Eight Intertwined

111 - Draefendi

When the doors to the shrine slid shut, the travelers were left suspended in complete darkness for a handful of seconds. H'aanit remained perfectly still, waiting for the shrine to fill with light once more. After a few moments, the torches lining the walls sparked to life, and yellow flames danced in the holders at the top of the steel attachments. The entire entryway of the shrine was cast in a golden glow, and H'aanit couldn't help but find the sensation somewhat familiar. She took in a small breath before pushing it out through her nostrils slowly and carefully. She had no evidence to back up her suspicions, but she already had a feeling she knew which element they were going to be met with at the end of this road. 

Ophilia allowed the lanthorn to swing easily at her hip as she stepped toward the shrine's long bridge to the rock carving on the other end. The other travelers were quick to follow, and H'aanit took up the rear with Linde at her feet all the while. The snow leopard offered a small headbutt against H'aanit's hand to try and pull her mistress out of her own thoughts, and H'aanit smiled before starting to stroke at her companion's head. She would have been lying if she said she was feeling any better than she had the day before when the travelers were still debating where to go next, but at least having Linde there always eased her bad moods a little bit. 

H'aanit was glad their next destination was set to be Stillsnow. They still had business to take care of in Victors Hollow, especially if there really was a treasure left behind by a pirate the way Cecily had claimed. Afterward, they would chart a course for Duskbarrow to investigate the strange case of two magical markings surrounding the town. When H'aanit said it that way, it all sounded so simple. She only had to endure tow other locations before she could finally ease her grating anxiety and see Susanna about what to do with Redeye's recent activities. 

Being in the shrine came with a surprising calmness in H'aanit's system, and she allowed it to rush through her without hesitation. If she was in the shrine, then she didn't need to fear Redeye sneaking up on her when she wasn't paying attention. Nobody knew where the beast had disappeared to as far as she could tell, and she was scared it could end up being the next mission in a tavern without anyone understanding just how dangerous it was. The plant monster she had fought against the previous day had been difficult to win against, and it was nowhere near as powerful as Redeye. She didn't even want to imagine what the beast that had defeated Z'aanta was like. 

But as long as she was in the shrine, she was safe. H'aanit knew safety was relative given the group was still preparing for a fight against one of the gods of Orsterra, but she knew whoever was waiting for them had no plans of trying to kill them. After all, the travelers were set to rescue the world from some great evil as far as the gods were concerned, and fighting their own pawns of fate to the death hardly seemed like a good idea. To H'aanit though, a fight lacking in the need for murder was a victory, especially after what she had seen in the forests near Stonegard. 

H'aanit was so caught up in her own thoughts about Redeye and the danger he posed that she didn't even notice the travelers had arrived at the other end of the shrine until Olberic stopped from his place in front of her. Ophilia was standing just in front of the stone carving, and she reached out for it slowly before pulling her fingers back. The rock formed the shape of a bow and arrow, and H'aanit's eyes went slightly wide. 

All of a sudden, the familiarity from when she had entered the shrine made a lot of sense. This was where they were going to be finding Draefendi, the huntress of the gods. She was the primary deity the people of S'warkii prayed to, and her rules of the hunt were still upheld generations upon generations after she had departed from the mortal plane of Orsterra. H'aanit hardly considered herself the most religious person in the world, but Draefendi was the god she prayed to if she was searching for peace or outside assurance. Previously, she had never thought the gods would intervene to help humans because of their positions in a world beyond that of the mortals, but the last few months of travel had proven otherwise. Even now, H'aanit preferred to offer her thanks to Draefendi above all others.