She floated peacefully in a dark sky full of stars. She looked around with mild curiosity and wondered who she was. The stars floated closer to her, and they were not stars at all, but shards of crystal; some the clear blue of calm tropical waters, some the deep blue of an angry sea in a storm. And they were all broken. She could see where their edges fit with one another, but they were detached and afloat.
One came into her reach and she touched it and looked into it. She saw a woman working diligently in a lab. “Oh, there I am”, she thought, with slight disinterest. She pushed it on its way and reached for the next shard. It was her again, wandering Telara and joining the order Sedition. People and inconsequential situations came and went. A Man stood by her in the crystal; he asked her if it was true of his commander. Yes she tells him, let me show you, he hides it from all. She pulled the demigod from the commander, and the confused Man struck her down. She lay unconscious as the commander attacked the Man; as the commander, under the possessor’s influence, decimated a town; and as the Man crawled away and lost his mind.
“Hmm…I remember this”, she thought. She pulled another crystal shard to her and darned it to the one in her hand. In it she was tracking the Man, full of guilt, and watching over him, and watching him. As Rivvka put together more pieces, she remembered that The Man was a Red Man; that the demigod of death raised him from the earth, and tore pieces of souls from the soulstream to make him, a perfect assassin. The Man was required to travel the additional threads of time and kill the Others of himself, and these stayed in his mind and took him over after he struck her. The Poet, the Hermit, the Templar, and the Killer. There was one other, but he hid, and Rivvka did not sense him. Thus the Killer had taken over; but through much effort of Rivvka and Sedition, the Man was returned to himself.
She smiled to herself as her love for him was evoked with the next crystal. She fell in love with him, and he with her. She watched with more familiarity as he escorted her to an empty wedding chamber in another time sliver. There they vowed to stand by each other and love each other always. He gave her his Name; she was the only one he had ever given it to willingly, as it held immeasurable power over him. With tenderness and devotion, they consummated their union. He became her Order and Wisdom, and she his Ni Monn, his heart.
The crystalized memories were coming faster now. She saw the Templar come to the front as the Man held her passionately against a wall, and she burned them both to push him back. The Man sought out his gods and ended the Others altogether, but was imbalanced by the sudden silence in his mind. She stayed by him and gave him comfort. Countless battles passed her vision; deceit and betrayal led to many of her deaths, but no deaths for him, for he was still mortal. The Man had numerous enemies and fought many battles. He owed allegiance to some and had pacts with others, and his gods kept him alive. But every time the gods pulled him from the jaws of demise, he was weakened as payment.
Tears burned her eyes as she knew what was in the next crystal. She didn’t need to see it to be reminded, but she looked nonetheless. Her breath stopped in her chest as the Droughtlands came into view; she saw herself and the Man sitting far atop Lantern Hook, overlooking the ruins of Redoubt, her home from 500 years before. He told her he was weakened, and could not go on, and that she must help him. She cried, and they made love with urgency and tears. He asked her to be brave for him, and handed her his dagger. She slid it across his throat, and there was more blood than she thought possible. He died in her arms; she was set adrift.
Adrift as she was now, floating. What had happened after that? She was in despair now, and could not remember. She found the crystal that fit with the piece, grabbed it with haste, and fell into the memory. In it, she saw herself walking away, leaving his body high up where she had slain him, his blood covering her. Her anguish was paralyzing. She was accosted by the Man’s father, and he tried to enter her mind. Her mind threw him back with such force he fell and left in a rage. She turned in the fog and was confronted by another, a villain who tried to force himself on her. She pushed him away, and then again; as a last resort, he defiled her mind in her weakened mental state, and then disappeared. Her order and her anchor were gone, and desolation crushed her. She walked into an inn and sat on the floor in a dark corner, a vial of faebane in her hand. As she looked at the vial, the Man sat silently beside her. He crushed the vial of potent poison. Certain she had gone mad, she fainted. He held her in his lap all night, and did not leave her. Ever again.
One came into her reach and she touched it and looked into it. She saw a woman working diligently in a lab. “Oh, there I am”, she thought, with slight disinterest. She pushed it on its way and reached for the next shard. It was her again, wandering Telara and joining the order Sedition. People and inconsequential situations came and went. A Man stood by her in the crystal; he asked her if it was true of his commander. Yes she tells him, let me show you, he hides it from all. She pulled the demigod from the commander, and the confused Man struck her down. She lay unconscious as the commander attacked the Man; as the commander, under the possessor’s influence, decimated a town; and as the Man crawled away and lost his mind.
“Hmm…I remember this”, she thought. She pulled another crystal shard to her and darned it to the one in her hand. In it she was tracking the Man, full of guilt, and watching over him, and watching him. As Rivvka put together more pieces, she remembered that The Man was a Red Man; that the demigod of death raised him from the earth, and tore pieces of souls from the soulstream to make him, a perfect assassin. The Man was required to travel the additional threads of time and kill the Others of himself, and these stayed in his mind and took him over after he struck her. The Poet, the Hermit, the Templar, and the Killer. There was one other, but he hid, and Rivvka did not sense him. Thus the Killer had taken over; but through much effort of Rivvka and Sedition, the Man was returned to himself.
She smiled to herself as her love for him was evoked with the next crystal. She fell in love with him, and he with her. She watched with more familiarity as he escorted her to an empty wedding chamber in another time sliver. There they vowed to stand by each other and love each other always. He gave her his Name; she was the only one he had ever given it to willingly, as it held immeasurable power over him. With tenderness and devotion, they consummated their union. He became her Order and Wisdom, and she his Ni Monn, his heart.
The crystalized memories were coming faster now. She saw the Templar come to the front as the Man held her passionately against a wall, and she burned them both to push him back. The Man sought out his gods and ended the Others altogether, but was imbalanced by the sudden silence in his mind. She stayed by him and gave him comfort. Countless battles passed her vision; deceit and betrayal led to many of her deaths, but no deaths for him, for he was still mortal. The Man had numerous enemies and fought many battles. He owed allegiance to some and had pacts with others, and his gods kept him alive. But every time the gods pulled him from the jaws of demise, he was weakened as payment.
Tears burned her eyes as she knew what was in the next crystal. She didn’t need to see it to be reminded, but she looked nonetheless. Her breath stopped in her chest as the Droughtlands came into view; she saw herself and the Man sitting far atop Lantern Hook, overlooking the ruins of Redoubt, her home from 500 years before. He told her he was weakened, and could not go on, and that she must help him. She cried, and they made love with urgency and tears. He asked her to be brave for him, and handed her his dagger. She slid it across his throat, and there was more blood than she thought possible. He died in her arms; she was set adrift.
Adrift as she was now, floating. What had happened after that? She was in despair now, and could not remember. She found the crystal that fit with the piece, grabbed it with haste, and fell into the memory. In it, she saw herself walking away, leaving his body high up where she had slain him, his blood covering her. Her anguish was paralyzing. She was accosted by the Man’s father, and he tried to enter her mind. Her mind threw him back with such force he fell and left in a rage. She turned in the fog and was confronted by another, a villain who tried to force himself on her. She pushed him away, and then again; as a last resort, he defiled her mind in her weakened mental state, and then disappeared. Her order and her anchor were gone, and desolation crushed her. She walked into an inn and sat on the floor in a dark corner, a vial of faebane in her hand. As she looked at the vial, the Man sat silently beside her. He crushed the vial of potent poison. Certain she had gone mad, she fainted. He held her in his lap all night, and did not leave her. Ever again.