seek the beginning.

by **Caelum** on November 22nd, 2014, 8:43 pm

She needed him to be better than her, stronger, wiser, more immortal. But that part that demanded such things spoke with such a soft voice in the face of what he was doing to her standing there with that wicked, wicked smile and that knife gleaming in his hand.

Better, stronger, wiser, and more immortal. It was a tall order.

Yet it was also exactly the sort of underlying essence of need in Kavala Caelum had predicted. It might have been hushed and fading now, but it existed in a strong current within the core of his fellow dreamer. He had long since detected it and been beckoned by its song, the first notes having floated through him when he last returned to Riverfall and she made her confession.

Kavala’s need to be rid of her scar and for Caelum himself to be strong enough to help do it was the foundation of his entire plan. The world Caelum lived in was cluttered with an ever shifting sea of desires, as many different and varied wants floating within the water as there were fish in the Suvan Sea. It shifted and sometimes it stormed, it degenerated and occasionally evolved. It splashed and crashed and flooded and it did all of this to the tune of ranuri's rattling chains.

Yes, there was an ocean in him, and it was changed by all of the shores it touched. There were many shores that altered him irrevocably and upon whose beaches he broke. But it was still an ocean, and he was still sung to sleep by the oldest tides as they turned.

He had learned to swim.

The knife still moved over Kavala's skin. While her desires trembled through him, sending ripples of great passion through all of his flesh, he thought of things like strength and immortality and sketched this wisdom into her body with steel. It was her chavi, as witnessed by him in the vast and echoing realm of the Chavena. He drew what he knew of it from memory, an intricately braided tower that was grown like a bean pole to great heights. Though his artistry was far from perfect, the incredible hope behind it literally bled through.

Kavala's original scars had been done in sickness and with cruel, selfish intention. Caelum now attempted to take that back, to take all of it back for his friend. This was why he carved love into her, depicting the wisdom and beauty of her chavi that recorded all of who she was and ever had been. It twisted delicately now between her shoulder blades and he sliced outward, deviating from the central image and letting the blood spill down her back. To either side of the chavi laying now over spine, he cut a pair of winged snakes to coil into shapes almost like that of wings. These were Rak'keli's rakanivas, the same shapes into which he and Kavala's shared goddess of healing marked with her gnosis powers. By the time he completed these images, his hand on her shoulder had tightened, holding onto her hard enough to bruise.

And he knew that he was going under.

There were more prayers to carve into Kavala's skin, more wishes and hopes, promises and talismans and dreams to replace what had gone wrong. He would get to them. He would finish it, come up again for air. But he sank now, hauled into the depths of desires ocean by needs hot as brands. His hand on her shoulder slid down, smearing through her blood before he stepped behind her. The knife stayed in his hand, the flat of the blade against her as slid his palm over her ribs and around to her stomach and pulled her back until her blood soaked the front of his shirt and his erection pressed against her bottom through his pants. She could feel his heart beat, galloping like their striders that flew through the plains of Cyphrus. He laid his mouth to her shoulder, then to her throat. His kiss was absurdly gentle in contrast. Her blood stained his lips, dripping off of them when he tugged at pale hair to turn her head toward him so that he could catch her mouth in a hungry, open mouthed kiss. A hand moved over the jut of her hipbone, rocking her firmly back against him before slipping between her thighs so that he could rub his thumb down her sex and push his fingers inside of her.

The riptide had them.

by **Kavala** on November 23rd, 2014, 6:35 pm

Caelum was Kavala’s best friend. There was no doubt about this though it was something they never talked about and often only acknowledge in the fact that they saddled up and rode together when needed and when necessary without question and without argument. In a way, Caelum being in Kavala’s life had taught her a great deal about friendship and the nature of gathering family in the absence of having blood relations. She’d often followed him without question when he needed help and she could offer it. And he’d done the same for her.

But this… this went beyond anything she would have ever asked of him. In fact, she hadn’t asked him for this at all. He’d suggested it, urging her to let him try. And standing there, bathed in sunlight, nude before Caelum, letting him carve up her back as he whispered made her realize how deeply his love went for her and how close they were as friends.

And it made her realize, despite all the pleasure that was washing over her, how wrong it was for her to be tainting him like this. Even now, as the beautiful artwork wound up her back – a chavi, her chavi in fact – spiraling in and out of her flesh causing wave after wave of tidal pain to wash over her transforming into her pleasure. She knew, inherently, in that deep sane spot that was still so very much apart of her madness, that this was wrong.

She couldn’t imagine what he was doing and why he was doing it. Her state of mind didn’t allow for that. She was focused purely on the effects as she cried out over and over, each time he lifted the blade and bit it back into her body. The Rakanivas with their wings joined the pattern and when that happened, something started to change in Kavala. It wasn’t anything she could see or understand clearly, but it was a lessoning of the passion within her, almost as if he was letting it drain out of her along with her blood. And in that blood was power. So too in wounds themselves was love.

It was as if Caelum was tapping a magic older than time and more powerful than what was taught in books. Djed swirled up and around Kavala mingling with the Ethaefal’s own blood, binding them. But in that djed she could feel the taint washing over Caelum, the taint she’d secretly guarded and horded, afraid to let out and afraid to expose to the light of day.

Caelum’s voice, his whispered prayers and unspoken will, washed over her so she could feel the coolness of his breath against the heat of her bloody back. More, by the Gods, she wanted more, and yet with all she was Kavala wanted it stopped. She bowed her head forward as the pool of blood at her feet grew. Even her white hair was tinged pink now with it. And opening her eyes, tipping her head to the side, she looked over her shoulder and caught his burning eyes, the unholy pleasure in them, and knew he was as lost to it as she was.

“No…” Kavala whispered, a sob escaping even as her body rocked again with what he was doing to her. She felt like someone who didn’t know how to swim would stand, looking off a pier, as someone she loved sank into the sea unaided. She felt like her hand was flung out, trying to drag Caelum back, but he was too busy struggling for breath and thrashing his limbs to try and stay afloat.

She felt him sink beneath the surface when his hand cam around her body, drawing her body back against his hardness. His heart was a wild thing, pounding erratically like a herd of horses scattered by glassbeaks. When he laid kisses against her shoulder, her throat, she could see him no longer. They were too close and yet a million miles away from the sanity he had promised her through all of this.

Caelum never broke his promises to her.

She tasted her own blood as he twisted her mouth around so he could capture it. Moments ago it would have sent her mindless, but something else was filling her, something that tasted bitter and alkaline in her mouth. It wasn’t her own blood; it was her own terror, which roared to life seeing her friend loose himself. She could loose herself and survive with that knowledge, but seeing him so lost, so utterly consumed by something she never wanted for him broke the hold on her. His grip tightened and her ability to breathe was lost. It wasn’t because he held her too tight. No, it was because something else had her in its grip, something far more primal than Caelum. Then he locked her pelvis to his and she felt all that had been him, the bright beautiful soul that had only moments ago stood behind her, vanish.

Something mindlessly primal stood in his place.

Pleasure vanished in the face of the horror she witnessed. And when she felt his long digits slide into her body, Kavala’s reaction wasn’t something she’d have dared believe.

She screamed. It was a pain filled scream of utter and absolute fear. It came from her core and welled up in her and passed out through her lips invading the world around her in a long low powerful animalistic sound. When it cut off, when it was utterly loosened into the world, Kavala followed that up with her Goddess’ name.

In blood and fear, her best friend wrapped around her and lost in tainted passion, Kavala called to the first Goddess she’d known, the one that had always counted on, the one that had claimed Caelum as her own. And when Rak’keli’s name flew from her lips like one of the Goddess’ own rakanivas’, she followed it up by a near silent plea in the only voice left she could muster.

“Please….”

She croaked, trembling even as Caelum’s ministrations deepened.

“Don’t let darkness have him… he’s yours…. one of your finest….” She whispered, shuddering, utterly offering herself or anything of hers in sacrifice. She just wanted her friend saved.

Not realizing, not in the least, that she felt no pleasure anymore, none whatsoever, from the cuts leaking blood off her back. They were, as Caelum has said, only cuts after all.

by **Mirage** on November 24th, 2014, 4:07 pm

"You're prayers have been heard." the voice was soft, barely above a whisper but Kavala would hear it not as a simple message on the wind but like a gong sounding that shook her body to the core.

As quickly as the fires of passion began to take hold and consume them both it was suddenly cut off as Caelum felt something wrap about his arms, yanking his hands from Kavala's flesh and pulling him back so hard that his feet nearly left the ground. What held him was strong and it twisted around both of his arms, over his shoulder and around his wait, but when he looked to inspect it he would not find rope or leather straps, but instead scales and slithering coils. on either side of his head two serpentine voices hissed as the heads came into view, turning so that their stilted eyes could look at Caelum as their mouths hung open to reveal fangs in a way that was not quite menacing, but like they were smiling at him. Then, finally came into view the features that separated them from others like them in form. Great wings flapped and fluttered, stirring the wind so that it brushed gently against the nape of his neck as if they were trying to cool the heat of his passions.

Just as the Healer was jerked away Kavala would feel a hand pressing softly against the middle of her chest, not a coddling touch but merely a steadying hand that offered support should she need it. Where it touched her skin a warmth radiated outward, filling her and soothing the aches her body might have felt after what had happened thus far. This hand was attached to a woman with a calm yet firm gaze, black hair and dark eyes that could see the world and what was in it in a way that few mortals could understand. She wore robes of white, but they were not pure and glowing like one might expect. They were dirtied, stained with old and new blood and other things that could not be named. The woman did not wear this garment as if it shamed her, but rather like every stain and mark of blood was a badge of honor, a symbol of another she had helped and healed and cared for in this world of chaos and death and illness.

Rak'keli's eyes moved over the two of them, examining the situation and Kavala all in a glance before returning her full attention to Caelum. Her hand brushed slowly over Kavala's shoulder as the Goddess made her way toward the Ethaefal. The serpents loosened their holds at her approach, freeing Caelum just enough that he could move his arms and lower them from their restrained positions. Two more steps and the Goddess was face to face with the man and she looked deep into his eyes... before placing a firm slap on one cheek and shaking her head.

"Caelum, the passions of the flesh are many and Nikali's influences are difficult to resist... but at the very least finish your work and heal this woman in need before giving into your desires." her voices was not angry. More like she was telling off a naughty child caught steeling a treat when he had not yet earned it.

When Caelum had fully gathered himself and regained control of his desires the rakanivas would release him. Rak'keli was already turning back toward Kavala, coming close and laying a hand on the Konti's shoulder with a soft whisper of, "Be still, let me see..."

Not in the least perturbed by the blood the Goddess ran her index finger along the cuts, smearing the blood as she traced the images Caelum had begun, "What you are attempting to do is beyond your skills... and yet, still you are able to do this much despite this fact." She paused and pressed her hand against the small of Kavala's back, and the Konti would feel a warmth through her body and a peace coming to her mind, "But you are not finished... Come, complete what you have started."

Stepping to the side Rak'keli would wave Caelum over, smiling down at Kavala as she did, "Do not worry. Even if I were not here you were always in capable hands, but men are men and at times they must be reminded to focus."

The wounds that moments before hand been fresh and oozing now were completely closed up and healed. Waving a hand Rak'keli called Caelum forward and placed in his hand the scalpel he had dropped when he was drug away. She leaned in close, holding his hand longer than was required after she curled his fingers around the scalpel's handle, "Now complete your work and fulfill your promise."

When Caelum took his place once more behind Kavala and prepared himself to cut once more he would feel the Goddess press close to his back. Her hands overlayed each of his, and a new energy would fill him. Like a thousand blossoms inspiration coursed through his mind and body, compelling his hand to begin to move and carve along Kavala's back. The desire was still there, just as strong as it was before for the Ethaefal, but now he had his Goddess at his back, supporting him and guiding his hand in his actions. The designs he carved were more intricate, the pictures more detailed and as he cut the wounds instantly healed with only a few traces of blood that fell just before the wound was closed. Kavala would feel the initial pain, followed quickly by the burning and itching as it was healed. The longer it went on, the more the peace would fill her, the more the 'pleasure' she felt shifted to the background of her mind.

Rak'keli would remain as she was, offering Caelum all of her help and support throughout the procedure but she would not give him instructions for what to do or how to do it. She left such things for him to decide and act upon, and her hand and will merely acted to guide and steady his hands and actions so that he could work with greater confidence. When it was done she would release Caelum and step back, folding her hands at her waist as her rakanivas coiled around her. She took her position as a supervisor, motioning to Caelum to check on his patient after the procedure was completed.

The end product would be a new network of fine, white scars that formed the shape of the rakanivas on Kavala's back, but now even greater details were added. From the tracings of individual scales to ruffles of feathers on the wings, the scars formed an intricate tattoo that had just the slightest sheen to it when she turned just the right way in the light. When the Konti turned the shapes almost seemed to move, shift their wings and stretch their coils, but that was surely just a trick of the light.

by **Caelum** on November 24th, 2014, 6:10 pm

As ranuri’s waters sluiced off of Caelum and his mind cleared, freeing the whole of him from desire’s chains, shame came in to fill its place. He stared stricken into the exquisite face of Rak’keli and decided that it was impossible to be more ashamed than when the goddess of healing herself slapped you. Incredible gratitude for Rak'keli's intervention swiftly followed. If not for the coiling grip of the rakanivas, he would have fallen right to his knees.

The rakanivas were taken in with increasing awe and his stomach slicked with the acid of guilt. It occurred to him slowly that the legendary serpents were literally holding him back, and smiling at him as they did so. Mortification whitened him and his eyes turned toward his friend and patient at last, full of fear for what he might have wrought.

“Please, forgive me,” he whispered, eyes wincing as Rak’keli chastened him like a boy who couldn’t keep his pants on or his priorities straight. He addressed not only his goddess, but Kavala too, perhaps even more so as it was her he had wronged in his weakness. There was no passion left in him, this more than enough to at least temporarily silence even Nikali’s siren call. He had crawled on his belly over half the world to get to this place, bound down by Nikali’s requirements. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

He watched as Kavala’s wounds healed beneath the divine touch, capable still of being awed. When the legendary serpents relinquished their grip, scales and feathers brushing over him like pieces of a half remember dream, he sagged where he stood. Kavala’s blood stained almost all of him, splashed over his shirt and his pants, puddled under the soles of his boots and striping his arms like a butcher. And he was one, wasn’t he?

A hint of hope happened over his face when Rak’keli beckoned him near and he stepped forward, quiet with both shame and respect. He tried to catch Kavala’s eyes, tried to seek her permission when Rak’keli instructed him to go on, to complete what he had begun. He doubted very seriously that his friend would ever want him to touch her again. Yet the will of the goddess was impossible to ignore, and a breath left him like a sigh when she closed his fingers back around the hilt of the knife and stepped up behind him to guide his hands.

Golden eyes studied Kavala’s back, completely unsure of his course, his treatment seeming to sprung all wrong; but before doubt and horror could cripple him, Rak’keli’s hands found him and inspiration flowered in him like tongues of holy flame. He remembered in that moment that he was a healer, no matter what else he might have been, monster or saint, he was still and always that. The scalpel became once again more of an extension of himself than merely a tool and when he laid it into his friend’s flesh it was rendered once more an instrument of good rather than evil. Acute attention was paid to every slice and every curve, the talent of both artists and physicians whose skill and learning was far beyond his channelled into him by Rak’keli’s grace. Every cut was a prayer. Every drop of blood was an orison. Every sealed scar was a wish of love from him to her, carried straight from the core of him.

By the time their masterpiece was complete, Caelum’s stomach had stopped trembling. There remained ashes in back of his mouth and deep shadows clutching at his eyes, but he looked from Rak’keli to Kavala and almost smiled. Incredible concern was caught in that curve of his mouth as he stepped around her, offering Kavala both her shirt and support with his hands. His eyes searched her face, bracing for anything.

“Kavala?” He murmured, questions a flurry of lost moths in his mouth.

by **Kavala** on January 10th, 2015, 3:39 am

She had sought salvation.

She had sought a resolution from secret shame.

She'd sought an end to an endless need.

Caelum had offered it all. And she'd snatched at it like a greedy child not stopping to ask herself what it would cost him and definitely choosing not to think about the 'what ifs' in regards to failure. To the Konti, they never failed, not really and not when it counted. Somehow, she saw them stronger together, their friendship solid, especially when their purpose was clear.

He'd made no promises save that he'd try. And in the end, it hadn't been her urging, but his need to heal the world around him that drove him to do it. Kavala had nothing to loose but his sanity and she'd risked it all for a chance to be free. When she screamed she screamed because she knew she'd never forgive herself for putting him in this situation where he was so willing to become something else just for her.

Sometimes she forgot he was a divine thing, immortal, and touched by the Gods. Caelum was very akin to a God himself. Caelum's strengths were forged through impossible events that had lead his life from one tragedy to another, from one moment of exquisite joy to another. He was not a walker between worlds, like Kavala was, standing aside and observing. Caelum was a creature of extremes who rarely caught a break inbetween. And when he was, his misery was tangible.

Here and now he was in his element. And when his goddess manifested to help her son, and her twin rakanivas latched onto him to stand him up when he could not himself, Kavala stood stronger. Pain had fed her for so many years. Pain had nurtured her. She bowed her head forward, a devote supplicant infuse with gratitude that washed over and through her. Caelum would not be lost. He would not be tainted. He had so much to do here now, and couldn't be tarnished by the greed and depravity of humanity.

And when his knife dipped into her skin again, Kavala felt only pain. Pleasure was gone. So too was the trembling of a woman's body brought to the brink of arousal far too much with too heavy of a hand. She braced her bare feet though the rocks beneath her feet - ones she's wrought with her own power - had grown slick with her own blood. It was the most welcome beautiful pain in all the world. And Kavala's scream of terror and rage turned into a whimpering of pain that sounded more like a deep throated huffing because she'd gone hoarse from abuse already rendered to her throat and vocal cords. No mortal could have stood silent to the pain anyhow. And Kavala felt no shame even before her Goddess as she let it be known that it hurt.

It was supposed to hurt. And it did until Rak'Keli touched her and eased her from the pain. The divine pressure on the small of her back caused the Konti to stand straight, square her shoulders, and unashamedly weep in gratitude as the Healer of all Healers carefully advised Caelum on his course.

Rak'Keli said that what Caelum attempted was beyond him. But somehow, it worked because Rak'Keli was here, and Caelum was for a moment the instrument of a Goddess' hand and heart.

The Konti hoped The Goddess knew how precious and fierce her son was. Kavala hoped Rak'Keli understood how deeply Caelum loved. He loved not just the world, but ideas within the world, and she'd seen time and time again that love manifesting things she could barely understand. Where he was love, the Konti was rage, and somehow they balanced each other out and made the closest of friends.

No... not friends. Kin. The pair together transcended friendship and moved in circles - both here and now and before and perhaps after - that put them in each other's path for a reason. They were kin.

And then something miraculous happened. The faint fine scars on her skin came to life under Caelum's borrowed power. They slithered like worms across her body and migrated like sentient beings to her back, joining with the image Caelum was rendering with neat divine strokes. Her tortured life became a thing of beauty that spiraled from Caelum's will, covering her back in a way no tattoo or gnosis ever could. She would never be able to lie to anyone about her purpose in the world. She would never be able to cover up her knowledge of the Chavena and what it meant to her.

When Caleum was done, Kavala's form screamed Dreamwalker to the world.

And without a hint of pain, Kavala's eyes met Rak'Keli's briefly, filled utterly with joy and the incredible feeling of liberation, before she bowed her head to her better and stood in absolute gratitude and silence, letting Caelum and Rak'Keli finish their discourse uninterrupted.

by **Mirage** on January 28th, 2015, 4:43 am

Rak'keli smiled a small smile to Kavala before looking at Caelum with a serious expression, not unkind but business-like, "Go now, do not hesitate. Examine her and ensure your work was a success. A healers job is not done until she knows without a shred of doubt that nothing has gone wrong." She gestured to the Ethaefal as her Rakanivas cane to curl around her, "Search until not a trace of unease or uncertainty remains."

Once more she would wait patiently and allow Caelum to examine and ensure the health of his own patient, and only when he was fully confident that his procedure had been a success would she smile at him and dip her head down just slightly, "Well done my Marked." She would then step forward to look over Kavala herself, bending forward to run her fingers delicately over the skin of the Konti's neck. She did not check the scars, however, but instead gazed deeply into Kavala's eyes, searching for several ticks before finding what she was looking for and stood, "You have done what is impossible for you, healed that which many of the mortal realm would say could not be done. Think you on this well Caelum, and remember in those times when you feel the most lost and the most free from control. Remember that here, in this moment, you have already done the impossible."

The Rakanivas hissed in a sound that was almost like a laugh as they slithered from around their Goddess to entwine Kavala instead, like playful children that wanted to get a better look at something that interested them. They would curl around her arms, gently, and carefully brush through her hair as they gave Kavala a somewhat second examination. Though it was more like idly play than actually checking for any further injury.

The Goddess stepped closer to Caelum then and her eyes fell to his hand in which was still grasped the fine edged blade. Her fingers were light as she circled his hand and raised it to clasp it with both of her own, letting the blood tented blade separate their faces as she looked past into into the man's eyes, "With this instrument you have transformed pain into healing, and in doing so you have come to realize that not everything is black and white." Her hands on his were warm, and her grip strong and firm as her words were whispered with such intent they demanded his full attention, "In medicine what needs to be done is not always easy, or painless. Sometimes it requires a great sacrifice from the Healer and his patient. Sometimes to save a man you must remove his limb, and in so doing he shall come to hate you but this should not matter. Some will understand, many will not, that the burden you bear in holding the balance between life and death is one that few can carry."

With her right hand she plucked the instrument from his fingers, but her left still held his firmly, "You are much like an acrobat now balancing upon the edge of this blade. It would take but one false movement, one tick of doubt and hesitation to lose your balance and fall upon your own instrument. Today you have seen this as you teetered and fell... but on this day I was able to catch you." her eyes shifted to Caelum's free hand and inserted the knife between his fingers. She then raised this hand so that both of his hands were grasped in her's, with his left hand holding the knife as the Goddess gazed firmly into his eyes without blinking, "Now you must learn to tread this fine line on your own, without doubt and without hesitation for I will not always be there to catch you before you are split by the edge. This moment of weakness can be overlooked, because now going forward you realize your own strength to suppress your own needs in favor of your duty to others."

Around Kavala the Rakanivas slithered, coiling once more before coming from around her to circle Caelum and Rak'keli, the beat of their wings stirring the air and disrupting the dust that had settled around them, "Some things in this world cannot be healed... but still we must try. No matter who it is, or how grievous the injury, we must give our all to those right in front of our eyes. Do not be blinded by what you believe they want, but instead remember to always give them what they truly need." and then finally she smiled, a full smile filled with warmth, forgiveness and pride, "Remember all you have learned today my Favored. A man you may be, but before that you are one of my dearest children."

And in that instant they were gone, all that remained of there presence was the still glowing second mark upon Caelum's skin and a single feather that floated to the ground between them.

by **Caelum** on February 20th, 2015, 12:13 am

Rak'keli understood the darker corners of Caelum's heart. By instructing him to examine Kavala, she was assuring that he would feel with his own hands the health of her body. Though the siren song of ranuri had been silenced with Dark Sister's grace, it remained coiled within him like a heap of chains that were never to be relinquished. Nikali had accosted him on the shore of a lost city and catapulted him into an ascension out of his forsaken existence; but for that great blessing he was cursed to pay penance the remains of his life. And he never grew old.

Rak'keli was mercy itself. She gave him back whole pieces of himself in this alone.

Clever hands moved with care over Kavala's body, testing her overall strength and health with ceaseless wonder. The scars had dissipated like a nightmare beneath the heels of Nysel's own and the light touch he gave the beauty of her new mark was reverent. It reflected Kavala as well, he imagined, as anything could that was not the creation of her own able hands and indomitable will. He could not help but feel a surge of pride as well at how well it marked her for the Dreamer. This was what his blade had wrought, this worthy emblem for a woman he adored. When he stepped around to face her, seeking out clear blue eyes, his own ignited at last with pride, joy, and triumph. He felt all of these not just for himself, but for her. There was no need for words between them in this moment. They would only diminish what had passed so recently and treacherous between them to flower into something right and good. Instead he smiled for her, so rare a smile, and touched a kiss to her cheek before moving back to allow their shared goddess to perform her own inspection.

Breath filled the healer's lungs when Rak'keli said well done, for there were few compliments much higher. A fresh smile spilled across his mouth when she reached for his hand and they held the blade together between them, and he could not help but study her face to emblazon it upon his memory.

"Thank you, my Lady," he told her, voice low with respect. His eyes were still sunbursts of joy. "I could not have done it without Kavala's courage and her faith in me. There is no one with a greater capacity for belief or stronger will than Kavala among your own."

He listened to Rak'keli intently, no less serious for his smile; and met her eyes unafraid. He was in awe of this creature with her robes stained in blood and filth of the wretched and the damned, the whole of the world's wounds she walked through with dignity and mercy. The ever-thinning line between dark and light, between life and death, saint and monster, was one that he had walked for years and he understood well how very rarely there was anyone -- let alone a goddess -- there to catch you when you slipped. "I will remember," he promised her, the knife raised and the rakanivas coiling around them. The rustle of their wings filled his ears and would follow him, he knew, for a long, long while. "I promise. Need above desire. The world can be healed."

The mixture of pride and forgiveness he witnessed in Rak'keli's eyes the moment before she disappeared hung in his heart like birdsong greeting the dawn. A current of heat bloomed through him and for the time between two breaths he could have sworn he actually felt another scar seaming his soul silver and fade. He stood where the Dark Sister had left him, her second mark a match to the first coiling up his hand and wrist with scales and wings. Finally, he sank to his knees and reached for the rakanivas feather, catching it before it hit the ground. It was more than a mere keepsake to him. Amazed eyes rose to find Kavala, and he began to laugh.

by **Kavala** on May 22nd, 2015, 2:48 am

Kavala's senses were still reeling with the images and emotions of the Rakanivas that had twisted around her, curious, questioning, and caressing. She'd remained still for their examination, but when they had retreated and indeed so too had the dark sister of the Konti, Kavala carefully turned. She met Caelum's gaze with her own as he sank to his knees and collected the feather before she had a chance too. The Konti said nothing, knowing there was no thanks that could be given that could express her gratitude. He laughed, joyously, but she did not join him. She could not. The Goddess had marked him as Caelum had marked Kavala and the truth was the Konti was still a little lost with the absence of her pain and the presence of the new mark upon her back.

She could feel its weight and wondered if in a way it was permission granted to pursue her obsession with Nysel and his realm. It felt a little like that... like a release.

The shame the pleasure her pain had brought Kavala had been her constant companion now for years, marking her initiation into the non-Drykas world and setting her on the path that had made her what she was in that single moment standing there. Breathless. Weightless. Unburdened. It was as if her back had been bent under a load she didn't know she carried and now didn't know how to straighten. She sank to her knees, much has Caelum had to retrieve the feather, and rested there with her hands on her thighs. Her pale hair, stained pink with her own blood, fell forward across her face concealing her features as she simply let the stone beneath her sing to her, soothing her in its own voice and reassuring her of its sentience.

Without shame, she could feel so much more than she could burdened. She could feel strength in both of them... between both of them. She could feel his gnosis mark sing back to her, equal now to her own powers.

And still there were no words. Webbed hands slipped off her bare thighs to sink down onto the stone at her feet, tinting themselves red in her blood. She picked up her hand, staring at the blood, and then glancing back up at Caelum. She pulled power from her body, drawing djed and transforming it into res as water cascaded from her palms. Blood slid from her pale skin as she reached up to cup her face, still producing water from her hands. She drew her hands across her features, and then pulled them through her hair as if frustrated.

She was not frustrated though. Kavala rinsed the last of someone else's sins from her body, the body temperature water sluicing her muscled form turning deep pink and then crimson as it cleansed the last of her own blood off her body.

She drew more power, increased the flow, and moved her hands over her own form once more, rising so her knees and feet could be free of the blood and washing it carefully down the rocks towards the sea lapping at the heels of the island. She reached out to Caelum, removing blood from his hands before she abruptly cut off the flow, and gripped his digits with her own. Kavala gave them a squeeze, carefully not to damage the feather Caelum still had in his hands, and took a step back.

She said nothing, because in that moment there were still no words, and turned to start down the trail to where she could grab fresh clothing and perhaps talk him into sailing with her for home.

by **Mirage** on August 10th, 2015, 4:22 pm

Caelum

Deduction	+1
Diplomacy	+1
Medicine	+2
Meditation	+2
Persuasion	+1
Psychology	+3
Rhetoric	+2
Leadership	+1

Lores :

What you have earned :

Kavala

Deduction	+2
Endurance	+2
Persuasion	+2
Psychology	+3
Reimancy	+1
Seduction	+1

Lores :

Scars :

Truth Hidden by a Mirage :

Closed seek the beginning.