Despite a third Gej, Soja’s body would not respond to the hex’s urgings. She lay in the clearing of thorns, before the monstrous form of Quatlzephra. The creature, its four dimensions constantly shifting and turning in on itself, eyed the sleeping girl with a hungry lust. How it wished to chew her in its maw. To feel her bones and flesh become antimatter. To remove the very time of her existence and fold it into its own self. But it remained formless and vast, convalescing as it watched the lizard bird vomit food into the girl's mouth and cover her at night with its great wingspan day after day. Until, wearily, the girl stood on unsteady feet, and not looking its way, passed by the form of Quatlzephra and down into a hole in the ground, where its father lived, waiting for a body.
The Ztheradox had heard its master's mental urges from a long way off. The task was complete, he had led the girl to her end, and it was time to return to the guardian of the pool. The creature stared at the girl standing at the end of a precipice, below her, a tremulous ocean of shining black ichor. The lizard-bird found a rocky ledge and perched there to watch the proceedings.
“You have come child, you have come to your father,” a voice from the expanse of blackness whispered. Soja stared into the fluid void with watering eyes. The pure nothingness of it hurt her head. She shut her eyes and focused on the weak shell that blocked her movements. She hammered at it, chipped away at it with her consciousness, but still it held. Her legs were weak from the long walk into this place, and she fell to her knees.
“You are frightened, this I sense. But there is no need, come child, take up your dagger, pierce your heart and we can be together at last.” The voice held no real power, but it was working with the Hex’s and she felt her hand reaching for her dagger.
This was the moment she had seen in the pool, the moment of her death. She would pull the dagger from her sash, and plunge it between her ribs. The black blood of Tehom would enter her body, and Soja would be no more. Not even in spirit. It was happening now, the dagger was in both hands, the blade was poised to strike. She recalled the distant future, the great, horrific mass of Tehom spilling down from the sky, filling the lands with it all destroying hate, and it wore her face!
“No!” She screamed. There was a rush of wind and searing pain as something knocked the blade from her hands. She fell back, cradling a hand that was now missing a finger. The gej was forcing her up, she reached for the blade, but the Ztheradox was already swooping down again and snatching up the blade with bloodied claws. Soja used the pain and anguish to push against the barrier in her mind.
“Jump in child! Join me!” Tehom said, deadly command in its bodiless voice. Soja got to her feet and shuffled to the edge. The Ztheradox screeched and descended, catching up Soja’s hair in its claws, Soja screamed and felt her scalp tear as the flying lizard tugged her away from the edge of oblivion. She used this pain too, used it like a great hammer. The hex shattered. She fell, landing in a heap upon the ground. Tehom was silent. The Ztheradox licked the blood from her face.
“I see you survived,” Quatlzephra said as Soja and the bird returned from the depths some days later.
“So it seems,” Soja said, “have you another gej for me creature?” She asked.
“I don’t believe they will work upon you any longer,” it said with noticeable disappointment, “regardless, I task you to begone. Leave these lands and never return.” Soja didn’t reply as she walked away, Zthera perched upon her shoulder.
supported by 30 fans who also own “The Gathering of Stars I. Defying the Future II. The Call of Tehom III. Whispers From the Blood”
If nostalgia for an age where creatures of myth walked together with the children of men had a soundtrack, this album would be it. Also, a touching reminder that we can forego wealth and power for wilderness and freedom, if we so choose. emanuele127
supported by 30 fans who also own “The Gathering of Stars I. Defying the Future II. The Call of Tehom III. Whispers From the Blood”
I met Fogweaver through Vedurnan and, later, Magelight. This more energetic take on their music is wonderful and exciting, a compelling twist bearing their unique signature. emanuele127
