MarshalSolgriev
Snowdrops
Cao the Exiled
Grijs
Enzayne
Lord Zee
Frettzo
DracoLunaris
Vec
There she sat on her throne, the left side of her body bruised with her ribs being cracked and threatening to break and collapse. Atmav had endured much pain, namely remembering how her wings had nearly been torn off so many years ago before she had broken it off in her fight against Yimbo. However, that pain was something she could not have recovered from, this injury was nothing compared to that but her pain tolerance had fallen over the years of idleness. Now, every breath hurt, each intake and exhale making her life miserable. At least in the safety of her home, no Selka could see her weakness.
Atmav was in no fighting shape and knowing that made her angry, knowing that more of those rock men could descend upon them and she would be nearly powerless to stop them. If Orvus had seen her now, she would have been ashamed of herself and she knew that he would look down upon her for being weak. Instead, she cast a silent prayer to Kirron, someone she figured either did not exist or did not care enough to see to her plea. It was that reason alone that she sat there with her mind repeating itself with each breath.
”Kirron give me the strength to beat back these invaders” her mind said to itself, not truly caring if the creator of the Selka did anything or not. The God-Queen let out a cough into her hand, blood showing itself and letting her know that, despite her durability, the being had succeeded in breaking something that should not have been broken.
“Damn it all,” she cursed, writhing in her pain as she tried to find some comfort in her seat.
Dull flicks of rain pat upon the roof, growing gradually into a downpour that filled the longhouse with white noise. It was a favour insofar as distracting Atmav from the sound of her strained breathing.
But a guttural, beastial roar held her breath for her. Somewhere out by the beach, judging by the sound. It was not a sound that any hulk of animate dark stone could make. But it was a sound that pinched at Atmav's memory.
“Damn it all,” she cursed again, wanting nothing more than to allow herself time to heal so that she may defend her people properly. However, the roar, though tugging at some semblance of memory, continued to elude her as the pain clouded her mind, especially now that Atmav was moving again. She dragged her sword behind her as she walked to the entrance of her longhouse, paining gripping her all the way through.
In the end, she made it to the entrance and looked out onto the beach, her head swiveling to see through the misting showers and clouds at what dared to intrude within her domain. Selka had wandered out of their own homes and were peering down the beach as well. At the waterline, looming with its round head tall and daring, was the unmistakable silhouette of Atmav's old adversary, Yimbo the monstrous seal guardian.
But it was different. A large but comparatively small shape slid off the side of Yimbo's neck and splashed its feet into the water beside the great beast. It turned to face Atmav, revealing a broad, muscular male frame and a battered tree trunk carried over one shoulder. Atmav could feel his eyes on her, even through the blue haze of the rain.
“Who are you and why do you dare bring that thing back to my sight,” she called, having to pause several times to allow herself the ease of breath and a momentary relief from pain. Atmav’s vision looked between Yimbo and the figure, her feet stepping onto the sand as she dragged her sword down the sand dune. The heavy water droplets battered her face from the sky. She was but a few precious lengths away, bringing her sword in front of her to attempt a fighting stance, though her sword was barely lifted off the ground and her breath was already quickened.
“If you have come to challenge me, I have beaten Yimbo before and I will be able to again,” she growled, looking towards the one with the tree trunk slung over his shoulder.
The figure took steps to heave his legs through the knee-deep water until he reached the beach. He stood impressively taller than Atmav, but it was the silence under the falling rain that lent to the sense of impending dread.
He neared. The weight of the sword grew harder to endure in Atmav's hands. Through the pouring rain, the huge figure's vivid red skin, white hair and beard, and hide clothing stood out in her vision. The large bleached skull of a tusked dead beast clung to his shoulder like a warning.
His small, sunken eyes bored into her. "Try hurting me first," he uttered. "If you're so sure."
Atmav fearlessly gazed back at the giant, though eyeless, her resolve was there for the moment as she shakily began to raise her orvium blade. However, she was quicker to drop her blade as she doubled over, coughing up blood onto the sand, the iron taste becoming all too familiar to her. It was clear that she would not be able to act upon her words of defiance, though her head shifted upwards her fangs bared and stained with her ichor.
“I will- defend my people,” she growled, her voice weak as she began to catch what breath she could.
Thunder, distant, rolled across the sky behind her. The red man lifted one eyebrow, peering left and right.
The focus of his attention was revealed by the shuffling of selka feet over the wet sand up either side of Atmav. They were looking up at the giant defiantly with spears and clubs in their hands.
"Hmph," he sounded with a smile on his lips. "It looks like they would rather defend you."
“I am- I am their guardian, their queen,” Atmav coughed, looking to the Selka before speaking to them, “Get back! This is my fight.” Her eyeless gaze shifted to Yimbo as she spoke, slowly getting to her feet, wiping away the blood from her lips before she noticed that none of the Selka had moved.
It seemed they were ready to fight for their injured queen, despite her attitude of wanting to fight alone. While she would have been elated to know such a fact, her view of their bravery was misplaced, finding them out of their league against the likes of the giant and Yimbo. Then, that smile on his face. It had to be smug amusement at a feeble attempt to challenge him.
“What are you smiling for?” Atmav questioned, continuing her exasperated breathing.
The giant lowered himself to a squat to look closely at Atmav, draping one arm over his knee and keeping his club shouldered. Triangular, shark-like teeth shone from within his mouth while he spoke. "I'm smiling because I am proud of your tribe." His eyes wandered, wide and bright at each of the standing selka. "They don't even know who I am and they would die for you."
Atmav took a moment to process those words, her body relaxing as she looked at the giant with an agape mouth. She looked back to her equally confused Selka. Wondering why he would be proud of them or even why they should know who this giant actually was. Her mind slowly connected each separate piece before she uttered a single name, “K-Kirron?”
He grinned. "The one and only."
One by one, spears, clubs, and knives fell flat upon the ground from the hands of the selka tribe. They all stood in awe. Some began silently weeping. Some fell to their knees, overwhelmed.
Kirron, the god of blood, extended a hand. Hesitantly, the hand was accepted. Hers dwarfed in comparison to his own as Atmav pulled herself up as best she could, finding his arm giving only as much resistance as a solid rock. Even without all the facial features of his creations, she was in just as much awe.
“Did you hear my prayer?” Atmav asked, hesitantly placing one foot back.
He stood to full height. Water ran off his shoulders in rivulets. "Might'a missed one or two out of the several hundred you sent my way, but I got the sentiment," he said. "You weren't the only one here praying, either. Let alone the only one wanting help against some walking rocks." He put a fist on his hip. "There was some worse business I had to deal with before coming, but it's good to see you all held out in time."
The rain slowed to a drizzle. Through the humidity, Yimbo looked on with its massive belly and chin flat on the sand.
Atmav remained focused on Kirron, almost unable to find words for a moment before another bout of coughing brought her mind back into reality. Blood slowly moved out of the corner of her mouth before she had gotten herself under control.
“I suppose that does not matter right now. We have just encountered those things, only one, and I would have died to overconfidence if it were not for my blade,” she explained to Kirron, taking a hand to wipe away the blood from her face. Atmav chose to remain focused on the Ihokhur and the one who controlled them, ‘Kalani’, rather than allowing awe of meeting a fourth god to get in her way. Her head turned to Yimbo for a split moment, noting how it did not seem remain on guard despite its enemy right in front of it.
“Why are you here, though?” Atmav asked, returning her gaze to Kirron.
"I'm here to help you save yourselves and the tribes around you," Kirron plainly explained. "Those rock men are Ihokhurs. They were made by the same fellow that made that sword of yours. They're in these lands to kill. Used to enslave, but now they just destroy."
“Of course…” Atmav sighed before continuing, questioning. “And how are you going to help us save ourselves?”
Kirron brought his eyes over Atmav's head towards the village. Without a word, he walked past her with broad paces that left large divots in the sand. "Got any food? I'm feeling peckish."
Atmav could only watch, almost flabbergasted at the thought of feasting at such a crucial time where plans needed to be made and stratagem formed. She looked to some of her Selka and motioned for them to gather whatever food they had available before she picked up her sword and slowly began to drag herself after the giant. Being far slower moving than him due to her injuries and shortness of breath.
The blood god only slowed to a stop at the main door to Atmav's longhouse. There, he carefully placed his tree trunk club horizontal on the ground -- though it still made a resounding thud -- and eased himself inside the building.
“We should have some food,” Atmav huffed as she watched Kirron get into a building clearly not designed for someone of his stature. She followed him in after he had entered, looking back to see the Selka in a mad dash to gather what food they had lying around, clearly not wanting to displease the god in any sort of fashion. However, she did note the children running up to the mythical Yimbo in awe.
Yimbo regarded the children gently. It puffed out a jet of air from its nose, causing one selka child to stumble back. They all giggled.
It brought a slight smile to Atmav’s face.
"Yimbo told me about you," Kirron said. He sat on the floor cross-legged by the central hearth with his hands on his knees. He was at least at no risk of knocking things over while seated. "How about you tell me your side of the story?"
Atmav’s head dipped at the mention of the story, turning her head to Kirron before dragging herself to that throne of hers in silence. Her head did not meet Kirron as she sat there for a few moments, attempting to get comfortable despite the pain she felt. A small sigh escaped her lips before she spoke, her mind going back over sixty years, “To know the story of how I defeated Yimbo, I must first go back to my wretched creation in this land, to when Vakk brought me back to further his own sadistic goals. That pain… it was far worse than what I feel now.”
She drew in a breath, “Then he let me go under the stipulation that I would aid him when the time comes. I flew into a storm before I awoke in this land, I had met the Selka. At that point they did not even know what a spear was or even a hut, for that matter. I remember fighting one of those reptiles from the north, I killed it, but it caused damage to my original pair of wings.” A hand slowly went to her shoulder at the mention of those wings.
“When the Selka tried to help me, I rejected their aid and stomped off. That was when I met the tribe known as the Grottu, all I remember was anger, and when they spoke of gods all I could remember was my creation. All of the pain and torment built until I snapped. Yimbo had come to protect the Selka from my rage, and in that regard, he failed. During our battle I had lifted him and threw him upon the Selka,” Atmav leaned forwards as she spoke, her elbows digging into her thighs as she concentrated less and less on her pain. Her head finally went to directly gaze upon Kirron. He was looking right at her. “After that is unimportant. All that you need to know is that I beat Yimbo and killed many Selka in the process.”
Kirron did not shift an inch. He wore a neutral smile, contemplating. "Sounds like you regret it."
Atmav contemplated those words for a moment before speaking once more, “There were women and children who died. I never meant to kill them.”
"so what's going to be different this time, if you get the strength to fight off the Ihokhurs?"
“If, miraculously, that I get over this injury and lead the fight against the Ihokhurs, then I will fight for my people. These Selka, they-“ she paused to cough again before slowly controlling herself, “They are like the family I never had in my old life before coming to this world.”
Kirron turned his head, lifting an eyebrow in the direction of the doorway, where a handful of selka carried reed platters of fresh fish, edible kelp, fruits, and vegetables, as well as dried goat meat. They looked down from Kirron's gaze, anxious.
"S-some food for you, gods," the bravest one stuttered.
“Thank you,” Atmav chimed as they set down their platters of food, watching them leave the two to their conversation Her head turned back to Kirron before asking, “Would you like me to leave you while you eat?”
Kirron froze a second before he closed his shark-like teeth around a sizable snapper he held by the tail. His open grin faded into an affronted frown. He pointed the fish at Atmav. "Would you like me to leave while your tribe dies?" He pushed the nearest platter further towards Atmav. "Eat."
The noise of Kirron biting the whole head clean off the fish in his hand did not do favours to the appetite, though he did not sound like he was offering a choice.
"So," he said through his chewing. "If you had a past life, that confirms it. Your blood has a different smell to Vakk..." he gestured to the droplets spattered on her body from her coughing. "You're from before, like me and the other gods are."
Atmav paused as she wrapped her fangs around a piece of goat meat, pulling the food out so that she may speak unimpeded, “Vakk and I were dragged through a portal during a battle, I died before Vakk revived me with his new godly powers.” She took a moment to tear into the goat meat before she let out a sigh. “My battle-sisters are left home while I must endure here, without the pleasure of being gifted the power that Vakk was,” she continued before leaning back in her throne.
Kirron's chewing slowed. "Hm. How much do you remember?"
“Between my time of being dead? Nothing. Before and after my resurrection, everything since the Vakk’s rebellion against the Endless Talk,” Atmav said simply, picking a fruit off her platter. “My strength is the same. My training has been retained,” she cocked her head before biting into the fruit.
Kirron exhaled through his nose. "We will have to talk more about that some time," he said. "I do not remember much about where I came from. What I was. Only images and...stuff. I know it wasn't here. And it wasn't where you come from, either."
After a pause, Kirron blinked his eyes back to Atmav. "But I'm boring you. Here is important now." He planted a finger to the floor. "Here is where family is. You've learnt to be responsible with your anger around your family -- I could tell as much meeting you out there. You will be responsible with your power to repel the Ihokhurs..." He noisily licked his bottom row of teeth. "But what power do you need? Hm?" He leant back and tossed the other half of the snapper up into his mouth.
“The power to rip stone in two,” Atmav joked, before going into another bout of coughing.
"That all, huh?" Kirron smiled. "As good a choice as any. Nothing with a brain will mess with you too much if you can kill them." He snatched up a tuber and bit off a chunk. "Eat up." Two flecks of yellow food flew out of his mouth from the last word. "When you're done, I'll give you a way to put 'em into halves."
Atmav looked at Kirron, going to say something before she began to wolf down the rest of her platter with an appetite to match the god’s own.
The pair made quick work of the remaining food. By the time they were done and stepping out of the longhouse, Atmav realised she had stopped coughing and had a sort of energised shiver in her body.
Kirron stepped out first, planted his fists on his hips and sniffed in a deep breath. "Aaaah," he audibly sighed through a smile, looking down at what met them. The entire population of the village stared up at him like a grey sea of faces and eyes. There was a chill in the air from the still-drizzling rain, but not a single one looked uncomfortable.
“I must say, I do feel much better,” Atmav said, looking up to the god and giving him a warmer smile than she would normally give to someone. Her head swiveled as she gazed upon the form of Yimbo, almost absentmindedly speaking, “Almost as if I could go for another brawl.”
Yimbo, standing on its belly just beyond the crowd, lowered its head and let out an aggressive growl deep enough to resemble stones falling into a deep pit.
Kirron was unfazed. Although, he lifted an eyebrow at Atmav. "You owe Yimbo an apology, you know."
“Apologize to that monster? It did try to kill me, I won. I do not feel I must apologize to it,” Atmav said, crossing her arms as her gaze remained fixated on the giant monstrosity of a seal before she stepped forwards. Her feet crunched in the sand as she approached, arms still crossed.
“It’s fat, slow, reckless,” her list grew ever larger as she listed off the many weaknesses, or just what she believed of the seal. The crowd of Selka stared at her and parted as she drew near, a path being formed to the mighty Yimbo, who stared down upon Atmav with aggression in its eyes. As Atmav reached the seal, she stopped and stared at it, the two locked in a silent battle of wills. Yimbo's breath blew hot and slow out of its nostrils.
However, it was Atmav who brought the battle to wane as she reached out to touch the seal’s skin. Yimbo's breathing stopped. “Yet, determined to protect the very people I had wrongfully abused in the past.” She gave a slight smile to the seal, “For your dedication and bravery, I am sorry.”
Yimbo's eyes slowly closed. Rivulets of tear-like mucus seeped from the corners of its eyes. It let out a slow breath.
Then Atmav felt the jab of a large thumb just above her hip. She jumped in surprise, turning her head with an angered look as she rubbed where the blood god had jabbed her.
Kirron chuckled and spun on his heel. "You, you, you, you, and...you. Come here."
Five selka randomly selected from the crowd looked about themselves in surprise. One of them pointed to themselves questioningly.
Kirron beckoned again. "Yes, all five of you! Come 'ere, what are your names?"
"Shuu."
"Uh, Phiam."
"...Brottnee."
"Alium!"
"Er, Kevik."
After a second lowering his brow at the name 'Brottnee', Kirron continued. "Good, good. You all can swim?"
Phiam stifled a laugh. "Uh, we're selka...um...Mister Kirron."
Kirron grinned. "Come with us, then. You'll need to help us carry some things out of the reef over there." He jerked his head out to sea. Without missing a beat, he turned to walk down into the choppy waves. "Yimbo! Watch the rest while we're out!"
Yimbo curled its head around to watch Atmav. Its eyes were softer now.
“Wait, you want me to go along?” Atmav questioned as she stepped towards the ocean, looking down at herself, then to the Selka, and back to Kirron. “I am no Selka, nor a being like you. Swimming is not exactly my strongest area,” she said in a more annoyed voice than she intended.
Kirron stopped about waist deep in the water and slowly stepped around, head tilted and his lip curled up in confusion. It took him exactly two seconds to process Atmav's words before he broke eye contact and raised his brow. His mouth twisted before he addressed the biggest selka coming with them. "Brottnee, right?" He confirmed.
Brottnee, the thin and tall selka a few paces towards the beach from him, nodded absently.
The blood god pointed at Atmav. "Go make sure she keeps her head above the water," he said, before jabbing a big red finger at Brottnee directly. "After this, you and your friends will teach her to swim. Understand?"
Brottnee nodded vigorously.
Atmav could only sigh in response, stepping forwards and entering the water at last and wading in it until she was waist deep. Brottnee was in front of her, still shorter than the likes of Atmav, but tall enough to still support her through the waves. She cursed under her breath as she flattened her wings against her body as much as she could.
“Let’s get this over with,” she growled.
The reef only took a few minutes to reach. They might have reached it sooner had they not waited for Atmav as she uselessly kicked herself forward while Brottnee's pulled her burdensome mass along with Atmav's hands on his shoulders.
From the surface, the only hint of anything new was the dark shapes of stones and kelp below them, but every selka there had come out here to dive for shellfish in their lifetimes.
Kirron floated with his head above the water and turned to the group. "There's a cache of treasure in this reef. Came flying down from the sky, it did. Follow me; we'll be digging it up."
With that, Kirron dunked his head under the water. His two huge boot-covered feet fluked up out of the water behind him before following his body under the surface. The selka did not hesitate to follow suit, except for Brottnee. He looked over his shoulder at Atmav.
"Hold your breath," he said, before ducking forward under the water with Atmav still attached.
When Atmav’s head became submerged, it became easier for her to track movements, at least those powerful enough to cause noise in the water. Her head swiveled all around as she took a mental note of each of the Selka’s positions in the water. She kept her senses aware for anything else that may be following them in the water, not noticing the slow moving fish but only snapping her head towards the sudden movement of an eel to drag prey into its hole. The sensation was most unusual for her.
The water quickly started to press against her ears as they followed deeper. Kirron only lead them several metres down, just over a coral-coated rocky outcrop. At the base of the outcrop was a conspicuous divot apparently blasted out of the side of the stone. It was half-filled with sand, but Kirron took one of his huge hands and curled his fingers into the surface. He pulled up something which, when the murky sand cleared from it, appeared to be a number of lustrous, flat, half-ovoid shapes etched with some vein-like pattern. They were each about the size of a selka hand, though Kirron could fit quite a number just in his palm.
Kirron beckoned over one of the selka divers, Kevik, and pushed a number of the lustrous shapes into their hands. Each other diver got similar handfuls, even Brottnee.
Once the divers were laden enough to need to hold the shapes to their chests with their arms, Kirron pointed upward and kicked off the sea floor. His body shot up fast enough to leave an unseen vertical force in his wake.
As the Selka swam up, Atmav took one of the half-ovoids from Brottnee, bringing it close to her face as she seemed to recognise it. It was metal, she could clearly see that, but such a fact only confused her more. Why had Kirron brought them out here for a bunch of metal?
When the Selka surfaced, Atmav’s mouth opened to bring in a large breath of fresh air, exhaling and inhaling equally large breaths. It was relaxing to finally be able to breathe, even if the air was salty.
"Bring 'em all in! I'll show you how to use them."
After they swam to the shore again and piled the metal pieces in the sand, the onlookers grew curious and stared at the sparkling shapes. One of the divers tasted a piece and found it only tasted of the seawater that clung to it in drops.
Kirron lifted a palm. "We'll need a big stone. Wait here, I'll get us one."
The blood god turned around and ran. His legs tensed after five broad strides and with a rush of air and sand, he jumped towards the cliffs further inland.
Atmav could only look on in confusion before she took on the metal objects to inspect. She looked to the Selka before she would explain what she knew of it to her people, only taking a moment to try and understand Kirron’s methodology. “My people, this is metal. Stronger than the stone we use in our tools and very much capable of slaying some quicker than a stone spear when molded into a proper weapon,” she explained, allowing the people to take in the knowledge.
“I know not what metal it is exactly nor do I know what Kirron intends to use it for, but we shall see,” Atmav spoke, stepping back to look at the pile that they had accumulated.
One of the onlookers who still held one of the shapes in her fingers flicked as one end of it, producing the same jingling sound the rest made when piled up. "With Kirron comes strength," she said, giving Atmav a hopeful smile. "Maybe these will make us stronger?"
Another selka curled his head around towards the cliffs. "How long do you think he will be away?"
Yimbo made a rumbling sound and pointed their snout to the sky. The little shadowy dot growing from that direction answered the selka's question. It grew towards them in the shape of a large brown boulder with a red god underneath.
The tribe made yelps and stumbled away to make room for the incoming projectile, but it fell short, impacting the sand with a chest-thumping thud and sliding with enough sand plowing out to each side to look like a pair of breaking waves of yellow powder.
The boulder slid to a stop just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the pile of metal pieces. Kirron triumphantly stood up from the stone's base. It dwarfed his breadth and barely surpassed his height.
"Atmav, bring one of those treasures over here!" Kirron demanded, grinning.
Very silently, yet confused, Atmav obeyed the order of the god, picking up exactly one piece of the metal before she stepped to Kirron. She held the metal out to him and eyelessly gazed at him with what would be confusion if she had brows to furrow.
“What are you planning, Kirron?” She asked as he took the metal.
"I'm planning for you to use these." Kirron held the metal up between his thumb and forefinger, speaking as much to all the selka around him as he did to Atmav, in a low and reverent voice. "All spilt blood comes to Horizon Grotto, my home where the setting sun reflects red into the sky. All blood has within traces of this -- blessed iron. And some of this blessed iron found its way here, to the trove we all just dug up." His voice turned clear and direct again. "Hold still, Atmav."
Kirron held the flattened edge of the metal against Atmav's upper arm. It was not sharp enough to cut, even if any significant force was applied. The only extra force Kirron gave was to tap the top of it lightly with the index finger of his other hand, which in itself felt like a young selka's hardest punch.
Atmav merely watched as he did so, confused and doubtful as to how this would do anything to stop the Ihokhur from ravaging her land.
Kirron straightened and held the iron out to Atmav again. "Now go hit the blade of the iron against the boulder with just as much force. No more, no less."
She took the iron from Kirron, looking at him before she stepped towards the boulder and mimicking what Kirron had done. Atmav took the iron, holding the blade against the rock before delivering her own tap.
Clack!
A shiver swiftly rattled up Atmav's bones and made the roots of her teeth vibrate. The little noise was not only louder than expected, it went through everything as if its source was everywhere.
There was no apparent effect for exactly enough time that everyone wondered what the point was. Then, aligned with the blade, a black line opened on the boulder with a gentle scrape. The onlooking selka gasped. Along the line, the boulder rolled apart under the force of its own weight into two rough yet neatly separated halves.
The selka all voiced their astonishment in a wave of blended talk.
"It's even more effective underwater," Kirron added.
Atmav pulled back from the boulder, taking a moment to properly see the extent of damage. A wicked smile came across her face as she looked back to Kirron, allowing her fangs to be shown before she let out a laugh. It seemed that the Queen was beyond pleased with the outcome of these pieces of metal, showing her satisfaction to the god through that same maddened laugh.
“How may I thank you for this fine gift,” Atmav asked, her toothy grin still in place as she stepped towards Kirron. She stopped an arms length away from the giant.
Kirron's mouth closed to a line. He pointed to Atmav's chest. "Learn to swim and get food with your tribe. Get better, not weaker. That's all I want."
“And so it shall be done,” Atmav said, her smile still wide as she turned back to her people. Her head momentarily looked turned to Yimbo. “Tonight, we feast!” She called out to the tribe, her voice powerful.
