Post by Rin on Jun 16, 2015 21:25:53 GMT
The Empress of Kar--drunk, naked, and perfectly alone--lay supine in the center of Uneira valley, a single grain of rice in a god’s bowl. The snow, pink and shimmering under a bleeding moon, felt warm beneath her skin--Snow Shades had little sense of cold. She hummed to herself, an ancient, haunted tune. One of the few things she missed of the Celir was their enchanted music. The letter in her hands bore a black fox seal, and looked as if it had been read a thousand times.
Your wolf heeds the call, the letter said. Watch for him under a bleeding Eye.
- I.R.
Casmia sighed, folding the letter reverently. It had arrived (long awaited) just a few days previously, flown to the palace from the Northren Outpost on silent wings. The man she needed, the one her whisperers whispered of, had finally come to the Spine, had finally responded to her requests. Her whisperer's encoded letter claimed her wolf would arrive under a bleeding eye. In other words, the man she needed would come when the moon was red.
"And the moon is certainly red," Casmia thought, glancing at the sky. She sat up momentarily, stretching and scanning the surrounding ridge-tops. She'd spent the last several nights hiking the ridges to watch the moonrise, perusing the horizon for even the slightest glimmer of red. Every night she'd returned home wanting, save for this one. And still her wolf was nowhere to be found.
"What could possibly be keeping him?" She thought, reclining gently back onto the snow.
A voice whispered in her mind. "People from your wolf’s land aren't accustomed to casual nudity, you know."
Casmia smiled, eyeing the ridgetop to the west. A horse-sized snowfox paced back and forth along a strip of exposed stone. Senka.
"What?" Casmia thought back, watching the snowfox pace. "You think my wolf will be a man of delicate sensitivities?"
"I think," thought Senka, "That the last thing he’ll need after all he's been through is to stumble upon the Empress of the Holy City naked and drunk in the middle of a snowy mountain valley."
Casmia laughed, a bright flash of pearl. "When am I not naked and drunk, Senka?" she thought. "The only real anomaly in this situation is my location."
"True. You’re usually naked and drunk in the monastery."
"That was one time."
"One time too many for the monks, I'm sure. He’s here."
"Oh?" Casmia sat up, a smile on her lips. Senka had spoken true. A figure was approaching from the north.
Your wolf heeds the call, the letter said. Watch for him under a bleeding Eye.
- I.R.
Casmia sighed, folding the letter reverently. It had arrived (long awaited) just a few days previously, flown to the palace from the Northren Outpost on silent wings. The man she needed, the one her whisperers whispered of, had finally come to the Spine, had finally responded to her requests. Her whisperer's encoded letter claimed her wolf would arrive under a bleeding eye. In other words, the man she needed would come when the moon was red.
"And the moon is certainly red," Casmia thought, glancing at the sky. She sat up momentarily, stretching and scanning the surrounding ridge-tops. She'd spent the last several nights hiking the ridges to watch the moonrise, perusing the horizon for even the slightest glimmer of red. Every night she'd returned home wanting, save for this one. And still her wolf was nowhere to be found.
"What could possibly be keeping him?" She thought, reclining gently back onto the snow.
A voice whispered in her mind. "People from your wolf’s land aren't accustomed to casual nudity, you know."
Casmia smiled, eyeing the ridgetop to the west. A horse-sized snowfox paced back and forth along a strip of exposed stone. Senka.
"What?" Casmia thought back, watching the snowfox pace. "You think my wolf will be a man of delicate sensitivities?"
"I think," thought Senka, "That the last thing he’ll need after all he's been through is to stumble upon the Empress of the Holy City naked and drunk in the middle of a snowy mountain valley."
Casmia laughed, a bright flash of pearl. "When am I not naked and drunk, Senka?" she thought. "The only real anomaly in this situation is my location."
"True. You’re usually naked and drunk in the monastery."
"That was one time."
"One time too many for the monks, I'm sure. He’s here."
"Oh?" Casmia sat up, a smile on her lips. Senka had spoken true. A figure was approaching from the north.
)