Completed [Challenge] The Length Of A Day V

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: 45th of Fall, 522 A.V.

The Kois Quas Dominion : Gold Lake (third season)


She stood quietly while she watched the man apply the adhesive to the back of the metal disk. She wore eight dampeners now and he was about to apply the ninth. Tazrae shifted uncomfortably, awkwardly, her body not as easy for her to handle as it had been months ago. Taz would have taken a seat, but for some reason, these last few dampeners had hit her hard and she was better off on her feet, not relaxed n a chair or someplace that eased her aching back when the emotions returned.

Her trainer approached. He felt around her collar until he found one of the last remaining unaltered stones and pulled it hard away from her throat. It tightened up the other disks on the other side and she coughed a little as he applied the dampener by pressing the buffering disk up against the magical metal medallion that formed the tight collar she wore. His fingers dug into her throat to get the disk properly installed then held it away from her skin for the adhesive to dry and not accidentally fuse the metal with her skin. He glanced down at her, frowning slightly, and then met her gaze.

“What did the doctor say?” He asked, a dark eyebrow lifting over a golden orb.

She swallowed hard. “Not one. Two.” She said simply her voice low in her throat.

The trainer had suspected as much. For all the passage of time, the girl was bigger than she should have been as time passed. “It makes sense. You are a twin. The Arcadius line is full of them.” He replied. “Healthy though?” He asked, prompting her again. It was awkward, standing right next to her, hands on her throat, making conversation with her.

“Yes. He said they were healthy.” He said a lot more too. Sran’tuka was there, and he was quite pleased. “I can’t do the morning runs anymore, and no more weapons practice.” She said as he eased the now dry metal back against her throat. Tazrae froze, her back stiffening, as the colors of her world grew more vibrant and the vast majority of her feelings – including her rage – coursed up and down her body, nearly utterly free. “Gods…” She whispered, bowing her head forward.

The man was ready for it and had her by the shoulders, holding her steady for a moment as she got herself under control. “Easy.” He said as if soothing a horse or some other form of livestock. The fact that he was trying at all surprised Tazrae.

Once she’d had a moment, she turned and looked at the man who still gripped her shoulders. “The doctor flat out told Sran’tuka that I would not have an easy birth. He complained that I was too small and poorly designed to carry such a burden. Sran’tuka told the doctor that if I went into labor and had difficulties, he was to save the newborns even if it meant cutting them out of me. He told him I was just a vessel and replaceable, but they were not.” Tazrae said, rage filling her eyes.

The trainer took a deep breath. “You must control it, Tazrae. If I can read it in your face, so can Sran’tuka. Your mother is no bigger than you and birthed you and your sister just fine. You both were small but grew fast. Others in the Arcadius branch have had similar situations. You are fit, healthy, and stubborn. If I could have put off these dampeners past the birth, I would have… but once the babies are born healthy the need of you will be extremely in question. He reached down, uncharacteristic of him, and laid a hand on her stomach. “All three of you are important. All three of you must survive.” He said, looking thoughtfully at her.

[Tazrae]

“You’ll need to play a role here. Weak. Defeated. Unthreatening. But you can’t be scared and the only thing you can scream about is the pain. And even then, it would be wise for you not to make any sound at all when you deliver. We’ll work on your emotions and controlling them. We’ll work day and night on it until you can master it. You need to survive this.” He said simply, then stepped away.

“Now, go meditate. I want you to take at least a bell and do so in the shade of your balcony. I want you to surround yourself in your djedpool and let it wash over you, retreating deep inside yourself. Don’t tap your djed. Go to it instead, dive deep and make sure your feet are up. Your ankles are swollen again. Drink a lot of water. I will have Lira drop off a pitcher of some with ice. Try to finish the whole thing. While you are emersed in your djed, think about pleasant things, powerful things, and simply get to know yourself.” He added, and then waited for her to turn and begin the walk back to her suite.

Tazrae moved deliberately. She wasn’t ungraceful or awkward. Instead, she was just more deliberate in her movements and in the way she moved. Holding the weight of her swollen abdomen took some getting used to, but the children had grown slowly and she had time to learn. They would be bigger yet again before she was ready to birth them. It took about ten chimes for Tazrae to return to her room, which wasn’t all that close to the training facility. And when she got there, she indeed had fresh ice cold water that she drank deeply of before she settled on a huge cushion on her balcony and leaned back against the chilled stone that comprised her shady room.

Tazrae closed her eyes and sighed, watching her breath, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, calming her nerves and sinking deep within herself. Down, further and further, she traced the lines of the power within her until she found her well and slide her awareness deep into the swirling pool of potential and power. She let her mind go blank, let her worries and thoughts rail off in the swirling color that surrounded her. It was like sitting in a light show – an aurora – that she’d seen once as a little girl living on Riverfall’s cliff city. She absorbed the colors – that of the sunset – and became the oranges and purples and pinks that swirled in her center. Her djed in its raw form resembled a great deal of her Res in its manifested form. But in its raw form, it soothed her and she felt her body relax despite itself, allowing more and more of her awareness to slide down into her core.

As she did so, she passed what she could only describe as twin djedpools of their own… one swirling purple and blue, the other in hues of green and gold. She paused there, startled, and was greeted by the duo of awareness’ that was definitely sentient thoughts and feelings. One, the blue and purple, was a bright feminine spark of interest and acknowledgment. The other, of greens and golds, was masculine and equally welcoming and curious. Tazrae paused there, inside her meditation and inside her own awareness, to greet the duo and surround them with her love. The love was easy to call forth because she was filled with near overflow with that emotion. She fed it into the dual awareness until they too were surrounded and engulfed in that love she felt for them. Taz had no thoughts of hate, resentment, or the need to destroy. These were hers and hers alone. They were something she could hold onto, and nurture, and that was a big part of who she was. She lingered with them, fascinated, delighted, and lavishing them with emotions that were old but new to her. Admiration, pride, the sense of welcoming and need… a need for them in her life. She stayed a long time with those twin flames, knowing they were not as her and her sister were…. fraternal. Her twins were identical, sourced from the same point, and branching out from each other from there.

[Tazrae]

Eventually though, she moved on, moved deeper, and settled into her own djedpool. She let the calm of that place infuse her so that even her body on the outside relaxed. The spirit of the children inside her infused her, buoyed her up somehow, and she suddenly realized that she wasn’t truly alone anymore. There were two lives depending upon her and her actions. And that made all the difference in the world to her. It brought her a comfort Tazrae had rarely known. She’d felt it briefly in Alric’s presence and sleeping sprawled across his chest when she could finally get the rest she so often needed. But since his move to Syka, things were different between them. Tazrae knew that if she ever made it home, there would be no way of explaining this. There was no defense, no excuse, and if time passed differently on the outside, who knew how long she’d been away? Maybe she wasn’t even an Innkeeper any longer. Was the Protea still there?

Fear and uncertainty swirled around her along with the enormous power she felt at her core. She wasn’t grateful for the djed. She was almost resentful of it. It had been bred into her family line so each generation was stronger. Would the two lives she carried within her be even stronger still? She didn’t know who Nyle was. She didn’t know if his blood was also what Sran’tuka wanted. And if it was, why wasn’t he the new host? Taz knew nothing of him. She’d never seen his face, only felt his hands on her body and his ….

Her thoughts trailed off, whirling now, powered by the Djed and powered by her fears and uncertainty. Taz settled, her thoughtform folding itself into a lotus position inside her djedpool, willing herself to be calm, to think, to not just fear. It was hard, oh so hard, and she was so poor at meditation. She was about to retreat, about to leave the place that should have been her greatest security, when she noticed something out of place. A figure sat before her, slowly materializing in the swirl of power around her. At first, she didn’t know the figure… there was no recognition of them at all. Until the man’s form and features materialized into something far more recognizable.

“Tazrae.” The deep warm welcoming voice washed over her.

The young captive froze, her eyes widening, and she lunged forward to wrap her ethereal arms around the now-solid figure. “Father!” She said, burying her face against his shoulder, tucking her head into the curve of his neck. Warm arms enfolded her as her Uncle Marketh infused her with his masculine sandalwood scent. She knew it wasn’t real; that she wasn’t there actually holding him. But his presence was so solid, so real, she couldn’t help the tears that couldn’t possibly exist from streaking the cheeks of the thoughtform she wore.

“I’m glad you still call me that even after you learned the truth. You are and always will be my daughter.” He said softly, gently rocking her back and forth. “And now you are about to make me a grandfather….” He said, gently prying her from his embrace and stepping back to look at her. “You look so much like your mother.” He said softly. “When you two finally meet, I think she’s going to be so proud of you.” He added, a soft warm smile on his face.

[Tazrae]

Taz took her time speaking, instead, she drank in the sight of him with all five senses screaming at her that he was real. Finally, after there was nothing else but to speak, she simply said…. “You are real?”

He nodded. “As real as the dead can be. I am not flesh and bone. That was burned in Riverfall when I shed my body at the hand of the Vayt. But you don’t stop living after you die, Tazrae. None of us do. It’s just another type of living.” He said and in turn, seemed to be taking a good look at her.

“I’ve come to remind you what the priest of Xyna said to you. Eliah said that you make your own destiny, but your fate has been written. I had to leave you, Tazi. I had to. I had to get out of the way of that fate, especially in your case. I would have never let you leave on your own and you would have never gone without me. But I have permission to tell you something and help you decide something else. We’ve all agreed on that.” He said, gesturing around her.

Taz turned and saw the forms all around her. There were people in her djedpool… that was the best way she could describe it. Some were solid, and some were no more than a whisp of smoke suggesting the shape of a person. Some were full-grown, and some were no bigger than the smallest toddler. They crowded close, forming a circle around her in the swirling color so when she pulled back she was sitting knee to crossed knee with Marketh. He reached out and took her hands. Giving hers a gentle squeeze, he met her gaze with eyes so blue that he could have in truth been her sire.

“There is so much you don’t know. You’ve been deliberately kept from your family history and the doings of the Tribes in the desert since before your birth. You were never fated to be part of the desert. You were fated to be cast out like a single tufted seed from a dandelion. You were to blow across the sea and take root in the soils of Falyndar and become one with the jungle. You’ve done very well with that, my girl. You’ve thrived there, and continue to do so. Hard times are coming to Mizahar. The tribes are decimated. If they don’t kill each other or creatures like Sran’tuka don’t infest our midst for their own needs, the land will soon kill us. The desert is turning against its people, growing hotter and stealing anything from us we can use to survive with. Animals have less to eat and we have to travel further and further for water. The Kois and the Lisuli are but former shadows of what they once were. In a generation or two, they will be all but gone.” He said softly, shaking his head.

Taz listened carefully, hungry for any insight into her people or what they are like. When Marketh paused, she shook her head. “I don’t understand why though. I grew up knowing nothing about them, so how is my fate tied so heavily to theirs?” She asked, tilting her head, glancing around at all the shapes watching her. In the real world, Tazrae sat on her cushion out on the balcony, utterly still, in the lotus position. Anyone observing her would note the rapid eye movement under her lids and the motion of her lips moving as if she were talking to someone unseen.

Inside her, deep in her djedpool, the conversation continued.

[Tazrae]

“That was deliberate. Our Kois and Lisuli ways influence what has happened. All the infighting and stubbornness, all the misuse and fighting over desert resources, all of it… we wanted you away from it. We… those that love you, and your ancestors, chose you to venture into a new place and find a way to live there that we could emulate. You became a Wildling. You tamed the Ixam and set up a shelter for travelers to ease their way into the new environment that is rich beyond belief. You are the combined blood of the Kois and Lisuli and carry in you more of that combined blood from a different source and even from the Nymkarta themselves. Through you and your children, we will come out of the desert and into the jungle and learn to live again. You are the trailblazer, and what you carry is the best of all of us. Forget about Sran’tuka. He’s not your burden to carry. We do not even think you are the one destined to kill him. You just need to be wily enough to evade him and get home when you can and with your children. Do you hear me Tazrae? Home. That is your fate. And you’ve been fulfilling it every day since you shook Captain James Chaliva’s hand and stepped onto his boat. You must not fail in getting back there. You must not fail at gaining freedom and keeping it. You must surround yourself and fill your home with people who are like-minded and have the values you hold dear. And after that… after that it will be up to the people to get there as they can. And it will be up to them to survive.” He said, his eyes so like her own meeting her gaze.

“The desert will not sustain us any longer. And we have seen, through so many sources, how our tribes will dry up and will eventually cease to exist. The Valterrian might have already happened, but for us, the end of the world is coming faster than those of us still living even know.” He said softly. “Kamrae will be a great help to you. And so too will the father of your children. There are others that will be helpful along the way as well. You don’t have to level mountains or dam up rivers, Tazrae. You only have to show that desert blood can thrive in the jungle and the rest of the tribes will come… slowly, season by season, year after year. It’s a simple but complex fate, my daughter. But realize this, the fact that a Benshira can thrive in Falyndar is everything. It won’t be our old life. It won’t even resemble it in the least. But those that can’t change can remain and greet the darkness sweeping over the sands. They won’t stand long, but they will buy the time those willing to try a new way need.” He added, then slowly climbed to his feet.

Taz was quicker. She rose in one fluid graceful moment, the bulge of her stomach unencumbering in her meditative state at least.

“That trainer is trying to wake you up. Go up, out of here, and go with our blessings. Survive this, do as he will ask, and live. Then go meet your fate and decide your own destiny inside of that fate. We are all watching, and we are all here if you need us.” He said abruptly, pulling her close one more time for a brief but deep hug, before he let her go and vanished in the swirling sunset djed. The rest of the crowd was gone too and so Taz had no more excuses to linger, but rose up from deep inside herself, and pushed to open her eyes. The trainer was indeed standing there, shaking her shoulders gently, pulling her out of her meditation.

“Time to work.” He said simply, and gave her a moment or two to gather herself before helping her to her feet.

Words: 3221