| Trancendence
The air is thick with the scent of congealing blood. She feels the heat upon her skin. The cleansing flame. The sealing blade.
She accepts the pain and draws it into herself. Pain becomes rage. Rage becomes energy. The fire burns anew.
The great star that has been carved into the floor of the Inner Sanctum is now crimson with her blood. Yet still she lives; still she stands.
Her father steps forward, a robe draped across outstretched arms. She takes it silently, and puts it on.
It is done.
One of the old priests looks at her with barely concealed disdain. She knows that he is dismayed to see a woman enter the order, but what can he do? She is the adopted daughter of Havarian Soulshadow, and she has been Chosen.
Kai
“You are back,” Kai says as she closes the door to her temporary quarters in Sandholt.
She goes to rub her arm, and then stops herself. The tattoos are fresh and have only just begun to scab. They are itching like crazy. “Aye.”
It has been almost two weeks since she went to Kaldor City to see her father. Two weeks since she has seen Kai. “I’m sorry, Kai. I cannae stay fer long. I want te, I really do but…” She sighs heavily. “I must return te Strongholt.”
A look of something like disappointment shows in his eyes for a moment, but is quickly gone.
“I would dearly love te stay, Kai, and fight alongside ye, but my duties lie elsewhere.” She grimaces slightly. “I nay have a choice.”
“I understand,” he says solemnly.
“But I will have te return here from time te time te see the Priesthood. And when I do, I will come and see ye. That I promise.”
“How long before you must go back?”
“Two days.” She kicks off her boots and then begins to unbutton her shirt. “We’d best make the most of ‘em eh?”
The shirt joins her boots on the floor, and Kai sees for the first time the red and black flames that snake up her arms from wrist to shoulder.
“As you wish,” he says, and begins to remove his armour. |