the man sat, eyes full of hope and tension. The wild man nodded, his mess of hair swaying with the movement.

“I am Alindri, child of none and daughter of the Great Mother. I must go to her, so that she may teach me what she will. No obstacle stands against me but time, and so I will patiently await my destiny.”

The wind rose from a light breeze to a torrent. Stray leaves whipped into the air, their rest on the forest floor disturbed, and the trees shook from the force. Alindri closed her eyes, and she sang the sad song of the Tel’melo, unashamed as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

 

Chapter Four

Travelling through the forest had been the first proper journey Alindri had been on in a while; Blossom had given her a few dresses and proper underwear so she could change out of the ragged cloak she’d been wearing for weeks on end, and they’d even brought horses. Well, not horses but close to it. The animals were shorter and thinner than any horse Alindri had seen, and their pelts were covered in a soft fur like the wool of a sheep.

The wild man had also taught Alindri how the song could be used to conjure things, like water so she could shower. She’d learned the hard way that the song wasn’t exactly the magic she’d thought it would be, instead operating with a ind of its own. Trying to conjure a small rain cloud to shower her gently, Alindri had instead filled the small hut’s wash room with a billowing thunder cloud that clapped hard enough to leave her deaf in the right ear for a few days. Blossom assured her it would get easier with time, but Alindri didn’t mind it much. There was something exciting about having such a power that was beyond her direction.

As they traversed the sprawling wilds of the forest, Blossom had pointed out a great tree in the southern horizon that was much more a mountain than a tree due its titanic size. The woman had said the tree was home to the capital of her people, host to teir government and a sprawling marketplace that one could lose themselves in for a week. Alindri was terribly sad they hadn’t the time for a visit. Along their path, they encountered many people living in small tree huts similar to the one the wild man had inhabited. Alindri wasn’t sure why they liked the isolation so much but didn’t bother to question the secrets of the strangers who were kind in their offers of hospitality. If there were no home to return to when this was done, Alindri knew the forest folk would welcome her to wander their forest and even sleep in their homes.

And so it came that after a few days riding through the trees that the canopy opened and the sky was filled instead with the craggy peaks of mountains Blossom told her were home to Barnick’s people. High atop the peaks, Alindri could see shining domes of gold rising above stone walls of vast cities. It was the closest thing to the home she’d left behind she had seen since. Their journey woul take them to the dome in the north atop a mountain too low to suffer the raging snow of the higher peaks, alongside a river carrying the melt to the valley below.

The beasts they rode were not fit for such rocky terrain, their hooves instead padded feet like that of a cat, and so the pair were forced to climb the summit by foot. It was a daunting task, yet Alindri relished in the challenge, her muscles burning as she sucked the crisp mountain air in great gulps. These were the first mountains she’d climbed, and she was rather enjoying herself. The pair camped only when it was too dark to climb and thus made decent time to their destination, not passing a fortnight when they arrived at the great wall with gates left wide open to the traffic moving in and out of the city.

“Welcome to Ipholis, the mountain city of Herolys the Saint.” Blossom called back over her shoulder as the two disappeared into the bustling street that carried them into the city.

#

Firstly, Blossom led them to an inn near the heart of the city with a view of the dome and arranged for the two of them to stay there for the coming week. Alindri was pleasantly surprised by the modernity of the place which sported showers fed by mechanical pumps in each private room, plumbing for sinks and toilets, and even timepieces of various size and design hung about the walls in every room. The people of the city all crawled in the strange, hopping movement Barnick had, but thankfully didn’t speak in the weird poetry the little ball of a man had. They’d only had enough time to unpack what little they had brought up the mountain when a knock at the door alerted them to a new visitor. Blossom answered the door to a little boy, hunched and unfamiliar but still youthful in his voice.

“Ma’am,” the boy squeaked, “Lord Herolys, divine be his name and blessed all he touches, requests your presence at the earliest convenience.” The boy stared at the floor, only peering up to sneak a curious glance at Alindri.

It had never crossed her mind how strange she must seem to the people of this land. They’d all been aliens to her, whimsical things that should have existed in a fairy tale, but it had never occurred to her that she was likely just as out-of-place in their eyes. Alindri chanced that the boy might only be scared because he’d never met one of her kind before, or if he had it had been Perci, and he wasn’t a friendly sort as of late. “What is your name? Mine is Alindri,” she did her best to mimic the sweetness in Blossom’s voice and put on a smile, hoping to ease his anxiety.

“Most call me Ip, ma’am, on account of me being small and all.” The boy paused, though he seemed more sure of himself and his eyes were no longer fixed to the floor, but rather roamed up and down her quizzically. “We here heard all about you folk, sailing in across the far sea without so much as a governor amongst you. Must be weird not serving a king, I reckon. Not a day in my life will I know it.” Alindri furrowed her brow, “Do you like your king?”

“Oh, yes ma’am, very much so. Herolys, divine be his name and blessed all he touches, is a fine king to serve, treats me better than any other king has, that’s for certain.”

“Other kings?”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ve served a dozen so far, though a dozen seems enough, don’t it. Some find their fit first time but I’m not the type to settle, no. Though, Herolys, divine be his name and blessed all he touches, he seems a good king and I think now I found my fit, I hope.”

Blossom cleared her throat, “Well, Ip, I think that’ll be all for now. You have served your king well, we shall make haste once we have eaten a proper meal and made ourselves presentable.”

The boy bowed a broken sort of bow, already being so hunched he appeared to be trying to stick his head between his legs more than bow. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you ma’am.” And with that, he was off.

“What a peculiar people. A dozen kings and they don’t go to war every day; that may be the most peculiar thing I’ve hear since I got off that boat.”

“The kings here hold no more power than the people give them, it keeps them from straying too much from the path of peace. Though there are some kings who’d quicker turn you inside out then wait for an apology. The Kingdom of the Sands may be brutish, but they value justice; in the Kingdom of Iron, he kings rule how they see fit and each city defines its own justice. Best to stay on their good side just in case.”

#

Walking the streets of the city had been marvelous. Every way she turned, Alindri found some new and exciting contraption; everything from helmets that did your hair while you sat and relaxed to crossbows that loaded themselves, pouring never-ending streams of arrows into their target with the precision of a master marksman. The mountain cities were no less than a technological wonderland, but the food was far less appetizing. Unfamiliar rodents hung by their tails, skinned but no deboned, even the eyes left inside as they baked in huge, brick ovens or roasted on spits for customers to watch. The stench of the marketplace reminded her of a dock she’d visited as a child, fish no longer fresh boiling in the midday sun and filling the surrounding area with a cloud of scents so thick you could taste them. She was glad they’d decided to eat at the inn instead.

Past the markets and atop a small hill was the great, golden dome they had seen from the lands far below, even more glorious in person. It must have been a hundred feet tall, coated in gold all over from the domed roof to the cylindrical base supporting it with windows filled with glass that shone as if it were diamond cut so thin you could see through it. Veins of gold ran through the glass, painting outlines of fire, anvils, gears, and unfamiliar faces with flowing beards and great crowns. Blossom told her these were the faces of the kings.

Inside of the dome, Alindri found herself encased in a solid block of granite, carved into the shape she’d seen in the street but not gilded on the interior; instead, huge murals of scenes of battle, marriage, and great winged creatures posed majestically were carved into the marble walls and filled with paint to bring the pictures to life. The images in the corners of her vision seemed to move, but remained still when she stared at them directly.

They were led up a staircase and through a dark, wooden door many times taller than would have been necessary even for Gorroxar to enter the room, let alone the hunched creatures who made up the city’s populace, though amongst the crowds in the streets, Alindri had spotted quite a few of Blossom’s people, and even a few of the enormous sand folk. On the other side of the door was a large, spherical room in the same marble of the main entrance, the walls unadorned by paintings, with a small circular platform raised slightly in the center with a golden throne too small for Alindri to sit upon yet stretching tens of feet toward the ceiling. Upon it sat one of the mountain folk, his back not hunched in the slightest with shoulders held high and straight, a crown of silver atop his straight, white hair that fell past his shoulders, mingling slightly with the edges of a short, well-kempt beard of a striking orange that Alindri thought looked a bit unnatural. It’s fiery glow matched his long robes which were embroidered with gold and silver thread in a pattern of intersecting waves.

Blossom lowered herself gently to her knees a few feet from the throne and motioned for Alindri to do the same, so she did. Likewise, she imitated the woman as she lowered her head to the floor, pressing her forehead to the hard marble with her hands flat to the ground, stretched in front of her. “Herolys, divine be your name and blessed all you touch,” the woman turned slightly, not raising her head from the floor, to look at Alindri who quickly repeated her words.

“Relax Amara, please. I am honored, truly, to hear such kindnesses from one as noble and beautiful as you!” His voice was not deep, but neither was it the shriek of Barnick’s that Alindri had expected. It rang through the marble room, giving it an air of greatness that sent shivers down Alindri’s spine. “And you, child of far-away lands, I am honored as well to meet one with a heart so pure! I have heard much of your exploits from my subjects across the land; also have I heard of your brother, a criminal in many lands it seems.”

Alindri saw Blossom rise to sit, not standing but laying her hands across her lap as she knelt. Alindri had never heard anyone address her by the name Amara, which Blossom had told her was her true name, and was afraid this would anger the woman, though her smile did not so much as waver. Following her lead, Alindri rose to a kneeling position as well.

Her confusion at hearing Blossom’s true name must have shown on her face more than she had meant for the king chuckled a single, rough chuckle and spoke kindly to her, “Do not be afraid, child. All in this palace address one another by their true name; it does a great deal for preventing lies here as any blessing or curse against another will be made whole. This is why your friend honors me so kindly when speaking my name, for now my strength is grown through her words, and through yours as well. We kings possess a greatness not given at birth, nor practiced, nor taught by any sage; it is a power given by those that were our peers before we were made sacred, and thus we can easily return the blessings, and curses, of our greatness to them as our subjects. Like the mother, from us power flows and to us power is given. All of this from the names we have chosen for ourselves.” The man smiled weakly and the amusement in his eyes told Alindri this was not a speech he often had to make.

Alindri bowed her head to the marble once more, hoping it was an honorific gesture, “Thank you Herolys, divine be your name and blessed all you touch, for honoring me with such knowledge.”

“Honor I cannot bestow on one whose true name I know not. Tell me child, what true name is yours so that my blessings may be made whole in you?”

Alindri raised her head from the marble once more, blinking in confusion. She turned to Blossom and shrugged, the motion begging for assistance.

“This is a truth you must discover for yourself, sister,” the woman replied.

Alindri looked back at the king atop the golden throne, “I apologize graet lord, but I know not my true name. I know only the name given to me as a child, Alindri, daughter of none.”

“A true name cannot be given, nor can it be taken away. Deep within you will find your answer, and any answer will be right; though take care your choice is made wisely for a true name can not change and carries with it great power. This is your trial, child. Return to me when you know who you truly are, and the power of mine people will be yours.”

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Alindri had spent the whole night lying in bed, tossing and turning and she thought on the king’s question. It was one thing to know who you were, to find purpose in your own struggles, to have an ambition; it entirely another problem to name your deeper self, let alone to bind yourself with foreign magics to a name that could put you at the mercy of strangers. Blossom had told her that Perci was in another city, wrestling with the same internal struggle. She wondered what his true name would be. There was a time when she’d truly loved Perci, but he’d never learned to love anyone else the way that he should and Alindri didn’t know how long they could last with him dragging her along his own path of hatred and self-destruction. She had her own path now, her own power, and no one could be allowed to stray from their own path. Perci was the last tether to her old life that remained, a tether made of regret and sorrow.

A true name was rooted in the ancient language of Blossom’s people, the language she'd learned from the sage in the tree-hut only a week before. She’d grown a lot in such a short time, what would stop her from outgrowing her chosen self as she had outgrown who she once was? Perci hadn’t changed, not really. He’d grown darker, his hatred feeding his violence more since they’d left the old world all those months ago; but he had always had that hatred in him, ever since they were young. “Percharis,” she said to herself as she stared at the ceiling. It was who Perci had always been, “the death of peace.” An eternal storm raging, consuming everyone who dared to love him. He’d consumed her too.

Yet, now, she wasn’t who she had been. His hate had consumed her, his violence shattered the last of the girl who had left her home to love him; now, she was someone new, someone unbound except by her own will.

“Alyssis,” she told herself, and the last of her doubt faded. She’d bound herself to her new fate and the finality filled her with a power she suspected she’d always had but hidden deep beneath her fears and weaknesses. “I am Alyssis, the untethered, and I won’t let anything tie me down again.” She closed her eyes and prayed thanks to the Great Mother, knowing that they would meet soon.

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Cover art credit: Aquatint by Karl Bodmer, from "Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834"