Snakes, bogs, and the end of everything.

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tidal
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2018 1:18 am
Location: NZ

Snakes, bogs, and the end of everything.

Post by tidal » Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:25 am

"You speak of awakening as though it was a blessing, Aardi... Someting to celebrate. I hear you. And yet, if I am fully honest with myself, I have to admit: I wish I was still sleeping. Sweet and cozy."

He shivered, almost violently, and jerked the fur-lined collar of his coat up unto his cheeks. In spite of his last words, the mild breeze that had stayed unnoticed for hours turned into moist draughty windchill. It pounced the hin and his companion as a feline that was allowed a perfect ambush. It reminded at once how dark, slow, and cold the waters of the Nagaflow were, just a stone's throw away from the ruined tower where the two rested. The hin's dark olive skin was now rough with goosebumps and raised stiff hairs. He picked his dangling legs up, off the collapsed balcony edge and into a hug, by his chest.

Aardi's laughter sounded merry and pleasantly light-hearted, if somewhat unexpected a response. You would think it belonged to a fair young lady who never had to shy herself away or double-guess her feelings for a moment. The hin turned, with a smile taking his face over already, despite him not understanding. His gaze followed a careened lithe pillar up: in place of vines it was entwined with a scaled serpent's body, easily three meters long. Her scales were darker by the minute now that the sun was gone, but they seemed to still emanate an eerie radiance of tuqruoise, purples, and oranges - as if she had basked and soaked the very sunset in. She was watching the ruins and the river valley stretching far into the dales; her mouth closed, alike to his own, yet her voice live and clear in his mind.

"You speak of sleeping as though you were awake, my dear cub. You must imagine you are something else now?"

He scoffed and turned away again, biting his cheek a little between his jaws. The witch was teasing.

"Enlightened by the wisdom of the ancients, none the less, which I bestowed upon your ripe mind?" She was clearly enjoying herself too much.

"With your graceful hand, none the less." He tried to retaliate.

"Ever-turning is the wheel. Yes, destroyed and reborn is the world at each red dawn." The naga was now hanging down in front of Fern's face, slowly slithering in air in a circular motion with her tail in her own mouth and a mischievous expression on her face.

"Don't fall off." He stared at her blankly.

"...But even if we get a glimpse of it, it is gone before we can comprehend what it was. This very town once encroached onto the forest; the ancient history of the felled trees was lost forever. But new growth is already thickening on its dead body. Perhaps the same citizens would have had your home sold for furniture and ships, that now roam the ghosted streets, tormented by eternal hunger."

The halfling shivered again at the memory of undead hands grasping his neck, and set his nails into the skin of his own shins. He could not possibly understand the naga's motives, nor could he be surprised if she had had halflings for a snack before... But he was up and ready to fight back for life again, with a steady ground under his feet, and a road ahead - and everything he owed to her. In a way, he wished this time never had to end. He kept listening to her soothing musings in his mind.

"...You think you are hurt because you were stripped of your whole life, I know. But worse times will come. And better ones, too. And then you shed your skin again. Unthinkable things will become mundane, and the ordinary will lose its face in oblivion. Treasure the moments of wonder and new secrets, for as soon as you blink... You will be none the wiser again!"

A profound smile on the hin's face stretched into a grimace as he failed to suppress a yawn.
"Is this why you call your god the Seeker? I mean..."

Instead of a reply in Silent Speech, a long soft hiss echoed off the stone walls, but Fern could swear he heard her smile. She moved directly at him and slithered over his shoulder heading downstairs - disturbingly close to his neck, yet somehow in a manner that made him think of a wild cat rubbing against a tree.

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